Welcome kapet. Look back on the home page for the thread called LOACA Recioe thread. Full of great ideas. P
This topic contains 27,907 replies, has 831 voices, and was last updated by thinatlast 4 days, 7 hours ago.
PVE and GrahamE, Its great being in this family with all the support, Ta muchly.
I was advised to have the 5 min interval slow cruise as many moons ago had two heart attacks
and for some strange reason they didn’t want me to have another!
I’ve been limited to heart Rate Max of only 125 bpmwhen on the Ex bike and only work up a sheen so no buckets of sweat and tears.
The fast Ex book is well worth a browse, very much so if your out in the country or don’t like gyms. Some VERY good info and common sense.
For those who find fast days difficult or NBG you should get one of these.
Tried to post photo of a great fasting spoon with a large hole in the middle but no go.
Cheers,
Tim.
So I cooked a lot today, enough soup and curry for 2 fast days. WOW :-0 I can’t believe how many calories vegetables have!! I last lost 20 kg 2 years ago on Weight Watchers, and veges were not even counted, now I’m tossing up whether to abandon the carrots in favour of more celery as it has 1/3 the calories…Who da thunk it?
I’m also trying not to get too obsessive ahead of day 1 tomorrow and reminding myself that it is just one day. Silver tea sounds great Violet May, perhaps with some juice from the many lemons my tree is producing.
Katep – as I’m still waiting for the books, I just looked up the calorie count for 100gm of various vegetables on a site called fat secret.com (or something like that) and made a soup for 250 calories and a curry for 250 calories which should last me both fast days. Also planning to have my usual 2 boiled eggs in the morning, at least for now until I see how I go as they’re very costly. I’m planning to still have 3 ‘meals’ a day as I work full time and can’t imagine going all afternoon on nothing.
I do feel well prepared though, thanks to all the advice and support – THANK YOU!
Morning all!
Hope those of you fasting today will have a wonderful one, and when things get antsy today I’m planning on grooving my way through it with a little extra help, courtesy of Miss Donna Summer and if necessary KC and the sunshine band…..remember those? Haha! Shows my age, but the music still makes me want to dance.
Ensitu good to hear that you are all prepared for today, try and go without one of your 3 meals, have a serving of miso soup or carrot instead if you must. The reason why it’s called the ‘fast’ diet is because we spend a good chunk of the day without a meal, and that is what seems to provide the benefits as to lowering one’s blood glucose levels, cholesterol, visceral fat, etc. Just. Try it for one day. And see if you manage, you might surprise yourself at how easy it really is!
Well cheers my dears, I’m off to Dunecare!
Welcome Becky.
My husband and I started early 2013 and for many months we lost a kilo every week. Total loss 56kg between us.
My advice. ..set your TDEE low (say 1300-1600) and watch what you eat on non fast days until you reach your goal.
There is no magic to this. Total calories in and total calories out effects your weight. But 5:2 is so much more than weight loss. Humans seem to need the fasts to kick their bodies in to health. Hubby is off ibsulin for diabetes 2 as one example.
All thr best. Keep posting. PVE
Hi I am from NZ and on my 3 fast day,week 2. I had a pretty bad weekend though ( food and wine wise ) so hope I don’t think I can over compensate.I am hoping this will plateau out over time. I am 53 and have been on diets all my adult life. I am sick of obsessing about food so hope this plan will work for me. Any motivational tips would be greatly received.
Hehe! Quick n dirty vs slow n steady. 🙂
Im guessing it’s all in the psychology of each of us, and we’re all different. I am also a quick results person. I lost 7 kgs in the first 5 weeks. Then I plateaued for some time, while my body shape dropped a whole size. I absolutely needed the quick results in both weight and size to continue to be motivated. Call me shallow, but highly motivated. 🙂
Like Purple, I cut out all grains, starches and sugars, (and also alcohol in my case), just for the first month to give myself a huge kick start. I ate only green vegetables, salads, carrot, celery, and small portions of protein (chicken, fish), and litres of water.
I needed to learn what a normal healthy portion size was. My stomach shrank in those first two weeks, and I physically could not eat what I had previously eaten at a meal. I am staggered at what I thought was a normal portion size pre 5:2 WOL.
All the best with whatever method you choose. I have never done an extended fast. The other take home message is to last as long as possible between meals. And not to graze on any day of the week. 🙂 V I’ve la difference. B
Hi Deb
My hints. Drink water whenever you feel hungry. Also, never graze. Put as much time between food as possible. Be sure that your fast days are around 36 hours long. For example, if Monday is your fast day, then don’t eat after 8 pm on Sunday and last until 7 am on Wednesday morning. Try to wean yourself off the notion that you need three meals a day. Give up carbohydrates in the early days, if you want quick results.
