Hello everyone, I was tireder than I thought yesterday and, being subscribed to more than one thread, I wrote a message to all of the Southern hemisherites on the ‘mid-fifties’ thread! A bit cryptic for them to hear me talk about how lovely it was to meet Lael!

But now I can sort things out and tell you all what a treat it was to meet Lael (and P!) and sample so many delicious things from the cafe. I think my favourite was the roasted beetroot salad.

And I got to see her very nice famous name trousers! Rodney Clark? Did I get the name right? I want some.

The heatwave is starting in Melbourne and I had little granddaughter overnight. We went to the park early and now she is eating watermelon and covering the floor with toys, before I take her home in the next little while.

Good work Marinermum, and Joffy.
I had a good proper fast on Wednesday and realised that I want to do the proper one more often.

Off to play ‘packing up’. bye all!

Well done Joffy, you have nailed it.

Chat, Glad the scales showed a result.

This is indeed a Way of Life. Merry Christmas to everyone. Cheers, Bay 🎄🎄🎄🌺🌺🌺

Merry, you express my sentiments exactly! Aren’t we lucky to be able to celebrate Christmas by eating drinking and being merry and also include this as a part of our WOL!

Happy Holidays to all!🎄🎄🎄🍬🍧🍽🍲🍒

Hello everyone,
Had a bad eating day yesterday as by the time I was back from dropping little Miss Adorable home I was tired and hungry and hot and there was a big hunk of watermelon in the fridge. I can eat small amounts but this was too much sugar and set off the munchies, and I was too tired to make something proper.

After a few hours I finally got it together and made (a version of) Persian lamb and rhubarb stew. I’ve had this recipe for a couple of years, excited because I finally had a recipe with rhubarb and without sugar, but hadn’t got round to making it. But I had been given two huge, beautiful stalks of rhubarb. It turned out so yummy! The rhubarb melted into the sauce.

So today is a new day. And it has kindly started with a thunderstorm that has given my garden a little water, and stopped the flat heating up from the morning sun.

Fasting today! And cooking (lovely veggie dishes) for the (modest) feast tomorrow.

Best wishes all!

Hello everyone, and happy Christmas or anything else you celebrate at this time of year!
I find it is easy to get caught up in the depressing stuff then have to laugh at myself when I stop and look at the reality of my life.
I have put on some weight again recently. Probably stress/cortisol/exhaustion have contributed to my eating the wrong foods & too much of them – but overall I am still about 12kg lighter than when I started. So I have achieved something!
And I have finished the 2nd year of my nursing degree and I don’t need to repeat anything – I was genuinely worried I would fail the pharmacology component, but somehow I didn’t. So next year is my third and final year, before I head off into the wild blue yonder a.k.a. Alice Springs. I hope to be granted a graduate year there in 2018, but if not, I’m still planning to take advantage of the opportunity to work there (if only to be nearer to my oldest daughter, who will then only be 1 1/2hrs away).
And I am still reasonably healthy. I am 61 now, and sometimes I look at some of the patients I am caring for and count my blessings.
I have many good friends of all ages – I think the oldest is just shy of 92, and the youngest is still a teenager – so I am blessed.
Not to mention the opportunity to unload here, and pick up inspiration & support!
I don’t live in Syria, thank goodness, and despite my panics about finances, I am substantially better off than I was 10 years ago.
I live in a beautiful part of the world (South coast NSW), in my own home. I don’t have to contend with living in a city, but have the pleasure & wonder of wildlife around my home, 3 naughty chooks, with cicadas putting their hearts & souls into their lovesongs!
I don’t expect to hear about my scholarship & job applications for at least a couple of months yet, so I guess I’ll just have to enjoy the break, and pick up what work I can.
Which is not a bad place to be. Given that I can go for long walks with different friends, swim either at the local pool or go to the beach, and spend time with my surrogate grand-daughter (who calls me Auntie in Slovakian when she decides to speak – mostly just points, or uses a type of baby sign-language – she is only 19 months old, so that is understandable).
Christmas lets me reflect on how lucky I am. I can work toward my dreams, and every day I am closer to achieving them.
I hope you all have a peace-filled and happy Christmas, with at least some blessings, however you measure them.
See you in the New Year! x x x x x x x

Hello everyone, Boxing Day, and an extra fast day for me as I felt way too full after yesterday and had a few tiny sweet things (a mouthful of this, a spoonful of that, and then a piece of fruit cake!) that managed to set off the terrible munchies. Hooray for a Fast Day to reset me!

