Penguin, thanks for your info. I am liking the way the 16:8 has been easy to step into. I dont usually eat breakfast so dont usually have any food to lunch time so that part was not the problem as far as I could see. My problem was the snacking later at night, but by sticking to the 8pm rule I have been able to cut that out.

CalifD, At this time I was trying something like a 5 day fast. Therefore instead of doing a 5 day water fast which I knew I could not do, I decided to try 5 days of no more than 400 calories but keeping to the 16:8 rule. With starting my fast on Monday I thought to finish on Friday and have the weekend to enjoy myself a little. This was because I thought my body needed a jolt and I was finding it hard to get back to 5:2 after the last trip.
Yesterday just did not work out as planned and I actually only ate about 200-300 calories as I did not get my dinner due to coming home later than 8pm.
I agree eating no more than 400 calories for a long time would be hard to sustain, but as I have 5 weeks before my next overseas trip, I was wanting to be extremely strict on myself and keep to this for at least that time.
It is also a little experiment as well.
So far with this being day 4 I am feeling great!! And I have lost some kgs!!
It is all about getting my mind into the right frame so I can make better choices when it comes to food and drink.
Thanks for your info too. I can see how easy it is now to fit the 16:8 into a 5:2 diet.
Another question.
Does anyone make low cal jelly to have at all? and If you do, is it classified as a food or a fluid?

JJulie, sounds like you have a spring in your step at the moment.
I haven’t made diet jelly for a long time, but I used to use them. Jelly is a fluid. (When you are in hospital and on fluids only they will give you clear broth and jelly to eat.) I hadn’t realised you were doing a 5 day fast. You are the first of our group to try it.

Penguin, If I remember correctly you and your wife start your 5 day fast in the morning. I hope it goes well for you both. Let us know what happens.

Cinque, glad your computer is on it’s way back to full health.

The nurse should be here within the hour to do the infusion for my rheumatoid treatment drug (abatacept). I’m just having a pot of tea and a banana and watching the morning news. It will be a quiet day, no reno planned for this afternoon. I do need to go to the hardware store to get a couple of things, so I might do that this afternoon and then continue with packing up the many photos, candles, etc that cover every surface in the lounge room. (Lounge is the next room to be painted.)

This morning I tried to put on my loose jeans and they are living up to their description, they are now so loose they look like baggy clown pants! I decided to weigh myself (This is getting to be a bit of a concerning pattern – I don’t want to get addicted to the scales again). I’ve lost another 1.6kg in the last week. Considering I had 4 days off of any strenuous work from Fri-Mon I can’t see how that’s possible – not that I’m complaining, just perplexed. I’m now 75.2kg which is near the bottom of the range I had set 3 years ago when I first lost weight – I’d aimed to stay in the 75-78 range. Because I’m not controlling these losses, I have no idea where it will end up. I have no objection to being lighter, it’s just maintaining it when I’m not as active that I’m uncertain about.
I might have to head to the op shops to look for more jeans soon.

Have a good day all.

Cinque – since I live on my own, things are easy for me – no fussy eaters, no OH who may not be supportive. I love both the 5:2 and the 16:8, and my morning walks are just super energizing.

LJoyce,hope your infusion today goes well. Congrats on the weight loss! Maybe you are still losing even though you haven’t been doing strenuous work the past 4 days, but you have been painting and sanding. That involves a lot of energy. And no doubt you’ve built up some muscle with all the work over the last weeks. It takes more calories to sustain muscle than it does fat, and it doesn’t sound like you’ve increased your calories, so you’re probably burning more on sustaining that muscle. After all the reno work is done on this house and your next home, you could always use resistance bands or light weights to maintain that muscle. You’ve mentioned a thinner waist and better fitting clothes so you can’t go back now!

We started the five day fast yesterday evening so we are now 15 hours in. This means absolutely nothing – eight hours of that were sleeping. We normally eat in the 16:8 window, or more accurately 17:7, so I don’t really start to fast until I miss lunch. For reasons I don’t understand, when doing a limited cal fast, OH has a small breakfast, which she doesn’t normally do. She has just had half of an unsweetened grapefruit.

Good morning everyone,
It is a lovely morning here.

