Nervous newbie with a lot of weight to lose!

This topic contains 13 replies, has 9 voices, and was last updated by PinkQueen 8 years, 5 months ago.

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Mandaz

11:55 am
6 Jun 16
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Hi! My husband and I got married almost 3 weeks ago. We’re about to start on the 5:2 – our first fast day is tomorrow. We’re planning on having breakfast and tea and fasting through the day. He works in an office and I work from home. I’ve got a lot of weight to lose, I’m seriously overweight. We would love to try for a baby but my main aim is just to get slimmer and healthier. I just wondered if there’s anyone else on here who has/has had a very high BMI, how they’ve found it weight loss wise and if they’ve got any tips? Thanks 😊

ANAIDE

1:22 pm
6 Jun 16
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Mandaz left a BMI of 43 to 39 with Lowcarb, now I am fasting ha three months my BMI Esa in 37, my short-term option goal is 30,

For couples who want to conceive fasting is very good, the easier becomes pregnant woman being thinner and man with fasting increases testosterone and sperm count.

It has a lot of literature about it.

Good fast and happiness to the young couple!

A hug from Brazil

bigbooty

1:23 pm
6 Jun 16
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Drink lots of water!! Avoid sugar at all costs!! Avoid simple carbs like bread, pasta, pizza, potatoes etc. They will make it very hard for you to be successful. Avoid fruit juices, might as well just eat sugar. If you want fruit make sure it is whole fruits, never juice, never desiccated fruits.

Get rid of temptations like chocolates, biscuits, ice cream, etc out of the house. One meal of 500/600 is better than two small meals which is better than three small meals. Do not snack!!

Do not be scared of fats. I eat a lot of cheese, nuts especially almonds and walnuts, and avocados.

Try and get most of your carbs from veggies. Protein from chicken, tuna, tofu beans, lentils.

Read food labels VERY carefully. You would be amazed at food items that have added sugar. Vinegar, lots of brands have added sugar!! Why would you need to add sugar to vinegar, but big food does this because they know sugar is addictive.

Good luck, it works if you give it a genuine try.

Mandaz

5:09 pm
6 Jun 16
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Thank you very much. I think that one meal a day would be a struggle for my husband especially and we really want to do it together. I’ve read the book and have two recipe books so hopefully will find lots of inspiration. I guess we can try one meal a day once we’re used to it. I’m really excited to get started. We’re going to measure and weigh ourselves tonight and start our first fast day in the morning 😊

Buttonboots

5:22 pm
6 Jun 16
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Hi Mandaz!

Starting the 5:2 will be the start of the new you (and your husband!)

I am on my way down weight-wise…from over 20 stone (WELL over!!!!) down to a little over 14 stone so far – and that is with the odds stacked against me! (I am not young, I am disabled which means exercise varies from difficult to impossible, I am a total foodie, and I am on meds which can sometimes increase my appetite and/or slow my metabolism)

I totally agree with the advice on drinking lots of water. If you can manage it, don’t drink low-cal fizz. Yes, it is low/no calorie but it can fool your brain into thinking it IS sugary and then you crave the refined carbs…best to stick to plain water!

You might like to look at having a drink at lunch time – it certainly helps me!…In cooler weather I like a low cal stocky-broth and recently I discovered the joys of miso soup. (Miso comes in sachets so your hubby could take a cup to work too!)….in warmer weather a cold drink such as iced tea or coffee supped through a fancy straw is very good (no milk or sugar!)

On fasting days I stay away from carbs as much as possible. I don’t see them as ‘bad’ per se but I get much more on my plate by going for protein and veg….on non-fasting days I allow myself carbs but try to focus on the unrefined types.

Above all, make the plan work for you! It is beautifully flexible. You will know your own hard limits – those things that you are not prepared to give up!…The simple solution is don’t even try!…work your ‘essentials’ into the plan…and then re-evaluate at a later date – you might find your tastes/priorities change as you go along.

Make the most of herbs and spices…they can really add pizazz to a fasting day chicken thigh!

Be gentle on yourself…some weeks you will have a great weight loss…other weeks the scales may barely move (or HORROR!!!! move the ‘wrong’ way!)…this is not a quick fix…it is a plan for the rest of your life…and it WORKS!

Best of luck…and well done for going for it!

ChetSinger

6:04 pm
6 Jun 16
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Congratulations Mandaz!

I’ve been on the 5:2 diet since early this year and have lost 18 lbs on it so far (16 more to go). I’ve modified it a little to suit me, and I’ve found it satisfying because I have to deny myself only two days per week.

It’s wonderful that you and your husband are united in this. It was my wife who pointed me to this diet, and I’m grateful. Best wishes!

Mandaz

6:08 pm
6 Jun 16
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Thank you for your comments, it’s really helpful to see how people have found the diet. I have to admit to being a bit addicted to diet fizzy drinks but I have invested in two water bottles (the ones you can stick fruition to flavour the water but having read what people are saying about fruit/juice, I’ll probably stick to plain water!) which I’m going to stick in the fridge tonight. Just out of interest, do people weight themselves weekly or more often?

