This topic contains 27,911 replies, has 831 voices, and was last updated by Anzac65 1 day, 22 hours ago.
Hi everyone,
Sorry to be a bit absent…..getting ready to go overseas/ some other stuff / spring cleaning the kitchen and pantry after 6yrs!! (Can’t believe how long it took….Cinque, Lael and a couple of others will know what I mean…. A job that should be comfortably done in a few hours by normal people takes me multiple days…. see the link up the top of the page to ‘the spoon theory’ Cinque put up), Also have had about a week’s worth of 1.30am bedtimes, not good, celebrating a family member’s birthday, making sure I have enough clothes that fit to take me from a hot climate to a cold one.
5:2-wise I’ve done a couple of back2back fastsnow and they’ve gone well with no CFS backlash. Just needed to make sure I drank extra water, had a little extra salt on the 2nd days, needed to add psyllium husk in on the 2 nd fast day also, and I’m determined to get to 63.0 before I leave in just under 2 weeks. Got measured at my rehab session today and my waist is now 72cm / 28″ and under the risk level now. Over the last 3weeks my waist and belly have shrunk more than anywhere else. I have the new bras now, which is great. Tuesday was a special occasion as it was my 1st day under 10stone in old money ….9stone 13 1/2 lbs.
Must get to sleep, more tomorrow,
Onwards and downwards,
Merry
Good morning everyone,
I had a maintenance fast day on Friday, which was easy after blow out Thursday! But then got nasty asthma again (taking granddaughter to the park I think). This year, instead of hayfever, I seem to be getting worse asthma. I will go to the doctor tomorrow. I think I am a lot better today but it is a bit early to tell.
Fast Day today (and lots of organising). I’ll try to fit in some time with those potato bags Thin!
Lael, it was great that you put up Merry’s overview! Well said Merry!
Every minute I am busy with my project. And managing to fit in a bit of time with granddaughters! The little one is nearly 6 weeks old already! She still has her gorgeous fat cheeks for her grandma to kiss.
Best wishes everyone for a really good day!
Sorry to hear about your asthma Thin! It’s an awful feeling. I had it from the age of 10 till my early 40’s and it still comes back if I get a respiratory illness. All these years later I still carry a ventolin in my bag to be safe.
I too am going to try the potato bags today 😊 You had me going, I was thinking to myself, “who would have 2 five kg bags of potatos in their kitchen?? I’ll have to find some other equivalent”. 😂
Reached a goal yesterday, managed my first ‘one meal day’. Had zero cals till I ate the leftover Thai stir fry chicken & cashew nuts & rice at 5pm, although felt I could have gone later still. Some days, for whatever reason, are easier than others to fast aren’t they?
For the last 3 weeks I have been doing 16:8 each day (no cal counting but being mindful of carbs and mostly avoiding sugar) so need to decide is that enough to keep losing or do I need to do 2x 500 cal days as well, in that 8 hour period. I expect the answer is yes to the 2 x 500 cal days but hoping it is no!
Weighed in this morning at 74.7kg.
Have a great day and best of luck to all those fasting!
Good morning everyone, oldies, newbies, readers only, lurkers and pop-ins,
Life seems to be starting to ramp up for Christmas and summer. Lots of fires already in NSW, and as this seems a very windy year, let’s hope that the fires don’t get too bad this summer. Lots of support for our firies and Rural firies too.
Weigh in and record day Monday for me -63.2kg. 1.2kgs to get to Final goal weight. I have to admit to a bit of a blowout on Saturday that has kept that up – mindless, nutritionless sugar- laden treatcalories at that, and a bit of too much of the good nutrition-full stuff. Even had 1/2 glass of champagne. Somehow, although I have only a a week and a half to go to my 1 and only ever weight goal with a date on it, I’m not stressing over it. I wasn’t pushed into eating the stuff, just made a decision that it was OK. Go figure. I know that when I travel I don’t go stupid over food and hoover everything in sight. Not really a drinker and have my decaf coffees black with added milk – coffee made on milk is quite a lot of calories and I’d prefer to eat my calories not drink them.
I’m now 20kgs lower than my start weight of 83.1kgs. I’m setting very little mini goals of 63.0, 62.9 and 62.5kgs before the final goal of 62kgs. FD for me today. Just for these few weeks I’m doing back to back fasts on Sunday/Monday as well as Thursday. Today is the 2nd day of my 3rd b2b fasts experiment. I was very trepidacious about doing b2b fasts because of my ME/CFS but they’ve been going better than I thought they would. I won’t be keeping it up though, or doing it often. I’m being very very careful out here in unknown territory. Was it responsible for my blowout on Saturday? I don’t know, maybe, maybe not. I do get a bit light headed but a bit of salt seems to fix it. Yesterday I got quite headachy and had to use some some medication, but I’m also still getting back to my ‘normal’ sleep pattern, so don’t know if the heAdache was from fasting, or not enough sleep, or just needing to concentrate a bit more while prepping for overseas while spring-cleaning, or just a normal ME/CFS headache. Headaches haven’t been part of my 5:2 journey up to this, so again, don’t know if it’s connected to yesterday’s fast.