CAnnbewarra, what a lovely post to wrap up the past year and look to the future! Best wishes to you!

Cheers Chat, and you are motivating too! It is such a big realisation that 5:2 is not about a quick fix but an ongoing change. You are nearly half way to your goal weight! The next half may not be as quick, but hug to yourself that lovely thought that the lost weight will not be coming back.

Best wishes Marinermum and everyone else, I hope you are keeping cool (it is hot in Melbourne) and that Christmas has been friendly and kind.

Hi slimmers, I am in Queensland. Started 5/2 after watching the documentaries on SBS. Also had to get my head in the ‘zone’ before committing. Been going about 7 weeks now and I have lost 5kg. 10′ kg to go. One on the best outcomes is blood pressure has dropped to normal,range. My doctor will be surprised. He had not heard of the fast diet. I sometimes think doctors only want to keep giving you medications and keep the visits up. Healthy people don’t make them any money.

I am finding the fasting days easy, egg and wilted spinach for late breakfast, sometimes chopped carrot, celery and cucumber for lunch and salad with small piece of grilled fresh fish for dinner. I can usually get to dinner without lunch. Water, ginger tea etc throughout the day works for me.

Up for a chat with anyone wanting to go on the journey with me.

Ps. Female 62, 5’11”.

Good morning from a cool Perth. It’s my first FD since the indulgences. I normally breeze through FDs but I have a feeling today might be more challenging after all the sugar hits of the past few days. I started the weekend well-prepared at 59.6kg after Friday’s extra fast, I’m now 60.4kg and intend to get back under 60kg by the new year. In the past, I’d typically gain 3kg around this time of year, followed by a hopeless attempt to do something about in in January. Slippery slope.

Welcome Ladyfish. You’re in good company, there are quite a few of us of your vintage. Congratulations on your loss so far.

Stick with it Chat, you’ll get there. Marinermum, you’re on your way! Fasting gets easier and easier; I’ve been doing this since August 2014 and a FD is more or less like any other. Occasionally, I feel hungry, usually after a day of poor eating choices, but I just try to embrace it and think of all the good things happening inside my body (autophagy hopefully).

Cinque, Lael, Merry, I hope you’ve found your balance, it’s a challenging time but we all know what to do to re-set. Cinque, I thought that was Bay’s post above – I see the flower I picked for you has propagated. Intesha I hope your day went well, how could it not with the little ones around.

CAnnbewarra, I enjoyed reading your post. Your 12kg loss must be making you feel great about yourself. And other people will have noticed the changes. All the best for the year ahead.

Happy New Year everyone and I’ll see those of you who made a pledge over on the Silly Season Challenge thread on Sunday!

Hi all, I am so glad that the feasting is over, put on a little but 2 fast days since has taken it all off again. You all sound really positive about getting back to the 5.2 routine which is the best thing about this wol. Just do it the next day.
Can anyone tell me why my urine would smell really strong after a feast day, would it be the increased intake of sugar. It has gone now, so only a 24 hour thing.
Lynn

Hello Everyone

Welcome, Ladyfish! As a newbie myself, I’ve found this thread to be a boon – all due to the people on it! I’m sure you’ll find the same encouragement, support and good advice as I have.

You’ve actually been going for longer than I have – yesterday was my first FD on Week 6.

If you’ve lost 5kg after only 7 weeks, you must be very pleased. Well done!

I’ve lost 3.5 kg (after 5 weeks), which I’m assured is fine. Can’t deny being a little impatient to lose more, though.
My starting weight on 21 November was 70.5kg, and my initial goal weight was 60kg. I’ve now amended that to 58kg. I’m only 1.58m, so that’s about right for my frame, I think.

