Day 20, Dunsborough, West Aust NFD
@jojo58 – thank you so much for your very kind words of encouragement. Made my day 👑 I’m currently en route from home to Melbourne which is literally from one side of Australia to the other. A 3 hour drive to the airport and then a 5 hour flight from Perth to Melbourne. I generally stay in Perth overnight then I’m not stressed about being held up on the highway to get to the airport on time.
Not sure what to say in a post about how I’ve achieved my 5kg loss in 5 weeks, but essentially all I’ve done is stick to the rules. No backsliding and no aborted FDs, with mindful eating on NFDs. I kind of count calories on FDs but have developed a few recipes that I switch around that I know are low in calories and actually tend to eat these dishes on NFDs as well… just because I like them.
I feel like I’ve been on a lifetime of diets though and I think I eat fairly well, but just too much. I’ve already kicked the sugar habit along with wheat products. I cook from scratch, including making my own ice cream, baked beans, and other ‘normal’ food, so I don’t feel as though I’m missing out. I definitely don’t see things like chocolate, cake etc as a treat. I see these as sabotage.
One thing that I think is essential to my success has been not having any temptations in the house. I don’t snack on nuts, but do use them to make cracker biscuits. High in calories I know but they are better than the commercial alternative, which, really are just empty calories. Better to have nourishing calories than empty ones.
But I think it’s the intermittent fasting that’s the clincher! It’s the thing that makes the difference not to be on a program every single day for the rest of my life. I can do 2 days a week. I always do 23/1 on FDs and either 23/1 or 16/8 on NFDs. Have cut out brekkie. I find the less I eat the less hungry I feel.
Yes, @jojo58 DH is Dear Husband but I rather like OH and will use that in future. Tomorrow is his first FD! Exciting times!!
Happy fasting to you all ❣️

Day 20, Oceanside CA, NFD

Family visiting from Eastcoast this week. FD tomorrow instead of today. Still lots of walking and sensible eating. Two birthday celebrations this week. Just a taste of cake and ice-cream. We do not live by fasting alone. Only 8 days left of our challenge. Finish strong!

Day 20: Gloucestershire, UK….going for the FD
Good luck and all strength to today’s fasters out there.

Day 20 FD Norway
I just made a chicken recipe from Mimi Spencer’s “The Fast Day Cookbook” and find, after eating the chicken with gremolata, that the calorie count must be wrong. I made a portion for one with 230g skinless, boneless chicken thigh. She suggests 220g of thigh per portion with a calorie count for the recipe of 140 per portion. But all the places I’ve checked give skinless, boneless chicken thigh a calorie count of 130-160 per 100g. Anyone out there have any thoughts on this? I skinned and boned the thighs myself and cut away the fat, but it’s certainly not as lean as breast, which I will use next time to get the calorie count down.

I want to get off SUGAR!

I am reading “Why we get fat and what to do about it” by Gary Taubes. I already read his “Case against sugar”. He writes a lot a sense…it’s motivating me to try to give up the deadly white stuff…but how? I admit I’m a bit of an addict, having indulged a serious sweet tooth all my life.

Anyway, I have a plan. As it’s a fast-day today, I’ve eaten no sugar or carbs….so why not try to avoid them tomorrow on my eating day? Just for one day, at a time. I have a breakfast of two boiled eggs and a hunk of cheese planned to start me off. Go to work. Fish and veges for lunch…then DANGER…what do I do then…eek! I’ll report on my progress tomorrow.

@ciren2 – I totally agree – sugar is really diabolical & when I have a lot – like last nite’s dinner – it sets me up to keep craving it – vicious cycle – like a drug addiction. And, it’s absolutely in everything processed. Not sure if you’ve heard of Stonewall Kitchen products. They’re headquarters in our little town. 2 guys who start d selling blueberry jam 20 yrs ago at the farmer’s market have built this multi million dollar food product company – lovely place to visit. However, the first ingredient in all of their very many jams, jellies, mustards, sauces is sugar! They use sugar as their main ingredient as a preservative. It’s unbelievable the business they do – but, something as healthy as blueberries becomes poison with the addiction of sugar. No need to wonder why diabetes is epidemic in this country.

