Looking good naked :)

[Average Investor]

@Amandine I will be on the look out for the sweetsop. Your meals look quite healthy by the way.  

I would move to right on the boarder of Oregon, but not actually in Oregon.  Oregon has no tax on buying goods. That and Oregon is literally amazing for my business. There is so much stuff there it is nuts. I make money driving over an hour to get there and get stuff. When I go garage sale hunting there I fill up my 3rd row suv completely full to the ceiling most days with all seats down and passenger full. But even in winter I still get a massive amount of inventory there. I literally buy stuff by the thousand pounds from there. I have not really left around these states in quite a few years. I have been thinking of taking a train or flying and seeing what else is out there in other states. I don't usually venture out more than 5 hour drives. 

I see some of the other states are much cheaper to live in too. Cost of living here is getting kind of up there. I see properties nicer than here for $100,000 less or more in other states. I might consider it. Right now I really like this place. I don't think it matters how evolved the culture is because it really only moves so much from orange. So it might even be the case where I get the most bang for my buck elsewhere if I save up my money. 

 

[Amandine]

@Average Investor Wow, that's some exercise you get there with all that loading, unloading, storing away, etc.

I imagine you don't go jogging on those days lol!

Do you take your German Shepherd Bailey (what's its name?) and Leo's videos with you when you travel to Oregon?

Can you buy a load of cheaper organic stuff there and then freeze it back home or is it not worth it?

 

Anyway, it's really great that you're your own boss, on a flexible schedule with no-one breathing down your neck, it's the best situation I think!

And you seem to have some top-notch books to guide and help you on your way to becoming successful getting what you want, you're on the right track. ?

 

Effectively, one can make some good business with property too.

When we lived in Paris, my husband and I bought our lovely first appartment for 150,000e and only 10 years later it had tripled in price!

Then we moved down to the beautiful sunny South of France and found a much bigger appartment with a huge terrace/balcony for much much less than Paris prices. 

We're not really into shopping, and I'm quite frugal and careful with money coming from a poor family background, we also didn't have kids and my husband doesn't care for accumulating things, so we actually gradually became millionaires without even intending to, lol. But that hasn't changed me one bit, I still have difficulty throwing things away and never waste things, I've never bought a car, I prefer to go everywhere by bike, I'm a bit of a minimalist at heart.

I agree it doesn't really matter how evolved the culture (or weather) is, and it's all down to one's own perspective (so important that) and I'm thinking it's probably also in your interest to stay where you are business-wise, lol. Imagine if you lived in a much more "conscious" less materialistic place, they probably wouldn't be interested in buying anything, you could go out of business, lol, just kidding.

 

Edited January 5, 2020 by Amandine

[Average Investor]

@Amandine I will sometimes do the jog with the loading. The loading the items they are 4oz each and totaling 1000lbs, so I do lift some weight, but it is time consuming to transfer them into boxes and what not. Dog does not go in the car with me currently. But I like to listen to Leo on podcast while heading up sometimes. Depends on the day. I enjoy some music as well. I buy a lot of bags of frozen organic fruit. Costco is great for those and pricing is good. I only use the frozen in smoothies though. I buy fresh weekly usually.  

I'm working on it. I appreciate the words of encouragement. 

Yes, in the US here a lot of tax laws and such really favor owning properties for renting etc. 

Yeah, I only really just shop to resale mostly anymore aside from good stuff for me. I occasionally keep some things I find really good deals on. It is rather unfortunate how much people are just willing to toss stuff out. Society is so consuming based and it generates a lot of waste. What I do does keep things away from the land fill for longer periods of time and can curb people from buying new. I find a good chunk of spiritual material, educational material, fitness stuff, and other good things for people too. So not all of it is just crap. But I do all of it that will produce money. There is not enough money in just reselling spiritual material lol. 

That is awesome you guys acquired that wealth. What do you usually spend your time doing now? I would assume you have little to no financial drive now.

I am still in the process of selling most of my stuff and keeping things to a minimum. I love having a car, but most of my need for it is to produce income. I would enjoy having another sports car eventually because I just enjoy car stuff in general, but I realize it is not the main satisfaction you can find in life. I have a second car I am fixing to sell soon to get that out of the way when I can. I had a time I actually owned 6 cars. But I was into reselling and them and what not. Partially was for materialistic "needs". It became too much of a hassle to even deal with. Having all of that stuff to maintain just becomes a big hassle. 

I really could not see society becoming that conscious in my life time sadly. All of this stuff is destroying our planet and a lot of it comes from people trying to find happiness through a bunch of garbage. 

[Amandine]

Day 4:

Today's weight: ?kgs (didn't weigh-in)

Weight loss so far after 2 days: 600g (1.3 lbs) ?

Weight loss to go: 6.6kgs (14.5 lbs) left to go

 

Starting weight: 62.2kgs (136.8 lbs)

Goal weight: 55kgs (121 lbs)

Total weight to lose: 7.2kgs (15.8 lbs)

 

Daily limit: 1,600 calories

Weight loss rate: 1 lb a week

Date Ideal weight: end April

 

I'm gonna integrate 16:8 Intermittant fasting from now on. Thank you @archi for the idea. You've tried this too haven't you @Average Investor ?

