Hi!

Hagar, hope you are feeling better and that your fasting day went well.

Thin, Happy 2 year 5:2 anniversary!!! I look forward to being able to celebrate the same down the track! …Hey, maybe we passed each other on the road in N.Z.!?! …I completely agree about the kiwi hospitality! Not only that, I felt completely comfortable cycling along even the narrowest of roads. The drivers were so careful and courteous and the roads perfectly signposted! We were never confused wondering what road we were on or which way to head! …With regard to the Italian restaurant meal; I’ve ordered antipasto (marinated vegetables, olives, cheeses) to nibble on while others gorge on garlic bread, not sure if the place in which you’ll be dining offers such. I also try to order a dedicated meat or poultry dish which some Italian restaurants serve like chicken scallopini or paccata or grilled pork loin. Though, admittedly some Italian restaurants focus on pizza and pasta and I too find such menus challenging.

Intesha, what a difficult time for you, your daughter and her family and I would imagine that it feels even more difficult that you live a distance away from them. You and your daughter sound close in heart. …How wonderful that your mother will soon be reaching her 90th birthday and that you are planning such a beautifully sounding event with fine china and home-made delicacies! Your daughter and family will attend so together you’ll represent 4 generations?!

Merry, sounds like you’ve navigated well through all those social gatherings! I too find that I a different level of hunger emerges when I’m very tired or haven’t slept well. I’ve read that inadequate sleep can lead to an imbalance in ‘hunger hormones’ with reduced leptin and increased ghrelin which in turn causes us to feel hungrier (or so the scientists report!). I have to remind myself of this from time to time, since I can often simply get into blaming myself for being undisciplined, when sometimes there is a physiological precedent. My night owl tendencies don’t help!

I’ll be fasting tomorrow, Thursday which means I’ll be joining you Merry and Nap! One of my classmates at TAFE is also fasting on Thursdays now too! I’m feeling that Mondays and Thursdays are going to become my schedule for now!

Cinque, I haven’t done the census either! You’ve reminded me!! I’m gathering that the Yam Daisy progress is taking place behind the scenes with the panel working on their decision?

The cabbages are still in the refrigerator waiting to be grated and mashed into sauerkraut. Turns out I checked my kombucha batch yesterday and realized it needed refreshing, so set a new batch of that to ferment instead. I also got in a beach walk!

Hope you are both doing well Dan and Jac!

Lael, I joined this forum on about page 42 so I don’t know what happened to Alimax and the other pioneers of the thread. I suppose you could contact Alimax through JJ on this website, it would be interesting to know what happened, eh? People come and go and it’s a shame when you just never hear from them again. One person I met through these pages and became friends with, CharliesMum, doesn’t post any longer as she says she hasn’t time. She also enjoys fermenting things and introduced me to milk kefir. I’ve met other people who are no longer posting too – VDU & FreyaT. Some others who helped me when I was a newbie are now regulars on the Maintenance Chatbox thread. I did make a move there for a while but I can’t keep up with two threads and prefer to stay here and help other new people. Not that anyone needs it right now, all are doing so well.

Yes, wouldn’t that be funny if our paths had crossed at some hostel in NZ? You must have been very fit to cycle that terrain. Are you feeling better now? It’s good to settle into a routine with regular fast days. They can always be changed if needed. Have a good day Thursday fasters.

Thin, I am also so grateful for you staying on this thread otherwise I am sure I would have given up. There were so many posters when I started and like you wonder what happened to them and if they continued with 5:2.

Morning, all. A foggy morning here in Canberra – hopefully we will end up with a nice day after it lifts.

Intesha, nearly at 20kg loss is awesome! And that is all 5:2?
I hope your mothers birthday is a great success, as well. And I hope you are able to enjoy it, as well – despite the stress you seem to be under at the moment.
I admit it is scary bagging up all the old clothes. I have never been able to get rid of clothes, and now I am getting rid of perfectly good ones – they just are too big for me. Hopefully someone will get use out of them, it is hard to find good big clothes in the second hand stores here.

Hi Merry, hope you are able to find your perspective again. It sounds like you have had a chaotic week, so I think you can be forgiven for going over on FD :-). At least you made the effort, I think.

Wow, Thin, congrats on your ‘anniversay’! Two years is awesome. Well done.

A stressful week here again. We are trying to get a home loan, and it seems everyday there is a new statement they want, or new information, something else witnessed etc. It is doing my head in – and it has showed in my eating. I am fasting today, so hopefully that will help ‘reset’ things a bit – I certainly need it!

Have a great day, everyone. Anyone who is fasting today, have a good one.

