Americans! And anyone else who might like to join :)

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Americans! And anyone else who might like to join :)

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  • Hello all,

    So happy to have found this forum! I can’t remember how I came across 5:2 initially, but finding this forum is what made me decide to get started. I’m hoping to get a group of Americans going so that we’ll all be awake and fasting at the same time–but really I would love to chat with anyone who is active, as I could use all the support I can get!

    I am a bit younger than most of the posters here I think–I have the very overdone story of: always thin without trying, now realizing I can’t eat everything I want all the time anymore. When I started law school a few years ago I was 116 lbs, and my high now is 142.1 πŸ™ One unfortunate “perk” of having a legal job with horribly long hours is the free takeaways every night (and free snacks all day long), so I’ve just ballooned. I want to get back to under 120, but I haven’t had the self-control to stick to any other diet long-term. I’m hoping that only having ti have self-control twice a week will be the ticket! After a couple of false starts this week, I managed to get two fast days in and am feeling very proud. On Wednesday I was 142.1 and today I’m 138.7! I know it’s water weight, but it’s really motivating to just see the scale moving in the right direction for once.

    Please tell me about yourselves! How you’re doing, what your goals are, how you eat on your fasting and non-fasting days. I love reading these forums on fast days because all the weight loss stories really motivate me to get through it.

    And truly, please join in whether you’re American or not! The only thing better than having a bunch of people chatting at one time is being able to sign on in the mornings and see all the posts piled up from friends who’ve been awake for hours πŸ™‚

    Lost 40 pounds over the course of one year. Basically in maintenance mode now. I do an extreme version of 5:2 in that I only have a couple of coffees and water on my 2 consecutive fast days. I find it easier to do that. Plus I think there are benefits other than weight loss to be had by fasting this way. Not recommending anyone else do it like this, but it works for me. I alternate between 5:2 and 6:1 so that Im always about the same weight. One of the other benefits is that I naturally tend to eat healthier without a conscience effort needed. I don’t eat anything this lots of sugar in it which is harder than you think as they put it in everything!! Why do burger buns have to have 20% sugar in them? “Healthy” cereal with up to 35% sugar? Crazy.

    Good luck with it, it works if you want it to.

    Wow, forty pounds is incredible! I love hearing the success stories. I am interested in trying to stick to just coffee on my fast days as I think it would ultimately be easier, but it’s hard to take that plunge! Did you always do your fasts that way or did you work up (or down) to it? I’m also not sure how my stomach would take it, but perhaps that would also just be a matter of getting used to it.

    Hello. I’m an American (do we admit that freely anymore given the scary political situation?!) I’m from Los Angeles and currently living in Vancouver, BC so not the NYC time zone exactly.

    I was excited to read that you do Fast Dieting the way I do, bigbooty. I do my fasting on the weekend so that I’m free to direct my time to keep myself busy and distracted. Then the days go fast and I’m back to a couple meals a day during the week.

    I also found that when I made fasting a regular event and cut out my trigger foods I stopped being bothered by cravings and became happy and satisfied with veggies, salads and simple protein. On the occasions that snacks and desserts are available I really don’t want them and feel more or less negative about them because of the problem they’d present. I NEVER thought I’d feel that way in my LIFE!!!

    I’ve been doing intermittent fasting since the week before Christmas. No idea what my starting weight was and I only find out a current weight if I have a doctor’s visit. I monitor how I’m doing by how my clothes fit and I’ve gone from size 20 jeans to size 14. Still got 3 or 4 sizes to go because I’m very short (and ROUND!).

    I’m glad you started this topic, NYCFaster, as it seems to be primarily British positing very early in the morning and Aussies posting late at night. Yay for them but nice to cover our time zones too.

    I’ve thought it was ironic that so much of the research that intermittent fasting is based on comes out of the US and it remains a big secret. I guess since no one’s making a fortune at it, it doesn’t really “count”.

    I’m hoping my husband will join me in 5:2. We’ve discussed it. He’s getting comfortable with the concept. I’m hoping he’ll be ready soon.

    Hi NYC & LA,

    Im from down under. I started my mid-life epiphany about this time last year when I was 202lbs, now 160lbs. I however started the 5:2 diet at the beginning of November last year. Initially I was simply eating a quarter of my TDEE. But I couldn’t be bothered weighing everything out and being careful about what I ate. So after 2 weeks I just decided to not eat and have coffee (skim milk and no sugar) and water. That might be about 50 cal all up with the coffees? It was actually easier that I thought it would be. Probably the first month is the hardest as you tend to get headaches because of the lack of glucose. Make sure you drink lots of water as dehydration also brings on headaches. Once your liver gets better at converting stored fats and your body starts using ketones as its energy source rather than glucose the headaches go away.

    Pick a pattern that suits you and then stick to it. I played around with the days and settled on Mon/Tues. Now that all my friends and work colleagues know I do 5:2 they don’t get upset if I politely refuse to eat anything if its a Mon/Tues if Im out for lunch etc. In fact one of the secretaries even came up to me at a work function eating a chocolate donut and saying Mmmmmm yummy donut… She has a wicked sense of humour. I can happily cook for the family on my fast days and not eat, so it does get easier.

