Hi Thin,

I’m so sorry you woke feeling unmotivated to fast today. I’ve had days like that myself, though usually after a sleepless night, have completely over exerted myself in previous days, am ultra emotionally stressed or when I’m coming down with something like a cold. I’m glad your walk was invigorating and got you through feeling that way. …I completely agree about the discipline with regard to fasting days. For me they are an all or nothing prospect. Like you, I admit that I use 5:2 as a way of dealing with my food addiction and maybe those who haven’t ever been troubled by food addiction or haven’t struggled shedding extra weight wouldn’t quite understand?

I chuckled when I read about you and OH’s visit to the market. As much as he doesn’t understand, the way you write about him sounds endearing!

Here’s the link to the products Dr. M sells on his website…

https://thebloodsugardiet.com/shopping-guide-categories/products/

I suppose the items offered on the page can be a convenience for those who don’t know where else to buy them or who live remotely (if there is such a thing in the UK, my brother who lives in Ireland says that it is impossible to get completely lost there because where ever you go, you will always be within sight of a dwelling!).

My guess about the fitness trackers on Dr. M’s website is that all his various projects including ‘Trust Me I’m a Doctor’, his BSD website and even this Fastdiet forum are run by others. From what I’ve observed, it appears to have been years since Dr. M peeked his head into any of these pages. Even threads he himself started have comments he hasn’t replied to in years! I’m guessing the various project teams don’t necessarily confer with each other. Dr. M is probably too busy to keep informed of all the finer details of each. Dr M writes that his GBP99 12 week program has been created by ‘specialists’ and there is no mention that he’s one of them! The best that I’m assuming is that he hand picked the team!?

Thanks so much Minka, I appreciate what you said a lot. And just the fact that you ‘get it’ makes it so good to be able to lean on contributors here. I’m feeling great now and mentally back on the wagon!

The link reveals an interesting mix of endorsed products. I understand that Amazon warehousing is coming to Australia. How funny that your brother ended up in a place where you can’t get lost because it’s so densely built-up and you’ve ended up in a place where one can drive for four days before seeing a sign reading, ‘Darwin 1400kms’. Are there any other siblings?

Back again🙂

Ah travel. We’ve learnt on the forum that 5:2 is really good at helping us understanding our individual responses to food physically, emotionally and psychologically. We’ve also learnt there can be groups that have very different responses to another group of people.

Here’s my experience of travelling several times now:

1. I’m a member of The Hunger Dragon Club. The minute food passes my lips for the first time in a day the Hunger Dragon comes roaring to life. There is no way I could eat at a breakfast buffet ‘because I’ve paid for it’. I would come home looking like a tank. I’ve only once had breakfast that way and went to the loungue area of a boat where a light breakfast was served. I felt yuck and went on to eat too much that day. There’s no way I could eat breakfast and not eat again for the day.At home I never eat before 12noon anyway and eat 2 meals a day not 3, on nonFDs. On FDs I eat 1 meal only after 6pm. My husband goes to breakfast but I sleep in a bit longer. I don’t miss it at all, and , yes, we’ve paid for it, but ces la vie. I don’t regret it at all.

Part of travelling for me is to try foods from different cultures and I do. I try everything I want to, but I just eat smaller amounts instead if a large amount or eating the same thing over and over.

My OH and I have several strategies. No brekkie for me is the first.

I take little travel scales like Thin does and weigh first thing every morning. It let’s me know if I’m overeating.

I do my 2 FDs as usual though I may change FDs to a different day of the week. Keeping the routine going is important for me.

I continue not eating till 12 noon on the 5 days.

I set a goal to come home the same weight I left. I’m usually pretty close.

OH and I often share a dish instead of 1. We might share a sweet or piece of cake or biscuit.

Having 2 starters instead of a starter and a main.

I get the chips left off a meal and may have a couple of my husband’s if he has some, or none.

Especially in USA I get sauces/salad dressings on the side in a bowl or jug. If I had ribs OH and I would get a small serve and share it.

