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

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Dilllikethepickle

2:44 pm
15 Oct 16
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Hello, thought I would chime in here. I have found if I hold off for lunch until around 1:00 and only eat a 100-150 calories, I feel really good and can enjoy a fairly large dinnner with my husband. Lunch is often egg whites with tomatoes and zucchini or soup. I love to cook, so making dinner as usual really is nice, but those recipes are typically from the 5:2 book, cooking light magazine or a big salad with lots of veggies and smoked salmon. Lots of lettuce makes you chew a lot and visually feel like you are eating plenty. I started in August and have lost 11 lbs. I had 1 week where I gained 2 lbs, but just kept on the plan and lost them the next. I have 20 more to go (at least), so am planning on sticking with 5:2 till March before moving to 6:1. I am feeling super awesome. Depends on how I look and feel, I am told I carry my weight well, but it is all in my belly and that’s the worst for health.
Have fun!

lilymartin

2:45 pm
15 Oct 16
Permalink

Hi NowVoyager
I have had some success. Lost 5 kgs which I have kept off with comparatively little effort. That said I am daily eating less than I was before I started – it’s a life long lifestyle change not just for a while or else you risk going back to old habits and putting on ore weight than you lose in the first place.

I adore food and just ate too much of it all even though a lot of it was healthy.
Some things I found helpful – eat off a smaller plate. Most dinner plates are HUGE these days. I was eating off an entree plate or even a side plate to control portion sizes, this really helped.
Eat slowly – put your knife and fork down after each bite and chew each mouthful 32 times. We were told this as kids and it really works. Most of us eat quickly these days as we are always in a rush.
Sit down to eat – even if it is only an apple. It makes you think about the food and appreciate the taste.
Never ever eat in front of the tv, always eat at the dining table.
When you are hungry try to distract yourself. Sometimes on fast days if I am going to eat I try to put it off for 5 minutes for example and then delay eating for another 5 minutes. I can go quite a long time between eating if I do this.
Learn correct portion sizes for general eating on non fast days – a meat serve = the palm of your hand, cheese = the size of a matchbox, pasta = 1/2 cup of cooked past only, cereal = 1/2 cup, nuts 6- 10 almonds e.g..
Many of us are really out of whack with our serving portions and think we are eating correctly to lose weight when we are really eating 2 or 3 serves at a time.
Hope this helps. And the biggie is … if you fall off the wagon, don’t beat up on yourself, just try to do better next meal/ next day.

Minnygirl

6:54 pm
15 Oct 16
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I have found that the later I can push back lunch, the better. I usually don’t eat anything until around 3:00 or so and then it’s a salad. That means I have about 300-400 calories for dinner with my hubs and any stray kiddo’s that decided to grace us with their company. Lol. Seems to work well since I am the only one in my family doing this and I like to eat with them. I doesn’t seem to matter when or how much I eat during the day, I will always get the munchies at night. At least with this diet I can alway save a few calories for popcorn or a yogurt while watching tv in the evening. On a fast day, I’m hungry all day, no matter what I eat, so I might as well save calorie for evening when I’m at my weakest. It’s been working so far.

diverdog

7:34 pm
15 Oct 16
Permalink

Fruit or any kind of sugar / high glycemic carbs are a bad idea on fast day. I eat one 400 calorie meal ~4:00 mostly fibrous veggies and good fats like grass fed butter and coconut oil.

NowVoyager

11:39 pm
15 Oct 16
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Dill, thank you for your post. Good info and I sure agree about the ‘big’ salad and alot of chewing cause it does make you think you are eating massive and I find I do need that. 11 gone is nice, 20 to go…that is basically what I am wanting also and you got a nice head start on me!

Lily, thanks for your input because there is alot of sense in it. I so agree that portion sizes are so out of whack. A problem area with me for sure. it is time to actually have a serving vs. ALL of the food at one sitting! Time to hold myself accountable.

Minny, I agree about night time munchies. I was one. I stopped the habit point blank and it was like pulling out all my teeth 🙂 very painful but I decided since night eating was a huge problem of mine I went cold turkey. I drank tons of unsweet hot tea by the bucketloads but at one point I find now after my dinner I am done for the day. It took a long time to accept this but I did it, which is great cause I am kinda a weakling where food is concerned mostly! You are smart to keep enough kcals to eat a little snack. You are finding ways to make it work for you and that is the most important thing for a lifestyle change, it has to fit you personally.

Diverdog, I do agree. I think protein and salad would be my best safe bet. Why carb up a bit and drag myself into cravings? I know the more carbs I avoid the better I feel. Thanks for your input, I will find ways to work around this very low kcal day.

I appreciate the posts. It gives me perspective on how to handle this change in my eating routine. Today was 1800 kcals and I have eaten about 1600 and I am happy, content and done eating for the day. It is funny but once I ‘allowed’ myself whatever I wanted to eat I basically didn’t want much. I think since I am a very low carb type eater my restrictions were getting on my nerves, but once I let myself ‘have whatever as long as I watched kcals’ the allure kind of wore off, strange but I was happy to see that effect.

