Hi Cangel
Well done on your fast day. Can I encourage you to have a few raw nuts on hand for nibbles rather than waste your FD calories on sugar. Or an apple. The research shows that sugar has an adverse effect on the body.
Cheers, Bay
This topic contains 27,901 replies, has 831 voices, and was last updated by thinatlast 20 hours, 14 minutes ago.
Good morning everyone, it is going to be hot a sticky here today.
CAngel I am so glad you were able to have a good time socialising AND have your fast day! Nicely done too!
Vaderz Best wishes for your day! http://plusquotes.com/images/quotes-img/happy-birthday-balloons-1403407.jpg
Lael, I hope it is a lovely day back at studying! Cheers to the bony feet gang! I am wearing another opshop find, a lovely loose silk dress, for coffee and market with my friend.
Thin I hope the scales are kinder today. I hope you had a lovely catch up with Perthgirl! The Perth losers are the winners in the socialising stakes!
Pintinlin, a belated Hooray for your new low. You will be so much more comfortable flying!
Joffy, good luck for your next water fast attempt. Fasting often does effect my sleep, so I can understand if your subconscious worries about it. But chances are you’ll be fine, and you will have to try it to find out!
I had a lovely time with my friend yesterday. I was in a gorgeous green dress with black trimming, and she was in a fab multicoloured skirt and maroon top. We had plenty of jewelry and everything!
Fast day today. Better get organised!
Thanks for the birthday wishes everyone – got lots of nice herbs and spices (our current spice rack was in desparate need of an overhaul), some chutneys and stuff like that… have to think up some good new ways to use them now 😉
Looks like my mum has decided to start 5:2 this week too – sounds like she has been lurking around this site reading up on everything, so that’s good (might have to watch what I say though, lol).
…sounds like a great day out Cinque, it’s important to get out and do stuff like that with friends when you can.
Joffy, I’d thought I had ‘wide’ feet for years but it turns out they were just fat. It was a revelation when I could fit back into to some good quality hiking boots I’d owned for years. I also love leather boots but it was often difficult to find any to fit my big calves so I bought them whenever I could. Now they all fit like wellies.
Cinque, all’s good with the weight now thanks – yesterday I was back at trigger weight, today I’m well under and it’s a FD so tomorrow should see me be back to 60kg or under. That restaurant meal was tasty but was it worth the hassle? Your op shop outfits sound the perfect gear for promoting your rainbow salads in a jar!
It was fun to meet PerthGirl yesterday and there was plenty of common ground besides fasting. Thanks for the stem cell info PG. It certainly is a mild February and we have plenty of rain forecast for the remainder of the week.
Bay, I’m with you. I don’t know what squirms are but nuts are a great, satiating option.
I read the previous page but can’t remember a thing – except Lael’s back to TAFE, good luck with that Lael and LJ’s story about raspberries – love them!
What’s for dinner fasters? I’m having Huevos Rancheros, 183 cals as I’m having one egg instead of two. Huevo Ranchero.
Hi all, after complaining about the cold and wet for the last 2 days I’m getting my punishment – today’s forecast is for 41C, with at least 3 more similar days to follow. I’m glad the garden has had a really good watering from the rain, it will help it cope with the heat.
CanbAngel, well done sticking to a FD with social obligations, doesn’t it give you a real sense of accomplishment when you manage something like that. I do agree with the other advice though – that there’s nothing wrong with moving a FD when you need to make room for life’s events. However I think it’s also good for us to have confidence that if we had to fit some social arrangements into a FD we could. Something I have found helpful is to know what’s being served – which means either a phone call or an internet/facebook search for a menu. Being able to plan ahead food that will fit into a FD allows me to go out without a state of panic about the food I’m going to have to face – I do less well with the unexpected.
Joffy, I agree about knowing how much milk you use in tea and coffee. For me this was a major issue when I started 5:2 as cups of tea are a really integral part of my day and if I give them the whole day feels like a punishment. I’d rather give up food than tea. I like my tea milky so deciding how many calories to allocate to milk was something I had to figure out quickly. I have settled on 250ml of reduced fat milk (500kj – 120cals). That’s a lot more than most people would allow on a FD but it does work for me. I find it quite easy to eat just one evening meal on a fast day, providing I can have a pot of tea instead of a meal at lunch time. The remaining calories are more than enough for dinner and 1-2 pieces of fruit (which is what I use for snacks if I need them). This amount of milk is enough for 4 small pots of tea (about 2 tea cups per pot) – I have one mid morning (caffeinated), one for lunch (caffeinated), one for afternoon tea (low or no caffeine) and in the evening I will usually just have 1 cup of decaffeinated. I keep that last little bit of milk in reserve in case I can’t sleep, so I can get up and have another cup of decaffeinated tea if I need a break from the tossing and turning.
Thin, I’m also on a FD, for me dinner’s an omelette with a spinach, tomato and parmesan filling. I use 1 whole egg and 1/2 cup of eggwhite (I buy eggwhite by the carton), so that I get a large omelette, with only the calories of a 2-egg omelette (by leaving 1 whole egg in the mix, the final omelette tastes like a proper omelette and not a tasteless egg white version). My fruit for the day is a peach and a plum.
Something I realised when reflecting on my memories of raspberries from childhood, is how many childhood memories are linked to food.
As we are having a few very hot days here in Adelaide I’ve slipped straight back into my Mum’s approach to hot weather – make a big batch of curried eggs and a piece of cold meat (for her this was a piece of home cooked silverside-corned beef or a home made potted brawn) and make salads. Then meals could be constructed for several days without having to turn on the stove or heat the oven. So I’ve just boiled 8 eggs and when they have cooled I’ll turn them into curried eggs (another good childhood food memory). I’ve bought a little sliced pastrami (which I prefer to corned beef these days) and I’ll make a couple of undressed salads that I can add dressing to when I serve them (they keep better that way). So my meals for the next few days will be sorted – the beauty of this food is that I can use it on both FD and NFD – I’ll just add some wholegrain bread on the NFD and perhaps a richer salad dressing.
Hope you are all having a good day. It’s time for me to go and make my afternoon pot of tea and peel that luscious looking peach that’s in the fruit bowl.
LJ, unfortunately, many of my ‘issues’ with food stem from not so happy childhood memories surrounding food and meal times. I’ve been able to intellectualise my eating problems for decades but it’s only now that I’m finally in control of food rather than it being in control of me. I’m still a work in progress because you never really change who you are, but you can acquire the necessary tools – hurray for 5:2!
I totally understand the tea/coffee thing needing to be part of a FD. It’s good that you’ve managed to take a bit from the food allowance to compensate for the liquid requirements. Personally, I’d rather not drink my calories and, just in case anyone is still looking for alternatives to black coffee, I’ll mention yet again the almond & coconut milk option – I haven’t tried it in tea but the almond only version (16 cals for 100mls – beat that!) is half price at Coles this week so you’d only be out $1.50 if it turns out to be horrid. It’s a Sanitarium So Good 1 litre carton.
It’s 3pm and this means I’m now on to Madame Flavour Tea Treats – today’s is ‘orange choc ceylon’ and aroma alone just seems so naughty. I can get 3 cups out of a bag which contain 2kj each. If anyone’s interested in the Higher Living ‘Cocoa and Chilli’ flavour, I wrote to the manufacturer in Storrington, West Sussex and their teas are about 4-6 cals depending on the flavour. (I was interested in that address because I went to boarding school just down the road.)
