Thanks Thin. I even did the ‘have a shower and another wee’ trick which seems to work for some of you and again was left disappointed. It just doesn’t work for me. I was good this morning and had two very small squares of a quiche thing for breakfast – no cakes or biscuits and didn’t have chips with my steak sandwich for lunch. I did have a cheesecake however but no hot chocolate. So it’s all about balance and living life.

Have a wonderful holiday. Safe travels and I look forward to hearing from you when you get back home.

EA
xxxx

I have had an early weigh in due to fast days being messed around (another 1kg gone). I had an extended fast due to a power blackout in the afternoon. The substation caught alight due to dust on the transformer. It happens a few times a year. I could not cook. I am getting plenty of salad leaves out of the vegetable garden. The lizards are helping themselves to the strawberries. The rest of the summer garden is coming along nicely should be picking within the next month. Late in getting it in. With the extreme temperatures I have had a lot of parrots and other birds coming right up to the house trying to keep cool. There was a little bit of rain this afternoon but not enough to measure. Over the next two weeks it will probably go back on due to birthdays and our family Christmas on the first weekend of December. It is good to know that I can enjoy these celebrations and then go back to my new normal eating.

Hi Simcoeluv, thanks for your reply and info,

My POW relative is 98 still going relatively strong. He’s one of the very few left and still has some amazing physical aspects that I’m sure helped his survival e.g. When he has skin cancers taken off he heals in 1/2 the usual time. He can’t emotionally handle being more than a couple of kgs overweight though. He possibly has a bit of body dysmorphia. He certainly thinks that couple of kgs is way overweight. His favourite food is a bowl of plain rice, and he’d probably live on plain rice if his wife hadn’t insisted on some nutritional sense. Rational explanations for the monstrous treatment of others is unbelievable to many of us. I found the book People Of The Lie, by M Scott Peck interesting along that train of thought.

OK, the rest of you can tune out for a little while 🙂

Mitochondrial encaphalomyopathy is closest to what I have, but without the strokes. Mine is not inherited though, which is why it’s still supposition. Without putting my cells under an electron microscope it’s debatable, but because knowing the actuality wouldn’t add anything to any possible recovery of the dysfunction, it’s not worth the $ cost to me. It’s been offered but I declined. I had an unknown rare-ish virus 17 yrs ago. I had slight symptoms for 3 days, slight sore throat, slight runny nose, went to bed on a Sunday night my usual hyperactive self (ADHD), woke up the next morning, couldn’t lift my leg more than 3″, with almost no energy and hypothalamic dysfunction – specifically no circadian rhythm, damaged language, memory damage of short and long term, maths and even basic arithmetic gone, inability to concentrate, make decisions, inability to tolerate temperature extremes, and difficulty in cooling down if I heat up, and a few other weird things in different sorts of functioning e.g. My sense of smell reduced, and my breathing is different, very shallow, weird stabbing pains occasionally, migraines, gut changes, orthostatic intolerance, tachycardia etc etc…. I spent most of the next 2 yrs in bed drifting in and out of sleep. First 6 months I cleaned myself with a washer, and had just enough energy to clean my teeth once a day.. Originally I was diagnosed with a severe post viral syndrome, later altered to Myalgic Encephalomyopathy ( also called Chronic Fatigue Syndrome). In UK and Sweden this is still considered a psychiatric/somatic illness because they confuse it with Chronic Fatigue, and the term CFS is pathetically inadequate, so the International Consensus Information document for medical practitioners is recommending it now be called ME exclusively. Just saying, in case you’re in UK. Anyway, ME sufferers either get very thin or put on weight (me). Research is still in it’s infancy, and ATP has been one of the subjects being researched.

