Hi NP, In Lk On my 5th week too. It gets easier. Ive No scales..but am glad as they can destroy my motivation. Just feelin lighter and more upbeat on this way of eating..People are commenting on my skin so far???
This topic contains 152 replies, has 33 voices, and was last updated by tigerluly88 8 years, 9 months ago.
Howdy bigmarie, I did Mon and Thurs this week, it was not too bad. i’m quite cranky and cold by the end of the day though. had a few mince pies today!I weighed myself this morning(after second fast day) and seem to be down half a pound – i count Monday morning as the real weigh in though as it is after a weekend of normal eating. I’m around 11 st 4 now I think. I suppose it might not go down much or maybe even up a bit over the next few weeks with a few nights out but hopefully I will keep my grip and look at the long term picture. I’d love to have a stone off by next birthday (May). Have you any targets set or are you relaxed about it?
I think the fasts get easier too, you know you have survived them before! Are you working outside the home? I am and find its better to fast on a busy day.Keep in touch and happy weekend!
Hey BigMarie, today was not too bad, roll on breakfast though! the cold makes it hard but we can do it. I am thinking i’ll just do one day of fasting on Christmas week which shouldnt do too much harm I hope. I know I said I’d stay off the scales but…weighed this morning after a grand 3 days of eating and drinking wine, and another pound down since last Monday! That’s 5 in 5 weeks. Do you get cold on the fast days?
I know this is the same posting I used to introduce myself, but, like all good Corkmen, I believe that if something is worth saying, it also worth repeating. My name is Stephen and i am a 56 year old Caucasian Irish male who has spent the better part of the last 15 years battling weight; fully conscious that my lifestyle was slowly killing me and happily ignoring it. I also in this time, at 43, stopped smoking, which didn’t help the weight much, again because I bought into the idea that you put on weight when you stop smoking. My lowest point came when we were on a holiday in Nice, about 3 years ago, when after a shower I caught a sideways glance at myself in the mirror and was disgusted by what I saw. There and then i made a decision to change my lifestyle and lose weight. I picked a day, picked a GI/GL weight loss programme, added exercise to my weekly routines and for about a year had amazing success; dropping down from 111 Kilos to just over 96 Kilos, still overweight but never feeling as good about myself for a long time. It was now time for stage 2 and break the personal psychological barrier of going below 95 Kilos. It never happened. The motivation waned. The weight went on instead of off. I went back up to 103 Kilos and have been stuck there for quite some time. In the middle of all this I watched Horizon and never forgot it. Its message stuck to me, like a limpet sticks to a rock. Something deep down told me that this was the type of idea that was the one for me; the one that best suited my physical and psychological make up. So here I am, starting week 2 and happy out. Monday and Wednesday are to be my fast days. Will start reintroducing some light exercise next week and plan on commencing HIT in January; again because I am the type of person that like to conquer a topic one step at a time. The fast days, 3 so far, have been pretty easy, almost to the point of wondering what i was doing wrong. This is not a diet, this is a way of life. A plan that can be moulded and suited to your life situation. As I wish for myself; I would like to wish all the Irish on here every success and use this space to motivate and support one another. Go raibh mile maith agaibh go leir.
Thank you’nice pear’and thank you ‘kindle’ for your supportive replies. I suppose I am trying to approach this as something much bigger than a diet; I believe that if I fixate on the diet and food issues exclusively, I will fail and yo-yo; if I focus instead on all the other long term health gains associated with this diet and call it my “5:2 lifestyle system”, then I know I will succeed. The day I break the 95Kg barrier will be a day of great joy. I will keep you posted.
Hi all,
Great to see new people joining the post. Well my last celebratory post was premature – ended up putting back on 1.5 lbs and I am static again this week. Still, I know that I must focus on the longterm rather than short wins. Planning to comtinue to fast 2 days per week throughout the festive season – though thosw days are gettign hard to identify as the lunches, drinks and dinners get tabled. I have lost a stome since I started late September and am determined to keep that off at least.
Good luck to all, especially those just starting 5:2 and lets enjoy those celebrations!