LJoyce, woot! Those baggy jeans. What a nice milestone. I hope you can find some wonderful new ones!
It sounds like your infusion went well too? I hope so.
When I got to down under 60kg, my goal, I decided to just see where 5:2 took me, and I gently coasted down and down, losing more slowly as the slope got gentler and then flattened out at 50kg. I don’t think I would lose more as my natural hunger asserts itself.
You are in a similar lovely position of knowing you are a healthy weight, and just gently making decisions for your future.

Sybs, Snap! I live alone too. (But I took a bit of playing around with different fast days and different meals before I settled on what suited my life best). (Typical me).

JJulie, what you are doing is pretty much Fast Mimicking! That is the idea (like 5:2) that you can eat some things that don’t interrupt your body thinking it is fasting. Isn’t it nice that jelly is counted as liquid! Your birthday dinner sounds just lovely.

Penguin, I hope you found some wonderful productive things to do with that energy and are able to sleep okay tonight. Yes, we need to be patient and hear how you go on the 4th and 5th days.

I really enjoyed the yuba (bean curd sticks) in my miso soup last night. It was good and chewy! I think I will use it instead of chicken from now on.

Even though I had a bowl of vegetable soup in the early afternoon yesterday, it still felt like a proper fast day, I would still have been under 500 calories and I had my usual hungry afternoon. Pleasure having breakfast this morning!

Time for another cup of tea. Best wishes to everyone!

Hi everyone, hope everyone is well snd fasting well on this exciting journey we’re all on.

Check- in: :65.2kgs still and starting starchy-carb free today after arriving back home. That means not only no grains, or gluten free carbs, but no potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, peas, beans, lentils, chickpeas etc. Yes I know there’s healthy things in there, but for some reason I cannot lose weight while eating any of thrm. Tested it many times now. I can maintain weight on a limited amount of them but can’t lose, and I really want to grt back to my goal weight now, which is 62kgs. I achieved it through ising 5:2 in Nov 2016, and for various non5:2 reasons am a bit up, but I know it’s just being systemmatic now to get that extra 3kgs off, and I can’t do it eating any starchy carbs.

Deadline for my project in 6 weeks.

Onwards and downwards,
Merry

Merry, I hope the absence of starch helps you get those pesky 3kg off. Good luck with the project with the deadline nearing.

Cinque, thank you so much for the link to the bread of the world recipe. I really enjoyed the Swedish video of the group of diverse people baking bread together. I won’t be baking bread again until I move house, but will definitely try this then – I’ve saved the recipe pdf. I have to say I’ve never seen a decilitre (100ml) used as a unit of measurement for cooking before – maybe that’s a Swedish thing. The ingredients such as linseed and kibbled rye are things I’d commonly put into my own bread so I think the flavour will be good.
Are you planning to make it yourself?

I’ve had a disrupted morning, as I got a phone call from my GPs practice to say that the doctor filling in for him while he’s overseas had looked at my blood test results and I needed to come in and see a doctor today. As I’d spoken to the nurse on Wednesday and been told my ESR was good I was surprised and a bit concerned. It turned out that my potassium levels are low – nothing a few more bananas won’t cure hopefully. As I think back, I’ve eaten far fewer bananas over the past month as there has been so much stone fruit available. It needs to be one per day for a few weeks otherwise I’ll need a supplement. I’m still a bit perplexed that this required an immediate docotor’s visit, didn’t sound that serious to me.

After I finish lunch I should actually be able to get some work done.

Hi All,

Cinque, Yes that must be what I am doing, Fast Mimicking, is it a good thing? I hope so. And yes good that jelly is a liquid as I am going to start making some Low Cal ones for something to snack on.

I had forgotten about Yuba. I will go looking for it at my local Japanese Shop.

LJoyce, I use the decilitre measuring cups for my Finnish and Swedish recipes. If you are looking to buy one they are available at Ikea.

Making pumpkin soup today and tomorrow I have a big salad organised for the BBQ we are going to tomorrow night. It is BYO meat and drinks affair, so I am going to take my own salad bowl just for me, with my own salad dressing and a small amount of meat mixed in. I am not sure which meat as yet because I wanted to keep away from anything that would be high calorie. I was thinking thinly sliced beef, diced chicken breast or thinly sliced peppered kangaroo fillet. I am not a big fish eater, but I do have a can of tuna at the ready, or I could just add tofu and keep it vegetarian. OH is taking chevaps.