Drinks.If having coffee, I ask for black with milk on the side, or have very weak black tea/peppermint tea. I drink lots of water, bottled if necessary, and carry it with me so I’m not drinking calories. If the food ‘experience’ is a drink, again, we share. I’m not a drinker, but still go with OH to wine tastings but just have a smell or occasionally a tiny sip of something, very tiny.

If there’s a soup choice I’ll choose a clear soup instead of a thicker soup, except for seafood bisque or chowder which I try everywhere, but only the smallest size, and I’m prepared to leave some if it’s too much.

I don’t finish a dish if it’s more than I want. 5:2 has made me much more aware of when I need to stop. I have no problem now leaving things on a plate.

We self cater where we can and shop in supermarkets rather than restaurants. Supermarkets and markets in other countries can be fascinating.

Of all tips, my biggest is to plan what you want the outcome to be. Don’t just think you must give up 5:2 to travel. If you go off it and go silly onnfood on drink be aware you may or may not go back on 5:2 afterwards.

If you’re staying with people let them know you are working on improving your health (rather than weight) and let them know you only eat a small amount on 2 days a week, and don’t be bullied into to having 2nds and thirds you don’t want.

Gono matter what, enjoy your travelling.

Onwards and downwards,
Merry

Wow I’m overwhelmed by the amount of conflicting information on the Internet around body fat & muscle mass. I was curious of this subject due to my new flabby underarms from weight loss. So ive come to my own conclusion which is –

– i probaby didnt have much upper arm muscle prior to weight loss but the flab wasn’t visable due to my excess weight

– flab is not so visable elsewhere on my body because ive greatly increased my cardio fitness with fast paced walking and exercise bike

– underarm flab not reducing because ive been doing the wrong type of weight training

All the information I consumed around what burns first (muscle, fat, water etc) and what intake of food burns what (carbs, fats etc) just did my head in so I’m not even going to think about all of that.

So I will simply follow the new weight training model that targets upper arm flab. Happy to hear the thoughts of others.

Were about to take my D’s cat to the vet. Not sure what happened but she has a very nasty gash on her tail and not using one of her hind legs. D is very upset and worried for her little moggy so hope it all goes ok.

So perfectly written Cinque (yours of 10:21 pm). I read it three times. Your transition from weight loss to maintenance is very much my experience too.

Hi Merry, excellent travel tips. Funny you mention the ‘breakfast to breakfast plan’ awakening the hunger dragon as I definitely considered that as a potential challenge. But having decided a 24 hour fast is the best option for me for a short trip to Asia, I thought that breakfast might present the healthiest range of choices as dinner is often eaten while poking around night markets. I’m envisaging noodles, rice and a lot of deep fried things that I no longer want to eat. I only have to do it twice after the initial travel day. I think I’ll be strong for the remainder of the day but going to bed on an empty stomach might be tricky. As for the breakfast buffet, I won’t be eating the pale pink hotdog style sausages or any of the carby offerings, just eggs, fruit and yoghurt. I shall report back!

GDSA, good luck at the vet. I was watching a new series of ‘Supervet’ last night in which Noel repaired the badly damaged jaw of a cat that had been hit by a car. At the vet hospital where my DD works, a lot of work on cats is to remove facial abscesses resulting from fights. Given up on underarm flab.

Another perfect day here in Perth – 31C. Have a wonderful day everyone.

Morning everyone! First weigh in and measurement day after Week 1 of 5:2. The first details were taken last Monday morning first thing, then I started my first fast day, had another fast day on Thursday. Results for Week 1 (kg wise) were not awe-inspiring – a loss of 800g, but body fat % and cm a little better: -1.1% for the body fat and -3cm total (-2 from my waist, -1 from my bust). I have sort of decided (pending your responses!) to now start taking my weekly weight and measurements on TUESDAY mornings, ie after a FD, not on MONDAY mornings after a non-fast weekend. When do most of you take your weights and measurements? Would love your advice! Thanks! T.

Hi everyone,

Welcome Mouldy, and congratulations on your loss so far. Getting rid of a spare tyre is wonderful!

