This topic contains 105 replies, has 28 voices, and was last updated by Myggan40 9 years, 3 months ago.
Hi all. I am a mum of a 10 yr old.
Been struggling with weight and depression for a few years now. I think I need to tackle one problem at a time, hence arriving here.
My mum bumped into someone today who she hasn’t seen for a while and had lost weight. She is doing the 5:2 diet so I thought I would give it a go.
Good luck all and wish me luck too xxxxx
Hello Angiesandhu and welcome to a very supportive forum and a new way of life. I have suffered similar issues but as a grumpy old man in his mid 60s my issues will no doubt be different to yours. Remember though pick your fast days to suit you. Every one is different and have different issues. If you are having a fast day and you “Fall off the wagon” do not beat yourself up about it or get a downer on your self. That happens to most of us. Remember, you do not “fail” if your Fast day does not happen as you want it to, you simply recognise what has happened and move on to selecting another day. I suggest using the S.M.A.R.T. system for goal setting. Make your weight loss goals easily achievable. Cut out negative words or phrases such as Fail, To Hard, Difficult etc and replace with positive words and phrases the first being “Well done me” for starting on this path. Give yourself a treat when you have achieved a measurable weight loss after a month. Finally check out the FAQ section and take time to browse through them and all the other sections on this site.
Good Luck.
I agree Couscous – positive is the way forward.
So instead of complaining about how cold I am towards the end of this fast day I will put a fleece on and be glad that I don’t have to lug the fat around anymore that used to keep me warm.
I will make (another) cup of fruit infusion and snuggle up under a blanket to keep warm. I won’t have a biscuit or bit of toast with it – instead I will recite my mantra “I can have it tomorrow!”
Have a good evening all!
Lotta
Ah thanks khm. I’m all renewed today. ..I went to bed with my daughter and stayed there so I didn’t have any more cals after that. I weighed 83.9kg this morning so that’s net 2kgs in 8 weeks… I’ll take that! I got alk smug and ate very little all morning we went to playgroup then I walked the 7km to the mall so now feeling extra smug…I had maccas when we got there but better than having maccas after a bus ride!
It’s my Friday teatime now, KHM your Friday afternoon? And UK ladies are hopefully all still asleep! Hope everybody has a satisfactory weigh in!
I’m assuming we’re all doing mon & thurs for fast days? Is anybody on 4:3? I know you were thinking about it KHM;o)
Hi ALL
Well done to all those who are losing weight / inches / centimeters!
My weight is “yo-yoing” quite a bit at the moment but I seem to remember I was like this when I started 5:2 in January.
I had a good week last week but the weekend has not been as restrained. I’m hoping that all the exercise I did last week will keep ‘working’ for me…
Fast day tomorrow but I will be ‘good’ today as my husband is away which makes it easier to control the food/wine intake.
I have my first job interview in 10 years on Tuesday having had 5 years off with the kids. I am “a tad” apprehensive but very excited about getting into my old work suits from 10 years ago without any problems… long live the 5:2 way of life. 🙂
Have a good Sunday and good luck for the fasting week ahead.
Lotta
Hi ladies, it’s my first post on this website! I’m 29, I’m from Ireland, and I have a little boy who is almost nine months old.
When I got pregnant with him, I weighed around 168lb (at 5’5″); I lost a lot of weight in the early months of pregnancy, so only reached that weight again around seven months into the pregnancy. I weighed around 161lb a week after giving birth, so I was delighted.
Nine months on, I’m up at 190lb, and very annoyed at myself – I didn’t even reach that weight when I was pregnant!
I’m back at work now, so it’s time to reset my body and establish a proper routine for myself and for my little family.
First fast day is tomorrow. 🙂
Hello,
I actually registered to post a comment in this thread…. I’m 40 and live in Canada. I have twins who are 4 y.o. I gained weight while pregnant and just added to it after birth. Got up to 139 lbs (9 st 13 lbs) at my heaviest, which made me a very rotund short person at 5 feet.