    Ive got some American friends that live in Freeport Il, that went from being polite (they thought I was crazy) when I said what I was doing to them finally saying OK how do we try this. They are now telling their friends!! He has lost 20 pounds (doing an extreme version of 5:2 like me and she has lost 9 pounds doing a quarter of her TDEE on her fast days).

    Its do-able, just hang in there for a month, after that it gets easy. Some tips from me are: Drink LOTS of water. Stay away from anything with sugar in it. On your fast days do not eat bread or white rice or any other simple processed carbs. They just make you feel hungry 30 minutes later. Eat high fat low sugar yogurts and protein like tuna. The high fat/protein will satiate you for a lot longer than carbs.

    Good luck.

    Hello from Montana….
    I started 3 weeks ago on the Every Other Day Diet (500 calories on fast days and basically whatever you want every other day). I was hoping my stomach would shrink and I would stay under my TDEE on the feast days but I was too out of control and I ended up feeling terrible eating too much of all the wrong foods on feast days though I did drop approx 5 lbs. (I have at least 60lbs to lose so it should be coming off faster than that).

    Since finding this forum I have started doing just coffee on my fast day and staying at my TDEE every other day – just started this – I am on my second full fast day though I will also try chicken broth if the fasting days are too much or if I get headaches as I have read that it helps. After just one fast it does seem easier to skip every meal instead of trying two small or one 500 calorie meal which tends to make me hungrier.

    Thanks for starting this post – I am not telling family or friends until I see some results so it’s nice to compare notes.
    Cheers!

    So happy to hear from all of you! And bigbooty, very glad you decided to join despite the post title πŸ™‚

    LA: I had the same thought about announcing that I was an American! I decided it was worth it to find some active posters in my time zone πŸ™‚ I feel exactly the same as you about how unknown this diet is in the US, it’s really strange since we’re so into diets here. I find this a lot more pleasant than most of the things people try here. You’ve made such great progress! It’s really encouraging to hear how well this diet seems to work for people. I would love for my boyfriend to do it with me as I think it would work really well for him (he has a lot of dietary restrictions so he’s used to going without food for hours when nothing is available), but it’s hard to present in a way that doesn’t sound a bit dysfunctional, you know? I wonder how they overcame that aspect in the UK and Australia where it’s so popular.

    BB: I love that people you know are trying it, that just convinces me even more that it really works! I’m also really impressed with your self-control, especially doing two fasts in a row. I need to settle into a regular pattern of fast days but I haven’t decided yet what the best days are. I’m planning to fast tomorrow and then will do either Friday or Saturday. I think I need two regular days in between my fasts, at least for now. However, I have noticed that it already feels a bit easier to make good choices on feast days. Today I didn’t get the healthiest lunch, but I stopped eating way before I was full for once, and now I feel great and pleasantly full. Psychologically there’s something very powerful about knowing that I CAN eat more. I’m not counting calories on non-fast days yet, though I might start later. I need to clean up my food choices quite a bit too, but small steps!

    Melinda: very happy you joined as well! I’m not telling anyone except my boyfriend and that was mostly because it was unavoidable. I think if I can stick to it and people can see the difference it will be easier for them to understand and will sound less crazy. Also, if it’s a secret I find it more fun πŸ™‚ once I tell people, there’s the heavy weight of obligation on me all the time which I don’t enjoy. I thought about doing every other day, but I just don’t have the discipline yet. Rationally I know that I shouldn’t use food as a reward, but I’m so horribly busy at work that it’s hard to have nothing to look forward to every other day besides going home and going to bed–having a nice dinner and reading my book helps. However, I think I will at least try the all-coffee fast tomorrow and see how my stomach does. I need to cut out the Splenda gradually =\ Anyway, I’m sure I’ll be here complaining a bit about how hungry I am! I hope all of you and any lurking readers will tell me how you’re doing this week!

    Hi there, I’m not American, but I do live in Southern California, so I qualify for the time zone πŸ™‚ I started this WOE in January and have lost about 10 pounds. I’ve got another 20 or so to go.

    I’m so happy to have stumbled upon this new WOE, and I too was so surprised this isn’t be big trend over here yet. I had never heard of it until I in total desperation was searching the web on different ways to lose weight … once again. I have tried many diets over the past 15 years as I have pretty much never been happy with my weight. In my 20’s, I really only struggled with a few vanity pounds and would now give anything to be back to my pre baby weight. After two kids (youngest is now 3), I was never able to bounce back and in fact just keep putting it on.

    I feel like this should be called the β€˜one day diet’, cause I only feel like I’m restricting myself for one day at a time – and I can totally do that – it’s totally a psychological thing. The next day is the day I get to eat whatever and even though I will stay under my TDEE, the thought that I can eat whatever makes me feel that I’m not being denied or subject to months of restriction – which is totally just too depressing and overwhelming to think about.

    Anyway, good luck and I look forward to sharing this journey.

    BTW, I’m not telling a bunch of people that I’m doing this either. I don’t need any negative feedback. What I love about this WOE is that it’s given me permission to restrict my calories, and I know in the past this is the only way I would lose weight. I just didn’t know how to manage back then. All you hear these days is that for us to be successful, we need to eat every few hours a balance diet and low and behold don’t go hungry or else you will go into ‘Starvation’ mode and shut your metabolism down. Blah blah blah

    I love there is real health benefits to this WOE also.