Yes, Cinque, I did get through yesterday’s FD without yielding to temptation, thanks.
My calorie total was 434, so happy with that. Must admit, although it was FD 11, it was one of the hardest.

Thanks for your encouraging words, Thin. If it’s not too rude to ask (I think I read your starting weight somewhere, but can’t find it), how much have you lost overall, and for how long have you maintained your target weight?

When I embarked on the 5:2 WOL, it was 12 weeks before we’re due to go overseas on holiday. At that time, I committed to losing a minimum 6kg by mid February. The end of next week marks the halfway point. I’ll be very happy if my expectations are exceeded, and will then re-set my intermediate goal.

Hope everyone is managing to keep on track, but still enjoy the little indulgences that are an intrinsic part of this festive season.

All the best
Chat

Greetings!

Welcome Ladyfish! I turned 60 this year, so we are of a similar age. I live just over the border from Queensland on the Tweed Coast.

Intesha, home made goodies are so delicious and I can always pass on store bought stuff, but home made mince pie is yum! Did you bake the pie? My grandmother used to make them for our family and was the only one who ever took the care to do so. After she died, it was packaged all the way and never the same.

Chat, well done for the 3.5 kg loss! That’s nearly 8 pounds in imperial, which feels heavy if I were to hold 8 pounds of butter sticks in my hands/arms! I too have experienced some very difficult FDs here and there and for me the more tired or sleep deprived I happen to be, the harder the fasts are. Good for both you and your partner giving 5:2 a second go! I have a friend who tried it for a month, didn’t lose any weight and then concluded that it just doesn’t work. I met up with her over the holidays and I did briefly mention 5:2 and she changed the subject!

Thin, I hope your FD is going well. I’m fasting too!

Cinque, as we stepped out the door yesterday, I too commented on how humid it felt and that the weather was just like at home! Thankfully it isn’t humid for enough of the season in Melbourne for the midges to take up residence there!

Welcome elsacotton,

Interestingly enough, I’ve found that because my FDs (fasting days) shrink my stomach, I usually always eat less the following day after a fast and I’m least hungriest then. I also have found that my hunger has normalized since starting 5:2 and I’m making much better food choices as a whole. Somehow the FDs help put me in a ‘zone’ that enables me to feel more in touch with my body and ‘real’ hunger. That said, I’m not perfect and as someone who has struggled for many decades with bingeing, I’ve had bouts of stress, lack of sleep, anxiety, poor food choices which got the better of me. However, the good thing is that there is always a FD around the corner which seems to cut through all that and reset my metabolism and start me out again on a healthier footing.

For me personally, I’ve had to experiment to find out what works and this thread has been very helpful in offering tips. The biggest thing I’ve found to help with my hunger on NFDs (Non-fast days) is to cut down on my sugar consumption as much as possible and to eat plenty of protein and fiber. I now read labels and do my best to choose foods in which I consume 5 grams or less of sugar in any meal and this includes natural sugars. When I follow this rule, my hunger is much easier to manage.

Good morning everyone! Thin the lovely flower did propogate! It flowers on my ipad and is the nice recompense for being a bit harder to type!
I haven’t found my balance 🙁 ! I’m working on it though!

Another hot day here in Melbourne, after a very hot night!

Another fast day! Getting back into the rhythm.

I’ve been trying to tidy up and do all the good things for myself, but I have needed a few slothful days. Today had better be the day though, I need my house childproof for little Miss 2 tonight.

Intesha, yay for pilates. You are inspiring, I am determined to do some (gentle) yoga. Once I have vacuumed the floor!

Pintinlin I don’t know re the wee. I have the same thing of sometimes wondering why it smells different (when I haven’t been eating asparagus!) so I looked it up, but not much help. This is the best: http://www.self.com/story/7-causes-of-smelly-urine

Chat, cheers for getting the fast day nicely completed!