Hi all

In answer to the question as to what has happened to earlier posters, most of us are still on 5:2 as far as I know. Purple posts on Maintenance as I do. Like Thin, I find it hard to post on more than one thread. I read this thread with interest and I love the way that you all support each other. 🌺🌺

When last heard of, IHAW was going strong on 5:2 up on the NSW North Coast. Purple has a fantastic story in that she and her husband have each lost a huge amount of weight on 5:2 and have kept it off. Also her husband has completely reversed his diabetes type 2. I think they are past their third year on 5:2 and never vary because of his diabetes.

I have been mostly on and sometimes off 5:2 since January 2014 and I love my fast days. I allow myself some variation in weight, and occasionally indulge in wheat products. Presently, I am back on serious and wheat free 5:2 as this is the easiest way for me to lose the weight I gained on our recent trip to the US and Canada,

I lost 17 kg in the first six months fasting on 5:2 and then found the 5:2 website, as I always knew that for me losing the weight was the easy part. During the weight loss period, I gave up all processed food, all wheat, all white foods and most sugar.

I post on the Maintenance thread, and sometimes on JoJos thread, as I don’t want my occasional weight gain to deter newbies to fasting. I love fast days. They make me feel clean and strong. It is the non fast days that are my undoing, if I don’t work hard at it. Like Thin and Purple, we must stay ever vigilant to eating the correct food. I think that fasting resets my appetite for,healthy food stuffs. I am grateful to Dr M for writing the book, and making the TV program.

I have a poor reaction to wheat and other processed foods, and busy myself reading books such as Wheat Belly (I forget the author) and Gut by Giulua Enders, as they help me to see what is wrong with me. And how to cope.

Cheers, all, and best fortune with your journey along the intermittent fasting life road. Bay 🌺🌺🌺🌺

Good morning,
Lovely morning in Melbourne. 21 degrees forecast!
But It is just 8am and I have been up for three hours. Yes, granddaughter is here. Tried to get her back to sleep at 5am but gave up after half an hour.

Lucky she is so gorgeous.

Thin, Happy 5:2 anniversary for yesterday!
On reddit they call your anniversary ‘cake day’. We need another name for here!
Maybe candle day! Happy 2nd candle day Thin!

My first candle day was July 14th.

Oh dear, I have had CFS getting close to half my life 🙁 I was 31 and teaching up in the NT in 1989 when I got a bout of pneumonia and it morphed into CFS and kept getting worse as I tried to keep working. I didn’t completely give up work until 1997. (Well, that’s paid work, I was mum to a four year old!)

I hope you got your cryptic crossword out!

Granddaughter calling, will write more later.

Brilliant! All we had to do was mention your names and you re-appeared. Welcome back VDU, Bay and Jaz and congratulations on your respective success. Cinque, my daughter asked how I would like celebrate my two year 5:2 anniversary – perhaps with a pea on a plate. You just can’t get good OFMs these days.

Afternoon All

Lael my fasting day is going great have only consumed 92 Calories for lunch and am Thinking about having a liquid tea of hot chicken soap

only ate half my normally tea last night is that normal ?? I just felt really full.

remember I am only at week eight, no longer getting head ache which is great, and know when I look down when I am standing I can see my shoes ya ha

Good Fasting All
Hagar

P.S. Jaz, I realize that the 3.6 kg that I’ve shed so far is somewhat of an estimate since that’s what I’d weighed a week or so prior to my first FD. I was too chicken to actually step on the scale just before starting.

Good that you tracked your starting stats!

Good morning,
Day after fast day. Woke up feeling lovely (yesterday was pretty hard, I was exhausted and busy all morning and then trying to rest and resist the world’s biggest comfort eating urges all afternoon. Made it through!)
Now I have had a very enjoyable breakfast and about to have my darling coffee.

I wasn’t up to writing yesterday, after my morning post, but it was such a delight to read all the posts and to see people popping in to say they still keep an eye on the thread and letting us know how it is going 5:2 wise. It so interesting and gives such great perspective.

Thin, here is a picture of your two year celebratory feast!
http://hhpblog.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Pea-on-a-plate.jpg

PS. We don’t talk much about exercise here, probably because some of us regulars can’t because of health conditions, but I’d like to encourage the others to try HIT and getting regular daily exercise. A daily walk is excellent. My OH walks a bit and plays a sport as well. I go to an Ex Physiologist 1x week to keep my jointsligaments, tendons and muscles functioning, as well as some balance and neurological stuff but it’s not what you would call exercise. I would love to be joining the walkers. At least with so much weight gone I can walk a little faster and a little further. It’s wonderful!

