I look away for a short time and see what happens …. so many posts to catch up with. Good to see every one back. It’s a fasty Wednesday and I know exactly how it’s going to unfold. I couldn’t even contemplate it if I knew it would extend until Friday morning. We can always look for ways to make our eating patterns more healthy but a fasting marathon isn’t one of them, at least not for me. This is a WOE for life which means we have the rest of our lives to get it right. A downward trend is all we need strive for, or at a minimum, no upward trend. So, relax, take it easy, enjoy the NFDs. If you overdo them, you’ll learn from that and there’ll be a FD coming up to set it right again.

LJ, I haven’t done anything about the mung beans yet but at least I have the recipes now.

Cinque, thanks for the lowdown on your weight loss history. Haven’t you done well! Yes, I agree with you & Merry, my scales have gone awry with my BMI, hopefully not my weight too. Merry, you seem to be staying steady, good job.

Redmoon, have a safe road trip. Can you pack some meals to avoid those greasy spoons?

Joffy, good to hear that your Winery Walkabout was a success. And you’re already looking forward to next year’s event!

Relle c, after reading Joffy’s reference to it, I scrolled back and saw that your post had re-appeared. With respect to managing your calorie bank on a FD, most of us have found that it’s helpful to go as long as possible without food on a FD. This prevents awakening the ‘hunger dragon’ but also saves a decent number of calories for a teeny evening meal lookalike which can include some protein so you don’t go to bed hungry. If, like me, you’re addicted to a morning coffee, you can still enjoy this either black (heaven forbid) or with an adaptation such as almond & coconut milk which is so low in cals. I personally don’t eat anything until 2pm when I have home made cauliflower soup, 103 cals, so filling, and then again at 5pm, a small meal of approximately 140-250 cals.

Apart from managing my FD calories this way, I find I enjoy the discipline that not eating requires of me. It sometimes makes me feel quite smug especially if others are eating around me. And, of course, this affords a longer fasting window (notwithstanding the cheating over coffee). Not having the coffee is the one thing that would prevent me fasting twice weekly long-term so I make that 20 calorie concession to make the FD as ‘normal’ as possible. You’ll find what works for you.

I’m going to stop now as I see I have an email from Minka coming through! Is everyone having a great day? I hope so!

That was me LJoyce! And I realised after I had said it that one of the things that makes a difference is letting it thaw slowly in the fridge. But the pan was the other thing, so yay! And yes it is yum, but not as good as freshly baked.

Minka so glad you posted. It sounds like a good trip south. Just as well you didn’t contact me, I would have made a moaning sound and lots of sniffles and explained I was too sick to see anyone.

It was tonight I was going to have my granddaughter, but decided to wait a few more days til I got a bit more vim (I don’t have much at the best of times!).

Relle, I went back and found your post too! Thankyou for the birthday wishes!
I wonder what you think, listening to us, how obsessed we all still are with what and when we eat! 😉 😉 😉
But I think we get healthier thinking as well as healthier bodies, as we go along.
That is a good plan for Non Fast Days re being careful with portion sizes.

I hope you have had a lovely day Thin, it is nice for it to be stable and steady and smug! 😀
That is what I am hoping for tomorrow!

Good evening all! Best wishes for the winter solstice!

Thanks for sharing the innards of that cake Minka! Truly amazing, I’m sure I’ve never seen or eaten anything like it. Your description of your freezer had me howling with laughter. We have a bar fridge with a small freezer like that and you described it perfectly. Since embarking on 5:2, my proper freezer is always full of neatly stacked portions of FD things, mostly cauliflower soup and A&C milk as you would have guessed.

Cinque, I hope you are the full container of vim very soon. I knew you’d understand what I was on about wrt relle c’s post! If you’re reading relle, sometimes our posts disappear for a while or even indefinitely when we edit them. It’s a glitch the webmaster, JJ, is working on.

Yes, it was a smug and tasty FD thanks Cinque. I had the bacon & chicken casserole family FD option tonight. It’s hard to believe it’s a FD meal as it’s so filling. Yes, we do go on about food a lot, don’t we? We had our first rain for ages today, showers really but, at 19C, if felt like winter. So, yes, the solstice. How did your FD go Minka?