I watched Dr. Oz this morning on a a tea-tox plan for 5 days. One of the suggestions was a cup of licorice root tea in the evening satisfies the need for something sweet & actually lessons the craving over time. I’m going to try it & will let everyone know if it does the trick.

Hi Curlytot thank you – if you know how to work a spread sheet it’s an advantage as you can put the names in alphabetically. After that it is up to you as to how you want to work it. You just keep a roll of people who have signed up to the challenge. You can delete those who you never hear from again or who give up. You can put starting weights and end weights if you wish so a tally can be given at the end. It really is to provide accountability. The fact that someone who joins our challenge has been enrolled and it will be noted if they disappear or preferably, completes the challenge is what makes this work. My only concern is if you are away that it may be overwhelming for you to catch up as they can come thick and fast at the beginning. However if you want to give it a go it would be appreciated. You would start a new thread and put the link here at the end of this challenge. Or if anyone else will be around all March then Curlytot we could keep you in reserve for a month when you are not away. But if you are up to an extra challenge? It’s up to you – let me know.

Day 20 / Sweden / FD

Fast day going very well. Just have to make sure I drink enough water.

Day 17 NFD controlled
Day 18 NFD way overboard (cake and more cake… and maybe more cake)
Day 19 NFD controlled

Cheerio!

lilymartin,
It is essential to eat something tasty both on fast and non fast days and then you will feel satisfied with this way of life. I have a 500 maximum on fast days which is easily satisfied with an prawn omelette/vegetables or fish/chicken/veg or salad. I prefer to just have one meal. For the rest of the day I drink water, green tea and recently Kefir(both milk and water versions) Kefir builds up gut bacteria which is then more effective for good digestion. On non fast days I still have one meal but two courses e.g soup and main or main and desert. I like home made spicy soup and stir fry with zero noodles. If I have dessert it is normally fresh fruit and yogurt(never sweet puddings) basically it’s good to have what you want but if you want to successfully lose weight it should be healthy options only. If you keep your choices healthy and portion sizes reasonable you probably don’t need to count calories. Good Luck

Day 20 Ireland FD

Day 21 – Tokyo, Japan – NFD 78.3kg (but I’m too dried out.)

44 hours into my fast but planning on ending it. My wife is sick with flu and it really isn’t helping her mood. Too much stress to continue the fasting.

This morning my blood glucose was up to 89 mg/dl from 74 mg/dl last night, the so call dawn effect.

My ketone levels are > 4.0 mmol/l which is very high for me. So I know that in less the two days of fasting I’m into full blown ketosis.

Yesterday the fasting was harder and last night was a bit of a struggle, I even had some heart burn.

@lilymartin – I don’t even come close to eating whatever I want to eat. While I’ll probably exceed my TDEE today, it is unlikely I’ll do that tomorrow or the next day. I’ve also revamped my diet so I’m eating a lot differently than I used to.

* Almost no sugar except from what I get from whole fruit. I might let myself have some ice cream sometimes, but when I do I’m very aware I’m breaking my policy and I also know if I eat too much I’ll pay a price.

* Instead of sweats I reach for things like nuts. Much higher calories but my body seems okay with that tradeoff. If I cut the nuts out of my diet, I wouldn’t even be close to exceeding my TDEE. A few handfuls of nuts can easily be over 500kc and I often eat more than that. 🙁

* I eat a lot of vegetables and additionally try to find sources of fiber. I’m really pushing fiber.

* I’m trying to push on exercise that really builds my body. My workouts tend to be short but painful and I often have sore muscles.

So it isn’t really just eating whatever I want. I do eat as much as I want when I’m not fasting, but that isn’t the same as eating whatever I want.

