Good morning.
Day after fast day for me. Enjoying breakfast already!
I had a good fast day/ Even though I have the same menu every fast day, I do change the greens in my miso soup! And yesterday I had baby broad beans from my daughter’s garden. SO yummy!

Fishing Gran, I hope you had a good fast day too!

Merry woot! Won’t it be lovely watching it settle in as the new norm!

Eloelo, I hope it is a short, small flare. I was looking up ‘Spoon Theory’ again so I could print it out for the people I work with to help explain why I am so difficult. The woman who wrote it has Lupus, but it is true for so many chronic illnesses. https://butyoudontlooksick.com/articles/written-by-christine/the-spoon-theory/

Pamie I ate my first ‘salad in a jar’ on Sunday and it was yummy and worked really well! There are people who swear they last a week in the fridge. I’ll test if they last five days as I made four but didn’t have one on my fast day.
They are great fun and look so pretty (even though I didn’t pack that tidily) and there are so many possibilities!

I tried on my summer skirts last night and they are all slipping down. The ones that sit okay on my hips are still good but I have had to put two in the op shop pile. And a lovely red top that I put on and it was too big. When I was overweight I just loved to have things a bit big! Not any more. Was it you that said that Merry? Very true for me. I need them to be ‘just right’!

Mumsy I love how you really understand your body and fasting in your life! You are right, I do the very basic 5:2 and just keep plodding along with it.

Best wishes to all the Tuesday fasters! And the Tuesday normal eaters!

Hi everyone, I had my first test this week when I decided to change my Monday fast day and on Monday night I wondered if I would stick with it the next day. Well it’s now Wednesday and am pretty happy with myself for changing days successfully. I will change back next week to Monday to even the spread of FD’s.

My brother gave me a set of scales last year to remind me I was too big and I only used them when I got them to check my weight for an adventure course, now of course I jump on them things in the morning after a FD as it has been telling me great things every time I ask.

I lost another 1kg this morning, let’s see how long this goes on for. I didn’t eat until dinner last night which was different but I just kept putting off having some something with some water or black tea. Meals for the day were vegetable frittata with 2 eggs and 3 egg whites, asparagus, mushrooms and tomato with 100g of rockmelon for dessert.

Hi Cinque, I keep my left over salad in a zip lock bag. It has avocado, cheese, tomato’s etc.(10 items in all the kids love the variety) and as long as you make the dressing with the juice of a lemon or lime it will be fine. My ex’s dressing of olive oil, tbsp of red wine vinegar and a lime or lemon squeezed is ace. Last Friday nights salad was eaten with dinner on Monday night.

Hi everyone, welocme aviatrix!, well done Joffy!

Had a big day, will post tomorrow
Onwards and Downwards,
Merry

Hi All. FD for me too. Pretty easy to do while working from home. I love that when hunger comes around, it only lasts for 5 mins or so, then realises it won’t be entertained and goes away😄.
I have noticed a bit of a plateau lately – anyone got any suggestions on how to get things going again??
Merry, I’ve started my FD on 64.4. Been hovering around there even with alternate day fasting.
Hope everyone is going well!
Mumsy

Good morning, raining here today,

Day after FD 63.5 kg Yay!

You’re going well Aviatrix. Hope you’re feeling better and it irons out.

Back later

I’m here and well Cinque and Merry, thanks for your concern and thanks to those who contacted me outside our thread. I’ve been lurking while re-assessing my role here and thinking perhaps it was time to let others run with it. I’m following your impressive progress with interest and excited to hear how you both, along with Intesha and Lael handle maintenance. Well done to the newbies who’re sticking with it.

Hi all, another FD has past. I am enjoying the challenge of FD’s and am now not eating until dinner. I will not be posting my losses anymore (except for milestones) so as not to discourage others who are not seeing the same results. It is not a race and we are all different in many ways age, sex, genetics, etc.

thinatlast if you do not want to post due to having done so for a long time that’s OK but don’t think your posts are not appreciated by us newbies. I have been here for 3 weeks and find all posts awesome, helpful and inspiring. I believe if someone was thinking of lapsing or falling off the wagon from this way of life and came into the forum and see so many different views and stories it may be the little bit of positive energy to help them to continue.
What I am trying to say is the more comments the better as I feel it all helps.