Just about to have my soup. 2 fresh mushrooms and baby zucchini from my garden, with a little chicken and miso broth.
I had to look up squirms!
Vaderz, cheers to your mum! I hope she finds 5:2 suits her!
Thin, excellent control! So glad you are in your comfortable zone. Have fun buying more leather boots!
Sending best wishes to everyone getting the nasty hot weather. We are just off the edge and it won’t even be 40 tomorrow. Whew. I hope you can keep cool and have an easy day.
Bye now
Hello all, wow what a stinker hot day here in regional northern SA. It was 48 degrees on my back verandah in the shade when i arrived home from work and school run at 4pm.
I somehow forgot my fast day yesterday but not too fussed as ive been careful about how many calories i consume each day so have been staying well under the 2000 limit and only eating natural foods.
Been sleeping so well and rarely waking through the night which i used to suffer from badly. Feeling so refreshed each morning now. Its like im more in tune with my body since i started 5:2.
Had a bit of a panic last few days with weight gain until i realised the battery in my scales was at the end of its life and was giving incorrect readings. Popped in a new battery and im down to 70.9 so extremely happy with how far ive come in just a few weeks.
Forecast for next 3 days is 45 and 46 so fingers crossed they can keep the power generating and we dont have any more blackouts. Stay cool fellow South Aussies
Well, not happy Jan!
I thought last week was an awesome week. I counted my calories on all days. Two days I consumed up to my TDEE, the other days I was well below. Both FDs I had less than 500. I recorded everything! Forgot to weigh myself yesterday morning. When I finally got around to it, I weighed exactly the same as I have for the last two weeks.
This is really annoying. It’s exactly what happened last time I did 5:2 (though this time I’m doing it properly). I lost 3.5 Kg in the first month and then NOTHING for the next year.
Feels like it’s happening again.
Last night I was so upset I got home and had 1/3 a Cambembert cheese with Jatz light and a handful of snakes (finished them thank goodness). After that though I was full so that was my dinner 🙁 though I felt even more yukky. I feel like I should just give up and resign myself to being fat.
Hi Canbangel
If you are not losing weight there are many reasons.
Anyone needs to try this way of life for 3 months before they give up. You should be aware that sugars, sweeteners and processed grains such as bread, pastries and buns can be addictive, in that eating them leads to hunger in 2 hours. Protein and fat are more satiating.
There are a number of strategies from here that I am suggesting based on previous successful fasters who have lost weight, and maintained the loss.
Overall, when you look at other posters here, do their fast day meals look like yours? You should feel hungry on a fast day, and have a glass of water whenever your tummy rumbles. Learn to like this feeling and Celebrate this as your body using up its fat stores. Mind games!
Have you read the Mosley and Spencer book? Please reread it and try to get strategies from it. Try a few fast days in which you only use one of the full days recipes. Do not eat like mad on NFD to catch up again as this will not let your body get used to a shrinking stomach.
After 4 full fast days I went out to dinner on a NFD and could not finish my meal. My stomach had shrunk so much. In fact I lay awake wondering when the food would digest so that I could go to sleep. That taught me that I had been eating way too much on NFDs.
1. Do you walk each day? Not for weight loss but to recalibrate your body for health. Try to keep in mind that this way of life is for your health.
2. Time to record every mouthful you are eating, every nibble. On all days. For a month. And then you can see which foods eaten one day have an impact on your weight the next day.
3. Recalculate your TDEE based on half way to your goal weight, and a sedentary lifestyle.
4. Give up white foods of all kind except dairy and tofu.
5. Eat full fat foods, and minimise all sugars or sweeteners.
6. Drink two litres of water each day spread out at about one glass per hour.
7. Eat protein and fat every day, maybe each meal. For example a small amount of fish or lean meat or nuts. Anything to keep yourself satiated and away from the sweets.
8. Get in the habit of weighing each morning. If you miss the time, let it go until the next morning. You will discover that within the week your weight varies greatly. You may also discover that any processed grains eaten on your NFD such as pasta or rice or bread, will add to your weight dramatically the next day. Equally removing those foods from your diet may well show up as weight loss.
9. Make sure you are well under the 2000 calories on NFD. In fact you can recalibrate your TDEE to be what it would be if you were at goal weight. In my case my TDEE is less than 1600 calories. I have never worried about eating fewer calories.
10. Learn to know your real appetite from eating for stress, comfort, pleasure, or if you are bored or tired. If I feel satiated enough to sleep, I NEVER go looking for calories to top up.
11. Learn normal portion sizes. None of us would have become fat if we hadn’t lost the idea of what is a normal portion size. When my OH and I are out, we now share a piece of something that in the past we would have eaten one of each.
12. Have a few items in the fridge ( or with you ) to eat in an emergency. A boiled egg, a few raw nuts, an apple, or a few berries.
Cangel, I don’t post like this unless someone asks for help. You are free to ignore whatever I write. These are suggestions gathered from the many posts of successful fasters. I am sure there many other ideas to help you.
Get back on the horse, as Merry says. This is your life you are saving.
Cheers, Bay 🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺😎😎😎😎😎
PS. Last idea that came from Thin many moons ago.
Learn to reward yourself with something other than food. When you fast successfully don’t go and have something sweet as a reward. Don’t say to yourself, I earned this food as a reward. Try to think of something you want to do, eg, buy clothes, or go see a film, or catch up with friends, or go for a walk. Or meditate, or practise yoga. Learning new habits take a long time. Just think of how long we took to get fat.
You can do this. ☀️☀️☀️☀️
Cheers, Bay.
Bay, what a great list of suggestions for newbies and oldies alike. I’d love it if my OH would share a plate of restaurant food. It’s more like a race to the finish line. Perhaps, because he grew up poor, there’s a constant fear of hunger.
Cangel, based on your previous experience with 5;2 where you attribute no weight loss to eating a large bowl of oats and not counting calories in veg on FDs, I’m wondering if you’re unwittingly doing a similar thing this time around? When I started 5:2, I was eating three tiny meals a day which included oats – about 30gm from memory which looks like nothing. You mentioned your dinner at the MIL’s comprised steamed fish and two helpings of vegetables (yours and someone else’s) coming to 180 cals. When I read that, it seemed very low to me – did you know the weight of the fish and was there any sauce on it? How many grams of veggies before cooking?
I finally got my “the Fast Diet” book in the mail. Not the latest edition, it’s 2014, but I’m still finding it very useful and it was half price (I spend too much on food books). I like the recipes better I think than the Fast Diet cookbook, I guess because the Englishman had some say, not quite so American add readymade food to readymade food kind of recipes. Interesting that he actually suggests having space between meals on fast days, I thought it would be better to spread it out. But studies mentioned in the book said that you do better with two meals a day than more. We’ve had it drummed into us for so long that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and so many diets in later years said you should eat five or more times a day, because heaven forbid you actually get hungry. So today I’m trying porridge and blueberries for breakfast and no lunch then a bigger dinner, haven’t decided yet what I’m having, not ideal.
