Hi All,

Thin, I’d skimmed a previous page and knew you were off on travels and now that I’ve returned for another skim, I’m glad to read you had such a great albeit eventful time while away and came home same weight as when you left!

Cinque, I’m with you about how much I love fermented vegetables and kim chi is delicious! I try to regularly make a purple cabbage kraut with dashes of caraway seeds.

LJ, I’ve fermented vegetables with dairy whey. I find the addition of whey important when fermenting sweet vegetables such as in the making of beet kvass or gingered carrots as the whey speeds up fermentation and prevents the batch from turning alcoholic!

Hello to Merry, Intesha, Joffy and all the newer acquaintances that I don’t know so well and those I don’t know at all!

I recently celebrated my 5:2, 2nd birthday.

I checked Michael Mosley’s ‘8 Week Blood Sugar Diet’ out of the library and the penny finally dropped as to why Michael changed tack regarding numbers of calories on FDs from 500 to 800. I realize it is to help assist those who complete the 8 Week Blood Sugar Diet program have a way to move into maintenance mode. I got from reading the book that Michael was simply attempting to find a seamless segue into offering a way to make the 8 week principles into lifelong practice. I was relieved to read early on in the book that Michael said that he himself never needed to practice the ‘8 week Blood Sugar Diet’ because he lowered his unhealthy high blood sugar levels via 5:2 and that he has maintained those results ever since by continuing to practice FDs.

Minka, I’ve fermented red cabbage with beets with very good results. It was so pretty with the bright red color! I think I used about 3/4 cabbage to 1/4 diced beets. I forget all about that and will have to make some again. I used a Mason jar.

Good morning Quacka, a good day yesterday, another one today, and a Fast Day when it next comes round!
What a good answer you gave about 5:2.

Minka, so good to hear from you. I hope you are still around because I want your tips on making beetroot kvass. It was only when I read your post that I remembered that was where I read about using the yoghurt whey, not the kimchi.
How are you going? Are your fitting into your Rodney Clark trousers ok? Happy 5:2 anniversary!

I just missed mine, mine was July 14th and was my third anniversary.

CateAus, I’m glad you can read here, and occasionally give us an update. I hope the scales give you a nice figure soon, but don’t worry if they stuff around a bit, you are on track.
I also avoid calling 5:2 a diet, and generally even avoid calling it fasting, just saying I eat less two days a week.

Sybs, hooray for doing the buttons up. You were right when you bought it!

Grr Merry, you shouldn’t have got on the scales again! But at least it was still down.
btw I was amazed at Vietnam farming so much Barramundi, but I guess that is the way of it.

Gday, what a great decision to keep alcohol for when dining out. And what lovely plans for your 50th birthday. A secluded cabin sounds perfect for a proposal. (And if he doesn’t do it then you might have to propose to him!)

Cali, how great to have hit your 10,000 steps! And it is Wednesday here so I am already cheering the end of the horrible meds.

Mulligatawny is the Anglicisation of Indian (Tamil) ‘pepper water’. See, reading all those Indian cookbooks pays off!

LJoyce, that is funny about losing weight by staying in bed. It is amazing that just keeping our bodies going uses up so much energy. But then, Merry shouldn’t have put on weight after a few hours, and no one should put on weight after a fast day. I remember my scales telling me I weighed more after going to the loo. They are mad, crazy machines, those ones!

Thin, I hope you can do well with 6:1 for even longer this time. The more I read about carbs the more clear it is that the more active we are, the more we can eat them. So it makes sense that you can avoid bad reactions when you eat them and then walk all day.

I’m with you about the NBN, after hearing some stories like yours I think the longer they take to connect me, the better!

Well I’m off to live this wonderful day. The dreadful wind of the last couple of days has died down and the sun is shining through the trees. It is day before fast day for me, and I’ve got a little list and I am going to get some things done!

Cheers to you for your day too!

Thanks, Cinque. I read this thread every day but have trouble keeping up I must admit. I went over my 500 last night with a small Greek-style yoghurt, & feel a little disappointed, but I’ll try to learn by it & do better.
“I also avoid calling 5:2 a diet, and generally even avoid calling it fasting, just saying I eat less two days a week.” I think I’ll stick with this too.
I’m not going to say I have lost anything until I see it on the scales 2 weeks in a row. I’m also going to eat <my TDEE on NFD (or eating normally days).

Hi all!
I have been lurking here in the past days :p
I read about that Mulligatawny soup recipe and sounds delicious, I will definitely try it! I might make some adjustments to make it suitable for FD as well.