It's seems such an easy thing to do (I love easy), I'll do it from 8am till 4pm and just drink herbal tea in the evening.

However I don't feel ready to sacrifice my morning cappucino, it helps with my work-out performance.

Leo said baby steps, don't spook yourself. 

 

Today though, I know my last meal will probably be around 5pm because I've got an optician's appointment at 4pm.

 

* 8am Pre work-out coffee 87c

Cappuccino 87

 

* 11.55am Breakfast (muesli) 347c 

10g organic unsalted cashew nuts (623) 62 + 15g dried juicy apricots (231) 34 + 10g Bjorg organic sugarfree muesli (367) 36 + 10g Jordans sugar-reduced granola (437) 43 + 10g organic oatbran (359) 35 + 5g organic chia seeds (449) 22 + 50g fresh forest fruits (55) 27 + 200g organic soy milk (46) 88

 

Total cals so far today: 87+347=434c 

 

* 2.30pm Lunch (croque monsieur salad) 736c 

100g Iceberg lettuce (17) 17 + 160g tomato (18) 28 + 50g bell pepper (20) 10 + 55g cucumber (14) 7+ 35g onion (40) 14 + 2g fried crispy onion (590) 10 + 12g mayo (661) 79 + 1g olive oil (900) 9 + 70g wholemeal bread (270) 189 + 22g cheese (352) 77 + 10g organic chorizo (498) 49 + 5g mustard (245) 12 + 20g Nori algae sheets (300) 60 + 325g organic orange juice (54) 175

 

Total cals so far today: 87+347+736=1,170c

430c left for the rest of the day. (Fancy using them for a latte with a big piece of the chickpea cake for tea-time, which will be my last meal of the day). 

 

* 6pm Snack (latte and chickpea cake) 420c 

Latte macchiato 80 + 150g chickpea cake 340

 

* Indoor bike (37 mins) burned 300 cals

 

Total cals so far today: 87+347+736+420=1,590c ?

Indoor bike (90 mins) burned 500 cals ?

Edited January 6, 2020 by Amandine

[Amandine]

@Average Investor

I know, I'm really amazed at how much people toss out and how good the stuff is, I find loads of things on the streets, even brand new.

I'm really handy at repairing things, looking after and caring for things, cleaning and sprucing stuff up, mending, darning.

Sometimes folk here throw out furniture just because it's got a little scratch or mark on it. 

Some people really do have more money than sense. 

 

For example, I once found a gold coin in a little box in the collective recycle bin in the basement of our residence.

Someone was obviously moving out of their appartment so they just literally dumped everything in the bin.

I had a good scour through it, like a good old dumpster diver, and I'm a millionaire for pete's sake!

I came away with a lot of good stuff, but had no idea if the gold coin had any value or not.

So I took it nearby to a street in Paris which is full of currency exchange shops to get it valued.

And after getting 3 estimates in 3 different shops, I settled for the final best price of 600 euros (670 dollars).  

I think I'm a bit of a business woman at heart.

 

The problem is I see this stuff and bring it home with me and stick it in my garage.

I then either keep it if it interests me, or sell it locally online.

Which is sad really because I'm rich and don't need to do that.

And yet I feel compelled to recuperate it and not just leave it on the street.

Which also goes against all my minimalist principles.

I've found some incredible stuff though, so it's a bit addictive.

 

Being poor as a kid and where most arguments and fights were about money has made me neurotic about saving money. 

It's interesting that Leo mentioned having a problem with money hoarding too because of insecurities.

It's something I'm seriously working on though, and am actually making good progress with it bit by bit.

But it's still a work in progress, money insecurity goes deep with me.

 

Having said that, we are kind and generous, my husband a hell of a lot more than me though.

We give a generous cheque to Doctors without Borders every year.

We've done our research and they seem to be the least corrupt. 

But then again we do get a big tax reduction from the Government for doing that.

66% of our donation can be deducted from income tax.

So in reality we're only really giving 34% of the amount on the cheque.

 

I've often gone out in the freezing cold on my bike with a hot flask and cakes/biscuits/sandwiches to distribute to the homeless.

I've done a lot of cat and dog sitting for neighbours for free because I love animals so much.

I've supported and volonteered at the local cat and dog shelter.

Last year I gave my sister 2,000 euros, and she can also keep my share of my mum's will (if there's anything left after my junkie brother's finished)

And the same for my husband's lovely sister, we've just given her 12,000 euros to do something she needs to do.

And hubby says she can keep his share of their parent's will, the sale of their house and everthing in it.

 

Being without children, a charity like Doctors without Borders will probably be getting all our money in our will.

So it's absurd that I have wasted so much time chasing more and more money. 

I've got to stop chasing now and heal my relationship with money. 

Because I couldn't control the traumatic events in my childhood, I have always tried to control money instead.