Merry

Hi all, just thought I would pop in and say hi, been off and on the 5:2 for a couple of years now and although I know the health benefits and have lost some weight, my motivation and willpower diminishes in differing degrees of size, usually when I am too busy, or travelling overseas. OH and I recently returned from 2 months holidaying in the US on the back of me being hospitalized and recouping for the month of May, and gaining around 5 kgs in all…..again!!! This time he has joined me and we are both doing OK, fitting in quite a bit of exercise too, limited ability there as we are both seeing the physio for knee and ankle injuries!!!

I remember first commenting on here MerryMe about the same time as you and am so pleased that you have done so well, your goal weight is where I want to be too, so you are my inspiration, especially when I read what you have been going through along your journey, well done!

Off to the Farmers Market in Dunedin tomorrow morning, so see how good we can be at resisting all those lovely fresh goodies!!

Fasting Mondays and Thursdays, exercising most days!

Cheers, Turnabout

Hi Turnabout, I’ve been here long enough to remember you. At one time we had quite a few posters from the long white cloud.

Morning Cinque. Wear something that still fits snugly. Visualise the pea on the plate. Put six chips on a plate. Chew slowly. Enjoy yourself! See you here tomorrow.

I survived the Italian meal thanks Lael. I took your advice, decided in advice what I’d have from their menu on-line (pan fried chicken breast), was very forthright when the friends asked if we wanted starters, didn’t covet their garlic bread, enjoyed one full glass of red wine and didn’t worry about it. Minimal damage on the scales.

Off for coffee with a girlfriend this morning, the first of three coffee meetings this week. I think I’ll walk later – it is SO cold this morning.

Thinking of you Intesha and sending good wishes for your mum’s big bash.

Catch up. Life has been quite busy. Another good week I have been able to get back out in the garden. I have managed to mow most of the yard just 2 hours left. I have had that much rain the yard is saturated so cannot use the ride on mower. When I use the hand mower I consider this strength and toning exercises. This has pushed me down to my goal weight 54kg. It is still hard to get my head around as 75kg was always a barrier. it has been quite liberating to throw out all my fat clothes (donated to charity) with all the emotional baggage that some of them had. New clothes fresh start. I am just thankful that there have been lots of sales here. When I started this journey I had no expectations I just wanted to reduce the abdominal fat any weight loss I would be grateful for. Exercise regime 4 min HIIT every two days and arm exercises daily.

Hi all! Hey, great to read posts from the ‘Pioneers!’ and also all fellow ‘Regulars’!

Great that the Italian dinner went well, Thin! The chicken breast sounds like it was both tasty and healthy!

Cinque, your grand daughter’s party sounds fun. How fortunate you were able to attend her birth! I’m envisioning you eating a couple of chips and feeling satisfied.

Merry, hope you are feeling better and that you and OH have shaken that bug! It sounds similar to the type that I’ve just gotten over.

Jaz, I agree about how important it is to address visceral fat and like you point out, our visceral fat percentage can have nothing to do with our size and shape. It is only recently that I’d even heard of this. I’d watched ‘How to Stay Young’ and watched the toned, trim and active Angela Rippon discover that she had an alarming level of the stuff tucked around her organs such as heart. Who would have guessed!?!? She didn’t even look to carry any extra weight around her middle!

Yesterday I shredded the red cabbages, massaged salt into the batch to release the juices and put them up to ferment.

I’m happy with how my FDs went this week. I feel back in the ‘zone’.

Interesting that you mentioned 4 minute HIIT, GL502 and good to read that it is working! On one of my NFDs this week I was feeling so good that I actually experimented with that exact sequence while on the beach just to see if I could pull it off and to monitor how I felt afterwards (to see if I’d ‘crash’ or not). I’ll admit, I did it ‘my way’ in that I didn’t set out to push myself to the edge of my limits, though that didn’t seem to matter because by the end of the 4 minutes, I’d felt like I’d gotten there and then the 4 minutes was over, which was perfect! In that regard the 4 minute HIIT reminds me of 5:2! When I’m really hungry on a 5:2 FD I know breakfast is around the corner. When I was really puffed during my last minute of alternating jogging/walking on the beach, I was able to continue because I knew I only had seconds left till I could rest!

So nice to read your posts – I’m busy working on assignments & working so I don’t have time for other things, such as sleeping! But I’m very happy to report I’m at a new low today, nearly 15kg down, more than half way to my goal weight.
This last week seems to have gone better in that although I’m still craving sugar & chocolate, I seem to be automatically registering that those are emotional needs signals rather than actual hunger. Which is a blessing, as it makes it easier to hold off on the binge. And I more or less managed to get through my fast days without sliding off them completely.

