Good evening,
I’ve been n my pyjamas all day, but I have babysat my granddaughter while her parents went to the ultrasound appt (all is fine!), been messed around with my precious home help, but ended up with the lovely Penny who brought knitting for me to sort out! And I think I did. Also showed her how to find a teaching youtube video for Tunisian crochet. In return she did all the hard housework. Then I spoke to a friend who fell off a low stool on Mothers Day and got concussion and a broken wrist. And somehow now the day has ended! (Shaun Micallef to look forward to on TV tonight!).

Intesha I remember going along Katherine Gorge with my mum, a quarter of a century ago! It was glorious, and we also saw a small freshwater crocodile.
Yay for you and your clinging Tshirt!
The top end is like a different country isn’t it!
So glad it was a wonderful 8 days!

Merry I do hope the medics work out what is happening with your arm and leg and finger, and that it is something simple and easily fixed. (Surely that is not too much to ask!).

Your 6 kgs have inspired me. I am keenly putting aside other comments and am trusting my self, and I want to lose a few more kilograms. So I am back into mid term 5:2ing, instead of mucking around at that ‘almost at maintenance’ I was playing with last month.

Your dinner soup… I think I can smell it from here. Delicious!

Thin, were you a mad runner living in California! Cool! And I just love that you can zip up your wedding dress!

I’ve wondered if when I do get to maintenance, quite a bit further down the line, I might keep doing 5:2, but maybe doing 800 cals on fast days. But maybe you are saying that keeping on with the 500 cals is the go, and the rest of the days will take care of themselves?

I cooked blackbeans just the other day, but with my pressure cooker, which is much quicker. I love the taste so much better than tinned ones. I hope your chilli is delicious, not sure how it wouldn’t be!

I made an Ethiopian lentil salad with some just sprouted lentils that only took a minute to cook, and a lovely juicy green capsicum, and a wonderful mustardy dressing. I had it for my evening meal, instead of rice, with curried eggplant and it made a nice dish! Plus some lettuce and a few coriander leaves, which is all my garden can manage at the moment.

Now for Fast Day tomorrow! Dashi and chicken out of the freezer, and some dried mushrooms put to soak.

Best wishes everyone!

Yes, Thin, the starchy carbs includes sugars as well, so for me it’s no starchy veggies, all grain foods, all sugars including honey, golden syrup, fructosesyrups, jams, and so on. I’m gluten intolerant, and it includes all the gf alternatives. So, my food is pretty simple. Because I can’t exercise I also have to be careful to use cal low GI foods to keep a reasobale quanitity, so the proteins are the lower cal ones, and dairy things also have to be down the lower cal, lower GI end of those. The only exceptions I make are a small amount of dark chocolate which is needed to get me out of trouble if I overdo my energy expenditure, and birthday cake/special occasion meals, which I still try to make better choices for.

Thanks for the advice about maintenance🙂 I think I’m going to be staying on 5:2 when I finally get to maintenance. That’s my plan. I think I’ll still need the discipline of fasting 2 days a week. It’s the regularity of it I think I’ll need.

Intesha it sounds like you’ve had a wonderful holiday up top. I remember how lovely Kakadu is. Still laughing about your wet t-shirt! Maybe we should all set that as a goal – the wet tshirt goal lol.

Thanks Cinque. My finger is getting worse🙁, I’ve see the surgeon in a couple of weeks. Am having a very quit week trying to rest my leg and arm. It’s looking more and more like fibromyalgia though, damn it.

The chicken soup was a bit bland so It morphed into a Sri Lankan curried chicken soup. It was yumm! And 215cals/serve.

Must go to bed, picturing you in your PJ’s Cinque Lol.
Cheers,
Merry

Good Morning All,

Intesha, so sorry to hear about your Dad’s fall. That’s worrying, and I hope he recovers quickly, and his thinking/reasoning improves. They seem to go downhill in fits and starts sometimes rather than gradually. You will really enjoy your time away as bridesmaid. And of course, there will need to be a photograph showing of said gorgeous bridesmaid when we get together.

Talking of photos, Cinque, we forgot to do that. Next time!

FD for me today and I’m starting the day at 67.4kg. Yesterday’s calories were 260 under my TDEE. I’m sure that all helps, though I don’t plan to do it every NFD, just part of my “hit it fast and hard after a blowout on a special meal” thingy.