I try to do what I can with my money obsession, I'm definitely improving, but I know I can do a lot more.

I'm sure Leo's got some great videos touching on this subject. 

 

I feel though that I have wasted a lot of time trying to make more money, to pinch pennies, to bargain hunt, to negotiate, etc, when I didn't frigging need to.

For example whenever I need to buy something, I can't just go ahead and buy it, I have to waste a load of time compulsively comparing shops, seeking promo codes, reading a load of reviews, trying to get the best quality/price ratio, etc to be sure I'm not going to get conned (my worst nightmare, lol).

It just doesn't make sense, it's contradictory, my husband thinks its ridiculous the time I spend trying to save money and would prefer me not to think about money ever again.

He'd be really happy if I never mentioned the price of anything ever again, lol!

 

This is an example showing the clear dichotomy of a situation and sort of dilemma I find myself in.

Last week we were walking back from a lovely posh festive lunch at a Michelin starred restaurant.

It had been a heavenly meal in a heavenly place.

And then I kinda spoiled the vibe as we were walking home.

I spotted a man's designer watch on the side of the pavement that somebody had tossed out after christmas (I later discovered it actually worked perfectly, the battery was dead, that's all ), so just picked it up with the immediate idea of reselling it online.

My husband didn't look that impressed with me, he said it would be better to leave it for someone else less fortunate.

But I don't feel I'm at the stage yet to think like that, which makes me feel ashamed of myself.

 

My husband thinks so differently about money and has no neurosis about it.

He's someone who sees the Big Picture and isn't a fan of the idea of wasting time to chase money for its own sake.

He was also from a poor family (although not at all toxic like mine) but is tolerant, loving and understanding towards me.

But if we ever do argue about anything (which is pretty rare to be honest), 99% of the time it'll be about our different perspectives about money.

 

I hope in 2020 I can use my time much better, I want that to become my priority, better time-management.

Using my time productively so that it has nothing to do with chasing money.

I've wasted enough time doing that.

And using time more on getting down to real personal growth.

I'm hoping this site and the videos will help my struggle with that.

I know I'll have made progress when for example I can leave some fantastic object on the street for somebody else to find, more fortunate or less, whatever. 

Edited January 6, 2020 by Amandine

[Average Investor]

@Amandine A lot of the reason someone is able to get rich is because they do not blow their money. It's kind of like stopping to work out just because you have a six pack now. I am a pretty big bargain hunter, but I try to let someone of the things go over a few dollars here and there. It doesn't sound like you are really greedy, so probably not a lot to worry about. 

That's awesome that you go and do all of that stuff. It sounds like you really enjoy it. You are in a really good position to self actualize because you have fulfilled all of your lower needs as this point in life it sounds like. It is really worth it from my experience, but you really have to stick with in and be consistent for quite awhile to see results. You have come to the right place finding this content though. I can't say I am super far into this journey, but I have a taste to see how big this will be to make my life excellent. 

I am going to try to do Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) to try to work on my subconscious mind to heal from traumas. I had a considerable amount of abusive, but not only that a lot of money related trauma. I have only done one 50 minute session and found it helpful so far. But I want to try to work with it more and see what happens. I have tried some shamonic breathing as well. But need to stick with it more. Like doing once a week. 

[Amandine]

Day 5:

Today's weight: ?kgs (didn't weigh-in)

Weight loss so far after 2 days: 600g (1.3 lbs) ?

Weight loss to go: 6.6kgs (14.5 lbs) left to go

 

Starting weight: 62.2kgs (136.8 lbs)

Goal weight: 55kgs (121 lbs)

Total weight to lose: 7.2kgs (15.8 lbs)

 

Daily limit: 1,600 calories

Weight loss rate: 1 lb a week

Date Ideal weight: end April

 

Today's gonna also integrate a 16:8 Intermittant fast (8am to 4pm).

 

* 8am Pre work-out coffee 87c

Cappuccino 87

 

* Indoor bike (33 mins) burned 300 cals

 

* 10am Breakfast (muesli) 375c 

10g organic unsalted cashew nuts (623) 62 + 15g organic dried juicy apricots (231) 34 + 10g Bjorg organic sugarfree muesli (367) 36 + 10g organic sugar-reduced granola (437) 43 + 10g organic oatbran (359) 35 + 5g organic chia seeds (449) 22 + 100g organic fresh forest fruits (55) 55 + 200g organic soy milk (46) 88

 

Total cals so far today: 87+375=462c 
 

* 1pm Lunch (croque monsieur salad)  820c

100g Iceberg lettuce (17) 17 + 130g tomato (18) 23 + 50g bell pepper (20) 10 + 50g cucumber (14) 7+ 40g onion (40) 16 + 15g mayo (661) 99 + 1g olive oil (900) 9 + 70g wholemeal bread (270) 189 + 22g cheese (352) 77 + 10g organic chorizo (498) 49 + 15g mustard (245) 36 + 27g Nori algae sheets (300) 81 + 20g avocado (160) 32 + 325g organic orange juice (54) 175

 

Total cals so far today: 87+375+820=1,282

318c left for the rest of the day.