Hi Thin- I know what you mean about the night markets. Lots of unhealthy and grainy stuff. Hope you can find a healthy stirfry in their somewhere. I may have given the wrong impression in my post- the written word and all it’s vageries of interpretation. If the breakfast strategy works, it works. Heaps of people have a big breakfast and take boiled eggs, fruit and the odd pastry with them for lunch as well. There are plenty of no Hunger Dragon people on 5:2 who could work that with just a little before bed to help with sleep. For us in the Hunger Dragon Club it just wouldn’t work as a financial and FD strategy. One of my biggest challenges when travelling is wheat, wheat and wheat. So much stuff is made out of wheat, and cous cous is popular now and it’s wheat. Many lunches and national and local specialties are baked things and yep, theyre wheat of course. If you can’t eat wheat, ceoliac, or intolerant of of wheat, other grains and gluten, like me then it can be a challenge. I have little bits of carefully chosen specialties and put up with the side effects, but I have to be careful.

Welcome Mouldy and well done on your weight loss so far.

Tori67 i weight every morning when i first wake up. I have a set of Aria scales which automatically synch to my Fitbit app. This way i can get a rough idea of weight changes day by day but what I tend to focus on is tbe weekly average weight and body fat % that it gives me.

Which leads me to Fitbits. I did mean to respond to an earlier post but it slipped my mind until Goldenheart just mentioned it.

Mine is accurate to less than 5 steps per 100. I have all of my regular meals logged into the app so its extremely easy to track intake. I can track all forms of exercise and movement in general. As the day goes along I can see if i need to up my movement/exercise to ensure I use more than I consume. It has a wonderful array of charts and will tracks sleep patterns. It will show resting heart rate – mine has gone from an average of 77 when i first staryed FD to an average of 51 now.

Mine is a Fitbit Charge 2. I bought it second hand for $140 and I absolutely love it – wear it 24/7.

Mouldy – Great loss, glad to see 5:2 is working well for you. I have also been doing 5:2 since January and have lost a similar amount.

Tori – Well done on your week 1 results. I think using a range of measurements, not just weight is a really good idea as I’ve found that they don’t always move at the same time. How often you weight/measure depends on you. Some people weigh daily, some weekly and some (like me) weigh monthly and there is every variation in between. I believe weighing should be motivating not depressing, so the advice I usually give is that you weight often enough to help keep you motivated but not so often that it creates frustration. The frequency that achieves that balance will be different for everyone. When I was much heavier and losing weight every week, weighing often was fine but once the weight slowed I found frequent weighing caused me more frustration than anything else so I need to change it to monthly.

Cinque – Like the ducks in a row! I am also uncomfortable when the line between medicine/science and consumerism/popularism gets blurred. It’s one of the reasons so many untested claims flourish. However I have an analytical mind and I take nothing at face value without searching for the proof myself. I figure that the claims & beliefs that make it into society through media or internet can’t fool me if I don’t let it – just because something is said often doesn’t make it the truth. I may be kidding myself that I can remain unaffected but I try.
I think the distinction between the approach taken to FDs when dieting and when maintaining weight is a helpful one. In then end it has to be sustainable.

Merry – that hunger dragon is my nemesis as well. I can’t seem to find a way to eat early in the day and not overeat by the end of that day, so starting at lunchtime is my solution as well. I think we just need a range of strategies so we can find the one that suits us. If not eating breakfast works then that’s the approach I’m going with. I don’t envy you having to avoid wheat – hard enough when you are home and in control and I imagine it’s impossible when travelling.