Supposed to be going out today for a short get together for Myalgic/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome International Awareness Day which is today🙂 That’s still debatable right now, as I debate with my dodgy bits, but I may make it and bless some taxi driver with my 5:2 awesomeness, though not quite at wet t shirt standard yet!

Probably the newly styled Sri Lankan curried chicken soup for later today – 2 serves left. No great culinary genius happening in our kitchen, just a couple of teaspoons of a Sri Lankan curry mix from the ” Your Inspiration at Home” range, which is party planned by a rellie. Didn’t go to a party but did smell some of them in their pantry. I’m all for shortcuts! OH got a surprise though because he was expecting French herbs, pepper and crushed garlic we put in together. Actually, I think it was too bland because I forgot to put in stock, and just started with water. Masterchef contestants seem to live on a whole other planet! I can’t for the life of me understand why so much effort goes into putting 2 little dots of something on a plate, or a scrape, and most of it has to stay on the plate. I’d much rather have a dollop on the food. Does anybody lick their plate? Reminds me of when commercial icecream first appeared and we were allowed to lick the plate of the last precious bits of rare icecream with milo sprinkled on it. Masterchef seems to become a global phenomenon! At least it’s brought some people back to cooking food from scratch, and many children have been introduced to the raw ingredients of the stuff on our plates. My 5yr old granddaughter has chooks at home, collects the eggs, and can break eggs with one hand on the side of a bowl like a pro. Grannie, on the other hand, still can’t do that – the cracking bit that is, not the collecting bit, though today’s not the day for me to be wandering down to the chookshed. GD can whisk a pretty mean couple of eggs too, though I do remember at her age I was learning to cut bread with a breadknife. Remember those wonky slices till we got the hang of it?

Have a good day everyone, and a good FD to the Thursday fasters – even you lurking people🙂
Onwards and Downwards!
Merry

2nd FD night of the week. TDEE 1500, 1/4 of TDEE is 375 cals. This week so far:

Monday FD: 365cals

Tuesday NFD: no breakfast or morning tea, then unfinished caesar salad with chicken lunch eaten out at 1.30pm, + moderate dinner. My guess is over TDEE because of caesar salad (menu almost solely made up of things on various types of grains, so very little to choose from). Had weak black tea so no cals there.

Wednesday NFD: 1236cals,

Thursday FD: 415cals

Didn’t get out today after all, so I’ve also made a slow cooker meal for tomorrow +. freezer portions.
Trying to rest more than usual, so a bit earlier to bed tonight.
Night night,
Merry

Good FD yesterday down from 71.3 to 70.1 this morning. I think I will do an FD on Sunday as well just to get myself back on track.

Cinque what a good position we will find ourselves in once we get to that maintenance stage. To eat or not to eat.

I have totally eased up on myself and stopped berating myself if I eat something I know is not good for me. I really don’t know how much more I will lose. I’ve lost 17kg and quite possibly could shed another 10 but I will stick to 5:2 and let my body decide. I still have a muffin top when I put on certain pants/slacks do I think that will be my guide.

Caught up on the washing etc yesterday. Busy day today gym, grocery shopping, get my first ever flu shot and ironing.

Happy Friday everyone.

Good morning everyone.

Was that a recipe for risotto and arancine balls that you copied down Merry? I watched the ‘masterclass’ part of the show last night too. They did look delicious!

Intesha, life is always better if we are not beating up on ourselves! It must feel nice to see the scale go down, and to go with the flow of good 5:2, and see what the result is! Hope your dad is going okay! Hello to you both from Melbourne, with its weak sunshine this morning!
Won’t it be fun when we are maintaining!

I get the flu shot every year. The first year I got it I was slightly unwell for about a week. The second year I was awfully crook for a day. And since then, all I have is a few days of the needle site feeling a bit warm. And no flu! Hooray!

Wow Judy, still getting those last tomatoes! I’ve got three butternuts still on their vine and wondering if they might get any more ripening! We don’t get frosts where they are growing, so I will keep them out there as long as I can.
What lovely cooking you are doing today! Lucky son!

When I began 5:2 it was very easy and I just felt it got better and easier. But once I had a blip it has been so hard to get back on track. Just a tiny blip! Nothing like what you and so many others go through at Christmas. It has made me determined not to blip again. Too hard to unblip!

Best wishes everyone for a good day!

Oh dear, I’ve been keeping up with the posts but I’m so behind in commenting.