Good wishes to the Thursday fasters. LJ, I’ve lost track of your days as I believe you did alternate FDs (Sat/Mon was it?) this week. Serves you right for having such an exciting & full social life. Not jealous at all.

Stay strong Cinque. Waking up hungry poses an extra challenge on a FD. But you’re a veteran and you can do it.

Hi everyone, another “quickie”, Minka that raspberry Zumba looks absolutely delicious, I also love anything raspberry and sweet! Thank you for the great advice and encouragement with my NFD’S I have managed to do the last 2 with less calorie intake than I normally do so hoping I can stay on track. Today is my FD but I’m a bit worried about it as we leave this afternoon ( Hubby changed day on me) to head to Sydney and I know he’s going to stop to get dinner. We are towing a trailer so it’s not going to be easy to stop anywhere that I could get a salad unless there’s a subway at one of the service stations along the way.I don’t have time to make food to take but am taking some protein bars in the hope I eat them instead of crap. Have a good fast day non fast day all. Cinque you are amazing like Thin with all the weight loss you have achieved and kept off.

Good morning. Cold and clear here.
I’ve already broken my fast with sardines on toast (which also made the cat happy as she LOVES the briney bit). Coffee is on the stove.

I had to laugh when I saw your barracking post Thin, because I only lasted about half an hour after I wrote yesterday. But I had a small meal of soup with the crust of bread, and then I was fine til I had my soup in the evening. I think the whole days calories kept under 500 and I felt much better for it.
It was a good fast day.
I really enjoyed being hungry towards the end of yesterday. It was lovely how it heightened the pleasure of my miso soup and how much I looked forward to today!

I’ve been having backache and (I think) trouble with shallow breathing, so I am really working hard to do deep breathing exercise and my yoga stretches twice a day. With that, recovering from my cold, and getting some cooking done, I am feeling very productive and healthy.

Today I am making my mung bean soup again (using the last cup of mungbeans, the whole bag has gone into this recipe!) and a chard and ricotta tart (rainbow chard from my garden) and a big pot of Shrewsbury stew (never heard of it? neither has google! It thinks it is a building! But it is a great stew of meat and veg with lots of mustard in it!). That should set me up til mid next week.

I only have a small freezer too. My strategy for making sure things don’t get lost in there is to periodically ‘eat the freezer’. ie every meal has to include something from the freezer, and I am not allowed to do a big shop until it is empty. I really need to do this every couple of months.
(But ofcourse you do it with a spreadsheet LJoyce! 😉 🙂 )

Yesterday was such a good day that I defrosted the freezer (yes my fridge is that old!) and I have set myself the job of eating the few things in there within the week (since I will stack Shrewsbury stew and mung bean soup in there!).

Redmoonstar, I hope your trip went well. That cuppa tip was an excellent one LJoyce!
I feel so lucky to have found 5:2 Redmoonstar, it changed my life after decades of trying other things. The no sugar is hard, but luckily there are lots of wonderful things to eat that don’t have sugar!

Have fun with your paleo book Gday!
I have my nose in my African Recipe Books (again). How I wish I was well and could cook for people! I have so many things I am itching to make, and I could get my community food project off the ground so easily! Oh well, no point in crying for the moon.

Off to start the day. Oh and I am going to fast on Saturday… tomorrow! as I will be busy at my daughters place on Sunday.

Best wishes to everyone fasting today, and best wishes to everyone not fasting today!

Relle – so sorry to hear you are having such serious health issues. I hope you are getting good ongoing follow-up care and soon have clear answers of what caused the unconsciousness. Hope you also feel well enough to tackle your weight soon.

Cinque – I know of a Shrewsbury sauce for lamb – the key ingredients are red currant jelly and worchestershire sauce (I have seen some versions that contain english mustard instead of the worchestershire sauce, although I never make the mustard version). I use it with both lamb chops or chicken breasts. I often add similar ingredients to a slow braised casserole if it contains mainly lamb. You can make it as a gravy to serve with roast lamb, but I don’t use it that way, I’m a mint sauce girl when it comes to roast lamb.