I started 5:2 in April this year after reading the book. Was probably about 135 lbs then. Did it half-a$$ed at the beginning (didn’t religiously count the 500 calories on fast days), but did cut out the bag of gummy candy in the evening, milkshakes, and lattes (replaced with black coffee). Lost 10 lbs in the first month/month and a half. Started exercising a little (treadmill, jogging on a track). Plateaued at around 120 lbs for a few weeks in July (?). Switched to 4:3 and went to a few kickboxing classes — started losing again. Hit goal weight of 115 lbs, which is what I weighed immediately pre-babies, in August. Kept going. Hit new goal of 108 lbs (7 st 10 lbs) last week. At this point, not technically 4:3, more eat less overall and being particularly mindful during the week.
From a been there/done that perspective, I found the following helpful:
– Weight loss is not magic. It really is just eat less/move more. I don’t think of the “Fast Diet” as a diet at all, but as a strategy for eating less that works for me — I’d rather eat more in one sitting than snack/graze all day. Other strategies may in fact work better for others. (IMO, the whole no carb thing is just another strategy. Carbs are pretty high calorie and if you cut them out it’s hard to replace the same amount of calories with just meat and vegetables.)
– That feeling of hunger (especially at the beginning!) will not kill you. There is no “starvation effect”, where if you eat less your metabolism will plummet. Well, there is, but as per the name you actually need to be starving (think 8% body fat, not ooh, I skipped breakfast).
– Perfect is the enemy of the good. I’m one of those people who needed all the constellations to align for exercise to happen — proper sports bra, iPod fully charged with the right headphones, etc. Read somewhere that ANY exercise is better than none. It’s obvious, but reading it made an impact on me. Started running as it is the form of exercise with the lowest barrier to entry (just need sneakers). I don’t aim for a particular schedule…just run when I can (usually once or twice a week). In the same way, you don’t need to eat perfectly organic/all natural/locally grown to lose weight. You just need to eat less of whatever crap you normally eat.
– Lose weight, then exercise. I found it easier to exercise after losing some weight first. The weight loss made exercising easier physically and psychologically it was good motivation.
Also, I noticed several folks beating themselves up about bad fast days or falling off the diet wagon…. If you’re the type of person for whom beating yourself up motivates you to do better going forward, then by all means beat away. But if that kind of thinking/behavior makes you more likely to quit dieting/exercising, then please don’t. If you think of the whole thing as a PERMANENT lifestyle change as opposed to a diet that you have to be on for 3, 4 months, I think it helps you be more flexible/kinder to yourself when you fall short on any particular day.
Finally, don’t treat yourself with food for losing weight. That’s seems incredibly counter-productive to me. Treat yourself with new (smaller!) clothes instead 🙂
Good luck.
Hello all! Mishabear – are you me?! Lol, I agree with everything you said, and I’m a short person too. Good luck with the interview Myggan. Angiesandhu well done for tackling what you can. I had post-natal depression after my son, and losing the weight helped so, so much. It was hard, but I didn’t feel like me with all that on, and I felt such an achievement as it started to shift. I was on 4:3, but I do what I feel like now – I don’t have set days, but I keep a food diary, and if I notice I haven’t done a fast day in a few days or a week, then I’ll do one (or two) just to maintain now. The main thing is to keep on exercising for me, as it’s all about toning up now for me. Today was a fast day. I had a protein shake for breakfast and mashed veg and potato for dinner. As soon as the kids are asleep I’m off downstairs to do some exercise – it was a mistake to come upstairs and get comfy first, haha! x
Hi there. Room for another?
I’m from London, have 2 children, 9 and 4. I’m 39 yrs old and I just worked out if I can lose an average of 1.8lbs a week I can be at goal weight for my 40th birthday party next year. I realise that’s qiuite a challenge, especially as I have a holiday in the US and Christmas before then so I’m prepared to re-evaluate that goal if needs be, rather than get frustrated and give up.
So I’m challenging myself with doing 4:3, at least initially anyway. I will fast M/W/F, on Tuesday and Thursday I will do high fat low carb and aim for around 1850 cals (TDEE at goal weight) and weekends I will relax and have treats and wine.
I did an FD on Monday, came in at 450, then NFD today at about 1900.
I look forward to getting to know you all.