Welcome Evelynmay! Congratulations on your first day. I do think “It’s only for today” is the best tip of all!
Everyone has to find what suits them. Mine is to just drink cuppas all day and then to have a big bowl of soup in the evening. I like the routine of doing the same thing every fast day.
I need distractions, although the best is if I can lie down (I have a chronic illness and need to rest a lot) and watch interesting things on tv. But I also opshop a lot on fast days! Afternoons are the hardest for me.
The main thing is to make it sustainable in your life, so you can keep doing it.
How did you feel the morning after your fast day? I just love waking up feeling light and empty, and knowing that I can eat today!

Lael and Thin, and anyone else fasting yesterday, I hope it was a great fast day.

Welcome ElsaCotton! I’ve been doing 5:2 for about 18 months and it has been just fascinating watching my changes. I do try to be mindful on my non fast days and eat healthily and normal portions and not too many snacks. My brain is usually very bad at working out when I have had enough, but it is learning (re-learning, I should say!) and as Lael said, the smaller tummy does help!
Here’s for surviving this Melbourne day! At least tonight should be a bit cooler!

Fishing Gran, the boogie board experience sounded like such good fun and I chuckled at your quip about it!

My fast day went well Cinque and we’ll see what tomorrow brings since you did read of my post holiday forage through the shopping mall ‘treats’ vendors! I know this may have skewed my sense of balance and may take some days to get back in the zone. Hope you feeling back there soon too!

And here’s to everyone else feeling out of balance to making our way back! …So many obstacles still lurk around me!

Thin, totally agree with you. For a holiday period this forum is humming. So many newbies, welcome to you all and I for one am looking forward to you all joining our journey and hearing your stories, good or bad.

Lael yes I did make the mince pies. It is a recipe I have been using for over 25yrs, it was a Women’s Weekly recipe that makes a Xmas cake, pudding and about 50 mince pies. I soak the fruit for two months in alcohol, this year it was bundy rum left over from my Mum’s hoard. I haven’t made it for a few years so this year decided to double the recipe………I don’t make the pudding but ended up with five Xmas cakes of varying sizes and umpteen mince pies. I did give three of the cakes away as presents along with mince pies.

When I am in the mood I have a cook fest and a few days before Xmas did a Xmas cake decorating course, the result being a two tiered white mud cake. Then for dessert Xmas day made an ice cream cassata so I have been surrounded by food.

Did my second FD yesterday, weight 68.3. This morning 66.7. Still lots of leftovers but Dad takes cake everyday to Mum and he picks at all the leftovers so hopefully by the new year I will be back on track. As Lael said so many obstacles still lurk but I am enjoying the treats and now know it’s okay as long as the FD’s are also part of the equation.

Checking in:

Post Christmas decline – 64.6 yesterday, 63.8 today after yesterday’s FD, and doing the challenge on the Silly Season Challenge thread which finishes with a weigh in on New Year’s Day, so doing a FD on NY Eve (don’t faint new people it’s not obligatory).

My Christmas was somewhat sabotaged by my delightful grand daughter, aged 5, who’s favourite show is Jamie Oliver. She used up her early waking times by setting up her restaurant on the verandah with a beautiful view from our airbnb house, complete with menu. She also had premade a deluxe confectionary with her dad as her “making” gift for a beautifully presented personal gift for each of us. She woke us each morning with a beautiful shining smile. As I normally don’t eat till noon on my non-FDs (non Fast Days) this was a bit of a challenge. I am one of those where I don’t feel hunger till that first food passes my lips, then The Hunger Dragon wakes up!
My family are also big on brunches, cheese platters, and inventive salads, so though we ate mostly healthily there was also plenty of temptation and too much food. For me it was not just having some Christmas celebratory things, but too much food too often, my scales didn’t like it, and let me know in no uncertain terms. I’m considering them broken till they fix themselves after a few FDs!

A nonFD for me today and maybe a movie. Surprisingly, that’s one place where I’m not tempted to eat. Seeing people eating ultrahuge tubs of popcorn and sipping huge sugar drinks is very off putting. I get a cup of tea and have that slowly and Bob’s your uncle.