My trigger for a fast day is I start just drinking green or herbal tea. I actually pretty much skip milk in drinks on fast days, I have drinks that I don’t even want milk in, after three or so weeks I’m just doing it without thinking. Funny, drinking calories used to mean sugary fizzy drinks, now it means milk in your tea?
Joffy I watch with interest re your water fasting to come. I’m very nervous about it. I’m struggling a little with no lunch today in fact, but I’ll be fine, and there will be lunch tomorrow.
Canberra Angel please don’t give up. I think the fact that you were full after eating such a small amount of food is amazing progress. I knew I’d made progress on 5:2 the first morning I woke up and ate my normal breakfast and felt absolutely stuffed full. Sometimes I would’ve even eaten more. I normally have two eggs poached or scrambled on an English muffin, sometimes it has been three eggs, sometimes there’s cheese or avocado salsa. Also I wonder if your body gets used to having the same fast days every week. I mix mine up, depending on what I’m doing. Like working weekends or nights I’m on my own, so I’m super busy and I don’t see how I could do that on so little food. Or my travel day was a great day to choose, because I was concentrating on driving not thinking about food. You can do it I know you can, you’ve just had a slight hiccup, no need to pack the whole thing in. I think finally we’ve chosen the best “diet” in the world. You could always try 4:3 for a couple of weeks, that might help your plateau, and I wouldn’t go that much below 500 calories on a fast day, unless doing a water fast I guess. Sugar’s not a great thing to be eating too much of on a fast day, no matter how “natural” the squirms claim to be, dirt is natural too but you wouldn’t eat that. Maybe if you’re going out for dinner on a fast day you could have a small low calorie snack before, this would mean you weren’t ravenous, miso soup would be ideal, or a handful of berries. All the best.
Definitely some great info there from Bay.
Cheer up CBA – sometimes it’s just about putting one foot in front of the other… a couple of more ideas that I have found useful.
1. I know you don’t like the scales right now… but going further than what Bay said in point 8) try weighing yourself about 3 times a day(!) for the next couple of weeks. First thing in the morning, last thing at night and anytime that you wander past the scales. You don’t have to do this forever, but it really can be eye opening at just how much your weight varies from day to day. Whether it is the amount of food sitting in your stomach, how hydrated you are, how much glycogen your muscles have sucked up… none of this is a bad thing, it’s normal. What you will notice though is that your lowest points during the week will be the mornings after a FD… are those numbers trending downwards? are you seeing big variations (some days I can be about 2kg lighter in the morning than I was when I went to bed the night before!).
The problem when you weigh yourself just once a week (or once a month or whatever), is that you can catch yourself anywhere within that fluctuation zone… if you weigh yourself more, pay attention to the lower numbers, especially the mornings after FD’s – that gives you another anchor point that you can use to gauge if anything is happening.
…from what I’ve read, this can be particularly problematic for women especially, who tend to vary widely over the month in their fluid retention… when you’re only losing 0.5kg or less per week, and your body is at the same time increasing the amount of water you are retaining – the scales will say 0, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t losing fat.
…which brings me to my next point.
2. Read everything you can to help understand nutrition (I find it both motivational and very informing… helps to maintain focus). I’m spending heaps of time right now going through sites like bodyrecomposition.com, start with these articles (it’s a great site, heaps of really interesting stuff on there): http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/category/fat-loss/fat-loss-fundamentals/ (the 2-part article on meal patterning and frequency are an excellent place to start… some great info there on IF – not specifically 5:2, but it’ll get your mind turning over).
Good luck, you can do it.
Hi everyone,
Just a quick note on this FD of mine today. I won’t be going for a water fast today, I am not in the right frame of mind like I was last week. Any way I just had a bowl of salad and it is 42C here today.
Canberraangel, I can hear what you are saying with the no weight loss for a bit but it will happen.
I really liked the line from Bayleafoz “Just think how long we took to get fat” now I reckon it could take just as long to lose it all again and that should seem a fair trade for most things. If it takes 1 hour to disassemble an item it will probably take 1 hour to reassemble the item. Why is it not thought in the same fashion for weight loss? To get fat we only ate a little bit more than usual so now we are eating a little bit less than usual. The weight will fall off slowly, remember this is not a diet it was designed as a repair system for our bodies that had a side effect of gradual weight loss. So I am just asking for all of you looking to lose weight just have a bit of patience. If it takes two years or more for me to reach my goal weight (a loss of 27kg) I reckon I am going to be pretty happy and much better off than I was before starting this Way Of Eating.
I will report back tomorrow once I finish my FD.
Perfectly put Joffy. It’s worth doing anyway. My no. 1 piece of advice would be to buy the Fast Book – it’s not going to break the bank, Dr. M deserves it and it just ensures people do fully understand what they’re supposed to be doing as well as the other health benefits of fasting.
42C? It’s 20C here and raining! It was 13C when OH and I were out walking earlier, it felt like June. I’m not complaining, February is usually my least favourite month weather-wise so it was good to be able to get out and walk for several hours.
When considering a water fast, could you build up to it or do you feel that you must commit at the outset? Just thinking back, when I switched from three ‘mini meals’ to not eating until at least 2pm, I gradually delayed the first feeding time. When I did my one and only water fast, it then wasn’t that much of a stretch to go the extra few hours (however, we were leaving the country so there weren’t many temptations left in the house).
Hi Thinatlast,
We are used to seeing Perth hot all the time especially in summer, there are always going to be those different years where the season is a bit strange.
With the water fasting, I am only thinking of doing it as I normally have had no food and it is 9.30pm surely I don’t need anything for the nights sleep. Last week it felt like I was eating that late dinner because I had to, I don’t believe it made a difference with regards to weight loss I just thought with a little will power maybe I could complete it. I think of it like once you have practised something it comes easier just like when I first started fasting, there is no way I thought I would survive my first FD. I am seeing results with normal 5:2ing so I should practise what I preach and just keep on the straight and narrow.
FD nearly over, Meals for the day:
1 x white coffee 150kj, small salad 200kj, 500g minestrone soup 800kj, 100g kidney beans in the soup 400kj. Total 1550kj or 370cals.
Good morning all. 2 FD’s down for the week. Monday 68.4, today 67.1.
Canberraangel, I can only back up what everyone else has been saying. I have been exactly where you are. I thought when I first read about this WOL it was going to be the holy grail of all diets. The results blinded me and I thought I am going to blitz this. But reality soon caught up and I was not in a good place mentally.
For whatever reason I stayed plugged into this forum, some of the posters back then no longer post but Thin, Bay, Cinque and Merry were there and still are. They kept giving me advice and cheering me on. At times I thought who the hell are these people to give me advice. They don’t know me or my circumstances. BUT they know this WOL and if you just keep pushing through the crappy stuff you will get there. I am now into my 106th week, started at 87.1. constantly go up and down like a yo yo but I have lost 20kilo and that is all that matters.
Don’t let a few disappointments spoil what will be a wonderful WOL. This IS the holy grail but you have to believe and you will achieve.
Started two cake decorating courses this week, pure temptation for a 5::2er the first was on an FD and I had a smidgen of a taste and the next night dipped my finger into the chocolate ganache.
Also started an extra two training sessions at the gym. I was reading about fat and muscle and even though I knew the difference I have been amazed at how my body fat had gone up since I stopped weight bearing excercises. I have been doing Pilates twice a week but now am adding some weights. I will be interested to see any changes.