I am over my scales telling me different readings!!!!

LJoyce, on maintaining the recent extra weight loss after all your physical work around the house is over, it seems that once weight is lost and kept off for a couple weeks, it doesn’t come back that easily. The losing it to begin with seems to me to be the hard part. Even with TDEE being a little lower, it seems that beyond water weight, it’s just as hard to gain it back as it is to lose it. For me, when I used to diet and lose a bunch of weight and then go off the low calorie diet, I would eat way more than I might eat after a FD now. I used to feel so deprived I’d go crazy and eat everything in sight for days and gain weight back as a response to that.

But now, on the 5:2 I don’t often feel deprived and have less reason to do the out of control eating for any length of time. My hypothesis is that unless we’re going to dangerously low weights, our bodies just kind of reset regularly if we lose weight. FD seem to make up for eating that is above that.

I haven’t been maintaining long enough to test it, but some of you who have been maintaining longer must have some experience with it.

CalifDreamer/LJoyce. That weight re-setting has been my experience as well. Over the last few years my body has had several ideas of what it should weigh, each one less than the one before. When it settles I can take quite a few liberties before I gain. Equally it can take determination to move down.

Good morning SHs

Had a successful FD yesterday – water fast until dinner then a 250 calorie meal and early to bed as the last few hours were a bit of a struggle. However I’m happy that I stuck with it and didn’t give in. Next FD on Tuesday which should be easier as I’ll be at work that day

LJ, I would like half of your determination. My body is sore in places I didn’t know I have from moving and cleaning. Yesterday I gave myself permission to take it a bit easier but boy the day dragged. I think it’s better to just keep moving ahead so will try and follow your example next week

Off to choose tap ware and bathroom fixtures today. New kitchen hopefully arrives sometime next week. I’m getting there but it’s a long journey!

Good luck to all fasting today and tomorrow. Have a great weekend

Good morning SHs

WWall, I know what you mean about the sore spots. I had to do some serious ham string massaging last night to stop the cramping that was keeping me awake. I normally have either a massage or physio treatment every 3 weeks – I’ve changed my cycle to fortnightly at the moment as my body needs the extra help.
I hope you find some bathroom fixtures that you love that don’t break the bank. I had to get a new sink and tap for the kitchen and after looking at several places I found that Tradelink had better prices than elsewhere for reliable brands. I bought this kitchen mixer tap for less than $100. http://tradelink.com.au/retail/products#/c0/Raymor/c1/Kitchen/c2/Mixers/c3/Sink%20Mixers/c4/Projix/item/14153434

Cinque, I did something unheard of on a FD, I ate a banana at 10am. Hopefully it won’t make me hungry all day.
Glad to hear you are picking your own lettuce – it doesn’t seem very long since you described planting – must be fast growing lettuce.

Minka, Good to hear you are back to 5:2 and also able to ease back to a normal working week. I hope that makes life and health easier to manage.

I did the grocery shopping early this morning – on a FD – something I normally avoid. I hoped that by going early when I don’t have an appetite, I’d get away without being tempted too much. It’s all put away in the fridge and cupboards, and out of sight now. That was important as I’m expecting family to come and help at some point in the next week so I bought things like biscuits and white bread rolls. I did buy some nice broccoli, snow peas, capsicum, zucchini and spring onions to make a stir fry for my dinner. The amount of veg should be enough to make 2 bowls of food, so 2 that’s FDs covered.

Hope you all have a wonderful Saturday.

Thin, you need to find out who owns that parrot that Cinque just posted and borrow it – drive your annoying airbnb neighbours nuts!