I swore off calorie counting a few years ago (it was my New Year’s resolution that year) and it is a much more relaxed place to be.

I know if I’m being way out of control, but if I’m really hungry and feeling faint and dizzy, and I’m at work (on my feet, caring for people) then a large cup of coffee with milk and a piece of fruit or a nut bar (nuts, people, not chocolate!) sorts out the blood sugar, and I can make it safely through without killing anyone – myself included.

Nice to meet you all – have gorgeous weekends – a beautiful day today although a bit windy on the NSW South coast, and catch you next time.

I hope the 2 year old and the 90 year old birthday parties both went well yesterday.

Great job CAnn, 15 kgs down. Feels terrific to be over the halfway point, doesn’t it? I used to take photos of my feet on the scales when I reached certain weights not seen in decades.

Lael, visceral fat has been discussed here before. A lot of people (Dr M. included at one point) mistakenly think that they aren’t at risk of health problems just because they aren’t overweight. Do you know about the cardboard test? It’s cheaper than the MRI.

Merry, how exciting that you’re off to enjoy turkey and pecan pie in California. Not forgetting a trip to Gump of course. Agree, it would be nice if Dan dropped in with an update.

FD coming to a close for me. It’s been easy peasy. As someone else recently mentioned, I also quite look forward to fasting and the sense of discipline I’ve achieved.

Good morning from grey and rainy Melbourne, light enough though to make everything shiny outside.

I was so tired after the 2 yo birthday! I’d worn myself out shopping the day before, and then taking her to the park in the morning, and just planned to pop in the party to say hello to their friends and see the birthday cake lit. But it turned out that my really good friends had come down, and I was nearly too tired to talk to them.

It was a good idea to wear a snuggly outfit Thin, I did. I find it very easy to just not eat at parties, although I had a couple of savoury nibbles, no chips, but I always want to eat when I get home. So I made a nice (big) platter of falafel, tabbouleh, lettuce, crisp pita and tahini sauce. Very yummy.
And I think that made for an easy fast day yesterday! It was an easy lovely fast.

That’s my news.

GL, so good to hear what you are up to! Whole food and mindful eating is my mantra too!
It must be exciting times to be out in your garden, with Spring coming on! I hope the wet soaks down deep so that the ground is ready for what Summer may bring! And you can find something else to do for strength and toning!

Oh dear, maybe our shapes are morphing into old lady wide waists and we just have to say farewell to the neat little ones (that I never really had. boo hoo)
I’ll enjoy mine quickly as it comes into existence and then transmutes away!

What is the cardboard test? My google search found 3D glasses!

CANNbewarra, so good to have lost that (nearly) 15kg! What a great amount not to have to carry around! Hooray for the big clothes going out.
I have been having such fun working out my new style as I have lost weight! I hope it is fun for you too.

Merry I am the tortoise with you! The last bit of weight is going very slowly (but I am noticing that my arm flaps are getting smaller), and I really on the pre maintenance track. I am mostly noticing how I myself into patterns and then often have to get out of them. They creep in! I keep the good ones! 😉

Lael how is your sauerkraut going? I have just discovered kimchi and would like to make my own.
It is interesting that you had pneumonia too. I related to your description. The day before I was diagnosed I was climbing a little hill with friends thinking “I am SO out of breath! I really need to get my fitness up!” And I was only breathing with half a lung!

Oh dear, look at the time! Must go!

Cinque, you handled it perfectly. I agree completely – when you haven’t over-indulged the day before, a FD is so much easier to get through. A lesson not to over-compensate when your fast is coming up. Yesterday, I had the odd pang of hunger and the eggplant curry I made for the OFMs smelled so delicious but, really, a fast day is just a part of my life and so easy to get through. 59.5kgs so I’m re-set for the week.

Monday and Thursday are the most popular FDs, the same as Dr M. chose. Have a great fast day, Monday crew.

Go Merry! I know you can get that last 4.5kg off before your trip and will be cheering you along. I hope you’ve made sure that your OH has seen strategy no. 3 above?!

One flaw with that cardboard test is that it doesn’t define what constitutes a ‘very little difference’. I did mine this morning and it’s a 2″ difference. What that tells me, I’m not sure! A bit of fun anyway.

Lael, for a bit more fun, did you see Kevin Nealon last week (it’s on iView under Comedy) with his show entitled, “Now hear me out!”? Being from California, I think you’ll have a good chuckle despite it being quite old.

Typo – am I rather like a little madness. Should be – I rather like a little madness.

