Happy new Year,
I do hope it is an easy, healthful, peaceful and fun one.

I had a late night babysitting. Gorgeous, but I’m glad to have a recovery day or two.

Merry, so glad to see your posts, but I realise things have been very hard. I am just so glad there have been wonderful times too, with precious family and delicious food.

I do so hope you get more chances now to sit and draw breath. Many good wishes to you and Mr Merry.

You have done brilliantly over this chaotic time, to keep your weight so stable, and then to lose 1.5kg without even trying. Congratulations!

LJoyce, I agree with you about the intermittent dieting. I imagine it would suit young working women most, I can imagine it being a good rhythm around a busy working and social life. It would keep people maintaining a healthy weight by living the modern life for a couple of weeks, and then resisting the excesses. On and off, but hopefully not too extremely.

I must say I rolled my eyes at Dr Mosley’s ‘experiment on himself’. I don’t mind him being a media tart, but I get more irritated with him when he strays from good science methods.

Also peeped at the website, thanks for the link. It looks like there is no public forum.

And Cali, I agree with what you say about 800 vs 500. Infact when I was losing weight, fast days were more like 300 and that really felt like they were doing something. I still love to have those fasty fast days.

Anzac I think I might try that tomato and meatball dish too!

Gday, enjoy your gym!

Rosy Posy, scales are evil goblins. Don’t take them seriously! Especially at such a chaotic time of year.

Chaotic is clearly my word of the day. Or of yesterday! Peace, today I hope!

Fascinating about the ham. So glad you didn’t eat it when it wasn’t the pleasure you anticipated.

Quacka, your sauce looks magnificent. The Camembert saga continues. How will it end? I’m keeping tuned to find out.

Thin, congratulations for a great year: Bridge success and that lost kilo. As well as everything else, and extending to DD.

Rosy Posy, how nice to be in that final third of your weight loss journey.

Penguin I hope you enjoyed those New Year rituals.

And Lindsay, yay, a wonderful catch up. What a holiday! And surely good food for you all at that wonderful farmhouse too.

I am so glad Mr L is managing so well and so philosophically. There must be grieving and frustration, but isn’t it amazing what we can get used to, and work around, and still appreciate.
I am SO sorry about the swimming though. I’d have thought the ocean would be salty enough to be okay. At least he lucked out swimming for the last 26 years!

My first on last off areas are my upper arms, my jowly cheeks and my tum. I’m not an apple, more a potato.

Arelkade, thanks for your lovely message, and hoping we get to chat more now.

Best wishes everyone.

Hi Guys thanks for all your fascinating comments and advice, I really appreciate and enjoy it. As for yesterday, I’ll start with the positives, my friends all commented how great I looked due to my weight loss. The event was at the Sorrento Quay in Hillarys and had a casino theme so everyone dressed up. The 3 course meal and drinks package was very nice and of course we all ate and drank too much but had a fantastic time seeing in the new year looking over the ocean. This morning I feel yucky and bloated and can’t bring myself to step on the scales. I’m back on the horse literally, riding my re lining ex bike and have 2 days before we have a dinner date with friends so I’ll make them 2 fast days and hopefully be able to get below my previous low. When I think back to NYE last year, at leastI am 2 dress sizes smaller. It was a fun night but not sure it was worth it today.

Happy new Year to all – it must even be getting close to NY for Cali too.

Arel, lovely to hear from you, I hope you are doing well. As Thin said – you are missed.

Penguin, I have never heard of the coal tradition – some English traditions seemed to emigrate to Australia, but that was probably one that didn’t translate well to the Aussie climate.

Lindsay, sounds like you and the family are having a lovely time and doing very different things to a normal christmas. Lots of lovely memories for the children to have of this special christmas.

Thin, I’m sure you aren’t panicking, you know a FD or two will sort out your excesses from last night.

Rosy, how nice to have comments on how good you look. It will make it easier to keep up that pedaling.

Anzac, the menu for your new years eve sounds divine. It had my mouth watering just reading about the satay chicken and slow roasted lamb – yum.
It sounds like you had a good December – you enjoyed yourself and got the end of it with negligible weight gain. That sounds like a successful month to me (did I ever tell you that I managed to gain 9kg one December – that’s what initially brought me to the 5:2 forum).
The puppy training school sounds like a good idea. It may make it safer for you at the dog park too so you aren’t as worried about him running off to greet friends rather than obeying you.

Cinque, really, a potato? Funny how we always seem to describe our bodies in terms of fruit & veg! I had a friend who described herself as an avocado with legs – she was a pear shape, but though an avocado was a better analogy due to the higher fat content!

