Checking in: Reached a new goal with my weigh in today! I’ve set interim goals along the way to my final goal weight, and this was my 2nd goal. I am really chuffed.:-)
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Hello, newbie here.
I have had ME for the last 4 years, and am managing although life is far from normal – it’s a new normal. I have decided to try this diet so I can get some of the weight off that has been gained by not being able to work or walk my dog as far (some days not at all but she seems to understand). It has been good to read through all your posts, it sounds very positive on the whole.
My goal is to get back to the 9stone of the fifty-year old me. I have just turned sixty and now at around 12 and a half stone. I’m hoping it will help with the ME by at least not putting so much strain on the body.
It would be lovely to hear how people are getting on.
Hi Merle gt,
Welcome, and ” the new normal” is something many of us with CFS/ME understand. 5:2 seems to offer many of us “a new normal” that we are working towards. For me, my long term goal is to get from 13 stone to 9stone 2 lbs, my 40+ weight that was my old long term weight. I’m now about 11stone 11lb and enjoying the journey on 5:2. Already, I can tell the difference of simply moving easier and with better balance.
Merle, let us know how you’re going along the way, and psting whatever you want to about your journey.
Cheers,
Merry
Hi guys. Just thought I would pop in.
I’ve been stuck at the same weight for a few months and finding it difficult to get back into 5/2. At least I haven’t put any weight back on I suppose. I still need to lose a stone or so, I look about in the second trimester of pregnancy!
I wish you all every success in achieving your goals and getting some health benefits.
🙂
Ohmygosh, you gals CRACK me UP! I’ve been relating and giggling for the last hour reading your posts on this thread! Thank you! I don’t feel so “alone.” Especially talking about weight gain and CFS.
It’s so interesting…it really seems that y’all in the UK have a much better understanding of CFS than my gals here in the U.S. I’m so glad I found this group. I am currently finishing up a 10-day, somewhat involuntary fast (major family issues) and started doing some reading on fasting with CFS and came across this site and all of your lovely posts. I can’t wait to read more about the 5:2 fast and get started in a bit. Yee-haw! (yes, I’m from the Southwest!)
P.S. What does “chuffed” mean? lol
P.P.S. How many pounds is a “stone?”
Hi Mr C,
How are you going this week? Good to hear that you haven’t put the weight back on. I’ve been reading back through your messages, and sounds like you’ve done well so far, and you’re back on here, all steps forward. I’m sure you’ll get started again. It’s encouraging to know that you’ve kept the weight off, because , of course, that’s something that we all want to happen.
How is your wife going? Hope she is well. Check in again Mr C. 🙂
Cheers,
Merry
Hi Jilly, welcome!
Glad you enjoyed the posts and they’ve given you hope. Michael Mosely’s book is a good place to start. Keep checking in here and we can all encourage each other along the way.
As Merle said a stone is 14 lbs. A kilo is 2.2 lbs, so a stone/14 lbs is approx. 6.4 kgs.
Anyway, waving to UK and South-west USA from the east coast of Australia, and ‘chuffed’ means ‘pleased’ here too.
It is really encouraging to have the 5:2 fasting regime available to us, Looking forward to hearing from you again 🙂
Hi Merry,
Thank you for you detailed response and advice. I really appreciate it and wanted to give you an update on where I’ve got to…
After another week of being really time poor and very stressed out at work I felt I didn’t have the mental power to start the 5:2 until work settled down …so… as a minimum I started the 1200cal p.day meal delivery service and (due to work) unintentionally incorporated the 8 hour eating window. In my first week I lost 4kg and the second 2kg (great!). The bad part… with the rapid weight loss and low sodium diet i had about 8 dizzy spells a day (luckily the worst was a brusied knee and a couple of bumps on the head. I increased my salt intake and alternated the delivered meals with some heavier dinners which have stopped almost all dizziness. I have not lost any more weight since but I have jogged my fastest 5kms! I have just started another solid week of the 1200cal again but with increased salt…. will let you know how I go.
So impressed with your efforts, keep goiiiiinnng! I am determinded to kick the CFS… in the mean time I also need to kick my office job!