However, I also don’t make constant progress. I’ve been pretty much stuck in the 78kg to 82kg range for this year. However weight isn’t my end goal, my goal is not to get rid of the 2cm to 3cm of fat on my belly. At least it isn’t 20cm of fat like it used to be. 🙂

Day 20 USA NFD

Day 21 NFD country west Australia
FD yesterday went OK. Like many others I find it easier to fast when busy at work
@jojo28 and @dykask I have always eaten healthily and love to cook so usually am eating food I like and which I have made. Prefer to eat homemade as I know what is in it.( 300 plus recipe books – cooking is a hobby I love and probably why I now am thinking about 5:2 as a WOL.)
As mentioned previously never calorie counted and not a fan of diets . I did once ‘ diet’ by keeping a daily journal of what I ate for 5 months . A bit like this WOL in as far as it made me realize how much I was eating and I became much more mindful. Successfully lost 7 kgs which stayed off for a few years then mindless eating patterns emerged and the inexorable weight gain until it was too much to ignore when the photographic evidence was there.
Have been without a stove or oven for 2 weeks so happily had lots of salads and microwaved veggies. Always have at least half to 2/3 plate of veggies with meals.
Have always had ‘ naked’ salads as I like the taste of the raw ingredients and not really a fan of dressings.
Fortunately I have never really had a sweet tooth though I do like chocolate – usually the dark stuff. Although I bake a lot I don’t usually eat many cakes or biscuits. I have a savoury Tooth!
I think I have just eaten too much, dropped off the exercise and eaten too many Carbs !!
I do like bread, rice, pasta. Usually have wholemeal or wholegrain. Since starting 5:2 I have cut down carbs a lot. Also cut down coffees which I drink with quite a lot of milk.
It’s really only since I worked out what my TDEE looks like and what 500 calories looks like that I am slowly making inroads.
For example someone ?? Posted a single serve dish with 230 gms chicken which sounds a lot. Most recipes I have seen for chicken, single serve, is about 90 -100 gms. So it’s all a learning curve. Similarly when crunching calorie numbers , which I haven’t for a while and could be partial explanation for plateau, there was a huge variation. Eg ham sandwich could range from about 90 – 540 Calories! Depends on lots of factors.
So still fasting 1 or 2 days a week and eating mindfully on NFD and tweaking and twanging eating habits. But certainly not losing large amounts like some. As I said yesterday, everyone’s journey is different – but good to journey with supportive companions. Apologies for length of post, just wanted to explain. And no, not going to count calories Forever!!

Day 21 Sunshine Coast Qld Australia. FD NFD yesterday. Trying to follow LCHF challenge but not very successfully so far. Not feeling the top dollar, a bit off colour. Will continue to give it a good go.

Hi LynzM. I was advised by someone else on the site to go to google drive. Once I did that, I dragged my spreadsheet into the page, right clicked on it and clicked on share. Then it gave me a link, which I copied and pasted into this site. It’s not that hard, but didn’t work every time. It’s all a matter of using google drive. I created a gmail account to do it. I haven’t checked it in a long time. The first time I did it in October, people had to ask my permission to look, but this time I am somehow sharing it differently so that anyone who can see the link (everyone on the thread) can look, but I only used information that others posted, just putting it all in one place so to speak. Hope this helps. I think it is drive.google.com

Day 21 – Perth AUS – NFD

Day 21 – Switzerland – NFD

Great top tips from everyone – thank you!

Day 21 – Brittany, France – NFD

After yesterday’s FD following a week’s NFDs I’m well pleased as I not only managed to keep weight off, but I’ve even managed to break the plateau I was on. I weighed in this morning at 67.5 kg. That’s over half a kilo off since last week. Looks like the 8 hour window for eating is the way forward for me, particularly when I can’t fast. Or maybe I just should have a few more gastric bugs…

@jojo58 – I don’t know if it was you who recommended kefir at the beginning of the month; but I did manage to find some on the internet and I’ve been drinking a glass every day. I noticed yesterday that you said yours had gone sour; I didn’t have time to respond but I use this website for tips which might be helpful for you: http://www.culturesforhealth.com/learn/milk-kefir/milk-kefir-grains-troubleshooting-faq-advice/

AJCaroline,
Posts crossed but thanks for link, actually I found dozens on Kefir, all useful. I am having water and milk Kefir daily. A new ‘daily’ habit which I am recommending to friends. I am really beginning to feel the benefits already. Even my old dogs get some.
It’s so easy to make yourself once you have bought the live grains.