GDSA – there is some pretty confusing information out there. I’m happy to share what I personally experienced with flabby upper arms and weight training. With my hourglass body shape I always seem to carry excess weight on my thighs and upper arms. With the 50gk I lost 3 years ago I still have very flabby upper arms. No exercise I’ve done has made much difference, but I am in my mid-50s and I have lost and regained so much weight over the decades than my skin has no elasticity left. I am also limited in working with weights due to the arthritis – just holding a small dumbell hurts my hands. However when I was in my mid-20s I lost 50kg and did a lot of weight training at the gym – my flabby upper arms became firm and the skin did tighten up – to the point I was very comfortable in sleeveless tops. While losing weight back then I did mainly aerobic exercise but once I got to a few kgs from goal I added the weight training – I think the reason it worked is because I did it 5 days per week and I was young enough to still have skin with elasticity. The only caution I’d give is that it can do odd things to your weight – I did a program for toning and building muscles over the whole body and it worked, but as my measurements got smaller my weight went up. So you may need to concentrate on body measurements and body fat percentage as your measures of success. I found it dispiriting to have my weight increasing (mainly because it was taking me further away from the goal weight I’d been aiming for), even though I dropped a full dress size during my months of weight training.
Hope the cat is OK.

Yesterday’s FD went well, despite the extra hour of fasting. This week I started my new approach of not counting calories. I’m hoping that I’ve learned enough to know what the right volume of food is for both FDs and NFDs. I am still briefly recording what food I’ve eaten, so that if this experiment all goes wrong I can backtrack and workout where I’m overeating. I’m willing to give this approach 2 months to see if I can trust my appetite and my knowledge of serving sizes and nutrition to get my food intake right without monitoring every calorie. If I can manage this I think it will be a better long term approach to food for me.

Thin – believe me I am tempted to jump on the scales every now and then. Especially when I have had a binge, or some really low cal days, or been forced to weigh at hospitals and it’s different to my scales – the problem is I know how distressed and obsessed I get when I weight often – I had gotten to the point of weighing multiple times per day until I finally put a stop to it. Initially I had to put the scales in the spare room where I wouldn’t see them every day. As I’ve adapted to monthly weigh-ins I have managed to put my scales back into my bedroom without jumping on them all the time – although there are plenty of times I’m tempted. My resolution to this is the tape measure. If I need reassurance that I’m on track, I take my measurements and this usually settles me down.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I was sleeping unusually well on the nights after I’d been gardening. Well yesterday my finger joints were too sore to tackle any more bales of straw so I decided to have a day off – didn’t get to sleep until 4am this morning. So this afternoon I spent an hour spreading straw and fertilizer. I have now finished mulching and fertilizing the largest flower bed, I just need to water it all in. I’m hoping for a better night’s sleep tonight.

I have to do another FD tomorrow, which means I’m only getting a single NFD break today – something I didn’t want to do again. However, I need to be on NFDs on Easter Sun & Mon, so before then I need to do a bit of realigning to make sure that happens. I figured it was better to do this now than around easter when there would be too much access to easter buns and chocolate – too much bingeing potential on the NFDs.

Good morning everyone 🐝🐝🐝
Bees today as I am busy!

G’day, was the cat ok?
My naughty Miso didn’t come in last night. She has an alternative home, it seems. I need to put a note on her collar. I worry.

Thin, I am glad our experiences are similar. I keep thinking of Dr Mosley mentioning in the documentary about two light eating days being the traditional culture in some places, and thinking how nice that would be.

No scales in my house, and I can’t exercise more than a few yoga stretches, so not much use for a Fitbit type thing. Talk about low cost 5:2!

Welcome Mouldy, congratulations!

Slim, I do hope you have a really good week and head off for your holiday feeling great.

I am going on a big expedition today, celebrating my sisters birthday with a ride on the Melbourne Star observation wheel at sunset.

LJoyce, I hope you slept well. I am similar with checking things, especially science claims!
I did a little bit of gardening yesterday, what beautiful weather we are having!

Off to be busy. Best wishes all, especially those who are fasting! 🌷🌷🌷

Hello all.

LJoyce thanks for your info re flabby underarms. My skin elasticity is pretty good due to weight never being higher than 74kg I’m just trying to nip the flab in the bud before it becomes too hard to manage.