So far so good but of course my eating day won’t be my hard day. Monday I am getting my food to be ready and attack my low calorie day straight on! I hope I do well. I hope this plan suits me and works well for me. Best I can do is give it my all and wait on what results I get.

dykask

4:28 am
16 Oct 16
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Hello from Japan,

I’m basically an expat American right now. My wife is Japanese but I’m actually a Montana semi-country boy. I was out on the farm when not in school and in the city during the school year, that is if you can consider 70,000 people really a city. I’ve been in Tokyo 4 years this time. Seattle WA is my US home.

I managed my weight mostly by exercise until my second child was born. I wasn’t ever that good but managed to keep my weight to a husky 190.

When I got to Japan, the land of slim I was an obese 232 lbs. (106 kg) and grossly out of shape for an ex-farm boy. Lots of exercise and starving diets got me down to about 207 lbs. (94kg) My waist went from about 49″ to 39″ (as measured across the belly button. But I was always suffering from hunger, it almost drove me crazy.

Early this year I took another stab at calorie reduction and cut all my deserts. In Japan there isn’t much added sugar in the main food so that really dropped my refined sugar consumption even though the calorie loss wasn’t huge. I was surprised that my hunger mostly went away. I even replaced the calories with complex carbs, nuts and some fish. In four months I dropped down 189 lbs (86kg) and 34.5″ (87cm) waist. I’m just really sensitive to refined sugars. I even increase how much whole fruit I eat but didn’t have any negative impacts. However the easy weight loss stalled at the 86kg level.

In the summer I started playing with fasting because I wanted to avoid Jet lag, mainly I would skip supper resulting in a 20 hour fast before breakfast. I found it pretty easy. Then in Aug. I did a 30 hour fast to help shift my schedule for a trip to the states. Basically I started eating on US time. It worked well and I was able to drive 800 miles the second day in the states. However, it wasn’t an easy fast. When I got back I started experimenting more with fasting but I was forcing myself to eat back the calories, I was still on a calorie restricted mindset. Lots of reading and youtube documentaries and I doing two 36 hour fasts a week without calorie restriction. Finally my fat is disappearing again!

So that is how I ended up at 5:2. The only difference is I don’t eat the 1/4 calories allowed. I’m not rigid about that and when there is a social reason to do so, I will eat that on the fast day. I’m fasting for the benefits and to get in control of my weight. Currently I’m at 181 lbs (82kg) and 33″ (84cm) waist. I feel really good.

diverdog

7:39 am
17 Oct 16
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First week of 4:3 with 18:6 NFD. -4.2 LB -1.3% BF – 1.25″ off waist. Had a very carb heavy meal today (1 whole pizza & 2 glasses of wine. I’ll bet I’m going to gain it all back tomorrow! LOL

Looking forward to a good second week.

NowVoyager

10:39 am
17 Oct 16
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dykask, interesting read on how you got to 5:2! best of luck on your 36 hr fasts!

diverdog, a whole pizza will certainly have an effect on you 🙂
I see you are 4:3 and that is what I am starting today. I hope I do as well as you, a drop of 4 would be nice to see!

Good morning
I have my low calorie day. Mon, Wed, Fri. Today is my first one so wish me luck. I got low calorie soup and will make a small salad. Plan on eating around 4 or 5 today. Since I have that new motivation I think I shall do ok!
Will report back how the day goes!

LarryNYC

5:49 pm
17 Oct 16
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Gulp. Well this is my first day. Wish me luck.

I’m a 68 years old male, 231 pounds, 5′ 9″. I’ve been overweight most of my life peaking out around 286 four years ago. I’ve lost about 55 pounds over last three years with my current weight stable for the past nine months.
I’m very active (crossfit* 4-5 times per week for the last year, occasional kayaking, jogging) and my weight is getting in the way of the things I like to do.

*Crossfit is an hour-long mixture of high-intensity interval training, Olympic weightlifting, and bodyweight exercises. Afterwards you want to die, then you feel very good. It’s a lot of fun and the people are very friendly, unlike a typical gym.

My initial weight goal is to lose 30 pounds of fat. I hope I’ll also gain some muscle along the way.

My current diet not far from Intermittent Fasting. Morning I have a concoction of whey powder + butter + MCT oil (560 calories). The whey is sweet enough that I don’t need a sweetener and I typically won’t get hungry until the early evening. Evenings my typical meal is a Chinese entree with two cups of rice. I’ve tried low carb diets but carb withdrawal is very hard for me.