Lael – no problem with re-posting my post. We never know what people’s mindset is when they 1st post on the forum and ask about 5:2, clearly not knowing much about it. I think it’s important for people to not get confused about what is part of 5:2 and what isn’t, and what guides people’s food choices is so variable, and our body’s all react differently..
Must go, talk later,
Onwards and downwards everyone,
Merry
Merry, you have a beautiful way with words and why I shared what you’d written is because your heart came through in those truths you wrote. In other words your words are welcoming for anyone new and if I were new, reading what you wrote would put me at ease and make me want to take the plunge and give 5:2 a go.
Good morning all, Monday FD over and the scales have been generous again. I peeked into 121kg which is a 6kg loss since starting (13 Oct). I say peeked into as I had a lovely brekky of 2 poached eggs with smashed avocado on toast at home and that must have sent me back to 122kg for sure but I will check again on Friday after the next FD. I am hoping to drop 10-12kg (total) by christmas before a holiday on the beach.
I still enjoy a few beers over the week but the use of FD’s has reduced the intake by heaps. My FD’s are Monday and Thursday so no beer, Tuesday’s I take my boy to golf and then pick up the daugther from dancing afterwards, Wednesday’s is athletics training for the kids so this limits my time I would normally be having a beer during the week to Friday and the weekend. Yes before I started this WOL I still took the kids to these things, the difference is I am now busy on Monday’s and Thursday’s (5:2ing) which is something I didn’t even think of when choosing my FD’s.
Meals for the day 2 x carrots 200kj (one was little) and a vegetable frittata with peas, broccoli, capsicum, spring onions and an onion. Total 1750kj.
Hi all, this is my first post, I have been doing alternate day fasting for one week. That’s because I have so much to lose, 45 kg and counting down. I know it is working because i have had to haul my jeans back up all day today. I can’t believe how easy this has been for me so far, I keep waiting for the hunger pangs to hit, but so far I have actually had to remind myself to eat. I wonder if that is because I have so much body fat to rely on during a fast. I am wheat intolerant, so I’m am not letting anything made from wheat in the house, even for non fast days.
Hi and Welcome Chrissie and Pininlin,
Chrissie, WOL = Way of Life, WOE = Way of Eating, TDEE = Total Daily Energy Expenditure which each of us can figure out by scrolling up to the Resources button and there is a page where you can enter info and calculate our individual daily energy expenditure. IBS = Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
Great you are getting such a good start Pininlin!
Where to start.
Hi everyone I have just joined you and so far only had one fast day. It was ok – lots of you have probably forgotten but it’s tricky when you start to work out your food.
I have some questions some one may be able to answer.
Does doing the 16:8 make the fast days easier?
Is it normally to feel really tired after a fast day?
For those successful 5:2 people how often do you come onto this site. I’m think I should come everyday to embed this new approach to eating but the thread is hard to follow certain people. Should I no back and read all 191 posts
Hi everyone, late in the day but better late etc…
Hi Joffy, well done, hi to Lael too,
Welcome to Chrissie, Pintinlin and Janine, welcome to 5:2, the 5:2 forum, and thie Southern Hemispherites thread where we are usually Australians and New Zealanders, but have had the occasional 5:2 er from other places e.g. sth Africa. Lael has answered some of the questions so I’ll try to answer the rest for you.
Janine – lol, no, I haven’t forgotten those early fast days (FDs ) and early weeks as I was so excited to find something that actually worked, was sustainable, and reasonably easy to do. It’s a little tricky at first, but you’ll soon get the hang of it and it is truly worth it.
16:8 ? – (which is not officially part of 5:2 but there are those who use it in cnjunction with 5:2). this means dividing each 24 hr day into a 16hr non-eating time and an 8hr eating timeframe. I do 16:8 on my 5 nonfast days (NFDs) and I don’t eat till after 12 noon or 1pm or sometimes 2-2.30 pm and i eat 2 meals in the 8hrs after I start – skipping breakfast. On FDs I don’t eat till after 6pm and have 1 meal with all my calories at that meal. So I eat in about a 2-3hr window on FDs. When I started, on FDs I ate 2 small meals with a few little nibbles of something. After a few weeks I started eating after 6pm as it meant I didn’t get as hungry during the day. You will need to experiment a bit to find what works best for you on a FD. Some people have 1 meal, some 2 small meals and some 3 even smaller ones.