I spent last night baking chocolate cakes and this morning layering and decorating them into a black forest cake. I’ve now delivered it to my nephew’s wife whose birthday it is today. https://imgur.com/J6togog As you can see I had trouble getting the shaved chocolate to stick to sides, most of it ended up on the plate!

I’ve really felt like something sweet and baked this afternoon (probably due to all the cake handling this morning). I decided to try making a zucchini bread. It was very much a “make it up as you go along” effort as none of the recipes I found really appealed – I wanted one that was less like cake and they were all laden with sugar and oil. Don’t get me wrong this one will be sweet, but mostly from an orange, dried currants and stevia. I used only wholemeal flour and also added very little oil as I thought this was one of those breads that would be nice as thick toasted slice and I can always add butter or ricotta or cream cheese to the toast. It’s still in the oven baking so I’ll have to wait a while before it can be cut. I’m hoping it will freeze well in slices for those days when I feel like a treat but not one I’ll be paying for for days.

Have a nice new years day everyone.

Hi to all my 5:2 friends: ‘old and new’ – hope you are all enjoying/enjoyed New Year’s Day, and the start of a new outlook for 2019.

I’m looking forward to getting back into 5:2 after just cruising for the last 3 months, after a difficult year! I started this WOL in October 2017, doing what felt right for me, and taking in all the wonderful advice and guidance from this very supportive, friendly group.

I’ve been lurking but not commenting lately. I may not comment every day, but I’ll certainly be enjoying reading all your interesting and informative posts – they give me encouragement and inspiration!

I’ve lost 5.4kg in the last year (was 7.7kg but some crept back in the last 3 months), so, happily a member of the Club Tortoise Club – it works for me 😉!

This year, I’m hoping to exercise & move more! I very easily find excuses not to exercise, but that has to change. I seem to do better without breakfast on my FD, and try to go as long as I can before I eat anything – coffee with milk (can’t drink it black), herbal tea, water and miso soup gets me by!

Weight – done! measurements – done! Motivation in check! So let’s see what this new year brings!

We’ll, that’s all from me. Hope you all enjoy whatever you are getting up to and bye for now xx

Thin, not me, must have been some other northerner. I say northerner because it doesn’t happen here – I think we are talking Scotland and the far north of England. Far north in our terms starts about 250 miles from here. We are a small country but some regional variations survive. One of my neighbours is in London for the New Year and one is in Spain for the winter so it is fairly quiet around here; last night I think I was the only one still out of bed at midnight. It wasn’t like that in the towns. There were extra Police and ambulances on duty to cope with the now traditional excessive drinking and debauchery. My own contribution was a glass of red. Over the year the weight is down. Not by much, which is OK because a lot had already gone and this is Day 1 of the next phase. As Merry says “Onwards and downwards”.

LJ, I have every confidence that when I go into town there will be hot-cross buns in the shops. Those small chocolate Easter Eggs seem to be available all year.

Arelkade. Nothing wrong with reading the posts and popping up to say something occasionally. Some mornings there are so may posts that if I have a busy day ahead I just skim them, which is why I don’t always respond. That weight loss is respectable.

Rosy, stay with those positives. As a bloke I have no clear mental image of what two dress sizes actually means, but it sounds impressive.

Anzac, my old Lab would have been jealous. In the summer he would find the sunniest spot and sleep in it. In the winter he would get so close to the wood burner that I checked him for fur damage.

Cinque, I have obviously missed something, I didn’t get the self experimentation reference. I will have to have a look at the new one. I did buy the 8-week blood sugar and fast exercise books but didn’t think they added greatly to what the original 5:2 gave me. I also bought “The Longevity Diet” which we were all talking about last year and Tim Spector’s “The Diet Myth”. Longo considered me too old to benefit from his research, although I have implemented some of his advice. After the original 5:2 the one I found most interesting was Spector’s. MM’s recent TV programmes I thought were interesting as entertainment but somewhat superficial in their treatment of the subjects – too many topics squeezed into a short time.

I agree about the extra flavour of a curry made from scratch. There are two shelves of spices in my kitchen. In town we have a Bangladeshi shop where they sell all kinds of desirable things that are not widely available. The conversation can be interesting – every time I buy it we solemnly agree that the mustard oil is for external use only and not for cooking because it does not have European Union approval as a food stuff. It must be OK – Madhur Jaffrey recommends it.

The New Year has started quietly but promisingly. Outside it is dry and the sky is clear. The sourdough starter I began yesterday is already looking very lively. I shall go out and be unkind to the moles under my lawn.