Despite stating a FD with food, I have managed to confine myself to cup of tea since, but I have stayed busy.
I finally tackled a job I’d been putting off because I wasn’t confident. There is a section of wall in the kitchen that has always been tiled, but needed to be returned to smooth rendered/plastered wall and a masonry window sill with a curved edge. It’s a bit beyond my skill level and it’s 30 years since I’ve done any serious rendering. However this after I decided I couldn’t put this off any longer. I now have a rendered wall and window sill with a pretty good curved edge. Tomorrow I’ll attempt the plaster layer. I’m finding that the further I go along with the reno the more confidence I gain to tackle jobs where I doubt my skills. I have done most of these things on my first house. But I owned that in the late 1980s and my dad (who was a builder) was very fit and able then and helped me learn the skills I needed. Today I was trying to remember the conversation I had with him when I was rendering some sections on internal wall in that house. I remember that the render wasn’t sticking to the brick and calling dad who asked if I’d wet the bricks first. To which I’d said no, of course not, how was I meant to know I had to do that? Needless to say, that even without dad here now, I actually remembered to wet the wall and window ledge before applying the render.

I’m just having a pot of tea a a break before tackling a bit more window frame sanding. I’m trying to fin indoor jobs for the middle of the say so I can avoid being in the sun as I burn easily even on mild days.

Hi all. Just catching up after a few lovely days over on our island, and then a couple of full-on work days.
LJoyce full marks to your doctor for calling you in. Low potassium can hit hard and fast. Last year my niece arrived home from work just as her Dad crashed to the floor. She resuscitated him and heart attack was diagnosed and we were all called to his bedside. The next morning we got a call from his son to say his father was sitting up in bed (in intensive care) eating breakfast. Not a heart attack at all, but his collapse was caused by very very little potassium in his system. He was out of hospital 48 hours later, and was so happy he went and bought himself a new car. What a thorough doctor you have LJoyce.
Off to dinner tonight with friends. Usually we eat at Asian restaurants but that gives me less control (too much shared food, and our group seems to prefer fried foods and few vegetables) so we are having a pub dinner. Fish, I think, or maybe a salad. I’m not fasting til Monday, but am trying for better control on weekends.
Good wishes, SH friends.

Cali, I have a special trowel with a curved edge that my dad gave me many years ago, along with a normal flat plastering trowel. It made the task simpler. I can’t see how your would get a good finish without them. Luckily I need to end up with a smooth plastered finish on the wall and window sill not textured. Once the plaster layer in on and dried it can be sanded, so I can deal with any remaining imperfections then, before I paint.

Linsday, thanks for the info on low potassium. I thought they were being overly dramatic, I hadn’t realised it could be that serious. I’m eating my daily banana and I have blood tests done again next Wednesday, so hopefully my levels will be up a little. If not, then I’ll need to start taking Slow K tablets. I’ve had low potassium several times before and extra bananas have always remedied it in the past so hopefully it will this time too.
Hope you enjoy the pub dinner. I find they are usually a safe option as there are always grilled meats with salad on offer. You just have to be strong and not eat the chips that usually accompany it.

Penguin, well done to you and your OH on the progress so far. I guess tomorrow will be the interesting point, when you get beyond the 3 days that you are used to. I trust you are both still feeling well. I hope you both acquire smaller waists, and a batch of new healthy cells.

I made stir fry vegetables and chicken for my FD dinner, with enough leftovers for the next FD too. I have made a pot of my decaf lamington tea blend and and now enjoying that too.

Not sure if we’re doing family brunch in the morning or not. As it will be a NFD I can actually eat brunch if I happen to feel like it. Usually I fast Sundays so I just order a pot of tea.

**Catalyst Tuesday night is about gut bugs. I don’t know if it’s a new episode or a repeat. I think it starts at 8:30 on ABC1, but you’d best check your local tv guides.

Hi all, I am back with my tail between my legs…
I used to be around, and lost my extra 25kg with 5:2 (lost the first 25kg with cal counting). I was sort of maintaining, but didn’t really every feel in control of my eating (if that makes sense).

Since Xmas, the wheels have fallen off the wagon and rolled down the hill. I kept slowly gaining, despite still fasting. I was calorie counting 1200/day as well, except for the weekends, where my OH and I tended to eat badly.

I increased my daily cals to 1400/day and limited the ‘junk’ day to one day only. I lost 3.5kg in one week, but since then, have gained a bit of that back.