Hi everyone,
I’m from Cork, and started the 5:2 diet back in May – I had gestational diabetes with my last pregnancy so wanted to get in better shape to decrease my chances of developing diabetes later in life (it really wasn’t fun!) – I’m one of those people that needs to obsessively track my progress so I weighed myself every morning and plotted my numbers in an Excel graph….sad, I know. When I started this experiment, I was 12st 13lbs. The weight dropped steadily till I got to about 11st 7lbs and since then it’s been MUCH slower, I’ve had two plateaus that lasted about a month but I’ve kept going and now I’m the same weight I was in my twenties (10st 12lbs). I have 2 lbs to go to my ‘target’ weight, which will probably take another 6 weeks (8 weeks if you factor in Christmas – best I can hope for there will be to maintain, I think :-))
I can’t believe how easy it’s been to do this, I don’t feel deprived and can still have my slice of cake at weekends etc. The main difference it’s made for me is that I listen to my body to decide whether I’m hungry and how hungry I am, instead of automatically reaching for big plates of food at mealtimes. Even when I reach my target weight I plan to keep going with a lot of the eating habits I’ve developed over the last 6 months. Good luck to everyone – if I can do it, anyone can!
Well done so far Dislanger – I’m the same age as you and tried eating sensibly with nothing between meals a couple of years ago. Try as I might I couldn’t get below 201 lbs. I started the fast diet on 1st September and have lost 32 lbs so far – down to 195 lbs – first time I’ve been thirteen stone something for decades! (At my heaviest I was 17st 2 lbs.)The previous 201 lb barrier did break although my weight loss is much slower now. Like you I’m going to give the HIT a go in the new year. The 5 2 diet is something that I find easy to work with. My visceral fat is down from over 17 to 13.5, BMI is now 29.5 so I’m overweight still, but no longer obese. I’m lucky my wife has been doing this too and her weight loss has shadowed mine. This system isn’t a fad – it definately works. Good luck in breaking your barrier.
Thanks again for your personal stories which are a tremendous support. They give me the motivation to continue and not be beaten by my belly. It makes sense for anyone on the plan to visit the site at least once a day so they can recharge their motivation battery. The one personality trait I have, which is very useful, is the trait of stubbornness; once I make up my mind I am very hard to shift, at least in the initial stages, but enough to normalise this as a way of life. Thanks again.
Good luck to all the Thursday fasters! Do any of you keep all your cals for a good dinner or do you break them up through the day? i have been holding off til lunchtime when I have an M and S soup for 200 cals and then at dinner, a bowl of porridge. The remaining cals I use for a bit of milk and sugar free sweets through the day to keep me going. Its working better for me this way. Sleeping is a bit of a problem though, I am twitching on a fast night like an electric eel! Seems to be happening a bit on the other nights too now.Any tips?
Hi nice pear. I’m not in Ireland but Mother from Donegal so hopefully that allows me the odd visit to this part of the forum 🙂
I’ve been doing 5:2 for around nine weeks. Started off the day with cereal around 200 cals at 7:00 then will save the rest (around 400 cals as I’m a man) for an evening meal.
I try to make sure the meal is mainly meat/fish and veggies as I feel that tides me over better and that was my only suggestion to see if that reduces the twitching you are experiencing. I only seem to have night time twitching when I’m very over tired. Could that be possible ?
Good luck to my fellow Thursday faster !!
Thanks, Peely! My husband is a Donegal man so we go there a bit, its lovely. Thanks for the advice. How has your weight loss been? My stepfather lost 2 stone (28lbs) on the 5 2 a year ago and has kept it off, feels great and looks really well, so that’s very inspiring.
Thanks for your reply, and have a good day.
Hi nice pear. My weight loss has been really good. I haven’t weighed myself so not really sure but having to put new holes on belts, friends commenting, feeling fitter and lighter generally.
If I am able to just maintain weight between now and the end of the year I’ll be happy, and then back to business in the new year.
How has your weight loss been ?
Hello PeelyWally. I am six weeks in and six pounds down I think. I am noticing the loss more in the clothes too. I feel more energetic generally. I think part of that is from better self esteem as a result of making a plan, sticking to it, and seeing good results!I dont have a massive amount to lose but I was always pretty slim until late 30s when pregnancies and enthusiastic eating started to take their toll. It really makes a difference to your head when you start to make positive changes to your health, everything looks a bit brighter. My cholesterol was up at bit too at the last check up so its time to tackle that as well. Keep it up, PeelyWally! My Mother used to say that we looked a bit peelywally when we were kids if we were pale or skinny, is that what it means to you?
you are doing great nice pear and you are so right, the self esteem you gain from sticking to your plans and seeing results is a huge part of the whole positive experience.
