WOW that sounds some diet! Seems to have worked for you. Yeah, we can all do it. Looking forward to getting started now.

Thanks for posting the 20 lb mini-goal schedule, makes it feel much more achievable!

Hi All, good to see people doing well. I had a successful fast day yesterday after a bit of a binge on pizza the day before. I also had a wardrobe clear out as I can now fit into some of my older clothes that I loved so couldn’t give away but couldn’t fit into. Some of my more recent clothes are now too big. Some trousers are slipping down on my hips and it’s annoying to keep hitching them up and I don’t like wearing belts. So I have decided to give them to the charity shop instead of keeping them in case I put on weight again.

As I mentioned in my first post, I have been doing this for three months now so not exactly on the 10 week challenge, but hope to reach one of my mini milestones at the end of 10 weeks.

I must admit that I do weigh myself everyday even though I know our weight fluctuates from day to day. If it has gone down, I feel great, and if I have gone up, it motivates me to try harder. But my weigh in date for filling in my weight loss chart is Thursday and I haven’t yet seen an increase in my week to week weigh in, although I have had a few plateaus. Hope you are all doing well, RD

Right, here we go then. New year, new me/us. Enjoy the ride folks.

Impressed with all your progress! Will be waking up to another fast day in NZ in the morning – my 3rd since my restart! Your progress is egging me on.

I am at 62.5 kilos (we don’t altogether trust our scales but I’m less concerned with the actual number than just having it as a benchmark (was 63.4 last week when irritated at myself). As mentioned I am not very tall and i am officially about 5 kilos overweight as per BMI calculator (and I know I’m overweight because I feel it).

Some milestones:

By next week (when I go for a 4 day trip on the Otago rail trail – a cycling path for people of ages/stages that is 4 days of cycling amongst the mountain but on a disused railway line so mostly flat – yes I am terrified because it’s up to 48 kms cycling per day and I look like an idiot getting on and off a bike, but hey…) I want to be 61.5 and then by end of January I want to be 60. I start to look and feel good again at 60.

Then by mid February I am traveling to the US for a global team meeting for a client and I want to be at 58.

By the end of our 10 weeks I would love to be at 57 kilos, which would be back to what I had achieved before.

I just mostly want my perimenopausal hot flushes all night long (causing me massive sleep deprivation) to stop – last time I was regularly on the 5:2 they eased off completely and I am convinced it was because of the loss of weight and the fasting breaks. More than anything (aside from the mirror) this is motivating me right now.

As it is lose 20lb in 10 weeks challenge, I have changed my scales to pounds rather than stones and pounds and I start at 178.6 lbs and I will be happy to achieve 158lb by the start of April. I hope to do Monday’s, Wednesday’s and Friday’s for as long as I can and exercise on eating days until I get going for a while. Threw myself onto it like a loon four years ago and SLE kicked off big time for months, so softly does it for me. Had 2 egg omelet with herbs and fresh tomato for brekkie plus Meds and coffee lunch time with drop of skimmed milk. Tea will be salmon steak and large salad with glass of lemony tap water and more Meds. Mustn’t go mad on eating days. :-/

Go all of you. I am now past my first mini milestone of Fast Day 3 – I have passed 9am with no food and leading up to noon! I think this year for me is all about the baby milestones in all aspects of my life 🙂 (I am an arch procrastinator and prone to making mountains out of molehills and using them as excuses not to start etc…) I am buoyed up by your efforts. This is my first work day of the year. I think 20 lbs is ambitious for me, as much as I would love to get there, so my 10 week challenge is 14 lbs if that’s OK! That would be amazing and get me 2 kilos off my ultimate goal weight, which I would love to be by end of April. That way I would have dealt with the weight issues in the first 1/3 of the year and pre-winter for me and could enjoy the remaining 2/3 feeling great. I ramble like this in my posts because “saying” these things to you all helps make them feel real and as I read what I am saying I start to visualise the outcome I am aiming for.

