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Hi KathyinBelmont, I’m a bit like you! I’ll be 50 end of January and the pounds (exactly 7kg) have crept on over the last few months. Tried different diets but it was a lot of very hard work without much motivation and I didn’t have the support I get here from you all. So, let’s go for it this time!
Thanks everyone, i’m feeling much better today, so am attempting my fast. I have a busy day at work with a meeting this morning and then catching up with things this afternoon so hopefully my mind will be occupied and the day should go okay.
Stay strong and good luck with the day. The support here is amazing x
Hi everyone, still hanging in there and hoping that I will see results before too long. As an ex smoker still need to keep my hands busy, so now addicted to iPod Sudoku! I’m so inspired by all of you will have to try the exercises soon as this rotten weather has restricted the walks with my dog. Be positive!
Tinanmac: I have the same issue with having to keep my fingers busy. I draw and crochet and stuff like that in the evenings to keep me from grazing too much. It’s working well right now. iPod Sudoku sounds like a good option too!
I have a question for everyone here: do you experience a lot of criticism against IF and against you for doing it? I have a colleague who is a self-proclaimed expert in food and fitness (btw, she’s not. She keeps fluctuating because she can’t stay away from chocolate) who keeps critiquing me and my other colleague for doing this. Any time I have a headache (which have actually lessened since I started IF), she tells me it’s because I’m doing IF and on my fast days she can’t shut up about it. I don’t really listen to her much, but I’m getting fed up with her always having to critique this without even ever properly having read up on IF, what it is and how it works. How do you guys deal with people like this? I’ve tried explaining IF to her, but she doesn’t listen and just rolls her eyes.
Hey Littlepenguin, I wouldn’t listen to people who criticise you for IF. It’s your choice and it doesn’t affect them. I wouldn’t talk about it, I hesitated to talk to my husband about it in detail. Be supports me with it and that’s great. Maybe your colleage is a bit jealous that you have this plan to lose weight and that you are actually going for it! Stay strong and don’t listen to these jealous people!! You go girl!
I agree with busymummynell, LittlePenguin. I wouldn’t talk to her about it and don’t listen if she criticises. Some people along the way may try to scupper your efforts and they should not be allowed to.
By the way, it just reminded me of a woman I used to work with who really didn’t seem to understand dieting. She was quite overweight. One day she said she was on a diet (this was mid-week and she had just started) as she was going on holiday and wanted to be a bit slimmer. When I asked her when her holiday was, she replied ‘Monday’. I guess you can’t beat that kind of optimism! One time she told me she was having those Weightwatchers ready meals as she was again trying to lose weight. I joined her at work one day for lunch and she had a slap up lunch of roast meat, roast potatoes, all the trimmings, etc so she had a big plateful. When I said ‘I thought you were having those Weightwatchers meals’, she replied ‘I am! I’ll have one tonight!”. I didn’t think that was how it worked 🙂
Anyway, fasting day for me today – so far so good!
Hi everyone i’m new to this and hoping to try the alternate days fasting, i’am 3 stone over weight only ever losing half a stone to gain again in my 20 years of trying now in my 40’s kids nearly left home I feel fat and want to feel slim and wear lovely clothes which im sure you all do too.
I have been asked for years by my kids father to marry him but so embarrassed as everyone around me is very slender, toned and have the beautiful pics to prove this when they got married well you understand, I want to start from today so any tips on ignoring the cravings and recipes would be greatly recieved.
p.s yes i would like to be a buddy :-))
Hi 3dressesdown, just wanted to wish you all the very, very best with the Fast Diet. I’ve followed this plan for over 2 years now and it has completely changed my life and my shape too. It has to be the easiest way to lose weight and improve your health EVER! (Trust me, I have tried every diet known to man/woman and nothing even comes close to this). I know this sounds weird but I now actually look forward to fasting days, (I fast on Mondays and Wednesdays), it’s like giving your body time to recover. Tips on hunger pangs – get some low cal cuppa soups – soup always fills you up, if you have a sweet tooth get some fresh or dried fruit instead and portion that up and whatever you do, make sure you take lots of low/no cal liquids. On fast days, work out whether you are better at cutting out breakfast entirely and taking all your calories in your evening meal (this may take time to work out – by trial and error, but you will get there) and always plan in advance what you’re going to eat on your fast day (try to keep low carb). Finally, get a photo of the dress you’re dreaming of for that very special day that you and your beloved are planning 🙂 stick it on the fridge and make that dream a reality. You can do it. Xx
Hi 3dresses and welcome:
Here are most of the tips you need: https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/the-basics-for-newbies-your-questions-answered/
There is a forum section with recipes (see way top of page ‘forum’.