Not sure what happened with my FD yesterday. Usually by mid-afternoon on a cold day I’m quite hungry, but not yesterday. Even at dinner time I still didn’t feel hungry. I did eventually have a bowl of soup because I was worried about being able to sleep on a totally empty stomach. This is quite an uncharacteristic way for my body to behave. Just when I think I have it figured out it leaves me guessing again.

Catching up with reading; day after FD; 64.0kgs this morning; still not back to my usual normal but did get out for a little while todayafter 3 days of rest; think I’m fighting off a bug.

Posting today for Rellie. Good to know that the Drs have said the fasting could not be the cause of your episode, and hoping it doesn’t happen again. Whatever happens, getting your weight back to normal can only assist your health. Rellie – as Cinque has said, we both have Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, commonly known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, which compromises our health and ability to live ‘normally”. I also put on a lot of weight after getting this disease, and of course, extra weight compromises health.

I lost over 10kgs on my own and then 21kgs on 5:2 to reach my normal weight. I had been on blood pressure medication pre 5:2. My GP, who supervised my health while I was losing weight, advised me I would need to graduate off blood pressure meds. I halved the meds part way through then a couple of months later passed out in the bathroom one night and off to hospital by ambulance. When the ambos arrived my blood pressure was quite low.

Like you, 5:2 was dismissed as being any cause, in fact they thought it was good, and a good thing I was partway down towards my normalweight . The final verdict was that I had passed out due to my blood pressure going too low. There were 3 factors: people with ME/CFS usually have a slightly lower blood volume so we need to drink lots and take a little extra salt to keep our blood volume up. That afternoon and evening I’d forgotten to drink enough. I was getting tired, it was after 9pm and I had stood up and down several times in about 5-10 mins. Then I went to the loo. All these things lower blood pressure a bit and I’d done several at once. Bingo.

It’s never happened again. I went to the GP a couple of days later and was taken off the last amount of BP meds. My GP and I were both surprised that I no longer needed them so quickly after halving the dose. My BP remains normal and I make sure I don’t get into that sort of situation again. I went on to reach my goal weight and it has been very important in improving my heart health. I have gone from needing a yearly batch of tests to no linger needing them eegularly. Every 5kg of weight loss improves cardiac functioning.

Hope you are feeling better now and you continue onnwith your 5:2 journey uneventfully.
Merry

Hi All,

Thin, my Wednesday fast went splendidly! …One of my best! Not sure why since I thought it would be more difficult after indulging in Adriano Zumbo’s Raspberry V8 the day before! From a comment on a previous page that you made, I want to add that when I start to venture down below my goal weight envelope, meaning when I venture into the 55 kg range, I start to get very hungry which is often accompanied by a lack of stamina and poorer than usual stress response. It is this set of symptoms that alerts me to know that 56.0 is pretty much my bottom line healthy weight. I’ve noted in my journal that each time I drift lower, I just don’t feel as well. You’d mentioned about feeling extra hungry while sitting at 60 kg. which, if I remember correctly is the lowest end of your ‘wiggle room’ so may be same or similar to what I’ve experienced?

Along these lines also add that the Inbody 770 body composition report recommended that I actually gain weight! It advised that I would be best to weigh 59 kg, though only if I gain weight in the form of muscle mass and at the same time shed fat kg. Knowing this makes me underscores that numbers on the scale alone can be deceiving. As far as me gaining muscle mass, probably won’t happen since I’ve yet to be able to exercise to the extent that would make this possible, due still to being in recovery mode with adrenal insufficiency.

One more story I hope I haven’t already shared (if I have, you can skip over this one!)

