Post #3 – I am proud of my daughter, but mostly because the odds were against her and she worked really hard for it. She has been getting early and studying until bed time for many weeks. There were cram school classes and even tutoring. She practiced interview questions enough to drive us crazy. Even after the test last week she didn’t feel she did well enough and started working hard for the 2nd choice. The way she got in was actually more competitive because it was an early testing and more students try that so that they have a 2nd chance. However now she will be in a very serious high school and will have to really work.

In Japan high school isn’t required and almost every high school has some kind of entrance exam. (Except maybe for some pretty expensive private schools.) So there are typically about 3 chances to get in somewhere. If you don’t get in you don’t get a high school education. (There are private trade schools.) High schools are ranked by where students get accepted to college. Todai is the top university in Japan and the school she is in has the most students from a public school making in every year, typically around 50 students per year. Other schools and top international schools like Harvard or MIT also help school rankings. Her school is beat only by a few single gender private schools. Those schools mostly start from what is basically 7th grade. However she wasn’t ready for that then. She did try one easy school then and failed. I think that was a strong wake up call to her and she has steadily improved over the last three years.

Sorry so much … not about fasting!

I have fasted until supper but we are going to have a party supper for her. Tomorrow I’ll skip breakfast and we will go out for a nice brunch. Seems like most of our celebrations center around eating!

Day 1 Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 NFD

Hi everyone and big thanks again to @at for starting off February.

I began Dr M’s Blood Sugar Diet in July 2017 doing 2 FDs a week of 800 calories, eating Mediterranean style food (no processed carbs, healthy full fat foods, lots of veg) everyday with a TRE of 14:10. By May 2018 I had reached my goal having lost 30 lbs and since then I have maintained by continuing with 5:2. Having just read Dr M’s Fast 800 this is basically the eating plan I have enjoyed and succeeded with so I highly recommend it and wish success to those starting on the plan this month. Oh and for those of a certain age who think its hard to shift fat as we age…..when you find the right eating and movement plan for you it’s both easy and enjoyable…….I am 60 in a few days and I am at my lowest weight in adult memory and feel fitter than I did 20 years ago!

This will be a celebration month for me and as @dykask points out above celebrating so often involves food and drink, so staying within maintenance range is going to be a challenge this month……but I WILL do it!!

@dykask you must be so proud, give my congratulations to your daughter.

Keep on keeping on everyone, we’ re worth it 🙂

Day 1 Belfast NFD (I love a fresh start)

It’s good to see so many familiar faces. This is really a big international family. A big welcome to anyone starting out (or re-starting their journey). This is the place to be for motivation and support.

A bit about me; I’m a 64yo retired primary school teacher who lives a busy life dog walking, doing Pilates, yoga, swimming, painting and volunteering. I have a BMI of 24 (I Iost 2stone) and was in maintenance, however I seem to be holding onto a couple of stubborn Christmas lbs, so that is a priority. Also, my waist is 33” which is half my height, but for my taste is too large in comparison to the rest of my body so while I don’t care really what the scales say, I should like to see the tape measure by kinder.
So…

Goals:
Dry till Fri and no sugar.
Keep up the exercise
Reduce and keep my weight within my acceptable range.

@dykask many congratulations to your lovely daughter and what a great moment for her proud parents.😀

Today I’m going to be better than I was yesterday.

Day 1 Ireland NFD

I am a stay at home mum who finds it hard to stop snacking!!

I have lost some weight previously on 5:2, but since last summer I have struggled to stick to it longer term.
Currently weigh 10 stones 2 and feel happier around 9.5 so that is my overall goal to get back to that.

Hoping to fast Mondays and Thursdays, usually just drink lots of hot drinks to get through FDs.

Day 1 USA (Illinois) – NFD

Greetings to all of you on this journey! It’s wonderful to begin another month with @at – marvelous group here. This is such a supportive community.

I’m a 70 year-young active retired school music teacher. I began 5:2 in March 2016, joined @coda in May on her first challenge, and I’ve made every one since then. I lost 35 pounds by the end of 2016 and have been on maintenance since then. I credit this group (and my stubborn self) for that. Content to be at 160 pounds (72.5 kg) so no more wrinkles rear their ugly heads. That’s my maintenance, +/- 3 pounds.

I spend my retirement in lots of activities: direct a townspeople choir, church musician, private piano lessons, children’s museum organizer, travel to family (4 grown children, 5 granddaughters).

I look forward to getting to know the newbies and keeping up with us “oldies” on this board.

Onward and downward.

USA Day 1 FD (800 cals.; 16:8)

Just dropping in to add myself to the pocket list:

@snowflake56
@elektron 800 cal
@dingping
@ccco

Congratulations, dykask! What a wonderful achievement for her! Hope you all have a lovely celebratory dinner!