 

* 3.45pm Snack (coffee and cake) 318c

Latte macchiato 80 + 85g chickpea cake 238

 

Followed by 16 hours of fasting.

 

Total cals so far today: 87+375+820+318=1,600c ?

Indoor bike (33 mins) burned 300 cals ?

 

 

6.30pm update: really fancy eating something right now. Tempted to just say to heck with it all and throw in the towel. But I've committed to this, so am just gonna have to frigging resist.

Edited January 7, 2020 by Amandine

[Amandine]

On 07/01/2020 at 5:08 AM, Average Investor said:

I am a pretty big bargain hunter, but I try to let someone of the things go over a few dollars here and there. It doesn't sound like you are really greedy, so probably not a lot to worry about. 

Perspective is everything.

I try to strike a good balance between on the one hand being thrifty and resourceful and on the other hand being honest and true to myself (less greedy, selfish, materialistic, etc).

But if I really wanted something that someone else wanted and I decided to keep it for myself, I would try not to have too many qualms about it if I decided to keep it but remind myself that I am worthy of good things too, I have value too. 

So I also try to strike a balance between avoiding regret afterwards (if I had decided to give it away) and having a good conscience at the same time.

After all you gotta be able to look at yourself in the mirror at the end of the day.

There are though some things that really disgust me, like when I see on tv the first day of the sales with everyone charging into the shops trampling over each other, scrapping to get the best deal, grabbing everything, it horrifies me when humans act like animals, I would never be in a grab-grab situation like that, too ugly and soul-destroying. 

Haha, having said that, my way used to be craftier, for example, back in the day if I saw something I really wanted on ebay, I would auction for it at the very last second which is downright pretty sneaky because the last bidder probably thought it was theirs for the taking with zero other bidders, and then I came along at the 11th hour and "won the prize". But of course if I had bidded earlier it would have bumped the price up, which I was obviously avoiding, duh. However, I didn't like the adrenalin rush from bidding at the last minute "living life on a knife edge" so weaned myself off  bay.

So yeah, sometimes I don't see the wood for the trees and end up scrimping and saving over frigging peanuts, and even go back to the shop if I see a little discrepancy or error on my grocery bill, but then I'm perfectly okay with going out on date night once a week with hubby and spending over 100 dollars on just one meal. Or giving my sister or sister-in-law all that money with no qualms, lol.

 

On 07/01/2020 at 5:08 AM, Average Investor said:

That's awesome that you go and do all of that stuff. It sounds like you really enjoy it. 

It's easy to do stuff when you feel pleasure and passion. I've always loved animals, they have no voice and depend on us so much. I think I actually prefer them to people, lol.

My husband does a lot of charity work too, as well as his full-time job, he gives a lot of his time for others. 

He's always earned a really good salary (he's also been able to work at home for years now, which is awesome).

I used to earn a really good salary too but hubby always said I didn't have to work if I didn't want to, it's up to me.

To be honest, I only worked in order to make money, it wasn't to fulfill any life passion, or to have a social life, etc.

And actually we used to pay a hell of a lot of tax being "Dinks" (Double Income, No Kids), alas it's one of the biggest tax brackets here.

So I was really grateful at not having to work, this is the luxury and freedom that money can bring.

My husband has always enjoyed and preferred working, but to me there's nothing better than having your own free time.

I sometimes think though that I've remained such a bargain hunter because I feel guilty at no longer bringing any of the money in.

But I do really love having all this time just for me, I'm really bad at time management and like to do things nice and slowly, when I read I like to digest things and assimilate them well, and I don't have a perfect memory and am easily distracted so have to read stuff sometimes more than once and make notes, so it's great having time for all that, I love doing research and learning, getting all the details and nitty gritty, there's so much I want to do, to know, to learn, to improve, I've rarely been bored in my life.

My friends used to tell me they'd be afraid of being home 24/7 cos they'd probably be raiding the fridge all day long, but that would never occur to me to do that, I'm way too busy to think about food, I just have so many things I love doing.

I really am lucky and grateful and am living an awesome, blissful life, with my dream soul-mate, my dream cat (see photo, he's cute as hell man, I'm frigging obsessed with him, look at those eyes!!), in my dream home, in my dream town (the sun shines nearly every day here, lol), I just really love my life, I feel so blessed. But choosing the right soul mate is EVERYTHING.  Choose wisely because it can make all the difference between living a life of hell or heaven. 

Edited January 8, 2020 by Amandine

[archi]

On 1/3/2020 at 8:10 AM, Amandine said:

Atta boy! @archi

Can you just sleep during the whole "18¨" bit though?

Or is that cheating?

Weigh yourself in the evening and in the morning  and you find out that you are weigh less .

There is no cheating  just keep hours, eat within 8 hours (breakfast 10am up to dinner 6pm for instance).

Obviously, if you keep high caloric diet you won't move too far.

