Post-Fast Eating

I certainly hope that my stomach (appetite) shrank after fasting yesterday.

That's one of the principles behind the pre-fast advice of eating less before a fast. That way your body will expect less food. If you stuff yourself, unless it's till long-lasting nausea, you'll just be hungrier.

I broke the fast on a few small bowls of my legendary easy-to-make vegetable soup, a new lower carbohydrate version, and then I had a cucumber, and after that I warmed up my remaining baked apple and then added goat yogurt to it. Besides the water I drank, that was it, and I didn't crave anything else. I didn't report it to my Start Fresh kosher weight loss diet account.

I just set up today's food, which took longer than planned, since the site was giving me trouble. Its reactions were slower than usual, and it didn't correct easily after I planned a 1/4 more protein than permitted. I did redo, but it kept saying I didn't, and I almost quit in frustration.

In week 4, I'm allowed some bread, but I'm sure my weight loss will cease if I take them up on it.

Now for my busy day.

I May Be Doing It All Wrong

I'm in week four of my Start Fresh kosher weight loss diet. Everything was going great until today. It's one of the Jewish "fast days." I didn't eat anything until 5:30pm, and since then I just keep eating a "light" version of my vegetable soup. I put in less peas than usual. I did the two pot version, so I could give the peas enough time to cook and soften and the vegetables lightly sauteed in a bit of oil. It's really easy.

According to the diet, I can have some carbohydrates, like the soup.

Pre-diet I would have had some pasta, cheese and salad, too. Maybe I'll have some cheese and salad later.

Fasting Cold

Today's a fast day, no eating, no drinking. There are all sorts of "dietary advice" on how to prepare your body to make fasting easier. I did buy a bottle of water when I was walking around Jerusalem. And I did walk and photograph a lot.


I ate my Start Fresh kosher weight loss diet food. The night before, I made my self a vegetable omelet with some veggies and two eggs. I ate it at Matan before the Tanach, Bible class.


Then for lunch I bought a salad for ns20- which had a bit of tuna, corn, a couple of black olives, carrots, half a hard-boiled egg, tomatoes and cucumbers.


And yes, I walked a lot. I wasn't hungry when I was busy. And I was busy, since I packed the Packages for Israeli soldiers.


At night I had a good diet dinner of vegetables, salad and chicken. But then when I was waking up, I was so thirsty and hungry. I was craving my routine water and coffee. And then I remembered the pre-fast advice I didn't take. I didn't have my complex carbohydrates, and I'm allowed a couple of servings at this stage of the diet.

It's cold. Dieting makes me cold, cold and miserable. Six hours to go. But how can I kvetch so much when our soldiers are really suffering?

Helping Israeli Soldiers

Here's the Shiloh Musings post about packing the packages for IDF Israeli soldiers.

G-d willing, I'll write more here later. It just took much longer than planned to post it. There are pictures and movies, so it's worth the click.

JPIX Plus

The very latest JPIX has been posted by Rafi G.

Most of my posting has been on Shiloh Musings, because at a time of war, the posts suit it better.

Today I finally did something I had been wanting to do for years. I packed packages for IDF Israeli soldiers with Packages from Home. I'm planning on blogging about it, most probably on Shiloh Musings.

I had a long day today. I was up at 4am to leave on time to Matan for my Tanach, Bible class there. Then I went to downtown Jerusalem and had passport pictures taken. Both the American and the Israeli are about to expire. I looked around for a new jacket, since my good every day one is stained, but I didn't buy.

Then I did the packing and then I walked to the bus station, from the Beit Knesset HaNasi. I did a lot of walking.

I'm tired.

Getting Ready to Fast

During my jogging day, which lasted a few years and caused me more back and knee pain than I ever had before or since, I'd break my fast on some fruit and head out the door. I was still nursing my youngest when I started and didn't wean him until I'd been jogging over a year, and he was almost two. I guess I looked good then.

