Day 5 Belfast FD.

Those extra pesky pounds seem to have taken hold, so I need this FD and a couple more to despatch that undaunted weight.
I watched a great documentary last night on Yellowstone. That’s definitely on my to do list!

@happymargo -DrM’s initial fitness test was The chair test (strength) How long does it take you to get up and sit down from a hard chair 10 times? The ideal time for women under 35 is 12 seconds or under, 15 seconds for women 35-55, And 19 seconds for over 55. For the HIIT 3 times a week. A gentle jog to warm up, 1min star jumps, short recovery, 1 min squats and then 1min fast running on the spot, then repeat the squats and star jumps. It’s tough!
@rainbowsmile. I used to do spin and body pump but I don’t belong to a gym now. I have a spin bike in my spare room which has been unused for many months now. Must get it going again! Feel better soon. Xo
@mjrbcd44 – we’re very lucky here – while our scenery wouldn’t be as spectacular as some in the USA we have an easily accessible coastline, mountains (although not very tall ones) lakes and forests all within easy each. And of course, Ireland is so green. (Although it rains a lot🌧) and yes, pup is growing quite big and bold! She makes me laugh a lot and I don’t know how I did without her! We have a shallow pond in our garden. This morning there was a thick frost and it was frozen over. Normally she doesn’t like to get her paws wet, but skated across the ice with legs akimbo! The startled look on her face when the ice cracked was something to behold! The frogs have started arriving (we usually wake around the 14th Feb to the pond covered on spawn. The water is usually heaving with frogs. Can’t wait to see her face then.
@annemarilyn you were very astute to pick that up. @metatauta – I totally echo Anne Marilyn’s comments about support. That’s what we’re here for. I hope you manage to sort it out amicably.
@hesterjane. I agree with @CornishJane about alcohol sabotaging the week’s good work. I do Dry till Fri and try to only drink one day at the weekend. I still play catch-up a bit at the beginning of a new week.
@mari84 what a pity you can’t spend a little ‘me’ time when you go to Brazil to enjoy your travels. How exciting!
@missybear did I miss your birthday.? Hope you have a wonderful day!
@flourbaby I echo your enjoyment of this international forum. I love hearing about different customs, events and scenery. What amazes me is the quality of written English from people whose first language is obviously not our mother tongue. Puts us Brits to shame!

Remember: if you don’t change your mind, you won’t change your body.

Day 5……Florida….. FD

Well……I’m trying for an FD, but will see where the day takes me!
Yesterday, I got a majority of my work done but woke up this to my body screaming at me. How dare you?!? What the hell were you thinking!!!
All in all, the majority of my stuff got finished……

Food wise, that definitely could have been better!

Short and sweet this morning!

I talk a lot of smack for someone who tips over while trying to put on their underwear!

Day 5 USA Wisconsin FD

Weight up almost a pound this morning but not unexpected, and since I choose to weigh daily, I have to accept fluctuations without panic.

Happy to have a simple FD today with no worries about food choices. Activity will be leading three classes (water aerobics and 2 chair yoga classes) and 5 miles on the bike at the gym.

No outdoor activities for me today except driving to the gym – temperature now just after 6 am is -6F (-21C). Kind of hard to put on a swimming suit this morning, but the pool I teach in is heated, which will be bliss :).

Good luck everyone, fasters and non-fasters alike. Take care, Markie

Day 5 – Iceland – FD

@beddardo – the puy lentil recipe is in Plenty More (2014) and the flatbread I found online here: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/feb/27/flatbread-recipes-lavash-msamen-crispbread-yotam-ottolenghi – thank you for the Anna Jones recommendation, her website is beautiful!

Day 5 FD Stevensville Maryland USA Back to the start of a new work week, I find it so much easier to fast at work where I can stay busy. Goal this week is to stay off the scale until Friday and lose 1 lb.

You must make a choice to take a chance or your life will never change Good Luck Everyone and have a great day

Day 5 – USA – NFD

Great, thank you @borealis I’ve got that book so will have a look later

Day 5 – SW WA USA – FD

Yes, ready for a FD along with many of you. Will enjoy coffee with some cream, lots of water, some herbal tea, and then some homemade chicken soup for supper.