ChetSinger

6:15 pm
6 Jun 16
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I weigh myself every morning. Saturday morning’s number is what I record for the week. I’m typically heaviest on Monday because I eat more on the weekend, and then slowly decline during the week because that’s when my fasting days are.

I’ve given up diet soft drinks but still drink some regular Cherry Coke. I know it’s unhealthy but I make room for it in my calorie budget.

bigbooty

2:59 am
7 Jun 16
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Stick to water or carbonated water. San Peligrino or Santa Vittoria is nice. Place a slice of lemon in the water if you need a little flavour. Or a teaspoon of Mazotti apple cider vinegar is nice. Run away from fruit juice or diet drinks!!!!! Ask yourself, when is the last time you saw a skinny person drinking diet Coke? Errr never, and there’s a reason for that. When you drink artificially sweetened drinks your body expects to have calories. When the calories don’t come, your body goes looking for them. Hence the cravings go up. A natural response.

I weigh myself every morning as soon as I get up and before I have a shower. Your weight may go up or down by 1 kg on a daily basis. Your final check should be the morning after your second fast day for the week. As long as that weight is lower than the previous week, then all well and good.

Mandaz

4:45 pm
7 Jun 16
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That makes perfect sense about the diet drinks. I really must try and come off them although may allow myself a drink of normal pop as a treat at the weekends. We will see. We had a nice breakfast and I’ve been drinking plenty of water. It’s not been too bad really. Am looking forward to tea tonight but not massively hungry which I’m surprised at. We couldn’t find our tape measure so had to get one this afternoon. So we haven’t measured ourselves yet but I did weigh myself and work out BMI. For the first time in my life I’m excited to step onto the scales!

micky42

5:41 pm
7 Jun 16
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Mandaz welcome! I have been doing this for 13 weeks and I am so pleased I found this approach and this group! I have lost about 17-18 lbs and my BMI has lowered accordingly. I have not been exercising either!

It really isn’t that hard to do if you set your mind to it; just keep at it with a view to the end result. Be patient and accept yourself as you go along. I used to be so addicted to diet cokes and diet Dr Pepper. Terrible. 2 per day, sometimes 3 or 4. Hated drinking water. And I love all foods that are bad for me. Really wondered if I would be able to eat only one small meal, or nothing, on fast days. But it turns out it’s actually not that hard. Keys for me, I think, have been investing in a Soda Stream and drinking tons of water from it sweetened with liquid stevia drops (plain, berry, root beer flavors), and avoiding diet sodas, bread, sugar, potatoes and rice most of the time. I still eat them, but not too often and in very sensible amounts. Somehow it has become much easier to leave those alone than it ever has been before. Try it – you will probably like it a lot.

MmeMonkey

8:22 pm
7 Jun 16
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Good luck with it Mandaz.

It’s working fantastically for me. In January my BMI had hit 40. But I’m now 15.5kgs (or 34lbs) down, BMI now the low end of 34. Still a long way to go but very happy with my progress.

The fasting gets much easier as you go on. I barely think about it now. And I don’t worry *too* much about what I eat on eating days. I still enjoy meals out, takeaways etc, just in moderation. I’ve pretty much given up puddings and alcohol. These are very occasional treats now. Can’t say I miss them much.

Think long term, be patient, don’t panic if the weight loss is slow. You’ll get there. Join us on the ‘I need to lose 6 stone’ thread. We’re a friendly bunch and kind of in the same ballpark weightwise.

sehz

9:38 pm
13 Jun 16
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Hi Mandz I’ve just started too. I’m finding I need to have at least 2 meals a day on my fasting days and use coffee as my ‘snacks’ to help get me through. I’m not sure if that’s exactly right but I lost 1.5kg on my first week. Just weighed in this morning and I’m really happy with that. I also fast on different days (Monday and Thursday) which helps me get through the fasting day knowing I can eat the next day lol. Good luck ☺ I must say I was surprised to see it truly works this morning when I weighed in ☺

PinkQueen

4:28 pm
14 Jun 16
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Hi Mandaz! My BMI was approx. 40.7 when I started in March. Down 15 lbs and BMI is 37.9. I find most fast days good, sometimes very stress free. Though it has been months, so I have grown accustomed. My advice is to ease into it. Doing too much at once can be frustrating and taxing on the psyche. If you need to have a diet drink as a treat, so be it…though I don’t, but if I had to have something like this as a treat, it is better than a slice of cake! And about the water, adding a little fruit gives flavor and tastes so good. It adds less calories than are in a broth! Just slice them up and infuse the water. I totally recommend it and no one here has spoken against it as it is not the same thing as juice. I do know people don’t recommend drinking the fruit flavored waters that come bottled with added sweeteners. Good luck and congratulations on the marriage! Oh, almost forgot to mention, on average over all my weeks, my weight loss has been 1 lb a week. I practice 4:3 (one additional fasting day that is a 36 hour fast with less than 100 calories from liquid). I started throwing that in recently because my daily calorie needs are very low. I am a small frame and very short, so it is easy for me to eat average and gain weight! So, I needed to kick up the calorie deficit.