I am extremely fortunate to be 1 of the rare people who can take something that boosts my energy production – Co EnzymQ10. I take large doses/day, 400 mgs lasts 4 hrs. The Professor of Infectious Diseases I’m under says out of several hundred, I’m the only one with ADHD and also the only one who who reacts to CoQ10. I found this effect almost by accident and 30 min after the 1st dose I was able to get up, shower and wash my hair. It’s given me back a somewhat normal life. I’m incredibly grateful, and I wish it worked for everybody. ME sufferers are roughly in 4 different groups, 1 of those being suspected mitochondrial dysfunction (not m. damage), the group my symptoms conform with. Since I started on CoQ10 15 yrs ago, I’ve been continuously rehabilitating various things. (Can’t be bothered relearning calculus and stats though. At 65, I just don’t find them a necessity :-)).

As far as weight loss goes I lost 10 kgs in 6 yrs along the way, then ran out of slowly exploring things to change. I was literally praying for something to help get my weight back to normal to up my health, and it was just about the last thing I could do. I started hearing about 5:2, OH saw the doco, and 2 days later we started. I’m used to being out in experimental territory on my own, can’t concentrate as easily on research papers as easily as I used to, and didn’t know if 5:2 FDs were tolerable. I, along with many others with ME, had an increased need for animal protein, and needed to eat something every 2 hrs or get hypo-like symptoms, and jelly babies etc, sugar based, made no difference. If I crashed (energy crash) unexpectedly when out the mix of chemicals in dark chocolate was the only thing that got me out of it in a reasonable time. Surprisingly, and amazingly, I tolerate 5:2 in it’s original form, very well. The 2 hr food or a hypo thing has disappeared. I.e. It disappears in the time I am fasting. As soon as I eat, on any day, it can come back but in very much reduced form, and mostly if I’m very tired. I think that’s also why 16:8 on NFDs works for me so well. I’ve lost 16 kgs on 5:2, 5.5kg to go, and with the previous 10kg loss that will be 31.5kgs in total, or 69lbs Imperial. I think 5:2 is about the only thing I could healthily do to get back to my normal weight. It feels like Christmas every single day.

Last comment : on the concept of ‘starvation mode’ as applied to dieting. Maybe 20-25 yrs ago I remember it being touted as the reason long term yoyo dieters seemed to be able to put on weight easier with smaller amounts of food, and when on the daily reduced calorie version of diets didn’t seem to loose as much weight. Can’t remember if it was scientifically postulated, came from a pop book, or just dieters’ myth. Maybe what I’m thinking of is what they call metabolic syndrome these days. I experiment with various things along my 5:2 journey, doing things several time over a few weeks, and I reckon I’m definitely in the group that don’t lose weight if I eat grains or starchy carbs. I’m grain intolerant though (all of them except corn, and yes it’s been thoroughly tested medically) so maybe that’s a factor. Anyhow, maybe the kernal of truth in the myth is just that over several decades of continual yoyo dieting people needed reduced calories due to ageing, and were much less active anyway.

Anyway, this is a humungous post, and if you get to the end, thanks Sim,
Cheers,
Merry, over and ou. Goodnight.

Good morning, everyone – ah! Cool breeze today, it was lovely walking this morning – rather than yesterday by 7:30am it was already feeling warm.

It is going to be so quiet with all of you that are going away. Think of us poor people who are stuck here, especially those of you who are going overseas to cooler climates.

I have been reading all the comments about starvation mode, metabolism, etc – but don’t have anything to add. I guess sometimes we have to agree to disagree about certain things, don’t we?

Good news. As you all know (because I complain about it often enough!) I have struggled with the notion of losing 400g a week after 4:3. Well, this week, I did 5:2 with a half day fast in between. Once I had settled myself to not doing 4:3, the difference was incredible. I have been getting really cranky with people (OH has copped the brunt of it), especially on FDs. This week, no crankiness (well, no more than normal!) And I started yesterday’s FD feeling upbeat and positive, and looking forward to fasting. Big change for me. No change in the low blood pressure yet, but that may take a couple of weeks to change (if it is going to).

And the scales this morning? 89.6kg – down 1.6kg from last week. This means I have lost 33kg and only have 19.6kg to go!