    Here is a little tip from me. Avoid any foods that say “low fat”. They will contain a huge amount of sugar, just read the label to confirm its the case. High sugar means high insulin spikes which means your body goes into fat storage mode. Not good!

    Fat has been made out to be the bad guy, its not. Of course too much of anything is probably not good for you but if you want a treat or reward I’ll have a bowl of high fat low sugar (very hard to find that combo on the supermarket shelves!!) yogurt with some strawberries or blueberries and some raw almonds. Absolutely yum and low in sugar. Try and stick to any of the berries as your fruit source, they are low in sugar. Avoid any and all fruit juices, its just a huge sugar hit. Eat a piece of real fruit instead.

    Jay, yep that starvation mode message is just plain wrong. You wont go into starvation mode by not eating for a few hours!! Maybe after a few weeks, yes weeks, not hours. Im sure that concept was developed by a fast food corporation. Ha ha.

    Hi, Iowa here. I started out lchf last July and quickly lost about 30 lbs in 4 months. Hit a bit of a stall in November (Thanksgiving) and found IF. Since starting fasting have lost another 20 lbs and I’m within about 20 lbs of my goal. I never would have thought I had the strength of will to fast, but I love it now!!! Most weekends are kind of splurge days, and I look forward to my fast days Monday and Tuesday. I am happy to find a community to share knowledge and experiences with, so many health benefits to fasting, and I am curing my insulin resistance, YAY!!!

    I wonder if the fasting craze of the late 90’s has kept Americans from trying intermittent fasting. I remember Oprah losing a ton of weight on the shake fast and then quickly regaining it all when she started eating again. With IF you are already eating normally so maintaining shouldn’t be a problem if you continue fasting once in awhile.

    I am also struck by how much this reminds me of the French WOE – splurge a little and then take it easy the next few meals to compensate. I have always been so envious of people who could do this – except that now it seems to finally be clicking for me. I have even started to look forward to my fasting days like others have reported too! Crazy talk! But it’s true.

    NYC Faster – you have comparatively so little to lose….doing the 5-2 sounds just right. I am only doing every other day because I have so much to lose and am so impatient to get some of this bulk off of me. I plan to taper off as soon as I get to a more comfortable weight. Very exciting to see your success – it is so much harder to lose when you are closer to your goal. (Or so I have heard, I have never been close to goal)

    LA chubster – you are an inspiration. I have read your posts on other topics and have learned so much. So excited to see results like yours by sticking with this.

    Lucy – wow, that is fantastic that you are so far along! I did 4 hour body (eat only proteins, beans and vegetable 6 days with a cheat day on the 7th) from about July to January with a few weeks off before stalling after losing 25 lbs. I am so excited to get the scale moving again with IF!

    BBooty – great tips – I agree, sugar and/or fructose can wreak havoc on my day. Whereas protein and fats are much more satisfying. When I do want/need chocolate I have found it’s better to have it later in the day so I don’t feel terrible all day.

    JayU – YES! It is just a one day diet. I will be thinking of that on my fast days to get me to tomorrow.

    Is anyone else doing HIT – high intensity training? I just discovered it and after one workout I am going to stick with it for awhile. Sounds too easy, but the science behind it seems sound.
    Cheers – only 16 more hours til my break*fast πŸ™‚

    NYC I agree about reading other posts to stay motivated. I read something pretty much every day to inspire and learn about this way of eating.
    BBooty my fast days are what you are doing, Monday and Tuesday, and till however long I go on Wednesdays. I have coffee w/cream on my fast days but have weaned myself off artificial sweeteners just in the past week. I try not to touch sugar at all or carbs in general as they just stimulate hunger for me.
    Jay, if one more person tells me i need to eat every few hours or I will mess up my metabolism, I just might scream. A friend gave me this advice…respond with “Look at you…look at me. I think I’ll stick with what I’m doing, thanks.” That would take some nerve, but one of these days I might just say it.
    LA, six jean sizes is freaking amazing, awesome! I bet people have been asking for your secret πŸ™‚
    Melinda, I have looked at HIT, but honestly haven’t really gotten committed to a workout program yet. Was thinking I would once spring gets here. I have so much more energy than I did a year ago.

    Hi all, I’m relatively new to this, started right after Christmas and have lost about 13lbs so far. My pants are loose and I don’t even need to unbutton or unzip them to get them on and off. But, I’m not buying anything new yet.

    When I started this my daughter had just started whole 30 and convinced me to try it as well. Basically what you do is cut out lots of things for 30 days then re-introduce them one at a time to see how your body reacts to each. It’s hard at first but after a week or so I felt absolutely wonderful. I like the combination of the whole 30 and intermittent fasting. I’ve done the 30 days and have begun reintroducing foods. I know now that breads do not sit well with me. Bread and pasta have been a comfort food for me for most of my life so it was hard at first to realize that they’re not really good for me but now I’m feeling so good that I’m ok with not having them.

    I’d been fit and healthy all of my life until my kids were in elementary school. Then I suddenly gained a LOT of weight. When I got married I was 128 but then ballooned up to 234!! Now I’m around 175 and still losing. And am now almost 60 and a grandma. I’m still very active, have done crossfit, 2 mile fun runs, and work out at least 3 times a week with weights. I love to cook and enjoy tweaking recipes to cut out sugars. I retired 5 months ago but started working again last week because I love working.

