Day 17, Wales, FD

Hello to the new people, welcome. I found this forum at the end of June when I began 5:2 and I’m finding it so helpful and motivating.

@dykask – I’m in awe of your fasting discipline!

@fatrabbit – hope your situation has improved and you are still with us.

Wishing my fellow fasters a successful and hunger free day.

Day 17 UK NFD still finding it hard, just not getting into it at the moment ,your post resonated @coda , I do most of the day then blow it ! I know it’s not true hunger and I know I’ll feel bad about it but do it any way😢

On a positive note still 2 weeks of August left and I’m sure if I just manage to get into a better mindset I can turn it around ……onwards….

Day 17, Belfast, FD

Hello to any newcomers. This is the first regular online forum I’ve joined – starting April 2017. I find checking in here seems to keep me from straying off the 5:2. When I was ‘going solo’ I found that I didn’t really stick to it at all and gained weight. So, hi and good luck!

The sun is out in belfast (for now!). Today’s plan is to drink loads of water and stick at it. Hopefully I’ll keep myself busy at work.

@annemarilyn the recipe is in the original book – chicken stirfried in garlic, ginger, coriander, lemon juice and soy sauce – chuck in a pile of cabbage, carrots and sugar snaps. There’s loads for just over 300kcals. Yum!

I added a couple of names to the international pocket list!! Good luck everyone!

***DAY 17 – POCKET LIST****

@dykask (3rd of B2B2B2B2!)
@sirisan (2nd of B2B)
@mia139 (2nd of B2B)
@flourbaby (3rd of B2B2B)
@basyjames (3rd B2B2B)
@melf123 you can do it
@ducks_d
@keetseel
@maddyg
@rocy65
@rox
@Stevetoontaxidriver
@Taranga
@missybear
@debster251
@belfastsink

Happy fasting day!

@16 hours – glucose 95mg/dl, ketones ~0.0 mg/dl, 82.4kg
@30 hours – glucose 90mg/dl, ketones ~0.5 mg/dl, 80.2kg <— Some fat
@41 hours – glucose 91mg/dl, ketones ~1.5 mg/dl, 79.8kg
@48 hours – glucose 85mg/dl, ketones ~4.0 mg/dl, 79.0kg <— burning fat
@64 hours – glucose 74mg/dl, ketones ~6.0 mg/dl, 78.8kg
@71 hours – glucose 68mg/dl, ketones ~6.0 mg/dl, 78.5kg
@74 hours – glucose 66mg/dl, ketones ~6.0 mg/dl

I’ve been checking more often because I’m a bit concerned by my blood glucose as I’ve never seen it that low and normally I start feeling the effects of low glucose in the low 70’s. This prolonged dropping of my blood glucose and not really feeling much from it is totally new to me. It didn’t happen a few months ago when I went for over 80 hours. Things seem to be moving faster than before.

Some side effects though:
* A bit of a sore throat
* My tongue got a little brown but now it is becoming kind of white. (Many people experience that.)
* Right now I’m feeling a little edgy but it seems to have been just triggered by me not eating anything when I often do eat.

I’m not worried because I can always eat and I bought myself some salty dried plum just in case I decide I need it.

About willpower, I don’t think it is taking much. Last year when I did my first 30 hour fast that was hard and difficult not to give up. This fast has been easy. I think the more one fasts the easier it is to fast. That being said I don’t plan on doing longer fasts very often. I prefer eating.

As far as progress goes, the fat around my belly changed a bit. It is now a little smaller but it also much firmer. When I’m wearing a shirt I look pretty trim, without a shirt I can see some flab. I can also pitch it and it is a lot more than loose skin.

Hang in there and make it count! 🙂

@dykask (3rd of B2B2B2B2!)
@sirisan (2nd of B2B)
@mia139 (2nd of B2B)
@flourbaby (3rd of B2B2B)
@basyjames (3rd B2B2B)
@melf123 you can do it
@ducks_d
@keetseel
@maddyg
@rocy65
@rox
@Stevetoontaxidriver
@Taranga
@missybear
@debster251
@belfastsink

Day 17 Netherlands Day 17 16:8

Usual hunger pangs during the night but not hungry this morning! Ate at 1pm so on for a 16:8 however became full very quickly, good news.