A fellow classmate commenced a 6 week on a meal replacement shake program. Prior to starting, her dietician scanned her body using the Inbody scanner. At the end of the 6 week program my fellow classmate jumped for joy at having shed so many kilos in such a short time. She shed 8 kg in 6 weeks and reached her goal weight! I was happy for my classmate knowing that she worked hard by cutting out all sweets and ate only plant based home made meals and visited the gym daily for vigorous workouts for the duration of the 6 weeks. However, all her joy ended when she returned to see the dietician soon after the end of those 6 weeks. This is because the dietician again scanned her body using the Inbody scanner and the resulting report revealed that my classmate had lost far more muscle than fat including a sharp increase in visceral fat! In effect the report showed that her total fat percentage was higher and lean muscle mass lower than before she started on the meal replacement program. Her dietician was shocked at the results as much as my classmate, since prior to this, theoretically at least the dietician hadn’t seen any reason to caution her client as why not to follow the program. In any case, my classmate no longer celebrated her weight loss. She now realized that the numbers on her bathroom scale could be misleading in that they didn’t accurately reflect whether her state of health was increasing or decreasing and that just because she lost weight didn’t mean she was losing fat. Note that the dietician didn’t put my classmate on the meal replacement program, it was something that my classmate was ‘sold on’ via a friend who was into this MLM company that sold the meal replacement shakes. The dietician had heard of these shakes and wanted to support her client and was there to help measure results and effectiveness.

relle c. I had to visit the emergency room several weeks ago and was kept in overnight for testing. Mine incident was due to difficult breathing, chest pain and tightness. Turns out my predicament was due to severe inflammation of the lining of my lungs due to chemical exposure. I’m chemically sensitive and encountered a ‘perfect storm’ which pushed me over the edge, so to speak. The lack of sleep during my hospital stay and stress of it all was worse than the episode itself and sapped my energy to the point of requiring me to forego some days of fasting, which more me were necessary. However, as soon as my energy was up to fasting again, which was about a week later, I was back into it. I support you in following your body and always returning here to remain inspired if you find your body needs to take a break. Returning to read these posts makes all the difference for me. I’m coming up to my 1 year 5:2 fasting anniversary soon and I wouldn’t have made it this far were it not for this group!

Good morning all, lovely sunny day after dreary skies yesterday,

First time I’ve had a post disappear – will contact JJ and see if it can be resurrected. I think it must have disappeared after I edited it.. it was in response to Rellie and just outlined my experience of an incident during my weight loss phase, though mine was determined to be blood pressure related.

One of the challenges for some of us on 5:2, or any weight loss method really, is that we are older, and have significant health and medical issues that need to be monitored a bit more closely by both ourselves and medicos as the weight normalises.

I have recently had to sort out a bit of a health challenge and am so glad that my weight is now normal. It has made a significant difference to be looking towards my “older” and “elderly” years at a normal weight. Given that my health is compromised by ME/CFS, being a normal weight gives me the best chance at doing the years ahead as well as possible. Like Cinque, I started 5:2 with great trepidation, knowing that if it wasn’t compatible with ME/CFS then I was in for months and possibly a year or 2 of recovery. But, thank God and thank goodness, I had no repercussions at all for my ME/CFS symptoms. In fact, it worked even better than that because even with no exercise, that’s NO exercise(yes I’m still amazed by that) 5:2 still got the excess weight off me.

Cinque and Minka and I have all walked this journey of being scared when we started 5:2, but with great hope , and now all 3 of us are at a normal weight and living in a better place. Like Minka, I owe so much to the encouragement, knowledge of past andvpresent members of this group, and so b……. grateful!
Merry

Hi SHs

Minka, thanks for that story and the info of your own search for the right goal weight. I have felt for a while that our bodies will tell us whether the weight we are is healthy for us – but it can be difficult to let go of that dream weight that’s been dangling there just out of reach. I absolutely agree that the number on the scale is never the whole story.
I’ve looked up the Morlife Site – their prices have gone up from the last time you purchased, but they are having a 30% EOFY sale at the moment, so it makes it more affordable. I’m thinking I’ll start with a 1kg pack as I was planning to use 1tblsp per day, so it should last me a while. What do you mix yours into to take it, and do you spread the quantity across the day or take it all at once?

Thin, I agree that sticking with 5:2 would have been so much harder without the online support and example from those who already made that weight loss journey. It really is much appreciated.

Relle, hope you are feeling a bit better.

Cinque, hope your lung function is getting better. I have frequent lung infections (side effect of the immune suppressant treatment) and it always amazes me how often I have to remind myself to breathe deeply – we just assume that breathing is something we should be able to do without thinking about it.