Day 1 – NC, USA – NFD

Hello everyone! And welcome to all the new challengers!

I love a new start! Thank you @at for taking such good care of all of us and for taking on the February challenge. These forums and spreadsheet are so instrumental in keeping up the motivation, I just love them (even if I fall off the face of the internet earth from time to time)

I’m a 51 yr old web designer/marketing person and a mother of 2 (although 1 is fully grown and off on his own). I started this WOL last March because my brother who is a surgeon mentioned he felt this was legitimately healthy both from a weight loss perspective but also from a long term health perspective. Being the nerd that I am, I love to research articles/interviews about fasting from the medical community and have come to believe giving my body a break regularly is beneficial regardless of what the scale says. Thankfully, the scale also moved in the right direction and I have lost 20 lbs since I started.

I’m now 5 lbs from maintenance and going down painfully slow with 3 lbs up and down swings between FDs and NFDs. It messes with my head so much to be honest that I have had to install an app on my phone to help me see the forest for the trees and smooth out these wild swings (Happy Scale). It smoothes out the ups and down to give me my weighted moving average so I can stay positive and stop getting hung up on the high rebounds after I start eating again. My goal for February is to keep moving downward on my “high days” and end up 1 lbs lighter in my weighted moving average at the end of the month.

On NFDs I mostly follow a mediterranean diet of lots of veggies, healthy fats, moderate protein and I stay at my TDEE of 1400 cals. (I tried not counting calories but it’s too easy for me to overeat if I don’t keep track of everything that goes in my mouth). My plan this month is to keep on pluggin along no matter how slow the progress.

Looking forward to a great month!

2nd post

Finally caught up with all the posts.

Love reading all the inspiring success stories on this board! Think about how much weight we have lost collectively over the past couple of years… it’s phenomenal!

@snowflake56 Thank you so much for the refresher on all the abbreviations 🙂

Love your success story @judyjudes and your resolve yesterday! I would love to hear what you find out about leptin and gherlin. I never wake up hungry either which has made we wonder if I should try a longer fast like 48 or 72 hours just to see if I can.

Enjoy your trip to France @jaifaim! Going home for me is usually 5lbs of pure bliss, and I can’t bring myself to regret a single morsel :p Thank goodness this WOL is a long term thing and I can jump right back on the wagon after a holiday!!!

@dykask Congratulations to your daughter! So much to be proud of! Her determination and hard work is truly wonderful.

Have a fabulous weekend everyone!

Day 1 FD syracuse USA

Continuing on an 800cal fast day. Just going to keep plugging along here. I’ve noticed my mood has been great though and I’ve been sleeping much better. Better than I have in a long time. I reached My January goal this morning so I’m counting it. Think I’d like to lose 5lbs in February too.

2nd post

@basyjames I’m missing the hilarious posts from @flourbaby – so flourbaby if you’re reading but not posting hope you are well…..come back to us soon 🤗

2nd post –

Pocket list Day 1, if you want to join us, please copy and paste the list and add your name to it.
@snowflake56
@elektron 800 cal
@dingping
@annemarilyn – 42 hour
@lorky35

I posted w/o seeing your post @lorky35 so added you to the list.

@basyjames – I enjoy scones and pancakes too. Have you tried scones or pancakes that use almond and/or coconut flour? I’ve come across some recipes that are pretty tasty. In fact your post makes me want to look up the scone one I like to break my fast tomorrow noonish.

Day 2, Wellington NZ, FD800

Good morning everyone – have enjoyed reading all the wonderful inspiring stories this morning – then realised I hadn’t written about me. Here’s a short version.

I’m a 62 year old retired woman who, like many others, has tried every diet known to humanity. I seem to have been on a diet since I was about 16, and looking back, at that age unnecessarily so. I am 170 cms, 5’7” and started 5:2 maybe 3 years at the weight I am now 77kg, (though my weird scales made me gain 3 kg overnight – I’m ignoring them and buying new ones today!) wanting to get to 68kg. I’ve actually revised by target to a maintenance range of 70 – 72kg.

I was an early contributor to these challenge forums when @coda began them, and even hosted a month or two. This forum is, I believe, the secret to success. I lost my weight but when I stopped posting and reading and keeping in touch, the weight crept back with more to a top of 81.7kg when I joined all you lovely people again last month.

So inspiring ones, let’s keep sharing and encouraging each other – look at @dykask‘s daughter – for a great model of if you work hard you get success.

Pocket list
@snowflake56
@elektron 800 cal
@dingping
@annemarilyn – 42 hour
@lorky35
@ccco
@chipmunk13 800 cal

Quick question: What is TRE?

@anna6 — looks like I am also doing a CFD today cuz I got too busy to eat!