Feeling tired after FD? – some do but I think more don’t. One thing that has become obvious over time is the many variations of how people react during a FD and similarly for the day after.
People successful on 5:2 and site visits? – well I’ve been on here for 2 yrs, and for me it’s been a very important ingredient of my 5:2 journey. I try to keep up with this thread every day, but I don’t always get to post messages. When I have a bit of spare time I go for a wander around other threads of the forum, read a bit here and there and post sometimes. Twice I have joined in monthly challenges on other threads. Sometimes I have a question I want to find the answer to. Some people, on reaching maintainence, leave the forum, some stay on here to help newbies and to keep in contact with people who haved walked the 5:2 journey with them. How successful people are who are not on the forum, or how successfully they maintain, I don’t know.
Go back and read 191 posts? – lol, no, that’s 191 pages🙂 This thread has been going a long time! What generally happens on any thread is that new people will pop up, some of them will stay, some will give up and don’t last long, some move on to other threads on the forum, and some just continue to read but not post, and there is a core of people who remain.
If you want to read more of someone’s journey click on their name and you will be able to read some of their posts on various threads. Women outnumber men on the forum, but some of us are couples where only 1 posts.
Bedtime for me,
Onwards and downwards,
Merry
Thank you Merry, Hello Janine. We are the two newest members on this forum, it will be nice to journey with you. I have such a long way to go, it would be great to have a buddy or two.
I live in NZ. I lived in Australia for 30 years then just had to come home.
Today is going to be my first measurement and weigh in day.
Lynn
Hi Chrissie, Pintinlin and Janine, Welcome here!
Chrissie, those abbreviations! I remember trying to work out why people were writing WOE in capital letters!
Pintinlin, I think it is wonderful that you are finding it so easy at the moment! How nice to be saying goodbye to those extra kilos! Won’t this summer be easier!
You are right about writing things here, sometimes our own contradictory messages can swirl around in our heads and it is hard to be clear (speaking from personal experience of course!). It does help me to say things, and see them out in the world!
Janine, I don’t do 16.8 but I know many people find it a really useful tool to manage daily eating, as well as that it may have its own health benefits.
As for being tired the next day, it is common for people to be taking in less water and salt on their fast days, just because they are eating less, and so complaints about tiredness and feeling woozy or nauseous are fairly common either on fast days or the day after. Could that be effecting you?
The only other thing I can think of is that you are having bad quality sleep at the end of your fast day.
Of course, maybe it is just ‘one of those things’. I hope it settles down, it is the last thing you need.
Well my news is that I went to the doctor about my asthma (worst hayfever season and a plane tree right outside my home) but while she was sorting that out she weighed me: 49.7kg! (Not sure how I could have lost 3 kg since I stood on the scales I found in the hospital corridor 5 weeks ago! But you know what I think about scales!). And she checked my bmi is 20 and said “I don’t often say this to my patients, but don’t lose any more weight”.
So that was a nice affirmation. Guess what folks I AM OFFICIALLY AT MAINTENANCE! Do you know, this is the first time since I reached puberty that I am at my right weight.
I’ve lost about 33kg from my heaviest weight about 5 years ago, and about 14 kg since I started 5:2 in July last year. Now I have the enjoyable task of living at my happy weight which is 50kg (I am short folks!). Let’s see if/how I manage that!
Best wishes everyone! Hope you have a good day.
Wow, Cinque,
Huge CONGRATUlATIONS, what an achievement. Well done to you. 🌺🌺🌷🌷🎉🎉💃💃
Great to see you have reached maintenance. If you read the latest 10 posts on the Maintenace thread you will see that we have answered some questions and covered the aspects of Maintenace that we have found tricky. Such as needing to keep on with regular fasting, and keep our consumption of grains, sugars and processed foods to an absolute minimum. You already have this under control. 🌺🌺🎉🎉💃💃
Since I post from an iPad the emojis I think I’m posting are of flowers, celebrations and dancing ladies. I have wondered if others who don’t post off Apple devices see the same emojis. My apologies if you only see heiroglyphics instead. 😂😂
Merry, I don’t know if I gave you BIG congratulations when you hit your target. If not please accept them belatedly. 🌷🌷🎉🎉💃💃😄😄.
As you know, I lurk and only post sometimes. I lost my 17 kg weight prior to joining the 5:2 threads. I came to find support when I reached maintenance as I knew I would find maintaining harder than losing weight. And so it has proven. Purple directed me to the maintenance thread which I find very supportive in a tough love no nonsense kind of way. 😉😉
Cheers, Bay 🌺🌺🌺🌺
Good morning everyone! I’ve been reading posts and getting ready to resume the fast diet after 2 weeks of being stressed out then 2 weeks of being sick. Just when I thought my flare of lupus had gone it turned out it was in my kidney, which is really my worse of all spot.