I don’t know what I am doing wrong. I am on 1400 cals/day, plus do 5:2. We do have that one day on the weekend, where we have a junk day – but I would have thought the two days of 5:2 would have meant that was ok. I know I shouldn’t have a junk day, but after calorie counting/ being so restrictive for 3 years, I enjoy our one day of letting go.

I am getting desperate. I feel like everything I try isn’t working anymore, and I am really close to giving up. The thought of calorie counting for the rest of my life (and then perhaps still gaining) is really depressing.

Good morning,

Well the BBQ last night went well as far as my food was concerned. I made a large tupperware bowl of salad using baby spinach and rocket with cucumber diced, grated carrot and beetroot, bean sprouts, cherry tomato, finely sliced spanish onion and an artichoke cut in half on the top. I decided on the kangaroo as it is the leanest meat I know apart from fish (which I am not keen on). I made the kangaroo my special way with cracked pepper for some tang then finely sliced it and tossed it on the top of the salad. I used a mixture of freshly squeezed lemon and orange and poured over the top as my salad dressing. This mixed with the pepper on the kangaroo makes a tangy dressing. I ended up not eating it all!!
Just as it was getting dark the mozzies came out in full force. I decided to go home to have a shower to relieve the itching and put something on my skin, then return to the party, but 2 minutes later OH came home too as he was suffering from the mozzie bites. He said that everyone else had left the party too except the immediate family. I had only just gotten into the shower when we went into darkness. We have been having some problems with our power supply at our house and we thought that it had happened again, but OH looked out and said that the whole street was in darkness. Our youngest daughter rang from where she was staying at her boyfriends parent’s property in Fishery Falls which is about 40 kilometres south of Cairns to ask if we had power. It seems it was out at their place too. So the party ended quite abruptly.

Penguin and Mrs Penguin, congratulations!!! you sound like you are both doing very well with your fasting.

With my weigh in on Saturday morning I was a little disappointed to see that I only lost about 2 kg all up. (about 4.5 pounds) I am not sure if it is my scales telling me the wrong reading before I started or if it is telling me the wrong reading now. I am thinking of purchasing another scale.
Which brings me to a question. I dont really have a place in my ensuite to put the scales so they are not in the way, so I usually tuck them to one side and then bring them out to weigh myself. This means that they are being moved each time and probably placed in a slightly different spot each time. I am wondering if that could be causing the erratic readings? I am thinking I would get a more accurate reading if they were not moved at all.

Lindsay thanks for the information about low potassium as well. My daughter was told she has low potassium but they did not seem concerned with it. I know my mother had low potassium too when she was very sick and the doctor told me to make her banana smoothies. I will make sure my daughter asks her doctor a bit more about her readings.

Cnque, that parrot was so hilarious but also could be so annoying, thank goodness we only have it on video and not living at our house with us. When I played the video OH was sitting on the back balcony reading the paper and having coffee. He thought there was a baby crying from one of the houses behind us. When I told him it was the parrot he laughed.

Hello Naptime and welcome. Please dont give up!! I know how you feel as I am going through a similar thing at the moment with trying new things but not seeming to be getting the results I feel I should have. It helps to talk here with all the lovely people that are on this forum. Ask questions you will get answers or suggestions that might help. I am only relatively new to this but others on the forum have succeeded and are on maintenance. They are the best help. Hope to hear more from you.

Welcome back Thin!!! Missed you…….

Naptime,

It sounds like your journey was a bit like mine. I also lost around 50kg in two 25kg stages. I also did the first 25kg with calorie counting. Unlike you, I did the second 25kg very quickly with a VLCD meal replacement plan. I found maintenance very difficult as my calorie needs seemed unusually low. It was a constant battle to keep my weight stable. If I ate like other people I gained weight. After 18 months I’d regained 9kg and I started 5:2 to get it off. I’ve stayed with 5:2 for maintenance, but I’ve learned some unpalatable facts along the way.