Have a good year everyone

Penguin, I suspect that “Ulster Fry” may be your TDEE on a plate – probably 2 x mine! I never did get the appeal of a big fry up as breakfast – now serve it to me at dinner time and I’ll be interested.

Lindsay, I had no idea that bacteria lived in the sea either – I also would have thought the salt would make that very difficult.
Do you think that wearing swimming goggles might give your husband enough eye protection for him to continue swimming?

Arel, I think that’s a very respectable loss given the year that you had.
I shudder to think how much I’d gain if I coasted and didn’t stick with 5:2.

I finally got a slice of the zucchini bread after dinner. Despite the low level of sweetness it was very nice. I’ve cut it into thick slices and frozen it for those those days when I feel the need.

Baking the zucchini bread got me thinking that I should be making more recipes so I can add more of my home grown veg to the freezer. So I’ve spent the last couple of hours trawling through the internet looking through endless zucchini/courgette recipes. Too many to try, but there are a few that also use lots of cherry tomatoes that I need to make, as I can’t keep up to the current supply of those either.
Not sure if I mentioned that I made 2 dozen oven baked pakoras (zucchini, squash, onion, sorrel & pea) a few days ago – most of which I froze. I finally got the spicing right this time (Note to self – you can never have too much cumin!).

I have just had a late Christmas present. Nearly five years ago when I started 5:2 I entered my height on the profile in feet and inches instead of cm because I was working in pounds. In a moment of idleness I have just asked the computer to do that conversion. It seems that I cheated myself of an inch. The practical impact of this is that my TDEE is a couple of hundred more generous than I have been working on and I have a BMI of 25! Not that I believe in BMI for reasons I have stated before, but even so….

Mind, if LindsayL gets me thinking about bread and butter pudding I could relapse.

@penguin. Thanks for your encouraging comments. To answer your question re losing 2 dress sizes, it would be akin to a guy going from a jeans waist 38 to a 34.

Happy New Year everyone!! I’m pleased to have lost 2.5kg during December – not as much as I’d hoped for, but …. Christmas? Not realistic to lose stacks. It’s probably easier for me to lose weight at the moment, as I’m so far above my maintenance weight.

@anzac65, puppy training sounds like a wonderful idea for Maxx; maybe any new soft toys will last a bit longer?!! 🙂

@LindsayL, I think the idea of infections and the sea is the effect of the salty water, rather than bacteria not being there.

@ljoyce, very pleased to read that MMs new book will be out in BigW – 5/1 seemed to be the date, or did I misread that? I looked up his forum; seems like there is no public forum, and the online support may be from professionals – think it’s something that has to be paid for. I think I prefer being on these ones!

By the way, I was thinking about my shape, and probably would best describe myself as gourd-shaped as I’m not equal top and bottom; my hips and thighs carry a lot of my excess weight, but my waist is my smallest measurement. But with the hips being bigger, I’m not an hourglass, either. It can be a real pain trying to buy dresses, and I usually wear tops and slacks/jeans, because I can then buy 2 sizes bigger for the bottoms, but if they don’t have elasticised waists, the waists are too small. Oh, I just HAVE to lose weight!!

Hi penguin, how frustrating! I guess it shows how guys’ shapes have changed over the years, and with the obesity crisis, probably not for the better. In my situation – My mother was the same shape as me when young, but lost weight in her sixties, and became a much more standard shape, with much smaller hips. I live in hope!!! 🙂

Lindsay, If I have found the right recipe the ingredients are pretty standard, but the result certainly isn’t. It is a pud I have loved for years and I make different versions of it but mine Is comfort food, not fine dining.

Tuesday, Jan 1 – 1:00pm

Happy New Year to all my 5:2 friends! We had lasagne, salad, garlic & parmesan toast and tiramisu last night which DS bought in the afternoon. We watched the Season 4, episode 9 “Outlander” and a movie called “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” that won Frances McDormand an academy award for Best Actress. It was a very different kind of movie, but she was amazing and we enjoyed it. The language, however, was not for children or the faint of heart! 😮 OH went to bed about 11pm and DS and I stayed up until around 2am watching the ball drop in NY and the other festivities. (And eating). The scales did not look pretty this morning!

LJ, your Black Forest cake looks professional. It’s just beautiful! I bet your nephew’s wife was delighted. Even the candle looked chocolate.

Penguin, the Ulster Fry definitely looks like 3 NFD breakfasts rolled into one. I had to look it up: https://i1.wp.com/palatablepastime.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/ulster-fry-wide.jpg?ssl=1 Yikes!

Arel, it’s good to see your post. You’ve been missed.

