Day 10. Québec. NFD

Last night I had decided to start training at home with a Fitness Blender video but after walking 1/2 hour in the snow and shoveling about one hour I though that my training was done for today.
And they are predicting another snow storm tomorrow ! Sincerely I like shoveling but we have so much snow that we dont know wher to put it anymore.. We already received about 180 cm since the beginning of winter. I’m not complaining, I love it.

Scales are going down on small but steady basis. Best of all I’m finding it rather easy. Very happy about that and feeling like going on.

Bye bye to all my 5:2 virtual friends around the world x

Day 10 NZ FD….finally!
So I considered and appreciated all the advice about managing my Summer holidays and have been 16:8 all week (I know it’s only Wednesday) but I had a rising sense of panic that I couldn’t let a whole week go by without my fast days lest I somehow magically undo my ability to ever fast again?!?
I’m sure my tendency to see the world in black and white, all or nothing terms has had a big hand in leading me to the state my body is in (or moving out of) and I just woke up thinking if I let myself opt out of my commitment to 5:2 for two weeks, then how will I restart? Will I restart? Isn’t this all about a way of life that’s sustainable?
So…it was clearly time to pull up my big girl panties and just get on with it.
I think I felt like a total liquid fast for 36hours was too daunting and requires a type of mental energy and focus that I just couldn’t muster in holiday mode.
Hence today I have adjusted my personal rules around my fast which had become water only for 36hours, and gone back to basics allowing for some calories and mentally making the process seem easier.
I gave myself permission to enjoy the things I didn’t want to miss out on, like a bowl of fresh berries from the local growers today whilst maintaining my fast under 400cals and I know I will now fit another FD into the week, either tomorrow with another calorie allowance up to 400cals or Friday, but we have plans to go on a drive on Friday and I would like to have a meal while we are out so I’m leaning toward BTB but with under 1/4 TDEE for both 36hours periods just to make sure I get it done.
Thanks so much for all the advice and support everyone, I haven’t got time at present to read all the posts but I’ll catch up when I get home I’m sure.

Day 11, FD, New Zealand. Another good day for me. Drank miso for lunch (28 cals). Ate Vietnamese meetballs with rice noodle salad (352 cals), a berry yoghurt iceblock (40cals), and a couple of spoonfuls of pineapple (37 cals) = 457 cals total for the day.

There are so many different ways of doing a FD, and I’ve never tried the water-only FD. But personally I’m happy to stick to 500 cals. I really love cooking and creating in the kitchen – and eating – so to have a delicious serving of a home-cooked meal is my idea of heaven. I was hanging out for tonight’s dinner though (ate about 5.30pm!), but boy, did I enjoy that first mouthful. I’ll probably do NFD tomorrow, using TDEE of my goal weight, rather than my current weight. It’s 10kg difference, but only 138 calories in the TDEEs so why not start getting into those healthy habits? The other option would be to do a 3rd consecutive FD. Will see how I feel in the morning. Good night, all.

Aussie day 11 FD tomorrow.

Day 11 / NFD / Oman
Yesterday’s FD went very well. Didn’t eat anything until 3pm (miso). Saved up most of my 500cals for dinner which I really enjoyed. Was hungry going to bed but not hungry this morning. Scales are moving in right direction so I’m happy today.

On NFDs I try to stick to my goal weight tdee. I’m back exercising at the gym. Doing hiit on bike or elliptical for 30 mins x 4 times a week.

@simcoeluv…thanks for the newbie advice. V helpful.

Have a good day all!

Day10,canada,FD

Day 11 Waterford Ireland
Hi, am I too late to join in? I stayed up way too late last night browsing through the posts and can see it’s a hugely supportive group.
I did 5/2 for 6 months last year until I fell by the wayside over summer. Have never felt as well as I did whilst doing it. Have never been able to diet, I love food and hate the complicated rules. I know I can do 5/2 but also know I didn’t stick with it. Hoping committing to a group like this might help, if it’s not too late ?

And @simcoeluv – thank you for the gentle encouragement to stick with it. Most appreciated! 😉

Day 11 NFD Melbourne Australi

Sorry been a couple of days since I posted as I just spent 3 days on a short break in Sydney. So Days 9,10 and 11 were all NFD,s. Because of that Day 8 was an extra Fast Day the fourth in one week period and I really really struggled. I stuck to the points but I was soo hungry I couldn’t sleep that night and it took me the whole of the next day to lose the hungry feeling even though I was eating. I think it was one FD too many in a 7 day period.

