@debster251 – Thanks for posting the spreadsheet. I’m all filled in and up to date.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1oHFqnmdzVCzauz5eJOzqQfuHywXgRwErhMyTS3MSHog/edit?usp=sharing

Hello me again – just to advise all who signed up for the July challenge and completed it – your medal is ready and waiting for you on that thread – congratulations I hope you print it off and stick it on the fridge to remind you – you did it!!

Apologies for any omissions, let me know and I can add your name.

https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/july-2017-31-day-challenge/page/40/#post-218397

PS – Good post @penz

coda, thank you so much for my medal. It is stunning ! And thanks so much for leading the July challenge.

Snowflake – I copied and pasted and Googled what you found and can not only

not pronounce most of it but also

have no idea if it is good or bad. haha….

@coda, how absurdly excited was I to get a medal. Made me smile. Thank you.

Day 1 FD
Day 2 NFD St. Louis USA
Weight 133.4

Can’t recall if I posted yesterday or not. Posting again just in case. Tomorrow will be my last fast day for this week and none next week as I’ll be on vacation. Plan to eat sensibly and do lots of walking. Going to Gulf Shores Alabama with my family.

Thank you for hosting Debster251

Need to catch up on the posts.

All my best to all of you.

Day 2 Lancaster, PA FD
@coda ✨You ✨brighten my ☀️day✨😊& I needed it brightened today.😊 Thanks for all your gracious support and leadership for the challenge groups! 🤗 You make it worth it💫🌙☀️🌈💦💐🌷🌹🌼
@debster251 Thanks for posting the spreadsheet.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1oHFqnmdzVCzauz5eJOzqQfuHywXgRwErhMyTS3MSHog/edit?usp=sharing. Also ✨Thanks again for hosting the August Challenge.✨
@snowflake56 😲Ouch!Sorry that you aren’t able to move around much because of a wrong bend and muscle pull? 😲😨{{{{Big Hugs}}}} to you! Wishing you fast health, and patience during your time of healing.✨
@onahealthyhigh Thank-you for the wonderful 500 cals or less website✨
Paddington foodie 500 cals or less;
https://thepaddingtonfoodie.com/the-5-2-challenge/

I’m looking forward to the Pumpkin soup!😊
https://thepaddingtonfoodie.com/2013/04/01/the-5-2-challenge-eating-with-the-seasons-roast-pumpkin-and-red-lentil-soup-with-moroccan-spices/

✨🌈✨ Good Luck Everyone! Wishing you Well today and for the month of August!✨

Day 2, UK, FD
Forgot to check in this morning. FD badly needed following yesterday’s wine…

Day 2, Rocky Mountains, US

2nd post:

@coda: Thank you for the medal!🎖
I appreciate it! 😊🌼😊🌺😊

Second post. Thank you @coda for my medal. I am proud I completed my first challenge. 😀

@coda – Thank you so much for the July medal! It would be great if there was a way to copy & paste these medals to our profiles. Is there a way? Could there be?

2nd post

It’s been brilliant reading all the posts this evening – so many inspiring stories and great to have so many newbies joining us on this journey – As many others have said 5:2 is not a diet but a way of life even in maintenance!!!!

@coda – thank you for the medal- it was a brilliant idea! 💐 Love your post – great advice and thought provoking
@keetseel – great to see you are joining us again – TOGETHER WE ARE STRONGER
@onahealthyhigh – I had forgotten about those pesky invaders you had – good to hear that you have cleared them out of your kitchen!
@ducks_d – I dropped my bad cholesterol levels and improved my ratio, however I only got mine retested after being on 5:2 for a year and planning on testing again in January, a further year down the line, to see if further improvements!
@twinmam – great loss last month! Re: Asthma – 5:2 and weight loss made a huge improvement to my asthma – so much better controlled – have been gradually reducing my preventer inhaler (Becotide) for the past year, down to using only a quarter of my normal dose and not required any treatment inhaler (Ventolin) for the past 15 months – have actually stopped using my Becotide inhaler for the past 2 months as a trial and have had no problems to date!
@flourbaby – thinking of you whilst you deal with the arrangements for your father’s funeral 🤗 Those pesky 7lbs will go once you get back to our WOL – you know what to do when you are ready to resume
@belfastsink – I’m with you – love my food and my wine (although these days in much less quantities than pre 5:2!!!) and this WOL allows us to enjoy and still lose/maintain weight!!!! 😇
@fuvvie – one of my favourite too as it reflects my journey in weight loss and adapting to the 5:2 WOL
@mogaman – try using MyFitnessPal and have you worked out your TDEE for the weight you want to be not your current one? Remember also that any extra calories earnt by exercise should go towards your weight loss and not added to your TDEE for the day!!!
@babbledrop – totally agree with @bigbooty – all sweetness whether artificial or not should be avoided just like sugar

