Hi everyone

I am 3 weeks in and a dress size down. I started losing weight 4 years ago and started at 19 stone. I lost 4.5 very quickly then stayed around the same for the next year. After quitting work and opening my own business I joined a gym and got a coach who convinced me that I would enjoy lifting weights more than hours of cardio. He was right, I do. Now, Many of my friends are Bikini/bodybuilding competitors. Taking advice from them and my coach I have been following the standard Competitor diet. 6 smallish meals a day, generally the same food. I am sick of Chicken and Sweet potato!!!!!! I lost another 1.5 stones, but have struggled since, despite sticking to the diet and exercising religiously.

Anyway, my Husband is a naturally IF’er. He eats very little some days and more others. May not eat till 5pm some days, others he has breakfast and eats all day. He just follows what his body is telling him and has never had a weight problem. I have never had that control and tend to binge eat. However, late 2014 I had a bad shoulder/ neck injury, so bad I could not move or even leave the house. Gave me lots of time to look at what I was doing and spent lots of time on the internet where I started reading this website and forum. In January, I returned to the gym and told my coach I was going to do 5:2. He was skeptical, but supportive and interested to see the results. It goes against all his training and experience, but he also accepts that just because he hasn’t seen it work, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t work. We are doing it like an experiment of sorts. My husband is very supportive as well. The rest of my competitor friends….not so much. Lots of talk about muscle loss, metabolism slowing down etc. So I am looking forward to showing them its not true.

I have actually found that on my feed days, I am making better choices yet feel more relaxed about food. No panic because I left meal 3 at home and I won’t be back to eat in time. My IBS has calmed down and I have had no symptoms since my second fast. Traveling for meetings is easy, as I do a fast day and don’t have to think about food, rather than packing a cool bag with 3 or 4 meals and stopping to eat them. On Feed days if I want chocolate, I have it. But rather than binge, a small fun size bar is enough. I can not believe the change in me and my relationship to food has been so dramatic.

I have been reading the forums since I started and they have really helped so I wanted to join. You all seem like such a supportive bunch. I have had 2 weigh ins with my coach and I am down 6lb. I have another check in with him tomorrow and am excited, rather than dreading it. If the scales show no loss, its ok as my Jean are so loose, I had to buy some more. I think I have gone down at least a dress size. I would ideally like to lose another 36lb. But I am concentrating on Body fat percentage, really. I only have the body fat test every 2 months as its a bit time consuming and eats into the training sessions. Even my Coach has started reading up on the 5:2 and thinking of recommending it to a couple of other clients who are struggling to move fat too, especially since there has been no loss in strength so far. I am still managing to add weight to my lifts.

Thanks for reading and I am looking forward to speaking to you all. You are all helped me without knowing it and I am very grateful to have come across this forum.