Back to 5:2 after 3 years.

This topic contains 13 replies, has 7 voices, and was last updated by kilda 6 years, 8 months ago.

Viewing 14 posts - 1 through 14 (of 14 total)

mollymoo37

5:57 pm
21 Jan 18
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Hi

I first did the 5:2 three years ago I lost 28lb. I managed to keep the weight off for two years, but last year I have slowly put on 20lbs. It has been so gradual that I didn’t register how much weight I have put on until last night I was saying goodnight to my daughter and saw my reflection in her mirror and realised i was looking at the women I was three years ago. I have been deluding myself thinking it was only a few pounds and I could easily shift them but it’s actually 20lbs. So I am determined to go back to 5:2. I must admit that I feel apprehensive going on the diet again because the first time I didn’t know what to expect.
The first time I was cold all the time and very moody and grumpy not looking forward to these side effects again. I know this is the only diet that has ever worked for me so I am just going to get straight back on it.
I am going to post my progress every week.
Start weight is 150lbs goal weight is 130lbs. This week I am going to fast Tuesday and Friday.
Fingers crossed for success.

fasting_me

12:09 am
23 Jan 18
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You did it before, Mollym, you can do it again. As for being grumpy on Fast Days, were you drinking enough water? Getting enough protein to keep you full? I’ve been drinking lots of herbal tea to stay warm on these cold January days.

I look forward to your weekly updates.

mishty

3:59 am
23 Jan 18
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HI Fasting_me and mollymoo37,

Glad to know that you both are doing 5:2, Today is my first day of 5:2 though i had 500 calories in my dinner but i burnt around 430 calories doing excercise. But im worried i cant stick to it longer, what keeps you both motivated? Thank You so much

Margaretb

10:43 am
23 Jan 18
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I too lost a load of weight with 5:2 about three years ago. But then found I wasn’t losing weight then gradually began putting it all back on. At the same time is was exhausted and suffering from multiple ailments. Turned out I had an underactive thyroid was responsible. I’ve spent the last 15 months getting my blood levels to an optimal level and now feel I back in a place to be able to lose weight. At first I was very upset at having regained the weight but now, I tell myself I am a warrior who is fighting an invisible invader and I should not be hard on myself for being sick. I also have an inner ear disorder and have days when I am incredibly dizzy and find it hard to walk, let alone exercise. But with my past experience of 5:2 I know I will feel better in the long run. Good luck and good health to everyone.

fasting_me

1:59 pm
23 Jan 18
Permalink

mishty, welcome to Fasting. I have a correction to make to your statement above. Here’s how it should read: “I had too calories in my dinner AND i burnt around 430 calories doing exercise.” The calories burned do not count for much in terms of calories eaten. I’m al for exercise, but a FitBit will steer you wrong by taking in calories burned and then telling you that you can therefore eat more calories since you burned them off. Stick to COUNTING the calories.
I’ve been at this Lifestyle for 4 years now with good success. I do exercise but I don’t subtract ‘calories burned’. If you are worried that you can’t stick to it longer than one day, then make some decisions about what will make it more sustainable. Are you too hungry on a Fast Day? then look at what and when you eat. Are you afraid you’ll binge on a Slow Day? not if you adopt Margaret’s warrior attitude. We eat 2 meals per Fast Day and still Fast 2 days/week, every week.

Margaret, Sounds as if your weight loss was concurrent with your multiple ailments. Now that you are getting control of those, you should get back to your former 5:2 success. On the days that you are too dizzy to walk/exercise, then don’t. I try to get my 5 miles of walking per day, but some days I don’t. Are there any exercises you could do seated?

Molly [my name too], how goes it?

mollymoo37

3:03 pm
23 Jan 18
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Well fast day is going well so far (hope I haven’t jinxed myself).
Fasting_me I have been drinking lots of water today and so far I don’t feel too bad, no hunger pangs yet. I intend to keep myself busy this evening, I always find the time between picking my daughter up and our evening meal is the worst time and i can get quite snappy. I’m going to try to conquer this tonight by not going straight home after the school run and having my meal with the rest of my calories earlier than normal and then an early night. I think if I can get through today without breaking the fast I will feel so much better.