How are you going KrisAnne.
Watched the Sugar Movie yesterday oh my should be compulsory reading in our schools. I still can’t not have my chocolate hit but find I have to have something savoury after it. Maybe in time that will change but it is hard to change habits of a lifetime.
Anyway enough from me. Love reading all the posts keep them coming.
I’m going to the movies today to try and stay cool and then off to the gym.
Good morning all.
from a wet, cool and windy Perth. First of all, a big thank you to all you Eastern Staters who are generously foster-caring our WA summer, please return it in mid-March. (That will confuse all those non-Australian readers who are not experiencing our topsy-turvy Australian summer.)
Today is a FD so I thought I would give myself a non-food treat of a Forum Foray.
This morning’s weekly weigh-in showed that my DH has lost 800g and I have lost 300g. This is unfair – DH has a BMI of just on 19, and we have to be careful that he steps over cracks in the pavement or we might lose him. That said, with a BMI of 21.7 I am quite happy to lose some weight but I am living 5:2 to reduce body-fat (this is all in the tum and thigh area, I have virtually no ‘tush’- which makes it a challenge to get trousers to hang right). On review, we have decided that DH will continue on 7:0 – therefore he gets to eat anything he likes on my FDs, providing it is already in the house! Given that there is only ‘good’ food in the house, this should keep a rein on his food fantasies.
My FDs, as they do for all of us in our own way, present a challenge. With a TDEE of 1431, the 500kcals option does not work for me, I have to use the 25% of TDEE. Thus, I have a grand total of 358kcals to work with. Fortunately, I drink my tea and coffee black without sugar, and enjoy green and fruit teas so that takes care of fluids. (BTW, thank you to whoever mentioned the “pebbles in the jar” for keeping tracking of fluids – I now have two little containers of pea gravel which follow which follow me, with my current drink, from room to room throughout the day.) I have found that FD for me works best by having all my calories in a single evening meal at 7pm. This ensures that I am not ‘hangry’ at bedtime, and I can delay my ‘breaking fast’ meal the next day to an early lunch at noon. I end up with a 24:1 fast day, followed by a 16:8 day. Good preparation for eating with friends on Saturday evening.
Thank you to BayLeafOz for your thoughtful response to CanberraAngel, and to Vaderz for your link to the Body Recomposition site, both of which helped to reinforce the ‘rightness’ for me of this FD approach.
In the spirit of increasing exercise as per Dr M (if I can get my TDEE up, maybe I can get a few more calories on FDs), this week we have started a weekly Yoga class (first time for us) and resumed ballroom dancing classes (which I had to give up a year ago because of a knee injury). We have also kept our step-count above 10,000 on most days.
I hate exercising with weights, however I now keep my hand weights at the end of the bed during the day and each time I go into the bedroom, I do one rep of my 3×10 exercise set. I’m working on the basis that some is better than none, and spreading it over several very short sessions a day is better than the weights being used as door stops on windy days. I did try HIT on my exercise bike but my chronic knee injury did not take to the intensity of that at all! However, I love going out on my road bike and, if the wind stops howling, we will be cycling 20-40km on two or three days a week. (We are in training for a 2000km bike trip in Germany in May/June, if the knee holds up.)
Finally, (remember this post is my FD treat so you are all supporting me by reading it 🙂 for those of you with a rice-cooker in your appliance cupboard, I cook pearl barley and quinoa in mine, in the same way that I cook rice. Means I don’t have to stir occasionally and watch for sticking to the bottom of saucepan. I also soak my pearl barley in water with a tablespoon of plain yoghurt, or yoghurt whey, added for several hours, and then rinse before cooking. Apparently this improves digestability and nutrition content.
It was long, I know. I’ll be shorter next FD. Maybe I’ll tell you how I pass the time on FDs.
Have a mindful day, and cherish yourselves.
Val
PerthGirl, I enjoyed your post immensely. Please don’t be shorter next time. I must say, I feel quite tired, and a little inadequate, reading about all your physical endeavours. Instead of pea gravel in a jar, you could put those hand weights in a bucket and kill two birds with one stone. Thanks for the idea of using quinoa and pearl barley in a rice cooker – I’ll call your ideas ‘PG Tips’ and some people (VioletMay) will know what I’m talking about.
Unusual weather indeed – yesterday was the coldest February day on record in 100 years. It’s hard to imagine posters on the other side of the country simultaneously enduring sweltering heat and power blackouts.
Jody, I don’t think there’s any harm in mixing up FDs each week. Personally, I like knowing what to expect and how my two FDs are very much a part of my normal life. But flexibility is one of 5:2’s greatest strengths for sustainability.
Intesha, sounds like you’re enjoying life to the full, staying trim while occasionally dipping your finger in life’s chocolate. I don’t know how, ‘That Sugar Movie’ made its way into mainstream cinemas with all the junk they peddle at the concession stand.
Joffy, I see – you wanted to find out whether a water fast was possible. If you aren’t eating your first FD meal until 9.30pm, I would consider that you’ve already nailed it. As far as I can work out, 24hr water fasters have their final meal at dinner time on day one, then go all day on day two with no calories (although I recently discovered that one avid proponent was actually having two coffees with milk that morning) and then break the fast on day two, 24 hours after the previous night’s meal, with a lightish dinner. Is that correct? That’s what I did, except that, because of our plane taking off late, I didn’t get to eat until the small hours of day three. But anyway, yes, I agree, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Cangel, you’re free to take or leave any advice offered on these pages. Everyone has a slightly different angle but with a common goal of wanting to help. It might also be that you’re not ready for certain advice at a particular time – I remember not identifying at all with posters talking about limiting or eliminating carbs. It was probably a year into 5:2 that that particular advice started to resonate with me.
Lael, hope you’re enjoying TAFE and that you’ll have time to say hello. Hi Merry, hi Cinque.
Hi Thin, hi everyone ,
Hi PG – you made me laugh, several times. Please continue you FD posting treats! I will do my best to foster your weather, but I’d really like to send it somewhere else for a holiday, but it’s probably hotter there!
The effect of starchy carbs on weight:
Yesterday : 63.0kgs, H ad some starchy carbs yesterday, but not heaps
Today: 64.0 kgs. Does it to me every time. Weight goes up out of proportion to the quantity of starchy carbs I eat. I put it down to the extra fluid required to process these. A couple of days later it goes down again after I’ve excreted the extra fluid.
Cangle – was it Vaderz or someone else suggested that weighing only 1 per month can be a bit tricky. For me, if I’d weighed and it happened to be yesterday, it would be 1kg less than today. The same may be true for you. What you weighed on the day you did, showing no loss could be a function of what you ate in the 2 days before, which could mean you’re carrying extra fluid on the day of your monthly weigh. Just a suggestion. If I remember properly you used to weigh daily and were concerned about being obsesssed about weighing. Is that right?
Check in: life is super busy and verging on being capital L Life again, sigh, but, a certain person is now in full time 24/7 care. We are 1 step at a time, 1 day at a time atm. My FDs this week have morphed from my usual Mon / Thurs to Wed, and possibly tomorrow. Will see.