I guess I’ll be skipping the evening meal two days a week! Any advice welcome! Especially about dieting when you are older.

simcoeluv

6:10 pm
17 Oct 16
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Hi Larry and welcome:

Most on this site are ‘older’ and 5:2 works fine for those that follow it. This thread has most of the information you will need to get the most from 5:2: https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/the-basics-for-newbies-your-questions-answered/. Do it for at least two months before ‘trying’ something else and I think you will be very pleased with the results.

Good Luck!

Magistra

6:56 pm
17 Oct 16
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I want to endorse what simcoelov wrote about trying 5:2 for at least two months. I’m now two months in it’s become more of a habit to fast these two days a week and less a sense of some punitive measure I’m forcing on myself. It’s become easier and pleasant to fast. Also, those around me (my family) have a sense of my fasting days and don’t think it’s strange anymore.

diverdog

8:44 pm
17 Oct 16
Permalink

Welcome Larry NYC! I’m one of the well seasoned folks here as I expect my 66th bday will roll around right on schedule in December.

I’m also 5’9″ at 178 lbs. I’ve lost 60 lbs and kept it off for 16 years.

IF offers a ton of health benefits and it’s a great way to lose fat. But the long and shot of any fat loss program is reducing calories in. If you don’t eat less calories than you burn it doesn’t matter if you eat carbs or protein. Of course it’s much better not to eat a lot of high glycemic carbs to control insulin spikes. You should shoot for the TDEE calories of a 190 lb man on your NFD’s for weight loss.

One thing I’ve learned as a hard core exercise guy is that it’s very easy to over do it. Less volume and or frequency can definitely be more. Remember muscle grows and gets stronger during rest not during exercise. Too much intense exercise can also raise cortisol making it hard to burn fat. I’ll bet you will build more muscle, get stronger and burn more fat if you back off the cross fit to two days a week and substitute some low intensity movement like walking.

Good luck and keep us posted on how you are progressing.

lilymartin

1:04 am
18 Oct 16
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HI y’all it’s good to see people fasting and posting.
I’m smiling because I’ve just had a 4 day holiday with family and friends. Lots of eating out – I usually prefer to eat homemade at home.
Very difficult to properly fast at 500 calories BUT the good news is that I didn’t overeat at any of the meals which I previously would have done.
I simply ate small meals wherever I went and lots of salad – no dressing. I even ate 2 doughnuts in 4 days. Just got on the scales and …. NO weight gain!!! Happy am I
I did do exercise every day and today is a fast day.
So far I’m finding the fast days when at home in normal situation easier than they were .
Getting healthy is a daily challenge.😅

K- Lo

1:20 am
18 Oct 16
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Hi Larry! I’m K-Lo or Karen, from just outside NYC and will be 61 in December. I thought I’d never lose weight at my age, but found 5:2 and now weigh what I did 30 years ago when I got married. I understand how hard quitting white carbs can be, but maybe you can try small changes. Instead of TWO cups of rice, maybe you can cut back to one and add more veggies?

Congrats on the progress you have already made. I’m going to suggest you read The Obesity Code by Dr. Jason Fung too. Very enlightening.

NowVoyager

1:19 pm
18 Oct 16
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very good posts on the board to read 🙂

I am 55 in December. well seasoned by now!

like Karen said, 2 cups of rice, even if you cut back 1/2 a cup and add more veggies, cause in the end it is all about healthier eating choices. Only we can make those choices and if we do them in small doses they are way more to become a habit in our approach, then say, eliminate all rice and get all deprived, miserable and fall back into worse junk.

I survived. One of the 2 fast days I had to up a bit, got that ‘I am scared I might die without food’ feeling, which is unreasonable but real to me! Only by like 200 calories but at least it was a deficit! Which means I can do this! I need to settle into the fact that a day with lower food options is not gonna whisk me away into never land. A day with lower food consumed is good for my body and there will be plenty of food to eat the next day. All some mind games happening and I will get thru them.

dykask

3:04 pm
18 Oct 16
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Hi Larry,

That sounds like some pretty serious working out. I really pushed it for two years while doing portion control. I basically gained 5 pounds but I did lose about 1.5 inches off my waste. My workouts were running 600 to 1000 kc / day. Sometimes working out just doesn’t cut it for weight loss. This year I’ve backed off the working out and reduced sugar and started fasting. I’ve been rewarded by losing 25 lbs so far this year. 🙂 Right now I’m doing jumping HIIT with my 12 year old 3 times a week. She wants to be able to jump higher and I’m barely ahead of her!

I hope your fasting goes well. This morning I was actually reluctant to break my fast. Every time I fast it seems that I feel a little better than before.

I’m also 5’9″ but I could of sworn I was 5’10” 35 years ago!