Not good news for my D’s moggy. Large gash on tail will heal ok but she has broken some of the smaller bones in her hind leg. Unfortunately the bones cannot be pinned and there is no guarantee that bone fushion treatment will work. The treatment costs many thousand dollars and cannot be done locally. So sadly she will have her leg amputated today.

Miss D is distraught.

Moggy is only 12 months old and of slim built so is expected to make a full recovery and live a normal active life.

Feeling very sad about it all. Coping ok with FD today but have craving for junk food.

Hello!

I’m fasting again with you today LJ. Hope you got a good night’s sleep! What flowers are you growing? I’m envisioning quite a large flower bed springing with a riot of color.

Joffy, what good progress with the continually shrinking waistline and decreasing pant size! The winery walkabout and colored suit sound interesting! By colored suit do you mean bright yellow or red as in fancy type dress? I’m intrigued! And do you all visit various wineries in these costumes?

Cinque, your sunset ride on the Melbourne Star sounds like great fun and what a special way to celebrate your sister’s birthday!

GDSA and Goldenheart, thank you for reporting about the accuracy of your fitness devices. It is good to know that each respective device tracks your steps so closely! I’ll keep those in mind, though admittedly at the moment I’m in the middle of an energy crash and so all I can imagine doing is lying down for a nap, which I’ll do shortly!

I think the flurry of activity, exertion of the past week coupled with a late night or two and one of those being sleepless, has caught up with me.

Thin, I often use my aversion to gluten as a way of shielding me from traditional festive fare displayed enticingly by the supermarkets. However, Mr. M was advised by a dietician to go gluten free so gluten free versions of all those goodies are now in our kitchen and much more tempting, including the Coles gluten free hot cross buns. I keep reminding myself that someone in this forum reported that they tasted awful and that Mr M and I often have opposite taste preferences and that I’d probably agree with the person on this forum! Remembering how yucky I feel after I eat bread and pastry helps too!

Here’s to you seeing numbers in the 83 appear on the scale, Slimmerella!

Merry and LJ I wish my hunger dragon would act so predictably and remain asleep until I take my first bite of food for the day. My hunger dragon is so sporadic in its behavior that out of the blue it will sometimes roar hunger pangs early in the morning and if I don’t eat a meal, my energy levels plummet and I end up sinking into brain dead mode. I plan my FDs accordingly so that if this happens, I can simply retreat and take a nap. However, on NFDs I’m often at TAFE or work and just have to keep going and have to keep my wits about me. Maybe as I continue with 5:2 and the healing process one day my Hunger Dragon will tame just a bit more. …Would make planning so much easier!

Still no movement out of 84’s even after a close to perfect FD yesterday. But I noticed something you all may have some knowledge of. My scales also do Total Water Weight (TWW). Over the last week my TWW has gone from 38% to over 40%. Excel tells me that 2% of 84 kgs is over 1.5 kgs. Is it possible that is why I am not showing body weight loss? I am still doing 2 hours Reformer Pilates a week – maybe even though its quite gentle I am still building a little bit of muscle?

A My Fitness Pal forum post quoted from a scale manufacturer’s booklet that said

“Women
Age Body fat Body water
18-29 20-30% 50%
30-39 22-32% 50%
40- 49 24-34% 47%
50- 59 26- 36% 47%
60- 69 28- 38% 45%

Body water measurement results are influenced by the proportion of body fat and muscle. If the proportion of body fat is high, or the proportion of muscle is low then the body water results will tend to be low.”

I’m conscious of not taking this as fact given it came from product literature.

Any thoughts? Or maybe I just reached an old fashioned plateau early (after just 4.5kgs lost)

Youngest S has man-flu (his words) and has asked to come over for a home cooked meal tonight. Then this popped up on my facebook. Enjoy!

http://www.the-postillon.com/2016/12/world-first-specialist.html

Hi all, well hopefully life will slow down a little for me for awhile. The cake decorating has finished for the term but I do have a few more classes booked in over the next few weeks. Easter Saturday I am doing a death by chocolate cake which will be just in time for my Dads 90th on the Sunday.

I met my young adult that I will be coaching for the next 22 weeks today, so that’s another hurdle over.