Good Luck!
I am a newbie. I will start the diet on Monday as this weekend will not be a good idea. I think the Monday/Thursday thing will be good for me.I am so excited as I am going to England to visit my husbands family int October and want to surprise my mother in law with the healthier me! Yay all of us for doing this!
Hi 3dressesdown! Great to see you here! I think from all the diets I’ve done this is by far the easiest and healthiest. It might take a while to lose weight but if you really cut down on calorie intake and portion sizes (I had to get used to this and to not nibble inbetween meals) you’ll see results. Go for it! You’ll be slender and toned too! Good luck!
Hi clova63, I think it’s always easier to work on losing weight if you have something to work towards. You like 3dressesdown! Good luck!
Just had my breakfast after the second week of FD… Felt a bit week this morning.
Hi all, has been a while since my last visit. Had a big dip before the holidays even began as I got the news I am going to lose my job in a few weeks from now. I have eaten and drunk anything I liked. January 5th I got my grip back and started on an exercise programm with behavioural and eating directions, and that has helped me a lot. Allthough my weight wont go down just yet. Could be the change of eating, or just my stubborn body, but this week I have added two fastdays to speed things up a bit (allthough I am careful not to overdo it, as I have paid for 6 months, and I am determined to get that lean and mean body 🙂 )
Tomorrow my husband returns from his businesstrip (two weeks away) so I think we will be of for dinner. Will try to be sensible about it. I wish you all a good weekend!
Well hello again thank you for all the supportive messages pebbles2015, simcoeluv & busymummynell, how great to here advise and tips, I have since looked at recipes from link given what a helping hand thank you again so much.
Well I started today and decided to keep breakfast very low cal and my tea around 7pm as work late on some nights, had a cup of tea no milk or sugar yuck!! decided on flavoured herbal oooh much better but inbetween o gees i have craved something chronic and also after my tea I was so silly I reached for the toast and had two slices but said ok now stop and back to it tomorrow.
sorry to hear you felt weak today busymummynell I guess that happens to all of us in the transition stages body getting use to it how long have you been eating the fast way??
I do hope to follow in your foot steps pebbles2015 you have done so well, I have not chosen days I just thought try out different days for now see which fits better otherwise will be hard to stop this craving if dont figure out which days i cope best, how do you all stop the picking inbetween meals im a little sausage for doing this.
Had my weigh-in this morning, lost 2kg over the past 2 weeks. I really tried to stick to this system and seems to work.Even for me.
Hey 3dressesdown, I’m a lot better after my fast day. I think you’re right, the sudden lack of food got my head turning a bit. You know, when you start your FD, you want to be really convinced to lose those pounds and that makes you stop picking and grazing. I really want to lose these kilos I piled on over the years. My son said to me in the summer when I didn’t want to wear a swim suit: Mum, you’ve got to lose some calories those were his words). Oooooh, he was only 12 and just learned all about nutrition and digestion. So, there you go, he’s my motivation… 😉 You’ve got a lovely motivation, too, 3dressesdown! A wedding! My suggestion is, go from day to day and week to week. Don’t look at the amount of weight in total that you want to lose. That gets frustrating. Just a little step at the time, be happy about every pound you lose! Good luck!
Well done, busymummynell! I’ve lost 2kg in two weeks as well! So happy about it!
This week I decided to add a third fast day, which I did yesterday (Saturday). The reason was that Friday ended up being a bit richer on the food-side than intended. Usually fast days are pretty easy since I do them on work days, but yesterday was a bit harder since I was home the whole day. I think I went a bit over 500 kcals, but stayed below 600 at least. But comparing my weight today to Friday morning I’ve gone down again, which means the third fast day did work. I thought I’d be happy to just have stayed where I was on Friday morning, so the fact that I lost more weight during my third fast day was awesome! I think I may try to add a third day more often.