Day 1, London, UK, FD

Wow, I thought I was squeaking under the Day 1 wire here ………………………… clearly not in your case @chipmunk13!!!!

Well, I’m still here, just about!!! I went AWOL for the latter part of January, I was searching for my mojo!!! Although still reading posts, I really didn’t think I had much to offer!! Sorry @at I dropped the ‘sharing experience’ ball!!! @basyjames & @missybear, the doom & gloom nature of my thoughts towards the end of January prevented me from posting (stupid really, ‘cause that was when I really needed the support, Doh!!) ………………………… can you imagine!!!!!!!

I became a little despondent with the lack of progress considering the fasting was going well, January was Dry and I even threw a WFD in for good luck………………………. Alas, the expected loss didn’t happen and in fact, I started to regain the Xmas ‘timber’ I lost in the 1st week of the challenge!!!!

Anyway, I’m here, I’m in & I’m planning to follow the Fast800 for a good couple of weeks, since the NFDs have been proving soooooo difficult to do mindfully.

I’ve planned a couple of ‘days off’ as my B’day dinner will be on 22nd and I’ll probably celebrate on the day (24th) with a couple of drinks with the family. Other than that, I’m going to shake things up with the 800cal days.

Welcome newbies, you’ll find ALL of the answers here!!!! @at thank-you for Januarys’ hosting which you’re spectacularly continuing throughout February!!!!!

A little about myself, for the newbies, mid 40’s civil engineer (Although now I work a part time 3-day week as a planner), been 5:2-ing since Nov ’16, eradicated 35lbs of fat (we won’t mention that that number was 41lbs at one point!!!), I have an obsession, addiction, love, lust, whatever, for ANYTHING made from flour …………………………bread, cake, steamed puddings, biscuits, cake, crackers, pasta, dumplings, cake, cake, cake, etc!!! Of course the accompanying butter, cheese, custard, cream or sauces are just bonuses and the red wine addiction is another story for another day!!!! So today, 35lbs & 3 (3 ½ if I breath in) dress sizes down, sleeping better, eating better, feeling less anxious, less stressed, excited about exercise (!!) and being pro-active about my future health …………… what’s not to love about this WOL????

Keep the faith people, there really isn’t any other option, I know, I tried them all & got fatter!!!!!!

“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope & confidence.” – Helen Keller

Day 1 Ohio, US — MFD(#10)

A good MFD. Got my a good yoga practice in before going to work, even though I had to leave for work early. We got four inches of snow overnight and nothing was ploughed when I had to drive to work. The temperature was a warm -5 F (-20 C) and fortunately snow is easier to drive on than is ice. The going was slow but sure.

@ab 805 Back at the beginning of the November challenge Basyjames posted the following dictionary of acronyms that people use on this forum. Hope this helps!
Rainbow smile created a dictionary of sorts to help with some of the acronyms we use in this forum:
IF Intermittent Fasting
WOL Way of Life
FD Fast Day (500 cals)
MFD Modified Fast Day (800 cals)
WFD Water Fast Day (Water only)
CFD Controlled Fast Day (1200 cals)
NFD Non Fast Day
LFD Liquid Fast Day (liquids only)
5:2 5 days NFD:2 days IF
ADF Alternate Day Fast, FD, NFD
DAFD: Day after fast day
16:8 16 hours fast 8 hours non fast
20:4 Warrior 20 hours fast 4 hours window
B2B Back 2 Back (days of FD or WFD)
OMD One Meal a Day usually 23:1 Or 20:4
Feast Day: planned day of eating over TREE
Refeed follow WFD B2B gradual increase in food
DD, DS, DH Darling Daughter,Son, Husband
OH, Other Half
LOL Laughing Out Loud
EFS Epic Face Stuffing
Tortoise Club: (or Club Tor-Twah) for those looking weight very very slowly
Pocket List: put in your pocket list for support
Challenge: gauntlet thrown down for food or exercise
Cruella: those pesky scales
MFP: My Fitness Pal (app)
Fitbit: recording for exercise wrist band
Keto, way of eating that generates Ketones
LC, Low Carb way of eating
LCHF, Low Carb High Fat way of eating
TDEE: Total Daily Energy Expenditure

Have a great weekend everyone!

@mogaman – @at put it at the bottom of her beginning post for this month’s challenge..

Day 2 Melb Aust NFD
Day 1, FD800

Great to meet up with so many diverse and interesting folk! I’ve just completed 4 days B2B2B2B2B of FD800, and very pleased to see that wretched plateau has finally yielded. I was even 0.5 kg lighter on the scales this morning compared with yesterday. Such a relief. When “dieting”, I always seem to get stuck around 82 kg, and often give up after a few weeks. Was determined not to this time. So, I’m hoping to persevere with F800, like @redrockgirl302, @basyjames and @flourbaby, though I’ve a lot more to lose than any of them. Well done (said with an envious sigh! 🙂 ) to those who are already at maintenance. Keep strong!

