Hi everyone, especially Jane from Australia.
I’m also a lady of a certain age and read that forum too.
It’s very hard to do more than two difficult things at the same time (I sometimes have trouble even with one!) so don’t try too hard to stick to the 5:2 regime while you are still dealing with the loss of your dear mother.
An alternative system that many will know about is 16:8 ie only eat each day in an 8-hour window, giving your system a 16-hour rest from digestion. In practice the easiest way I found to apply it is to not eat anything after dinner in the evening until lunchtime the following day. My husband used to go away for work and I got some great results with that last year as I’m not normally hungry first thing anyway. For me it doesn’t work when he is at home because of the ‘you must start the day with breakfast’ mantra, so to keep the peace I use 5:2 with my two fast days scheduled for days I am at work.
Do take care of yourself, the feeling of pain and loss will gradually diminish, but your happy memories won’t.

Stretching, standing and moving also burns calories and is good for the heart!
Happy fasting!

Hello everyone. I haven’t posted in a while but have been continuing to keep up with all of your comments. I’m still losing weight slowly (have now lost 11 kg since starting the fast diet in November). Our Foxtel programme-guide magazine for April arrived today, so I thought you might be interested to know that Michael Mosley’s Horizon documentary, “Eat, Fast, Live Longer”, will be back on the BBC Knowledge Channel (612) at 8.40 pm on Thursday, 17th April. It will also be repeated at 1.40 am and again on Sunday 20th April. His other documentary, “The Truth About Exercise”, will also be on the BBC Knowledge Channel on Thursday, 24th April, at 8.30 pm (and again at 1.20 am). I also thought that the new contributors to this thread might be interested in joining our “Southern Hemispherites” Facebook page. Here is the link: https://www.facebook.com/groupinvite/ATUp-6qC6M8_B3hAg9WMKoKiMVcuH8BObgaP3LuQwTY5kLhhu2WlHR2GfuJmYF2FJvj03YGgr2GeiVFg8gQoJqzj0N_iJ2bDXytFl5gH37DI0Qdo1V1DgcPB04jfLEialRUzGVCP227aAAPgbReApkaqmKWKwAmj4CBA1j_y28PGfjTdJxBuEcI-zfc7T4LXgjE .

Gomarg – Thanks for the FB link. I’ve sent a request to join the group.

Well done smarte, teevizi and Gomarg!

I had my 5th fast day yesterday after quite a busy weekend. I had a girlfriends party on Saturday and resulted in quite a few drinks and food. Really felt it on Sunday. Yesterday I had a fast day but found it very tough as I wasn’t very well and ended up treating myself to a hot chocolate in the evening. It took me up to 628 cal.

Trying to keep a close eye on the cals today to make up for it as feeling much better. I am pleased I don’t have too many busy weekends coming up so I can focus on really getting into this.

Hope the week is starting well for everyone and happy fasting for those who are.
Amy XX

Thanks for the link Gomarg, will definitely watch the doco as I haven’t seen it before. Well done MelbourneMum and everyone else for getting through a (mostly!) successful fast day! I’m feeling much better after my miserable week last week, successful fast yesterday and have only eaten one piece of toast so far today as I’m really not hungry yet. Definitely feeling much more focused and energised. Have a great week everyone, keep up the good work!

Well done IHAW! Those numbers are great. Sorry about your thyroid. Hopefully with the rest of you being healthy, you will recover better from the surgery. Not something to look forward to, though. 🙁

I have been on the fast diet for six months now and was introduced to it by a friend.I am 7 kilos lighter and have just had my first lot of blood test done. I get the results on Monday so it will be interesting to see how I go. My cholesterol is usually at the top of the range. It’s good to read all the different posts and to see how well everyone is doing. My husband does it with me which helps keep me on track.

Hi bulldozerme
Terrible name to type!

You have done so well and well done – 20kg is bloody hard!
It’s taken me 14 months to get to 21kg, but happily, for the last 7 weeks I have been between 69.7 & 70.2 – so WE CAN DO IT!

How is your husband? I also have one who is older (74) and mine unfortunately won’t fast, but is very supportive of my “strange” habits. He is still more uncomfortable with eating and drinking wine on Mondays while I have a glass of water – but it is amazing (and so liberating) to be buying size 12 and sending the 18s to the Salvos!

It is for life, and I know now that I will fast for the rest of my life and love doing it. BUT I also think we have to keep exercising (I do an hour cardio at the gym 6 mornings a week) if only not to get flabby

best wishes from Hobart
Vicki

Hi mygirl, Dozer Mikayla and Vicki!

What wonderful inspirational fasters you both are and it’s great to hear from you and your stories of success.