I probably needed to lose 1 to 2 stone when I started back in October, mainly from over indulgence in drinking if I’m honest but diet no doubt played a part.
I have suffered from high blood pressure in the past and I lost a good friend to a heart attack in July so that was a strong motivating factor.
And yes your understanding of what peelywally means is the same as mine. I hope to stop short of that 🙂
Hello BigMarie, just finished my porridge, it was lovely. Well done to you for staying away from the booze, i must confess I am glugging away at the wine on the non fast days. Would probably see better results without it but if I stopped the wine I would feel deprived and more likely to give up, I think. I’ve a few nights out and a work lunch coming up so I am trying to prepare myself for not losing over the next couple of weeks, but hopefully not gaining either, and then back on track after Christmas week. What did you dine on today? ‘Come Dine With Me on 500 cals’ would make for interesting viewing I think!
I am due a period so I think i’m a bit bloated too so I really have to not let it get me down if the weigh in tomorrow is disappointing. Sorry if thats TMI!What’s your night out about? Is it a meal?
Hi NP, I had a cuppa soup & WW yogurt for Lunch.
2 Scrambled eggs with a dash of low fat milk and a wee bit of lowlow on A toasted slimbo.
Later my mint hot choc and 2 kelkin corn cakes!!
I feel full..no cravings!!
Dinner is out with a friend who has been doing WW for six weeks.
Go compare moment might happen!!
Then a few dwinks for crimbo with co workers who are out on 12 pubs,, I wont be doing 12 pubs but might bump into them after dinner..or maybe not?? Had same prob with bloat on wed, but not too bad today!!
It is wonderful to read the last few posts, with members supporting one another; able to air their worries and solutions. Best forum I have been on in a long time. Thank you all. For grandson visiting reasons I have go to Monday and Wednesday; wonder if anyone else on the same regime. Also did my first weigh in this morning and have lost just under 2Kgs; as the saying says – slowly, slowly catchee monkey. Good night.
Hi all!! You all seem to be doing great, well done!! As I said, I have been on the 5;2 since Feb and I lost about 2 stone. I am actually doing 4;3 now in order to loose the last couple of lbs. Clothes size I am 10/12, so just about right, maybe. Anyway, I went to have a heart check yesterday, and my BP is down from 138 over 90 ( tested multiple times in the summer) to 126 over 80(tested multiple times). I guess thats not bad for a 53 year old? Actually, the nurse was having awful problems trying to monitor my pulse. She had to spend some time finding a reading. Then she said ” Oh, thats what happens when you are thin” !!!! Ha ha, she made my day. Nobody has told me I am thin for about 30 years!! Priceless!!!
Well done to all! Well done, bhoy, to Dislanger! 2 stone, Kindle, that’s brilliant. Think of a 2 stone bag of spuds….no fun to be lugging that around with you.
I’m planning to nip into Tesco purely to lift 5 pounds of butter together, feel smug, and then replace them.
I agree, this is a really nice thread and the support is great. Have a good weekend all and enjoy your fizzy water, BigMarie!
I might give it a try. I love butter too! When’s your next fasting day?
I had a meal out with friends last night – plenty of nice bread and a big dish of beef stroganoff -hope it wont do too much damage!Do you have a plan for the season? I am hoping not to put on much/anything if possible but I wont get too worried about losing pounds.
Hi Pear,
Intermittent fasting and Bulletproof coffee work together to rev up the metabolic engines!! I am glad your meal was enjoyable. For Xmas I think I will have a couple of days, two, of eating what and how much I like, and then revert swiftly back to the 4;3. It might even do me good and keep my system guessing. What about you? What part of the Country are you in? I am in Wicklow.
Hi NP, First christmas night out over and had a good time..Had 3 course dinner with wine
and cocktails..Fizzy water didnt happen…But my friend commented on my weight loss and my skin and is now going to try the 5;2 too.
After 4 weeks alcohol free i had a tad bit of dehydration this morning. But a good time was had and i really liked getting the compliments tooooo!!!!
Sounds like a well deserved night out!Its great that others can see the change BigMarie. You’re going to have to come up with a new name for yourself at this rate.