Hi everyone,

Thin – so good to hear from you and know that you are OK! There are times when we re-assess our involvement in things and your involvement here must be up to you. But… It you decide it is time to move on I will miss you. You have done so well with 5:2, very steadfast is your journey. You have stayed and supported us and shared your journey moving on to maintenance, and getting used to travelling with us. It’s been wonderful to share that with you. It’s helped me so much to go on this journey of life with you. I think of you as a true friend who encouraged, supported, and kicked me in the butt when I needed it. I hope you stay, but if you decide to go please know that you have been a very important part of my journey and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Oh, and I made a big pot of cauliflower soup last night, in your honour, minus the cayenne pepper, and I will think of you everytime I have it! It’s delicious!

NFD for me today, and I have a couple of weeks left now before I go overseas on holiday. I’m going to the land of large meal sizes -USA, first to Hawaii then to mainland USA. So…I need a goal and a plan?….

GOAL: to come home the same weight as when I left

PLAN:

1. take travel scales weigh to keep me accountable, and weigh every morning, record
2. enjoy new foods and drinks, enjoy in moderation, taste small portions of things instead of big platefuls
3. no breakfasts – maintain doing 16: 8, eating in an 8 hr window, beginning after 12 noon
4. continue doing 2 FDs per week, Mon and Thursday
5. Thanksgiving is on while we are there on a Thursday, so switch that FD to another day
6. order entree sizes instead of main meal sizes
7. or share main meals between 2
8. rarely drink calories, drink water, sparkling water, peppermint tea etc
9. don’t eat the breadroll
10. skip dessert except try new things at Thanksgiving dinner, sharing single portions

I’m adding:

11. enjoy being at my final goal weight (almost there, and will be there before I leave)
12. enjoy the reward of buying something new to wear
13. be flexible
14. I don’t need to pig out or be influenced by others to enjoy my holiday
15. be happy when I get back that I haven’t overeaten or been influenced by others

Onwards and Downwards,
Merry

Hi to joffy and pamie –

Congratulations and well done to both of you! This is a journey of surprises as well as accomplishments and 5:2 seems to allow us to change the psychology of how we relate to food as well as do txhe job of helping us get our normal weight back, and our bodies functioning more healthily. It’s great, and good to see you both benefitting from 5:2 and being on here.

Onwards and downwards,
Merry

Merry, I loved reading your traveling plan! …So many good points for me to consider even though I’m not traveling!

Hi to everyone else! I’ve been writing assignments so don’t have time to answer all the posts individually.

I’m having a very good FD that is helping me get back on track after straying widely, yesterday.

I weighed in, made myself a coffee and sat down to read news of my 5:2 friends as has been my ritual most days for the past 27 months. And what kind things I read. Wow, I’m a bit overwhelmed.

Joffy, thank you for what you said. I’ve been following your success as you strive to make these healthy changes to your life. I also would be sorry if you don’t post your losses. There will always be some who are unable to make this work for them but I’m sure lurkers and posters alike could only be encouraged by your results.

Merry, you’re a star. Within a hair’s breadth of goal weight after all you’ve been through. You’re the new 5:2 pin-up girl. I almost shed a tear when I read your post yesterday, thank you. Feel free to ask Cinque or Intesha for my email address. I’m sorry for the kicks up the rear! When you read on, you will see you have a chance to return the favour. Have a wonderful trip, armed with your travel scales and plan.

Cinque, I hope you’re looking after yourself properly and the cafe isn’t taking too much from you. It seems you’ve accomplished some mammoth tasks over the past weeks and months. Thank you also for what you wrote.