My darling husband who’s underweight, but eats like a horse, is now much better at NOToffering me treats on my fast days…it took a while for him to remember that two days a week I’d be letting my system have some rest and recovery. Now, like clockwork, he happily cooks his favourite meal for himself (baked beans and mashed potatoes) and tucks into an enormous plateful. Gotta love him, it’s one of the few things he can cook without asking me every few minutes what to do next.

I get my thyroid CT scan today, to see exactly how big it is. When booking, the receptionist told me to fast beforehand, I told her that’s not a worry….(it’s Thursday after all and we all know what that means…. hahaha!) got to love this fasting business, it really makes all this medical investigation stuff so much easier to handle. I didn’t have the heart to tell the poor lady why I was so cheerful and not moaning about going without breakfast.

Cheers and happy fasting! Live long and prosper!

Morning all! Some really interesting stories on here the last few days – Peggy, I definitely have the same problem as you! My fast days are fine – I almost never go over my limit, usually comfortably under in fact. But my “off” days are the struggle, I find it difficult to just have one or two glasses of wine, that third one calls me and I can’t resist! And why have one piece of chocolate when there’s a whole bar there to be eaten?? Having said that, I’ve given myself a huge kick up the backside over the last few days and I think I’ve managed to refocus but it will be interesting to see how I go over the weekend, especially as we have friends round on Saturday…

IHAW, good luck with the thyroid issue and congrats on everything else! We’re all doing so well, we just need to carry on doing what we’re doing and NOT GIVE UP!

Peggy, look at the Gabriel method ( get book from library) or google Jon Gabriel for his website.
Your reasons are exactly why your body won’t release the weight, and is keeping ‘ you safe’
He has free mediations etc that you can use to re wire your brain that will ‘let you be safe from now on, and men goggling you will be ok ‘etc so your body releases the excess weight.

Well done though on what you have achieved so far, but you need to see the reason why you hold on to your weight ( and you know it, so you just have to work through that)
Before maybe getting to your goal.

Everyone who has a serious weight issue has to look back and find out what was going on in their life when they started gaining the weight ( abuse, goggling, unhappy with work, etc and why your body wanted to keep you safe by adding fat layers)
He is American but lives in Perth and he was 400lbs and once he had his a ha moment, he started losing weight from just eating well.
But there was a reason he kept the weight on..no matter how many diets he did. Mr Atkins just screamed at him once, saying he was lazy. He wasn’t…
It was his body protecting him from his boss who he hated,

Anyway, take a look, that might help,

Hi Peggy and Liz,

Isn’t it fascinating just how much our emotional mindsets affect our eating habits?
When we examine our past issues with food, eating and our early years as young growing adolescents, it’s no wonder we often get skewed perceptions with our bodies and our appetites.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could rewrite our relationship around food?
Make it a lot more positive, rewarding and accepting?
Create a happier, easier way to make friends with food?

When I’m feeling anxious or upset, I now find a lot of peace with daily meditation and letting go and forgiving those people and situations which cause me problems. I’ve found that I’m doing the same meditation technique around food and eating. These days I only eat when I’m hungry and sit in a calm and relaxed manner before eating. This allows me to really enjoy the whole taste, texture, colour and flavours of the food before me, as well as being able to feel my tummy when I’m full.

I hope you both start getting peace around your normal eating days, not just on the fast days! I care about you both and your health and well being! Sharing with us is a great way to express your feelings, but if you need more help don’t be scared to seek extra help with someone who can listen and work with you to move forward in a positive way (like a counsellor, life coach, naturopath, or doctor).

All the very best, take care.

Hi:

No one can live for long on 600 calories a day – certainly not seven years. So my first suggestion is to start counting your calories. Really counting everything. Once you have done that for a week, you may have a better idea of what to do next.

Good Luck!

Young:

Sorry, don’t buy it. A woman 5′ tall weighing 100 pounds has a TDEE of over 1200. Assuming the calculation is high, let’s say it is only 1000 calories a day just to live, no exercise at all.

A 400 calorie deficit would equal 2800 per week. Times 52 would equal 145,600 per year, or a 41 pound per year loss for 7 years, or about 280 pounds.

Hard to do.

Youngone – is it possible for you to talk to your doctor about the best approach and whether 5:2 is a good thing to adopt? 🙂

Hi Vicki

My user name is ridiculous I’ve been thinking of changing it, my husband thinks I’m a bulldozer lol.
Thanks for asking after him, he’s feeling much better after his heart surgery and is talking about starting IF again. Although he’d rather have a steak than miso soup lol.

Congratulations on your weight loss! I’ve still got along way to go, but I’m looking forwards not backwards.

Your exercise is great too, they say exercise releases as many endorphins as chocolate lol

Enjoy the rest of your day,
Ella

Made it through without caving in. Just had brekkie and feel great!