Thanks again,
M86
Hello
I have been suffering with ME/CFS for a few years now along with fibromyalgia, an underactive thyroid and vitamin D deficiency. I have put on over 40lbs along the way.
Someone recommended the 5:2 diet to me as a way of managing my weight and hopefully improve how I feel. It would be great to reduce some of the pain medication I take and lose a few pounds along the way. I am starting my first fast day tomorrow and am a little apprehensive. Breakfast/no breakfast?
Solo
Hi everyone, anyone out there still on this thread of the forum?
I am still on 5:2 – 6 months now. I have lost 8 kgs, and have been away overseas for a month, and managed to continue 5:2 most of the time then, coming home only 800gms heavier than when I left, and having eaten many different things while away. I have been able to reduce my blood pressure medication by half. My doctors are very happy for me to be on 5:2. I have another 12 kgs to go. Not putting a date on it to be gone by. Best to just keep going, and it will arrive when it arrives.
I am feeling quite good on 5:2. My body seems to like it, and I intend to contue on it as a maintenance program when I reach my goal. I now only have 1 meal on fast days, and don’t eat till 6pm, and then not after 7 pm. I drink lots of water, pepperment tea, and very weak black Earl Grey Tea.
If I eat grain s or grain products of any sort, Gluten free or not, the weight doesn’t come off, even if I stick to the right calories, so these are off the menu while I lose the weight.
I function best if I don’t shift the days around, so stick to Mon, Thur as fast days.
Cheers to everyone,
Merry
Hi and hello to you all, is great (well not really) to hear of people with same problems as me, and good advise too. I’m suffering with Fibromyalgia and CFS , and have been for last seven years weight piled on and still is, at alarming rate. Just started 5:2,but have real problem with energy crash,am so tired tho more like bad fatigue all I want to do is eat chocolate or peanut butter, and sleep. Have given in and eaten, but this is always happening, does anyone know what is happening or how to help? Would appreciate any feedback thanks
Hi Peapoddyparker. I’ve had CFS for 19 years but have recently started improving by implementing treatments that are explained in the wonderful book “From Fatigued to Fantastic” by Dr Jacob Teitelbaum. It’s the best CFS book Ive ever read and his treatment protocol has been proven very effective in a double blind, placebo controlled trail. The web-site is (I think) endfatigue.com. The book includes advice for those with CFS who have gained weight and who have food cravings.
All the best, Brogo Barb.
Hi all,
My wife has been worse than usual since she had pneumonia April 2014 and so is getting even less excercise. So we are both stuck on the same weight the past few months.
I think the only way I am going to properly get back into 5/2 is if someone locks me in the shed two days a week. Must. Be. Positive.
Anyway, the good news is that “dad-bods” are in. Yay!
Hello friends,
I came down with ME (or CFS as some call it) in 2012.
At first I lost 10lbs or so quite quickly and then stayed about the same weight for ages. In the last year however those 10lbs have crept back on again, so I’d rather loose them once more & I recently downloaded the 5:2 Diet as an Audiobook and so got inspired.
So four fast days in, and I’m surprised how easy the fast days are for me. I don’t usually eat first thing in the morning anyway, and so now I just eat half an apple or something at lunch time, and then eat an evening meal.
I’m tracking what I eat on MFP too – not that it likes Fast Days, nor the fact I eat a bit “over” on my NFDs.
Activity wise, I’m not great, but I get out using wheels… and that keeps me sane… (-ish 😉 )
I don’t think I’ve lost much weight yet, but I reckon a half a pound a week will be just fine. So no hurry.
Best wishes folks… Oh and I blog a bit about ME issues here: http://sallyjustme.blogspot.co.uk/
Hi everyone! Welcome to Peapoddyparker – can I call you Ppp? Welcome to Brogo Barb, welcome to Keela, and good to hear from you again MrC:-)welcome also to Solo- hope you are all going OK.