Dilllikethepickle

4:50 pm
18 Oct 16
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Hey team,
I’m doing a back to back 2 day fast this week. I don’t always love when I have to do that, but some weeks are more social than others, so at least I am fitting it in. I’ve actually found I drop a little more weight the weeks I fast two days in a row. I also have been hearing a lot about decreasing exercise being possibly better for weight loss. I’ve been doing a weight lifting body pump class 2-3 days/week at 6 am (which causes me to get up at 4:30 am) for the past couple of years in addition to hiking/walking on other days. This week I decided to mix it up a bit by taking a later spin class 2/week and mixing in some yoga and more walking with less weights. We’ll see how it goes, but “sleeping in” until 5:00 or 5:30 sure has felt like a treat.

I’ve found I’m really relaxed and mellow on my fast days. Keep up the great work everyone!

LarryNYC

8:33 pm
18 Oct 16
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Well, that was my Intermittent Fast #1, 24 hours.
Monday 8:30AM Coffee+butter+MCT oil+whey (<600 calories)
Tuesday 8:30AM Coffee+butter+MCT oil+whey (<600 calories)
2:00PM lunch
No problems, not much hunger.
Next one is Thursday to Friday.

Since I don’t eat lunch on a normal day I can probably extend to a 36 hour fast of the form
Monday 8:30AM Coffee+butter+MCT oil+whey (<600 calories)
Tuesday 8:30AM Coffee+butter+MCT oil+whey (<600 calories)
8:30PM Dinner
Suggestions?

Did a high-intensity workout during the fast. No problem as well. Rowed 1.3 km (5 x 250 meter,
as fast as possible) for a new personal best.

L

LarryNYC

8:42 pm
18 Oct 16
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The thing is, if the weight lifting goes well you’ll gain weight (muscle) and it may mask
the simultaneous loss of fat. It’s frustrating! I know I’m getting stronger but
not sure I’m losing fat. Body measurement suggest I am but they’re not very reliable.
I might see a real difference in how my clothes fit over a two month period.
Grrr.

Too much exercise is, well, too much stress which is too much cortisol, inhibiting fat loss.
I don’t know how to measure too much! I figure if I’m really up for the next round of exercise
I probably should do it …. otherwise sleep in.

Doug McGuff (Body by Science) suggests 7-10 days between rounds of resistance training
to permit recovery and allow growth. I do one main lift per day (e.g. dead lift) and wait a week
to do another round. My numbers keep going up. Also the gym I’m at (crossfit) organizes
workouts in a five-week cycle: for five weeks, back squat one a week, then maybe bench press, etc.
Any advice welcome ….

LarryNYC

8:57 pm
18 Oct 16
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That’s a great idea. I’m going to wait until the 5:2 pattern is stable and then modify
what I eat maybe in two weeks. Swapping in veggies for rice would work nicely.

L

LarryNYC

9:08 pm
18 Oct 16
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K-Lo (Karen), hi!

Thank you. Yes, the book, The Obesity Code by Jason Fung, is marvelous.
It is what got me to this web site!
I like his mordant sense of humor as well.

NowVoyager

11:13 pm
18 Oct 16
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I have to say thru my years it is always good to look closely at your meal choices. Instead of a baked potatoe, is asparagus just as good to your liking and swap out for that? Or if you need to fry something, can you instead change it into an oven-fried choice? Out to eat and share a dessert! Nothing has to be black and white, we can have shades of gray on our meal choices at any given time. Every small change we make to our food choices all put us into a smarter, healthier path. So many little tips that make our choices so much better and all the time we are doing something positive to help us move forward and get control over our eating plan.

I always heard what goes into your mouth and eat is 90% of weight loss. Exercise is great for toning, mental health and more of course but the food choices are number 1 when it comes to truly changing your body from within. Plus I won’t ever be one of those gym rat types, I use activities vs. scheduled training times for my exercise. I would rather bike, hike or swim to move the old body.

But in this journey we all find the ways that suit us personally to make tough changes into a healthier lifestyle.

dykask

1:33 am
19 Oct 16
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Swaps are interesting. When I was cutting back on added refined sugars I swapped some sugar for fruit in my oatmeal. While fruit has natural sugars it was less overall sugar and that swap worked well. I didn’t think it would be enough of a change at the time, but I’m still using it months later. Another swap I’ve been able to make is some nuts for desert. Two very different things, but it works for me most of the time.

The thing with swaps is that it will depend a lot on a persons tastes are and how sensitive they are to some foods. For example I love ice cream, but now I know if I have it I’m going to feel some hunger later because I’m just very sensitive to refined sugar that way. Many other people don’t seem to have the same issue. I least with some swaps I have choices and sometimes I choose not to swap.

I have to agree what goes into the mouth is the main driver in weight loss. However I may come across as too negative on exercise. Exercise has many benefits besides just using more calories. I think in my case I had an insulin resistance issue and several years of exercise probably greatly reduced that problem. That very well could be why I was able to lose some weight quickly by just cutting back on sugar. Exercise had prepared my body and repaired some of my insulin resistance problem.