Peggy, like you I too have lost half a kilo this week after three weeks on the same weight, and yes I do understand what you mean about the mind and body catching up. Today is a special new weight for I have finally made it under BMI 40, so I am now no longer morbid obese, just plain obese. Very happy to have gone from BMI 45.9 to BMI 39.9 in under five months. 🙂

Now to move on with heading further down. Had a made two weeks of my cows calving with four sets of twins, this is not good as the cows leave the weaker calf, some survive and some do not. Have had two die, 🙁 have two I am hand rearing and the last one is looking after both her calves at present. 🙂

Have a great weekend everyone, cheers Charlie

Peggy I thought your post was really interesting. I hope you find some resources that can assist you with your journey. I see that a lot of people post things about how they feel psychologically on fast/non-fast days. None of us (probably) have a perfect relationship with food or self image.

However, from a psychological perspective, there is one thing that makes me far more resilient – a good nights’ sleep. I know it’s easier said than done, but I do try to protect sleep the night before a fast day.

Does anyone else have any other techniques for building mental resilience?

Hi Nicky,

I’ve stayed with a friend in the beautiful Adelaide Hills so can picture your location.
I find it useful to buy lots of appealing fruit and I take that to work with me and have it on my desk for between-meals. It’s also useful to just not buy nice cheese – I tried to stop or at least cut right down on cheese and other dairy when I first got a raised cholesterol reading a few years ago (and my level did come back into normal range after I did that and also lost 1-2kg at the time.)
In general I’m trying to cut down on eating between meals and I’m also trying to stay on my feet as much as possible (I work in a sit-down job)- when I get home from work, whereas in the past I might have slumped into a chair to read or gone to my computer to look on social media, now I make a conscious effort to stay up and doing things – gardening, tidying, dogwalking, cooking – I find it’s easier not to eat when I’m being active in that way.

Welcome, 4health!

I feel the same way: I have lost weight before with a few different, well known methods and companies, and found the constant obsession with food/calories totally demoralising, boring for me and those closest to me.

In the two weeks since my first fast day, I have found a calmness and control that I never had with daily planning and restrictions. What a change in attitude!

I know this is a lifestyle, not a quick fix so I eat well on my feed days, guilt free if I overindulge and I exercise when I want to rather than when I ‘have’ to. Funny thing is, I don’t feel like over indulging like I did when I food-obsessed. And I am enjoying the exercise I choose to do, it’s never a chore.

I’m already down 2kg; I feel happier knowing I can truly be social and relaxed when i go out with friends/family and I am content to sit back and see what my body does next now that it’s got a chance to repair itself. Bring it on!

Hi Peggy, thanks for the tips.
Being nearly 68 I now work 3 days/week (lucky still to have a job I love, I know) and fast Mondays and Wednesdays (work days). Thursdays – Sundays at home with retired husband and Thursdays is the worst. No amount of lovely fruit appeals over (say) toasted and buttered fruit bread or cheese sandwiches.
Thursday was as bad as usual but gave myself a stern lecture and have kept busy since then. We don’t eat badly, lots of grills, veg &c; between meals the problem.
Weight loss abt 1kg/month and TDEE roughly 2000 calories so should have plenty of wriggle room.
I wear a Fitbit pedometer and average at least 60,000 steps weekly plus yoga, weights training, 3 x HIIT sessions each week. Incidental cricket and soccer games with grandchildren too. At least my pants are looser than they were so not all bad, just impatient, even though I know this is a life-long (and even longer life) marathon.

Hi MM
My HIIT routines are pretty much out of the book, except I do mine on a rower. I bought it instead of an exercise bike some time ago because I feel it gives one a better all-over workout.
Currently I do Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays: 20s flat out, followed by 40s slower rowing to recover and repeat two more times. That is, about 5 minutes warm up, 3x(20s flat out, 40s recovery), about 5 minutes cool down.
My weight loss is slow but gradual (3kg in abt 6 weeks) but my waist has shrunk 5cm and pretty sure my hips/thighs have too although I don’t measure them, because my work trousers are distinctly looser.
About 7 months ago I had the second of my arthritic knees replaced so now feel like a new woman and have recovered my energy.
Until my knees caused problems I was always pretty active and have played sports and been a bushwalker and cyclist all my life. In that respect I guess I am lucky that I have only been fat for the last 15 years and exercise is not repellent.
As a concept, HIIT has been around for a long time in elite athletics training so there’s also lots of information on the internet, with a mind-boggling array of combinations and permutations. You don’t need any equipment and can run on the spot or up and down stairs.
I hope you enjoy your HIIT routines and you will see from the book that time saved is a wonderful advantage.

Hello all, its good to read your posts. Since being on the 5:2 I have cut right back on bread. When I eat it I find my stomach bloats and I feel sick. Does anyone else have this problem. Tomorrow I get my blood test results so I am interested to see how they are. I shall also get weighed at the Dr. It’s the only time I get on the scales. Hope everyone has a good week, fast day for me tomorrow which I look forward to after the weekend