Not sure how many of us are lurking and reading this list, but as we all have some extra challenges energy wise, I’m sure there’s a few, so hello to those just able to read as well:-)
Sometimes life with ME/CFS is just like eating the proverbial elephant, 1 bite at a time. Itis a challenge to add something new into our lives. We have to be so careful to pace our lives and operate within our personal energy envelope. We know our lives are not as they were but it’s important to keep our eyes looking forward, pass through our grief stage, and build a new life with our new parameters, slowly, slowly improving. we need to be careful not to take on too much too quickly or we go backwards and damage our health further. How wonderful though, that we now have 5:2 as another tool in the arsenal to improve our lives.
For those of us who put on weight with ME/CFS, or were overweight when we got it, here is a way we can use, when we’re ready, over time, to get that excess weight off, so our bodies and hearts aren’t carrying that extra burden.
I’m celebrating losing 10.5 kgs now ( 23lbs). Ive had a recent check in with my cardiologist and some tests, and he’s very happy with my progress, and I don’t have to go back routinely now. ( I have a small amount of tachycardia not major problems ) He’s also suggesting I could go off blood pressure tabs totally soon. I was 83.1 kgs (183 lbs) when I started losing weight, and was 72.5kgs (160lbs) this morning. Today is a Fast Day(FD) for me. I’ve been plateauing for a couple of months and have just started going down again last week. I had dithered around trying to get off grains again after a trip away in New Zealand, trying different foods. I’m grain and gluten intolerant, though not coeliac, so had just put up with symptoms while I was away. Not eating heaps of grains, but enough to be a nuisance getting back off them when I got home. My mouth likes grains! Darn it. My goal weight is 62 kgs(136 lbs), and I set short goals without dates, along the way.
How are you all going?
Just a bit of indentity info – I’m 64, live in Australia, have had ME/CFS for 17 yrs. it began with a severe unknown virus, and I was at 5 % on the rating scale. by chance I discovered that taking CoEnzyme Q10 allows my body to make more energy. Takes 30 mins before I feel the change and lasts about 4 hrs. I now live at 35%. The Professor and Head of Infectious Diseases at a teaching hospital who diagnosed my ME/CFS thinks it’s possible I have a degree of mitochondrial dysfunction. I take 1200-1400 mg/ day, a large amount. My reaction to CoEnzyme Q10 seems to be quite unusual. One of my medicos has Lupus , tried Co EnzymeQ10, and no extra energy, but it takes much of her pain away. Next appointment I had with her, she was so excited she presented my with a lovely box of Lindt chocolates! My husband and I enjoyed them, kept up our FDs and just didn’t lose any that week!
Interesting about the Co Enzyme Q10 – I started taking this early in my illness (2012) having read about its benefits from Dr Myhill.
About January this year I switched to the ubiquinol variety (I think the cheaper ones are all ubiquinone) and although I didn’t notice any energy improvement, I eventually worked out that it had been interfering with my sleep. (And “yes” I did take it in the morning.)
I have come off all Co Q10 and now sleep better.
I will probably go back on the cheap variety again, but for now I’m taking a break from all supplements for a period of time, with the plan that I’ll reintroduce them one at a time.
PS Should have said – no noticeable change in energy levels either on or off Co Q10!
Very interesting Keela. I have to judge my CoQ10 needs as I go through the day. I taper it off in the evening. Too much and I’ll have trouble sleeping. I’ve pretty much had to be out on my own with trialling this, as my response is unusual. When I took the 1 st capsule, 30 min later I was able to get out of bed and take a shower. Was bedbound most of the day at that point.
I don’t take anything I don’t absolutely have to. I sometimes have the opposite reaction, in a bad way, to things than most people. I’ve had several bad reactions to natural products that other people find helpful. Since it can take months and years to come back from a bad reaction, I don’t try new things anymore. If I have a new medication or change I take very small doses and build up to the prescribed dose over a few weeks. I also don’t take the cheaper version of medications because the fillers that bulk out the tablets are often unknown.
Have a good week everyone,
Merry
Hi to everyone who may be lurking, newbies, I’ll keep putting progress repots here as I go along even if I’m the only one active.