I'm not a runner by nature; I'm a dancer. Jogging was torture and I never really speeded up.

Now why did I get into that?

Yes, tomorrow's a fast day, and since I'm on the Start Fresh kosher weight loss diet, I want to do things right. Basically, their advice is to drink extra water but eat normally the day before and have no more than half the food allowance and lots of water after the fast.

So, today, I must remember to drink more water.

Is Fasting Good For Dieters?

I like to eat. That's the truth. I'm not a nosher, and how I became so fat is beyond my comprehension. As sedentary as I think I am, I know that compared to many others, I'm very active, physically active. We don't have a car, so for all sorts of errands, I walk. But I'm still fat.

The opportunity to do the Start Fresh kosher weight loss diet, is like a gift from G-d, thanks Steve. I'm generally rather phobic about diets, which is why I haven't gone on a diet for a long time. There are seasons I look better and seasons I look worse. I've found comfort in the fact that I haven't needed to buy new, larger clothes for years. I love buying new clothes, as long as they're no bigger than my old ones.

So far, the weight I've lost isn't enough to make me go shopping. It's like a good news/bad news scenario. I don't have the money to buy a new wardrobe, but I really need to drop a couple of sizes. If I reach that point, believe me, I'll blog about it.

This week there's a fast day on the Jewish Calendar, the 10th of Tevet. In the Northern Hemisphere it's the shortest and easiest fast. We only fast from the first light of the sun until it's dark, and the days are still pretty short. That's why I don't blog much on Fridays. No time before Shabbat.

The Start Fresh kosher weight loss diet is a kosher diet, which is supposed to take into account Jewish Shabbat, holidays, etc, so I wonder what their advice is pre and post-fast. What meal is good to "go to sleep on," or is it a good idea to wake up before dawn and eat? What's good to have after the fast? One meal, or two?

One of our "family customs" is that I make a great vegetable soup the afternoon of the fast and that's what we eat. When the kids were home, I also made pizza or rolls. Now, I'm satisfied with the soup. It's easy and delicious. According to the diet, it may include too much starch/carbs for a meal, but in week four, I'm allowed three servings a day, and I generally have almost none. I feel fat on the carbohydrates. I get plenty from the cooked vegetables, like carrots and onions, which are considered "sugar" on other diets.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Super HH From The Bima

This week's Havel Havelim is humongous. Ima on and off the Bima did a fantastic job organizing the enormous amount of posts sent in.

Considering that there's a war going on here in Israel, as the IDF is trying to make life safer for its civilians, there's hardly a jblogger who didn't post one, two or ten times a day. And not surprisingly most of the posts were sent off to Ima.

Besides the weekly Havel Havelim, Jack has been busy posting daily-plus round ups of posts and articles from the internet. My Shiloh Musings spread south of Shiloh with friends in Nitzan and Netivot. There are many more than just these articles.

As many other Israeli mothers, I'm dreading certain calls from my sons informing me that they've been "called up." I'll embarrass my sons by reporting about it, if/when the time comes. That's part of being an Israeli mother. A generation ago, I was a "wife of a soldier." That's a different role, especially for me, as my husband never had the same sort of front line army job our sons have.

Remember that all of our soldiers are one or more of the following:

• son/daughter
• husband/wife
• brother/sister
• uncle/aunt
• mother/father
• grandchild
• friend
• cousin

Join the prayers for wisdom for our leaders and safe, successful battles, and the safe, healthy return of our soldiers.

Resuming Exercise

Walking and dieting aren't enough, even though I'm losing weight on Start Fresh kosher weight loss diet. Last summer, my friends and I got together for Richard Simmons, Sweating to the Oldies, a DVD gift from my kids. At some point, we stopped, but G-d willing, one of my friends will be back this morning to stretch, shake and sweat the inches or centimeters off.

Must get ready!

That Winter Pain

Every winter I get a pain in my upper back, which sometimes spreads to my shoulders. Certain movements make me almost scream from pain. It's much better if I stay warm.