Good morning all, well back to empty nest and I’m not feeling too good. I miss my daughter so much and now more so that I know she is not happy. No morning cuddles and smiley faces just loads of washing and cleaning up.

I am definitely a tortoise but unlike Thin whose mind is a steel trap my path has been a windy one. Our lives all beat to different drums but if we get there in the end who cares how we did it. We are all winners just by being here. I nodded my head when I read Bay’s comment about being in size 12 and even though the scales might register a few kg increase the clothes still fit.

I wore a dress for Mum’s birthday, which was a wonderful day, and a few people commented how skinny I had become. This morning I had a message from my brother who said his wife commented several times how good I looked. So I think we should stop being so hard on ourselves, really look at the mirror and see what other people see.

My FD’s are Tuesday and Thursday. Those are the days I tend to stay at home and I find it easier to keep busy. Weight this morning 69.8. Lots to do today, getting the house back into order before Dad comes back. Hopefully I’ll have a few days to myself.

Have a good day everyone.

Hi Intesha

Having been there, I feel for you and your daughter, as we all know the impact this will have. I am also an emotional eater and when things are emotionally stressful is when I tend to eat sweet foods, and put on the weight. Thank heavens for Dr M and intermittent fasting.

For two years, I was a regular Monday and Thursday faster, like clockwork. Now I vary between fasting on Sunday or Monday or Tuesday, plus Thursday. This allows me to fit the fasting around family times. I will always require two fast days a week, as I have troubles saying no on nonfast days. I’m fasting today. Therefore lots of gardening and housework will get done. 😆😆😆

Merry, go girl go. On every thread there is someone like Thin who sticks like glue to the formula that gave success. She is our beacon of hope. OTOH there are people like me whose life is a small roller coaster of a few kg up and then a few kg down. Overall I am happy with my size. 🌞🌞🌞

It took me two years to realise that I am now a slim person. It is a shock to understand that one can be entirely mistaken in one’s own body image. Not in the same league, but you can have an inkling of how anorexics have body distortion problems.

All the best to you both, and kudos to Thin. Cheers, Bay 🎉🌺🌺🌺🌺

Never trust a skinny cook!

Bay, it’s so good to see you posting here again and to know that you’re back into fasting after a lovely long carefree holiday. Your attitude towards enjoying yourself on holidays (or restaurants) is a lot healthier than mine and you have the long-term commitment to 5:2 to always return and get on with what needs to be done. You’ve always been a great inspiration to me.

In my mind, I’m no beacon of hope, no steel trap mind. If you sat down for a long coffee with me, you’d realise that I probably have more food glitches than everyone else put together. It’s my rigid, addictive personality that lends itself so well to fasting. I’m an all or nothing type so all I’ve done is shift my addiction to food to an addiction to fasting. I get as much support from reading these pages as anyone so please don’t stop posting Bay when you fall off the wagon.

Intesha, I was thinking of you last night when I went to bed and had meant to send you an email. I knew you’d be feeling low after your family’s departure. I hadn’t realised that your dad wasn’t with you. I do identify with the comments about body image. It has taken me a long time to acknowledge that I’m no longer a fat person. Cinque, having the hip bones above the belly is a fabulous image to hold on to and I’m glad yours is not the visceral kind! I still have a belly and I don’t think it’s going anywhere – OFMs say I need toning exercises but I’ve also read that a lot of sit-ups etc are contraindicated for women my age due to their propensity for weakening the pelvic floor muscles. I don’t want anything to fall out. Comments?

Hey Bay, I’m kind of like you! I’m good at the ‘all or nothing’ approach as well! Today is post fast NFD and I ate a nourishing breakfast and feel full. However, there are all these kumquats I bought from the markets off someone’s tree. I love kumquats and bought half a kilogram to share with others though everyone I’ve offered them to say they are too bitter! One house guest spat theirs out! I don’t want to waste them and I love them and at same time I really don’t want to snack.

Reviewing previous experiences of successfully dropping kilograms I realize were all times I successfully avoided snacks of any kind and only ate food at meals (like my French friend does who says she never needed to lose weight, she just eats her food during her 3 meals a day). I can’t imagine consuming a bowl of kumquats for lunch!

The thing that I can feel is that once I decide to eat a kumquat or two for a snack, that opens the door on the snacking dragon, much like eating early on a FD opens the hunger dragon for me.

I’ve also got more of those coconut cacao truffles in the fridge! I’m thinking the way to handle those is perhaps allowing myself one for dessert after dinner or lunch (my French friend eats desserts, though that is only time she will eat a sweet and just once a day at most!).

I feel at a cross roads. I’m just observing this phenomenon for now.