Hi Katietas, I have stuff premade ready for my daughter on fast days, we did blw so she eats what we eat whuch means I’m not in the habit of cooking just for her… And I try and get her to have a no sugar day!
Thanks for your input there Misha! Good points!
Hi Chickety! Howareya?! Welcome to the group! I also got heavier after I had the baby. .. It is frustrating!
Hello nearly! 2lbs a week sounds radical you might need to rethink that one ;o) lol… Then again: They do say you should shoot for the moon. .. If you miss you still land among the stars!
KHM I got a rebounder years ago… Thought it was great for the first two minutes – then discovered exactly how weak my bladder was haha! It’s been unpackeda and is now my two year old’s indoor trampoline!
Waves to everybody else..
I’ve been somewhat off the wagon last week today was a fast day that never was too… Never mind. After my pep talk from Misha I’m having another go tomorrow. I feel positive though as have been mostly diarising and (whisper it) not over-eating…! Prob around 2000 cals a day which is good, for me.
Will resist weighing until friday…will be two weeks since 84kg then… hoping for at least half a kg…maybe even a whole one despite not actually fasting!
Hi
I have two kids, Coco is almost 4 and Leo is 2,
I just stopped nursing a month ago, and i stopped loosing waight!!!!!!! I even gained 1 kilo 🙁
I thought I was going to be less hungry, but I’m not, I’m eating like crazy on non fast days!
I’ve been on the 5:2 for 5 months now, and I wasn’t loosing much waight, but I wasn’t gaining any either, and I didn’t feel guilty when I had a brownie or other treats on non fast days…
I go for 36 hour fast 5:2 wich is easier for me than 4:3.
I know my problem is the calorie intake on rest days,
I need to loose 6 kilos, but it seams like the only way for me to really loose weight and keep it down has been the Dukan Diet, Im in france so it’s very popular.
I thought about reigme Dukan until l loose those last 6 kilos from pregnancy, and then stick to 5:3 to stay on my waight and healthy…
What do you think?
Thanks 🙂
Hello everyone
Monday seems to be a popular Fast day. I like it because if it doesn’t work it’s still possible to fit another one in before the end of the week.
I’m going to have a challenging Fast day today. My son is home from school with a cold bug so I will be hanging around the house all day today. Not my usual routine at all as I try to exercise and stay away from the kitchen as much as possible on fast days. Also the weather isn’t helping. It’s cold, wet and grey here in London. Buu!
I have enough to be getting on with to keep busy. It’s just that I know that there are Hobnobs, crisps, sweets and the childrens snacks in the cupboard. I really feel like bedding down on the sofa for the day and just eat my way through. 🙁
Good luck everyone and hope you all have easy, nice fast days this week.
Lotta
Hey can I join, I’m a mum of two, my son Oliver is 3 and my daughter Phyllis is 10 months. I am still breastfeeding my daughter. I put on most my weight when I was pregnant with my son and at my heaviest I was 18st6. I started 5:2 weighing 15st13 (223lbs) last week and after completing my first week am down to 15st6 (216lbs), I know this is mainly water loss but still really happy with that. Started making an effort to add some exercise to my week aswel for the first time in years and am doing wii fit for half hour 4 times a week. Want to start an aerobics class or something but feel so self conscious I’m putting it off until I loose a few more stone. It’s time to shift the rest of this weight and hopefully eventually make it down to a healthy weight. Just to add when I was pregnant with my youngest I had gestational diabetes so the scare that I’d be at a high risk of getting type 2 diabetes has really pushed me to do something about getting fit and healthy
Hello everyone, I did bad today! Tried to do a fast day but was home with the kids and it went out the window by about 3pm, oops! Try again tomorrow. I’ve just stopped nursing too – he’s 2yrs 3 months now so we did well. I hadn’t even thought about the Calories until reading your post Gi-gi, eek, I need to put the biscuits away, haha. I’ve been good with the exercise though, still at it, and definitely toning up. x
Hi again everyone
I’ve had a very busy couple of weeks with my son’s 8th birthday which has meant LOTS of cake… arrgh!
Well done to all you fab fasters who are doing well and losing the inches/kg’s/lbs!