It does not help that I seem to be seeing mini eggs and chocolate everywhere.

My daughter never eats her crusts at breakfast and I always eat them. Today I didn’t, I left my hubby to clear the table and made a sharp exit out of the kitchen.

Mishty I have a fitbit but I don’t take any notice of the calories burnt, just keep up with the exercise and stick to 500 cal. To keep me motivated, I have got a photograph of when I lost my weight and every time I have thought about food I have looked at how I want to be again.

Margaretb well done deciding to go back to 5:2, like you said you can’t help being ill. You seem to have the motivation to get started again

Good luck everyone

CSLB

5:19 pm
23 Jan 18
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I’m in my third week of 5:2. Your conversation is keeping me motivated on a day when I’m feeling a bit weak about wanting food. I lost 2.5lbs the first week. In the second week, I weighed myself the day after a fast day and saw that I had lost another 2.5 lbs, but when I weighed myself on the regular weigh-in day (two days later) I hadn’t lost any since the first week. Is it typical to have no weight loss on any given week? I guess I thought it would be steady progress each week. I wonder if I ate too much on my non-fast days. What is your experience?

simcoeluv

7:48 pm
23 Jan 18
Permalink

Hi CSLB and welcome:

There is no such thing as ‘steady progress’ when you are talking about weight loss – on any diet. You will experience weeks with great loss, some with no loss or even gains, but over time on 5:2 you will lose about a pound a week, or a little less.

This may help you understand: https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/really-no-weight-loss/

And these threads will answer most of your questions: https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/the-basics-for-newbies-your-questions-answered/

Good Luck!

CSLB

2:01 am
24 Jan 18
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Perfect. Thank you for the information and the links!

mollymoo37

11:47 am
24 Jan 18
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One fast day done this week next one is on Friday. I feel so good that I managed to stick to 500cals yesterday, I wasn’t grumpy I did get a bit snappy near the end of the day but other than that a successful first day back on 5:2.
I am not going to set a date for losing weight but I would like to lose 22lbs I would like to lose 1lb a week but going on past experience I won’t get hung up on that.
I can’t do much exercise as I was born with hip dysplasia and even though I’m ok now I have got onset arthritis in my hip. I am ok with walking and swimming but only in moderation, I’m not supposed to do any high impact exercises. So it does all come down to fasting to loose the weight.
I am 40 years old and 5ft 2in my current weight is 152lbs.
I am only going to weigh once a week.

Hope everyone is getting on ok especially anyone fasting today.

mishty

6:06 pm
24 Jan 18
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Thank You fasting_me, You answered my questions. I will stick to 500 Calories on fast days and will not count the calories i burnt through exercise, I’m being very sensible on what i’m eating on non fasting day so lets see if it works

mishty

6:09 pm
24 Jan 18
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Thank You mollymoo37, I like the idea of taking picture when i loose weight and looking at it when i want to eat junk 🙂

fasting_me

8:37 pm
28 Jan 18
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Keep up the enthusiasm, Fellow Fasters. Weary not in well doing.

kilda

4:00 pm
13 Mar 18
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I am also back on the wagon after about 3 years off! I lost a total of 65 lbs on 5:2, starting at the beginning of 2014 and ending around April 2015. I found it amazingly easy to lose the weight, keeping to 2000 on nonfast days and about 500-600 on fast days. My BMI went from 33 to 20 over a 15 month period.

After I got to my goal, actually way beyond any goal I would have dreamed of, I decided to stop fasting or tracking calories and see what happened. It took about 2 years for the weight to creep gradually back, almost up to where I had started. This happened during a time when my life was crazy stressful. Then when I decided to get back onto the 5:2 it took me about 6 months of false starts – it just seemed like I couldn’t get motivated to stay with it.

Finally, around the beginning of this year I tried yet again and it has stuck. I’m down 18 lbs so far. I’m not sure why it was so hard to get myself back on the program but now that I finally have I’m finding it easy again. This time I will NOT be stopping to “see what happens” when I get down to my goal. I assume that when my body gets to where it wants to be I’ll stop losing and if not I’ll adjust my calorie limits gradually to find a level that maintains me.