Welcome to those who joined since Day 1 @sarahg78 @mjmj @kokua12 @missnattynatnat @derbygirl74 @babbledrop @dwehrle @sarahg78 @mulville @mari84 @nikkim07 @lyonlottie @covebirder – You have all taken the first and the most important step – Try to see 5:2 as a WOL and not a “Diet” There is no need to make special meals for you – try to eat what the family is having but reduce portion size and minus the carbs on a FD e.g. I often use spiralised vegetables instead of pasta with the same sauce everyone else is having.

PLANK CHALLENGE
@snowflake56 @lindasue @okeydokey ?@fatrabbit and anyone else wanting to join………..
What about doing anything that challenges us? and so long as we increase the length of time we hold the plank for over the month and maybe increase variations of plank as well. As I’m at a starting point of being able to hold either a High or Elbow plank for 2 mins and a side plank for 20sec fairly easily…..I have decided that I needed something that I cannot do yet! I found this 5minute challenge that involves doing the following planks with a 15 sec break in between (but I’m starting with a 30 sec break!) and I’m starting doing it once a day and hoping to build up to twice a day…….
*1 min High plank
*30 sec Elbow plank
*30 sec Elbow plank with right leg raised
*30 sec Elbow plank with left leg raised
*30 sec Elbow right side plank
*30 sec Elbow left side plank
*30 sec High plank
*1 min Elbow plank
I also measured my waist to have a starting point as I’m hoping to reduce my waist by 1″ eventually and this is the start of this journey!
In the words of Confucius ” It does not matter how slowly you go, so long as you do not stop”

Day3, Guildford UK, NFD

Not fasting unless I really think I can I want to drop 1kg this month. With the stress I am under that is enough.

Mari

Had a good FD yesterday, coming in a little under 700 calories and not too much grief. A good reset!

@Strawberriesandcream — You are right; July *was* a tough month. I might have sabotaged myself also with some weird ‘I’m stressed out, therefore I will be stress-eating’ prejudice. Anyway, congratulations to you on the woosh. This month will be a LOT better.

@at and @lynned –I follow some of the same strategies as the two of you, combining 5:2 with a longer fast period (usually about 16-18 hours) most days and a Mediterranean or low-carb diet every day. Also, I am getting away from calorie-counting or was before July 13. Have to retrain my body to eat less again.

@rainbowsmile –Just thinking about you and hope you’re doing well despite all the stress. In one of his books, Peter deVries wrote “happiness is the return of the commonplace” and I think there is something to it. Here’s wishing you a string of quiet, peaceful days in the near future.

@belfastsink –Hope your dad gets better soon
.
@snowflake56 –Great advice! I will attempt to release my anterior deltoids from the chaturanga vinyasa with a Purvottanasana. Really, everyone should, don’t you think?

@penz—Thank you for your advice also; I’m going to sit in another chair tonight, one that my body doesn’t associate with eating cheddar-cheese goldfish, and see if it makes a difference.

Day 3/NFD/Melbourne Australia

Checking in before collecting my grandchildren. Expecting a very active day. It’s easier not to fast but hoping to have a very controlled day.

Thank you @coda for the medal. I shall wear it with pride.
@debster I’ve finally managed to import the spreadsheet. Who knew I had to update Google sheets via the App Store?? It’s working perfectly. Thank you
Loved the TDEE discussion. There are so many variations on the Internet. To maintain I can choose any number between 1243 and 1853 depending on the site I use! So I did a little exercise to work out my own. I keep a food diary on an Australian app. It gives me a calorie estimate each day. I chose a fortnight where I successfully maintained, added the calories and worked out an average. To maintain I require 1543 calories. I use this as my guide and aim to average 1543 calories over the week.

Have a great day everyone

Day 2 FD UK Oxford

2nd fasting day this week, but not the Last, seem to fall quite naturally these days into doing Mon, Wed and Fri – with Fri being either a strict one if I’ve over done it on Thurs or perhaps less strict (800 or so) if I haven’t.

Quite a full head this week with last minute bridesmaid duties and travel plans to organise. This kind of thing is generally the sort of thing that has me scurrying towards my best friend food, so I have to say I’m quite proud of myself that this has not been happening enough to derail my 5:2 journey.