Intesha, how was the cruise to nowhere? Were there any tall, dark suitors aboard? I look forward to reading of your meeting with Merry.

Lael, I hope your assignments go well and your FD is a breeze. Like you, I’m welcoming a fast day today after going off the rails yesterday. I’m essentially still the same ‘overeater’ person I always was, it’s just that now I’m armed with the tools to deal with it and, thanks to contributors here, I have better nutrition literacy.

Yesterday, some friends invited us for lunch at a beautiful winery. I don’t normally eat lunch so I decided against breakfast. When we arrived, the place was packed out so our friends suggested we first go next door to the wine tasting room. So, it was at 2pm on an empty stomach and with a range of wines sampled that I made my poor lunch choices. Another bottle of wine over lunch and I no longer cared. Then in the evening, my neighbours held a movie night and I grazed throughout. I haven’t done such mindless eating for a very long time.

I blame the wine for this morning’s scale blowout. Like saturated fats, sugar and salt, alcohol is high in calories, low in fibre and nutrient poor. Discretionary intake of all these can help us better manage our weight and reduce our risk of chronic illness like heart & kidney disease, stroke, diabetes and some cancers. I believe alcohol needs to be part of any honest conversation about making healthy changes in our lives. So, Merry, please – kick away! I deserve it.

To Pamie, Fishing Gran, Aviatrix, Mumsy and all the other newbies, stick with it. It works. Although I’m feeling pretty disgusted with myself today, I’m still well within my goal weight range which I’ve been maintaining for about 15 months, thanks entirely to 5:2. I lost 23kgs by the way.

Hi Dear Thin!
I’ve just had my big bowl of miso soup with fresh mushrooms, cabbage and chicken in it this time.
It was a good Fast day and I did get a lot done. A lot more to do. Sigh.

What an impressive blowout you had! The great binge of 2016!
I hope you took pictures, the next one is probably further away than the last one!
(And all that fattening salt 😉 )

My favourite is to have a fast day straight after one of THOSE days! Such a relief. Hope you are feeling better every hour!
I must say I seem to (Oh dear, before I write any more I must TOUCH WOOD AND WHISTLE) but it really seems that an occasional binge day just washes through me. I guess my binges are smaller (and I don’t go to wineries 😉 – yep another wink!) but it is like they are just a lump on the timeline, no bigger than the day.

I’ll let you know if I have a foul binging day tomorrow and go up a clothes size! Then I’ll eat my words!

Anyway, I am off to early bed tonight, I so hope I get some good sleep!
Best wishes

Best wishes everyone! See you tomorrow!

Hi cant and welcome:

Here are some tips that might help: https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/the-basics-for-newbies-your-questions-answered/

Good Luck!

Thanks Thin, and great advice for Cant. Small goals are achievable and give you a great boost when you reach them. If you put in your goal weight right at the start, it can be a long time coming…

P.S. I hadn’t planned to fast today! I just fasted on Saturday and like Merry, I actually do better leaving 2 days between FDs. However, I’m not hungry and it is now going on 1 pm and all I’ve felt like having is water. I feel clear headed and balanced with my energy levels so I might as well continue on and make this my first FD of the week!

Hope everyone else fasting today is doing it easy too!

For those who had read that I’m trialing the addition of inulin to my regime (which is a pre-biotic that supposedly alters our gut flora and thus helps reduce visceral fat percentages), I started with just a teaspoon a week and am about to raise up to 4 teaspoons. I’m finding my digestion has been fine while taking it as long as I take it away from meals (at least a half hour before). So, so far, so good and I’ll let you know at the end of the trial if it well and truly reduced that stubborn layer of fat around my middle that remains despite having reached goal weight! I’m also aware that after reaching goal that our bodies still continue to improve and heal and that down the track it might just be the continuation of 5:2 practice that sees the shrinking of my belly fat and not the inulin! …I guess I won’t know for sure!

Hi all just wanted to pop in and say welcome to our newbies. This is a wonderful supportive thread with so much knowledge and experience.