Anyway, I’m super inspired by all the success stories, the new people taking the plunge, and the support pouring out of this forum.
I know it’s a bit late to laugh but I did have a good laugh with the potato bags exercise 🙂
Bayleaf, love the emoji, Cinque that is SO exciting, congrats! Janine and Pintinline welcome! Lael and Merryme, I’m still new enough that I appreciate the explanations!
So this week is going to be my first back-on-FD week in November, and I hope it will be as easy and efficient as when I started about a month ago. I’m way more relaxed even though not less busy, and hopefully it will keep the lupus at bay (I feel for you all with crappy recurring conditions!!! boo for asthma 😾😾 don’t know if you can tell from a small device but this cat emoji is not happy 😂).
Congrats again fellow fast dieters! I’m happy to be back and dare I say, excited about my 1st FD. Am I turning weird?! 😊
Merry and Cinque – huge kudos to you both, well done, congratulations, how exciting!
Welcome to our three newbies, Chrissie, Pintinlin and Janine. If you feel inclined to complete your profiles, it will help us remember who’s who. Welcome back ‘eloelo.
Joffy, I’m following your progress with interest, well done for the changes you’re making. If you have time, I’d like to know how you make your FD frittatas as this is a meal that can be adapted for the whole family. It’s been a while since we mentioned our recipe page so, for the newbies, here it is again. https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/southern-hemispherites-fd-recipes/ Feel free to add your own; we like to keep the recipe thread chat-free for ease of finding the recipes. Try to keep them in the same format giving the calorie count and number of serves.
Bay, your emoticons usually come through as naked old men, jugs of beer, slabs of cake and something that looks like pea soup.
Hi Thin and eloelo! I missed saying hello to you both yesterday,
Checking in again re my back to back/4:3 experiment – for the newbies, just ignore this next bit as b2b fasts are not part of 5:2, and I want to report in but not confuse you newies.
So… Have now completed 3 b2b fasts and 2 of those weeks were 4:3 not 5:2, but in an effort to complete my last kg and a bit before leaving for overseas at the end of next week, I thought I’d give it a go and see if my ME/CFS body would tolerate it. Well, I did well the 1st 2 weeks and that was fine. This 3rd time of b2b not so good – this time (Sun and Mon) my weight barely shifted on the 2 nd of the b2bs, and I started getting little flutters through the day. That could be anxiety from trying to do so much before I leave (then home and into Christmas etc)or that could be tachycardia, which Is much better than it was., But…..not ready to put my body through another b2b. As for 4:3, that has probably contributed, just trying too hard. I was taking extra fluid, extra salt, and some phsyllium husk for fibre but I don’t know if anything else would have helped. I thought after 2 yrs and my body working better than it has for 18yrs that it was worth the experiment. I’ll do my normal FD on Thursday which will have given me 3 weeks at 4:3, but the experiment ends there. Back to my normal Monday/Thursday fast next week. Any thoughts any of my experienced friends? Is there anything I’ve missed?
For the newbies – we have a few of us on this thread who have chronic illness – so for us we are really out in left field not knowing how our bodies would respond to 5:2, but, having put on weight through illness /not being able to exercise/just enjoying our food etc. we really want that weight off to give our bodies the best chance we can, especially as some of us are getting a little older and looking at that age decline.
My story- I have Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, commonly known and badly named as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, badly named as our “fatigue” is more cellular exhaustion, not the normal “fatigue”. That means the energy we make is less than normal, comes in at a slower rate than normal, and we have no back up energy store. Exercising is out of the question. I explain it as – having a shower is exercise, making a meal is exercise, shopping is double exercise, etc. and yes, I manage to travel a bit, even so, which I never thought I’d be able to. My adult weight for 25 yrs was 58.5kgs. (129lbs, 9st 3lbs). I am medically diagnosed as hyperactive with ADHD, so I have been an very active person who had to deliberately burn off energy daily. In my late 40’s I contracted a very nasty uncommon virus. For 2 yrs I existed mainly in bed drifting in and out of sleep. I slowly improved because I got some good advice early on, and I am fortunate to be able to take something that increases my energy production, giving me a semblance of a normal life. Now I operate at 35% of normal. I weighed 34kgs extra at my highest weight. Over 6 yrs I was able to get down 10kgs by being well enough to be able to shop for the right foods. Then I was stuck with no way to get the rest off, and I was 83kgs. I did get another 1.5kgs off by daily calorie restriction from the end of September 2014.