Thanks for all of those of you who have responded and kept me going through the tough times, it has made such a difference.

Enjoy your weekend, and I hope you get some cooler weather as well.

Nap you’ve done all the hard work. No matter how much support you get the final decision is always yours. You’ve done amazingly well.

Thin I don’t get back until 4 February but I will still be around. New year, new goals and a much more positive outlook. I love Foyles war too. Is your OH a firefighter?

Bit cooler here in Sydney today, thank goodness.

Yay Nap, I am so pleased your scales gave you positive reinforcement for being kinder to yourself!

We do have T2 here Thin, good to know they have a liquorice tea! And that it is nice! Congrats to your daughter for surviving 12 exams!

I’ll be one of the stalwarts that will plug on posting here while the jetsetters and cruisers head off to holiday! We’ll expect you back full of wonderful stories and insights!

A whole lot of newbies at the start of the year? Truly? All those new year resolutions, I guess. Well 5:2 would be a good one!

Well done EA – I was only having a dig because you were so proud of not having the chips & hot chocolate! Good result anyway. If I remember correctly, Saturday mornings are synonymous with hot chocolate take-aways for you so be good today!

Intesha, my OH is a pilot. He flies everything from helicopters to large fixed wing jets but his job this weekend is flying the command people around above the fires. They direct all the other aircraft where to drop the water & retardants. Tragic that 4 lives were lost down there.

Good to hear from you Barata – you don’t need to have anything to contribute in order to check in, just come and have a chat! Enjoy your trip across the pond.

Barata, yes I’m still rigidly adhering to two fast days to keep my weight at 60kgs. During the last couple of weeks, I’ve been in the 59s most of the time. I seem to have a much elevated mood since I’ve lost the weight. I do sometimes wonder if I will really be able to keep this up for the rest of my life. I certainly want to and I seem well suited to the discipline of fasting so, if this is what it takes to enjoy the things I like most of the time, stay healthy & not be overweight, what could be easier really?

I’ve previously expressed concern on this thread about our upcoming trip and how I will manage away from home where I’m in complete control as this will be our first trip away since starting 5:2. I’m still worried as obviously I want to have fun and enjoy different foods while away – and not put the dampener on the OFM’s enjoyment either – but I also don’t want to come back 5kgs heavier and have to ‘deal’ with it. Although we all now have the tools to ‘deal’ with it, it doesn’t seem a sustainable or healthy way to handle things.

So, my planned strategy is to do one strict FD a week, try to do a mini-fast another day, avoid all bread, exercise mindful eating at other times (asking “is this worth it?”) and I’ll have my new Veretta travel scales to keep me honest. We also plan to do quite a bit of hiking in the Sierra Nevadas. If I’m a dismal failure (because I was after all the impulsive, greedy, over-eating me for many decades before I found 5:2), well, I will have to hit the ground running when I return!

Wow, that’s a lot about me.

And I agree with you about the discipline. I have no problems fasting Mondays and Thursdays, but change the day… Routine enables me to achieve.

Wow, so many thoughtful and kind posts since I was last here.

Thin, you have all the tools to use 5:2 while you are away. I found that by the 7th day on holiday my body was asking me to fast. One serious fast day where you drink water for most of the day should keep you within range. Have fun and enjoy Spain and Portugal, and practising your Spanish.

Congratulations. To all the other happy losers and successful maintainers.

Cheers, Bay 🙂 from a lovely country town called Beechworth. ??

Thanks, I think you’re both right Bay and Cinque.

Shame about the other siblings Cinque & I’m sorry for the loss of one of them, but it’s great that the four of you are close. Your soup sounds delicious. I made eggplant curry for tonight (strange for such a hot day but I’m making use of what’s left in the fridge). I’ve just pulled tomorrow’s FD meals out of the freezer and now I only need to come up with one more meal for Monday night. I’ve just taken all our chilli peppers and herbs, etc down to a neighbour so she can enjoy them over the holidays so it will have to be another freezer surprise.