I’d a meal out on Fri and put away a nice dinner and plenty of wine. I’ve a bit of cold and sore throat now so I am feeling a bit of trepidation about fasting tomorrow while not in top form…I wonder how many calories are in a lemsip!Good luck to all the Monday fasters.
Hello Kindle, I havent felt weak really, more kind of jittery and bit lightheaded sometimes towards the end of a fasting day. I read a tip somewhere about having a bath in Epsom salts to ease the jittery feeling, did that on Thurs, and slept fairly well. So I’ll try that again tomorrow eve. Have you any nights out coming up? Do you count calories on your eating days?
OMG it’s Monday again; did pig out a little yesterday, had our church Carol Service and Christmas candlelight supper yesterday and rather than eating properly started picking finishing up tasting too many desserts. My weakness is sweet things. To the previous posters about feeling jittery on fast days, particularly late on, I have to say no, it doesn’t happen to me, maybe it’s the fact that I hold out on my main meal as late as I possible can; between 8 and 9. To Nice Pear; I personally don’t count calories on non fast days: on days like yesterday I’d be afraid to: but I do generally find that I am more conscious of what I am eating and try to satisfy my sweet tooth with fruit. Have a great Monday all.
Thanks BigMarie, I did, and it wasnt really any harder. But I made the fatal error of getting on ther scales yesterday morning and I had gained nearly 5 lbs – the same as I was in week 2! I was very disheartened. I know it is a mistake to weigh so frequently but if I see i have lost a bit it puts a great spring in my step. i can only hope that this is bloating and water weight because I havent been going bananas at all on the feeding days. I started to think last night Feck it, I will throw in the towel, this isnt working for me etc…but then I got a grip! I read lots of threads on this site that were very encouraging. Back to the grindstone!
How are you getting on? Are you busy at work? Makes all the difference I find. On a fasting day I head into the shops at lunchtime and gaze at the clothes I will be able to waer once the weight goes down.
Hi all (and especially NP). I think that we have all experienced those fluctuations and the scales staring back at us with the WRONG number. But 90% of success is continuing to turn up and that’s what we need to do. I have been very strict this week – buying a few cals before next week’s celebrations. I have now lost 20lbs in 12 weeks and am the lowest weight that I have been for 5 years…. There is no doubt that some of this will be reversed – I am planning to do damage!! _ but I think with this regime, we have tools to remedy those lapses – both the planned an unplanned. KEEP GOING everyone
Hi NP, I have not weighed since 3rd Nov..percisley for that reason..it puts me off my stride when i see a gain. I am a bit bloated today, after irish stew & potatoes and a crunchie!!!Im now going to have a glass of wine..But i know i’ll fast thurs and feel better. I have loads of clothes that dont fit so im looking forward to seeing if i can fit into a few things again. Keep strong and log in if you feel you need motivation..it keeps me going!!!
Just heading to bed, after the most testing fast day so far, temptations everywhere. Explained what I was doing to some of my tempters and they were very understanding. Any way I just wanted to encourage you all as you start your Thursday fast; I wish you all well, stay busy and it will fly by.
As an idea for a meal, which is tasty and filling and which I got from my grand-daughter, is spinach plus a half tin of sugar free baked beans with a piece of salmon on top. Wilt the spinach in the pan and before it turns to slime, add the beans, season and heat serve topped with the piece of salmon and the juice of a lime.
Happy Thursday
Well done, Dislanger, on resisting temptation!Do you fast Weds usually? I’m at home from work today with a cold, so out of routine which is a bit of a tricky one on a fast day. I like the structure of the work day, where at home I am roaming freely past the presses and the fridge…I’ve planned out what I’ll have for the day and I will stick to it, give or take a lemsip. Measured my waist this morning and it has come down an inch, which is great.
I had planned that it would just do one fast day next week but I am thinking now I’ll try to stick in another, we are off to Donegal the following week and with travel (a very long bus trip) an a very limited choice in the local shops fasting will be tough there, so I want to go into battle in good shape, or at least not up too much.
I made a chart of my fast days and weights and have it up on the press, a primitive biro and scrap paper affair, but it is encouraging to see the numbers come down. There is a mince pie and coffee affair on at work today, I’m not sorry to be missing that. I love the old mince pies. Sorry for rambling and good luck to all my countrypeople today!
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