It is warm during the day, but has been cooling down at night, so that the early morning, and late evening walks are pleasant. I quite enjoy the native weeds that are thriving in this drought, the Queen Anne’s Lace, the Chicory, the Mullein, the Dock, the Burdock, the Birdsfoot Trefoil, and many more. The Chicory is in bloom at the moment and on the brown crunchy lawns the sweep of blue flowers and patches of bright yellow Birdsfoot Trefoil, are quite pretty.
It rained a little bit this morning, a smattering, a teasing. There were even a few drops on my glasses during our morning walk. But is wasn’t enough to usher even a green tint on the lawns. The lawns that were sprayed for weeds, just before the drought began in June, have turned black. The weeds that were supposed to be destroyed have completely taken over these black lawns.
It has been quite some time since I began fasting. I started slowly, with a very long eating window, and reduced that over time and finally stopped at an eating window of 8 hours, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Outside of that window I eat nothing, and drink only water.
The only time I do not start eating at 9 a.m. is when I have a blood test, usually I have fasting tests, so I cannot eat until after the appointment. It is almost impossible to get an appointment before 10 a.m., so I usually go without breakfast until after the blood test.
I rise early in the morning, so there is a long wait until it is time eat breakfast. I drink about a litre of water during those hours waiting for breakfast, and keep myself active with small domestic chores. At 8:45 I turn on the kettle for my coffee; mix my yogurt with the cashew/date crumble that was batch prepared and ready to go; thaw my frozen chocolate zucchini muffin, pour another tall glass of room temperature water, and turn on the computer.
Then, at last at 9 a.m., with my breakfast waiting on the table beside my easy chair, I sit down, put my feet up, and take that first sip of coffee. The taste, and experience, are quite wonderful, with just that first sip.
I watch my Asian dramas while eating my breakfast. It is a leisurely meal.
Breakfast is my favourite meal of the day, nothing compares to it. The basics, muffin, yogurt, coffee, are the same every single morning, no variation. What varies are the additional courses that follow the three basic breakfast items. For instance, today Attila brought me a diced cucumber from the garden, a dish of three strawberries purchased on sale, a dish of a dozen black cherries purchased on sale, and a dish of apple slices purchased on sale. Other days he brings in garden carrot sticks, sometimes kohlrabi sticks, sometimes blueberries are on sale and they are served. Attila prepares these things for himself, and in so doing prepares them for me at the same time. I feel very royal.
This morning my breakfast lasted for two hours. I take my time. Lunch time follows breakfast in very short order, I eat a light lunch, as I just finished my breakfast. Soon after lunch it is time to enjoy our green salad, mostly made with garden produce this time of year. Then a short while after that there is dinner/supper. I feel like I am always, always eating, all day long. And in truth, I am. But the amount of food I am eating is minimal, and very carefully chosen for balance.
To increase my protein I have had to swap out foods. For instance, adding the yogurt with cashews and dates to the breakfast menu, meant deleting something else. I deleted the second chocolate zucchini muffin. Another swap I’ve been experimenting with involves lunch time sandwiches. I had started using mayonnaise on the bread instead of margarine. This week I am experimenting with using hummus spread on the bread instead of margarine. It is quite nice, but I do miss the wee bit of salt in the mayonnaise. Never mind, my palate will adjust over time.
Because lunch and dinner/supper are subject to variation and experimentation, and by the time I sit down to eat them I am no longer terribly hungry, well, I don’t look forward to those meals as I look forward to my delicious breakfasts.
For me, fasting is wonderful. There are occasions when I feel hungry outside of my eating window, but this mild, slightly irritating hunger is not a serious complaint, at least not for me. On the rare occasion that it occurs, I drink water, and distract myself with a project of some kind. Those pangs are overcome by my efforts, and after a few hours of discomfort, they disappear.
I have learned to avoid facebook, where recipes for sweets, and fatty or salty foods abound. I don’t eat those things anymore, but they sure do look good, and it is best not to dwell on them outside my eating window. When inside my eating window, I am full to bursting eating good healthy food, and do not think about the deliciously junky options.
Wordly
Weather
20°C
Date: 11:00 AM EDT Sunday 20 July 2025
Condition: Mostly Cloudy
Pressure: 101.0 kPa
Tendency: Falling
Temperature: 19.8°C
Dew point: 16.4°C
Humidity: 81%
Wind: NE 6 km/h
Visibility: 24 km
Quote
“People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use.”
Soren Kierkegaard
1813 – 1855
Nothing has changed, as we see in the unfettered emotional bilge that frequents the social media.
I don’t see that many food recipes on facebook. I sure don’t watch the foodie programs that have been airing this summer on PBS on Friday nights (I miss the plays and concerts they air in fall and spring.) Not fun to watch them cook and/or eat foods I can’t eat. My intermediate fasting has been less strict of late, if I have an acid stomach that needs some small bland food thrown at it in the evening. We do the best we can!
Joan, I think I see all the food related posts because I follow a few groups based on recipes for low sodium, low cholesterol, that sort of thing. I also frequent safe canning groups, where I learn a few things, and can offer sound and safe advice. Facebook wants me to abandon healthy eating, and increase my salt, sugar, and bad fats. The devil is definitely in their details!
I agree, we do the best we can, and good for us!
I have a 12 hour eating window that usually goes between 9AM and 9PM. Most of the time I have a small breakfast, maybe an English muffin with a piece of cheese. Recently, I’ve added in a small container of yogurt to add in more potassium. Some days I do actually have another 2nd breakfast if I’m really hungry. Though sometimes that will stretch to a lunch and snack in the early afternoon. Those foods are sometimes leftovers from a previous dinner, but if I’m feeling low on vegetables I’ll add some in. And we usually have dinner around 6PM, usually a mix of a meat and pasta, or a meat and vegetable. Once in a while DH will make his excellent Caesar salad and that will be our dinner, sans croutons.
I’m also very lucky to have a man that enjoys cooking, and that stretches to DH also being my sous chef if I’m making something that needs chopped veggies.
We’re both very lucky to have husbands who are true partners, Maggie.
Teri, we are so very fortunate to have true partners!!
It took me half a lifetime to bump into Attila, and thank goodness I did. Better late than never. Every so often I pause, to ponder the gift.
Those Caesar salads sound delicious! I admit to being totally spoiled, that Attila enjoys being a sous chef, such a luxury. The really great thing about these partners is that they appreciate us as much as we appreciate them!