My actual calorie needs are well under the TDEE that the calculator tells me. I suspect that my metabolism has always run a bit slower than average, but losing and regaining weight over the decades probably hasn’t helped either. It’s possible that you have a similar disadvantage. My actual TDEE is about 200 calories under the TDEE that the calculator on this site gives me. Unless I am particularly active my real TDEE is 5800jk or 1380cal.
My body doesn’t tolerate more than one small portion of “junk” per week (eg one slice of cake). If I eat more than that, even with 2 FDs, I gain weight. I had to accept that the two FDs doesn’t give me a license to eat what I want on the NFDs – not if I want a stable weight. I had thought I’d have more leeway than that, but the hard truth is that I don’t. I gradually moved to healthier food choices that include a very high fibre level as this helps me feel full on the limited calories I have to work with and my body feels better for it. Each week I do 2 FDs at under 500cals, most NFDs I eat approx 1400-1500 calories and I may have one treat one one day, although I don’t specifically go looking for it – it’s mainly for socialising. That maintains a fairly high BMI of 28 for me (weight in mid 70s)- I would need to be even more restrictive to maintain a lower weight in the “healthy” BMI range. I no longer count calories, but I did do this meticulously daily for a very long time. I’ve now reached a point where I have confidence of the foods and portions I need to be eating to not gain weight.

My eating pattern sounds similar to yours in terms of calories (without the junk food day) and for me this is weight maintenance not weight loss, so I’m actually not surprised that you aren’t losing weight. With a low TDEE, the 2 FDs only save me about 1760 calories for the week – one binge day can chew this up very quickly. Unfortunately I think you are going to go through the painful exercise that I also did of facing up to a very low TDEE and what that means for future food choices and portion sizes. It doesn’t feel fair, but I came to accept that I couldn’t change it so I just had to work with it. It meant changing expectations and that did take a bit of time.

Over the first few months on 5:2 when I was aiming to lose weight, my weight loss was quite slow and I struggled to keep my eating to a reasonable level on the NFDs. I have a history of binge eating and trying to reform this behaviour took me quite a long time. I found that eating mindfully helped, so that I got maximum enjoyment from the things I did eat, as too much of my eating was done through snacking on high calorie foods that I scoffed down and barely tasted. Slowing things down and enjoying just a few mouthfuls of something actually helped.

I suspect that your FDs are fine, but it’s your NFDs that may need to change if you want your weight to decline. I really hope you find a path forward with this.

For those of you who are interested, this link was posted on the science articles site: http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/zg3hk7h
Just click on the picture of Dr Chris van Tulleken and it will take you to the test.
It’s a bit of fun rather than an accurate assessment, as it doesn’t look at blood tests, BP, disease history, etc, just some very broad lifestyle indicators.
Although I was rather chuffed to be told I was actually 41 – I wish!

Hi again, thanks for the responses. It is nice to ‘see’ some familiar faces – Thin, Cinque, Merry. Great to see you are still around and are maintaining.

Thin, current weight is 76kg. I was down to 73kg which was my target (just because it was a nice round 50kg loss – I hoped to move my goal down to 70kg after sitting at 73kg for a bit). My OH keeps saying ‘you only put on 300g (or whatever) – but a gain is a gain, and that is where the slippery slope starts, which scares me so much.

Cinque, how junky is my junk day? Um, well, the junk is usually an extra 500 – 1000 cals I would say – but sometimes there is also a take away meal in there, too. After being so strict, both OH and I were enjoying relaxing a bit – but it has gotten out of control and we are both finding it hard to rein it in. One week I’ll be strong and OH buys the junk, the next week it’ll be me who buys it. We seem to both encourage each other, but in a bad way.

Joyce, it’s interesting that you say you need less than TDEE. It doesn’t seem fair, does it? I also wonder if this may be the case with me – I am coming from an eating disorder background, so wonder if I have done some ‘damage’ to my metabolism through years of self abuse.

Cinque, the week before Xmas I noticed the scales were showing a gain – and it has really not changed since then. It hasn’t been a huge gain everytime, but as things stand, I am still 3kg over my original goal weight, and 6kg from where I want to be. But in reality, I have been treading water since I hit goal in April. My diet/food has been controlling me, if that makes sense. Everything I do is thought of in terms of food, calories, and weight gain.

I was on 1200cals for nfd for a while, but was still gaining. So I increased it to 1400 (in case it was too low with the two fd as well) and planned everything I ate. It was a great week and I had that massive loss. The next week though I just went up a bit, and I’m not sure where to go from here. 1200cals/daily is really tough going, especially after being so strict on that for nearly 2 years. 1400cals is more doable, as it means I can have a piece of fruit mid morning and a yoghurt in the afternoon – which helps get me through the day. I also make sure I factor in my dessert (skinny cow ice cream or something similar). But I do wish I could have another 100 cals a day or so.