    I fast 2 days a week, nonconsecutive, eating about 500 calories each day. On the non-fast days I eat about 1800 calories, steering clear of processed foods and sugars. I’ve tried not eating at all on fast days but I couldn’t do it.

    Glad to see other Americans joining in on this. PP

    Hi all, Arizona here! (if you can’t tell from my screen name πŸ™‚

    I just started this regimen – 3 weeks and a loss of 3 pounds. Very happy with that. I retired 2 years ago and gained about 25-30 pounds! I missed the structure of working (went with others to the salad place every day, etc.). All of a sudden I was eating whenever I pleased (lunch out often with ‘the girls’) – not good. I weighed myself every week for a while, but when I stopped doing that I paid the price!

    It’s so helpful to find this forum. Looks like I have a lot to read!

    Welcome Jay! I had the same thought about how I like that this is about restricting calories. I’ve always said that I’m great at eating nothing and I’m great at eating everything, but nothing in between. This way of eating feels like it gives me a bit of both!

    Melinda–I would LOVE to be like the stereotypical French eater. I love the thought of having a few little bites of several yummy things (and then being able to stop there!), or having an amazing multi-course lunch followed by a light dinner. Unfortunately, I’ve never been able to control myself. I think 5:2 is helping me realize that there’s always tomorrow, but I’m not great at deferring pleasure. I’m hoping I will get better at it as time goes on. As for workouts, I like to go to cycling classes, but I’ve been bad about it lately. I saw a post somewhere else on this forum about how hard it is to get everything accomplished–work, family, friends, healthy food choices, and exercise, and it felt so familiar to me. I don’t know how people manage to do it all!

    BBooty–I really need to get better about trigger foods. I struggle with the idea of limiting myself to certain foods. On the other hand, I know that I’m lucky to be young right now, and all of the fatigue, upset stomach, weight gain, etc., will only get worse if I keep up bad habits.

    Welcome Lucy! I am surprised to find that I am looking forward to my fast day tomorrow. I often feel out of control with food, and it’s sort of nice to think about tomorrow being a day where I can focus on something other than what I will put in my mouth next. I totally agree about the whole “you have to eat small meals of nuts and fruits every 2.5 hours or you will never lose weight” thing. I just can’t eat like that on a long-term basis, and I really loathe it from a mental perspective. The whole time I’m eating my small meal of 150 calories I’m thinking about how I could save them all up and have a nice sandwich or something. That’s just not sustainable for me.

    PP: Lovely to have you! I have to say, your description of Whole 30 really sold me! I’ve always thought of it as sort of silly and overly restrictive, but I would be really fascinated to know what foods are always upsetting my stomach! I have recently discovered that I have a lot of allergies (who knew it wasn’t normal to always be a bit congested…), and I am looking forward to having my food allergy test done. After that though, you’ve really inspired me to give Whole 30 some thought. Hope you are enjoying going back to work! I always find it hard to imagine myself being able to retire–I’m very lazy, but I don’t know if I could stand having all of that free time to worry about things, haha!

    Hi Zonie! I love to hear that you’re falling right into the pattern I keep seeing around here (1 lb per week on this way of eating). My first week will end on Wednesday and I can’t imagine I’ll have lost a pound as I haven’t done a great job of controlling my non-fast day eating, but perhaps next week!

    Good night all! I think I’m going to try a coffee-only fast tomorrow, but I’ll leave the door open to getting some soup in the evening if necessary.

    Hi everyone:

    Nice to see a U.S. thread! A couple have been started but seem to go away. Hopefully we are getting enough Americans to keep this one going for awhile. I am from the Pacific NW and travel extensively.

    I’ve been doing 5:2 off and on since early 2013. I have been on 5:2 sites since then, and on this site for about two years. I am a little different because while I am happy to lose weight, for various reasons I am also interested in how and why 5:2 works. I’ve lost over 40 pounds, maintained my loss for over a year, and am currently losing again as I have decided to lose another 20 pounds.

    I think 5:2 is great, and that the information on this site is very helpful. I suggest if you have time that you review the ‘Recent Posts’ in the ‘Forum’ section, above, to keep up on the massive amount of information that flows through this site on the various threads (although there is a lot of ‘chat’ too). Everything from the science behind 5:2 to recipes are available in the various ‘Official Fast Forums’ category, also in the ‘Forum’ section above. There is also quite a bit of information on my threads and the posts on those threads: https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/the-basics-for-newbies-your-questions-answered/.

    I look forward to hearing about your progress, and I wish you all Good Luck!

    “BBooty–I really need to get better about trigger foods. I struggle with the idea of limiting myself to certain foods. On the other hand, I know that I’m lucky to be young right now, and all of the fatigue, upset stomach, weight gain, etc., will only get worse if I keep up bad habits.”

    Pick your worst trigger food and go cold turkey. Might “hurt” for about a week but then you’ve got rid of one. I used to eat a packet of chocolate covered sultanas in the afternoon at work. Then I started getting headaches and would take Panadol for the headache while still eating the sultanas. Complete sugar overload. Crazy stuff!!