As far as weight goes, yes muscle is heavier than fat and muscle gain tends to mask fat loss but I think there is more to it. When I exercise hard, I won’t be hungry for a while but when I do get hungry it takes more food than normal. On top of that I tend to be less active after the hard exercise. Those things can greatly reduce the impact of exercise on weight loss. However there are many other positive impacts from exercise.

I think diet is more impact on weight and then health, exercise is more impact on health and then weight. The interesting thing is fasting seems to amplify the effects of both diet and exercise. The combination of some fasting and HIIT exercise seems to have a powerful impact on me, not to mention that it saves a good amount of time every week.

NowVoyager

11:26 am
19 Oct 16
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good post!

along with swaps tho I have given up things. I never eat ice cream! I never eat any kind of kid candy 🙂 Ice cream is an absolute given I will start some type of binge effect, I don’t know, maybe just too high of a sugar intake and it gets me started down a bad path until I can get myself under control again. Honestly, at age 55 I realize I know what my trigger foods are and I just avoid. I dropped a good 10-15 food items from my menu because I CAN do without them, I won’t die cause I have alot of other swap choices to make me happy and once I realize a few trigger foods are just my sworn enemy, it is best to leave them by the wayside. I found I have no problem leaving some foods out of my life.

We have to stay in motion for sure. A couch potatoe, well, we all felt what that is like and it isn’t a good feeling, I absolutely know that moving your body and pushing past a little in your comfort zone to give it a good workout throughout the day is so very important! Of course with everyone’s personal issues, from medical to time restraint obligations and well, life in general, it is good that we can fit in anything at all in a day to keep our body in good motion.

I like stretching video tapes I bought. It is amazing how if done correctly and controlled, a seemingly innocent stretching tape is almost a nightmare workout 🙂 🙂 I never thought doing some very slow and controlled motions would tax me to the level it does. But I like them because it is so slow. None of that go go go and insane steps or fast reps to follow. But in the end of a 1/2 hr tape, while I am not wiped out, I feel it in every single muscle deep down in my body, and I feel wonderful and abused, but in a good way!

Being older I don’t want the ra-ra, jumping, fast paced, HiiT situation. It never suited how I like to move, so when I found my stretch tapes I laughed and thought, this will be so easy but I will try and by george if I didn’t hit into a very tough workout situation 🙂

One thing about the journey to a healthier you, we can personalize it to fit ourselves so intimately that there is really no excuse why we can’t change ourselves 🙂 Lately I have gotten more guts and glory about finding better health for myself and making it work for me. We all have it in us to do that.

My fasting days right now ‘seem taxing’. I read how others are finding those great benefits from their fast days being added into their lives and I can’t wait til I get more benefits vs. my weird feeling of starting and handling my fast days in my life. But I am sure it will start to flip around and I will get into a good pattern and do ok.

Still a newbie, but working on it 🙂

diverdog

4:16 pm
19 Oct 16
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EXERCISE! While it’s true that diet has far more effect for short term fat loss, the correct type of exercise has a profound long term effect on body composition. We all complain that our metabolism “slows down” as we age. The major reason this is so is because our muscles have atrophied from lack of use. Muscles burn a lot of calories at rest and of course in motion.

I attribute a big part my long term success at keeping off 60 lbs for 16 years to maintaining and growing muscle

The best way by far to retain and build muscle is resistance exercise. A couple of short and intense (heavy) weight lifting workouts will stimulate muscle and bone growth. Lifting pink Barbie weights even if you are a woman is a total waste of time.

Short intense HIIT style workouts promote the growth of mitochondria the energy generators in our cells. More mitochondria = more potential energy burn.

Our bodies also need plenty of low intensity movement like walking, but low intensity will not build muscle, bone or mitochondria.

For long term fat loss and good health exercise is vital.

BTW a lb of muscle weighs exactly the same as a lb of fat. It just takes up much less space.

LarryNYC

6:58 pm
19 Oct 16
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Dykask, hi!

The claim that exercise doesn’t lead to fat loss is pretty pervasive: any calories burned by exercise will be cancelled by an increase in appetite and reduction of non-exercise activity.

I recently ran across a study claiming that the compensation stops after a few weeks.
Since previous studies were of short duration, they found that the calories burned by
exercise were canceled by an increase in intake (appetite), reduction in activity. BUT after
a few months(?) continued exercise did create a calorie deficit that wasn’t cancelled out by
increased eating …. now let’s see if I can locate the study!

One problem with the diet/exercise literature is the duration of the controlled experiments.

L

diverdog

7:18 pm
19 Oct 16
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Image that! A study that shows if you eat more calories you will gain weight! If you want to lose fat you have to eat fewer calories than you burn no matter what the appetite stimulus. The fact is that exercise does not require that you eat more calories. People give themselves permission to eat more because they “earned it” by exercising.