I always thought when I reached maintenance, everything would be different. I was looking forward to real bread, maybe peanut butter and cheese! But in reality, nothing changed. I still had to watch what I ate, and I was still having to weigh in every week and still fast twice a week. It has been a hard, hard lesson – that I will always have to watch my diet. And when I think like that, then I start to get quite disheartened. I want to have proper bread, I want to have peanut butter and cheese sometimes – will I never be able to have that sort of thing again? Cinque, you mentioned how important it is not to feel deprived – but how do you do that?

So, what do you all think? Do I continue to count cals and keep it to 1400 on nfd? Do I do 16:8 as well for a bit to kick it in the butt? How do I rein in the junk days?

Sorry, for the long ramble…

Thin, Yes I suppose you could say a fastathon!! I am doing 5 days fast with 16:8 at the same time. I am being strict on myself so I can get this to budge!! I also hear you about the alcohol and I have not been having any at all. I had the Kangaroo last night with my salad as I know the meat is lean. I cooked the meat at home myself and sliced it thinly. Then put the slices on top of my salad. I think BBQing kangaroo may make it tough, as you have to be very careful to not overcook it and the secret is letting the meat rest. Another secret is the lemon and orange juice which also helps to tenderise it as well as taking a lot of the gamey flavour away. This was the first meat I had eaten all week as I had been on my vegetarian diet again due to loosing a lot of kgs when on it before.

Dont get me going about the Chinese!!!! I agree they are noisy. They cant just talk to each other they just yell at each other. I have been in hotel rooms near or next to them and have complained to the hotel about the carry on. My daughter ended up getting out of bed at 3am in a hotel one night, opening the room door to find this woman standing in the passageway yelling into her hotel room from there. The death stare that my daughter gave her was enough to let her know what we wanted to say to her. This hotel is my regular hotel in Osaka and I am a member of the hotel group. I told them to never put me near chinese again!!
I have also read that a lot of hotels in Japan are refusing to take bookings from Chinese due to the number of complaints they have received in the recent years that they have been traveling to Japan. And be careful you dont get caught up in a shop when they all arrive on a guided shopping trip!!!

Lots of interesting posts. I have never eaten Kangaroo but it is possible to get it here so I may give it a try, at least there will be no mosquitos. There are disadvantages to living in a small village with sheep over the garden wall, but at least they are usually quiet neighbours. Having spent a year of my youth dividing my time between the Kowloon YMCA and the back room of a temple in a Chinese fishing village I remember the noise. Mostly I liked the bustle and constant activity, but on my free days I paddled my kayak out to an otherwise uninhabited island.

OH and I did that BBC real age quiz yesterday. OH is apparently 15 years younger than her birth certificate and I can be 20 years younger, depending on how I answer the smoking question. I claim that over 25 years since I last smoked a pipe qualifies me as a none smoker. Good to hear but I have my doubts. We are now three and a half days into our fast. No problems. I don’t know what this is doing to our interior but the outside is disappearing.

Coffee now, then off out – going to take my sketch pad to a small aviation museum on an airfield about 20 miles. away.

Nap, I felt a bit sad when I read your last post about everything you do being thought of in terms of food. I can really identify with that because I spent most of my life being controlled by food and it’s only really in the last 2-3 years that I can finally say that I am in control of food and not the other way round (most of the time, anyway). What a shame we have to reply like this because it doesn’t ever come out quite as well as it would sitting at a table with a nice, frothy coffee (which I am very much looking forward to tomorrow morning).

Everyone will have their different ideas so you just have to decide which bits feel right. I agree with LJ and Cinque. And I think you need to celebrate having stayed the same weight since last April – that’s got to be good having lost 50kgs surely. I agree with you too about the slippery slope. Don’t get on it. I take my trigger weight very seriously because I still remember how easy it is to let it all go. It does take constant vigilance. Maintenance 5:2 is boring and looks much the same as weight loss 5:2 for me but without the excitement of losing weight. I still think it beats the alternative. So here I stay.