Mid November 2014 my OH (other half) and I discovered 5:2, bought the book by Dr Michael Mosely, read it straight away and started the next Day. I did 5:2 consistently for a year, having a plateau in the middle that wouldn’t shift, that disappeared when I took starchy carbs out of my food, after advice from one of our maintainers on here. It may have been Bay or Barata or Purple. (Thank you!). Then my OH and I went into period of high stress for 8months with several Capital L life things. I maintained my weight during that time using 5:2 and 16:8 neither of which I was successful at always, but enough to keep my weight steady. Then I started losing again and now have 1 kg to go. So I have been on 5:2 for just on 2yrs now and the change has been remarkable.
I am off some of my medication, and I no loger have high Blood Pressure or need a yearly batch of cardiac tests. My Drs are very happy with my progress on 5:2 and very happy with 5:2 as a scientifically based good weight loss system. Originally it was designed to improve health, which not everyone new knows, but it does. I feel like I have found the Holy Grail or the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I was not prepared to do the rounds of various diets and yo-yo which is so unhealthy, and started 5:2 with trepidation, hoping it would work in my compromised body, without exercise, and it has! To me it is quite remarkable!
To be able to move around without carrying the load of that 20kgs is extraordinary. It has done simple things like increased my balance, so I no longer grip a rail feeling like I’m about to fall. The last 2 weeks I have found myself being able to quickly go downstairs not holding on at all. I live in a 2 story house that was designed to have a chair lift if I needed it. I can go up more steps before I have to stop, my stride has lengthened, I can walk a bit further. Travelling is easier, and I have a bit more vitality. Then there’s normal sized clothes, undies, bras, swimmers – ther3’s the only cost in 5:2. No fees, no special packaged foods or food deliveries, no meeting costs, nothing . I bought a book for $20 at the beginning. Last year I bought the video, again $20. That’s it. On the plus side, I eat less, I save time (and energy) on meal preparation 2 days a week. The considerable amount of money saved has paid for my clothes. My OH and I are much healthier. OH has lost about 8kgs and is maintaining at present. It hasn’t improved my ME/CFS as such but I can do my and my ceiling heartrate is now 120 instead of 110bpm. That means I can do a bit more. What’s not to love!
This is very long so need to get on with things here,
Hugs to you all,mladies and gents,
Onwards and downwards,
Merry
Wow I just can’t keep up with this forum it is really buzzing. Welcome to all our newbies, this is the start of a real roller coaster but so worth it.
I can’t match the eloquency of Merry, Cinque, Thin etc. I frankly just don’t have the time but everything they say is straight from the heart and experience.
Since coming back from my cruise I have hovered around the 66.6 mark and I’m comfortable with that. I realised today that is has been 21 months since I started this journey and I have lost 21kg, how spooky is that.
I still do my two FD’s and also do most Sunday’s as an additional if I’m not going anywhere. As Merry said us older 5:2’s play around with our FD’s and timing but for the newbies I think you should just stick to the basic formula until you are comfortable with it before you start experimenting.
In the beginning I too had 3 small meals a day, gradually got to 2.30 before I had a protein shake made with water, 96 cals, and then the balance around 6pm. I still follow this regime mainly because I bought the protein shakes in bulk 😱 But I find this works for me. If I’m travelling I try to do 16:8. We are all different and have to find what works for us.
Congratulations Cinque you are a winner, especially with the health problems you have. You and Merry are great examples of what can be achieved when you put your mind to it.
I don’t have any health problems, I’m normal as Merry said,touch wood, is there such a thing and have exercised regularly but in the end it’s staying the course.
I read the posts daily and am sorry I don’t post more regularly, I don’t know where the time goes but I encourage you all to just be patient and persistent the results will speak for themselves.
All the best everyone.
Hi to All – both Oldies and Newbies,
Congratulations to you, Cinque, and especially for getting there without much reference to weighing and number tracking via scales! I’m saying this because I feel a bit ‘scale addicted’ in comparison!
Also, I’m in maintenance, so will check out those helpful tips over in the Chatbox thread, Bay!
Got to go now to work on my class assignments!
I like that Lael ~ hi Oldies & Newbies!
Congrats Cinque on reaching maintenance!! And for doing it without scales. I had to do without whilst away for 2 weeks so I just had to be sensible and let my clothes be my guide. There’s a sense of freedom in that but also a little trepidation.
Sorry I missed the naked men emoticons! 🙁😉 Too funny…
Good luck to all the newbies, this really does work! 7.5kg down after 11 weeks 🎉🎉🎉
Intesha, you are beautifully eloquent! And I agree, persistence is everything. And learning as we go along. (And yay for being a normal person doing 5:2!)
Thankyou all so much for your lovely congratulations. <3 <3 <3 It is a life changing achievement, but really came around quite easily thanks to Dr Mosley making fasting an easy, do-able little structure to put into ordinary lives.