Thin, I am totally up for a trip to Perth sometime through the year! Joffey, from memory, is holidaying down around my territory. It would be good if it were possible for him to meet up with Intesha, Fishing Gran and me while he’s here. Are you still reading Joffey?

Must go,
Onwards and downwards,
Merry

Hi Everyone 🙂

I figured this was a good thread to post to – new to the forum, 41, from Brisbane… I’ve been doing 5:2 for nearly 5 weeks now.

Why did I start? Well, a guy I used to work with was following this and lost a stack of weight over about a 3 month period – so that got me interested… then one night, we went to Sizzler for dinner and I ate way too much (as you do at Sizzler!) and just made an instant decision the next morning to start! That day, I started reading everything I could (including the fast diet book) and was pretty surprised with how easy that first day was (eating so much the night before probably helped!).

That morning, I was just a tick over 121 kg, and in the 5 weeks since I’ve lost about 3kg (I only had 1 fast day last week, being Christmas week – and put a little weight back on with all the family catchups and food! but was tracking closer to 1kg per week before that)… this week seems to have sorted all that out though.

My aim is to lose 3kg every 5 weeks and my big goal is to get under 100kg during 2017 (should get there by early August if I keep that pace going… which I think is very achievable)… I don’t think I’ve been under 100kg since late high school, so that would be quite an achievement! 3 years ago I hit a high of 141 kg before I finally started doing something about it, so I am definitely trending down (that weight loss was mostly done via exercise… running and cycling mostly). 6 months ago I was actually down to 112kg, so was starting to creep back up until I started the 5:2 (some minor injuries + winter stopped the exercising is essentially what happened).

Anyway, I’m excited to take this 5:2 journey into the new year with a lot of enthusiasm! With the 9 fast days I have had so far over the last 5 weeks, only one of them has been a struggle – and I’m pretty sure that was because I didn’t drink enough water and became a bit dehydrated… so my big tip to anyone just starting out with 5:2 is to stay hydrated on your fast days – I’m convinced that that’s the big secret… I drink a lot of coffee usually, so cutting that back (just a little!) on fast days and adding a lot more water is the way to go I think… seems to work for me at least anyway. I have a splash of milk in my coffee during the day, a cup of soup and tiny amount of protein for dinner on those fast days and that’s it (300 cal maybe), and it seems very sustainable. Hopefully it stays that way!

Thanks for reading, hopefully I’ll stick around and keep doing this for a long time to come!

Welcome back IFfan!
So sorry to hear you have had to contend with some hard times this year. I hope you are in an easier place now.
You are so right that discipline and routine are involved. It can be really hard to get 5:2 working as a sustainable part of life. I hope this is the time that it can really click in for you. Slow and steady wins the race!
How did yesterday’s fast go?

Hi Everyone,
New Year’s Eve!
Hoping so much for a better, more peaceful year for the world.

Melbourne’s heatwave is over, hooray and I am so enjoying the cooler morning.
Thanks for the nice words, I think the last few months have taken it out of me. I have realised that my food habits when super busy, and my food habits when things are quiet but christmassy, are two very different things. It is like being a surfrider, I have to keep balance even as the waves change! (Never surfed in my life!)

Anyway, I have got back to first principles! My ones! No sugar, no snacks, Plan and prepare! Good 5:2 fasts! looking forward to tomorrow’s fast!

Won’t try to answer posts today, except to say your 5 year old granddaughter sounds such a wonderful kid Merry!

Best wishes to everyone! Cheers to those of you fasting today!

Happy new year everyone. I am feeling very positive that 2017 will see less and less of me. I was really sad to see a recent photo of my son, he has put on so much weight and he used to be so thin. I hope my journey will influence him, but it won’t until he can see it work, I have been overweight my entire life so I don’t feel I can preach.
Welcome to all the newbies, I find this forum very supportive. No it wasn’t asparagus,Thin, and thank you for the link Cinque. I hope I find the answer there.
Happy new year
Lynn

Well done Intesha and Merry – enjoying all that the season has to offer and knowing how to manage it so well. Good weights for you both too considering the mine field of temptations.