Hi all UK day 11 FD

@arvandee where did you read that you are supposed to reduce activity on FD’s. If anything I think energy levels rise (so you can go out and hunt for a meal) on fast days and I love the lightness when exercising on fast days. Being sensible of course!

@steffieagle – walks by the Pacific Ocean sounds lovely…. sigh

@altrarosie – never too late to join. Jump in where we are any questions just ask but have copied Simcoeluv’s post yesterday to the newbies which is very helpful

Hi to you Newbies in the challenge!

If you are a Newbie and started with this challenge you are now entering a critical phase of your new diet. I already see signs of it in some of your posts. And if you don’t get through the phase you will quit the diet and fail to lose the weight you want to lose – maybe ‘again’.

The phase is doubt that the diet works, and wondering what you should do differently to make it work better.

Assuming you are doing 5:2 correctly – go to bed, get up, eat 5/600 cal. during your waking hours, go to bed, get up and eat to your TDEE or less two times a week – you need to understand that the average weight loss on 5:2 is about a pound a week. (If you aren’t doing 5:2 correctly, you might try it for awhile – it really works!)

That means that if in your first week you lost, say, 4 pounds (whee! great!! excited!!!) and in the second week say, maybe 3 pounds (nice! wonderful! wish it would go faster!) you will have lost 7 pounds in two weeks. That means that if you are going to experience the average weight loss on the diet of one pound a week, sometime in the next two months you may not lose much, if any, weight in five of the next eight weeks.

If you don’t understand and accept this possibility, you will become disheartened and quit. I already see people saying their rate of weight loss has slowed and that they need to eat different foods, or exercise more, or try a different ‘eating pattern’, to get their weight loss going again.

But if you are doing 5:2 correctly, your weight loss will resume – but just at a slower pace. You don’t need to do anything new or different. And doing something different will not necessarily speed things up.

Just give 5:2 at least two months before you try something else. Long experience shows if you give up and start trying different things you may read about on this and other sites you end up confused, no longer on any diet, and at about the same weight as when you started.

This illustrates the weight loss ‘pattern’ you may experience: https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/really-no-weight-loss/

And this answers most of your questions about 5:2: https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/the-basics-for-newbies-your-questions-answered/

Good Luck!

Day 11, SW England. NFD

@wellrounded stealing your comment

“must do better”

yesterdays NFD was pretty bad, ate a lot of stollen, snacked a lot, had giant bowl of cheesy pasta for supper as well as jacket potato with butter AND cheese AND tuna for lunch. plus the snacks

todays has not started so well either! not sure where my willpower on NFDs has gone, I know its a chance to have a few treats but taking it too far. hmm

will rein it in for the rest of today!

FD tomorrow.

running at lunch today

Day 11 Surrey, UK NFD

Weighed myself this morning and have lost the half stone I was aiming for by May! (That’s 7lb). Sooo pleased. I’m realistic that it will ping around a bit so not too fixated on the amount I’ve lost but still it is satisfying. Much more importantly I feel great and I really notice changes around my waistline.

So for anyone struggling – just persevere. I’m not doing anything extreme at all. Not calorie counting on NFDs or doing more exercise than usual. Just doing what I usually do apart from FDs when I limit myself to 500 cals and enjoying life!!

Have a good day.

Just a quick message for you guys on a super useful website I found called Bembu. It is very good in listing the foods rich in a variety of vitamins and minerals. I am going to have to incorporate some of them into my weekly food shop.

http://bembu.com/vitamin-rich-foods

Hope everyone’d day is going well. 🙂

Day 11 Surrey UK FD so far, yesterday’s fast day went really well, with tea, one coffee and bowl of soup in the evening. So far not hungry yet, about to take the dogs out and then get on with ironing which is half done. Had very very bad back pain later in the day yesterday, haven’t had a chance to sit in front of the computer to read all the posts and there is a lot to read! Hope everyone is doing well!

Day 11– Colorado, USA– NFD

Just sitting in bed, catching up on reading posts, enjoying a hot mug of homemade bone broth. Mmm. Hearty & healthy. Warms ya right up!

Today is planned as NFD, but will play it by ear. May slip into a FD instead. Just bone broth & herbal teas till dinner? We’ll see.

Definitely weight training day. Plus, daily walk with doggy. Then toss in my chores/ errands from To-Do List & I’ve got a full day ahead. Trying to knock off as many items from my List as possible before my Medical Leave is over & I’m back at work!