Don’t make up for your fast days by feasting on the other 5 days. Just eat normal helpings of healthy food. Make little indulgences a genuine treat, not something you reward yourself with on a regular basis.
Most of all, have fun!
Apart from my health benefits, I really appreciate the feeling that I am back in control. I now do not eat when bored, tired, stressed, emotional. These were my triggers. It is such a relief!!
You will succeed if you persist 🙂 B
Thanks for the replies guys. Haha! Quick and dirty, well certainly hasnt been that IHAW! Am enjoying it though and some loss is better than none. Not planning on losing heaps (8 kgs would be nice, sitting at 74 atm)and am feeling other benefits. A freezing winter hasnt been great either exercise wise. Love that I don’t feel like I’m depriving myself of much on the other days, and finding the fasting quite easy, generally just having a decent sized eveing meal on those days. Will keep plodding along 🙂
Welcome to Becky and Deb
My apologies that I launched straight into the hints before the welcome to the thread. Most of us tend to fast Mondays and Thursdays on this thread, so people are probably outside distracting themselves.
Another hint is to keep physically active and out and about. For instance, I garden, or walk, or do the house cleaning on my fast day. It means that I am busy, and distracted from the kitchen.
All the best. 🙂 B
This was posted by Boo on the LOACA thread and maybe helps to see why some of us have cut out wheat.
Quote:
“This may be really old hat to you who are more clued up on carbohydrates etc but I have assiduously ignored all talk/suggestions of giving up bread/pasta/rice etc because frankly, I don’t want to!
To ram that point home; we just recently bought ourselves a bread maker!
However, reading this article has made me think whether I might try an experiment for a few weeks/months……Anyways see what you think…..
I’m not going to type it out in it’s entirety; just the salient bits that might arrest your interest.
Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight and Find your path back to Health by William Davis MD (published by Harper Collins June 2014)
‘TWO SLICES OF BREAD ARE AS BAD FOR OUR BLOOD SUGAR AS EATING A MARS BAR….’
(Now that is the highlighted comment that made me sit up and read on)
‘Can’t face baring your midriff on the beach this summer? Try this ultra-fast diet devised by a top cardiologist that targets your tum – just by cutting out wheat…..’
Put simply; it’s the fastest bikini diet ever. And unlike detoxes or faddy eating plans; this diet is good for you too. Devised by cardiologist Dr William Davis; it kickstarts rapid weight loss – up to a pound per day with a total loss of up to 10lbs in 2 weeks.
Better still the 2 week Tummy Shrinking Diet (Daily Mail 31.05.14) is specifically targeted to attack your tummy fat, swiftly slimming your waist in record time.
Easy to stick to, without any boring calorie counting or puritanical portion control, it works by acting on the hormone insulin. Insulin doesn’t just cause you to pile on weight around your middle, it also increases your appetite, at the same time as your spare tyre.
By eliminating just one key element from your daily eating habits you can stop piling on the pounds, reduce cravings and boost your energy.
Not only this but your health will rapidly improve too, cutting your risk of breast cancer, arthritis, diabetes, dementia, heart disease and signs of premature ageing.
All this whilst still enjoying red wine (hoorahhhhhh!).
And that key ingredient you need to cut out? It’s not fat. It’s not even sugar….it’s wheat – and here’s why eliminating it can get you back into your bikini.
(I’m going to paraphrase this now or I’ll be here all night!)
Back in the 50’s and 60’s our grandmothers didn’t join gyms or juice entire vegetable patches for breakfast; yet they were still noticeably skinnier than we are today, with smaller waists and flatter tummies.
So what changed?
According to Dr Davis: it is down to a fateful shift in ‘official’ nutritional advice. This ’advice’ moved away from the idea of ’meat and two veg’ to a diet low in animal fats and high in supposedly heart healthy wholegrains.
Of those wholegrains; wheat is the one we consume the most. Today it accounts for 20% of the calories consumed across the world.
But as our consumption of wheat has increased; so too have our waistlines. But the wheat we consume today bears no resemblance to the wheat of the past. In order to keep up with world demand; for the past 50 years it has been cross-bred and genetically manipulated to create a fast growing, high yield crop that is resistant to drought and disease.