@judyjudes – you’re slowly losing, but… you are losing, so well done.

@gretta, enjoy the honeymoon. This WOL will still be here when you’re back

@dykask, congrats to your daughter on her getting into the top Japanese high school. That’s a wonderful achievement.

@snowflake56, thanks for all the abbreviations, and @matpi, too. Should we add another one, F800, as a FD at 800 cals???

Day 2 Herefordshire UK FD
Oh dear not the best start, woke within a few hours of sleep and couldn’t get back to sleep, succumbed to left over pudding and cup of tea at 4am! Busy day here so hope I have the energy to get through, determined to keep to my planned FD today, @snowflake56 are you in?
Must go have a cat insisting I get up!

Pocket List Day 2
@dingping

Wishing everyone some joy and happiness.
Ta x

2nd post

@dingping my BIL found something great (we think) on youtube, we just love it, great music when painting or doing housework, it gives me so much energy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkM71JPHfjk

Day 2. UK. Fast800

Woke to a lovely crisp coating of light snow. Everything looks pretty and chocolate boxey. Although I’m sorry for all those it’s causing disruption to. Some people have become stranded but luckily local amenities have provided shelter and refreshments.

Closed my belly yesterday at 799 cals @ 18:00hrs. Had disturbed sleep and I think it’s because of eating too low carb yesterday. So tonight I will be having rice with my evening meal in a Biryani.

On weighing this morning I expected a slight rise as I tend to up down and up down whilst making slow progress. Pleased to say I am down .6lbs. According to my app thats the twelveth consecutive weight reduction. Never ever had such a positive run.

It’s great reading about everyone’s journeys so far.

Wishing everyone a great weekend.

Peace and love.

Day 2. NFD. I’m away. Again

I agree about what happens when you retire from teaching. I really miss the kids, my colleagues, the weft and warp of working alongside people you like and respect. I really don’t miss the constant hassle and paperwork which had little to do with teaching children and lots to do with ticking ridiculous boxes for the benefit of bean counters. I wonder if that will ever change.
Anyway, you can’t have it all. Sadly!
Have a good day all. H

Day 2 NFD
just read through all the fantastic posts! Then realised I’m supposed to post too! @debster251 I will be watching the rugby this evening too. Falling off the wagon is inevitable but I refuse to beat myself up over it…I shall be back on the wagon tomorrow. I’ve been out this morning walking the dogs. The snow was beautiful and the fresh air a real tonic but my thoughts are with everyone who is struggling with extreme conditions. Hope you’re all safe and well. @dingping and @snowflake56 good on you for your decorating skills. I’m ashamed to say I have a decorator who does it for me. I can’t paint for toffee so tend to use him when everything looks a little drab. @dykask I have found that my OH and I tend to eat only one meal these days. We just don’t feel hungry and we agreed to stop eating just for the sake of it. Hopefully that will help us control the calories a little.
Anyway lots of chores to be getting on with. Good luck everyone and enjoy the weekend 😍

Day 2: Gloucestershire, UK: NFD.
Beautiful, sunny, crisp day today with yesterday’s snow on the ground (set hard by last night’s frost). Enjoyed a nice dog-walk in the park….cleared the cobwebs!

Thanks @annemarilyn for RTE….of course, I realised soon after I asked restricted time eating! Also, congratulations on your new waist-size. Losing 8.5 inches is impressive.

@ab-805: Pocket list: the list of people fasting that day….put it in your pocket for motivation and support.

Have a good day everyone.

Day 2, London, UK, FD

I’m feeling a lot more positive this month, starting anew always has that effect!!!! Another month, another opportunity to eradicate some fat!!!

@dykask, congratulations to your daughter, it’s certainly an achievement!!! I’ve been meaning to ask …………………….. is your wife on board with your fasting yet, she must see your improvements both physically & mentally?

@debster251, well done on the sugar and booze swerving in January…………………… I did the same for the 1st 3 weeks but managed to throw my mojo away for the last week after less than stellar results, even though I KNOW there’s a delayed reaction where my numbers are concerned …………………………. E.g. 3lb whoosh on the final day of January after a week of eating crap!!!! I can’t keep reminding myself so I must have this tattooed on my forehead ……………………………….. ‘PATIENCE GRASSHOPPER’!!!!!!

Going for 800cals today, it still feels a bit decadent after basic 500cal 5:2 for such a long time, I suppose once I get to maintenance (when, Oh when????) my experience will serve me well………………………. It better!!!!!!!

Stay strong everyone & think HEALTH!!!