I have to agree with Thin and Cinque that now we have lost so much weight, and I’m not even in maintenance like they are, it becomes harder to maintain the momentum. But also like them it has become a habit and I still try to stick to my two FD’s every week, sometimes three if I can squeeze it in. My weight has stabilised and even though I would like to lose another 5kg, I’m not beating myself up about it. I am eating way too much on NFD’s but I also am a stress eater and need to limit my bad food intake.

Everyone is doing so well and it’s great to read your posts. Joffy thank you for updates on your progress, you must be feeling very pleased with your efforts so far. Enjoy the time with your children it’s very precious.

LJoyce I loved the description of your garden, how wonderful to have such a variety. The colours and smells but gorgeous.

On the travel front. I went to the UK for Xmas the year before last for 7 weeks. I didn’t do specific fast days but I tried to leave a 16 hour window between my meals. I was staying with my daughter so it was a bit hard at times but I came back only 700grams heavier. Unheard of previously when it was usually anything from 5kg +++++++++. I even went to Brugge and stuffed myself with chocolate, waffles and ice cream. I think it’s just about being mindful but make sure you have fun and enjoy everything otherwise what’s the point in going to different countries only to be miserable and denying yourself.

Hello all. Thanks for your kind words regarding my D’s moggy. Operation went well yesterday but she has yet to attempt to stand up. She will remain at the vets until she can regain her balance and walk. We can finally go and see her tonight after school. D has been very distressed so hoping tonight she will start to feel a bit better about it all once she can give her moggy a pat and hopefully a cuddle.

Yeaterdays FD lasted until tea time when we decided to go to the local pub for a meal – including 2 glasses of red for me. Wish i didnt have the red as i had an awful nights sleep and feel terrible again today. I only have alcohol when we go out for a meal and i always seem to suffer from it lately. Will have to find something interesting but non alcoholic to have from now on. Im not into softdrinks as they are too sweet for me….any suggestions ?

Hello everyone,
Best wishes to your poor moggy Gday, and to your D. I hope the dear cat bounces back quickly, ready for its new and interesting life.

I’ve been so busy. Appt at the hospital to tell me that the thyroid biopsy result was indeterminate, but to take that as good news and they will check it again in a year.

A ride in the Melbourne Star with my sister for her birthday, and a lovely assortment of family and friends. It was good fun. Here is a pic. I have a red top and am holding my granddaughter with my daughter beside me with the baby
http://imgur.com/a/qGIGX.
Chinese restaurant for a meal, but that means sugar in all the sauces, I find, so I am having a hungry day today!

With another busy social day I decided I couldn’t do my fast day. My daughters family is moving from the big house to the small apartment on Monday so I am on baby minding duty. It is all so hectic and I am trying to provide them with lunches. I’ll think now whether to do my fast day tomorrow, or just have one on Sunday this week.

They had a big hospital strength pair of scales in the entrance when I went to my appt yesterday. And they were asking everyone for their weight, maybe doing some research. I didn’t notice it going in, but I stood on it (clothes, bag and a full bladder!) on the way out and clocked 52.4. Now, I feel I am pretty much the same weight as when my doctors scales showed 48 (just bathroom scales in her consulting room) so I will continue to think of myself as around 50kg!

Intesha, lovely to see your post and hear your news!
Merry, cheers for that extra lightness and easiness!
LJoyce, I hope the day got easier and the headache has gone!
Slim, do you know the original man-cold skit? If not, here it is for your enjoyment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbmbMSrsZVQ
Joffy, have a great time with the kids, you have your priorities right! Sensible idea to leave the suit measurements to the last minute. If you are losing at a fairly steady rate, I wonder if they can can key that in to predict a suit that will fit at the time?
Minka so good to read your post soon. I hope that hunger dragon sleeps for a time. And shrinks!
Hello Thin, I’m sorry not to be fasting with you today. I am with you in resisting the hot cross buns, although I find it easy because I so prefer home made ones… and I am not going to make any. And most of the chocolate things are made with cheap nasty stuff. (But Oh dear, really good chocolate is hard to resist).