Modern day wheat has been turned into what Dr Davis calls a ‘super-carbohydrate’ – this means that it is turned into blood sugar by your body faster than almost any other food, making it wildly addictive and triggering spikes of insulin, the hormone that converts excess blood sugar into fat, stored primarily around your stomach…….
In fact few foods rate higher on the Glycaemic Index or GI – the nutritional measure of how much specific foods raise blood sugar levels – than those made from wheat.
This is not just white bread from the supermarket but ‘healthy’ wholemeal bread too!
……what you might not realise that is that while plain table sugar has a GI of 59, wholemeal bread is much worse at 72 (!). Which means that, shockingly two slices of wholemeal bread will send your blood sugar levels soaring higher than a MARS BAR! Which has a GI of 68!
He agrees that wholemeal versions of bread/pasta/rice are still better than the ‘white’ denuded versions however, but says that ‘doesn’t mean that lots of the “less bad” things is good for you’.
………Dr Davis describes it as ‘the formula for creating a nation of fat people…..‘
He suggests that folk fill the gap in their diets with vegetables, nuts, meats, eggs, avocados, olives, cheese etc – that is real food that doesn’t come with a label – then not only will you not develop a dietary deficiency but you will enjoy a flatter stomach, weight loss, more energy, better sleep (?!) and all round better health!
I have read posts on here alluding to what and how our grandmothers etc prepared meals and I’ve noticed insulin mentioned a great deal on other threads; so I fully accept that this is not BREAKING NEWS.
However with me, it was the Mars Bar example which brought me up sharply; I eat two slices of wholemeal bread with filling on top, pretty much every day for lunch because I really enjoy it……
Makes you think doesn’t it?”
End of Quote.
Very interesting, Bayleaf and thanks. With respect to the wheat hybrids being super carbohydrates, is there any mention of Spelt being a better option?
And referring to your post just before this one, I very much agree with you about identifying the triggers and avoiding the non-hungry eating. I notice my behaviour which I call ‘search and destroy’ in the kitchen and change my activity completely.
Ros.
Hi Bay
I agree with a lot of Boo’s article, but when I read it the first time, I was a bit put off by the line re a Mars bar versus bread. A Mars Bar has 241 calories, full of refined sugar and virtually no fibre. Two slices of wholemeal bread have 138 calories, vitamins and fibre. The bread will satisfy your hunger for a lot longer than the Mars (but not nearly as long as the equivalent in vegetables.)
I know a lot of us find wheat addictive and this is the problem, but I think comparing it with a Mars bar undermines the discussion. Refined carbohydrates have a place in the healthy diets of the young and energetic.
The difference “since our grandmothers’ time” is that we are no longer energetic. We don’t hand wash and wring the clothes, milk the cow, feed the chooks, hang clothes out and raise the line with a clothes prop, walk the kids to school, cook everything from scratch, carry water, unload hay bales, chase the horses out of the home paddock etc etc. We sit down for large portions of time.
I used to do the above activities on a farm in my 20s and 30s (alternative lifestyle thing) and I was VERY thin and VERY strong. I made my own bread and butter and ate masses of it. And Jersey cow cream turned into cheescake..mmmm.. I could, I was burning the energy.
Modern lifestyles require much less of these filling foods. SO we adjust.
The 5:2 diet teaches us, through experimenting, which foods are appropriate. Many of us learnt quickly that cutting out most of our wheat based foods and upping our vegetable intake worked. I know Bay, you and I found this.
So, yes, bread can be a big problem for inactive modern people, but suggesting it is as harmful as Mars bars……! I guess both Boo and Dr Davis were going for a headline grabber.
I do, however, recommend newcomers try cutting down refined carbs. It really worked for us.
Cheers P
I am having a peaceful day thanks, Purple. It’s been sunny and beautiful in the garden, not to mention windy enough to get all the clothes dry. 🙂
You’re right about the ‘fast’ aspect, and I also notice how often there are comments about how this is not a Diet for many of us. It certainly isn’t for me but rather a way of life and I do find the word diet is loaded with short-term inference and/or failure for some. Again, it is for me.
I don’t find that Michael puts much emphasis on the idea of ‘diet’ so I conclude that the publisher/marketer got hold of it and decided that a slick double entendre would be just the ticket. The world is full of such devices, isn’t it.
Ros.