Weight: 70.8 kgs (156 lbs) a loss of 1.7kgs or 4 lbs since 6th July
Total lost: 12.3 kgs (27 lbs)
Next short goal: 69.9 kgs (154 lbs)
Final goal : 62 kgs (136 lbs)
No dates for goals. Goal is to keep going till done.
Observations: now seem to be regularly losing. Weigh daily on rising, record the daily weight and graph weekly. I graph my Monday weight at the beginning of my 1st Fast Day (FD) of the week. – my highest weight of the week. Others often graph the morning after their 2nd FD- the lowest weight of the week. It doesn’t matter which day is graphed, just stick to the same day each week. Many measure waist arms, thighs, wrists neck etc. I don’t, but many find when weight plateaus the measurements keep going down.
My plateau was 2 1/2 months. Now I drop smaller amounts per week, but it’s a steady downward line on the graph. I’m happy.
I don’t drink calories except 1 skim milk coffee/ week.
FDs are Monday and Thursday.
My face looks normal now. Balance is improved especially on stairs. My stride has lengthened a little, and normal walking pace a little quicker. Have dropped a clothes size to 14 – Australian sizing, looking more normal sized, took in a hole on my watch this week.
Happy fasting,
Merry
Hi Merryme
I’m still on the 5/2 diet but had a week off when I was away on an ME therapy retreat… then it took me over a week to get back on track!!
So yesterday saw me committed once more – I fast Tuesdays & Fridays.
Start wt 147lbs (mid June)
Now 142lbs
Aim 134lbs
Onwards and upwards!
Or should that be Onwards and downwards… 😉
Keela
Hi Keela,
Congratulations on your loss. Well done!
What I love about 5:2 is it’s do-able. If I fall off I just get back on. Sometimes I plan to fall off, like special occasions, and just get back on. I am just so grateful to have found something that will get my weight back to normal and keeping it there, which gives me the best chance to maximise what I can do. I see it now as a way of life.
Yep, onwards and downwards it is:-)
Merry
Hi, and checking in…
Big drum roll……69.3kgs (152 1/2lbs), a loss of 1.5kg (3 1/2lbs) since 5th August.
I’ve been paying extra attention to my Non Fast Days (NFD) and eating in an 8hr window, so 12noon to 8pm. This is also referred to as 16:8. I find it easy to do. I’m not at all hungry till at least so I’m finding it easy to do.
Also on NFDs I’m eating foods on the low calorie end of food groups. So…
Protein: prawns, calamari or squid, white fish e.g. Basa, lower cal silken tofu, lean chicken breast, a little lean beef mince, smaller amounts of lower cal cheeses, kangaroo ( don’t be horrified- there are many millions of them and they sometimes get culled, it’s been eaten for thousands of years, it’s very low cal non fatty meat, you can buy it in the supermarket). And eggs, and occasionally lean pork.
Vegies: low cal, i.e. Broccoli, green beans, carrot, zucchini(courgettes), mushrooms of all varieties, cauliflower, brussell sprouts,You could add onions and cabbage family of vegies, capsicums. Asian greens of all sorts plus bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, lotus root, seaweeds, mung and soybean sprouts.
Fruit: again low cal ones: strawberries, rockmelon, apple, pear, orange.
I’m intolerant to all grains except corn, and they stop me from losing weight if I eat them anyway, so I make sure I take B vitamins.
Small amount of olive oil, low cal dressing, herbs, spices,lemon etc to give flavour boosts. Many peopke find adding chilli and making things strong flavoured gives a feeling of satiety.
I also eat small amounts of raw nuts, this week it was walnuts; also small amounts of dried apricots.
Drinks: lots of water, sparkling water, weak black teas, 1 skinny flat white per week.
This is just what I regularly eat. I’m also on the Southern Hemisphere list, and people eat all sorts of various foods. This way of life (WOL) seems adaptable to so many different ways of living and different food styles. Some people love recipes. We, my husband and I (or OH i.e. Other half) are fairly simple in the kitchen. Some people plan their meals weeks ahead. We buy what’s in season and is reasonably priced, and we cook from what’s in the fridge freezer and cupboard. Stir fry, salads, soups, ‘meat/fish and microwaved vegies are common, omolette, boiled eggs also.