Lael and Beth, it is because, when I did have scales a decade ago or so ago, I did get ridiculously addicted to them, and they were so ridiculously illogical, that I refused to have them in the house any more!
Barata I am thinking I might be best keeping two light eating days, but instead of my cuppas (wtih milk) through the day, and then chicken and veggie miso soup in the evening, (my traditional fast days) I will add in a light breakfast or lunch. That will also make it easier at the moment while I am working so hard on my project. Hopefully persistence, and learning as I go, will result in the right actions to maintain me!
I still haven’t managed a post on the Maintenance thread, but I am sure I’ll get good advice there too. I look forward to the day you join that thread too Pintinlin!
It is one of my new style fast days today!
Must go off and do things
Best wishes everyone!
Good morning everyone,
Hi Intesha and Barata🙂 Intesha, I agree with Cinque – you are beautifully eloquent!
Cinque – a very big congratulations to you!!! Wonderful! Well done🙂
Now another journey begins, one of the exploration of maintainence.
Checking in- FD today, and the scales have decided on a career as a comedien (sp) today. Final Goal weight 62kg, and a week to go and 7.30am this morning back up a bit to 63.4kg and at 9.45am, just stepping into the shower and having drunk plenty of water, 62.9 kg. Go figure – in 2 hours and taking on fluid, I went down. Picture me screaming at them, silently, “Why couldn’t you have done that at 7.30am!” There is a secret room somewhere, where single socks and scales go to confer on who can be the most maddening!
Have a good day all, on this day when the world has tilted on it’s axis, and we will find out in the future if it was for good or ill or just bah..humbug. Whether you are commiserating or celebrating don’t do it with a blowout as you go through the day interacting with people you may agree with or disagree with. Don’t stall your 5:2 progress. Lets make sure politics does not enter this thread and divert our attention from the goal – bringing our weight and size back to normal, improving our health, and setting up a way we can live through the rest of our lives with a healthier way of eating.
Onwards and downwards,
Merry
Hi all, my tummy rumbled for the first time today. I don’t think I have heard that for 34 years, 😆. Still finding fast days easy, I don’t think I even eat the allowed calories. My son really supportive. He made me a cake yesterday. It contains no wheat, no dairy and no sugar, and it is delicious, yesterday was not a fd. Very paleo. I will look out the recipe page and try to post it, chocolate beetroot cake.
Thank you for sharing about your health issues Merry, I am in awe of you, achieving so much with such challenges.
I have high blood pressure but that is about to change too.
Lynn
Good morning all. Well after two weeks of up, down and around finally broke through to a new PB after my second FD this week. 26th October day before my mini cruise I was 65.8, this morning 65.6.
So as I said in my previous post it is all about persistence.
I have so much happening between now and Xmas but hopefully I can at least stabilise at this weight. I’m happy where I am but probably could lose a few more kgs if my body is willing to let them go.
Hope you all have a lovely weekend.
Good morning ladies and gents,
Congratulations Intesha! That’s excellent, and you are so right – persistence is the key. You definitely can stabilise at this weight. You’ve done the work, learned how to do it and what works for you. I have great admiration for how you’ve handled major setbacks and come out of them as the new you. You have a confidence now about your body and weight that you didn’t have when you first started 5:2. I’m so looking forward to finally getting to meet you🙂
Well done,
Merry
Check in: The scale gods looked kindly on me this morning, the scales must have had a good talking to by the odd socks yesterday, and I also have a new PB (personal best) after FD yesterday. 62.8kgs, under 63kg for the 1st time and 800gm from my final goal. That would normally be 3ish weeks of loss for me in a weight loss phase, so whether I get that last 0.8 off before I fly out later next week I don’t know. It was my first goal I ever put a date on, a little while back. Today I reached a new tiny mini goal – to see that 2, to see 62. something on the scales, and that’s another mini goal ticked off, though it’s the smallest mini goal I’ve ever done. When I started I set my goal at 62kg but contemplating it as something to aim for straight off was a step too far, so I’ve done my entire 5:2 journey using mini goals, and I’m happy now that I chose that approach.
After my 4:3 and back2back fasts experiment of the last 3 weeks, I’ve decided I’m not a good candidate for either. It pushes my body too far, and psychologically I don’t think it was good for me either. I am very comfortable with fasting 2 a week, it works, it keeps my head in a good space – in control but keeping my confidence that I know what I’m doing and keeps me making good decisions. Maybe it was silly trying both b2b and 3 fasts at the same time. The tyranny of a time goal is a no-no with my particular health situation, and I should have known not to trial 2 things at once. Over that 3 weeks I found the psychology of my thinking changing, thinking I could go without food even more. It upped the control factor in a way I didn’t like. I am not suggesting I would be a candidate for anorexia by any means, but it gave me a bit of insight into how susceptible people could go that way. It also became more tempting to eat unhealthy things – they became more attractive. There was something in the ‘eating less’ that made more ‘mouth hunger’ – is that even a term? So… In this last week particularly the tempting thin gs became even more tempting. I don’t think I would have had last Saturday’s blowout if I was only doing 5:2. In a few words – doing back2back fasts and 4:3 was beginning to destabilise me.