Sending good wishes to everyone!

Thanks for the suggestion LJoyce. I do like bitters lime and soda and am also equally happy to forego the lime cordial as I have done so in the past and still enjoy the drink without it. I wont drink anything that comes out of those horrible mixer taps that most places use these days – even D doesn’t like it and always prefers a bottle or can of lemonade. Yucky syrupy sickly stuff. I ask prior to ordering if they sell the small bottles of soda or mineral water. So yes will go with that or a watered down fruit juice.

Visited the moggy this arvo. Looking very sore and sorry for herself indeed but was happy to see us and receive pats. Hopefully tomorrow we will be able to give her a cuddle.

Nearing the end of another great FD, well and truly focussed at least wrt to FDs. NFDs are still in a work in progress. And might always be so. We saw four dolphins on our walk this morning. You can’t get a better start to a FD than that.

Slim, good for you for sticking with it despite the annoying plateau. Perhaps when you get back from hols, you can take a closer look at NFDs and see what’s going on. Are you saying that you sold a house, will take an o/seas holiday and then move into another place on return? If so, you must have some stamina! Cracked up over your man ‘flu article especially the caption of the doc in the inset box. Cinque, thanks for sharing the original version which came to mind and I hadn’t seen for years! Pleased your test is sort of negative and that you had a great day out with the rellies. At 50kgs, you are just floating somewhere above the scales …..

I lost my taste for alcohol on a previous weight loss effort (16kgs through starvation basically). Probably a good thing in hindsight as I was in my 40s and our group of primary school parents were all drinking too much and too often. Not very good role modelling for the children. Of course I gained all the weight back and more, but alcohol didn’t taste the same again. I recently had a couple of G&Ts at a friends’ long lunch and felt awful that night just like you describe GDSA. I’m so grateful that our DD doesn’t drink like I did at her age. No one would blame you for having a couple of tipples under the stress of the kitty situation coupled with feeling the pain your DD was experiencing. It will only get better from here.

I’ve never drunk soft drinks (except to help some gin go down) and only ever order water in restaurants. That’s what we drink at home so I see no reason to do any differently when out. I love the clever concept of BYO practiced in NZ and Oz restaurants and we take advantage of that for special occasions requiring a bit of wine. I’m sort of grateful that wine doesn’t hold the appeal that it once did. Too many calories and I usually drop my guard wrt nibbling. Not to mention that a tipsy 60 y/o isn’t really a pretty sight.

Joffy, I’m imagining all sorts of things about this colourful suit. Do reveal. Enjoy your children’s company – how many do you have?

Glad you’re still practicing 5:2 Intesha even if you’re too busy to post often. It was good how you put it as being a ‘habit’. Indeed it is. I hope your dad enjoys his 90th b/d cake and all goes well with your young mentee.

Merry, how lovely to see that normal person in the reflection. I had a similar experience when a slim person approached me at an airport. It was some seconds before I realised it was me. Speaking of airports, where’s Pintlin?

Minka, do you have a couple of steady FDs planned for your weeks off TAFE or are you just doing what takes your fancy?

LJ, that’s a lovely garden. We’re enjoying perfect days in Perth, 30C, but some of my natives are getting crispy from the prolonged warm weather. Hope the ‘every other day’ fasting went alright and you resisted trying to compensate in between.

Cinque, I made it through a FD without you! Please come back on Sunday.

All the best everyone, we’re all doing so well!

Hello Merry, just starting out on fasting. Was interested to hear about the term “hunger dragon” – so apt for my experience this week.

My TDEE is laughable – 1517cals. My BMR is 1320 – I have so little to work with it makes me angry and depressed at the same time. SO tired of having to struggle with weight, my whole life.