    AMEN to picking a trigger food at a time and eliminating it. I did that years ago on another diet. It was quite successful. I lost 50 pounds and kept it off for about 2 years until I went off the rails again. BUT I did manage to cut out soft drinks entirely — naturally or artificially sweetened. Never thought I could do that but I did. I don’t miss them at all anymore. …tho I drink carloads of sparkling mineral water.

    Once I had done soft drinks, I moved on to fast food. Having fast food again was part of my going off the rails and regaining all my weight BUT, ultimately, I found them really disappointing. It was super easy giving them up for good and forever. Now I enjoy my real food so much more and get so much more out of it.

    I’m glad to have the props for slimming down but I HAVEN’T dropped 6 jean sizes. American sizes are given in even numbers only so I’m just down 3 sizes. It shows but it’s not dramatic or anything and lots of the people I know may take some notice or may not. But It’ll settle for that. …for now.

    Here’s what I’d suggest to those of you who aren’t telling people. Don’t set yourself up to get hurt if they don’t notice. I take a full on and a profile shot of myself in the same clothes every week. When I look at the first ones and the last ones I can see it. If I look at one pic after the other I don’t. …even though I know for absolute certain that my jeans are smaller and that means my waist is. Doing this as an alternative to weighing helped me have perspective and be realistic about why people aren’t falling all over me all the time.

    How cool to see this is becoming a vibrant thread! Look forward to hearing lots more from everyone and sharing your successes!

    I’m in the Los Angeles area but work East Coast banker’s hours. The only troublesome part of that schedule is going to bed while it’s still light outside during the Summer.

    Big Booty, you’re so right about being cautious of food labeled low fat or fat free. I think this caused big problems in the “Diet” world when they were introduced because people thought since the food was low fat they could eat more of it without gaining weight. Of course fat free doesn’t mean calorie free.

    NYCFaster, I wish you great success with your fasting.

    Bronx

    Hello all, I’ve had a difficult time this week doing a fast day. Yesterday was my scheduled fast day and I did well until an old friend I hadn’t seen in a while asked me to join her for a bite to eat and a beer. We sat and talked for a couple of hours and I had food and a couple of glasses of beer. So I decided to make today my fast day instead. Then some old workmates who are also retired asked me to have breakfast with them. After that I met my daughter for a light lunch! How do you keep fasting when there are social things like this? I just love being with my friends and family for spontaneous get togethers. The one good thing about today is I didn’t overeat and stayed below 700 calories. But it still wasn’t fasting. Any suggestions on working fasting into social activity? PP

    Hi all–and welcome simcoe and Bronx!

    Bbooty and LA: I know you’re right about the trigger foods. I’m going to think about what I can cut out!

    Patri–I know exactly what you mean, but I’m impressed you still stayed under 700 calories! I think I need to focus on keeping my fasts as early in my “fasting week” as possible so that I don’t end up wanting to do one but having a week already gone. I know it won’t matter much in the end, but psychologically I would really like to keep the streak going.

    Today is a fast day for me and I’m actually feeling pretty good about myself. I didn’t end up doing coffee-only because I have to stay up late tonight and I felt I needed some food for that since I’m just starting out with fasting. However, It’s been a miserable stressful day at work (and only going to get worse–tell everyone you know not to go to law school! ;)), and normally I would give myself a pass on food and just indulge to feel better. Instead, I had a huge coffee this morning and then had my one meal of the day (turkey sandwich and chips) just now. I know it wasn’t a great meal quality-wise, but I’m really pleased that I didn’t let myself just give up. I still might, of course, but I’m feeling confident that I’ll resist. Tomorrow is my official weekly weigh-in day and I would like to see a lower number!

    For those of you who eat on your fast days, how long do you wait the next day before eating? I’ve noticed that some people seem to have breakfast like usual but some people stretch it out till lunch. I’m trying to wait till lunch, because I don’t have any healthy breakfast choices at work anyway, and I figure the fewer “eating hours” of the day, the fewer calories I can consume!

    Talk to you all soon, let us know how you are! πŸ™‚

    Hi PP,

    Tell all your friends your doing 5:2. After the initial weird looks and questions are out of the way just tell them; please don’t get offended if you don’t eat or drink (anything other than water) when you get invited out to lunch/dinner etc. It doesn’t stop you from socialising, just drink water or a skinny coffee while you chat. It will then become routine for you and your friends. In fact when you gets comments like….”Oh how do you do it, all that self control”. It just reinforces your will power with positive statements like that. I regularly cook for the family on my fasting days and have gone out lots of times for lunch/dinner and just had water if it happens to fall on one of my fasting days. Its a cheap night out and I still get to socialise. Get into a routine and stick to your fasting days. Your body gets used to the routine. I don’t even wake up hungry on a Monday morning as my body knows its not getting any food so its given up complaining to me. Sounds weird I know but its true.

    Hi NYC:

    I don’t eat anything on my diet days (I fast), and the following days I don’t eat until 11 a.m. or noon. Sometimes my first meal is in the late afternoon or early evening.

    What 5:2 teaches is that if you don’t eat, you aren’t hungry. If you do eat (especially any carbs), you get hungry.

    People that try to eat the maximum allowable under 5:2 tend to have more problems with it than those that eat less. Once you figure out that it is not unhealthy, much less dangerous, to not eat, your 5:2 life will get much easier!