If it hasn’t been going well, don’t feel bad. There is always another day tomorrow and that is what I love about this WOL, no guilt trips, no stalling – just have another go and whatever you’ve done so far must be better than not doing anything at all!
I have found that I am no longer losing weight just doing the 5:2 so I have increased my exercise and I now seem to be moving downwards on the scales again (very slowly though).
I managed to get myself a job which I am very pleased about. However I will have to wait and see how the fasting will fit into my daily work routine now. I am a little concerned about not having as much time to go to the gym as well.
Take care all and if you are fasting today remember to say ‘I can have it tomorrow’ when temptation strikes 🙂
Lotta x
G’day! Sorry I’ve been AWOL…mostly because I’ve been off the wagon and I have juicy excuses – my daughter has been quite ill with a cough, now I have it, and my phone died!! It’s being repaired but already two days is four and it feels positively Victorian to have to use the laptop!!
She stopped eating altogether for three days and was on me constantly so I haven’t weighed myself but probably maintained due to that energy expenditure! I couldn’t not eat – it wasn’t physically possible! My boobs were going FEED ME! My supply was a laugh too – it increased so much almost immediately – boobs are amazing things! As she got better and had less boobage I did get fuller a few times and experienced that ahhh of relief when you’re full and they latch on, but didn’t have any pain or leakage, really incredible how they adjust!
So my net loss after 10 weeks is around zero…so megan maybe I would have been better to do nothing at all!!
I am panicking. I can feel the downward panic spiral that always results with a diet followed by weight gain and I really can’t afford to put any more on. My bum has been square for years and last time I caught sight of my naked self I was pretty shocked. Even my usually tolerant/silent on the subject husband has mentioned I am getting fatter and fatter :o(
Feeling desperate! I need to lose 22kg by end of March. Time is running out! I have a friend doing the Cohen diet…my Lord that’s a drastic one but she’s lost 17kg in 5 weeks! I’m so tempted! I need help with the panic..lifetime fatties will know how I feel!…anyone?!
Hi from another AP mum,
My youngest is nearly 7 now, but we had lots of co-sleeping, babywearing, cloth nappy, babyled weaning fun.
I was underweight for a long time, but have gained a lot due to an antidepressant. I don’t want to lose a lot of weight as much as stop any more weight gain, and would like to lose cms from my girth. Just beginning my IF journey.
Hello everyone! After having trouble even managing a fast day all week (failed every day!!) I did an accidental one today! I was so busy at work I barely stopped and by the time I’d got home, done parents’ evening, fed the kids, walked the dog etc it was 7pm and I’d had about 400 Calories, so I thought ‘Ok, that’ll do – good job’ haha. I’m only doing 1 fast day a week now, just to maintain. Sorry everyone who’s having a rubbish time going through it at the moment. All I can say is just get back on it, do the absolute **** out of it, and make it happen – you’re only prolonging the hard part otherwise, get it done and be happy! On that – I have been buying new small clothes recently, and fitting into my old ones, yay! (Feel free to tell me to bog off at this point)!! But I decided to get rid of anything I don’t look amazing in – I’ve got a bit more sorting out to do I think, but it’s going well so far. xx
Bog off 2f! Lol…. no don’t I need you too!!!
My sister says bog off and she’s proper Less-tah (Leicester) Are you in the Midlands? I left for “town” aka the big smoke aka Londinium at 17 then lived across Europe, East Coast & Mid West US & now 9 years in NZ so I have a weird accent! (And like to show off
Hi everyone
Have had a bit of a time off – on half term hols with the children and in-laws last week meant A LOT of food and wine… so I waited to weigh myself until after my first fast day (Monday) this week.
I was positively surprised this morning that I hadn’t put that much weight on from before the hols. With all the Halloween sweets I swiped from the kids hoard I really should have gone up more… so a tentative yay?!?
Also, I try to remind myself that even though it feels like hard work right now and the weight isn’t flying off I’m smaller than I was at the start and that’s always a good thing.
I will be trying to loose ca 3.5kg in the next 7 weeks (just under 8lb) which will be a struggle but I would love to at least hit my original target weight of 65kg before Christmas.