Intesha, sorry you had to return to that scenario, it must be distressing for both you and your dad. I hope you’ll find other ways to be able to continue taking these holidays as you seem to thrive on them.

Well done to all who’ve reached such great milestones this week – why not treat yourselves to a lovely massage? I had one today at my local ‘hole in the wall’. There are no oils, aromas or hot pebbles but they have some young Taiwanese lads with very strong hands who just get stuck right in and get the job done. I used to visit a ‘day spa’ at three times the price until I found this gem of a place but I like more than a bit of a rub down by some girlie girls so I’m happy to forego the fluffy slippers. Anyway, when I was served my tea afterwards, my masseur asked me how much weight I’d lost and how I’d done it so we had a chat about 5:2 and he seemed very keen to give it a try.

Merry, I count that as 66.9. Go you! I was a hand therapist in a former life and what you described was sounding like a Dupuytren’s Contracture until you mentioned the swelling. I hope you get a good diagnosis so you can get the proper treatment. And Judyf, I hope the ROM returns to your digit.

So many other things I wanted to comment on but this will be far too long already. Hi Cinque. So, there’ll be three of us fasting on Sunday, yay! A coffee announcement follows. Have a great weekend all.

Oh Thinatlast, I’ve seen a hand therapist 9 times. My surgeon didn’t tell me to see one after surgery and in fact after 4 weeks I asked him for a referral as I couldn’t bend my finger and he said ‘not necessary’. Although I know that surgery wouldn’t cause Dupuytren’s Contrcture I wonder whether the trauma would bring it on as I had no symptoms before surgery. My mum and uncle both have it too. I also wake with pins and needles in my hand so that may be the start of Carpel tunnel. I’ve always been healthy and never had any surgery until last December (I’m 54) I really don’t want more surgery on my hand!!! 🙁 Enjoy your meet up with other 5:2ers’
Merryme, when you say your palm is swollen, is it a nodule type of thing? I have a couple because of Dupuytren’s and they are quite painful. I hope your finger and hand is diagnosed soon and it is sorted quickly.
Cinque, our pumpkins didn’t do as well this year.
Well I am enjoying a glass of red wine while waiting for my daughter and son-in-law. I’ve been babysitting my 2 gorgeous granddaughters and they have been so good and both went to sleep very easily. – quite boring really lol

Oh dear, best wishes to everyone with their hands. It reminds me how precious our hands are! Thin, aren’t you a handy person to have here!

I am feeling good today, after a week of being quite crook. On top of that, it is a lovely sunny morning with a light, fresh breeze. Bliss. I mustn’t over do it, but I have already looked after my coriander seedlings, watered the garden, spread bi carb paste over the oven door (on the inside, to clean it!), stacked the dishwasher and turned it on, made sure I have today’s food sorted, and checked the forums! I wonder what else I might manage!

I have my granddaughter coming today for a bit. After her nap, so she definitely won’t be boring, lol.

I had an extraordinary pumpkin season Judy. I must have put some very fertile seeds in the compost and they were coming up everywhere at the start of summer, I was pulling out a dozen every day for weeks. I let one stay. It took ages to get a male and female flower out at the same time though, so only one was properly ripe. I think I will get the other three though!

I hope it is a beautiful morning like this in South Perth for that coffee date!

Best wishes to you all!

Judy, please don’t treat your hand with anything sugary! I think you once mentioned working in a doc’s office so you probably have good advice – or perhaps you are the medical professional in the office. Anything I write here Cinque is for chit chat purchases only, I’m not qualified to offer professional advice in cyber-space and I’ve been out of the field for some years. Sorry you’ve been feeling under the weather this week and I hope you have a great weekend. And the Thai food and wine sounds a treat Judy.

I forgot to reply to the comment about leaving the pumpkins out for a little longer – I decided to leave my last four precious oranges on the tree for the same reason. The result was that a dratted rat got two of them. If I prune the tree at the top, will it have the effect of producing more fruit next season?

Hey Thin, I’m here. Had a good FD hopefully the scales will be kind to me tomorrow.

Had an email from the gym and they are closing down at the end of June. I have been going for 6 years and the closest one now will be 20 minutes away so I will have to find something else to do. I know 20 minutes doesn’t sound much but for a 30 minute session and the petrol it’s not worth it.

Had some blood taken today to see how my cholesterol is going. Hoping it has reduced.