Good luck to all those fasting today

Day 17, USA, FD

Yesterday I was listening to an Australian ABC Radio National podcast which spoke about the relationship between the body and the brain. According to this theory, the brain creates emotions (and feelings and thoughts) in response to its predictions of experience. By being aware of this body/brain link, we can consciously create new or different emotions. For example, we can label butterflies in the stomach as anxiety or excitement; a good trick for people who may be about to engage in public speaking. Here’s the link to the transcript if you want to read it: http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/allinthemind/the-creation-of-emotions/8576540

In the 5:2 context, I am going to be more conscious of my physical feelings and more alert to the emotional label I attach to them. Today’s a FD, and when my tummy will inevitably rumble and ache, I am not going to think “I am hungry”. Instead, I might think “I am strong! And my body is now working hard to eradicate fat. The physical feelings I am experiencing are my body doing the right thing and it is good!” (Ok, that’s a big complicated thought/emotion, but you get the drift.)

What sort of labels / emotions do you associated with your body’s reactions to 5:2? Can you think of ways this technique might help you battle the snack dragons, hunger and other things?

Welcome jessyoursize – always great to see new faces and I love your positive attitude!

Happy birthday Metatauta!! Enjoy your special birthday menu.

Yay Maayyaa for resisting the crisps. I think I too eat out of habit and for something to do, but haven’t (yet) reached your level of being able to stop thinking about food all the time!

Hello Day 17 Co Down NI NFD

Just decided I am going to have a NFD and not worry. The plan then is to just fall in tomorrow with a fast day to get back on track ha ha at least that is the plan! Note to ones self the next time I feel like eating something that may hinder progress – ask will it be worth the pain of trying to get back on track if the dragons are released?

Still not caught up on posts 🙁

OK 2nd post

just read this page and already I am feeling fired up and a bit cross with myself that I have let things slide.

@penz – interesting – the ‘I’m bored’ or ‘I am p’d off’ emotions are ones for me to work on – for both, I am inclined to eat anything and everything that is not nailed down. I will have to re-think and maybe think – bored lets do squats and have a glass of water. Or if feeling p’d off go to the loo and do standing press ups against the door. Must remember to try this next time – thanks for the ideas.

@girlinoz – hello – why not join us for the rest of August and you will be ready for the September challenge from the off?

@MeIF123 – I had a check and you are already on the spreadsheet. Please note the day of the challenge = the day of the month ie August 17th is day 17.

@Metauta – Happy Birthday – hope it was/is a good one.

@brightonbelle – OK – you and me to the end of the month, accountable to each other – hand in hand? I promise/pledge that on non fast days if I eat anything I deem to be ‘bad’ (like a bag of Lions midget gems) and not included or accounted for in my plan I will confess and tell you what I had. Likewise on fast days I will report and list anything I have on my fast day that is not included in my plan and that will knock me off course. I promise to be accountable to you (my buddy) for the rest of the month. To focus on healthy supportive foods that will help me get to where I want to be. If it’s not healthy why eat it? There are 2 weeks left for the month – I can do anything for 2 weeks. Are you taking my hand?

Day 17 USA-WA FD
@AnnMarilyn I think eating lower carb is never a bad idea, but I also think for ketosis to really make a difference, you have to stay in it for awhile, and if you jump in and out, my experience from the past is that the weight swoops back in quickly. There is a modified ketogenic diet used for epilepsy being researched at Johns Hopkins, and I think some people do it via some fasting, some just via low carb. I’ve been talking to them and may work with them, and my sense is that the goal is to help you find a sustained WOL that you can stay in ketosis. But it’s daunting to be that strict, and takes some of the ease out of the 5:2 WOL, because the NFD have to be controlled in terms of carbs. Let me know if you decide to do it and we can buddy up. What makes it worth it for me is how much better my brain feels and my weight has really stabilized a couple of pounds above my desired goal, but seemingly in a place my body likes!

hello 3rd post have just read page 23

@califdreamer – most times I don’t even think of the crisps or biscuits and would not thank you for any. I don’t even mind them being eaten in front of me and decline when offered as I really, really don’t want them but…….. when the dragon is released it is so hard to satisfy it – I just have no ‘off’ switch and could eat and eat and eat. I find I am searching the cupboards for something, anything to offer the dragon. But with the new brain/emotion (thanks @penz) I will offer squats and water instead to see if that puts it back in its cage.