Just checking in quickly for an update on my first few days of 5:2, I went on the scale today and was 68 Kg which is 1.2 Kg less than my first weigh-in last week.
I don’t want to get too excited, I think most of this is water/bloating because it is mathematically impossible that I have lost so much in just 10 days (I officially started the diet last Thursday, but kinda started restricting from Monday already so I’ve been on an average of +/- 1200 Kcal for about 10 days): in theory, I ate 4000 Kcal less than my TDEE over 10 days so that should be a loss of just about 0.5-0.6 Kg. Nevertheless I’m pretty excited! I can’t weight to reach that -3.5/4 kg threshold where you really start seeing results on the body frame.

This week I’m not really doing 5:2 because I’m having dinner out with my bf’s parents every day. I have tried not to eat during the day until dinner but I simply can’t hold it, I start having huge headaches by 1 PM. So what I did in the last two days: I eat only at noon, about 150 Kcal (soup and a babybell for example, or stock soup and a 100 Kcal protein bar) and then I have dinner with them. This brings me to about 800-1000 Kcal/day, depending on the dinner.
I will do this all week until Saturday so I should be able to keep my average weekly calories at 1200 (I’m currently at 1180).

Skipping breakfast has been surprisingly easy, even though I am a big breakfast person, and I am managing to eat only very limited calories during the day, every day. It’s incredible what willpower can do :p I hope I can hold on to this system until Saturday. I keep reminding myself the words of @cateaus and I’m trying to see hunger as something that I can ignore and that I don’t necessarily have to quench.

Overall, I love the feeling of lightness that fasting/calories restriction brings you (that is if I can ignore the hunger haha!)

Have a great day all of you!

LJ- “Going a little over the 500 happens occasionally and perfectly within the new rules – 800cal. It’s still a FD, it just means slower weight loss if you do it often.”
Thanks for that. I think the last time I tried 5:2 I gave up because I felt I had failed if I went over 500.
Fruitcake- well done on the 1.2kg loss! It sounds like you are coping well with the visit.
Thin- do you remember where the self-sufficient fish farmer was in Tas? Near Deloraine?

I watched “What’s the catch?” It was really interesting.

Good morning,
Thin, haha, what a bizarre Wednesday for you. I hope the scales are kind.

I have the same problem with fish. I know we should be eating more of it, but I go to try and I am either doing something dreadful by the environment, or there is something dodgy about the fish. And I did hear if everyone really did eat fish twice a week, we would empty the waters of them.

PS Loved the Matthew Evans shows (although the fish one least).

Cate, it is fascinating how this thread is sometimes so fast, and other times quite slow. Hopefully you can make it a useful part of your life, whether you pop in occasionally to let us know how you are going, or engage in an occasional topic that suits you, or ask for tips for a problem or issue, have a whinge or a celebration, or use it as a little everyday community (as I do).

Ha LJoyce, your soup has come a long way from pepper water! And ooh I bet your cake was good too.

Fruitcake, congratulations! Very sensible not to expect to lose that amount every week, but it is a lovely boost when 5:2 starts that way. 🙂
I just adore the feeling of lightness that comes with eating less.
Congratulations with your plan for getting through this week. Hump day is over!

It is Thursday Fast Day for me, and since I am babysitting grandies on Sunday, followed by dinner with their parents, I will fast again on Saturday… or maybe even do a back to back tomorrow, depending how I feel tomorrow morning. I would really like to try it!

We are lucky to have a thread that needs no moderation!
(Touch wood and whistle)

Good afternoon SHs,

I spent the morning in the city. I now have a brand new filling in my molar to replace the one I swallowed Tuesday night.
I then walked across the CBD to an interior decorating shop and waded through a great many books of wallpaper samples. I’m still having trouble finding something to use that won’t cause pattern matching issues.
I’m putting a 2×2 metre row of Ikea billy bookshelves in the dining room as I need the extra storage. I thought I’d make them look a bit less mundane by using the glass Morliden doors, as they are designed to have either paper or fabric placed behind the glass. So if you have a lot of bookcases (and doors) you basically end up with a patterned feature wall. I decided that wallpaper would be the best option, but didn’t realise how hard it would be to find a pattern in the right colours and scale. I have also been a bit alarmed by the price – everything I like is over $200 per roll, and some rolls are not quite long enough for my purposes so I’d need to buy two. I’ll probably end up buying something online as it’s definitely cheaper to buy then from the UK and have them shipped.

Cali, I wandered through the central produce market this morning and found USA fresh cherries. I just couldn’t keep on walking by, so I bought some. They are half gone already. I was really missing summer stone fruit. So give your local growers a thank you for providing me with a welcome taste of summer.