Have a great day!

Together we are stronger!

Day 1 (!!) fast day I have been doing this for 15 hours hahahahaha! Planning to fast on Mondays and Thursdays. I was petrified I would be starving and start eating my children but as it stands I’m feeling okay. Just had a cup a soup, a satsuma and apple and feel surprisingly sated. I will be eating dinner with my little boy tonight. Sausages and roast vegetables. I’ll need to see how much I can eat out of my allowance.

Day 5 Newcastle UK FD 🇬🇧.
Busy morning at work first chance to look at the posts.
– 7 tomorrow extremely cold and possibly a lot of heavy snow, just what you need when you drive for a living.
This week will be by the book 8 16 fasting all week with two 600 calorie fast days within the week. Plenty of exercise and only eating at main meal times.

Day 5 North Wales FD.

Day 5 – Colorado USA – FD

@hesterjane – I agree with @cornish-jane advice re: alcohol. There have been smaller pocket groups in the past on this forum that form a pact to do a dry month at a time. The added support is helpful. Haven’t seen one for February yet. But feel free to add that into your daily check-ins.

Going completely alcohol-free is not required for 5:2 success. Although I would not recommend using up any of your 500 calories on FD on alcohol. Wait for NFD to imbibe.
I am still making good progress with my intermittent fasting & drinking 🍷🍷. Never on FD though.

I prefer DRY ‘TIL FRI. For me that entails no alcohol till Friday (& Saturday.). Even then, I only enjoy a maximum of 2 glasses red wine OR 2 spiked-seltzers. Any more and I suffer thru a headache the next morning.
And @hesterjane I do keep in mind that alcohol can loosen up my brain to making poor food choices, so if I enjoy a glass of wine I must be extra diligent to not start snacking on garbage or poking into the Sugar Dragon’s den!!

@daffodil2010 – I do the same as you: official weigh-in on Friday morning (but am in the habit of stepping on the scale every morning for accountability.)
By Monday, after my NFD weekend which includes breakfasts out, Date Night & wine, my weight is always (temporarily) up. Monday thru Thursday I employ a mixture 16:8, OMAD & Fasting, so the weekend indulgences hit the bricks!

@debster251 – thanks for info! I’m going to test myself on the chair, plus attempt HIIT today. Afterwards if I’m not too much of a limp noodle, I’ll report results.

@mari84 – hope your trip isn’t so hectic that you can’t slip in a little “visiting a new country “ enjoyment.

@xrox – Yes, do keep calm & hit the RESET button! That’s what it’s there for! No guilt re: the weekend. Just live, learn and reset yourself in this new week!

hesterjane, I am right there with you. If I even so much as look at a glass of beer, I put on weight! I prefer wine, but I can’t drink it and lose weight. I seem to have the same problem with bread, so all those things have been banned until I get where I want to be. I have been very good with this but long for the day when I can have a glass a wine again! It’s a good thing I don’t have any up and coming celebrations! 🙂

marib: I hope you enjoy Brazil. My DIL is from Brazil and she and my son own a home there. I have yet to go but would like to one of these days!
mjrbc44: Yes, Ireland certainly is green! My father is from Cork, Ireland, and I remember the first time flying into Shannon seeing how green the land is! I could hardly believe it! Beautiful!

@happymargo what is OMAD? Sorry if this seems obvious, but I’m sat here scratching my head 🙂

leggit: Good luck with your FD today!

Day 5 UK FD

Yesterday was not a good day, even tho a feast day. I had a bag of sugary sweets as a !reward” for getting through difficult stuff and awoke the snack dragon. I hadnt planned what to eat at all, got really tired and simply ate a half the oat/seed bread I’d baked on Saturday, with cheese. Overtired, carb craving, sugar craving – thankfully there wasn’t any sugary stuff in the house or it would have gone in an instant.

Woke with a headache (sugar hangover?) amazingly only up 0.5kg but feeling really rough and puffed up. I need sleep and stretching, and all the good things that hold me up. Luckily i’ve planned my FD food and it’s defrosting in the fridge so i should be able to keep going til supper time.