My vision for end of April 2016 (will keep reading this):
-at goal weight
-emotionally feel fantastic – under control, people telling me I look good (I know that’s not the most important thing, but just is nice 🙂 and asking me how I lost the weight), big goal ticked off in first 1/3 of year
-Fasting now just a way of life
-way back in healthy blood count etc range (not pre-diabetic)
-peri menopause symptoms disappeared
-all my nice clothes fit
-specifically can wear my trousers again I bought when I lost the weight in 2014 and even more can tuck shirts into the trousers and they look really nice…
-…because all that awful belly fat gone
-Face no longer looks puffy and arms have that leaner look
-ready to treat myself to some nice new winter trousers, dress and sweaters
-can run 10 kms again without a hassle at all and in training for Auckland half marathon at beginning November

Go well this week everyone! You are all inspiring me!

Also, I visualise my body turning to its own supplies for energy and literally eating my waistline 😉 That helps during the hunger pains. Almost like a battle for dominance between me and the fat and I’m going to win this time…

Hello Mrs PepperPot, Just had a look at my tracker in 2015 and as I’m also 5’2” hope you will find my experience encouraging.
April 27 Start Weight 139 lb
June 26 Goal Weight 125 lb
Exercise is limited to a daily 30 – 45 minute walk.

A loss of 14 lb in just under 9 weeks and I went on losing until I maintained at 115 until the end of November. December is a sociable month with birthdays as well as Christmas and New Year so on 4 January I weighed 126.4 lb, but I’m already down to 123 lb this morning by keeping to my TDEE which is 1305 according to the tracker I have been using.

I am recording my input on CalorieCounter for the next couple of weeks to help me relate portion sizes and the amount of calories they contain, as I find it easy to underestimate and also I am very interested in the nutritional aspect.

Hi RedDog -well done! Just checking in from NZ – completed 3rd fast day yesterday since my restart – just one meal at night – very proud of myself as yesterday wasn’t so easy – I seemed hungrier 🙂 Weighed myself this morning (what I am seeking is evidence that there is a downward trend – eventually I will stop looking at the scales except for once a week!) and was relieved to see I was 10.5 oz (300 gm) lighter since yesterday (am trying to translate things to ponds from kilos here) according to our scales – so at least down and not up. Have been reading about the 16:8 way of eating each day (eating only within an 8 hour window) – a friend did this last year and is looking amazing so going to see if that helps speed things up if I do that on two of my normal eating days each week. Interesting what you are all saying re the portion sizes. Also went for 5.5 km walk/run with some hills included.

First real fast day today and made it through with 414 calories. Wasn’t that hungry at supper but knew I should eat something or would be snacking / starving later. Had 1 piece of pepperoni pizza (220 cals) as that is what the kids had made for dinner but my tummy isn’t too happy with all those carbs. Rest of the day was 100 cal bullet coffee and a small snack of cheese, turkey pepperoni & celery. Still not feeling 100% so that probably made the fast easier.

RedDog, I also weigh myself daily. I find it better for my will power to see the results and I tend to stray if I don’t weigh.

Mrs Pepperpot – as for keeping up will power, the forum and the scale keep me accountable but before restarting the fasting I watched Eat, Fast & Live Longer again to get me excited to start on the right track again and read ButtonBoots entire journey (forum), amazingly inspirational and still ongoing! I love reading the success stories.

Galexinda – amazing results, very encouraging that someone with a starting weight of139 lost over 20lbs in less than 10 weeks! Now we know it’s achievable!

Happy Fasting for the Wednesday fasters!

My apologies Galexinda – apparently I can’t subtract (or read) 🙂 Still very excited by the 14lb in 9 week results but I’m still striving for 20lbs as I am starting a bit heavier.

Far out jellybeanz, that’s not easy stuff. Keep going with the 5:2 – we are here.

Hi All,

Jellybeanz – I’m also thinking of you – it must be tough dealing with your loss, especially with those triggers coming up.

Mrs Pepperpot, I was sad to hear you feel disgusted for gaining 20 pounds – it’s a perfectly normal thing to do as we all know so I hope you can accept that this is just a normal and commonplace thing and don’t beat yourself up about it. Instead, be proud that you are doing something positive about it. With all the mixed messages we receive about healthy eating it’s no wonder that we have all gained more weight than we should. This is why websites and forums like this exist so we can share support and information and tips that work for us.