Thin, I was imagining what sort of coffee you could create with thawed margarita, somehow I don’t think you’d get much froth!
If you find 5:2 to be an easier rhythm for you, but think your weekly calories will be too low, you could consider a higher calorie limit than your usual 350.
Thin, yes I do have breakfast foods at lunchtime sometimes – I got the idea from you! I actually enjoy them more at midday than I ever did at 7am.

Fruitcake, well done on your weight loss. I also think you’ve found a sensible way to adapt to the challenge of in-laws being in town.

Cate, unfortunately most of have a lot of experience beating ourselves up over imperfections. It takes time to learn how to let those things go and just focus on how you are handling the current day. I eventually got to the point where I no longer even count calories on my FDs.

Time for me to go for a walk so I can get some blood tests done. I might call into the T2 shop on the way home as they are giving away boxes of chai today.

LJ- I’m looking forward to the day where I won’t need to count calories on FD’s. That tea sounds delicious. I love almond milk & always have it with my oatmeal. I might have it with some protein powder that I want to use up & may give that a go next fast day.
Has anyone tried the La Zuppa soups? I thought I would buy some tomorrow at Woolies. The just add water ones are only $1 each at the moment. I’m going to check them out. They are only 38 cals a serve & might be very handy. My husband will be horrified as he loves to cook, but I don’t trust the calories in his soups.

Cate I’ve been using Pitango soups (from NZ). I add a tin of beans for my OH, and it’s delicious and healthy….no preservatives. In Woolies, serve for 2 is around $5. Throw in a tin of chick peas or whatever, and a handful of spinach, and a slide of great bread for him, and it’s quite a meal. And I think cals (without the extras) per serve is about 70 cals. (and I give it to my vegan brother and sil who eat the vege ones very happily).

Lindsay, re the low carbs, my feeling is that keeping 5:2 sustainable is even more important than fitting into your bikini in Bali. I’m also remembering a dietician explaining that our brain depends on carbs. Is there a sensible way to add some healthy lentil or bean portion in, maybe every second day?

PS Your missing post did turn up yesterday morning, but snuck back on the page where you originally wrote it! https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/hello-southern-hemispherites/page/332/#post-260791

It’s the end of my fast day here. I’m thinking I will have another one tomorrow.

See you all in the morning.

Good morning, it is nice here in Melbourne,

CateAus, nice to have you adding to the friendliness!

LJoyce, Ooh cherries. Good luck with that wallpaper, it does sound tricky.

Your mention of teas reminded me that those hives I had continued, along with getting a numb mouth, with seemingly no rhyme or reason. Finally on Monday I took a sip of the apple fruit tisane and immediately felt my lips going numb. I haven’t drunk any more and no more hives. It might be the hibiscus they put in them all.
Very glad for it to be something so easily avoided, but I had better get on to making that beetroot kvass!

Lindsay, I do love a flock of cockies!
(I’ve got Aldi basa fillets in my freezer.)

Thin, fancy us getting to second on the fast forum list! Another margarita is called for!
Actually I would rather have some of your soup, it sounds so yummy.
But no complaints, I made a huge pot of the mung bean soup, replacing some potato with cauliflower. I had a small bowl of it yesterday and a small serve of those Indonesian style vegetables in the evening, which meant I ate more than I usually do on a fast day, probably around 800 cals. I will do the same today, feeling fine about it this morning. Fancy that!

Cheers all and best wishes for a particularly nice day.

Good morning Southern Hemisphereites,

Thin, the soup sounds just right for winter weather. Barley always feels like the perfect grain for soup, probably because it’s what my mother always used.
I agree about the tea hoarding too – I still have quite a stash of it at the top of the pantry.
I actually brewed a pot of the hot date chai last night – I had to add some black tea to it as it had almost no tea leaves in the blend. I then put vanilla almond milk in it rather than my normal milk and I liked it. So it looks like this almond milk option works with the spicy teas when hot or cold. I had tried to use almond milk in normal tea before and decided it ruined the taste and I’d just have to allocate enough calories on FDs for milk. It’s good to have another option, although I couldn’t drink chai all day, it’s definitely an afternoon or evening tea for me.