I have just come back from my cruise to nowhere. Thursday was my normaL FD and went well until I met my friend to board the ship. Had a bottle of bubbly on an empty stomach, know the feeling Thin. Did try to be mindful but gave up, although did not overeat I treated myself to whatever appealed but also find now I cannot eat as much or as I think it was Pamie who said that sweet things make me sick now if I overindulge.

Weight on Thursday 66.9. This morning 67.7 and I have just had my first food since 12 noon yesterday 26 hours, I am amazed at myself. Back to normal FDs tomorrow.

Lael I make my own pro-biotic, kefir and have been doing it since August last year and I personally believe that this has helped me. If it’s possible I take it everywhere I go, even took a few bottles on the cruise. Not always convenient as it needs to be refrigerated. I look forward to hearing your results as prior to you I had never heard of it.

Good morning all, another FD completed and managed well. I could feel the hunger kicking in mid afternoon and had 300g of rockmelon and I don’t think it made much difference, I reckon more water or a black tea have the same effect now, so I got busy (mowed the lawn) as getting busy definitely works best. I had 2 bottles of water to replace the beers that I would have on NFD’s which was another test completed.

Dinner was frittata with veggies and 2 slices of shaved salami total of 1800kj for the day.

Hi everyone and to fellow newbies

Thanks so much Merry, Cinque and Thin for your encouragement. On Friday I began my FD after little sleep, so wasn’t my most enthusiastic, but a quick read of everyone’s posts gave me that extra boost and I went on to have my fourth successful FD (they just get better).

Cinque, I didn’t get so grumpy the next day, it had downgraded to mildly irritable which didn’t hang around for long, which is a relief. I’ve lost an inch around my waist and just enough around my upper arms to have felt comfortable (just) wearing a t-shirt with shorter sleeves to my dance class.

What’s upsetting is that just when I was starting to see and feel so much better, I’ve had to put 5:2 on hold whilst studying for exams. FDs are getting easier but they are still not second nature and require focus which I don’t have whilst focussing on study. It’s so frustrating as I was just getting into the swing of it and I really miss my FDs (can’t believe I just wrote that). Sorry for moaning.

Congrats Joffy, Lael, u2by, Cinque and Intesha for your successes, well done! Apologies if I’ve missed anyone!

Good morning everyone,

Went away for 2 weeks at 77kg, back Sunday, weighed in Monday at 76.4kg. Pretty happy about that. Nasty bout of gastro and now I’m 74.7kg. Happy to have reached my 2nd goal of 75kg but would rather have done it without the gastro 😣 Feeling completely wiped out…

Good morning everyone, it is a fine sunny morning in Melbourne and I am making my second pot of coffee :0

It is my half fast day now I have gone all maintenancy!

I like how you keep making your fast days fastier Joffy. Lawnmowing and big drinks of water! (Mine is going to be getting my business plan completed and big drinks of water!) (I’ll need that water after a second pot of coffee!)

Lael, it is so nice to know I am not alone with those underarm flaps! Come the day when we have nice straight upperarms to show off in our sleeveless summer dresses!

What a yummy treat you provided for your study pal! Especially the salad, made my mouth water!

Aviatrix, isn’t it hard to do ANYTHING when you haven’t had enough sleep! Congratulations for getting through your fast day anyway! And woot that the grumpiness wasn’t so bad. Hopefully it will fade more each fast day, and soon be completely gone!
So envious of those shorter sleeves! Although wait, my arm circumference must be about half of what it was when I was at my fattest (30+kg heavier). (They don’t flop down past my elbows, when my arms hang down, any more 😉 ).

Best wishes for getting though the exams.
Maybe, on the days that are usually your fast days, you can have a no snacks, no dessert policy or something like that so the ghost of your fast days are still there.
But whether you do that or not, you have the unusual pleasure of getting back to fasting once that last exam is out of the way!
I do know the feeling of missing them, it reminds me of when I used to do a run every morning at dawn and I would miss it if I couldn’t do it, even though it involved getting out of bed and hard work!