I think Dr Mosely was very wise to choose 5:2 as the intermittant fasting regime to promote. It’s doable, it’s comfortable. The small amount of food on FDs allows more people to get this done. Over on the rest of the forum I’ve watched people doing 4:3, b2bs, water fasts, multiple day fasts, restricting eating to miniscule time periods every day, restricting calories every day etc. Very few can do those successfully over a long time , very few, and many of them give up. I’ve watched people come in very gung ho, thinking severe restriction is the key, because that’s what they’ve done before, and they often don’t last on the forum for long. As Intesha said this morning, it is persistence that wins. Those who reach their goal weight are those who persist. Some go straight to goal, but most go up and down a bit somewhere in their journey, but they learn from it, move on, and persist to their goal.
If you fall off the horse, just get back on,
Off my soapbox now,
Onwards and downwards lovely people,
Merry
Hi Merry (from Northern Hemisphere)
Just reading your interesting post and have read your inspiring story before. Well done on your amazing weight loss! I am relatively new here. I started early Sept and have lost 13 lbs so far, about a third of the way there. I do 5/2 but the two days are very low cal liquid only days. I started this after reading how others coped and tbh hate counting calories and almost find it easier to eat nothing than something. I have done a b2b out of necessity rather than as an experiment. I did complete but found it too hard to want to repeat and have not tried 4/3 and don’t intend to any time soon for the same reason.
Re the very low cal liquid only days: are you saying that you think this is less sustainable long term? I am having the usual ups and downs, including a slow patch in October, but generally feel fine about rate of loss. The thing is I do feel on a knife edge about it all amd worry I could put everything back on very quickly. I don’t want to be doing something that may destabilise me in time. Could you give me your views on this. Thank you!
Hi Merry:
I second your comments about doing basic 5:2.
People come here not really knowing about or understanding 5:2. They do have, however, many preconceived notions about diets. They also have their personal histories, which color their beliefs but are not the same as every one else’s that come here. This site even has active posters that do not do 5:2 and don’t believe it works for them. And, of course, there is the very common belief that people should ‘do what works for them’.
So a newbie shows up and after looking around for a bit is overwhelmed. They find people talking about warrior diets, eight hour diets, Atkins diets, 24 hour fasts and god knows how many homemade diets that work for the poster under the guise of whatever works for them. And the newbies are faced with picking and choosing among all of the possibilities. And, of course, many of these other diets, whether from diet books or homemade, seem to be able to be ‘combined’ with 5:2, presumably for better overall weight loss or better health.
So, as with many other diets, they start and they stop, usually within a month or two. And the avid posters suggesting diets other that 5:2 start out strong and then disappear, presumably because their suggestions are not working for them, much less everyone else.
It is true that there are a few ‘truths’ that many ‘discover’ after doing 5:2 for awhile (measured in months, not weeks). But they are truths that many will not buy on day one, or may even have tried before and failed with so reject them now. They may even be real truths, but truths that the person just does not want to ‘follow’. But as you pointed out in another post, this site has people from around the world, different cultures representing many cuisines, and one size does not fit all.
But 5:2 done properly can fit over 95%. It is so flexible it can accommodate any foods, any eating patterns, almost any thing. But none of those foods, eating patterns or any things are required for 5:2 to be successful. People will be successful just doing 5:2 properly.
Thank you for pointing this out so well on this and other threads!
Hi Sarah,
Lovely to hear from you, and thank you🙂, and well done to you Sarah!You’ve done really well.
First of all, I’m not an authority nor have a medical background. I’m a people watching with an interest in psychology and sociological phenomena, so this is all just my personal opinion.
So……. My question is – are you doing low cal liquid fasts because
1. you want to, it works for you both physically and psychologically, or
2. because you saw someone say that’s what they did, or
3. because someone heavily promoted water only or low cal fluid only fasts for scientific, medical reasons, or
4. food philosophy reasons i.e. you believe people should eat a certain way ( toxic cleanse, vegan, paleo, vegetarian, raw food etc are all what I would term food philosophies)?