I’m feeling a bit better about my NFD food choices. I’ve talked myself out of every discretionary food over the last few days and stuck to the basics. I’m back to using fresh fruit as snacks which is pleasing. I just need to keep it up for a while so I can break that cycle that has be looking for “something extra” on NFDs. The trouble is, the more often I give into that temptation the more normal it feels. Letting foods that should be occasional become everyday items is really bad news for me. I’m think I’m always going to have to be mindful of this.

I’m on another NFD today. My new week starts Sunday and I want to do a FD sometime from Sun-Tues (yet another Wednesday lunch to go to). It still feels odd to go into a week knowing I have so much choice about where to put the FDs. I know this will start to feel normal eventually, but at the moment it still feels like a novelty.

Have a good weekend everyone.

Whinge alert!

Interesting stories Minka. Yes, Merry, JJ can restore your post if you just tell her the approximate time.

Thanks for your kind comments LJ. It works both ways though. I definitely reap plenty from these pages. Had I not stuck around, I doubt I’d have found a statistician willing to analyse my daily intake in such detail 😆 Not to mention all the lovely cyber friends I’ve made, several of whom have since become ‘real’ friends. How cool is that?

As for your second post, it’s hard to break old habits sometimes. I grew up eating ‘dinner’ at lunch time but haven’t practiced this for decades. I find it easier to reconcile having calories in the bank. This is particularly true on a FD where I fear expending my cache before the day is done. I can deal with a bit of hunger knowing there’s something else to come rather than knowing that I’ve run out. I’m trying to carry this over to NFDs too. When I wake up, I don’t ever feel like food so could never follow the ‘breakfast like a king’ mantra. Apart from anything else, I feel I haven’t yet ‘done’ anything to deserve any intake. A late breakfast usually keeps me going until dinner which we eat early. I’m not sure when I stopped snacking after dinner, it just happened. These changes I attribute to 5:2.

My husband eats by the clock. We enjoyed a substantial cooked meal out for lunch the other day as mentioned (larger portions than we would normally have for dinner). Yet at ‘dinner time’, while admitting he was still full, he said he’d like a small dinner with DD. I could see that he wasn’t really interested in it; it’s just a ritual. So, there ends my ramble, be glad you only have to cater for YOU! And good luck with working it out.

So sorry to read your post GDSA. Are you living nearby or are you having to worry from a great distance? You really are having the worst year possible. Wishing your brother all the best for a full recovery. Take care.

Gday, my heartfelt good wishes to you and to your poor brother. Can’t the world change in an instant. He is so unlucky, and so lucky!

It is hard to change the subject after such news, but I will just say that I had a good fast day yesterday, I am going to my daughter’s today to help her do a big batch of cooking for the week.

My deep slow breathing is helping!
LJoyce I hope your lung infection is clearing up.

Best wishes everyone for a gentle, healing day.

Hi all,

Minka – thanks for the inulin info. You are right I did go to the Morlife page where their base price is so much higher. I have now found the Natural City page that you mentioned. Luckily I hadn’t placed the order on Morlife yet, I was planning to do that tonight. I’m pleased to hear I can put it into hot drinks as that will probably suit me best. Currently I have 1-2 cups of hot almond milk per day that I flavour with either cocoa or “natures cuppa” (made from chickory-a source of inulin!). I think something like inulin that adds a slight sweetness would be fine in that. In the hot weather I can add it to iced tea.
I’ve been doing a bit of reading and found out that I already consume some of the food sources of inulin every day. But I strongly suspect I don’t have enough.
I have a history of IBS and have found that changes to my diet can cause unpleasant side effects. When I started increasing my legume consumption I also noticed an increase in gas and colic pain, but within 3 weeks this stopped happening. I think with any change I need to be realistic and give my body time to adapt. I like your idea of starting with a teaspoon and building up slowly.
I worry about the survival of my gut flora because I repeatedly have to take antibiotics (I have at least one course every 8 weeks). It means those poor good bacteria have to keep trying to rebuild their numbers after being killed off.

I did mention that I needed to choose a FD. Well, it won’t be today. I went out to brunch with family this morning and had vegemite toast with my usual pot of tea (everyone else had either pancakes or eggs benedict, but I was very happy with my toast). I’m thinking tomorrow might be a good FD as I’ll be busy and out of the house for most of the afternoon.

Have a nice Sunday.