At the start my weight loss was slower (I don’t think I was carrying that much water weight, since I’d been eating fairly well before I started), but now I seem to have gotten going for real. Can’t wait to see where I’ll be a month from now!
Great to hear littlepenguin! I’ve had a sort of third fast day last week, too! It’s strange but I am actually looking forward to those fast days now. At first I wasn’t sure if I “survive” those fast days but it’s actually so much easier than I thought! I’ll go easy on the food tomorrow and have a fast day on Tuesday and Thursday. And if I feel like it, I could add Friday as a fast day. Will see!
Hi motherjoan, I put on a bit in the first week but now got the hang of calculating my calorie intake. You’ll get there too! Good luck and have a good week all!
Hi Motherjoan, well done on starting 5:2 even though you are doing extra. Can’t say why you have gained but from reading the posts it seems that having more to eat on the eat days you burn more. Most people have reported not feeling so hungry the day after fast day. Look at the top of the page and go into your tracker to see what your tdee is. That’s energy expended. You might need to input your height and weight. This will give you an idea of how many calories not to go over on eat days. Stay 200 calories below that and try and stay below 500 on fast days and you will lose weight.
Magic!
If I am terribly wrong loads of people on here will correct me, the blog is great.
Keep going.
Hello everyone, having spent the weekend reading the fast diet book I am amazed at the benefits this plan seems to hold, even beside weight loss! And so I am on my first fast day today….can I join in with the thread in order to get some support? Not feeling too bad at the moment, started to feel vaguely hungry so made myself a black tea which seems to have done the trick for now….
Hi, I have been doing this diet for about 3 weeks now – I lost 8 pounds my first week, and then it has been two a week since.
I bought a product called ‘skinny sprinkles’ which is an appetite suppressor – gets rid of the hunger pangs. It has really helped me. If you order from the Amazon people called ‘get gorgeous’ you get a free box when you leave a review.
Welcome, JennyP81!
I didn’t detox per se, but I’d already gone a few weeks with only eating sweet stuff once a week and cutting down drastically on bread, pasta and such.
It’s not at all necessary to do that before you start 5:2, but I think it helps the first fast day not be so bad, because it’s less of a shock to the system when your body suddenly isn’t getting all the bad grease and sugar it’s used to (of course I don’t know what your diet’s been like up until now, but that’s what mine was like last fall before I switched to healthier eating).
Perhaps try one of two days of leaving out sugar and including more veggies and fruit in your diet before you do a fast day?
Hi LittlePenguin yeah my diet hasnt been to bad I had stopped eating during meals I actually eat more at work than at home if you understand I am pretty active with my daughter and walking my dog but yeah its more the savoury that gets me I have never really dieted before so this is a first for me but its got to the stage where i feel uncomfortable so I need to change that
Hi Kgml27, I think we all try to stay around the TDEE, it’s not so easy to calculate calories, I find. So, sometimes I’m over sometimes I’m under that. It will even out over the the week. I find that after a fast day I actually don’t want to nibble and graze all day anymore. I think that’s already a result. Relax and don’t weigh yourself every day. Once a week is good, you won’t get too obsessed with losing weight!
Hello all!
Haven’t posted for a while but great to see everyone doing well and offering lots of great ideas too. Weight’s going down for me very, very slowly (and yo-yo-ing a bit by a pound or two), but bigger picture is a stone down over a couple of months.
Have been trying to stick to TDEE on weekdays Kgml, but weekend wine and Friday night chips are probably why the weight loss is slow for me!! Still, at least the trend’s downwards and the jeans are def looser.
good luck all!
Hey busymummynell!
I generally tend to skip breakfast on fast days. Then at lunch (around 12.30 pm) I have a hard boiled egg (eggs are great as they fill you up and have lots of protein in them) on top of this kind of rye cracker thing that we have here in Finland (I don’t know if there is anything like it where you are). One cracker only has 35 calories, so it’s excellent for this. With this I eat some fresh veggies like tomatoes, cucumber or peppers. This whole thing is around 150 calories.