5. you’re trialling different things, or
6. you hate counting calories, or
7. It’s easier to not count calories, or
8. You can’t be bothered to eat, it’s just simpler,
9. It doesn’t wake The Hunger Dragon?
The reason I’m asking this is because the people who do do it this way do it for 1 or some of those reasons. They may not be doing it for the reasons you are. When people promote things they do it from their own beliefs and their own experience, and we all have very different bodies, emotional and psychological backgrounds, medical backgrounds etc. I’m not immune from that either, but I try to be as objective as I can.
You had about 40lbs to lose, and you’re 1/3 of the way there after 2 1/2 months. That’s an average of a bit over a lb a week. That’s very good, and a higher than average loss on 5:2 for women. I’d guess that it’s higher because of the low cal FDs. It doesn’t matter in 5:2 terms if the calories are from fluid or chewable food. Calories are calories. You’d get the same result if it was not fluid but the same calories.
From my observation the people who successfully do 5:2 to reach their goal weight and then keep it off, are those who work at finding their best fit. They work over time at finding what way of eating suites their bodies and their personal reasons, whether they are psychological, emotional, medical, philosophical or academic. There’s are wide range of reasons.
Bear with me, nearly finished : so my answer is that it will be sustainable for you if it’s your best fit. You’re worrying about putting the weight back on, but you won’t if you find your best fit of 5:2 for your reasons, your body, your psychology. We are emotional beings, and we make emotional decisions far more than many realise. The worry and knife edge feeling might be because 5:2 is still fairly new to you. If you’ve yo-yo dieted that’s very understandable, because other diets don’t work long term. You don’t seem to have had that ‘aha!’ moment yet where you know you can keep doing this.
The knife edge feeling may be because the very low cal FDs are not a good fit for you. If I were you I’d trial doing more calories on FDs for say, a month, and see what happens. You may not lose as quickly but it may be more sustainable for you, and that’s the goal – to make it sustainable. When it’s sustainable first, then the other things will fall into place over time. So.. because you hate counting calories I suggest you go straight to recipes for FD meals. There are some on the forum, and you can google them, buy a 5:2 recipe bookmor get 1 from a library etc. the calories are already worked for you. Then plan your FD’s ahead a bit. Over time you’ll work out what you like on FDs. Most long termers seem to eat the same thing just about every FD, keep FD soups made up ready in portions in the freezer etc.
See how you go, and don’t give up. You’re going well, and you can do this and keep it there,
Merry
Hi simcoeluv,
Thanks, and I agree with you absolutely! Basic 5:2 is what works for most people!
The other things can be a real distraction for new people because they mostly come in not knowing what 5:2 is at all. The evangelistic don’t often come to understand that what worked for them might totally put off others, or not work for other’s bodies or mindset at all. For yet others it seems to be a competition – who can do the most deprivation. Some have an ingrained long term dieters mind set of daily deprivation and can’t always see past that. We are such a varied group, but I hope we’re in the beginning of a movement that will just grow and make inroads into the obesity crisis the western world has created. It is disastrous to not just us but to those from the developing world as they adopt western food and head towards obesity as well.
Thanks for you info for newbies, simcoe. I had read the Fast Diet book, but before joinging the forum I read your newbies thread and it helped me more than anything else on the forum.
Cheers,
Merry
Good morning everyone, FD’s are getting easier. I had a sports club meeting on Wednesday night and took my pack of teabags for people to have during the meeting but forgot to take them home afterwards, the next morning on my FD no tea to be seen so I had two white coffee’s instead of my normal one and then had water the rest of the day. I could have driven to town to get the teabags but I was going there on Friday to do chores so thought I could make it through the day without the tea. Always more things to test you.
Thinatlast I have posted my vegetable frittata recipe in the link you supplied https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/southern-hemispherites-fd-recipes/.
The recipe is very changeable anything can go in.
I enjoy reading all your posts (I know I have said so before), it was just some newbies were asking whether to come in here more often. I believe it is a great help coming in here and just reading to get inspiration and keep up commitment to this lifestyle. Most people are going to be doing this for between 6 months and 2 years to reach their ultimate goal weight and patience can be hard when pressure is applied by holidays, family gatherings, etc.
I know this is not meant to be a weight loss program but a body repair system though I reckon 90% of people are here for weight loss and see the body repair later.
Meals for the day:
2 x white coffee’s 300kj, can of vegetable soup 800kj mixed with 200grams pearl barley 946kj Total for the day 2046kj.
The pearl barley nearly caught me out as it was only 50grams un-cooked and when I cooked it thought it looked massive so weighed it and it was over 200grams so next time only 30 grams un-cooked. It does make for a good filling for soup though.
Hi Merryme and Simcoeluv,
Sorry to appear to be copying what you posted, I was typing my post at the same time and I am slow at it (I have to check everything before putting something online).
You have described very well that simple is best and patience is required.
Thankyou for your continued fantastic input to this thread.
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