Edited January 7, 2020 by archi

[Average Investor]

14 hours ago, Amandine said:

I would never be in a grab-grab situation like that, too ugly and soul-destroyin

One of the thrift type stores I travel too is like that. The unload a bunch of stuff into carts. Usually I just go to the ones everyone already went through though. They leave a lot of good stuff behind usually. Especially earlier in the day. This is sort of what it can look like. The one I go to is pretty laid back though. I would not even bother if I had seen that many people. 

 

14 hours ago, Amandine said:

It's easy to do stuff when you feel pleasure and passion. I've always loved animals, they have no voice and depend on us so much. I think I actually prefer them to people, lol.

Have you ever though about opening some sort of shelter? Might be a cool way to get a lot of fulfillment out of your passion and make the world a better place. 

14 hours ago, Amandine said:

I really am lucky and grateful and am living an awesome, blissful life, with my dream soul-mate, my dream cat (see photo, he's cute as hell man, I'm frigging obsessed with him, look at those eyes!!), in my dream home, in my dream town (the sun shines nearly every day here, lol), I just really love my life, I feel so blessed. But choosing the right soul mate is EVERYTHING.  Choose wisely because it can make the difference between living a life of hell or heaven. 

That's really awesome to hear! I am going to take it a step at a time for sure. I want to be more evolved before I consider dating again. I have a lot of stuff I want to take care of before I even worry about it haha. 

[Amandine]

@Average Investor Thanks for the video, wow, I've never seen anything like that before, we don't have anything like that over here. Fascinated I went on to watch a couple of other youtube videos and saw bikes, books, sofas, everything in some outlets! One girl said about 75% of customers are resellers and sometimes people might even steal stuff out of your cart so cover it with a sheet, lol. And to watch out for any spider ants or black widows! It's funny how you pay by the pound in weight, whether it be a designer handbag or a dirty jumper. I bet some people are really happy there though. I sure can understand how you can get some great inventory in those kind of places!

I don't understand the video title "fighting over clothes" though, I didn't see any guys fighting over any stuff, those people in the video actually look good-humoured, humble and harmless enough, maybe even quite poor and needy. Don't see why the person filming wants to give them a bad name, there's no-one scrapping or anything, lol. I bet they'd be offended if they knew they were in his youtube video without their knowledge with an offensive title like that, you couldn't film them like that here in France. To me, it just looks like innocent people sifting through clothes looking for bargains, actually in a civilised and good-natured manner (as dignified as you can in such a situation), I personally don't see anything wrong with what they're doing. 

I'd prefer to see used and second-hand clothes being recycled and finding a new lease of life than people always wanting brand new frigging stuff each time, there are way too many sweat shops and foreign child labour factories already as it is with the constant demand for brand new clothes every time, I'm all into re-using and recycling whatever's already out there, so good on them.

What I hate is seeing people actually physically fighting dog-eat-dog over a frigging new tv or new washing machine or brand new video game the 1st days of the big supermarket sales. 

[Amandine]

Day 6:

Today's weight: 61.3kgs (134.8lbs) ?

Weight loss so far after 5 days: 900g (2 lbs) ?

Weight loss to go: 6.3kgs (13.8 lbs) left to go

 

Starting weight: 62.2kgs (136.8 lbs)

Goal weight: 55kgs (121 lbs)

Total weight to lose: 7.2kgs (15.8 lbs)

 

Daily limit: 1,600 calories

Weight loss rate: 1 lb a week

Date goal weight: end April

 

Today I'm gonna integrate another 16:8 Intermittant fast (8am to 4pm).

The last 2 days were difficult, Monday because I was baking (tasting for seasoning, licking spoons/bowls, etc) and yesterday I felt like eating something during the 16-hour fasting window. Glad I didn't though, ha I didn't have any calories left anyway even if I'd wanted to.

Been reading and learning about guardian angels and energy fields/chakras and stuff this morning. I see they have some weekend seminars scheduled this year in France for energy healing, will do some research.

 

* 8am Pre work-out coffee 87c

Cappuccino 87

 

* Indoor bike (33 mins) burned 300 cals

 

* 10am Breakfast (muesli) 375c 

10g organic unsalted cashew nuts (623) 62 + 15g organic dried juicy apricots (231) 34 + 10g Bjorg organic sugarfree muesli (367) 36 + 10g organic sugar-reduced granola (437) 43 + 10g organic oatbran (359) 35 + 5g organic chia seeds (449) 22 + 100g organic fresh forest fruits (55) 55 + 200g organic soy milk (46) 88

 

Total cals so far today: 87+375=462c 

 

* 1pm Lunch (croque monsieur salad)  813c

100g Iceberg lettuce (17) 17 + 120g tomato (18) 21 + 50g bell pepper (20) 10 + 50g cucumber (14) 7+ 40g onion (40) 16 + 15g mayo (661) 99 + 1g olive oil (900) 9 + 76g wholemeal bread (270) 205 + 22g cheese (352) 77 + 10g organic chorizo (498) 49 + 15g mustard (245) 36 + 20g Nori algae sheets (300) 60 + 20g avocado (160) 32 + 325g organic orange juice (54) 175

 

Total cals so far today: 87+375+813=1,275c

325c left for the rest of the day.

