Hi everyone
Hope you all had a good Easter and didn’t over indulge in those ‘little eggs’.
I’m now in my 14th week and slowly seeing the scales head in a downward direction. The Salter scales sound good so I might have to have a look.
It’s nice when you try a pair of pants on that 6 months ago were tight but, now are a bit looser. A great feeling. Apart from the weight loss I’m certainly feeling much better in myself and seem to have more energy especially on the days after fast days.
Keep up the good work everybody and have a good week.

Hello from sunny (but not now) Melbourne, Frankston,
5:2 is the best. I can eat pretty much what I want for five days and stick
to 500+ calories the other two days. I find 550 works for me. In our second
year now and still going strong.

Well. Confusion reigns. As soon as I posted, the system showed me the recent posts. Have fasted twice this week, not back to back BB. I like to fast knowing that tomorrow I can eat. I am preparing for holidays ahead. I hope we all have a thoughtful Anzac Day.

Hi Bayleafoz
Thanks for the info re- menopause flushes. Yes. I’ve heard about the sugar/starch effect. Will try and keep a diary of what I eat and when I get the flushes. Although I can have a flush after going to the bathroom during the night, so I don’t know.
Hope everyone is having a good ANZAC Day. Just made a small batch of ANZAC biscuits ( as it’s not a fast day) I don’t know how many calories there would be in each one but they do taste nice. Will probably have to have 3 fast days next week to make up for it. Same goes for my husband as he’s already had a few of the biscuits It’s funny when you’ve eaten the ‘naughty food’ you assume you will gain in weight but, it’s a pleasant surprise when you don’t .
Have a good day.

Bayleafoz. Sharing is good that way you don’t get all the calories. We are back to 5:2 after two weeks of 6:1.
Hope everyone has a restful ANZAC day.
Mygirl

Hi Ihaveawaist
Congrats on a fantastic achievement with your weight loss. How long did it take you to get to that level?
My aim at the moment is to get to 75kgs( from 87 kgs),but if I can lose more that it would be great.My last weigh in was 80.8, so I’m slowly getting there. Along with the exercise I certainly do feel better in myself ( even with the hot flushes )
Keep up the good work.

Hi IHAW. Congratulations on the lost weight and for maintaining the 5:2 way of eating over the year. What an achievement. 🙂
Unlike your steady weight loss, I appear to be one of those who loses weight rapidly and then sits on a plateau while the shape catches up. I was thrilled to find that my “chicken wings” are almost gone. 🙂 and weight has gone from all round my trunk as well as top of legs. I am sitting on 10 kgs lost and 13 cm gone from waist. And enjoying the new shape very much.
It feels as if Winter will be harder to resist extra food. Any tips, apart from soup?

Good to hear that everyone is getting the shape that they are more comfortable with. My chicken/bingo wings are also happily shrinking! My thighs are smaller, as well as that strange ‘blobby’ lump above each knee…so slightly shorter skirts can show off my now ok looking knees! Haha!

Hello all,just discovered this forum on the eve of 5 months
5 /2 ing. My hubby and I embarked on our new eating regime together in November. We have impressive results. We live in Sydney Australia and are both 50 yrs old. We started rather haphazardly not having done enough research into it and thought you had to actually completely fast for 24 hours. So our journey began with us oonly eating breakfast and nothing more til next breakfast. Wrhave continued to do this henceforh. We have never actually eaten the 500 calories on fast days. Not sure if this is actually counterproductive or not. We have both lost in excess of 10 KGS each ……sadly not exactly where we wanted to shift it lol, resulting in my hubby becoming almost too thin everywhere besides his belly…the top of his want list LOL. I have lost my bottom and belly but my stubborn double chin continues to out wear its welcome. I suspect winter is going to be a lot more taxing denying our tummies for 24 hours at a time !!!!!

That’s a truly great story Peggy and I have felt the same way, refusing to try on clothes in shops because I hated the way the tiny cubicles and mirrors made me feel even worse about myself, when attempting to squeeze into something that would have once fitted. The last time I did that was nearly 12 years ago when I cried in the cubicle, and the poor shop assistant didn’t know what to do with me.

I’m really looking forward to actually being brave enough to try things on, before buying them! Thanks for the inspiration to be strong, fearless and enjoying your renewed shape without the saggy bits!

Cheers!

oh yes bayleaf the dreaded moths–can’t count the number of merinos I have thrown out, have decided to store the new ones in a plastic container and this morning have hung bayleaves in the wardrobe to save my wool coats–thanks for the reminder.
my beef tagine didnt taste as yummy as it smelt–so do you have a good recipe ?