Welcome Vaderz, you sound well-prepared and welcome back IFfan, you’ve both come to the right place. Thanks to all the newbies who’ve completed a profile as we expect an avalanche of new posters in the new year and it makes it easier for those of us with not so great memories to keep everyone straight.

El, you mention 4/3 – are you going to start out with ADF (alternate day fasting)?

Cinque, I hope the floods didn’t affect you, that looked awful. I’ll be fasting with you tomorrow. I hmm’d and harr’d about whether to fast today but as I woke to under 60kg again today, I feel I have already met my Silly Season Challenge so there was not really any need to alter the status quo wrt FD routine. I certainly didn’t miss out on anything on offer, far from it – and thanks to 5:2, I have actually dropped 1.2kg since before Christmas when I set the challenge.

One of my long-held traditions has been discarded this year, that of egg nog and mince pies as I just found both horribly sweet. Strangely, I did enjoy the Christmas pud and my home made Christmas Bombe (thanks for the photo of yours Intesha, mine looked remarkably similar except for the decoration, yours with cherries, mine with chopped pistachios and an icing sugar dusted sprig of rosemary).

I hope your fast day is going well Merry and Lael.

Hi GL, our posts crossed. Completely agree about getting rid of the big clothes. Yesterday, I bought myself a new dress, NudeLucy size 10, possibly a bit short for a woman my age but so flattering otherwise. It’s more of a winter dress really so with black tights and boots, I will be well covered. I tried on quite a few other items too – still have a tendency to select ‘M’ before realising that ‘S’ is my size now. Amazing! I sometimes have to pinch myself.

Happy and Healthy New Year to all my fasting friends, old and new.

Country WA – Hoping to join this thread. I currently post daily on the November challenge which morphed into the December one. Doing the 31 day January challenge and really enjoy that thread but like that this one seems to be mainly in the same time zone – give or take 3 hours.
Need all the support I can get to keep on track and for it to become sustainable forever!!
Happy New Year all.

Thin – well done!! You’re a great example for us all and especially our newbies. I think I’m unofficially officially elevating you to Wise Yoda status! Thank you for starting the Silly Season Challenge thread. It’s really helped me handle the Silly Season that got sillier than I expected.

Hi lily and welcome! The monthly challenges started by Coda have been very successful. I think it was earlier in the year she started a 1 month challenge for company and it’s morphed monthly. I’ve done a couple of months too, and enjoyed all the international company, but this is my 5:2 “home and family”. We’re here to support you and occasionally we may give a little kick in the butt, but we know you can do this. Great to have another from WA!

Check in: 63.6kgs – doing an extra FD today to start the New Year off at my pre Christmas weight.

So here’s how my year ended:

Reached my goal of 62kgs briefly on 1 day in mid – November, before flying out to the land of carbs, sugar, large potions, manufactured foods, loads of dressing for 3 weeks – USA (Australia’s only marginally better)

*62.3 kgs the day we flew out of Oz
*63.2kg 3rd day home (after sleep and fluid retention went down (I’m mid 60’s and have Chronic health challenge)
*Since then I’ve travelled for a special birthday for someone,
travelled for a little grandchild’s birthday,
Christmas away with family and now home again.
* 63.6kg today with end of Silly Season Challenge weigh in tomorrow morning.

So most of the last 7weeks was away from home with less control over my food, and loads of celebrating, and OPF.. Other. People’s Food. You know what I mean.

Going to a New Year’s Eve party with my OH’s extended family this evening and doing a FD. This will ge interesting. The hosts have been very supportive of my 5:2 journey, and have seen the changes it has brought to my life, self esteem, and especially my ability to cope with my health challenges. They are also wonderful hosts so I know there will be beautiful food on offer, which will include healthier stuff for OH and me. One of them is definitely eyeing 5:2 as they also have friends on it who have had great changes happening.

2yrs ago when I began 5:2 I never would have thought I could confidently go to a NYE party doing a FD. Now, it just makes me smile.

Happy New Year everyone. Let’s make 2017 a fabulous one!
Onwards and downwards,
Merry and Mr M