I was hoping to see both Cinque and Lael, but unfortunately so much has happened in the last few weeks that I’m just a wee bit overwhelmed atm, and working each day to keep my energy levels OK, so have had to shelve those wishes. Hopefully mid year We can do that. I would so love to see you both.
Keep getting back on the horse,
Onwards and downwards,
Merry
Hello All,
I want to say again how grateful I am to this thread and to all those who regularly continue to live this WOL and contribute which offers me a foundation of stability during challenging times like I’m experiencing at present. Reading everyone’s posts feels like I’m arriving ‘home’ after being out battling my own inner dragons! Coming here is like returning to a sanctuary of sanity and peace.
Thin, it is wonderful to read your greeting! Starting the new term of TAFE has been full on, especially while I’ve got other responsibilities that are cropping up all at the same time!
Merry, I completely understand feelings of busyness and potential consequences of overdoing (from my own first hand experiences!). In light of this I respect and support your efforts in maintaining energy equilibrium. Maybe it will work better for us all to meet up with you and Cinque mid-year in Melbourne? So far, we’re pretty sure out dates there will be over Queen’s Birthday weekend when Mr. L’s mum will be celebrating her 90th.
Cangel, I hadn’t realized that you’d previously practiced 5:2 for a whole year with little or no weight improvements. All I can say is what chagrin I too would feel were I in your shoes. I’m curious to know by chance if you’ve tried other weight loss strategies that might have worked more effectively or have you tried others with little benefit? I only ask because of my own experience with low/hypo thyroid condition that prevented me from shedding any weight no matter what I did. In other words, my inability to lose weight wasn’t my fault! It was the failure of the medical system to properly diagnose and treat my condition. Not sure if this applies to you, though thought to mention (again – I know I wrote about this a few pages back in response to chat’s plateau).
How is it going chat?
Are you still with us Debdj?
For anyone dealing with hot weather at the moment I just wanted to remind you that our bodies often hold onto a little extra fluid in the heat. If your weight is up and you don’t know why, don’t panic, just weigh yourself again when the weather cools.
I’ve just finished 2 NFDs and it’s my final FD for the week tomorrow. As it’s still hot here I have a salmon salad planned for dinner tomorrow as well as some strawberries and pineapple for snacks.
I haven’t managed to get to an Aldi yet to buy that tinned trout – I was actually in a town that has an Aldi today, but by the time I left the physio I didn’t want to go anywhere but home out of the heat, it will have to wait until my next trip. However, I keep meaning to mention my usual tinned salmon choice for salads. It’s John West-Wild Alaskan Salmon-skinless & boneless-in springwater. The tins are 130g, and after draining it’s about 80g salmon flesh. The whole tin is only 321 kilojoules (76 cal) and it’s one of the best flavoured tinned salmon’s that I’ve tried, although it is pricey. I hate the slimy skin and bones in most tinned salmon so it suits me to have one with them removed – but after checking virtually every label on the shelves I have found that this is my lowest calorie option of all of the tinned salmons available here. I find 1 tin is the right amount for a dinner salad.
Hope everyone in Perth is staying dry and everyone else is staying cool. Hopefully we will all have some more moderate weather next week.
Morning Everyone,
I haven’t had the time to post in the last week or even read your posts, been really busy with family hassles. All good now so I can get back to my norm.
I have had 3 FD this week and I must admit that they are easier each time. I don’t even think of eating until around 11am. luckily I only drink Green Tea or Black Coffee at home so I usually have had 3 cuppas by the time 11am comes around. I like the idea of Blueberries with Porridge, JodyW mentioned she had that. I love Porridge so might just go and buy some Blueberries to go with it. Puts a bit of flavor into a normally bland bowl!
Friend of mine poured me a soft drink the other day, after 1 sip, YUK! so sweet that there was no way I was going to drink it. To think that I used to love that Blood Orange fizzy. How my palette has changed in the last 4 weeks since I have been on this WOL.
This morning I weighed myself, I usually do it a couple of times a week. Yesterday was a FD for me so I thought that I would of weighed less, NOT SO!
According to my scales I weigh .5 more than the last weigh in.( 3 days ago )
I am putting it down to fluid retention as it has been horrendously hot this last week and I have been drinking so much water I could float a battle ship.
I have been recording everything that I eat and haven’t slipped at all and water actually weighs in itself, so it is going to be the water excuse, and I am sticking to that !!!!! lolol
This mornings NFD breakfast was 2 hard boiled eggs and a tomato. Used to be at least a slice of toast with the eggs but not now. In a while it will be 1 egg but I will eventually get to that. I wont have anything else to eat until about 1pm as that breakfast really fills me up. So that has to be good. I have always started the day off with some form of protein as I have always been under the impression that a person should have protein with every meal and have stuck to that for years. But I am still overweight, hence I am here.
Shopping day today, Only healthy on my list, I walk down the confectionary isle and drool but do not touch! I still have the odd “frog” craving. Or some of those scrumptious choc chip hot cross buns ! It ought to be a law for supermarkets to have a special room for those sorts of foods then I wouldn’t have to look at them when I go shopping!
Will Power is an evil thing!!!! lolol\
Have a good day all. Hugs.
Hi everyone.
I’m really sorry that I haven’t posted a single entry for the past week. Read the first two lines of Charlotterose’s post and thought this is exactly my situation. Glad things are better for you now Charlotterose.
I’ve been totally preoccupied with pressing matters over the past two months.
One of my big disappointments is that I haven’t yet been able to meet up with Thin. She has had two coffee catch ups with other local forum members, and I wasn’t able to make it to either. I really hope to meet her, and other members, really soon.
The one real positive over the past two months is that I’ve stuck to the 5:2 WOL. As regulars on this thread would know, I’ve been feeling more than a little frustrated due to not having lost the weight I expected to have over the past three months.
After not losing a gram for the first two weeks, I then started to lose, and had dropped 2.5 kgs after the first four weeks. I was happy with that! Since then, I’ve been on somewhat of a plateau, losing a little, gaining a little, and ultimately flat-lining. I’ve strictly adhered to limits on FDs and eaten considerably less than usual on non-FDs, especially the carb content of my meals, so it’s all a mystery.
Anyway, I have confidence that I will reach my goal weight, whatever that may ultimately be, but it may take a little longer than I expected.
To those who are equally frustrated at not losing at the rate they expected, I say please hang in there. It will happen!
Now to catch up on pages of unread posts.
Good luck to all of you.
Chat
Im loving my new Fitbit. Have been using for about 3 weeks now. Fantastic for keeping track of intake, exercise etc and output data on how ive been tracking. Cant stop looking at the graph showing my weight loss over the weeks. Now ive got my everday foods and their calories logged its so easy.
My scales have been playing up even with new batteries so just ordered the fitbit scales that automatically log the data to the fitbit app. Cant wait for them to arrive.
I had my first little treat in weeks today – one green jellybaby !! And it was only one.
Good morning everyone,
Melbourne has been so lucky through these days of a Cauldron from Hell sitting over Australia. Fingers crossed today’s fires are little ones, easily put out (it seems too much to ask to have none at all).
We have a cool day, and it has rained just enough to water the garden. I almost feel guilty.
Although it has been hot enough over the last week for me to realise that too many of those nice summer dresses I have found have polyester lining, and I hate it! The opshop is getting them back.