Day 21 UK NFD

Another lb down this morning!!! It is exactly a month since the battery went into the scales and I weighed 230lbs now I’m down to 212lbs!! If this is the rate I am losing at I dread to think what my starting weight was:( But that is in the past, thank goodness. The strange thing is that the main measurements are not changing this month although previously they were shrinking very well. But I think my arms and legs look much thinner and the fat allover under my skin has become looser, less a part of me somehow. The initial weight loss was all around my middle but now it going from everywhere.

It is of course a big boost to see this working and makes it easier to keep going but I am aware that it won’t always be smoothe sailing. I may need to rework my system at some point when I hit the plateaus and setbacks others are seeing. But equally some of you might benefit from giving ADF a go. I actually think in some ways it is easier as it has a rhythm to it that your body falls into. It knows what to expect each day and having that certainty takes the optional element away that although at its best can be great sometimes sets one up for failure. I completely agree with Jojo58 re sugar and carbs. I couldn’t be doing this if I was still addicted to them. Bread I just can’t tolerate any more. I feel so unwell if I eat it. And I spent a year of my life cooking all our own bread and didn’t eat much else for a while. I loved it. I did read somewhere though that sometimes having a highcarb phase among the low carb time can boost leptin and so be helpful. Something about it passes the blood brain barrier best when you are low carb but is produced in higher quantities when you have more. I have interpreted this to mean my pasta fixes every couple of days might actually be ok and even helpful. Certainly after the last one I lost lb overnight despite it being a relatively high calorie NFD.

Must get to work. So happy with this WOL:)

Day 21, London, UK, FD (b2b!!)

Shocked to find I’m on my 2nd FD in a row – my 1st b2b – I feel ok, but it’s still early, thinking positively…………….. I’ve got this today!!!

Good luck everybody.

Day 21 Melbourne NFD
Middle of big project for work, and still trying to keep up with the usual work as well, so extra busy and not much time to read or post but keeping my hand in. Happy to read the various hints and tips that people share as I try to build my own brand, all of it gratefully received.

Many thanks to the person who wrote, awhile back, “I ask myself – is this [insert food item I am contemplating inserting into my mouth] going to bring me closer to my goal?” I asked myself this twice this evening and both times it stopped me cold. Did I say big thanks? I mean Extra Super Duper, It’s a Winner, Huge Thanks!!

DAY 21 – Cardiff UK – NFD

Starting weight : 173.3lb

Today’s weight : 164.6lb (8.7lb) Feb target 8.3lb

Really pleased this morning as I’ve reached my Feb target a week early! Now I need to work on a revised target of maybe another 1.6 or maybe a bit more.

I think my success so far has been down to me having my own plan and sticking to it. It really is a case of finding a way that works for you, but as I’m only 5 weeks into this WOL I know there’s still a long way to go. My plan is pretty much:

1. ADF (M, W, F)
2. Liquid only fasts – I struggle to drink enough water and enjoy focusing
on this on FD along with the feeling of being in control.
3. Counting calories – for me this is still a must, though I hope in the
future my nutritional intelligence will improve enough for me to be able to
stop.
4. Cutting out the sugar (apart from whole fruit). This has meant weekly food
shop takes much longer interrogating labels. Very little alcohol.
5. Cutting refined carbs – no bread, pasta and very little wholegrain rice –
they don’t agree with me and I’d rather use my calories on fresh veg,
healthy fats and protein.

Sorry for the long post, but this is the first time I’ve really looked at how I’ve changed my WOL which is resulting in the weight loss, and want to continue to be accountable.

Hope everyone is managing to stay in control, and if you’ve stumbled, then reach out, there’s always someone around to help you up and dust you off.

Take care all.

UK Day 21 – FD

Had a great long weekend at home with friends and family and I have no idea of what calories I consumed!! FD for me today to try and repair some damage before my weigh in on Thursday!

Hope everyone else is doing well 🙂

Georgia/USA/Day 21/NFD: Gonna stay within my TDEE today.