That’s too bad Intesha, because you also got a lot of encouragement from the people at the gym. I agree, I wouldn’t drive 20 minutes to do a 30 minute workout. Time for a change maybe? And a chance to meet new people, wink, wink. Good luck with the blood test results and the scales – betting you’ll be back under 70kgs tomorrow.

Cinque, that’s it, hurray for autophagy! I woke thinking, oh no Sunday, I really don’t feel like fasting. But I pushed through it, did my walk among the Million Paws pooches and ended up going with my neighbours to a native plant cutting sale at Kings’ Park. Then we had coffee (well, herbal tea for me) and, before I knew it, it was 3pm and I hadn’t yet eaten. Enjoy that soup.

Do either of you have any thoughts on the 24 hour fast? I was almost there this last two weeks and I’m wondering if it would be easier knowing you’d have a real dinner to look forward to every day? Not that it’s hard as it is.

It’s a drizzly old day here in Perth. We have Abbey the greyhound for the weekend (we didn’t take her for the Million Paws walk though) but she’s sweet company and everyone loves her. I hope she finds a home as the previous one did. The coffee meeting is tomorrow Cinque. All Perth environs lurkers are welcome – please make yourselves known.

Hi Thin, I’m not advocating 24 hour fast. Just saying that it’s easily possible. If you are successfully maintaining with normal 5:2 then why would you mess with it. Cheers, Bay 😏😏🌺🌺

Hi Bay, nice to see you here. How are getting on with losing your 4 kg excess? We didn’t know you were a Sunday faster. I can do lots of physical activity on a FD too – but I find my thinking isn’t always so clear. This is contrary to what I’ve read about feast and famine behaviour, the need to be alert when looking for food, etc. I also recall that when I was a vegetarian back in California, I had a lot more energy than when I was eating meat.

I’m wondering if I could be a vegetarian again. There were some animal lib people at the Million Paws event and they made some good points about not eating animals. And DD has written a scientific review about halal slaughtering in Australia for an ethics unit at uni which made me think twice about whether I want to eat it. She has also visited an abattoir but is pragmatic and does eat meat.

Cinque, Merry, (Nap if you’re out there), do you anticipate an eventual recovery from CFS or is this something you believe you will live with for the rest of your lives? I ask because I met a lady who had taken an early retirement due to CFS but who says that, after many years, she has since overcome it.

Cinque, it’s the two almond milk coffees that would disqualify me from a pure 24 hour fast too. Other than that, it doesn’t seem that difficult. Bay, I just ask because yesterday for the first time, I really didn’t feel like fasting and it made me worry that I might ultimately lose my enthusiasm. I’ve only maintained this weight since September so it’s not a success story yet. I think 24 hr fasting would be ideal for when on holiday. Although you say you still only had a 300 meal at the end of the fast? I’d been thinking it would be a normal meal. I think it’s the planning for the OFMs that becomes the challenge some days.

Intesha, did you get back into the 60s?

Well done, Merry. I agree that being happy is a choice. Life is too shot to be miserable. 🌺🌺🌺

Thin, you caused me to really think about my answer.

When I fast for 24 hours without food, this is as part of 5:2 where we really eat 300-500 calories (depending on TDEE) over 36 hours. On a fast day I am effectively saving up my calories until dinner. My fast day dinners are usually around 300-350 calories.

I am still working on reversing my weight gain. When I look at my history, I spent 6 months losing 17 kg, then I maintained that weight loss for 12 months through mindful eating and regular 5:2 fasting. Then I gradually relaxed, stopped regular 5:2 fasting, and indulged myself, and the 4 kg weight slowly came back and has stayed for 12 months. Now I am aiming to lose the 4 kg over the next two months by going back to 5:2 fasting. I seem to need the regular reset twice a week to lose the extra weight, and then to maintain my weight loss. 6:1 is only good for a short while, then I need 5:2.