As we are all in different countries, I thought I would paste this conversion chart from Kilos to pounds to stones. Hope you find it useful. In this table, for example, 10.5 stones means ten and a half stone not ten stone five pounds. Hope that makes sense.
RD

Kg Pounds Stones
100 220 15.7
99 218 15.6
98 216 15.4
97 214 15.3
96 212 15.1
95 209 15.0
94 207 14.8
93 205 14.6
92 203 14.5
91 201 14.3
90 198 14.2
89 196 14.0
88 194 13.9
87 192 13.7
86 190 13.5
85 187 13.4
84 185 13.2
83 183 13.1
82 181 12.9
81 179 12.8
80 176 12.6
79 174 12.4
78 172 12.3
77 170 12.1
76 168 12.0
75 165 11.8
74 163 11.7
73 161 11.5
72 159 11.3
71 157 11.2
70 154 11.0
69 152 10.9
68 150 10.7
67 148 10.6
66 146 10.4
65 143 10.2
64 141 10.1
63 139 9.9
62 137 9.8
61 134 9.6
60 132 9.4
59 130 9.3
58 128 9.1
57 126 9.0
56 123 8.8
55 121 8.7
54 119 8.5
53 117 8.3
52 115 8.2
51 112 8.0
50 110 7.9

Thanks RedDog for the conversions – technically Canada is metric but most of us are still using pounds for weight.

Ended up doing back to back fasts mostly because work was so busy – only had bullet coffee for breakfast/lunch so just ate half a homemade cheeseburger patty for dinner to make 508 calories. A little higher than yesterday but real close to 500 cals so I’m counting it! 🙂

Thinking of you jellybeanz and hoping your day went well.

Thanks guys, awful day yesterday and more to come over next few weeks but it all has to be got through. Did my second fast day yesterday and don’t feel so bloated today. Will do third tomorrow and weigh every Saturday morning and measure after a month. I have to say that the sense of discipline and control is very nice after a LONG time of life dragging you threw it. Keep the faith chaps 🙂

Hope you had a great fast day SweetTooth55 and wishing jellybeanz positive vibes for tomorrow’s fast!

Right there with you jellybean. I had 3 fast days this week…..they got easier as the week progressed. I think I am getting the hang of this. Are you letting go of the merlot throughout the challenge or just on fast days? Just curious as I am an avid wine lover as well. Anyway, I started at 170 and weighed myself today and down to 165.7……Not as much as I had hoped but I don’t think I’ll drop all the weight I gained in the first few weeks…..need to be ready for the longer haul and convert this into a lifestyle approach. I’ll get there.

Hello All,
Thanks Skinny for the good wishes, they worked! And a belated thanks to you RedDog for the conversion table post. It is makes reading threads easier.

JellyBeanz and KnitWit54, congratulations to both of you for losing 4+ pounds! Wave goodbye to them and keep up the good work.

I’m doing Dry January because wine was undermining my goals. Whenever I made a nice dinner for a NFD, I always served wine. After the first glass, it was easier to have a second glass with a second helping. By the time dessert came around I had no willpower left. What TDEE?! I tried various “rules” (only 1 glass, only veggies for seconds) without success. So essentially, I’m trying to prevent the whole chain by not drinking the first glass. So far, so good, and it’s only a month.

JBz, I hope you found a headstone suitable for you and your DH. I admire the courage and determination you are showing. Sending warm thoughts your way.

JBz, thinking of you – buying a headstone must be the most heartwrenching thing. I also admire you for your strength and courage.

I hope you enjoyed every mouthful of that snickers bar. 🙂 You certainly deserved a treat and well done for not reaching for the wine.