And now it's cold, so I have to be very careful how I move. And then after a few weeks or months, it's suddenly gone. Maybe I ought to take a vacation in a warm, very warm place. But then I'll complain about the heat.

Sorry for kvetching.

New Bargain Column in The Jerusalem Post's "In Jerusalem"

As of now, it's not yet in the Internet edition. The JPost doesn't go online automatically. Obviously, the news is considered higher priority than other things.

Sybil Kaplan, of wonderpot fame, is back in Israel, B"H, and she has a column in "In Jerusalem." "It's a bargain," and I'm the "Batya" mentioned in it.

Welcome her home by reading the column and letting the JPost know how helpful it is. She mentioned things, even I, who has been here almost forty years, didn't know.

I'm Afraid of That "Pop!"

No, I'm not expecting Arab terrorist missiles from Gaza, thank G-d. As the sun rose, strong and bright this morning, I was afraid of something else.





Last night, it was freezing. No, I don't mean just cold. It was below zero Celsius, below 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Even when my husband went down to shop after 10pm, he reported ice.

Israeli building methods don't take into account that we sometimes get this sort of weather, at least in the mountains. This is the sort of day when the plumbers get rich. Pipes freeze and explode.

A few years ago, on a day just like today, I suddenly heard an explosion from my roof, over the merpeset, terrace, and immediately glass and water poured down from the solar panels, the solar water heaters. We needed emergency repairs and replacements. Some people just had plugs pop, and then the water goes out. So we've bought spare plugs.

The recommended methods to prevent this are to either keep the hot water boiler going all night or let hot water drip all night. We sort of did both. We left water dripping and we had the boiler on a timer, going on and off. Thank G-d for leaky faucets. The main bathroom sink is almost always dripping.

So far, it's after 8am. And all is quiet from the roof.

Getting Down To Earth

I was at a funeral the other day. The woman who died cast a long shadow, made a great impression on those who knew her.

Today would have been my uncle's 90th birthday.

HaMakom Y'Nachem

May G-d Comfort the Mourners

Mom's Work

If you haven't seen/heard this, this is the perfect time. Here are two versions.

Blogging While I Should Be...

...doing lots of other things, like cooking, cleaning, eating, dovening, etc.

I've spent a few hours on email and Shiloh Musings. Especially, with teh war going on in the south, it's more important than this blog, no offense. If you click that link, you'll see what's new there. I have a whole crew of others adding their words.

I can see blue sky in the window, so maybe I'll take a walk. I ought to take a nice long walk today, since yesterday, I only went five houses away to weigh myself for my Start Fresh kosher weight loss diet. I was terrified, not because I thought I had gained weight, but because it was dark and the path is muddy. Yes, thank G-d it was muddy because of rain. I didn't want to slip and fall. More accidents/injuries happen near home. That's what my mother always says when people ask her if it's dangerous to visit Israel. A neighbor's mother was seriously injured in her NY bath, while her Jerusalem bathtub had the safety features she needed.

I have to find some Shabbat guests. I have food thawing to cook and an empty house.

It seems like blogger's spellcheck is on vacation.

8 Pounds or 3.6 Kilo

No, that's not the weight of a baby, though it could be. It's the amount of weight I lost in the first three weeks of my Start Fresh kosher weight loss diet.

Thank G-d; I can't complain. I have no real weightloss goal. I just want to get my life back on the right food track. Whatever weight goes off, deserves to be gone. I have lots and lots more to lose. Oops! Suddenly I felt like I was sounding like the Israeli government trying to explain its war aims. It's OK in a diet, as long as a doctor didn't prescribe major changes, oops! again.

Thank G-d it's raining, but I just couldn't drag myself out for a walk, and I was too cold in my house, and I do need daily exercise.