Hope that answers you. Everyone is different and has to find what works for them. If something is working for you, keep doing it. I think I got bored and also a bit complacent, thinking Oh, well I can always fast the extra food off. Trouble is, I didn’t. 😜😜

Cheers, Bay 🌺🌺

Hi everyone
Good on you to all the Sunday fasters. I wish I did fast yesterday as I got the ‘ hungries’ while out shopping- bought sugar laden food and it went downhill from there 🙁 . Merryme, it’s also my official weigh today and unfortunately I’m the same weight as last Monday. I had lost a kilo but a Thai restaurant, after pre-dinner drinks at a girlfriends house put that kilo back on ( who’da thought? ) My OH was away motorbike riding for the weekend and I overindulged a bit. Unfortunately this week I won’t do much better as we have friends coming for dinner Wednesday night and our kids for lunch on Sunday as well as restaurant meals on Friday and Saturday nights- birthdays -are a killer! And I hadn’t even thought of the cake that will be involved!
On a brighter note- my last two fasts and today’s went/are going really well 🙂
Cinque I hope your trip to the dentist goes well!

Hi Everyone,
the dentist was good, although I might need some fillings under my crowns (I’m bad on the dental front and don’t have many of my own teeth left! 🙁 ) and that could wreck the crowns. I discovered tooth mousse and piksters.

Just getting ready for my meeting this evening.

I made such a good lunch, but when I was checking if I had any butter left, I found half a dark chocolate Easter bunny in the butter thing in the fridge door. My daughter had left it there. I ate it. I’m refusing to say I was sabotaging myself Intesha! Like you, I know it is good to have a treat now and then. It wasn’t a fast day, I’m allowed. However, I am going to be careful for the next couple of days because, although it wasn’t very sweet it was a bit, and sugar doesn’t agree with me.

Merry they are good categories. I used to be a stress eater, not sure how much I am now. I am a ‘tired’ eater, I get so exhausted and then don’t make good decisions, and don’t have anything planned, and chaos ensues! Stress makes me exhausted and stuffs up my planning, so they do run into each other!

Bay, so lovely to have you here for a bit! Good luck on getting that 4kg sorted. I really appreciate hearing your experience, it will help me make good decisions when I (finally) get to maintenance.

Thin, I ran CFS support groups for several years and interracted with so many people, through them, and through media things. I met a few people who said they had had CFS and were cured, but they always added that they never go out at night, or weren’t able to work full time, or something that showed that they were comparatively well, but not on a par with what most people think is well.

I am able to manage so much better, and am often without symptoms and able to do many things to live a relatively normal life, but any set back and I am struggling again. I would love to think that I could keep improving and get to a place I can function normally (being able to clean the car is the benchmark I would love to reach one day!) and that setbacks don’t pull the rug out from under me, but I know it is more likely that I need to wait for them to figure out what is actually causing this, and what can be done about it.

My experience is very like Merry’s.

Judy, congratulations on your good fasts, I hope you can ride through the week ahead without too much damage, and that the following week will be more fast friendly.

Off to put my feet up for 10 minutes before that meeting! See you later!

Good morning everyone, posters, readers, lurkers, newbies, come and say hello🙂

Checking in – 66.8kgs, down 0.5 from FD yesterday………..Yay!!!! Back on a roll. Finally cracked my pre 8 month period of “travel, then get back off starchy carbs, then several Capital L Life stresses over months” maintainence where I fluctuated through a 2.5kgs at it’s worst. I finally feel like I’m back on a roll. The L Life stresses are still there but now reasonbly manageable without the worst of the emotional rollercoaster effect.

Bay, thank you for your coments and bouquet🙂 And thank you for your story of your 5:2 journey. You will be back at your goal weight .

Intesha well done! You are so much stronger in your approach to weight now than when you started 5:2. It’s fantastic isn’t it? We have truly found the holy grail of normalizing our weight.

Thanks Thin, the most important thing I’ve learned is that my mental attitude and emotional health are the key to a better/happy life. That coffee morning sounded fun.

Cinque – that made me laugh and I agree you deserved the Easter Bunny! Hope you day went well and not too tiring.

Judy – this week will be a time of learning. Learning what potion size you might have, learning what on a menu will fit you, learning you can share a dessert, a plate, or a piece of something, learning you can leave stuff on the plate, or part of a drink. Last night I thought I had it planned but had forgotten I was to go to a short easy meeting that was in a restaurant and so dinner out. It was my FD so had an entree that included a bit of protein and salad, and cup of milk coffee, and a very small apple when I got home. I ate the entree slowly. Interesting as these were all mature age women. 3 of them shared 1 pizza, having 2 slices each. There was even a conversation of how plate of food sizes have grown steadily over the years and we need a reality check.

Have a good FD Tuesday fasters,
Merry

Thin I leave for Airlie next Tuesday back the following Tuesday.