    Good Luck!

    BBooty, thanks for the advice. I came in handy. We were invited to a friend’s this evening for birthday cake and ice cream. We went but when the cake was cut and passed out I politely declined. The hostess kept offering me stuff, cake (“how about just a little piece? Are you sure?”), ice cream, pineapple, coffee, a hot dog (for real, she offered a hot dog), chips. It’s almost as if eating in social situations is a rule. It’s so ingrained in our thinking and in our culture that it almost seems like heresy to NOT eat in those instances. But I was so proud of myself for not giving in.

    NYCFaster, when I have a (successful) fast day I try to go at least 18 hours without eating. I never have a completely food-less fast day. I typically eat a late lunch around 1 or 2 then don’t have anything until the following day at breakfast. The day before a fast day I don’t eat anything after supper at about 5ish. I would like to do consecutive fast days but haven’t yet.

    Have a good’n all. PP

    Last meal was Sunday night, so have completed 48 hours of fasting on my way to 60-65 by eating around lunchtime tomorrow. I am comfortable with this, but a little intimidated to stretch it any longer, psychologically mostly. I just wanted to share a delicious, decadent, treat that at 50 calories, works for any day, fasting or feeding. Pour a cup (or two) of unsweetened cashew milk over ice, add some maple flavoring (not maple syrup) and a little liquid stevia or sucralose. Soooo good, a little like having a rumchata over ice, and at 25 calories per cup, fits into most any leftover room, calorie-wise. Hope everyone had a good day today!

    Way to go PP. Yep, its weird all right. People either think you’ve lost the plot, are genuinely worried that your health will suffer if you’re not eating every few minutes, or that youre suffering a severe illness. Saw a friend for the first time in a while and his first comment was Oh my god are you alright? You haven’t lost all that weight because your sick? You haven’t got the big C have you?

    Lucylaw,

    That sounds good. My local Sprouts store sells 0 calorie toppings from Walden Farms that are decent. They have maple, blueberry, caramel and chocolate flavors. The chocolate one is not so good but the others aren’t bad.

    I’ve never had cashew milk but will get some and try it. I substitute almond milk for regular milk in baking because it’s only 30 calories per cup and I don’t notice a difference in taste or texture. I just have to remember to vigorously shake the container before pouring because the almond tends to separate when it sits. When I drink it straight it doesn’t taste anything like cow’s milk but for baking it’s great.

    Bronx

    Hi NYC, I eat on fast days, and generally my day goes as follows

    – All day – drink green tea all day from 9am morning to around 5pm
    – 10am – apple
    – Noon – go for a walk which holds of lunch until around 1pm
    – 1:00ish – Chicken Salad – it’s around 250 calories
    – 6:00pm – chicken and veges or a Luvo meal if I need something quick which is around 250 calories.

    I then don’t eat until the next day until around 10am again. Sometimes I try and hold off a little longer, but feed or fast days I generally try and not eat until 10am and in the evening doing eat after 6:30.

    Hello All!
    Just checking in to report that I’m on my third day of full fasting (ADF) and I feel terrific. I am using chicken broth with great success to keep the dizziness and headaches away – it helps with hunger too.

    Also,I have had two non fast days and both days it was really comfortable and easy to stay within my TDEE. I am pretty sure it helped that I was mostly Low carb and high fat on those days.

    Amazing to discover the difference between true hunger pangs and the much more familiar cravings fueled by carbs. Extremely interesting and encouraging.

    Lucy – I saw you mention Dr. Fung on another post and I have started learning about his approach and the benefits of LCHF – makes a lot of sense so far. Do you know if he is opposed to every other day fasting? I know he thinks 5:2 is great but couldn’t find if he thought 4:3 would be too intensive.
    Hope you are all having a great week so far.
    Cheers!

    Hello! Waving from Los Angeles!

    Today is my first day of 5:2. Well, actually, I’m returning to it. It worked very successfully for me several years ago when it first became the rage. Now I finally get it…when you stop…uh, the EXCESS WEIGHT RETURNS!

    Anyway, glad to meet you all; I really like this forum because it has members from all over the world it seems. We can do this!

    Wow PP, you did good to keep to 700 calories. I generally do fast on Monday and Wednesday which is days of the week that I know are usually low risk. If something pop’s up I can usually shift it a day. Weekends are definitely my splurge and I allow myself a couple of drinks on Friday and Saturday nights, plus I eat a little less mindlessly.

    If you are finding that social stuff is just popping up more frequently, then I would save all my 500 calories for that event, or go real light on your food chooses and monitor your portion control … which you basically did already with your 700 calorie day. The alcohol can be a killer though. Nursing a drink is a real art, but if you can alternate sipping on water you will limit the calories here.

    I know it’s probably easier said than done, but a 700 calorie day is way better than a 2K+ day and eating without regard. πŸ™‚

    Hi Melinda:

    Dr. Fung is best known for his approach to reverse Type 2 diabetes. He uses water fasting (up to 4 weeks), ADF, 5:2 and HFLC, depending on what he feels will work best for his patients. While some follow his blog, previously he posted a series of six lectures that detail the science behind his approach. This is a post from a couple of years ago that links to those lectures:

    “He taped some lectures that detail his theory and go into detail on several subjects.