My point is that long term muscle building and retention will maintain and rev up your metabolism over the medium and long haul. It’s not about how many calories you are burning in a workout. Although if you are active everyday and exercise intensely 3-5 times a week you will burn more calories and lose more fat all other things being equal.

crowmama

7:45 pm
19 Oct 16
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The American college of sports medicine recommends 40-60 min. daily excercise. Doesn’t matter so much what you’re doing but there is a ton of research about the very thing you all are talking about, so look into what you’re doing if you don’t feel it’s helping. For the people who were in my class to lose weight I told them they had to be mindful and if they didn’t think they were moving enough, they probably weren’t. If you have any joint or movement issues holding you back from working out, get into a swimming pool and just run laps. It took me forever to retire because I couldn’t picture myself retiring from being either an artist or excercise instructor. When I finally put it together that I wasn’t retiring from either, but rather, choosing to do both on my own time I took the big step to retire. H cooked breakfasts for me for about 6 mos. since I could finally sleep in and not wake up at 5:30 AM in a swimming pool. Boy, that wasn’t in my best interest as I gained about 10 lbs. on top of the 20 I needed to lose anyway. Now I have the 20 off and am back in a rut gaining and losing the same 2 lbs. over and over for 2 weeks now. I have been unfocused and feeling so righteous in my own skin and getting back into clothes that fit again I’ve been super negligent. So, here I am again, back on track. I’m not really supposed to be doing fasting since open heart surgery
put me into situation of being on 2 anti-coagulant drugs, but last week when I saw cardio guy he was so happy to see me with 20 lbs. gone and me still working at it 🙂 that I told him about the diet and he said to continue on, that the best thing I was doing for my heart was losing weight so I’m cking in with you guys to get re-inspired and get back on track. We walk at least an hour with our adorable Norwich terrier, and he’s geared for lots of chasing of vermin so he could easily outdo us, even though he only weighs 20 lbs.
I’m with you K-Lo about thinking I could never lose weight since I’m older now, but I feel fantastic and feeling better everytime I fast even if it isn’t a total fast since I’m doing 500 cal on those 2 days, but the benefits of feeling sooooo gooood outweigh any discomforts and sometimes I forget that.
Welcome all you newbies!

LarryNYC

3:26 am
20 Oct 16
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Diverdog,

Agreed.

LarryNYC

3:28 am
20 Oct 16
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Well, Fast Day 2, half over. Not too bad so far.

L

lilymartin

5:37 am
20 Oct 16
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I agree with those who say that exercise is important. Apart from the obvious benefits for weight loss ( so true you don’t have to increase calories after a workout, it’s a mindset thing!) it is good for your inner health.
A lot of research is being done now on gut health and bacteria . Eating healthily really has a big impact on gut health which in turn has an effect on general health. You really ARE what you eat and also what you DO.

There is a guy, Tom Venuto, an american natural body builder who has a very good site about losing fat and building muscle. I bought his book ‘ Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle’ a few years ago and refer to it from time to time.
He is keen on people becoming healthier without supplements BUT he often says you have to work hard to get results – so true. Too many people want to eat anything do no exercise and still be healthy and maintain a healthy body weight – only in our dreams!!
The other thing that no-one seems to mention is alcohol. I know several people who diet and exercise a lot BUT still have quite a lot of alcohol. There are a lot of empty calories in one glass of booze. Also many people have more than a standard drink in their glass. One standard drink is only about 150 mls wine and not sure about beer or spirits but I know it’s not a lot for a standard drink. Stay strong stay healthy.
😊

Minnygirl

12:44 pm
20 Oct 16
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Speaking of alcohol! Has anyone ever made wine or hard cider?? I have, and let me tell you, you wouldn’t believe how much extra sugar I add to Apple cider to make hard cider. A lot!!! I stir in as much sugar as will desolve in the apple juice. It’s crazy. Just cuz it’s not sweet, doesn’t mean it’s not basically sugar water. Not that that stops me from drinking it occasionally. Lol. I try to be mindful.

Happy fast day!!!

dykask

8:57 am
21 Oct 16
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I’m not against exercise, I’m just being more mindful about it these days. HIIT three times a week and the rest selected exercises. I find my activity is much higher than when I was doing hour plus workouts most days. Exercise is extremely important to health.

I’m always changing up my exercise routines. A few week ago I pulled a muscle near my knee and that stopped my running cold. However I’ll probably start a run or two a week again. I might even work a HIIT workout into a run. Just takes some planning because there are a lot of people out and about in Tokyo most of the time.

As far as alcohol goes, I’m lucky because I don’t like it. Saves me money I guess as well as calories. My real vice is cheese, I love the stuff. We all have our weak points.

lilymartin

9:46 am
21 Oct 16
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Hi dykask
yes it’s true we all have our weak points! I have a fit of the ‘munchies’ today – not sure why. I have been very mindful of what I em eating generally but this afternoon I have a bowl of peanuts in their shells and I am happily shelling and eating some, just not as many as I normally would!