Hello Everyone,

Relle, so good to hear from you, and that you are slowly getting back to normal (whatever that is 😉 ).
I am another one who had to work hard to rejig portion sizes. Like you I find it hard to hear my body tell me it has had enough (I think every bit of me is confused!).
In spite of all the huge serves at restaurants, and on ads etc I did realise that I have a fairly good picture in my mind of what a fair portion looks like, and I do best when I plan it well ahead in my mind. I don’t skimp because I want to be satisfied and not need to snack, but I have found that a normal portion is satisfying, and a lot smaller than what I used to help myself to!

I agree that Dr Mosley knows what he is talking about. It is a good thing that he presents things in a very ‘user friendly’ way and makes concepts simple and clear. Sometimes though I want something more academic to get my teeth into! Luckily I can have both!

Minka I do hope you had a great walk on the beach! And that the last assignment is just about done!
Good luck with the inulin LJoyce.

Had a good session with my daughter and grandkids. We both have a good stack of food now!

Time for an afternoon rest. Best wishes all, especially to you Gday.

Morning everyone.

In a rush, so I’ll be brief for once.

Minka, thankyou so much for the advice. I have taken probiotics after finishing antibiotics before, I just always wondered whether they really were effective or just a marketing ploy. I don’t think I used the brand you mentioned though. I’ll take a look.

Yesterday was a NFD and I did something I’d been talking about – I moved my main meal to lunch time and soup & toast to dinner. I didn’t feel hungry through the afternoon and ended up eating dinner later than usual. I’ll try this on a few more NFDs to see if this is my best solution to the afternoon munchies.

Today is a FD and a busy day for me. I’m heading off to some medical appointments shortly. I have a stir fry of veg, cashews & konjac noodles planned for dinner – this comes together very quickly and doesn’t require me to thaw meat (which I won’t be here to do).

Have a good day.

Hello Everyone,

Yes it’s been a while I know. I’ve been vaguely stalking but also busy with life.
I’m still going with 5:2, I’ve hit the magic 10kg down, and also surpassed the 10% of my body weight down.
I’m trying not to say lost weight you might notice, I have done a bit of Think Slim hypnosis and the guy (his name escapes me for now -Australian) says to think about it differently, if you lose something you’ll want to find it again, to think of it as gaining slimness. I thought this was quite a good way to think about it. I know when I’ve lost weight in the past I’ve always found it again eventually, and sometimes right away.

So I’m struggling a bit with something at the moment. My first IVF cycle failed, and so I’ve been seeing a natural health practitioner to make the second one a success, I need to see him to get acupuncture in my town. First off he starts talking about this “zonal diet” I think he means The Zone Diet, and I thought oh okay you’ve found what works for you, but I’ve already found what works for me and that’s 5:2. 5:2 is what I’m doing for life until something better comes along, and The Zone Diet seems worse to me. So after a few weeks and making me pay for a booklet he’d made on his computer and handed to me with nothing about a cost for the “zonal diet”, he asks me how the diet’s going, so I just said I’m trying to get my head around it. Then he resorted to what I can only describe as emotional blackmail, saying well I don’t know how much further we can go with this treatment if you’re not following the treatment I’ve prescribed. I’d already taken all his supplements for a supposed jaw infection, dysbiosis, candidiasis (really? I learnt only chemo patients get that), and parasitosis. So I guess I’m going onto the Zone Diet. Anyone else done this? Did it work? I think I’m still going to do the 2 fasting days though, no one’s gonna take those away from me. It seems a bit wishywashy to me, while 5:2 has a defined maintenance phase (cut back to 1 FD a week), ZD says try this and if this doesn’t work maybe this will work instead.

He’s also tested my watch and Fitbit to see if they’re draining my energy, apparently my Fitbit is. He said I realise how important it is to you, but if it were me I wouldn’t wear it. Hey I didn’t ask you to do that, or even want you to, and frankly you’re sapping my energy a bit at the moment.

I just don’t see how anything called a diet is going to work, when only a change in lifestyle works longterm, but I guess I have to do it if only to humour him and to get my acupuncture. I’m going to start next week, any advice?