Hi there
Totally agree about choosing Wholemeal bread over a Mars bar. As a sugar addict, I try to minimise my intake of the sweet and deadly white stuff. I was only interested in the analysis of modern wheat. When you now realise that 30 per cent of Italians have a reaction to wheat, you have to know that modern wheat is different. Ciao, B 🙂
Morning dearies,
900g down this morning, and feeling fine!
Although there’s a lot of info about wheat, bread and the modern changes to this venerable grain, I have to admit to loving bread. It took quite a few months of 5:2, before I could go without bread duing fast days. Once I did, I found the weight shifted more easily, and I had a lot less cravings. Although I still eat it on the other 5 days, and relish it!
Cheers!
Well done ihaveawaist!
After all the talk about bread last night (fast day), I thought I’d stick on a loaf of stone ground, grainy wholemeal to wake up to this morning and no yeast! D**n!
It would have been SO good with local honey and butter melting into it this morning. Guess I walk up, buy some yeast and have it ready to dip in my lunchtime soup. See, the old way forces you to wait and gives you added exercise as well! No jumping in the car and picking up a loaf in a plastic bag from the servo.
To me, this is one of the joys of maintenance…reintroducing bread. Only small quantities, but I always eat top quality. I share it with my DIL (also a 5:2er) so that we don’t have too much.
Happy eating today, SHs. Purple
Hey Deb, jump on the scales as often as you like. It’s excellent exercise!
Word of warning to anyone in a convertible. .I was just stuck at lights next to a truck full of live chickens with the wind blowing. Urrgghh…the smell and feathers poured down on me ; (
Have a happy day wherever you are. PURPLE
Hey Purple, I don’t envy you the chicken smell and feathers, a definite downside to the convertible experience.
I’m off to brushcut and mow around the cattle yards this afternoon, the grass and weeds have gone mad and we will we weighing heifers later this today, then more cattle work at the weekend. I might even weigh myself on the cattle scales just for another opinion 🙂
Hi SH mates!
Like others, I read Boo’s post about bread and Mars Bars with some dismay.
Not sure if any have read (Australian) Prof Jenny Brand-Miller’s book based on her research into GI, but she distinguishes between glycaemic load (GL) and glycaemic index (GI). In other words, it’s not only the GI of a food that needs to be considered but the proportion of the total meal it represents. Because I’m at work I can’t check my copy but I’m pretty sure that bread would calculate out with a lower GL, because Mars Bars are also loaded with fat, which has a GI of zero, hence the apparent low GI.
Had a lovely short trip to the Victorian snow (best snow for 10 years according to the locals) and pleased to note hadn’t forgotten how to ski, despite now having metal knees. Finished with detour to Albury for family occasion then home, staying overnight in Bendigo. For dinner that night ordered entrée size pasta with mushroom sauce and couldn’t finish it, despite having had nothing since a chicken sandwich at lunchtime. Did squeeze in a spoonful of OH’s cassata though.
Hi beckyv, I lose on average a kg a month, like IHAW (and probably others). I don’t have any particular medical reason (yet) to lose weight and while the impatient part of me wants the excess gone NOW!, I’m happy to fast twice a week and stick at or just below my TDEE for 5 days, eating healthily including a lunchtime sandwich, and the occasional indulgence. The weight is coming off in a slow but sustainable way as I intend to live like this for the rest of my life. My OH is skinny and can eat anything so this is not too disruptive of our life. I also hope that my skin will keep up, unlike those poor sods on shows like the Biggest Loser, some of whom I believe resorted to surgery to lose the extra skin.
Fasting tomorrow and Friday for me. Fortunately the long weekend away doesn’t seem to have done much damage as my weight this morning was only about the same amount more than last week’s lowest reading as usual pre FDs.
Keep up the good work everyone. Nicky
Hi Purple – how horrible sitting next to one of those trucks in an open-top.
I often pass semi-trailers on the freeway on my way to work packed so high with crates of those poor creatures, feathers flying everywhere. As I love chooks it is really upsetting to think of them crammed into their crates, and the ones on the outsides getting cold and wet in this weather.
Just checked the LOACA recipes thread, lots of wonderful recipes there, as you say. Thanks for pointer.
cheers
n
Sorry if the wheat post caused conniptions. My concern is with modern wheat and how the gluten content has been increased. I did not see that particular article as promoting Mars bars. But rather as telling us all that modern wheat is not very good for us.
What I have read is that 30% of modern Italians have a reaction to gluten. It is unlikely that so many people have changed in one generation. It is most likely the wheat and how it is grown that has radically changed. We know that wheat has been modified and sprayed with chemicals to make it grow faster and not get struck down by disease.