Fasting tomorrow and have been very good today on my ‘off’ day.
Good luck everyone!
Lotta x
Hi there all mums on the Fast Diet.
Hows everyone doing?
I started a new job this week after almost 6 years at home with the children. The first day was quite fun, the second day was bewildering and by the 3rd day panic set in.
I then had a big talk with my mum and my sister and they reminded me that I am my own worst critic and that no one expects me to know anything straight away. (i work in IT with big corporate software. High preassure but fun and quite creative at times.)
My children have been absolutely amazing. Much calmer about it than I have been. I almost had a nervous breakdown at the prospect of being 2 min late for after-school-club…
So I wasn’t planning on fasting this week but I decided to weigh myself yesterday anyway as I hadn’t felt like eating much… Lo and behold – the stress must have got to me because I was down 0.5kg from last week. So I decided to one modified fast day yesterday ( 600 cals) and a proper one today. This morning
I was finally onto my target kg… 65.8kg so not quite there but with a fast day today I am really hoping to get closer to my goal of 65kg.
So early night to sleep off the hunger pangs!
All the best of luck everyone who is fasting today.
Lotta x
Congratulations Lotta and well done for everything! Don’t worry, everybody is new once. I have been accidently rubbish this week for fasting – I only want to do one day a week as well really for maintenance. Tried yesterday and did about 600 or 700cals. Tried again today and did 700. I am counting the two half successes as one whole one and calling that done for the week! Next week I’ll do it properly. But I have been doing well with exercise. My husband and I have both joined the gym!! It’s not as bad as I thought, haha! I really love how fit I feel and I love my body now, so definitely going to keep going with it all – it’s a lifestyle now. My new goal is to be able to do the splits, I’m not even that far off!
Thanks KHM and 2f2f, I’m working from home today and am feeling a bit more settled in already.
Wow 2f2f… the splits, that’s a fab goal to have! Love it! My pelvic floor wouldn’t like that one bit after 2 kids 😀
Well done on the weightloss and the fitness levels ladies! It’s so exciting when it works!
I find I’m much better at logging my results when it’s going well and not so much when I’m lagging behind…
After this mornings weigh (65.3kg… 10st2lb) in I am sooooo close to my original goal of 65kg that I’m going to try for 63kg by christmas… All in all I have lost 19.7kg / 43lb / 3st1lb since I started in
January this year and I am still so astonished that I have kept it up.
Keep going everyone out there even if you find it hard. Modify your fast days and normal days to suit you. I think that’s the key to succeeding!
Good luck and onwards and downwards… 😉
Lotta xx
Hi everyone,
I’m a mum of two (aged 3 and 1) and started doing 5:2 in May once my little one was fully weaned (even though I continued to give him a comfort feed at night for another couple of months). I’ve now lost 28 lbs and am 2 lbs from my target weight. I haven’t struggled too much overall, still had my lunches out at the weekend and occasional treats and glasses of wine! One thing I’ve noticed is that the weight loss has really been slowing down as I approach my ‘ideal’ weight…at the start I was losing 1-2 lbs a week, now it takes about a 3 weeks for every lb! But don’t want to stop when I’m so close to my original goal, even though I fit into all my old clothes again so it won’t make any real practical difference! Will keep at it until Christmas anyway.
Just want to tell you all to keep going! I’m not a great one for diets so if I can do it, anyone can 🙂 Good luck everyone xx
Hi Ammy, well done on your (nearly) goal! 2 more lbs by Xmas is a really good aim – your present to yourself will be reaching your goal!
Today was my fast day – it just happened! I have a protein shake for breakfast every day, then I was busy at work so just had a shake for lunch too, then I went to play sport after work, so when I got in, guess what was quick and easy to grab – yep, a protein shake!! I might eat some actual food tomorrow, haha. I did pick a little bit at the leftovers from dinner, but there wasn’t much left (good job!) but I think in total for today it was about 400-450 Cals.