Sending gentle hugs to you,
Merry
Hello CFSers! I am on my seventh week of the 5:2 diet and I really love it! (I thought I was in my 8th week, oops! Brain fog?)
I was really worried I wouldn’t be able to manage it, but I have made it easy for myself, and I really look forward to fast days (and then look forward to non fast days).
Thanks for your posts Merry, keeping this thread alive. Congratulations too! I am just beginning to see clothes getting easier. The main thing I notice is a feeling of lightness: not so much weight loss, but the burden of digestion lifted or something!
Hi Cinque!
Was going to say, good to see you here, but of course it would be better if none of us had to be here, but you know what I mean. A couple of other people on the Southern Hemispherites have a teenage child with CFS.
Congratulations Cinque! You’ve gone a long way already. I’m glad you’ve found 5:2 and that you’re able to work with it to help you. I agree with you, I look forward to FDs and NFDs too, and it is amazing to me to find something that gets my weight down. I get that feeling of lightness too, and I definitely feel better without the heavy feeling in my stomach.
I’ve just had a week away visiting family and eating some wheat so have to get back off it now. Wheat gives me joint inflammation, so a bit achey, but OK. It’s lovely to see my little grandchilfren. They are a joy. The reduction in my weight means I can do a little bit more with them now, which is so special.
Onwards and Downwards,
Cheers,
Merry
Thanks so much Merry.
I did find it ‘good’ to find some CFSers (MEers, or now perhaps SEIDers!) here. It seems with ME/CFS that we either have hot feet, or cold feet, we sleep all day, or we can’t sleep at all, we get very fat, or we get very thin! I am the one with insomnia, cold feet and too much fat!
I love that you mention grandchildren! I have just one (after having only one daughter myself and discovering that motherhood and CFS are a bad combination). I have such confidence in this fasting as a way of life, that I am really optimistic now that the overweight part of my life won’t be an added burden on top of everything else. I have to fly to Sydney to see my daughter and family and so glad not to be too weighty for the poor people who have to push me to the boarding gate in a wheelchair.
I have had a busy morning so I am going to curl up and rest on the couch for a bit (with heat bags for those cold feet!)
I hope some of the other ME/CFSers come to say what is happening in their lives.
I am glad you understood about that feeling of lightness!
Cheers
Hey everyone!
Im new to the whole 5:2 diet and about to start this week! I was SO pleased to see a forum for CFS as I have battled with this for about 10 years and Im sick to death to be fair. Id always thought that fasting would make me feel worse but reading all these great stories has really got me excited and hopeful! thanks to everyone who shared their stories x
Hi veganchch!
Welcome to the 5:2 forum!
You know we understand here what you have been through these last 10 yrs. read, This is do-able with CFS.
I have been on 5:2 for almost a year and have lost 15 kgs. The first 3 weeks were somewhat tedious getting my head around what was 500 calories. Some people have their fast day(FD) calories in 2-3 small meals and some do 1 larger meal in the evening. Drink water, tea, coffee, pepoermint seems popular, as is adding stronger tastes like herbs, spices and chilli to food if your tummy handles them.
I am overseas at the moment, the travelling is easier, I’m fasting wihile travelling, mostly, and not much time to post, but again welcome, let us jknow how you’re going.
Buy for now,
Merry
Hi Veganchch,
Welcome here! I am still going strong, so I hope 5:2 suits you as much as it does me.
What day do you think you will start?
I am still going on with my two small meals on Fast Day. Porridge in the morning, and soup and toast (good homemade bread toast) in the evening.
I go a bit over the 500 calories with milk in my cuppas, but I am hoping I will be able to cut them down, and drink water and herbal tea. I am not pushing myself though, and the Fasting is working anyway.
Hi Merry! Best wishes for your travels!