 

* 3.45pm Snack (coffee and cake) 325c 

Latte macchiato 80 + 107g chickpea cake 245

 

OMG, I so wanted another piece of cake, like right after. Just have to resist until tomorrow. 

 

That last meal followed by 16 hours of fasting.

 

Total cals so far today: 87+375+813+325=1,600c ?

Indoor bike (33 mins) burned 300 cals ?

 

Edited January 8, 2020 by Amandine

[Average Investor]

@Amandine Oh yeah, I can find pretty much anything when I go there. I have not had any of the issues you mentioned, but if I have a really good haul going I try to cash out sooner than later as I am not a big fan of leaving the cart around, but you pretty much have to.

Yeah, I imagine a good chunk of the reseller community is just scrapping by. A fair chunk of them are older and on disability etc and just use it to get a little income coming in. But trust me I usually don't see a lot of people looking like they are making big money there. Although, looks can be deceiving.  I see a lot of regulars at the one I go to. I have seen some people on youtube make close to 6 figures getting clothing and stuff from those all the time. Electronics would probably be too hard because it is really saturated. A lot of people want to get the electronics there. But even then you would be surprised at some of the stuff they are not aware of the value on and just leave it in the bins. There is a lot of resellers that make big money though too that I see. Most usually are just trying to make a little extra cash and are not taking it serious enough. It is a tremendous amount of work. I can't say that I am make any huge amounts of money right now though either. But I do fine. Most of my wealth is in inventory though, so not very liquid which is probably my only struggle. 

3 hours ago, Amandine said:

Today I'm gonna integrate another 16:8 Intermittant fast (8am to 4pm).

Just keep water on hand enough if you feel hungry. You adjust to it pretty well if you do it enough. 

Good work on the food today that looks like an excellent assortment of stuff. 

[Amandine]

 

14 hours ago, Average Investor said:

Just keep water on hand enough if you feel hungry. You adjust to it pretty well if you do it enough. 

Good work on the food today that looks like an excellent assortment of stuff. 

Aw thanks @Average Investor I appreciate the encouragement.  ?

Yeah, looks like water's the only thing I'm allowed, lol. 

Edited January 9, 2020 by Amandine

[Amandine]

Day 7:

Today's weight: 61.2kgs (134.6lbs) ?

Weight loss so far after 6 days: 1kg (2.2 lbs) ?

Weight loss to go: 6.2kgs (13.6 lbs) left to go

 

Starting weight: 62.2kgs (136.8 lbs)

Goal weight: 55kgs (121 lbs)

Total weight to lose: 7.2kgs (15.8 lbs)

 

Daily limit: 1,600 calories

Weight loss rate: 1 lb a week

Date goal weight: end April

 

Yesterday was a bit difficult in the evening, I really felt like giving in and felt I could really do with eating a bit more, but I resisted.  ?

Today I'm actually gonna have a day off.

It's Date Night tonight (= weakly cheat meal).

I'd normally have 1,200 calories for the rest of the day on Date night.

But exceptionally I'm not going to count them fastidiously today.

I made a great vegetarian aubergine feta gratin the other day, I calculated all the calories for the different ingredients, but then forgot to weigh the final dish, so don't know how many calories it contains. 

My hubby's been eating it on his own, he really loves it, and it smells great, so I'd really like a taste of it before it disappears, for at least one meal, lol.

So for lunch today I'm going to have a serving, but I'll be more careful next time to calculate the calories of the finished product!

I'll be back on track tomorrow though and will try and do a bit more indoor bike today and tomorrow to compensate.

The intermittant fasting definitely seems to give an added boost to the calorie counting, I like the 2 together.

 

* 7am Tea and Cake 340c

150g chickpea cake 340

 

* 7.30am Pre work-out coffee 87c

Cappuccino 87

 

* Indoor bike (30 mins) burned 270 cals

 

* 12.30pm Lunch (vegetarian aubergine feta gratin salad and dessert)

100g lettuce (17) 17 + 10g mayo (661) 66 + 40g onion (40) 16 + vegetarian aubergine feta gratin + organic buckwheat grains + 260g organic orange juice (54) 140 + finished off chickpea cake (150g? all gone now) + latte machiatto 80

 

Dinner 

1/2 bottle wine, petits fours/appetizers, starter, (small) main fish, (small) main meat, bread, dessert, mignardises 

 

Ha, way to go from a famine to a feast in the blink of an eye!

Hope that doesn't undo all my good work, I won't obviously be weighing myself for the next 2 days, lol

Edited January 10, 2020 by Amandine

[Amandine]

Day 8:

Today's weight: ?kgs (didn't weigh in ) 

Weight loss so far after 6 days: 1kg (2.2 lbs) ?