Tonight I made quinoa for the first time. I cooked up my usual vegetables, onions, carrots and squash (sauteed in oil) and added the quinoa and some boiling water when the vegetables were almost cooked. Start Fresh considers it a carbohydrate, and I'm allowed two servings per day in week three. I think I used too much water. It was sort of like a soup, but that's OK. It's winter, freezing winter. Not only didn't I measure exactly, I didn't even consult with a cookbook. So sue me!

Thank G-d For The Rain

This post isn't about the weather. I don't know why I gave it that title. Maybe it's because without rain, my vegetables won't grow here in Israel, and as you can see from the pictures, I do eat a lot of vegetables. I always have. That's how I was raised. So you wonder, so do I, why am I so fat? I ought to start my annual, (which never takes place every year,) check ups. This time I'll ask that the blood test check my thyroid, too.

It's hard to believe, but I'm finishing week three out of five of my Start Fresh kosher weight loss diet. I hope to get to my neighbor today to see how much weight I've lost. My skirts feel looser, really.


I do eat well on this diet. I have cooked vegetables almost every meal along with fresh salad. Some meals are only salads, and sometimes I feel that I've had enough salads, so there are cooked vegetables. Generally the protein is either eggs, fish, tofu or white (hard or soft) cheese. I stopped eating yellow cheese a few years ago. There are just too many ingredients. Read the fine print on the package. Also my cooking has a minimum of ingredients.


Like this baked vegetable dish. You can see everything; just sprinkle on some oil and any spices you want. It's no more difficult than making a sandwich. You just need the cooking time. If you like to microwave, which I don't, it really takes a couple of minutes.

If you want to cut out the oil, bake it on the special paper or in a cooking bag. No, you don't have to burn it like I did.

The Start Fresh kosher weight loss diet recommends a lot of tofu, but I think the amount they like is too much for me. Not everyone digests tofu easily, so next time I'm reducing the portion.

Fish is great, and it's filling. I found some individually-wrapped in the freezer section of our local supermarket.

Dieting shouldn't mean starving. I love to eat, and I'd really like to get a couple of sizes off of me. That would still leave me overweight, but I want to find a weight and eating "style" I can live with. I don't want to get myself to a weight which becomes the launching pad for another weight gain.

On The Last Night of Chanukah

Yes, I know that Chanukah is over, and I should have gotten all this blogged earlier. But yesterday I was busy. It was a big babysitting day for me and the grandkids.

And I've been blogging an awful lot on Shiloh Musings about the war.

Here in Shiloh, it's hard to believe there's a war going on. Things are just regular, quiet, boring regular.

In a lot of the places now under fire, they had no idea what was going on when there was shooting on our roads.

You'd think Israel was such a giant country. Even in my small town of Shiloh--The Real One From the Bible, from neighborhood to neighborhood, from street to street and sometimes even house to house, we don't know what's happening.

Please don't laught at that hunchbacked candle. I felt sorry for it. Nobody wanted to use it, so I used it as my "shamash" to light the oilive oil.

The Chanukah Menorah, Chanukiya, is supposed to be lit in public view. I'm glad we planned these long windows with deep enough sills to set up lots of Chanukiyot.

Chanukah is a public holiday. Just over an hour before the final candle-lighting I got a call that there would be one in the Park in Memory of Avihu Keinan.

The holiday which celebrates bravery is the perfect time for a memorial to Avihu, l'ilu'i nishmato, may his soul be "elevated."

Too Slow!

This computer is much too slow, especially once the avg virus check kicks in, like now, or when I have youtube or iba tv or radio on. So, as soon as I finish planning my Start Fresh kosher diet meals for today, I'm switching to the too heavy to schlepp laptop, even though the keyboard isn't at all comfortable to use. That's also where I upload videos, and here's the latest.




It was taken the last night of Chanukah, here in Shiloh. Moshe and Chana Keinan invited us to the Avihu Memorial Park for candle lighting. Their son, Avihu, was killed in a badly planned army action in Gaza a few years ago.

Mandrakes

These are the duda'im of the Bible. They're supposed to increase fertility.