Jody

JodyW, I get the impression that this healer’s approach is overreach and is making you uncomfortable. That’s never a good combination with someone you need to be able to trust. I know you said that you went to him as he is in your town. But, you may want to consider looking further afield and driving to a neighboring town to find someone you feel more comfortable with. Ask around to see if anyone you know has recommendations.

I’ve just eaten my way through 3 slices of buttered fruit loaf. Not at all what I should be eating. I missed lunch as I went to the funeral of a friend’s husband, who died unexpectedly last week. I just couldn’t be bothered putting together a proper lunch when I got home. My only compromise to common sense, was to buy a fruit loaf that doesn’t have added sugar and is 100% wholemeal – but frankly I think that’s kidding myself that this is in any way a healthy late lunch. I think it had a lot to do with a need for something sweet to lift my mood. Thankfully dinner just needs reheating so I have no excuses.

Hi!

Happy 5:2 Anniversary to me! It’s my first! As I looked at my diary this morning to mark that today will be a FD I saw that I’d written ‘Happy Fast Day Birthday’ to myself! What better way to celebrate the date, than by fasting on my anniversary/birthday?! As I’ve said before, I know myself well enough that if this group weren’t here, I know I wouldn’t have made it this far.

I admire you JodieW, that you’ve been fasting along behind the scenes! When I stray from this forum, so does my commitment to 5:2, so well done for continuing on solo! With regard to your healer, I’ve been to ‘healers’ who have done the same to me and usually I end up feeling worse for following their advice because it goes against the grain of what I know deep down what is right or that I need to do for me. I support you in trusting and following your deepest voice within, even if it is small in comparison to the ‘healers’ instructions.

Cinque, you asked about school assignments and I’m thrilled to report that I did finish my final assignment for the term last week and now am on school holidays until middle of July when I’ll return for the last term in the Diploma course! Hey, hot croissants are a weakness of mine and I can think of nothing more heavenly to eat except, not sure Coles brand would ever reach that taste sensation, even if heated! I’d be tempted too, if someone made a gluten free variety! I’m sure glad that doesn’t appear to be possible!

Cheers to all other Wednesday fasters this week and all the best for enjoyable and mindful eating to the non-fasters today.

I knew there was someone else I wanted to send good wishes to (blame my blimp brain).
Gday the good wishes are for you. I am really hoping no news is good news and that your brother is doing well.

Hi Alitalia,

OK Im 50% of what you asked for, Im over 50 but Im a male. 5’10” 70kg BMI = 22 but I used to be 92kg two and a half years ago. been in maintenance for 1 1/2 years now. My simple take is this. Ask yourself a basic question. Is what youre doing working for you? If its yes then no problems keep doing more of the same. If no, then change it!! You want to be 67 kg and your 90kg so Id say what you are doing isn’t working for you. Sorry for being so blunt. People make this erroneous connection that vegan = good health. It might be true but in many cases its not. I could be living off sugar and alcohol and be classified as a vegan. Would my diet be healthy?

Im assuming you want to stay vegan? You say you eat a lot of veggie patties and soups, do you make them yourself or buy them premade? If you buy them read the labels carefully. Better still start making the food yourself from raw ingredients, that way you know what goes into the food.

Don’t eat bread or any grain based products. Its nutritional merits have been WAY over sold. Personally I don’t think grains are healthy for you. But that’s just me. Do you honestly believe that your ancestors ate bread as it is made now? Part of the processing to make flour is that the bran is removed from the process as it plays havoc with the processing machinery. For breads with “high bran” content this is then artificially added in at the end of the process. Do you really think its the same result? If Im baking a cake and put all the ingredients into a bowl and I do not mix the ingredients at all and put the bowl into the oven, do you think the cake will turn out well? Same concept as what is being done with modern breads. End result is nutritional junk.

Eat mostly cruciferous veggies, avoid starchy veggies like potatoes or sweet potatoes. Where do you get your protein and fats from? Eat lots of nuts, legumes, beans, avocadoes, tofu. Avoid all fruit juice. Eat whole fruits and go for your berry fruits or tart fruits like granny smith apples.

You say the high carb diet is well researched and works well. Does it work well for you? Im trying to be very pragmatic here. If its not working for you then change it. Good luck with it.