Day 11 Canada
NFD
I love reading the posts now, it is such an affirmation to share similar stories.
Great NFD yesterday, am eating my TDEE between current & goal, more or less on NFDs.

@coda I really appreciate the grounding of your message today. Consistency is not to be expected, we are in this for the long haul… and for the clear minds and health benefits that aren’t tied to the scale!

2nd post

@blueninjamum – plaudits for my post must go to Simcoeluv I just re-posted – I think it should be re-posted on every page to remind people when they get ahead of themselves.

@altrarosie – just keep reaffirming I don’t want, I can have it later, I don’t want, I can have it later. Have a nice sparkling water with lemon or lime while you are preparing.

@erika45 – well done – give yourself a pat on the back – and everyone else do likewise for the little things that make a big difference.

@bert – I wasn’t sure if you were really down or just your sense of humour, I did laugh at the underwear stretcher person – but surely this business with your clothes is a good thing? it means you are getting smaller not really someone coming in and stretching them while you sleep lol – to be celebrated?

So I am going to put this in writing but I am sure no-one is going to hold me to it but this is my plan for the next few months.

My first goal for January remains the same. I want 6lbs less by the end of this month. February, March, April and May to be 4 pounds less each month – see I have said I don’t want to ‘loose’ these pounds because I certainly do not want to find them again. I think these goals are realistic and not too much pressure. That will bring me within 2 lbs of my ultimate goal. After reading most of the complete guide to fasting, I am planning to do 5 fast days this week as I feel I need a re-set but even if I achieve a low day like yesterday on one or 2 days, that is still ok with me – my choice. Next week I plan 4, the following 3, the next and the last 2 days of February will be fast days. Same plan for the weeks in February and March and have already been entered into my diary along with any birthdays, weekends away etc that I know of. If I can do 5 (or my best shot) then I can certainly do 4, 3 or 2. I think the plan is certainly achievable but as with all best laid plans they can go awry but can be tweaked at any time if needs be such is this eating plan, nothing is set in stone.

Day 11 USA (Illinois)

NFD today. But I do plan to stay well under TDEE.

Onward and downward!

@laddie10 – thanks for link. Very helpful. I will make sure I get more B5 in my nutrition.

Day 11 Kent NFD

Been reading through some of the recent posts and quite confused by all the acronyms. Think I need to do a bit more reading up on the 5:2 book.Some of you do seem to be taking the 2 fasting days to extremes. I completed my 2 days this week but went slightly over 500 calories. Felt hungry today and had a bit of a headache. Enjoying eating!

Day 10 Sweden FD

Fasting is going okay but I feel less focused and more tired than I usually do on a fast day. It could be due to the fact that I waited until 14.00 to have my first meal, which was only 130 calories, and that I did some (light) treadmill running before that.

Now I also realize that I’ve only had one single cup of coffee the whole day! What am I doing to myself?!? No wonder I’m having such a hard time studying. Ok bye, gotta run to the espresso machine 😀

A good reminder:
Even when I don’t see movement in the weight reduction area, I still come back to intermittent fasting for all its myriad of health benefits!

Just some of the many benefits that you can easily read up on:

-improved insulin sensitivity, lowers risk of Type 2 Diabetes
-raised resting metabolic rate, sped up metabolism
-lowered blood pressure
-lower cholesterol
-improvement in hormones that regulate true hunger cues
-improved brain function, increased levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor
-slowed aging to brain, possibly delaying or curtailing onset of dementia or Alzheimers
-improved immune system
-increased cell autophagy (a cellular waste-removal process)
-starving off cancer cells
-reduced acne
-resting the digestive tract
-reduction of inflammation in body
-may also slow aging, extending lifespan

If I get shaky with my resolve on a Fast Day…
I remind myself it’s not all about what size jeans I can squeeze into. It’s SO MUCH MORE!!! I review this list of benefits which steels my resolve & gives me the motivation to keep going!

I hope this helps someone out there who may be doubting or struggling too!!
Be strong. We’re in this together! 🙂

Day 11|NFD|Toronto
Thank you @happymargo for the great benefits list.

Thanks so much happymargo, that list will be a super reminder of all the other whys I’m doing this when the going gets tough.

@bert1802 thanks for being so welcoming😊
This is such a busy thread! Maybe it’s because I’ve been trying to catch up, but it has certainly been a distraction today (from thinking about what I’m not eating, I mean).
Can I ask what the OR/AND theory is?