I really appreciate the focus of these challenge threads to keep in touch with our progress and insights. There are lots of us this month & it’s great to be able to read everyone’s check-ins and contributions. I’d love to be able to keep up but the volume of posts it’s getting challenging already.

Is it possible to follow the pattern of each (usually) posting once a day with a clear header of day (the date in our time zone), location & FD/NFD/CD then sharing our experience, ideas, messages etc?

Day 5 USA (UT visiting) NFD

Did quite well yesterday despite Super Bowl party grazing — yeah for the Eagles! This cold virus has been pretty well sapping my appetite as well, so that’s okay.

Going to get to the spreadsheet and update some info —

Onward and downward.

Day 5 FD Oregon USA

@Debster251–thanks for that wonderful puppy story. I could see her startled face with you!
I think Northern Ireland and Oregon are very similar in climate. It is very green here as well with lots of rain but you are definitely closer to the beach than I am. It’s about 75 minutes to drive to.

Had a fun day yesterday. Not even a thought towards TDEE.😊
Was actually a really good game and Justin Timberlake’s half time show was unparalleled (IMHO). Then a brilliant TV show here “This is Us”.

I am ready to fast today…and hoping for a good week with good results on Friday!

I have lost my quote mojo. So for now–Have a great day everyone!

mjrbc44: I’ve only been to Oregon once. My son got married there! The one thing that struck me was that while we were driving to the shore, I was overwhelmed by how many trees Oregon has. I was so overwhelming, it made me dizzy! It was so beautiful! The wedding was on the beach. Beaches there are much different than I’ve seen in other places, much more rugged. I understand why the Coast Guard uses the ocean there to train its people. Every morning 4 whales came out to see us! Adorable! Needless to say, it was a beautiful wedding and a great place to have it!

Thanks @ccco, best of luck to you too. I am going to try the 36 hour one too. Off to have dinner with my son now. Watching him eat pasta and sausages while I eat roast vegetables will probably be torture arghh!

@beddardo – OMAD stands for one meal a day. It’s just a different form of intermittent fasting.

Usually on those OMAD days, I fill up with calorie-free drinks like plain tea, black coffee or fizzy water until dinner time. Then OH & I get to sit down to an evening meal together.

Another way people describe this is 23:1. That means 23 hours fasting, with a one hour eating window.

If I keep that OMAD to just 500 calories, then I count it as one of my FD for Mosley’s 5:2 plan. So aim for 2 days each week eating just dinner at night & keeping it to 500 calories. Boom! 💥Fast Day!

Hope that helps explain it. There are many variations of intermittent fasting. It’s flexible & can be freely fit into an lifestyle.

An excellent book for more information if interested: Dr Jason Fung’s “Complete Guide To Fasting.” (His book “The Obesity Guide” is also a good read)

Day 5, Surrey (UK), FD

Really struggling today with this cold weather outside, brrrrrr! Even though the heating is on and I’m wearing countless layers, I’m not coping too well. Had to slay the dragon with a hot Bovril with added chilli flakes!

Was 2lb heavier this morning after an indulgent weekend away, so the FD is timely if tough to do today. It’s so difficult when hubby books a B&B with the full English thrown in! Still, I compensated by skipping lunch. Pity I can’t say the same about the cheesecake pud at dinner time! I realise this WOE allows for the odd slip and slide, and the key thing is to get back on track ASAP. I guess I’m learning, slowly, to be an imperfectionist!

Day 5 – Fife, Scotland – FD

Today has gone alright but will see how the scales are looking in the morning after an indulgent weekend.
I’m planning to try a 16:8 day tomorrow after reading about it on here.
Could be a tough gig as I don’t plan to eat until 12 noon, maybe 11am earliest depending on how I am feeling.
I already have my daytime food intake prepared for tomorrow so it’s just a case of getting up in the morning and picking everything up to leave for work.
I just know that if I had to prep stuff in the morning I would end up eating.

Feeling positive thanks to the enormous amounts of support on this forum!!

Rodger

Day 4 – Scotland- FD
Day 5 -Scotland – NFD and way too much chocolate!