Lindsay, I agree with Cinque. I think trying to do both 5:2 and 16:8 and low carb is probably one restriction too many. I’m not surprised you are struggling with it – especially when you don’t have the reward of a fast weight loss to keep you motivated. Unless there’s a reason you need to stay low carb I’d consider easing those restrictions. You can still keep your intake moderate and keep all processed carbs out of your diet. Low carb does not mean no carb.
If it’s the effect of ketosis that you are after, most people can consume around 80g carbohydrate per day and still stay in mild ketosis. Although I do know that those with diabetes or insulin resistance often need a lower intake to achieve the same level of ketosis. So if you really don’t want to give up the low carb eating pattern, it may be possible to adjust your current restrictions and still stay in mild ketosis. To give you an idea of how far 80g will stretch, 100g of cooked lentils contains 13.2g of carbohydrate. A few years ago I spent nearly a year on an VLCD (very low calorie diet) program to lose weight fast for surgery – it was 800 calories per day with a carb level of about 70-80g per day. This did result in mild ketosis providing I didn’t have most of the carbs in one meal, but spread them out across the day. I did use legumes in moderate quantities and I did have dense high fibre bread (no more than one thin slice in a day). Of course eating just a little of the foods you’ve been craving can be a challenge in itself.

Cinque, why do you want to do B2B?

Cate, I know people who like the LaZuppa soups. I have the same issues as Thin – like all pre-prepared soups they are too salty for me. There are a few people here (like CaliD and Joffy) who regularly use pre-prepared soups as reliable FD foods. Having easy and safe FD choices on hand is quite important I think. I do this by making soups and putting single serves into the freezer for FDs. However, if you are looking for something portable to take to work, something with a shelf life can be very useful.

My eating choices were not good yesterday – mostly things eaten while I was out. I have another NFD today and I will hopefully make better choices.

Hope everyone has a good day, whether FD or NFD.

Thin, I think I made the right choice with house and location. The neighbours have been really nice and the builder has repaired all of the issues I asked about. He’s even organised and paid for some extras that he wasn’t responsible for.
The traffic congestion on this side of town has been a very unpleasant surprise – it took me 90 minutes to get the 12km into the city for a 9:15am dental appointment yesterday. I’ve resorted to buying a metrocard and getting some bus and train timetables – I’m going to have to learn how to use public transport again I think for travel to the CBD – thankfully I don’t have to do it often.
The only big ongoing issue has been with Telstra, which is far from being resolved. I finally have internet, but am still waiting for the phone line to be connected – it was booked in for 12 July but the technician didn’t show. To add insult to injury, someone at Telstra has changed the package that I signed up for without my consent or request and I’ve received a bill which is very different from what I actually signed up for. I already have one complaint in place about the phone line, it looks like they’ll be getting another one. I went to bed worrying about it and awoke with a headache. I’m getting heartily sick of the hassle.

Cate, if you want noodles in the miso soup to make it more substantial, find some konjac noodles. All supermarkets seem to stock the Slendier brand (usually on the “gluten free” product shelves). I sometimes roughly chop a packet of the angel hair konjac noodles and add it to a pot of low cal veggie soup – one packet for a pot of soup is plenty. The entire packet of noodles is usually less than 20 cals, so it would only add a couple of calories per bowl.

@cate – maybe you find Dried Bean Curd Strips (also called Dried Bean Curd shredded sticks) more to your liking, but they are relatively high in calories

Cate, a lot of people are put off by the strange odour and/or texture of the Slendier konjac noodles. I haven’t used them for a while but I rinse them really well several times and that gets rid of the smell. As LJ said, they’re great for bulking up FD soups. I don’t mind the slightly rubbery texture. I was once Slendier’s greatest fan but Angel Hair are the only ones I buy now because I can get a konjac block at the Asian grocer for a fracture of the price. Another thing I haven’t used for ages is my Vegetti. It spiralises courgettes into a spaghetti shape. Great substitute for pasta.

Thanks for the update on the house/suburb LJ. We are separated from Perth CBD only by the Swan River but I wouldn’t dream of driving into town. Mostly because of parking. We’re lucky we can walk to the ferry, take a bus from near our house or just walk to town (12km round trip because the bridges aren’t near our house). And occasionally, we paddle our kayaks across but there are only a few places we can go with sandy feet and carrying a paddle.

Cinque, are you still with us? Hoping you’ve survived your marathon fasting.

Headline in major British newspaper: “Malcolm Turnbull outrages Australia by eating pie with knife and fork” A couple of years ago the leader of a British party suffered serious ridicule for the way he ate a bacon sandwich. Clearly there are multiple dangers in food.

The UK answer to “can I use knife and fork” is “depends on the pie”.

Cinque- What a lovely day with your GD. I am so tempted to try B2B. My days were going to be Tue & Fri this week, but I’m actually looking forward to my next FD & may try for Sun/Mon or Mon/Tue instead. I tried it once & didn’t find it that hard, but I think I compensated for the rest of the week. I’ll see how hungry I am when I wake tomorrow.