In the afternoon I sometimes have a cappuccino with skimmed milk, which is around 35 calories (with the fat free/skimmed milk used here). I find that the steamed milk somehow fills me up very well. But be careful to make sure the milk is skimmed.
Then I wait until 6 pm to have dinner, which is usually some plain chicken that I toss in the frying pan with some cut up mushrooms and garlic (sometimes add some fresh red chilli) and I eat it with some fresh veggies again. This dinner tends to be around 200-250 calories.
This leaves room for another hard-boiled egg later in the evening (approx. 70 calories depending on the size) or something along those lines so that I’m not starving when it comes to bedtime.
There are, of course, many excellent recipes out there for fast day foods. Homemade low-cal soups are great since I do tend to get a bit cold on fast days. However, since I live alone I tend not to have the energy to bother with making any elaborate dishes.
I also make sure to drink loads of water during the day and several cups of green tea. The tea especially helps get rid of hunger pains quite well.
I hope this is of some help! 🙂
Thank you very much, littlePenguin! That’s great! I do drink green tea too and think it really does help with losing weight. Homemade soup is a good idea too. We are here in the French alps and it is freeeeeeezing cold this winter! So I am cold now. I’ll have a bit of a run around in the house and go for a walk later on. Just to keep busy. I find FD days in general not too bad but I have my family with growing kids that need good food… oooh, it can be soooo hard at times. I’ll try your chicken dinner tonight. Thank so much! Feeling better now.
hi, yes I need a diet buddy!!! in middle of day 2 of fasting, and very first week!! Why on earth do we diet in the cold?! Feeling better today than yesterday, but I have a lot to lose ….. I havent followed a diet or plan in years, I just eat what I fancy, when I fancy it!! My Husband can do this and lose weight very easily whilst mine only seems to increase – doesnt help that I sit a lot especially at work!! will need some more 500 – 600 cals suggestions for the fasting days which I will be doing every mon and tues (dont work these days so easier for me). Had scrambled egg, fruit and fish salad last night – not feeling too bad today, headache isnt so great, just gotta keep drinking plenty I think!
I have found out how I’ve been going wrong – my weight has not budged in two weeks! I had wrongly guessed the amount of calories I consumed on fast days. Never bothered with calories before. Now I know to check everything on fast days and be aware on the other days. Never had to worry before when I smoked but am determined to lose the weight I gained. Best of luck to everyone and don’t be hard on yourselves.
Hello every one. I’m new on here but have been doing this plan for the last 2 weeks, during which time I’ve lost 7lbs. I’m fasting on a Monday and Wednesday and, if we’re not doing anything, a Friday.
I have a porridge pot for breakfast at about 200 cals and then just have water all day until the evening when I have homemade veg soup ( again about 200 cals). I have bought a few of the recipe books so will be trying these out over the coming weeks. I haven’t had any headaches but I think that’s because of all the water I drink. I fill a 1.5L bottle the night before and pop it in the fridge and try and finish it during the day.
So far so good. I won’t say it’s been easy but I do look forward to my Fast days. If anyone wants a buddy then just yell
Hi little Penguin, I’ve tried your chicken dinner yesterday. It was really nice. I had it with loads of veg and garlic. For the rest of the family I had potatoes with it. I just have to explain to my daughter (10years) why I’m not eating the same as her and her brother and dad. I don’t want her to get the wrong end of the stick. I’m fasting today again. How’s your fast day so far?
Hi katsert12! Good to see you’re back! Don’t give up! I find it really hard to keep an eye on things during the holidays. So, I’m back fasting tomorrow, today, my first day back home, is getting used to slowing down with food… it’s hard…
Let’s stay in touch, we all need this support from time to time, it’s helping me definitely to go through tough times. Good luck katsert12! You know you can do it!!
Dragonfly, good to see you again too! I checked on this site a few times over the past 2 weeks and thought, it might have been closed down… felt a bit lonely…
Good luck with fasting!
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21 Jan 15