Welcome newbies

Wow I am impressed with lots doing b2b2b’s

@liathanail – don’t get disheartened – just join me in the tortoise club. All the other speedier losers may pass us by but don’t fear, we will get there in the end – we just have to keep plodding on.

2nd post–

And no I’m slipping on my trainers & cranking up the incline on my treadmill.
There’s no way I’ll catch up on 24 pages of posts… but I’ll work up a great sweat & torch some fat cells while I try.

Day 17 – USA (Utah visiting) – NFD

Welcome newbies! You will find the posters here very supportive and helpful as we go on our WOL together. I find reading posts in moments of ‘weakness’ especially helpful too

@metatauta – happy birthday to YOU! (this SongBird is singing to you….)

Weighing-in/Cruella/the scale: I have no problem with weighing in each day and have done just that for over a year. Yes, accept that there will be daily fluctuations, plateaus, whooshes, etc. as you go downward. I’m happy to be maintaining under my goal, this morning showing 157.8 lbs. Generally I weigh first thing in the morning. That weight is just under the top ‘allowable’ BMI for my height. At age 69, I don’t really want to look gaunt!

Onward and downward, everyone.

day 17 Akron OH 3rd B2B2B FD. happy birthday @Metauta. @belfastsink thank you for adding me to the pocket fasters. I have something to celebrate guys- I am a pound away from the weight I was pre-vacation. The whoosh effect kicked in big -time and I cannot believe it! Ok most of you probably know that after meeting my goal in May, my family and I took a trip to an all inclusive resort where I blew my diet and gained 5 pounds, we returned from that trip and went on another within a few weeks of our return. Between both trips, I gained 8 pounds and started August at 159 pounds. After crying in my cups, I decided to ease back into ADF and lose the weight, I figured slow, steady weight loss and I would be back to pre-vacation weight by early October. In the first couple of weeks in August, the scale would not budge at all, and I felt bloated even after my FDs, I was very discouraged and voiced it here. You were all very supportive and encouraging – Thank you all. Well it seems like almost overnight, things changed and the weight is beginning to fall off. My weight was 152.2 this morning, granted it’s in the middle of B2B FD so I anticipate regaining a pound or so but still I am super stoked! At this rate, I should meet my goal by the end of the month.
if you are feeling a little wobbly and not sure this WOL works, I want to encourage you to remember my story and stick with it; you will be glad you did.

Day 17—Albuquerque—FD

HannahWatto—When I eat peanut butter toast I always end up with a smudge on my pant leg. Don’t know how, don’t know why. Speaking of pants, I think you’ve earned yourself a new belt!

metatauta—Happy Birthday, and yes, carbs are free on birthdays.
Losing_it—Exactly! It also hits my planning fetish. The first three days worked out well.

FlourBaby—I’ve seen that article from USC and also read something from the National Institutes on Aging about a study in mice. These articles are from a few years ago and I can’t find anything up to date. It makes me wonder if the research hit a snag or something. If it were successful wouldn’t they be publishing like crazy?

HappyMargo—Welcome back!

Day 17 – Albuquerque – FD

Today is my second ever fast day, and so far it is going MUCH better than my first one was. It’s already 10 am here and I still haven’t had any hunger pains or the urge to eat anything (I think the 3 bottles of water are really helping there). I also really planned my snacks out for today so that if I do get more nibbly toward the end of the day (as I usually do) I have something easy and low calorie to munch on.

Do ya’ll find it easier to eat multiple little snacks in the day or a few “larger” meals (or even one big one)? I personally skip breakfast often so its definitely easier for me to wait until closer to noon to eat for the first time.