FD today, weight this morning 70.4, apples turnover and all. Maybe we are trying to find reasons why this doesn’t work so we can justify putting the weight back on. Sorry brain but this time you are not going to win. Yes I will be naughty every now and then but I have my magic powers now that help me get back on track.

Merry I am much stronger now on all fronts, it was a battle but that’s life. I still have three boxes of chocolates that I bought back from Belgium so how is that for willpower?

Nikt it is all a mind game and as long as you stick to the basics you will get there in the end. It’s also good to read what all of us are going through so you know you are not alone. It’s still a struggle for us as well but it’s good to be able to speak to like minded people.

Hi Everyone
Merryme, thanks for such a great positive post and Thinatlast- I never thought to check out online menu before for choosing My meals. We do it for our daughter-in-law, who has many food allergies.
Intesha-good on you not eating that chocolate. I couldn’t do it and now throw away chocolate before devouring it myself! Thinatlast i will have to get back onto the konjac noodles too!!
Great result after my fast day yesterday and today I have been quite good- I did have homemade apricot slice for morning tea with friends tho. 🙂

I just looked at the episodes list and the first series of Trust me, I’m a Doctor went out January 2014, so made in 2013. The Fast Diet was published in 2013 first, so researched and written in 2011-2012. Some of it outlines the visits Mosley made as part of the Horizon programme, which is now on YouTube.

I don’t think anyone suggests that those small scale, short items on the programmes are scientific studies, but he is usually demonstrating studies that have been in scientific papers already. It’s journalism only but he focuses on serious science and I think selects the science well. There’s lots of duff stuff out there, even in the scientific community, but most of what he brings together is sound.

I’m pretty sure I’d not have found 5:2 without those programmes, though I did find something back in the 90s called The Two Day Diet ( not the same as the current one with that name). Wish I’d kept the book, I’d’ve liked to compare what was said.

Hi Everyone
Have fun with your granddaughter Cinque. So nice of you to let mummy and daddy have a good night’s sleep! Goodluck with your FD today, thinatlast and anyone else fasting today.
Yesterday was not a FD for me, but I did my other ‘diet’. Im allergic to garlic and there must have been some in the soup my friend made for lunch. I had ‘the runs’ (sorry if TMI ) when I got home. I was able to eat my dinner but this mornings weight was down by 400grams and tummy feeling too tender to have breakfast or even a coffee.
Tonight my OH is cooking and we are having friends over. He’s doing a pork roast. I won’t have potato. Dessert is stewed fruit (home-made with our home grown apricots-no sugar) with a cake-like pudding on top. If I dont whip the cream Im not tempted to have it, so its just pouring cream tonight. I’ll only have one glass of wine- its a school night after all lol

Hi folks, It’ll soon be time for my evening meal on the second fast day this week. I’m only two weeks into this new way of eating. Being a big fella I had an impressive loss last week. I’m also watching my portion sizes on the 5 days & making some better choices. Weigh in day tomorrow. Good luck. 🙂

Likewise Judy, I maintained for about 6 months on 6:1 and then the weight started creeping back on daily albeit in tiny increments. As soon as I hit my trigger weight, I resumed 5:2 and all was well.

Welcome Dan. Calling it a ‘new way of eating’ means you get it already. Well done. We’re here to help. What’s for dinner? I’m having Spanish Fideos with Slendier Angel Hair, 142 cals. You can find this and some of our other recipes here: https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/southern-hemispherites-fd-recipes/ Let us know how you’re getting on.

Good morning everyone, from cold, cloudy Melbourne. It is Thursday fast day for me today.
I had a very interrupted night with my granddaughter (teething still!): isn’t it lucky they are so lovable. Although I guess there would only be excellent sleepers alive in the world if they weren’t!
Tried to catch up last night but I was overtired. Today I will be more organised and do the things that help me, like not overdoing it and getting overtired!
AND I will fast as well.

Dan and Arvee, cheers to you both.
Arvee, that happened to me too! Just when I thought 5:2 was the easiest thing in the world I went through some really nasty gripey fast days, and so now I really appreciate it when it is an easy one, and think to myself “Oh dear, it is one of those” when it is a nasty one. Luckily it is just one day, and we can put up with most things when we know it is just the one day.

Judy, so sorry you had to suffer your ‘other’ diet. I hope you are okay now.

Sending out best wishes to everyone!