Porridge and soup sound like my sorta thing! I LOVE porridge! Im thinking of making my fasting days like tue and thu. No real reason just random days lol. Im so excited to start! Ill plan out my meals for those days so I know what Im doing from the minute I get out of bed! Bring on the weight loss and feeling good 🙂
Hi Cinque,
Thank you! Fast Day tomorrow, and it will be interesting. Did 24 hr stopover in Singapore to catch up on sleep. Have been 2 weeks in Turkey, and now started on the river cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam. Not sure if I try to explain my Mon/Thur fasting to wait staff in ship dining room. They’re already organising grain free food for me. In Turkey was a little more challenging but do-able. They have good fresh food there, but lots of wheat to avoid. Pretty much missing breakfast each day to help keep down the quantity of food on non-fast (NFD) days. Travelling , especially on organised tours, gets very food focussed and lots of it -especially on cruises of any sort. There’s always so many interesting things to try! The travel scales have been working well. I’m very encouraged by the extra capacty I have now that I’m so much lighter. Walking is easier, slopes and stairs are a bit easier too, and I’m walking a bit longer.
How are you going Cinque?
Cheers,
Merry
Good morning!
It is a lovely morning here.
I will be fasting Tuesday too, I think, I don’t do the same days every week, and I am a bit chaotic this week. I am recovering from overdoing it badly on last Friday. But probably Tuesday and Friday.
Merry I am so glad you are managing travel, and managing food. Oh yes, when I think of Turkish food, bread comes straight to mind.
Cheers to the beautiful Danube!
I think the discipline we have to learn managing CFS helps with 5:2. Not just stoicism though the hunger pains, but being able to take the longer view, and adjusting things around it.
And thinking of all the things we try that make no difference to our health… and this one made an immediate difference to me, upping my wellbeing, and this excellent long term difference of losing the excess weight.
Best wishes for a good day!
Good Morning from Bratislava,
Cinque, your comments are spot on!
I found almost instant relief. It only took a short time before I was looking forward to FDs. FD for me today. The ship will be easier with food I think. Turkey was bread, gozleme, pide, cheese pastries at every dinner, etc but also lots of very fresh salads with fresh herbs, soft cheeses, eggs. Vegetables and meat, seafood, were more basic but good. And, of course, deserts are often wheat based with biscuits and pastries and dripping with honey and sugar. tried all the things I’ve never had before which was interesting but meant I’ve been having to put up with aching joints a bit, and gut changes. Put on a kg or 2 but mostly water retention from my wheat and grain problem. 69.3kgs this morning. Left home at 67.8. Off the grains from today so will see what happens.
Time to go. It is so exciting to be able to do more than I could. Attempting a walking tour this morning of 1 1/2 hrs. Walk stop walk stop…so lots of creative leaning against things at the stops, sit where possible.Have gone well so far. Have forgotten to do stretching exercises, but started yesterday.
Must go,
Soft hugs to everyone, talking and lurking,
Merry ((( )))
Well hello in Bratislava! Or have you moved on already?
I hope your walk went well, I am so glad you are able to do that walk, even with all the stops, and see the wonderful richness of the world.
Fast Day today. I have green pea soup in the fridge for tonight. I think it is calorific enough that I won’t have any accompaniment with it (added cream!).
Sending best wishes to you Vega (if you don’t mind the name shortening!). I am not sure what part of the world you are in, but there is a good chance my Tuesday is starting before yours (Australia).
I have set up a community food project which is growing slowly (I know my limitations) but we have just hit a stressful snag, so I immediately start having trouble sleeping. I am doing what I can, and I have managed 5 hours a night. But it means I have to go even more slowly and more carefully.
Fast Day is actually a relief because I just focus on the rules: this meal, that meal, and nothing in between) and know I will wake up tomorrow feeling good. But I am having lots of cups of tea!
@cinque is Vega me? lol Im a fan of shortening names! Im in NZ 🙂 But we are starting our fast next tuesday so we have the right food, meal planned out, so we are set for success! And when I say we, my brothers GF lives here so we are doing it together! yeeee haaaaa!
Yes Vega, I did mean you 🙂
Aha, you will be up and started before me next Tuesday.
How lovely to have someone to do it with! And a great idea to be all organised!
Best wishes for a good day today.
PS someone on another thread was saying they have been watching youtube about 5:2 and picking up lots of helpful tips and philosophy. I might check it out too when I am resting.