Also a quick update from yesterday – I came in 451 calories under my TDEE completely on accident, I am tracking calories on NFD for these first few weeks just to see where I fall if I eat as I normally would and to watch for trends (though I am more inclined to eat just a bit healthier or smaller portions when I’m tracking). But I guess whoops since I know I might have wanted those for today – but who knows maybe it will help me lose a little extra!

@coda
@lianathail
@debster251
Tortoises rock! I just read a few posts, above, and am definitely in the tortoise group. But…that means that even though I’ve only been dropping around 4lb a month, with lots of plateaus, that still translates to 20lb since April this year.

Whenever I am discouraged by ‘only’ losing a 1lb, I look at this site and remind myself that any loss/maintenance is a positive:
https://rsvpmagazine.ie/benefits-of-losing-one-pound-fat/

Practically, this diet has been a massive change for me, even with a slow pace of loss – my BMI is now 24.2 instead of 27.3, some of my old clothes fit me again (I’ve gained a whole new wardrobe!), and I feel – and look – much, much better.

Day 17 – SW WA USA – FD

Yes, I’m also with the tortoise group at this time. I started out a lot faster for the 1st 3 months but now not much happening on the downward journey. But I’m hanging in there with the rest of you. Going for a b2b to see if I can move downward. Plus my son arrives for the weekend tomorrow.

@daffodil2010 – adding herbs to your cottage cheese might work 🙂
@metatauta – Happy Birthday!
@flourbaby – TY for the link. I just met someone battling cancer and passed the link along
@liathanail – yes, everybody’s journey is different. Hang in there with us. It’s so much better than going it alone and perhaps giving up.
@belfastsink – thanks for the particulars. I found the recipe & it reminded me that there are a lot of great ideas in the original 5:2 book that I haven’t even tried yet.
@happymargo – so good to see your post. I was wondering about how you were doing. Glad you are on the mend.
@basyjames – wonderful progress. TY for sharing your journey. What kinds of foods are you eating on your journey? Low carb or?
@krisnia – I’m still not sure if I can commit to a complete ketogenic diet. I’ve been researching a lot. There seem to be variations; some say no fruits for example and others say some berries are okay. I am definitely interested. I am tired of bouncing on this plateau for several months.

@dykask (3rd of B2B2B2B2!)
@sirisan (2nd of B2B)
@mia139 (2nd of B2B)
@flourbaby (3rd of B2B2B)
@basyjames (3rd B2B2B)
@melf123 you can do it
@ducks_d
@keetseel
@maddyg
@rocy65
@rox
@Stevetoontaxidriver
@Taranga
@missybear
@debster251
@belfastsink
@lynned
@califdreamer
@annemarilyn

@annemarilyn I actually practice 4:3 and stick to low carb on my FD only. I usually also have alcohol just one day a week. I did 5:2 for about a month and half and once my body got used to it, I started experimenting with different schedules until I settled on something I was comfortable with.

Day 17, Guildford UK, FD
Day 18, Guildford UK, FD

There were periods when this came so easily. Now it’s a struggle.

But made it through today.

I was always able to manage a WFD, not at the moment.

I love this crowd so encouraging, so great.

Mari

Day 17 USA
Hi!!! FD today…. so far so good!
@Metauta Happy Birhday!!!

Day 18 Australia NFD
Welcome back @happymargo!
@keetseel – I won’t ask where the jam ends up!:)
I weighed myself this morning to give myself motivation to stay in control over the weekend but even though I can’t keep my pants up the scale has not moved a gram!

Day 17, USA, Missouri Ozarks, NFD

Hello all, and Happy Birthday metatauta ! Wishing you a wonderful day and many, many more.

Spent the day at a volunteer committee meeting, did a bit of shopping along the way. Had a nice lunch at a beautiful new senior center in a nearby town(we were invited there and everybody was just lovely, we will definitely return ! )

Going out tomorrow, will do several shopping stops (always have to hit Dollar Tree, WalMart, Aldi’s and a couple consignment/thrift stores.) We will probably eat at Wendy’s. Looking forward to another day with friends, so grateful to have the social network especially as I age.

Prayers for Spain and for our world.

And to all my fellow tortoises,

Remember – you’ll never get anywhere in life unless you are willing to stick your neck out.