I am just about recovered from two mornings of minding both granddaughters and am happy to say that my daughter passed her driving test! It is a new era!
Life has got busy. I have a whole lot of social things and a whole lot of appointments all of a sudden! Dental, optometrist and a hospital thing so they can drain a nodule on my thyroid (looks like it is no problem).
Isn’t it nice that I can plod on with 5:2 through it all! Fast day today.
Merry, I do hope your life settles down. I do hope that you can leave it to the full time care to look after your FIL now, and have a break. But maybe it doesn’t work like that?
Lael, sending our good wishes that you can manage everything in your busy life. Time for me to envision something for you, and it is beautiful moments of tranquility and serenity in between the activity.
Sending good wishes to everyone! Thin, Chat, CAngel, Gday, Charlotte, LJoyce, PerthGirl, Intesha and KrisAnne, Joffy, Vaderz and Jody and Bay. And that’s just everyone who posted since my last! Cheers to everyone else reading too!
Good morning all. Hope you are all keeping safe, as cool as you can, dry, whatever it is that you are dealing with at the moment. How is NZ faring weatherwise? Do we have any Southern Hemisphere South African or South American lurkers? If so, how is the weather where you live?
Hi Cinque – congratulations to your daughter! How wonderful, and a new era for all of you. Polyester is on my summer no-no list too. Doesn’t breathe.
For the oldies here, newbies can give this bit a miss, non 5:2 related.
Re DFIL: it is still early days and we are giving them some space to settle him in, with a psychologist’s assistance. Going to the tribunal was a last resort but had to be taken. Certain health challenges and advancing dementia are just not compatible. There are no winners of course. The win is that someone was able to be stopped from stripping his assets. Some people are so duplicitous – lovely in public, cold as ice in private. The government emphasis a.t.m. is on family abusers, but DFIL had the non-family version. The era of aging baby boomers is beginning and will throw up some challenges. Those of us in that category, let’s all make sure we have our planning done, safeguards in place as best we can. We’ve promised our children that we will not inflict DFIL’s non-planning, no choices decision on them. They have seen the results of planning versus non-planning and the vast difference and wear and tear of the latter. Those that planned = happy result, comfortable, content. Those that didn’t plan = distress, anger, open to abuse, and abusive. I know which I’m choosing! Here endeth the soapbox talk.
Back to 5:2 – 63.3 today. Funny how I still sometimes go to write down 83. Head still adjusting. Tomorrow is my weekly graphing day. Next mini-goal 62.5kg.
Vaderz – a very Happy Birthday to you for the other day! How lovely to celebrate a birthday confident the year ahead will see you improving your weight. Going well.
Gday – great you’ve got the Fitbit working well for you. Had to laugh at your little treat. It’s so different to what we would have called a treat before. Well done.
Chat – hooray for those 2.5kgs going away. Well done to you too.
Hope to read some more and get back with it this week.
Onwards and downwards,
Merry
I have been watching your weather from my comfortable 26 degree day in NZ and am just thankful that I no longer live there. I spent 30 years in Adelaide, I still have family there. I used to go into the shower fully clothed and not dry myself on really hot days. The clothes would dry on me so quickly, I would do it again and again, but my clothes started to smell after a while. Like damp.
I live in Tauranga now, our temp doesn’t go above 30 and our winters are mild. Gentle on the body and the garden. I’m picking grapes now, but still visiting the blueberry bush. Eating day for me, I think I may have over done it.
Hope it cools down for you soon.
Lynn
Hello everyone,
Monday morning!
Hoping it is a good morning for you.
Merry I guess it is unlikely, but I hope your FIL settles in and is able to enjoy his days.
My daughter (and two kiddies) are going to drive over tomorrow! Instead of me going there.
Pintinlin, your story of the heat reminds me of when I was teaching in the NT, tropical enough for it to be humid as well as hot. The cold shower (not ever managing to be very cold) was my best friend.
Those grapes and blueberries sound wonderful!
My fast day yesterday was a nasty one, but I got though it. Luckily I was just at home and could roll with the punches.
It’s Healthy Weight Week in Australia. Woot, I am there! http://healthyweightweek.com.au/get-involved/
Best wishes to everyone
Morning all… hope no one melted too much over the weekend… was a little steamy!
Weigh in today for me – after a crazy 2kg drop last week, things have normalised a bit this week, with a +0.4kg gain (to be expected). It doesn’t bother me in the slightest, the last few weeks have averaged out nicely, and I did still reach new lows after my 2nd fast day last week… just shows how much things can bounce around.
Consistently over the last 11 weeks, my low weight after the 2nd fast day has always been somewhere between 1.4-2kg lower than my Monday morning weight (2nd FD has always been on a Thursday or Friday). Interestingly, last week when I lost 2kg, my low weight on the Saturday morning was only 0.7kg lower than the eventual Monday reading which matches up with the trends really nicely and confirms in my mind that I had lost a bit of extra water weight or something that day.
Anyway, another FD for me today… has felt a bit different today, might be because of all the heat, was outside quite a bit yesterday. I’ve already broken from my usual pattern and made up a 1-egg omlette with mushroom and spinach at 10:15 am because I feel like I’ll be paying for it at the end of the day if I don’t pace things a bit better (was absolutely yum by the way… although my chooks haven’t laid any eggs for the last week or two and my stocks are down to less than a dozen – might have to go have some stern words to them later, but I guess they are struggling with the heat too). Usually I only eat 300-450 calories on a FD, but I think today I will be pushing up close to the full 600 for the first time. Will be interesting to see if it makes much of a difference or not.
…thanks for the link Cinque, had no idea it was healthy weight week. Will check it out in more detail later, from the quick look at the events page there doesn’t seem to be anything much on around here really, most just seem to be either private events or some random displays in hospital foyers!
Good Morning all way of lifers, that sounds like we are in a prison! lol
FD today for me.
I think of my fasting days pre the beginning of the week and I think that my mind has conditioned itself to not even think of food or have a craving until around 12 noon on my FD’s, weird as on my non-fasting days I wake up and immediately think of what I will have for breakfast!
My weight is a YoYo, one day it says 1 thing and I am happy, the next weigh in it says I weigh more and visa versa, I must measure myself tomorrow when I get back from my swim. If I have lost weight it surely should show in the measurements!
Am I the only really fat person in this group, I read that others are 64.1, 64.3 etc etc. I would love to say I weighed that, at my present moment I am 85.1, not ashamed to say that either and it is the heaviest that I have ever been in my life. Weight creeps up slowly and before you know it BANG! your lovely slacks you only bought last summer are skin tight and show every bump and crease like the Grand Canyon!
Oh well, that’s my winge for the day.
I bought that Womens Weekly 2 day diet cookbook the other week and it arrived today. Wow what a nice book. I love the idea ” serves 1 ” saves trying to convert other recipes. The only hassle is I go shopping once per fortnight and that book uses quite a few products that I do not have on hand so I have to wait until next payday to start using it!
Joffy, I am quite resigned to loosing my added fat over the period of a couple of years or so, after all it took longer than that to put it on. I also know that as one gets older it gets harder to loose weight but I am going to stick to this WOL.
Intesha, Cake Decorating! That would be some will power!