Thanks Thin and Bay! Yes. The worst thing about only having one child of my own was not giving her sisters!

The soup was delicious, but then I overate (cashews!) I think the food I ate yesterday messed me up, so I am going to Fast tomorrow and break the flow.
No Mondays and Thursdays ritual in this house! 🙂

Good wishes to your OH Thin, what an amazing job to have, but very difficult to be working in the fires. I am glad he is getting a holiday soon. That is…. is he going with you Thin?

Best wishes everyone!

Good morning ?
The sun isn’t quite shining here, in fact it is cool and grey. I am very grateful for this gentle weather! And the sun is somewhere, behind the cloud.

Fast day has begun! Cheers fellow faster, Thin. I think Sunday fasting might suit my life.

It will be a lovely family holiday! My daughter is 23, married with a 15 month old daughter. She is not planning to stop at one! And best news, they are hoping to move back to Melbourne next year ( from Sydney).

I’m hoping to have an easy, pottering around kind of day, getting little things done. I just checked my seedlings and they are looking happy – well, no a basil and a strawberry are struggling, but there are about thirty seedlings going great guns, I think I can pinch out the top of the biggest basil and put it in my miso soup today. ?

?

Hi Nik, great hearing from you. It sounds like you’ve been able to have your cake and eat it too. You seem to have found a balance. Almost 15kgs off is fantastic. Well done.

Morning Cinque. Just having a quick coffee before heading off for my walk as we’re expecting another 35C day today. I’ve pulled a cauliflower soup and a hearty barley soup from the freezer so that’s my FD meals sorted. What’s on your menu today besides miso soup with fresh basil? We just have one child too (late life parents). Sometimes I feel sorry for her with us oldies and no siblings but there are always advantages too – at least she won’t have to argue with siblings about which nursing home to put us in.

Great to have you with me on Sundays Cinque. It just happened to be a Sunday when OH and I decided to ‘get on with it’ and I thought I’d ultimately change to weekdays when the first occasion arose to change a Sunday FD. But we ended up switching to Saturdays (I’d rather have a FD banked than owed) so Sundays have stuck and it works well for me.

Poor Rose. My daughter thought she might like a brother when she was little but her friends told her that brothers are annoying and their parents said they spent a lot of time separating fights. I’m sure it’s lovely to enjoy the relationships when you’re older. I get on really well with my brother but unfortunately we live on different continents.

I will really try to write smaller posts!!! Sorry.
Merry

…but not the K, Merry! Tee hee. Lovely story. I usually eat my FD meals from a side plate instead of a dinner plate. I should probably do that with all my meals.

No, talk of food or being around food doesn’t bother me at all on a FD Merry. Is your OH doing 5:2?

Yes. A different journey though. We started together, but did I it continously.OH sort of did it, but came and went a bit and didn’t do it while we travelled or Christmas. Lost about 7 or 8kg before our last trip, and put about 3 back on. Recent follow up to tests with cardiologist has him now doing it in earnest. He had a heart attack at 36, and been 29 yrs without another or other surgery. Angiogram in the new yr some time. I think his goal is about another 15 kgs. It made a real difference having him along from day 1. It’s certainly moderated his diet during trips, Christmas etc even though he only did maybe 1 FD in NZ and 1 FD on our recent trip. Our kids are 700 km, 1000 km away in Oz, and 1 in USA. I think they’re in for a big surprise at Christmas when we all get together 🙂 The 2 girls in Oz have seen us part way, but our son in US hasn’t. Hoping he follows suit. He’s in IT but active, and carries extra weight I’d love to see gone. All in their 30’s now and hoping the family history doesn’t catch up with them.

How’s your FD going Thin. Have you been cooking again?

Well done, Thin, Exciting times ahead. ???. Have fun on your holidays. Cheers, Bay ??