NowVoyager

11:18 am
25 Oct 16
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ok, this is a little harder than I thought in that I got ticked off the other day on my fast day. I felt deprived! and that is never a good thing for me. I didn’t go high in calories but I ate over 500, probably like 900. I had that internal fight with myself about ‘you know what to do’, ‘now do it and stop whining’ but then I had the ‘why in the heck should I starve on any given day?’ but then I had to remember I wasn’t starving at all 🙂 and ‘fasting’ is good for the body actually. I had to flip my mind around the fact I was eating less on this day to help my body with fasting and give it a break from the foods, and it wasn’t a day that I was depriving myself and having to use willpower just to lose a lb 🙂
So my mind is wrapping itself around why I am doing these low calorie fasting type days. I guess our minds must accept our plans and understand why we are doing them and not put such a negative spin on it as I am ‘dieting’ and it is driving me crazy.
So far so good tho. Moving forward and getting more relaxed on 5:2
Hope everyone else is doing ok in this venture!

LarryNYC

9:08 pm
25 Oct 16
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Folks,

Hi! Thanks for advice to all!
I am past the first week and into the second. I’d describe my occasion reaction during fast days
as panic more than anger. But only mild panic so far …
I have the same thing for breakfast everyday
whey protein 140 calories
butter 200 calories
MCT oil 240 calories
coffee
580 calories total. Then on fast days, nothing more until the next morning. I’m used to not eating
until dinner time (9PM) so a fast day amounts to skipping dinner.
I have a fairly heavy exercise schedule and I did notice food cravings after morning exercise on the day after a fast
Day 1: 8AM coffee+ (above)
10AM exercise — no problem
Day 2: 8AM coffee+ (above) break fast sort of
10AM exercise
-> ready to kill for carbohydrates.
12PM sandwich
8PM evening dinner moderate carb, centered on rice
I’ll see if it occurs this week as well.

I think of what I’m doing as manipulating hormonal state (insulin, cortisol) and since I can’t measure
insulin at home, I use blood glucose as a proxy. I may invest in a meter to measure ketones as well
though it is pretty obvious I’m fat-powered toward the end of the fast … anyone doing something
like this? Any way to assess cortisol?

L

lilymartin

1:31 am
26 Oct 16
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HI Larry

just curious – what is the butter and oil in the morning? I have seen it before when people have coffee. It’s not in the coffee is it ??

I am on a fast day today.

1/4 pear, 1/2 orange and now just tea and coffee with a splash of milk. May not be exactly 500 calories but close enough!

LarryNYC

1:43 am
26 Oct 16
Permalink

It’s just a very low carb concoction that is intended to suppress appetite.
Works for me. I make it through the day with very little hunger.

Yes, the butter and oil are in the coffee. :^)
Think buttered coffee with weird oil added.
The whey makes it slightly sweet.

lilymartin

5:35 am
26 Oct 16
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HI Larry thanks for replying. As an Aussie that concoction sounds kind of weird but I have heard it quite a bit.
Is it a bit oily tasting?

LarryNYC

5:20 am
28 Oct 16
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Lily Martin, hi

The dominant flavors are butter and whey (a little sweet) and the coffee.
2T butter 2T mct oil (or coconut oil I think)
35 gm hydrolized whey
Coffee ad lib.
I think the butter masks the oil. It is tolerable but a little weird. It keeps me satisfied
From 8AM to 6-7PM.
I wonder if an oil only meal disrupts the fast? The protein likely does but the whey can be left out.

L

Ivee

5:22 am
28 Oct 16
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Hi all, another American here I started out earlier this month skipping breakfast, but as I researched things, I extended the fasting time a few more hours on either end until I ended up at about a 16:8 breakdown. The second week was a little tougher than the first week, but not too bad. I was sick all the third week and ended up perma-snacking for some reason (and gained a 1.5 pounds back), but this week was so easy, I feel ready to take things to the next level,

I’ve decided to ease into things with a single fast day on Wednesdays. I don’t have any students Wednesday afternoons – so if I end up tired, fuzzy, or grouchy, I won’t inflict it on the little ‘uns 🙂 If all goes well, I’ll put in a second day.

LarryNYC

5:24 am
28 Oct 16
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Lily Martin, hi

The dominant flavors are butter and whey (a little sweet) and the coffee.
2T butter 2T mct oil (or coconut oil I think)
35 gm hydrolized whey
Coffee ad lib.
I think the butter masks the oil. It tastes buttery. . It is tolerable but a little weird. It keeps me satisfied
From 8AM to 6-7PM.
I wonder if an oil-only meal disrupts the fast? Fat doesn’t trigger hormone release or surpression, does it?of course The whey protein likely does (insulin at least) but the whey can be left out.