Where do people buy Egg Whites in a carton?
I have one big goal at the moment ( apart from little ones along the way) I get to see my son and expected new baby due in August next September. I want to surprise him with a new thinner me!
I must start to write notes down so I can refer to what others have said.
Have a great day all.
( Sorry for rambling!)
Charlotte, 85kg sounds awesome to me, I’m 114kg 🙂 – the biggest I got was 141.3kg, it’s been coming down consistently over the last 3 and a bit years, I’ve only been doing 5:2 for 11 weeks now, but I’m very happy with the progress and the sustainability of it all.
…also, from what I can gather, most of the people here who are in the low 60kg now started off in the 80’s somewhere, so think of them as motivation, not something that’s wildly different to where you’re at.
Thanks to everyone who weighed in on my comments from last week. I had a think about it over the weekend and decided to keep going for a couple of reasons.
1. It’s a habit now and I like routines
2. I think it’s healthy
I simply won’t weigh myself any more and won’t expect weight loss.
In answer to some of the questions:
** In the past I’ve successfully lost a lot of weight through Weight Watchers and other programmes. I know how to lose weight. I chose 5:2 because it seems to me like something that I could stick with for life.
** I don’t generally eat “bad food” as a matter of course. Only on special or unusual occasions and I don’t deny myself when it’s appropriate.
Note: 85 calories is 85 calories regardless of whether it comes from a lolly or a bunch of asparagus.
** Yes, I too now feel full much quicker. I was taught as a child to eat everything on my plate. Trouble is the brain doesn’t compute that what I got served as a child (in more austere times) is much less than what is served today. Now I’ve learnt what it feels like to be full and I don’t feel guilty about the Kampucheans if I leave food on my plate. After a while I’ll learn how much to put in the pan and on the plate in the first place.
** I don’t look fat. I’m very tall and so can carry it well. Though all the ways to measure regard me as “obese”. I like being rounder than I was when I was 20. The thing is, I’m now in my 50s and much less concerned about how I look and much more aware of things like visceral fat because I want to be healthy when I’m old.
At the end of the day, if I expect nothing – I won’t be disappointed and depressed.
Morning losers,
Charlotte as Vaderz says, many of us here have lost 20-30kgs. I started at 83kg. This morning I’m 60.1kg, about where I’ve been for 18 months.
Cinque, so sorry you didn’t have a good FD. Mine was great, I barely noticed it was a FD. A neighbour came round with some melting moments she’d made, apologising profusely knowing it was my FD. I didn’t even look at them and OFMs were kind enough to ignore them too. Just enjoying one now – not sure if ‘enjoying’ is the right word to be honest. It certainly melted – but tastes like pure sugar in my mouth. Not tempted to have another. Earlier, I couldn’t eat my breakfast so that still awaits me.
A friend I hadn’t seen for a long time came round on Saturday and kept calling me ‘skinny minnie’. “What are you now, size 8, size 6?” (No, still size 10). She unfortunately has ballooned and I really want to help her with 5:2 but I feel she’s not receptive. Would rather pay a personal trainer $30 p/h than concentrate on eating less. I suppose she’s getting strong with all that training, but didn’t look very fit with obvious back ache, etc.
So, to those struggling with seeing results – at least you are here! Remember that there are other non-tangible health benefits to fasting and weight loss is really just a side effect (it just happens to be the one that most people focus on). As Intesha said, by staying plugged in here, you’ll be among like-minded souls. Over time, fasting will shape some of your less desirable food habits without your even realising it – portion control, food desires, etc.
Good job Vaderz. I would like to ask a personal question of those who’ve lost significant amounts of weight. It’s about excess skin. What are people doing about it? I tuck mine in! I’m assuming the only effective remedy involves surgery?
Glad to see you back here Chat. Maybe we’ll be drinking coffee together by the end of the week!
Have a good week everyone.
PS: Re exercise question:
I walk twice a day for 45 minutes (1.5 hours total) four days a week.
Two of the other three days I try to get to 10,000 steps. Mostly I succeed, sometimes not, sometimes I get to 20,000.
Saturdays I also play (3 hours) and coach (2 hours) lawn bowls.
Sunday I rest and sleep.
Like I said, I know what to do.
Cangel, you have a good attitude. I agree with most of your points but can’t help commenting on this:
“Note: 85 calories is 85 calories regardless of whether it comes from a lolly or a bunch of asparagus.”
True, but the effect on your body is vastly different. I think Bay was suggesting trying something more satiating on a FD rather than throwing calories away for the sake of it. If you’re concerned about visceral fat, you’ll want a nice, healthy liver. Sugar is not your friend in that regard.
I did say I’d post my hot cross buns recipe from Breville:
HOT CROSS BUNS RECIPE FOR BREADMAKER
Note: This is for the bread maker, those without one will need to follow general instructions in other recipes for how to make buns “manually”.
INGREDIENTS
• Water – 340ml
• Oil – 2 tablespoons
• Salt – 2 teaspoons
• Brown sugar – ¼ cup
• Bread flour – 600g/4 cups
• Milk powder – 3 tablespoons
• Ground mixed spice – 1 tablespoon
• Ground cinnamon – 1 tablespoon
• Yeast: active dry – 2 ¼ teaspoons
• Sultanas 1 ¼ cups
BATTER FOR CROSSES
• Water – 2 tablespoons
• Splenda – 1 teaspoon
• Plain flour – 40g/¼ cup
Use the dough setting – in the breville it’s 9.
GLAZE
• Water – 80ml/1⁄3 cup
• Caster sugar – 2 tablespoons
ADDITIONAL STEPS
1. Once finished, preheat oven to 190°C.
2. Divide dough into 18 pieces and shape into rounds. Place rounds close together on a lightly greased baking tray.
2. Cover loosely with lightly greased plastic wrap and leave to stand in a warm area for 20 minutes or until doubled in size.
3. Blend ‘cross’ batter ingredients together to make a smooth batter. Spoon into a piping bag fitted with a small piping nozzle. Pipe a cross shape onto each bun. ALTERNATELY: roll out with a rolling pin and more flour then cut into cross shapes.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
To make glaze
1. Place water and sugar into a small saucepan over low heat. Stir until sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil. Boil for 5 minutes.
2. Brush warm glaze over warm hot cross buns. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Note: I don’t usually bother with the glaze. I like the rustic look.
NoteNote: If you do like sultanas (I don’t like the texture) wait until it beeps to put them in. I prefer to put everything in together so they get mashed up but taste lovely.
Canberraangel
Thanks Thin. Yes I understand that. I just didn’t think it was worth making the point for 85 calories. I don’t have sugar in my tea, on my cereal or anything. The only time I eat it is when I’m eating sugar – if you know what I mean – which is not often. Sometimes assumptions are made about people that are incorrect.
Canberraangel,
I cant find the post where you said you would share your recipe for the hot cross buns. Not that I am going to eat all of them,
I was just wondering how many calories you reckon each bun is?
I saved the recipe for my daughter to make for her hubby. She loves cooking and I might have 1 of hers.
OK I worked out the calorie count for each HCB:
Whole recipe is 2883
Divide by 18 is
160 CALORIES PER HCB
If you include the glaze it’s 177 calories.
That is if you use skim milk powder. FCM powder is only another 10 calories.