Hi all,
Week 2 of fasting and I’ve just bought some scales to track my progress. For those who are interested, the salter scales mentioned a few days ago are on sale at Harris Scarfe at the moment (60% off all scales!). Hope to feel better in others ways not only reflected by the scales, but it will be good to see numerical progress! Oh, and re woollens, my favourite merino brand recommends putting your woollens overnight in the freezer every so often to prevent holes (i guess it kills the larvae/silverfish)! Haven’t tried it myself, lavender is also good and smells lovely.

Cheers!

Hi fellow southerners,

I don’t post often but lurk much. I’m finding myself in desperate need of a kick up the fasting “bum”
I’m for the first time in a very long time, jobless and alone during the day and I’m finding it’s incredibly difficult to fast at home!
It’s easy to fast at work because you just don’t take food with you! But dear oh dear home is a new concept for a workaholic like me. They called me “Mario” I worked 7 days a week.
Whilst I’m enjoying my new sense of stress free life, it’s very difficult not to have lunch.
I’m keen to hear how you other home bodies are getting around this

Thank you in advance, ella

Dear dozer,
it seems that your being forced away from yor busy full time job and back home isn’t quite so ‘stress free’ as you think it should be.

Apart from keeping yourself busy and away from the fridge and pantry, it may help to get some distractions in your life…like joining some community groups (craft, singing, sporting, or volunteer organisations) or take some local courses in something you’re always wanted to try, but never had the time for…like tai chi, playing the flute, gardening club, bush walking, or learning a new language. There’s also plenty of online courses these days, and local halls which run yoga, meditation,Pilates, line dancing and Zumba classes.

Finding new connections and friends in your neighbourhood will definitely help too. Just walking around your local streets and saying hello can break the ice with others who are in similar situation to yourself. You can always get online and chat with us, I’m sure we can all feel for the situation you now find yourself in.

Although it might feel like a bit distressing ending to your job and being at home, it’s a good chance to turn things around and focus on your own health and well being for once. Who knows, you might find that you have a new talent or hidden passion for something unexpected, which leads you into a whole new career?!

Once you start to feel that being at home isn’t such a strange and lonely place to be, you might find that fasting is no big deal and you can get back into the swing of things with confidence once more.

Keep us posted on how it goes, you have too much energy and talent to waste on going stir-crazy all alone at home!

Oh dear, Ella (Bulldozerme)

What a horrible thing to happen. I know how you feel. It’s really a double whammy because you now have lots of time on your hands (very hard for fasting) also the loss of income may be an issue, so you may feel reluctant to take up activities which cost.

Certainly activities which are engrossing are good, and also if possible, limiting in the house the availability of your particular dietary weaknesses as RockyRomero suggests. My husband keeps a seige-worthy stock of snacks for him and our grandchildren which is disastrous for me in ‘that’ mood. However, they are in a drawer and out of sight so most of the time I can cope.

Your local community centre probably has heaps of activities, some of which may appeal. I was amazed to discover a whole separate universe of people who don’t belong to the paid workforce and have a thriving life. For example, I tried going for a walk every day but what I really missed was the company of work colleagues so a community walking group turned out to be a good option.

My daughter is at home with little ones and does 5:2 successfully – she even bakes biscuits for the school tuckshop on fast days. I know she doesn’t eat breakfast and has something like poached egg and toast for lunch and then has dinner later on.

I confess that my fasting is limited to work days where I can control my eating environment so can only send positive thoughts in support. However, I know that I can’t stop at one of whatever food is calling me so have found that the time between getting home from work and dinner is not time for a snack.

Have you heard of the four Ds? They work for all sorts of self-discipline: delay, distract, drink water and take deep breaths. We all know that the hunger pangs come and go so maybe you can spend some of your free time planning a strategy to cope.

Best wishes.

Hi all,

I havent been on for a while but read everything u all post, ive been doing 5:2 for a few weeks now with no real loss, (in fact a small gain!!)getting very frustrating !!! Ive decided this week to do 3 fast days and exercise everyday just to get some motivation and loss, I have printed out ALOT of recipes from a great website shared below, delicious food which makes the small amount i do eat enjoyable..am going to get serious now as i have a trip to Bali planned for Sept this year and wanna look fab…

http://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/538311/5-2-diet-meal-plans-what-to-eat-for-500-calorie-fast-days

A great website with easy dishes … good luck and keep up the inspiring blogging.. I love it !!!