Anzac, a training class for Maxx might make life easier and safer for all of you. A dog his size can too easily get distracted and run into the road or other unsafe place. It would be good for him to learn to listen a little better.

Thin, we’ll have to sort out the weigh-ins on Jan 3. I will be lucky to get back into the 59’s again after the past week of eating. FD this week will be Wed and Fri for me again. I’ll be happy to get back to my normal Mon/Thurs FD’s next week.

Cinque, how nice of you to babysit so DD could celebrate. I’m sure Miss 2 and Miss 4 were delighted.

Betsy, congrats on your weight loss. Rosy, you did well over this last year.

Lindsay, I love reading your posts of your holiday. It sounds like you’re all having a wonderful time. (Although it’s probably even colder than here,)

Hi and Happy New Year to Quacka and Intesha and anyone else I’ve missed.

9am Wednesday, Adelaide

Cinque, Like you I’m going to have the start the zucchini cooking production line too. I was quite pleased last night, I’d used the last of the zucchini & button squash from the crisper and I’d researched some recipes to tackle more as they grew. I think they heard me and decided to all grow overnight – I picked 11 this morning! I must have missed a couple of them for a few days as they were much larger than I normally let them get before picking.

Cali, Glad you finally got to experience your own NYE – seeing the ball drop in Times Square is on my long bucket list – I’ll get to it one day hopefully.
Hope your BP is staying stable now. I’m still hoping that the new doctor is a good fit for you.

Penguin & Lindsay, I notice that the David Herbert recipe also includes orange marmalade – which I also normally and didn’t realise it was such a common addition. I do agree that it’s an ultimate comfort food – perfect for a cold day.

Betsy, even being an hourglass doesn’t help when buying dresses. I find if they fit my hips and bust they are way too big around the waist – so I buy separates too as i can usually get a better fit that way. It’s not the fault of clothing manufacturers. When I compare the listed measurements that relate to a size I tend to cross 3 different sizes with my bust, hip and waist measurements. It was fine year ago when I was into dressmaking and happy to make things for myself. I have found certain styles and fabrics will usually accommodate my shape so I tend to stick to those.

Rosy, the website doesn’t have a private messaging system. However if you want to converse privately to someone on the forum you need to send an email to: tech@thefastdiet.co.uk and ask them to forward your personal email address to that person. They will use the email address you provided when you signed up for the forum. It’s then up to that person whether they wish to reciprocate. Some of us have done this with people we have been talking to on this forum for a very long time where we wanted to discuss more personal or medical issues.

I’m about to head out to do some grocery shopping – I’ve just used the last of the milk and a FD without cups of tea doesn’t bear thinking about!

Hi Thin, as usual our posts crossed.

GDSA, looking forward to hearing all about Buster. Mutts are the best dogs ever – rescue dogs are always so grateful and make perfect additions to the family. And, it’s a fact, mutts have far fewer health issues than ‘bred’ dogs. Can we have a photo of Mindy please? Your 2019 morning routine so far sounds perfect. I’m envious of your splendid view and our next house will definitely have one (I do have a view but it’s a streetscape). I wish I could get round to re-starting yoga. I used to do it on DD’s Wii but found the start-up procedure a hassle messing about with my avatar. It was useful having that feedback from the balance board. Maybe I should just do a few positions myself but I always worry that I’m not doing it properly and I’m too cheap to spend $16 per session. You haven’t mentioned an ex before; it’s good that DD can spend some time with her dad – which perhaps allows you some good quality time with your OH too. Is DD heading into high school this year? Year 7 is now high school in WA.

Hi LJ – maybe we should take turns posting since we seem to post together and say the same thing! Rosy will definitely know what to do now – but which of us does she wish to contact? That’s the question! That zucchini sounds fabulous.

Rosy, it is so satisfying to turn someone on to 5:2. I have introduced 14 people to it over the years with mixed results. It’s really great when your friends and neighbours are into it because they ‘get it’. Two people on my street practice it, both are doctors. She and I started independently but the same week back in 2014. Her OH began about a year later. They don’t do it all the time but it helps that they understand my FDs and we drink a lot of herbal tea at each others’ houses.

Betsy, what a great result. Well done!

Penguin and Lindsay, I enjoyed your conversation about the traditions. And how exciting to discover that you may enjoy a couple of hundred extra cals than previously thought. Does the same go for Mrs Penguin?