Enough of my hobby horse. I just know so many people who have strong reactions to wheat products, including putting on weight. B 🙂
Hi Nicky
Glad you had a good trip to the snow. 🙂
Purple
Have to let us know next time you’re sitting next to a truck of pigs! You could start a “convertible smell rating” for all olfactory delights. Would the chickens be 4 out of 10 or worse?
I’m feeling very down today. Don’t know why. The tiler is working smoothly throughout the house. He will be here until Friday of next week. Just want the floor to be finished so that I can get on with my life. 🙂 Such a grump. 🙂 🙂 B
Yes, there are some of my old favourites missing in action, especially Charlie……where are you sweetie? Hope things are ok down on your farm and with everything at home. I’ve been missing your cheery comments.
And how are all of our newbies going? There were so many, from all over….hope you’re still plodding along on this 5:2 caper. I would love to hear how winter’s been affecting you, and if you’re finding it harder to fast when it’s cold.
As for me I think I’m going to try the cha-cha today, as it’s good for getting those hips and feet moving and always brings a smile to my face….you can’t do the cha-cha and finish in a grumpy mood….must have something to do with the endorphins and imagining that one is a luscious, fun-loving Latina with no inhibitions on the dance floor….or lounge room like me.
Hope no one gets stuck near a sewage farm, farting cows, pigeons with the runs or burping pigs today…..haha! Happy fasting duckies!
Morning Bay
So pleased to catch your chirpy post before I get up. I guess you had a good sleep? The sun in the garden will be great. Don’t get bitten like I did yesterday ;(
IHAW certainly gets us all up an dancing. I think I’ll do a quick waltz on the way to the shower.
Have a happy fast day gang. Cheers PVE
Hi SH mates and welcome AGuy.
There’s plenty of support and sound advice backed up by experience on this site so I hope luck doesn’t come into it. Keep posting both your ups and downs, or maybe I mean downs and ups 🙂
Hi Bay, glad you recovered from your ‘down’ time. Sometimes we just have to plough on through but good to know you caught some sun, always a good mood lifter IMO. Your suggestion of olfactory rating made me laugh,
Fasting today so thanks as always for such positivity.
Nicky
Purple, enjoy your skipping! What’s a little inappropriateness between friends – or strangers for that matter?
Didn’t notice any skipping here in Adelaide BG but I jogged up some steps when I was outside a little while ago in the sunshine. It’s blowing up to a ripper storm here due about lunchtime so thought I should get my outside stuff done sooner rather than later. Took my mind off craving for café latte and now enjoying black tea – much more appropriate!
Live for the moment indeed! cheers n
G’day world! I am also a Perthian. I found out about the 5:2 through the BBC doco last year. At the time I was doing Weight Watchers for the second time, and tried to combine it with 5:2, only to abandon both.
This year I have gained way too much weight, and I decided to give 5:2 another go. I started last Monday. Today, Thursday, is my second fasting day for the week.
I want to lose 20 kg. I would still have a high BMI, as I am undertall. But I would feel comfortable with a weight of 80 to 85 kg again (You can do the maths!). BMI is ethnically biased anyway.
It’s good that there is a forum, as this will help me keep focused in my journey.
Great to be here with yous.
Jeff
Thanks for the support PVE, Bay and Nicky.
Sticking to the fasting today has been pretty tough, but I’m sticking with it.
No I don’t have the book yet, but going to have a look for it today after work.
I have been drinking a fair bit of water so far, as it seems to help me feel full (:
I’m not sure if I want to weigh myself too often during this process, I might just weigh in say… once a fortnight or so.
Do you guys weigh in everyday?
Hi again AGuy
I weigh in ‘officially’ on the first morning after my 2 FDs before breakfast, no clothes and empty bladder, which is the weight I record for the week. I tend to jump on in the same condition on other mornings to keep an eye on how my weight fluctuates, which it does, sometimes +/- 1kg or more. I also notice the reading can vary more than 2kg between last thing at night and first thing next morning – concluded that it’s one more of life’s great mysteries!
Some people only weigh monthly but it’s certainly enlightening to measure yourself at the start (waist, hips, neck, upper arms, thighs plus anything else you can get to) because sometimes despite best efforts the scales don’t change but you may find that one or more measurements have decreased.
Several of us use an item of clothing which we’ve grown out of as another indicator. The term ‘trousers of truth’ was coined for this as many of us females have gained and lost weight around waist and hips.
Keep on keeping on!
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27 Jul 14