Weight loss to go: 6.2kgs (13.6 lbs) left to go

 

Starting weight: 62.2kgs (136.8 lbs)

Goal weight: 55kgs (121 lbs)

Total weight to lose: 7.2kgs (15.8 lbs)

 

Daily limit: 1,600 calories

Weight loss rate: 1 lb a week

Date goal weight: end April

 

Today I'm gonna integrate another 16:8 Intermittant fast (8.20am to 4.20pm).

As well as my 20' meditation, affirmations and daily chapter of "As a Man Thinketh", today I'm also going to be re-reading "You can Heal your Life" and "Love is letting go of Fear".

 

* 8am Pre work-out coffee 87c

Cappuccino 87

 

* Indoor bike (25 mins) burned 200 cals

 

* 11am Breakfast (muesli) 375c 

10g organic unsalted cashew nuts (623) 62 + 15g organic dried juicy apricots (231) 34 + 10g Bjorg organic sugarfree muesli (367) 36 + 10g organic sugar-reduced granola (437) 43 + 10g organic oatbran (359) 35 + 5g organic chia seeds (449) 22 + 100g organic fresh forest fruits (55) 55 + 200g organic soy milk (46) 88

 

Total cals so far today: 87c+375=462c 

 

* 3pm Lunch (croque monsieur)  821c

2g olive oil (900) 18 + 153g wholemeal bread (270) 413 + 22g cheese (352) 77 + 10g organic chorizo (498) 49 + 15g blue cheese (361) 54 + 388g organic orange juice (54) 210

 

Total cals so far today: 87+375+821=1,283c

317c left for the rest of the day.

 

* 4pm Snack (coffee and cake) 316c 

Made another awesome chickpea cake

Recipe: 500g jar cooked chickpeas (119) 595 + 7 (340g) organic eggs (146) 496  + 1 cup (125g) ground almonds (658) 822 + 2 (16g) sachets baking powder  (76) 12 + salt/sucralose = 1,925 whole cake (divided by 940g = 2 cals the gram) 

Latte macchiato 80 + 118g chickpea cake 236

 

That last meal will be followed by 16 hours of fasting.

 

Total cals so far today: 87+375+821+316=1,599c ?

Indoor bike (20 mins) burned 200 cals (had planned to do more cycling, not so well organised today)

Edited January 11, 2020 by Amandine

[Amandine]

Just say  F**k it!

At 20, I said F**k it to the ciggies, and stopped smoking just like that from one day to the next.

In December I said F**k it to the aperitifs, and stopped drinking just like that from one day to the next.

And last night, I  said F**k it to the ghosts, and stopped them just like that from one day to the next.

Nothing's gonna control me!

 

Not that I've ever actually seen any ghosts.

Or ever had the slightest paranormal experience.

But last night was the first time I went for a pee in the middle of the night in the pitch dark without turning a single light on.

Bloody stubbed my toe though (said F**k it! to that too), but it's all good, I'm dealing with my life-long ghost phobia which is the main thing.

 

Until now, I've only ever needed to just turn one light on, on my way to the loo.

But after starting meditation and listening to most of Leo's meditation videos, I soon got to the one called "The Dark side of Meditation": 

26:12 You might actually see angels and demons, again not imagined but like standing before you completely real, as real as I look to you now, but it's going to be an angel or a fucking demon like out of a movie.

26:30 You might see gods, deities, giant crawling insects, praying mantis people, spirit animals that talk to you, try to tell you things or maybe that try to kill you, try to claw at you.

26:45 You might see entities, you might see aliens, you might feel like you're being channeled by some sort of extraterrestrial or that you're getting abducted or probed and all these experiences are not just like mere dreams, like a nightmare. It can be a lot more realistic feeling and looking than that.

Don't know about you lot, but that scared the bejesus out of me.

Since hearing that, I've been blazing my way to the loo every night with every motherf**king light on.

Gonna send Leo my electricity bill, ha. 

 

It might sound irrational to some people to be phobic about something I've never seen or perhaps doesn't even exist, lol.

My catholic upbringing probably had something to do with it, going on about the holy ghost all the time.

But mostly it was my dad who frightened us when we were kids. 

He used to threaten to lock us up in the attic with the ghosts and witches if we were naughty.

He even had names for them, Brenda, Bertha, ... 

Discovered years later that's where he'd kept all his bags of porno mags. Go figure!

He obviously wanted to frightened everyone away from ever snooping around up there. 

And succeeded. The damage has been done, the phobias created and anchored deep.

 

But the phobia was busted last night by sheer F**k it! determination.

I simply asked myself what would be the worst possible scenario if I ever saw a ghost?

And decided that I'll just deal with it head on (excuse the pun) when and if it happens.

Like tell it to f**k the hell off out of my apartment for starters.

Or scream out loud or something.

Which ironically I ended up doing anyway after stubbing my toe in the dark. 

So yeah, progress is being made step by baby step.

 

I apologize in advance for all the profanities in this text, but the F**k it! message is a spiritual one. 

Edited January 11, 2020 by Amandine

[Amandine]

Day 9:

Today's weight: ?kgs (didn't weigh in ) 

Weight loss so far after 6 days: 1kg (2.2 lbs) ?