Hi Cinque, Veganchch, and all the lurkers,
I hope you are all keeping as well as possible.
OH (other half) and I are presently near the Rhine Gorge in Germany. Beautiful cruise up the river and I have clocked up a couple of 1sts in my 17 yrs of ME/CFS. I can attribute them to losing 15 kgs on 5:2One day I miscalculated on getting back to the boat and was 3 blocks out on the map, of where I had to be for All Aboard time. I was on my own and did not have enough time to walk the 3 blocks in time, so walked fast, ran, walked fast, ran, walked fast ran etc till I got to the ship just in time. Rested the rest of the day, but I did it. First run of any sort since you know when. I year ago I couldn’t have done it. The other 1st is I’ve been dancing, which is just about my favourite thing ever. 3 nights, (not consecutive) I’ve been able to dance for a very satisfying time. Between the running and the dancing I’ve I’ve really only had 1 session of long extra sleep. I am so, so happy to be able to get some functioning back. I’ve had a bit of aching of course, but I’ fortunate to not have much FM, so it’s been OK.
Food wise I don’t eat breakfast at all, have mostly done Fast days but didn’t do it on Monday this week. Not drinking calories is great, and I’m keeping pretty even with my weight. Other food is part of the experience for me so I’m aiming to come back the same weight as when I left. Mini scales are great and other passengers are borrowing them!
Cheers,
Merry
Hey gals!!
Well I must confess, ive Been to chicken to start fasting. I struggle with hunger and dont handle it well, and Im struggling to calculate a days eating plan for fasting days. Maybe ill hatch a plan tonight and have a crack at fasting tmw!
Hope you are all doing good! Enjoying reading about your travels Merry!
How are you cinque?
Hey MerryMe
Lovely to hear you are enjoying your cruise on the Rhine. Hubby and I are going there next week. I’m hoping to take some nice photos from the boat, as my health probably won’t let me go ashore much. I understand the scenery is amazing.
We went up the Danube last year on the Lord Byron and it was heaven. The food was fantastic, so I just ate as I wanted for the week, and dealt with the consequences later.
It’s an ideal holiday for us really, as hubby has ready-made company to go and explore ashore and the ship is often moored up somewhere scenic for me… or at least it is quiet and peaceful for me to catch some extra zzzz’s
😀
LOL this thread is quite getting me in the mood now. Have fun.
S
Hi Everyone!
Vega, it would be lovely if you had a go tomorrow! I am doing it too!
I’ll come on in the morning and see!
I’ve got sorrel soup already in the fridge for the evening, and oats ready for porridge in the morning.
That does me.
Merry how exciting to hear of you running and dancing! Even a little bit! And obviously without too much payback. I am so glad. It sounds like you are really able to make the most of your trip. With CFS that is amazing!
I am feeling my health has taken a step up too. I am pushing too hard at the moment, keeping up with a project I am doing, building up to our big day on the 15th. I am pleased with how well I am managing, and I think the fasting, including the weight loss, helps. So I am pretty good thanks.
Hi Keela, Wow all this cruising. It seems it is a pretty me/cfs friendly way to travel.
Night time here. I had a big plate of felafal and salad and tahini sauce with a friend and now I am looking forward to fasting tomorrow!
Goodmorning, lovely day. First coffee. Fast Day. Not hungry so I will wait and see if I have my porridge before or after my meeting at 10. It always feels weird having porridge later, but it would be even more confusing to change my routine.
I wonder if you decided today is the day Vega? Maybe next week instead.
Having CFS is so hard every day, that it can seem self defeating to do something that makes it harder. But luckily for me fasting makes it life easier.
Best wishes to everyone. Keela are you fasting at the moment?
Hi Everyone,
Home from my travels!
Arrived home after 5 weeks away, and ta da, my weight is only up 500gms, or 1.1 lb. Very successful trip weight wise. Coming from the otherside of the world it will be a couple of days till fluid balance is stable after 21 hrs of flights home!