Hi hopeful@40
Just checked out the recipe website. Looks good. Hope you loose a bit more weight for your trip to Bali..
Cheers.

hi Starbug and Hi Everybody! Yesterday was my first day too, also looking forward to some good results, I have to lose 7 or 8 kg, let´s see! YEsterday was not very hard, just tried not thinking about food and worked a lot. Good luck 🙂

Hope everyone is having a good week

Hopeful@40 check out http://www.lavenerandlovage.com as well as
http://www.london-unattached.com. Both have great 5:2 recipes.
Pinterest is also a great place to look. Good luck with your fast days

Mygirl

Hi All,
Been AWOL for a while as I have been busy on the farm and with my Mum. She is certainly a case in point as to why I started down this WOE/WOL. In her eighties she has diabetes, heart problems, Parkinson’s, arthritis, balance problems, and is legally blind.
So far I have dodged all but the high blood sugar, which this WOL is helping me to control.
Had my best fast day today in three weeks, so I am now fully back on the right track.
Looking forward to my next weigh in on May 12 which will be 6 months of this lifestyle. Thank you to all who post to keep us all motivated.
Cheers, Charlie

Hi Charlie,

I was also motivated to do the Fast Diet by seeing other older people in bad health due to being overweight – breathing heavily as they walked, having joint replacements and of course high bp etc. I’m in my late 50s and did not want this in my own future. (Of course you can’t totally control things, but you can do your best to avoid needless health issues.)

Bayleaf, I have also been thinking a lot about the section of Dr M’s book that talks about how slender people naturally regulate their food intake by skipping meals or having small meals if they’ve had a big meal earlier. It’s been helping me to listen to my body about food rather than be rigid about ‘It’s 7pm, therefore I eat a big main meal’. Some days (not many days!), I think, ‘I’m still full from afternoon tea in a cafe so I’ll just have a slice of toast for dinner’.

Re new clothes – I haven’t actually bought any (except one cardigan!) in my 5.5 months on the diet. I had enough clothes that were too tight to begin with that I can wear with a belt now. But when I reach my goa weight (4kg away) I intend to get a new wardrobe!

Despite not fasting at all last week while on hols, I’ve gone down 400g and am now at 22.7 BMI, so feeling good.

I’m happy to take these last few kilos quite slowly as it does take my self-image a while to adjust, I’ve found.

Hi Ihaveawaist.
Thanks for asking about the farm. My cows are almost finished calving, just three to go. My calves get to stay with their mums until they are nine to ten months old at which time they are weaned to give mum a break before she has the next one. This year we have had several sets of twins, and some of the mums don’t cope with two babies so I am rearing two of them by hand. The reason I was running after the calves is that we ear tag everyone at birth, but if they were born during the night, by the time the sun comes up they are off and running, so I would have to run to catch them, then once tagged they are back with mum til weaning.

On your chooks, if you want them to lay through winter put a light in their shed that turns on at midnight. They will think the daylight is longer and get back to laying soon. As I have customers all year round for eggs I do this each year, it just means they get a bit sleepy at the start, but the girls soon get used to it, and it saves on feeding them with no return. I was a bit late setting mine up this year and we, along with our customers had shop eggs for a couple of weeks, yuck. 🙁

I have had to buy some new clothes to keep me going, but I have also bought some multi size patterns and been doing a bit if sewing, great thing to do on a fast day, as the uni books are not a big enough distraction from food.

Have a great weekend everyone, Cheers, Charlie. 🙂

Hi All,
I’m loving the farm chat – such a different world to the one I live in! I’d like to keep chooks one day…..

@ Charlie G – If you like sewing there’s a website (US) called patternreview.com which is a great resource for sewing. You can look up the patterns you’ve bought and see what real people have made and what they thought of the pattern. If you check out the message board there is a thread called Sewing Downunder in Regional Communities which is full of Aussies and Kiwis sharing their successes and frustrations and generally chatting.

I bought new jeans today – down one size 🙂

@bayleafoz

“My quick tips. 1. Keep it Simple. 2. Read Michael Mosleys book. 3. Drink lots of water from measured amounts, easy to fool yourself on amount drunk. 4. Eat healthy foods. 5. Get some form of exercise each day. 6. Forgive your missteps and move on. 7. Limit intake the day before or after a festive occasion.”

8. Enjoy the plateau.

➰

Hi guys! I am new to this forum. I live in Melbourne, and am getting married in 3 months! Any tips would be greatly appreciated! Do you guys do 2 days of fasting in a row or can you split them up?