Hint: For a smaller calorie count – divide into 21 or even 24 pieces. That’s one of the great benefits of making them oneself.
Wow it’s either a feast or a famine, so many posts.
Merry so glad things are starting to stabilise, it’s been a rough time for you.
Thin you won’t like this but I don’t have any excess skin. I can only put it down to my training at Curves for 6yrs and my daily kefir because apart from that I have done nothing else. Pilates I only started in the middle of last year when Curves closed and I have only just started my weight training again. I still have a slight muffin top which I hope will go with further weight loss.
Last Monday I weighed in at 68.4. This morning 65.9 so hopefully back on track.
Charlotte I started at 87.1 two years ago and I am 66. We are all so different and I know personally it’s hard not to compare yourself and where you are at with the others. That was my biggest downfall but I have finally realised that it is pointless and a waste of time.
Hi to everyone else, thanks for all your updates.
Hi, I spent a very rare day at one of the bigger shopping centres, spending far too much money. I ate some things I probably shouldn’t have, but I rather enjoyed my day out so I’m determined not to feel guilty. It was a NFD, so it’s OK. FD tomorrow, as it’s cool here now I’m making a pot of minestrone. This will work as my main evening meal on a FD or lunch on a normal NFD.
I’ve come home to find that a neighbour’s large pine tree, which we had discussed looked dangerous due to previous storm damage, is now gone. The tree surgeons were very busy while I was out shopping. This tree was a high risk for falling on my house so I’m glad it’s gone, but I think one of my flower beds might need some replanting. It’s full of shade loving plants and now it has virtually no shade – I hope camelias can be transplanted as I think I’ll have to move them.
Hi Charlotte, you asked about cartons of egg white. I use this a lot to pad out the amount of egg I want to use and save some calories. (I find I get the best results if I replace some of the whole eggs in a recipie with eggwhite, rather than all of it.) I buy “Puregg” brand “Simply Egg Whites”. It comes in a carton that looks just like a 600ml milk carton in size and shape. It holds about 2 cups of egg white. Where it is located varies in each supermarket, so you might need to ask for it. In my local Woolworths it is shelved right next to the carton eggs in one of the open fridges. In my nearest Coles, they don’t refrigerate their eggs so the eggwhite cartons are shelved with fresh pasta and ready meals. My local IGA supermarket doesn’t stock it. It costs $5-6 per carton. Hope you can find some.
Hope everyone in NSW is same from the fires.
Hi everyone, hope the Monday fasters are having a good FD.
Mine is going well. Usually I don’t have any calories till 6pm. Today I tried something different. OH (other half) and I had a bit of time out today and I had a skinny flat white, the small size, about 12noon. A bit of an experiement. Usually, if I eat anything on FDs it wakes the hunger dragon, no matter what time of day it is. Today, the hunger dragon didn’t wake up and still hasn’t, and it’s nearly 5.30pm. I’ve noticed before that my stomach and I really tolerate milk well. I’ll see what happens when I’ve had a small meal, but at the moment I’m feeling like I could even keep going, go to bed early, and make it a very low cal ‘fast’.
Charlotte – My normal decades long adult weight had been 57-58kgs, I’m 5’6″ and was on the lower half of my healthy weight range. My highest weight was 93.3kgs. I got to 83.1 kgs on my own by changing what I ate. Enter 5:2 and 2 yrs later I was 62.0kgs and that was with an 8 month plateau in the middle – so 16 months of weight loss all up. But -and it’s a big but – what’s really important about 5:2 is the health benefits. As Thin said, the weight loss was a peripheral outcome from the experimental processes using Intermittant Fasting of various types. 5:2 is the most useable version by the most number ofmpeople. I would do 5:2 even if It didn’t have that componant of weight loss. We really are at the forefront of a food revolution here, where we don’t know everything yet, and neither do the scientists, but we here on the forum are part of the wider non-formal ‘research’ – sort of – as I see it.
CAngel – thanks for the recipe! Re the 85 cals – it’s an interesting conversation that’s happened a few times on the forum. For me, if Ihad the 85 cals of say fish or salad or vegies or an apple, on a FD, it would contribute to my weight loss. If I had the 85 cals as starchy carb of any sort, it wouldn’t. It would contribute to stopping my weight loss on a FD. My body just does very different things with equal quantities of cals depending on what it is. I’ve tested is out many times. But, if we’ve found out anything on this forum over several years, it’s that while there are commonalities there are also variations in the way people react to things where we didn’t expect there to be differences. If your body treats that 85 cals the same regardless of it’s source more power to you. For me, it doesn’t. But – everything about the way you do 5:2 is your choice, and we will support you in your choices. Each person takes their own journey here. We don’t always agree with each other, but we are very individual on our journeys.
I didn’t know about egg white cartons either” Thanks for that info. I will definitely be using those.
Onwards and Downwards,
Merry
Update – DFIL has had a good weekend, now more stable, eating, drinking, and interacting with staff and residents. Looking more positive and the facility, their processes, and their staff have been brilliant with a difficult situation. Very impressed, and some relief at this stage. Gives us some hope. Thanks for your support 💐
Merry
Good evening,
CAngel, I love your decisions!
I was/am similar. I just concentrated on getting the fast days as good as I could make them, and the non fast days as good (in their own way) as I could make them, and the rest looked after itself.
Merry, so happy to hear that FIL news. And the skinny flat white news!
Farewell to the tree LJoyce, I love trees, but not when they fall on houses! It will be good fun planning a new garden. Hope the camellias are fine!
I had a crook day (still payback from grandma duty, but today should be the worst day). Had a catch up with a friend and a good doctor’s appt but the latter took ages and I was feeling dreadful. I was probably dehydrated but O my body gets confused and thinks it is hungry. I longed for packet chips so I bought some very cheap coles brand on special, but as soon as I had a bite I was sure they had sugar in them and yes it was the third ingredient. Chucked them out. But I did buy some more and ate quite a lot before throwing the rest away.
Lots of waste. But limited stuff into my face!!
Had lots of water now, and cups of tea, and I’ll make a salad tonight.
Thin I am glad you had a good fast day. So annoying to have that extra skin. Mine is just in ripples 😉 But I may have dangly bits off my arms. Still hoping it may be able to shrink.
Charlotte I was over 80kg at my heaviest, about 65 when I started 5:2 and around 50 now. (I am a shorty. I looked like a potato.)
Vaderz, what a lovely relief it is to be going in the right direction!
I downloaded the free cookbook from that healthy weight week link and the recipes look lovely.
Nice work Intesha, beautifully back on track!
Special hello to Lael and others that are flat out busy but may be able to read these posts, even if they can’t write.
You must be logged in to reply.
Michael is touring Australia this September! Here's a link to dates and tickets. Hope to see you there.
Michael Mosley gives an update for 2019, current research in the field and announces a tour starting in February.
Michael looks at the Horizon special, "What's the Right Diet for You" and tells us which diet they say is best for him.
in Welcome to The Fast Diet and Exercise forums • updated 5 minutes ago by Excelsior12309
in Weight loss • updated 2 hours, 30 minutes ago by symba7
in Welcome to The Fast Diet and Exercise forums • updated 6 hours, 56 minutes ago by pbatz
9:27 pm
7 Feb 17