    Here are the links to six of his lectures – 4 is on fasting and 6 is on the importance of fat.

    1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpllomiDMX0
    2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dimP7IdM2Og
    3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbnshVO4PRM
    4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pG89j432w-Y
    5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yoOx_7MLn0
    6: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QetsIU-3k7Y

    The fasting and fat lectures are probably the most interesting to people on this site, but they are all excellent. The research mentioned was current as of the lecture dates, and to my knowledge has not been ‘overturned’ since then. Some of the research has been confirmed, and the research on fat has become so compelling that even governments and doctors are just starting to acknowledge that fat can be good for you.

    Good Luck!

    Thanks simcoeluv!
    I will definitely be checking those videos out!

    Melinda, Yes, you could say I’m a Fung-fan πŸ™‚ So much good science supports what we are all doing, and his best advice is, find the fasting plan that works for you, so if it’s 5:2, great, if it’s 4:3, great, if it’s daily fasting of 18 hours with a 6 hour eating window, great.
    I really dug in when I started to learn that pre-diabetes, or metabolic syndrome, is likely vastly under- diagnosed, and that the whole spectrum of symptoms is really tied to insulin resistance, and hence, chronically high insulin levels. There are only two ways to correct it. The first is fasting…longer periods of time after eating so that insulin can go down and stay low for a longer period of time. The second way is a “faux” fast (my term), which is to eat mostly fats, which don’t cause a spike in insulin.
    So in addition to my fasting, on my eating days I am very strict low carb, high fat. Not causing the insulin response lets me continue to be a fat-burner even on my eating days.

    Simcoe- Thank you for posting the links, I think that is a little beyond my tech skills tbh.
    The other good thing about being a fat-burner, I don’t get hungry on fasts. Hunger is triggered by the drop in insulin after eating carbs. But fat can’t burn until insulin is low. Anyway, Dr. Fung really rocks, he doesn’t know it but I have a bit of a crush on him.

    Finished my 2 day fast this morning with some coffee w/ heavy cream and 2 sausage patties, yum! I will fast again on Friday. Have a great evening all!

    Bronx, I have had Walden Farms syrups, I bet they would work. I tend not to use the almond milk and cashew milk (even coconut milk), in most of my recipes because I use a lot of heavy cream to keep fat up. Seems backwards, but the more fat, the longer I can fast. I even keep some coconut butter handy if I need just a little something to take the edge off. That is another little delicious treat. Let me know if you like it, and share some of your treats with me πŸ™‚

    Hi all!

    Just wanted to check in! I love reading all of your comments when I come back, it’s really nice to have people to talk to who are all working towards the same goal.

    Today was my weigh-in day, and I was very happy to be down almost 4 lbs. It was after a fast day, so most of that isn’t real, but I’m hoping that maybe one of those pounds really was lost. I didn’t eat very well today, unfortunately. I’m not sure I even have a trigger food, I just enjoy food itself. I was also a very picky eater as a kid and have had a difficult time teaching myself to enjoy healthy food. I know I need to work on it, but I’m glad to even be keeping up the fasts for now. Hopefully that will at least slow any weight gain, even if I don’t lose.

    Looking forward to watching those videos and trying that recipe soon, if work ever calms down! Have a good night everyone!

    Yay for you, Melinda! I felt great after my first 2-day fast too. I think that’s what propelled me onward.

    I use chicken broth or tomato juice if I find I just can’t handle a water-only fast. I’ve found that a generous cup of hot chicken broth with a splash of tomato juice and a big sprinkle of celery salt settles my stomach and makes me feel like I’ve really had something, if you know what I mean.

    Hi, pour_the_coffee. I’m an Angelina too. West Valley up near the Ventura County line to be more precise. …only I’ve just moved up to Vancouver, BC for a few months.

    I’m doing 5:2 on the rebound from losing a serious amount of weight and then regaining it after 2 lovely successful years. I’m hoping and expecting I can just stick with 5:2 in one form or another for the future. I mean I feel so much better. Food just isn’t as good as feeling I can move, etc. And I’m really enjoying my sensible food so much more now.

    Yay for you, NYCFaster!!! You did GREAT!

    Congrats on your progress NYC!!! Four pounds is GREAT!!!

    LAChub- I had never thought of chicken broth with tomato and celery salt. I would love that, going to remember to try that my next fast day. Thank you so much.

    It’s a beautiful day in PA. Sun’s not up yet but it will be soon enough. Had a successful 24 hour fast day and am set for a second one today. I don’t usually do consecutive days but since it’s been a tough week I’m going to give it a try. I like the idea of tomato juice in broth. Sounds like it would be enough to get me through the day. I will eat supper tonight since I take care of 2 of my granddaughters on Thursdays and I’ll eat with them. They’re 6 and 7 years old and at that age little girls need good models for healthy eating. Their other grandma has diabetes and does not have good eating habits. The girls are aware of that and understand that what we eat matters. Ever since starting intermittent fasting (and whole 30) I’ve become a more mindful eater and enjoy cooking nutritious meals. And I definitely enjoy the company of those little girls. πŸ’•

    I started watching the Dr. Fung videos, thanks simcoeluv for sharing those.