L

dykask

5:39 am
28 Oct 16
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Well I broke my fast after only 16 hours today. I have a cold developing and I just didn’t feel right, if that makes sense. After eating I’m still sick but the wrongness is less. I’ll try to fast again maybe on Monday. I’m somewhat disappointed in myself because my weight is getting so close to where I was in college (within 5 pounds). On the other hand part of the whole concept is learning about your body and yourself. It is the first time I broke a fast because I just felt wrong while fasting. I don’t even know how to describe the feeling.

dykask

2:27 am
29 Oct 16
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So my cold is worse and I didn’t eat supper because I didn’t fell like it and this morning my taste and desire to eat are gone, so I guess my fast is back on. I’ll eat as soon as my body wants to. Very nice thing about fasting is that it is flexible. 🙂 So I went about 17 hours and now I’m just over 20 hours with one pretty 900 kc meal between the two. Right now I just want rest so this fast is easy.

lilymartin

3:11 am
29 Oct 16
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Hi LarryNYC , thanks for your replies. Sounds an interesting concept with the coffee. I find that black with a bit of milk keeps me satisfied and the more coffees the less hungry I get.
I don’t overdo the coffees either BTW.
Since doing the 5:2 I am eating so much less than previously on any day which my husband commented on. It is so good to be able to listen to my body and only eat what I require rather than eating just ‘coz.

I find that I normally eat a big breakfast, medium lunch and small dinner. That way I don’t have too much food on board when I am at my least active. I do this on my fast days too – more calories at breakfast, few / none lunch and dinner. That seems to work for me.
Interesting to see how individual we all are but headed in the same direction.
Hope your cold improves dykask. 🙁

dykask

7:16 am
29 Oct 16
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Hi Lilymartin,

After a 3.5 hour nap I’m feeling better. My eating pattern is a bit like yours. I tend to eat 600 to 900 kc for breakfast, around 1000 kc for lunch and 500 kc or less for supper. Typically I only snack some on the first day after a fast that that is typically limited to nuts. Most days the bulk of my eating is done in the early afternoon. I find I don’t get hungry that way. I also find that if for some reason I end up eating a large supper, it isn’t a big deal. On non-fast days I tend to drink one or two cups of coffee, on fasting days I tend to drink 3 to 5 cups of coffee. Like you, coffee tends to reduce any hunger I might be feeling, much more than water or tea. However so far I just drink my coffee black.

When I started trying fasting a few months ago I would just skip supper. However I can’t do that everyday as it tends to be anti-social. However keeping supper light isn’t a problem most days. I know many people don’t like a light supper and heavy breakfast. It just tends to fit my life better. I also tend to eat most of my daily fruit as breakfast. Fruit is now the main source of sugar in my diet.

It is interesting that I’m typically not that hungry in the morning until I start eating. After eating a little bit the hunger hits me. That might be a trained response as I’m well now know that most hunger I have isn’t real.

lilymartin

8:44 am
29 Oct 16
Permalink

HI dykask
glad you’re feeling better.
Like you I often don’t feel hungry until I start eating! Wonder what the physiological process is that is
causing that?

dykask

9:55 am
29 Oct 16
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Lilymartin, it is interesting that you notice the same effect. I have a theory, but I don’t really know how valid it is. For me I’m taking it as a sign that I’m somewhat fat adapted. That is my body now has a easier time of burning fat and that reduces my hunger. However shortly after eating starts, blood glucose goes up and so does insulin. The high insulin inhibits fat burning and maybe that somehow triggers the hunger.
http://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitness/archive/2012/08/17/human-body-favors-fat-adaptation.aspx

dykask

2:40 am
30 Oct 16
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Well this turned out to be a strange week …. Started a fast, pulled the plug after 16 hours because I felt I really needed to eat and I was starting to feel sick. Then with my cold I kind of lost the desire to eat. Now I find myself 46 hours into a fast, about 8 longer than I have ever done. I feel okay except for the cold. I’m on the fence about continuing or stopping. I’m down about 2 lbs from yesterday, but that most certainly is mostly water. Still it is kind of exciting to see I’m within 3 lbs of my college weight which was decades ago and a bit depressing because I still have enough fat to probably walk across the US from one coast to the other without eating.

dykask

10:15 pm
30 Oct 16
Permalink

I’m in my 66th hour and I’m going to start eating at 67 hours. It was a little rough from about the 55th hour. I had two bouls of miso shiro and that helped (27 kc / bowl, 3.5 g carbs, 1 g protein!, 650 mg sodium!!) Japanese often have a bowl of it with every meal. It is a pretty light soup based on soybeans and seaweed. Right now I feel okay, I could keep going, but I want to have a nice lunch with my daughter today. Somethings are more important.

Anyway it probably helped a lot that I was sick and wasn’t that interested in eating but it is also puts the shorter fasts into a easier perspective. Since Friday my weight is down 5 lbs (in 3.5 days) but a large part of that is hydration so I expect to gain back about 4 pounds.

I think I’ll go back to the 5:2 pattern this week and do another longer fast in about a month or so.