Intesha, Trifecta! Wow! What a lovely thing to happen when other things are so difficult.
Sending you good wishes, thinking of your mum declining and what a hard time that is. Mum and child is such a powerful relationship. I was a step removed when my mum died a couple of years ago after a long decline of health complications including dementia, because of geography and my health, but it was still a long deep pain at that time.

Good luck finding some excellent size 10 trousers! You will be glad to hear I found some pyjama pants I put away for summer (wondering at the time if I really would be small enough to fit into them – and I am!).

Beth I hope you are recovering from the gastro! Doesn’t it wipe you out. But celebrations for the couple of kilos gone now! You can deal with the rest with normal fasting ok!

Better go now! Sending best wishes to everyone!

Lael, that’s interesting about the inulin, will have to read up on that.

Intesha, well done on the Melbourne Cup!! I used to work with a girl and she picked 3 random horses and won $12,000! Very exciting! I was away sick from work on Cup Day but had asked for some sweep tickets and when I went back to work today, I’d won $60!

Weighed in this morning at 74.4 so I lost exactly 2kg since Monday morning with the gastro thing. The past 2 days have only eaten white rice, white crackers and puréed apple – boring as but I wanted to make sure I didn’t upset my tummy any further so I followed Google’s advice (which aligned with my mothers long time advice). Will hopefully be able to introduce normal food (veggies etc) tomorrow.

7kg down means I’m almost halfway to my goal of losing about 16kg. This will put me at about 65kg and I’m about 5’7″ or 172cm. I put on weight in my 20’s & 30’s, lost it just prior to turning 40. I was 61kg at 40 years old so will see how 65kg feels at 54 years old and reassess then if need be. Can’t believe I even get to say this. There were many times over the last 14 years when I really thought this is what Im stuck with and it’s probably only going to get worse. So exciting to have something that works and is sustainable.

Feeling like I might have reached the point I’ve heard so many people talk about ie. give up sugary things and you’ll stop craving them. Have not bought lollies for 10 weeks I don’t think. Had one ice cream while away but threw half away. Can’t say the same for chips (crisps) – very tempted by them when I walk past them in the supermarket. And a cheese and cracker platter would be my certain undoing.

I have a question about breath…. I’ve often read that when you’re fasting and your body is burning ketones, your breath can be pretty bad. Quite a few times since I started this Ive felt like I have bad breath and a few times my husband (at my request) has advised I ‘need a mint’. Has anyone else experienced this and what do you do to fix it?

Sending good wishes to all those on here dealing with chronic illnesses that make this journey more difficult. Full credit to you for persevering and I hope this WOL brings positive changes above and beyond the weight loss.

Cheers
Beth

Hi all still here been lurking having problems getting back on track doing a FD today.now to read posts.

Joffy, I love the way you strive to prepare and cook fresh food on FDs. I like the discipline of being in the kitchen on a FD, preparing food, resisting licking spoons and testing things and making a nutritious, satisfying meal between 200 and 300 cals. I also enjoy the routine and ease of grabbing a homemade cauliflower soup portion from the freezer (103cals), confident that it will see me through to 5pm. Like you, I also had 100gm watermelon on my last FD, having first checked on myfitnesspal, and was surprised that it’s so low cal, being so sweet.

I’ve just introduced my 14th person to 5:2 and always include a large file of recipes in my initial info package. I’m sure a lot of people think they have to survive on celery sticks and cottage cheese on FDs.

Lael and Cinque, you’re dreaming surely about the flabby arms disappearing over time spent on maintenance! I think we have to put in the hard work like Intesha to achieve that. I dislike weight lifting intensely so I just cover mine up. It’s great to read how you’re both managing maintenance and well done for getting there.

Lael, another Perth poster gave me some kefir grains a couple of years ago but instead of drying them out when we went away for a couple of months, I froze them and they were never the same. I must see if I can get some back that I gave away. Would milk kefir give the same effect as your inulin?