Been sublimating instead with recent spate of Tom Hardy films. *happy sigh* Much more enjoyable. I think this might be classed as personal growth? ha ha ha x

@okeydokey –I can’t get past a minute holding the plank because of a 20-year-old rotator cuff injury that still hurts from time to time. I guess I’m not that sad about it. There are many other upper body exercises to do–e.g., the infamous chaturanga dandasana!

Day 2 NFD Portland, OR

I’ve having an excellent and controlled NFD today. We’ll see if I can maintain that tonight. It is blistering hot here right now. I don’t crave food much when it gets like this but I am really wanting a crisp glass of wine. (And when I wrote “glass” I really meant “glasses”) 😉

Regarding planks, I think I will do the basic elbow planks – 3 minutes, four times a day. Twice in the morning, twice at night.

Hi @coda,
I dropped in to the July Forum and saw the “Medal List”. So appreciative of your input and initiating the challenges long before I was introduced to Fast 5:2 IF. The numbers along the way are our scorecards of success.

Day 3 NFD Phuket, Thailand (on holiday)

Hello. It is so inspiring to read everyone’s stories. I am particularly motivated by the “maintenance crew” – the people who are living the WOL!

Coincidentally I was also considering the plank challenge. I think one came up on MFP. I can’t access the Daily Mail link as that newspaper is banned in Thailand because they published a very uncomplimentary article about the birthday party the King of Thailand held for his pet dog (this was whilst he was still prince).

Yesterday for FD evening meal I made Thai green papaya salad (som tam). Whereas it takes a Thai cook a couple of minutes to finely chop the papaya and grind the ingredients for the dressing (fish sauce, garlic, chilli, lime juice etc), it took me over an hour to get it right as I do not have the knife skills or the courage to hold the fruit in left hand whilst whacking away with the knife. I wanted to do it myself in order to reduce the amount of palm sugar. It tasted pretty authentic, though I am not sure I would do it again, although maybe I would be quicker next time (I used a spiraliser in the end to do the shredding). If you like spicy, crunchy, salty food, the recipe can also be made with carrots. It is traditionally served with a big wedge of raw cabbage and some long green beans.

Wishing everyone a great day!

Day 3. NFD.
Doing well staying under 1200 cals on NFDs. Last night a friend popped over with a bottle of wine. I had one glass and then skipped dinner to make up for the calories.
Doing well today. Just had a fabulous apple and walnut salad with lean chicken. So good.
I would love to lose 3.7kgs to get to my goal this month but I’m doubtful, as I lose quite slowly and I have a couple of social events in the next weeks. I’m not in a race though. As long as the numbers on the scales are heading in the right direction and I continue feeling good and healthy, I’m happy.

Day 3 – Nuremberg, Germany (business trip) – NFD
So, the first of the 9 hour workshops yesterday. This is actually quite good for controlled eating as I can have a portion of yoghurt for breakfast at the hotel. Once I get to the office and locked away in the workshop I’m just drinking lots of water. There are chocolate biscuits but we have no air con and it was 28 degrees yesterday so they all melted and didn’t look very appetising.
Lunch was half a small rye bread salami and cheese roll and some black cherry yoghurt as the heat makes me less hungry. I had real burger cravings for dinner so ordered one at the hotel but only ate half of it and a third of the chips as I felt so full. So apart from a small glass of wine with dinner yesterday was pretty good.
Another 9 hour workshop today and dinner with a friend tonight so hopefully today will be okay too.

Day 3 UK FD

Woke up hungry yesterday for some reason, struggled through until noon but then splurged. Managed to get through at least three thousand calories by 6pm:( Weight up a pound. It could have been worse. I certainly need a fast day today!

Day 2 – SW WA USA – NFD

I don’t think I posted today as I was on a mini-vacation. Enjoyed walking a trail that was a bit challenging at certain sections, but my friend and I persevered even in this heat wave. A lot of the trail was alongside a river or among wonderful foliage. Then an iced drink and we headed back home with a drive of a little over 5 hours. Met up with a lovely couple from southern Holland at a small community bar/grill where Tacos were on special for $2.75; quite the deal & fun conversation. Then off to finish our journey for the day. Now trying to cool down my place before hitting the hay.

Would love to finish catching up on posts before calling it a day! Reading some great posts!

Day 3, Northumberland UK, NFD

School holidays make my routine a mess so mostly NFD at the moment. I think I read that planking article, but also saw a lot of commentary disparaging it. The key seems to be good form and not overdoing it. I should probably join, so may have to start timing properly so I can set myself a challenge.