Just heading off to bed!
Congrats on a good day, and a clean fridge, Thin!
Won’t it be a great Christmas Merry! Love to see your kids faces!
I saw the Adele thing. Good fun and lovely.
Hi Bay!
My soup was so delicious. Just a small bowl, but really full of flavour and goodness.
Nightynight ✨⭐️???⭐️✨

?

Good morning everyone, it is a lovely, easy morning here…. but the heat is coming this week!

Nap, does it help to plan out what you can do for your lunch out? Can you choose in advance what you will eat, or if it is one of those ‘let’s choose a few meals and share’, can you do things to help yourself eat only as much as you want to?
I hope you can figure out a way to get the most pleasure, and the least over-eating!

Best wishes for today being a really good day, so that even if tomorrow is stressful and horrible, it is only a blip.

What a relief that we live on a planet where days are only 24 hours long!

Naptime, I was going to recommend you look at their menu ahead of time, I do this because I tend to be an impulsive eater when it’s not all planned out. I see you’ve done this and, of those items, I’d go for the salmon and don’t eat much of the rice. Have the dessert, what the heck! Easy on the cocktails? And you can always sub a flat white for that cappucino, less milk.

I also saw an Adele show on TV last night. I’ve never really paid attention to her before although I knew she sang ‘Skyfall’ in the Bond movie. Teen & I enjoyed it a lot – although looking at her, she seems so demure and proper so I was surprised when she opened her mouth and gave that awful cackling laugh.

As far as fluctuating weight goes, I woke to 60.5 yesterday (up 700gm for no good reason). At the end of the FD, I was still at 60.5 which I thought bode well for this morning. But, no, still 60.5 today. Went for a 5km walk and it’s still stubbonly stuck at 60.5. So, don’t worry, it just happens and could be due to any of a number of reasons. Now for the shower trick ……

Snap, Thin

Nap, I wAs about to say that I would have the poached salmon and salad, and don’t eat the rice. I would share a chocolate mousse with a friend. Switch to a long black coffee with a tiny splash of hot milk and you’re sorted. Otherwise take the pain and work hard the next day to eat less. Have fun!

Cheers, Bay ?

Morning all, , woops, no, good afternoon…

Nap, fish salad and rice, ditch the rice or have small amount if you think you can stop part way through. Look up the desserts, choose one, then look up calories on Calorie King or other site to approximate calories. Could also share dessert. Coffee- maybe herbal tea, or whatever that tiny coffee is called. A couple of times I’ve tried ‘affogato’ I think it’s called. Dessert and coffee in one dish. The first time it was 1 smallish ball of vanilla icecream with black coffee poured around it. It was delicious! The second time, diff place it was a substantial amount of icecream with the coffee, and way too much.

Otherwise, don’t feel you have to have the chocoloate mousse and coffee exactly as you had it before, just because that’s what you and your friends have always done. Have a think about if you really want the choc mousse or not, the milk coffee or not. If yes, have it or share, without any guilt feelings. Coffee, get black and hot skim milk on the side and judge the quantity for yourself. No guilt either way,. No guilt if you choose to eat something diff to your friends and no guilt if you do. Just make sure the choice is yours of what’s right for you.

Up 2. 1 and after a reasonable weekend? I suggest you look at portion sizes, and any drinks, or you maybe a bit fluidy. Whatever it is, no guilt, just seeing it as a learning experience. E.g. Ok, that happened, how did it happen, and what can I learn from that that helps me make a different choice for next weekend. Could I treak things here, or there. Accept that you don’t have to do this perfectly from day, and you don’t have to do it perfectly at all. This isn’t a fad diet, or otherwise diet, where you have stringent rules and restrictions all day everyday. It’s about working out over time how to adapt 5:2 to your likes, dislikes and lifestyle, and then keeping those changes in there as your life goes on. Don’t get disheartened. You’re doing well. Many of us have been through these situations – the surprise upwards on weighing and the lunch with friends stuff.

D