I started giving up sugar today – my colleague and I said we’d do it together, as a pre-xmas detox. She lasted about 3 hours, hahaha (someone brought in lovely cakes and sweets), an – I’m not sure I’ll last much longer either! I’ll try though and see if it actually makes me feel any better. x
Hello all fab FD mums ou there
Hope you are all doing well and if it’s your fast day, thst it’s been an easy one…
Well done on the fast day that just happened 2F2F!!
Sometimes the busy just takes over and all of a sudden a fast day is almost done!
I broke my original goal of 65kg yesterday and weighed in at 64.8 kg this morning.
I felt funny about it – happy because I’ve managed it but also a bit silly because really I should never have let myself get as big as I did. So a bit of an anticlimax but I feel much happier about it this evening.
My new goal is 63 kg. Only 2kg or 4lb to go but it will take me down to the normal weight BMI range.
I’m fasting tomorrow and doing Body Combat so hoping it won’t be too hard.
Good luck everyone!
Lotta x
Hey Lotta,
I am really close to my goal weight too. The weight I’m at right now (with only a month on 5:2) is a pound away to the lowest I’ve ever been (teenage years included). I really should be more excited too, we need to celebrate properly… Now I need to figure out how much more to lose. I think it’ll be safe to lose 5 more, my goal is to be able to go into maintenance mode in the New Year.
I am just at the point where I think I can exercise on a fast day. Of course to me, it’ll be walking and some light weights, not body combat! Although, I’d love to do that workout on a non-fast day. That type of workout is so much fun to me. My next fast day will be Thursday. I am so afraid to do any other day than Mon / Th. It’s turned into a good habit :).
Good luck!
Em
Hi Em
Wow! That is amazing what you’ve achieved in a month! Well done you!
It’s taken me almost a year to lose my weight. But considering how many years it took me to amass all the blubber I was carrying around I am quite chuffed. Always good with a little bit of perspective. 😉
Totally agree though, some celebration is defintely in order once I’ve reached the next goal. I am also hoping I can go onto maintenance in January.
It did take me a while to get into serious exercise on fast days. I used to do long walks and easy swims on fast days in January when I started. But seeing the results made me want try to up it a bit. Now I do fasting on a Mondays (with zumba before I started work) and Wednesdays (with body combat when I work from home).
Having said that I haven’t been to the gym in 2 weeks so it could be a tough one today. 😮
Have a good and easy fast day to everyone who is fasting today and good luck!
Lotta x
Hello ladies,
I have an 8mth old Daughter who is weaned and is currently doing blw.
I have started the 5:2 diet today and hope to lose 7lb before xmas and a further 7lbs before I go back to work in Feb, thatbwill be 7lbs a month which I am hoping wont be too difficult… however its my first day on the diet and I am going straight in with a fast day, wish me luck!! x
Hello, how’s everyone doing?
Anyone fasting today?
I’ve just had my Waitrose Love Life meal so no more food today. I am holding out a bit longer for my fruit tea infusion so not to go to the snack cupboard.
Looking forward to the weekend altough I need to keep an eye on the wine intake as it’s my downfall every week.
Lotta x
Hi, I’m Jen. Are any of you mums still breastfeeding and did you find 5:2 affected that? We are starting blw soon and I will stay 5:2 at the same time if other people have found their milk supply is maintained. I’m not planning on being super strict because with breastfeeding, babywearing my 10.5 kg 5 month old, and walking as my only form of transport, plus doing c25k, I don’t want to pass out on fast days. I was very ill before and during outreach and piled on the weight, so being active now means I have technically lost the baby weight, but I have plenty to lose from before! It’s good because it means I know I can lose weight without thinking about it but when my baby starts on solids and is dropping feeds, I need to take into account that I’ll be using fewer calories! Also I prefer this lifestyle change, rather than constant deprivationgot months, then irresponsible habits, then more deprivation!
Hello Jen, I’m just starting today. It’s my first fast day! I have two kids (ages 4 and 2) the 2 year old is still breastfeeding, though much less than he used to. I recently night weaned him and we are down to breastfeeding about 4-5 times per day. Because he eats a lot of solids and is breastfeeding less, I’m not worried about the 5:2 affecting my milk supply.
I also exercise a lot, because I live in a city, but that has not seemed to help with losing baby weight, so I’m giving this a go.
Good luck!
Dena
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