I did most of my fast days, though the last 2 were incomplete ones. ‘ I’ve eaten what I wanted to. So, in travelling, I’ve reaffirmed that lot’s of easily obtainable food specialties from most countries revolves around grains, sigh. So, being someone who can only eat grains with some consequences, I put up with the consequences(achy joints, swolen hands, ankles etc) while keeping grains to a minimum, but still experiencing what other coubtries have to offer. So, the good and the bad together. That said, for me, eating grains and other starchy carbs like potatoes, pumpkin, sweet potato, all halt my weight loss. So, I’ve also been keeping those to a minimum, though the last week has been the hardest and I gave up part way thru the last 2 fast days. Putting that down to stress, as I was more than ready to come home, and my tiredest week was the last, where 2 days were spent doing very little, and I was sleeping long hours, 12hrs out of each 24. All up though, I’ve come home with the results as expected. I reckon I’d be a kilo(2.2lbs) lighter except for the last week, where I was eating bread each day, and potaos a few days.
Results:
1. Up 500gms in 5 weeks, and up till 1 week ago was even down a kg.
2. Travel scales worked really well,
3. Being 15 kgs lighter made an amazing difference to what I did on the trip!
4. Walked at a normal speed most of the time, and kept up with most on-the-ground tours. Only 1 day where I joined the slow group. Did 2 back to back 2wk tours!
5. I enjoyed trying all sorts of new foods, and that included sweets(dessert), cake, icecream etc.
6. Not drinking calories was a great strategy. Water, hot water sometimes, weak tea, tiny coffees, sometimes with sugar, sometimes sweetener, Not an alcohol/soft drink/ or juice drinker so that helped.
6. Rarely ate breakfast. If I did it was light.
7. Did 8 FDs successfully, 2 I gave up on.
8. Danced properly for the 1st time in 17 yrs.
9. Ran a bit for the 1st time in 17 yrs, rested the rest of the day.
10. No full on crash days! A 1st for my travels. I’m always walking a line between doing too much/ too little when travelling, as I travel with my husband (other half-OH), and I’m conscious of his travel needs – too much at times. I was better, this trip, at stating what I needed to do, or would do, to keep my energy pacing successful.
10. I enjoyed the company of other people as much as I wanted to.
11. Day after travel home, and I feel tired-ish, but not jet lagged, though it’s early days yet. It may hit tomorrow or the next day.
So….I am very happy. Tomorrow is another FD, and I have 7kgs to go to achieve my long term goal of 62kgs, which will be a total loss of 22 kgs I put on through CFS.
I think I’ve well and truly proven that the 5:2 program works well with my CFS. It has also greatly improved my quality of life, and lifted me up on the CFS scale. I started at 5/100 17 yrs ago. Was 35/100 when I started 5:2 a year ago. I’ll look back at the scale soon, and work out where I am now.
Onwards and downwards,
Cheers and perfume free soft hugs,
Merry
Woot Merryme! What a wonderful success!
Talk about a glorious list!
Just fabulous, what can I say!
And how nice to be home again and able to take it slowly, but not with massive payback (hopefully… just incase it is one of those nasty ones that sneak up on you!).
I am having some jetlagged payback days after a big day last Thursday with the project I am doing. But I am doing all the good things.
I was thinking, with Keela talking about not being ready to Fast yet, how important it is with CFS to be in the right space to try something new. It is always a gamble, and we know that we have to wear the consequences if we try something that fails.
I am so glad that, for me, Fasting has been easy. It is as easy to do on my bad days as it is on my good days. Ofcourse the fact that it is increasing my wellbeing, and helping me lose weight, makes it even more attractive.
Hello all the CFSers out there in, or hovering around, 5:2 land and cheers again Merryme on such a wonderful, and well managed, holiday!
Hey gals!
Well done merryme on your amazing list! well done! I cant even imagine a holiday, let alone one I would be able to physically manage. I havent started fasting yet. Guess im too lazy and a major over eater since I gave up smoking. Any tips to kick me in the butt and get started? My mood is low too which doesnt help.
I do love reading your comments and stories! Makes me feel less alone and hopeful for the future! xo
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17 Feb 15