Hi Alitalia,
Welcome here!
I am SO over 50 that I have just turned 60! I have been at the lower end of my healthy weight range since last November.
I’m just coming up to two years of 5:2, and a couple of years before I started 5:2 I cut out sugar.
I became a vegetarian when I was 14 and although I now eat some meat, my diet has lots of vegetarian/vegan meals.

The first thing that came to mind reading your post is that being hungry is really the point of fasting. Some people seem to have less of it (hunger pains), and many of us have intolerable hunger if we eat the sugar or carbs that set it off.
I need to keep off high and medium sugar foods, even fruit, (they set off the munchies, among other things) but even so I am very hungry most fast day afternoons. I have learnt to roll with this and get very excited by the fact that I can eat the next day!

It is a good idea to try cutting out bread and seeing how it goes. Try smaller portions. Maybe try avoiding the snack in your 8 hour window.

Quite a few people do 5:2 and 16:8 at the same time, so maybe that is something you can work toward. ie twice a week keep under 500 calories for the day. You could start at 800 calories and then see if you can work down to 500 calories on one or both fast days.

Good luck! Do let us know what you try and how it goes!

Good morning (late morning) all, it’s been a busy week an not stopping as it is end of financial year (sigh) I want to thank everyone especially Cinque, Thinatlast & LJoyce for the fantastic advice and encouragement on this journey ( although I’ve only been on it a short while) you are all a wealth of knowledge. GDaySA I’m sorry to hear about your brother and sending cyber well wishes for a speedy recovery. Alitalia356 these are the best people to ask as they are the success stories, Cinque, Thinatlast, Minka (I hope I’m not aging you) LJoyce & GDayfromSA.Happy anniversary/ birthday Minka awesome achievement Witt both 5:2 & study 👍🌹🎂 Good luck Jody with IVF and I agree with LJoyce regarding your acupuncturist you need to be comfortable with the treatment for it to work. I didn’t do so well on our quick trip but didn’t gain so that’s a+. I’m back on track however have family visiting from Qld so need to be careful with calories (alcohol) as this is usually the only time I have alcohol when I Have visitors. Hope everyone is enjoying their day, I actually have some sun yay even though I think it’s only 11 here.

Good afternoon everyone.

I’m back from a calorific Italian lunch with ex-work colleagues. The pesto gnocchi was delicious but a pretty heavy lunch. Thankfully I have a FD tomorrow.

Alitalia, I have used ezekial bread – because it uses sprouted grains, with plently of them left whole, I find it causes me no problems and has a good level of fibre, but some people are more sensitive to grains than I am and have to be more careful. The trick is to eat a little and not a lot – and that can be tough with bread.
It might be worth reading the discussion on 16:8 https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/52-vs-1681410-who-has-tried-both/ I remember giving a lengthy discussion on that page. I am over 50 and have a low TDEE, so I follow both 5:2 and 16:8. The key difference is that 5:2 reduces my calories and allows me to lose weight. 16:8 does not restrict calories and on it’s own has no effect on my weight, it just helps me manage my tendency to eat too many calories in a day and it gives me the benefits of a fasting period every night.
It would be worth looking at your TDEE and carefully checking a few of your days against it so that you know whether you are eating too many calories to lose weight. I find I get to my TDEE all too easily. I have to be careful with the calories I consume as mid-afternoon snacks as they can amount to the calories of a meal if I’m not careful. I usually try to limit myself to either one piece of fresh fruit mid-afternoon or a cup of hot unsweetened almond milk with either vanilla or cocoa added.
There have been a few support groups for vegans/vegetarians on this forum, but I’m not sure if they are still active. Below are a few you many want to check out for useful info:
https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/hello-vegan-52er/
https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/any-plant-based-vegan-people-following-52/
https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/the-fast-vegetarian/
https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/beans-and-lentils-recipes-tips-and-information/
https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/vegetarian-vegan-raw-recipe-exchange/
https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/any-vegans-out-there/
https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/veggie-police-recruit-training-and-52/
https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/really-simple-ideas-for-100-cal-and-200-cal-vegetarian-meals/
https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic-tag/vegetarian/
There are probably a few more out there is addition to these.

Redmoonstar – well done surviving the road trip without weight gain.

Minka – happy anniversary.