I was doing ok for the past 5 weeks, fasting 3 days instead of 2, as I also have an underactive thyroid. Was getting used to toughing it out on fast days…but today, I crumbled for the first time. It wasn’t in my head..I was so hungry my whole stomach was painful and cramping, and I felt so sick. Eventually, at 6pm I was so distressed and upset I had some rice, but then for the rest of the night, no matter what I ate, my stomach was still like I hadn’t eaten anything. I waited to see whether it was in my head, but, no, it was this intense physical ache that didn’t go away, even after eating. So upsetting.

I was supposed to fast today as well (normally Mon/Wed/Thu), but it’s 4am, and I had to get up and have something to eat. I think I will ‘recover’ today, and see if I can do at least the second fast day on the weekend.

Anyone who gets fooled by thinking this way of eating is easy will quickly realise this is as tough as a traditional diet!

Hello poppylocks. Sorry to hear things arent going according to plan for you. Im unsure how much weight you’ve gained as youve noted your weight in kgs and weight gain in lbs.
Perhaps 3 FD instead of 2 is a bit too challenging to begin with? Especially since your doing wed and thurs in a row it seems pretty hard going to me, perhaps drop wed and just stick to mon and thurs.
Walking everday is great but perhaps you may need to do some short but intense exercise to really get the heart rate up and burn calories. Have you read MM’s Fast Exercise book?
I look at the FD process as a lifestyle change rather than a quick weight loss solution – hence why i dislike the tern Fast Diet. No its not necessarily easy to begin with but it is achievable once you find the right balance and it becomes your new ‘normal’ way of eating.
I sincerely hope you can relieve your stresses and move into a happier headspace.

Good morning everyone,
Good to see your reply to Poppylocks too Gday. ( glad I didn’t give opposite advice to yours! 😉)

I’m going to fast today. Looking forward to my miso soup already!
4 dolphins Thin! Wonderful! 🦈🦈🦈🦈

Best wishes to everyone, I hope it is a beautiful Autumn day where you are.
Special wishes to the three legged cat!

Have a great fast today Cinque and thanks for the dolphins. Merry, I had a particularly low cal fast yesterday and woke up hungry in the night. I’m now questioning my holiday breakfast to breakfast strategy! Good results on the scales though so it’s a great day.

Hi Merry, good idea but is a boiled egg halfway through a 24 hr fast cheating? I suppose it’s still better than doing nothing. Sorry about your post disappearing into cyberspace – so annoying.

Hi poppy,

I keep saying this and I’ll say it again. 5:2 does not ban any foods but some foods make it VERY difficult to be successful. The concept of a calorie is a calorie is at best misguided and probably closer to just plain wrong. Your brain responds to hormones. Ghrelin is produced by your stomach when it is in an un-stretched state. When it is expanded production ceases. Ghrelin tells you, you’re hungry. CCK is produced by your small intestines and tells you that you are satiated. Leptin is produced by adipose cells (fat cells) and tells your brain not to panic if food isn’t available, you have lots of stored fat to live off.

The types of foods you eat and NOT the calories they contain influence the production of these hormones. CCK is produced in large quantities when you eat fats, to a lesser extent protein and is actually supressed by sugar and other simple carbs. Fructose inhibits the hormone CCK from being registered by the brain. It also inhibits leptin from being received by the brain. So your brain is saying Im not satiated and is also in a state of panic as it doesn’t think you have enough stored fat. It then “commands” you to eat based on this information. Get the book by Robert Lustig. Jason Fung is also good.

So choose you foods wisely. Avoid sugar and all simple grain based carbs. No bread, cereal pasta, cakes etc. If flour was used to make it, don’t have it. Personally I eat rice VERY sparingly as well. I try and get the majority of my carbs from veggies, legumes, nuts. I eat fruit sparingly, perhaps an apple or a plum each day. I eat lots of cheese and high fat yogurt. Do not have smoothies or desiccated fruits. The sugar hit is enormous. No fruit juice, same thing. If you want fruit make sure it is whole fruit and go for your tart fruits or berry fruits. Limited alcohol, no soft drinks.

Most people say how can you do that, aren’t you missing out? I actually don’t miss those crappy foods any more, so I don’t feel like Im missing out on anything.

Good luck with it.