Weight loss to go: 6.2kgs (13.6 lbs) left to go

 

Starting weight: 62.2kgs (136.8 lbs)

Goal weight: 55kgs (121 lbs)

Total weight to lose: 7.2kgs (15.8 lbs)

 

Daily limit: 1,600 calories

Weight loss rate: 1 lb a week

Date goal weight: end April

 

As well as my 20' meditation, daily affirmations and next chapter of "As a Man Thinketh", today I'm also going to be working through "You can Heal your Life" and "Love is letting go of Fear".

 

* 8.20am Pre work-out coffee 87c

Cappuccino 87

 

* Indoor bike (35 mins) burned 300 cals

 

* 11.50am Breakfast (muesli) 360c 

10g organic unsalted cashew nuts (623) 62 + 15g organic dried juicy apricots (231) 34 + 10g Bjorg organic sugarfree muesli (367) 36 + 10g organic sugar-reduced granola (437) 43 + 10g organic oatbran (359) 35 + 5g organic chia seeds (449) 22 + 100g organic fresh forest fruits (55) 55 + 160g organic soy milk (46) 73 

 

Total cals so far today: 87c+360c=447c

 

* 1pm Lunch (croque monsieur)  787c

3g olive oil (900) 27 + 150g wholemeal bread (270) 405 + 22g cheese (352) 77 + 10g organic chorizo (498) 49 + 15g blue cheese (361) 54 + 324g organic orange juice (54) 175

Total cals so far today: 87c+360c+787=1,234c 

366c left for the rest of the day.

 

* 4pm Snack (coffee and cake) 366c 

Latte macchiato 80 + 118g chickpea cake 256

 

* 7.30pm Dinner (lentils & veggies) 200c? est. (had to eat dinner purely for logistic reasons, didn't want to throw food out, I could have fasted and also kept within my 1,600c cap, and gone without dinner, but appreciated the meal even so, just wasn't sure the food would stay fresh till tomorrow, and I hate wasting food)

lentils + veggies + olive oil

 

Total cals so far today: 87c+360c+787+200?=1,800c 

Indoor bike (20 mins) burned 200 cals

Edited January 11, 2020 by Amandine

[voxun]

Try a kettlebell HIIT workout. Kettlebells are very minimalistic and great for cardio, strength, core. 

I started put with one 12kg now I have 8 kettlebells laying around. Its gotten outof hand. ?

But seriously before I would go to the gym and I would waste one hour there (not counting the time it takes to get there). Now just 30 min a day from home I feel these workouts are so much more effective.

You'll get more out of it then the 35 min indoor bike. 

[Amandine]

Day 11:

Today's weight: ?kgs (didn't weigh in ) 

Weight loss so far after 6 days: 1kg (2.2 lbs) ?

Weight loss to go: 6.2kgs (13.6 lbs) left to go

 

Starting weight: 62.2kgs (136.8 lbs)

Goal weight: 55kgs (121 lbs)

Total weight to lose: 7.2kgs (15.8 lbs)

 

Daily limit: 1,600 calories

Weight loss rate: 1 lb a week

Date goal weight: end April

 

As well as my 20' meditation, daily affirmations and next chapter of "As a Man Thinketh", today I'm also going to be working through "You can Heal your Life" and "Love is letting go of Fear".

 

* 8.20am Pre work-out coffee 87c

Cappuccino 87

 

* Indoor bike (35 mins) burned 300 cals

 

* 11.50am Breakfast (muesli) 360c 

10g organic unsalted cashew nuts (623) 62 + 15g organic dried juicy apricots (231) 34 + 10g Bjorg organic sugarfree muesli (367) 36 + 10g organic sugar-reduced granola (437) 43 + 10g organic oatbran (359) 35 + 5g organic chia seeds (449) 22 + 100g organic fresh forest fruits (55) 55 + 160g organic soy milk (46) 73 

 

Total cals so far today: 87c+360=447c

 

* 1pm Lunch (croque monsieur)  702c

75g lettuce (17) 12 + 10g mayo (661) 66 + 60g tomato (18) 10 + 30g bell pepper (20) 6 + 20g cucumber (14) 2 + 25g onion (40) 10 + 1g olive oil (900) 9 + 70g wholemeal bread (270) 189 + 22g cheese (352) 77 + 10g organic chorizo (498) 49 + 15g mustard (245) 36 + 15g Nori algae sheets (300) 45 + 10g avocado (160) 16 + 324g organic orange juice (54) 175 

Total cals so far today: 87c+360+702=1,149c 

451c left for the rest of the day.

 

* 4pm Snack (coffee and cake) 805c 

Latte macchiato 80 + 200g chickpea cake 400 + glacage for cake 325c (30g organic coconut oil (900) 270 + 10g organic oat bran (359) 35 + 10g organic vitafiber (202) 20 = 325c

 

Total cals so far today: 87c+360+702+805=1,954c (not great)

Indoor bike (20 mins) burned 300 cals