I can’t help feeling that junk day isn’t doing you any good. Even its name isn’t helping. I didn’t lose even half the weight you did but over that year and the ensuing years of maintenance, my food preferences and portions were shaped without my even realising it. On one plateau, I did finally cut out all bread just to see if it would make a difference and now it’s really not even a part of my life. I could have it occasionally but find I just don’t think about it at all. I believe that if you do just keep going, over time your preferences will change. I agree calorie counting is the pits and it’s nice to have a treat now and then. But do you really hang out for that junk day and enjoy it as much as you think? Or do you love being slim, healthy and eating moderately at least as much? How do you feel after you’ve had the junk day? I tend to feel horrid if I eat things no longer on the overall plan. And I usually pay on the scales. I wonder if you could liven up the 5 days a little and ditch the junk day.

Can you reward yourself with something besides food? What about a romantic his ‘n’ hers massage? A new summer dress that shows off your smaller frame? A new hobby or class?

JJulie, thanks for the kangaroo tips to reduce the gamey taste. Yes, I think it must be cooked on a very hot grill for a short time. Your post made me laugh. In Thailand last year, hotels were contemplating the prospect of ‘Chinese only hotels’ and ‘non-Chinese hotels’. The Thais are so mild-mannered and loathe to enforce the rules but certain guests didn’t feel the pool curfews, etc applied to them and that was upsetting other guests’ stay. Some of the behaviour at the breakfast buffets was something to behold as well. The poor staff could only follow them around with a mop and bucket. Now I don’t even have to leave home to experience it and can’t request a non-smoking room or one away from the pool area. Thanks LJ, I’ll let you know if my petition and 8 page submission are successful.

Hi Sybs and welcome to our forum. We have a thread for FD ideas here: https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/southern-hemispherites-fd-recipes/
I tend to stick to the same FD foods a lot because I’m lazy. I’m 61 and walk daily for exercise but that’s about all with an occasional kayak. I am psyching myself up for a bit of resistance training one day.

Well done Penguin and Mrs P.

Hope your FDs are going well nowadays Cinque. Was today’s great? I think I will get another pot of mung beans started tomorrow. I think I could eat that every night.

JJulie, when’s your fast over and what are you having to eat to break it?

wwall, I’m pleased that blue tongue found a new home.

Must get to bed now. It takes a lot to catch up, doesn’t it?

Thin, what an excellent catch up! I hope you got a lovely sleep after all that.

I had a good fast day yesterday, I might be back into a bit of a good rhythm. Touch wood and whistle, we’ll see. Yuba is the beancurd skins. They are brilliant in my miso soup, and it worked well to soak it (just one stick) with the dry mushrooms overnight.

You make me hungry for those mung beans. Enjoy your solitary time and cooking for one. I hope it is a real pleasure.

And well done for your signature work. How exhausting, but I bet it was good for building networks in the street, and fingers crossed it helps the council make a good decision.

JJulie, congratulations on your special fasting, you are doing wonderfully.

Penguin, what a young wife you have! It is 25 years since I stopped smoking so it would be lovely if it didn’t count. I was a very light smoker, but I managed to spread it out over many years. Luckily having a cat knocked a year off (I thought she was adding years with all the stress of trying to make the cat flap work!).
You will be into new territory with your fasting now, hope it is going well!
And I hope it was lovely sketching.

Sybs, I am a decade younger than you (I’ll be 61 in June) so I am super impressed by your lifestyle. Have you always been interested in such delicious healthy food, or did that come with starting 5:2?
My life is constrained by chronic illness (ME/CFS) so I do very little activity, but luckily 5:2 works anyway. I might have told you about my fast days already: lots of water, cups of tea with a dash of milk, one pot of coffee with about half a cup of milk in the late morning, and a bowl of miso soup with vegetables in the early evening.
And I am playing around with adding in another bowl of soup in the early afternoon to make the day easier.

Nap, I am thinking about what you have written (especially about the peanut better). I’ll write another post after a cuppa with a neighbour who is coming in a minute.

And a special shout out to all the nice quiet Chinese people (and the loud ones) reading our thread. 🙂