    Have a great day everyone! Patty

    So cute to think of you eating with and *for* your grandkids, PatriPer. I have a 5yo grandson. He, my daughter and my s-i-l live with us so he’s very involved for me too. He noticed I was losing weight and it was quite sweet because he had never mentioned my substantial weight before but it clearly made him happy that I was getting “flatter”. He decided I should stick to “vegetables and fruit skins” to keep up my progress. And he gives me lots of encouragement and pats on the back! 😍😍😍

    If you feel like going for a consecutive FD I’d say “GO for it!”. It’s no way twice as “hard”. I think *both* days go quite smoothly and I usually only have some hunger around lunch time but it passes. Some folks say that after you get yourself into ketosis from fasting the fat burning kicks in. So consecutive days really maximizes that effect because you’ve already hit the road running the second day. If you’re interested you can look through topics here or on the net for more info about that.

    It’s SOooooo interesting to me that you don’t see a lot of water fasters or consecutive day fasters on 5:2 threads but so many of us have popped up on this particular thread. Could it be that we Americans are so all-or-nothing? I dunno but it works for me. I hope it will for you and Melissa and whoever else chooses that way. 😎 But the most important thing is whatever makes it do-able and sustainable, right?!

    Have a great day!

    Hi all. I’m in Maryland, started 5:2 five weeks ago, and have lost 5 pounds or so, but most of that the first two weeks. I’m feeling a bit frustrated that I’ve stalled for the past few weeks, but hopefully the weight loss will get moving again. I would like to lose at least 10 more pounds, but my goal is also to be healthier in general so I try (and fail) not to get too hung up on weight. My fasts go fine – black coffee all day until dinner, and then I eat something like a chicken breast and steamed veggies for dinner along with my family. I must be eating too much on non-fast days. I love to cook, and so while I don’t eat processed food, I do eat more of the good home cooked stuff than I should.

    Glad to have found a bunch of U.S. based folks for support!

    Welcome, mamabean!

    I’m so glad to hear that you cook *real* food and avoid the processed junk. I think that puts you way ahead in terms of *everything* and that if you stick with 5:2 and fine tune and individualize it you’ll get the results you want.

    Losing 5 pounds — or 1/3 of the weight you want to lose — is *monumental*! Most of us here are probably changing to an unattractive shade of green just reading that. πŸ˜– Best to set your sights, then, on the long range and not let day to day results or *seeming* lack thereof get in your way. No?

    Another welcome. Stick around and set a pace for us to keep up to. πŸ˜‰

    @mamabean, you are making sure you are eating less than your TDEE on your feed days. Also check your carb intake. I know the message with 5:2 is that you can eat whatever you want on non-fasting days, but this really doesn’t work for most people. To be successful, you still need to monitor the number of calories you are eating to ensure you are eating less than TDEE.

    Thanks, Chubster and Jay. You are both right! I do indeed need to check my carb intake. Two years ago I was quite a bit heavier and lost 35 lbs by eliminating all sugar and grain plus watching calories. It was brutal, but I was ready to make serious changes and it worked. But over the past 6 months I put 10 lbs back on, mostly because I started letting flour and sugar back into my diet. I was hoping that 5:2 would allow me to eat homemade pasta and blueberry pancakes with impunity, but that was wishful thinking. I’m hoping now to get to a healthy weight and then find the balance point – how many carbs I can have while fasting twice a week. But for now I think I need to say goodbye to the pasta. Alas!

    Hi mama and welcome:

    The average weight loss over time for women on 5:2 is a little less than a pound a week. You are down five pounds in five weeks, so you are ‘right on schedule’. There is no need to worry or change what you are doing unless you really want to – just eat 500 cal. or less on your diet days and your TDEE or less on your non diet days. Weight loss is never consistent, it goes in fits and starts. This will illustrate a typical weight loss pattern on 5:2: https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/really-no-weight-loss/

    Good Luck!

    Hi Mamabean, I sympathize with the cooking/eating conundrum. I like my food better than pretty much any restaurant or meal cooked by anyone else. I’m trying to change some of my recipes to accommodate my way of eating (very low carb), but some things I just have to say “no” to. Tonight I made a yummy roast beef, which I can eat with my gravy cuz it has no flour in it, and I was going to make cauliflower faux mashed potatoes, but didn’t get it done. Instead made potatoes for the fam and had to make myself happy with the roast beef, gravy, and veggies. Not so horrible.

    I would love to share stories and struggles so we can persevere and make it to our goals πŸ™‚

    The weekend is upon us and it’s always a big challenge for me … in particular the moderation of my alcohol in take. So, I pledge this weekend I will …

    – eat mindfully and limit myself to one soda
    – drink only 2 glasses of wine on Friday night and Saturday night
    – drink at least 8 glasses of water each day
    – do 20K steps

    Anyone else want to make a pledge?

    A great and reasonable set of goals, Jay.

    I made one yesterday. The house we’re renting has a long steep driveway. I’ve decided to climb it each time before I get in my car. And that’s regardless of the Vancouver weather which has been rainy for a week and is projected to be for the next week as well.

    I’ll see if I can come up with one or two more since yours are so ambitious.

    I’ll join!
    – think about whether I really need another piece of pizza before I eat it.
    – go for a run.
    – track my calories for the weekend to see how many calories I am eating normally. I haven’t done that yet.

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