Beth, how well you’re doing! I was ‘undone’ by a large platter of cheese, etc last weekend. I’m back to my good weight after two fasts this week. Normally, I put what I intend to eat on a plate rather than constant grazing so I can see upfront what it looks like. I raised the question of halitosis when I first started 5:2. Not many people seemed to think they suffered (or maybe their families were less direct than mine!). It makes perfect sense to me since we’re ridding the body of fat through expiration. I know that overnight fasting isn’t enough to produce ketosis but I doubt there are many people who wake up in the morning with fresh breath! In the absence of food, digestive juices are still released but start to break down which can result in a foul odour. Fasting also results in less oral saliva leading to a dry mouth. Odour can arise due to the bacterial buildup that occurs as saliva isn’t present to remove it from the teeth and tongue. This coupled with the rise of digestive juices causes halitosis. Lovely topic. I use a tongue blade which I purchased in India. Other tips are regular brushing, flossing and drinking water.

Intesha, I’m sorry to hear of your mum’s decline. Merry, not long now until your departure. Have you two met yet?

Hope everyone else is going well. Have a wonderful weekend with lots of healthy food choices.

Hi Joffy, thanks for posting details of the website, I’ll look for it now. I have trouble dealing in kjs other than my ability to divide by four to get a somewhat incorrect calorie count. (I appreciate that kilojoule is the correct scientific term, but it just doesn’t mean anything to me).

I wondered about watermelon and insulin resistance as I’d understood it to have a high GI. I try to stay away from sweet things on FDs. I looked it up and the GI value is 72 so it has the potential to raise blood glucose. However, I found an article that offers some good news: the GI of a carbohydrate-containing food is an incomplete assessment and should not be used as the only yardstick for determining foods that can affect blood glucose, according to the University of Wisconsin Health. The glycemic load takes the GI into account, but also measures the quality and amount of carbohydrates in foods. Watermelon has a high GI, but there aren’t a lot of carbohydrates, so watermelon’s glycemic load is relatively low. You would have to eat a lot of watermelon for it to have a big impact on blood glucose.

P.S. I hope this is okay, that I’ve cut and pasted this piece that you wrote, Merry, in another thread. It is so good, I just had to copy it here so I can easily refer back to it as a reminder for myself and to share with others. I’ve been relating my 5:2 experiences with a friend, who since bought a 5:2 book and came back with me saying… ‘So did I get it right? I just drink liquids 2 days a week, correct?’ I replied, ‘That’s not what I’m doing.’ I then found out that she happened to see a 5:2 book written by someone other than Dr. Mosley and bought it, assuming that it was written by whoever I was following! I’m aware that other authors have capitalized on Dr. Mosley’s work and often change and alter content. Merry’s piece below, to me sums up the essence of Dr. Mosley’s 5:2 and WOL:

Merry writes…

“5:2 doesn’t specify anything about fat, just calorie allowances for FDs and TDEE for nonFds. There are people successfully doing 5:2 on full fat, and low fat products. There are people successfully doing 5:2 on high fat, low fat, meat eating, vegetarian, vegan, paleo, lots of fruit, not much fruit, grains, no grains, potatoes, no potatoes, dairy, no dairy, sugar, some sugar, no sugar etc etc etc. Everyone does their own thing. There are people from all over the world and every continent on here. People eat according to their culture, religion, food philosophy, some have medical issues, allergies and need to eat specific ways, and so on………. So, what you eat is up to you. Probably the one thing everyone agrees on is added sugar being very bad for us. That said some say that but have honey whereas others wouldn’t etc so again what people eat is very individual.

“I would encourage you to eat food that you are familiar with to start off. Some people find starting 5:2 morenchallenging than others, so starting with familiar foods makes it easier for you. As you go along you will find that you naturally start to change how you eat to include some other foods and discard some that you’re not happy with. The forum is here for you to get adivce from and for you to give advice too.”