I don’t know about anywhere else but here in Aus, they don’t put calories/kilojoules on alcoholic drinks like they do on non-alcoholic ones – I suspect it’s because we would all drink far less if they did. I reached my mini-goal of 1 pound lost on my Thursday weigh in so am having a weekend off from dieting. However at a barbecue on Friday night i stuck to a bit of white wine topped up with lots of ice and soda water. Very refreshing as it’s been so hot here, felt like I was drinking and the bonus that I could drive home so saved money on a taxi. I had a big burger but with salad on a plate rather than in a bun, and so I felt comfortable indulging in a nice icecream dessert. Yesterday, Sat, I indulged in my love of bread! Like you, Mrs Pepperpot, it’s my vice too. I have been cutting down during the week, but made some lovely sour dough rye bread and enjoyed it toasted for breakfast with lots of butter then a ham and cheese sandwich for lunch. That’s the beauty of this diet – that we can have a snickers bar or bread and butter if that’s what we want – just not on the fast days 🙂

Anyway, glad to hear some success stories. Hula Hooping sounds fun!

Hi everyone! OK, I almost fell off the wagon! A friend came from London to stay on Friday night and I just didn’t get a fast day in at the end of the week, ate way too much with the friend over 24 hours (chips/dips/snacks/cocktails/out to dinner) and then Friday/Saturday did no exercise after (as you know) vowing to do at least 2km of walking/running/cycling every day. Last night I felt really grumpy with myself. Also irritated because the hot flushes (how did I get to be 50 and having hot flushes – seems like a minute ago I was 24) have been causing me really bad sleep deprivation. But the good news is 1. I slept 8 hours, only woken up once 2. with my husband went for a 10km hilly walk this morning, 3. decided to do 16:8 today and didn’t eat until after noon and had dinner pre 8pm (and of course I ate so much less as a result) and scheduled a fast day tomorrow (Monday, NZ time). So feel really proud of myself that i didn’t let the momentarily fall off the wagon turn into a complete backward slide (it was touch and go there for a minute as once I start eating rubbish I can’t stop…). A lot of it was thinking about how could I report back to you guys and then not achieve my goals, so this is great being part of this.I’m really hoping tomorrow to get on the scales and be able to report I am under 137 pounds. In 4 days time we will be riding the Otago Rail Trail – between 25 and 48 km each day for 4 days so that’s gotta be good, right? I won’t attempt to fast while doing that (we are away in total 7 days) but on the non-cycling days will try to do 16:8 and not eat until after midday. It would be great to return from this week holiday having lost a bit of weight instead of gained it and be hitting the ground running back to the fasting on my return.

Anyway, here’s what i hope to be reporting back in 24 hours:

1. That I completed another fast day
2. That I am under 137 pounds. (when I started this btw after Boxing Day I was 140 pounds. I would have hoped to lose more but remember New Year’s and other holiday events have been happening and also last time I did 5:2 the weight loss started slowly and then kicked in and escalated after about a month.

Go well while I am sleeping everyone!

Oh jellybeanz you have every good reason to fall off that wagon, and anyway, like me you can climb right back on again 🙂

Welcome to the group MrsM2015! I fell off the wagon in late Spring last year so I’m also back trying to make this a permanent way of life. Amazing how we sabotage ourselves when other people start noticing – but trust me, you are not alone on that front. It really does help to have a group like this for support!

jellybeanz – I think you did great having the will power to stop at one spririt and some nuts (even more will power to bin the rest of the bag). The wonderful thing about 5:2 is that these days can happen to anyone (under far less stress than you) and you can just adjust your fasting day to another day or pick up a 4:3 the following week. Don’t beat yourself up – you are doing amazing!

littlepea – Great job getting back on track after friend’s visit. What an amazing holiday you have planned! So much better to look forward to the scale / measuring tape upon your return rather than dreading it. Hope your fast day went well and looking forward to seeing your results post!

Will post my weight tomorrow – and try not to overeat today! 😉

Well have I failed miserably! I started on 2nd January and do lose a couple of pounds but the last few days I have been a nightmare. Think that I am missing my husband more than I expected, going to be a long six months, and I seemed to be hunting food!! The weather is cold and wet and I just want to snuggle in with a book and eat! So not good! Anyway, today has been a bit better and hopefully I can get back on track.