Cinque, that’s great that you love the B2B and suffered no serious side effects from your effort! Still a bridge too far for me. The grandies sound a real delight. I’m not clicking on that link until I’ve had another coffee, if ever. DD came home from the SW last night with funny tales of the mixed vet clinic customers convinced they’d seen a thylacine in Manjimup. Have you even seen one Cate? 😆 One more week and all the prac work will be complete and we’ll have her home for the rest of the year which is spent rotating through the uni hospital departments.

OH woke up at 3.30am and went outside for a great view of the red moon & Mars. It had been too cloudy when we went to bed.

Cate, you might have to ask for the konjac block. They might call it konnyaku. It’s in the fridge section with the tofu / soy type products.

I’m looking forward to my FD tomorrow. My weight has crept up slightly which is to be expected. Six days is a long time between FD to maintain portion control. I wonder how you’ll find the five day interval.

Sybs, your post arrived while I was writing. You’ll be in the 60s in no time, well done!

Good morning Southern Hemisphereites and welcome to the weekend.

I’m still dithering, trying to make up my mind whether to do a FD today or tomorrow. I feel like doing one today, but as I fasted Sunday and Wednesday that would be 3 for the week. So far I’ve just had a cup of tea, while I dither some more.

Sybs, that’s wonderful news, getting back to a healthy BMI is a wonderful achievement.
Thanks for the dried bean curd info – it was me who asked.

Cate, I also recoiled a bit at the smell of konjac at first, but as Thin said, I also find that if I tip them into a sieve and rinse well under hot running water they cease to smell like a pile of raw squid. I use them in stirfry on FDs and also in some soups, especially homemade chicken noodle with veggies and also a low cal laksa. I need a particularly high fibre diet and the konjac is so high in fibre that it’s a helpful ingredient for me.
Kelp noodles are also very low in calories and I find the texture nicer than konjac, but they are frightfully expensive so a rare treat only.

Penguin, I think Cinque summed it up well – we have many examples of our leaders eating things in inappropriate ways. I suspect Malcolm idn’t want to risk the meat pie dribbling down the front of his suit – always a risk when you bite into one.
Did you get your food based magnesium sources sorted out?

Cinque, glad the B2B went so well, it’s nice to have another option. Enjoy your rest day and tomorrow with the grandies.

Thin, a 12km round trip would be beyond me. I can manage about an hour and a half of brisk walking before my joints start swelling and the walking becomes more difficult. I think that’s 6-7km and my body copes better if I break the walking up into one hour blocks. Often this means stopping for lunch somewhere before walking home which can wipe out all of the calorie burning effects of the walk.
It will be interesting to see whether your single FD can reverse the slight increase in weight. Hope the 6:1 works out.
It will be lovely to have your daughter home again for a few months. I expect when she graduates she be heading off for new adventures.

Well, while I’ve been writing I’ve come to a decision. I’m doing a NFD but will try to respect my lack of appetite and not eat just because it’s a NFD. I will fast tomorrow as originally planned. I needed to remind myself of what I learned a few weeks ago – that doing a NFD, when not eating feels easy, is a good thing.

Hope you all have lovely weekend plans. I expect an exceptionally quiet weekend. But I at least have some lovely weather, which is a welcome break from the rain.

Thin, the only place I found kelp noodles was at the Organic Market in Stirling (a big health food store with a cafe attached). They had two brands- one around $12 and the other $16. A packet contained about two serves – so 4-5 times the cost of konjac. Lately this store hasn’t had them on the shelves and I haven’t seen them elsewhere. I have heard they can be found more cheaply at Asian grocers but haven’t located them yet.
I like the kelp noodles for summer Asian salads as they have an almost crunchy texture that is lost as soon as you add any liquid.

It’s been the best NFD I’ve had for a while. Just 2 pots of tea and a banana throughout the day. I’ve put a stuffed chicken and 6 different veg in to roast for tea. As that will take a while to cook, I’m about to have a cup of French Earl Grey tea and a small pot of boysenberry yoghurt.
I went for a long walk this afternoon and came back via the shopping centre. I needed new slippers. I came home with those and also 2 pairs of soft cotton drawstring pants (for the gym) and a soft cowl neck top in a rose colour. More things than I intended to buy but the grand total was $37. Shopping in op shops has taught me to expect a lot for my money.

Hope everyone has had a good day.

Sybs congratulations on such an outstanding result. There’s such a focus on external looks with weight loss, but of course it’s the difference to the ‘inside’ that’s every bit if not more important. You must look and feel fabulous. And terrific that you have that goal front and centre. Inspirational.