Anzac, something has made me smile for the last 4 days. The neighbour wife and children have gone away! I have never heard the husband but she has a very loud voice. It has been bliss. We ate outside two evenings (plus the one at the river) which we haven’t done since before it became an airbnb house last summer. I even read a book in my hammock one afternoon – that was the first day they left and I kept thinking they would come back at any minute so couldn’t really concentrate. And then the marvellous reality set in that they were away! I wish I knew for how long because we are reluctant to go anywhere while we can soak up the sounds of silence in our own home. The birds have slowly returned and it is pure heaven.

Hi Guys, even though I liquids on,y fasted yesterday, I still fell bloated though not as much. I stupidly got on the scales and was horrified to note that had put on a kg ! My night of decadence seems hardly worth it now ! To make matters worse, the friend who was at the same event who had her first day on Fast Diet yesterday lost 1.1 kg ! 😩 the only thing I can think of is that she is just starting her weight loss journey so it could be easier for her than I. The other thing that could be a factor , was when I am at work and have had a particularly naughty weekend of eating and drinking, it takes me till Thursday to get back to normal and until Friday or Saturday for me to register a loss. However at work I have a protein shake for breaky and lunch to sustain me and on this holidayI have been fasting more stringently. I.e 2 Coffees , 1bouillon lots of mint and lemon iced water. What do you experts think ?

@ljoyce, ooh your early morning starts make me feel tired just thinking about them. I’m definitely not a morning person. Hub knows to give me space for a few minutes so I can wake myself up properly. I get cranky when woken suddenly. He, on the other hand, loves to wake up early ‘bright eyed and bushy tailed’.

Ive noticed that people are either early morning people or night people. What type are you all?

@califdreamer I love Outlander ! I also love Frontier and Versailles!

Rosy, another Outlander fan! Thin is the one who first told me about it last year. We’re into season 4 here. The other two you mentioned aren’t available here, as far as I can tell.

Gday, we have a rescue dog too. He’s a Havanese mix, a smallish size with a huge presence. I just happened to see this article about anew law in California, banning the sale of cats, dogs and rabbits in pet stores unless they are rescue animals:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/california-to-become-first-state-to-ban-retail-sales-of-cats-and-dogs/

I think that’s a good move since there are so many stray animals euthanased each year because they don’t have homes.

Anzac what an adventure to look forward to. I presume you are flying Emirates. Until last year I had never flown any other airline but I had a few issues with them last year and have vowed never to fly with them again. I had been a customer for 17 years. Not trying to turn you off as I think they are one of the best around but my next long haul will be another carrier.

They had a promotion when they were celebrating the first five years in Australia and I had enough points to fly return first class to Christchurch. I was the only one on the first leg and only three of us on the return. It was a trip of a lifetime just wasn’t long enough. I have also had several upgrades to business. You will have the best experience, I hope you like Dom Perignon and Godiva chocolates. The stand up bar is out of this world 😉😉

Cali can’t wait for Season 4 of Outlander, have just finished binge watching the last 3 seasons. I’m in love with Jamie 😱

Have also been watching Jack Taylor, Bad Blood and Archangel.

Anzac, congratulations. That sounds like travel to look forward to – first class and a white Christmas. You know we will expect you to post some photos of champagne sipping and whatever else happens in first class!
The only time I’ve flown anything but economy was years ago when the airline upgraded me occasionally – I was flying regularly for work at the time which is probably why they offered it (only domestic flights though).

Cali, there have been attempts made here to shut down or at least improve conditions in the “puppy farms” that supply the pet shops, but I don’t think banning sales has been considered here. All the pets we had growing up were either rescued from shelters or strays – mostly cats I brought home and begged to keep. I like dogs but wouldn’t have one here as there is no yard and I don’t think it would be fair to them.

Anzac & GDSA, despite the fact that I am often woken early by the noise in a built up suburb I refuse to get up early without a good reason. After spending decades rising early to get to work on time, I consider the luxury of a lie in one of the perks of retirement. My joints are also a bit stiff first thing, so gentle or slow start to the day is more of a necessity than a choice.

Rosy, yes you certainly lose more when you first start a diet so don’t be alarmed by your friend’s initial weight loss. I find that sometimes a day of excess can take 2 or 3 FDs to deal with especially if I’m not cutting back on any of my NFDs.

I’ve just had my FD afternoon snack – a handful each of cherries and strawberries. I have the remainder of the chicken noodle soup left that I made on Sunday that I’l have for dinner.
Well time for another cup of tea now. Hopefully that’s all I’ll need before the soup.

Anzac, wow! How exciting. Does Maxx know about this? Maybe you will run into Mr and Mrs Penguin up there in Portugal. We spent Christmas in Spain and Portugal in 2014; it was cold in the latter but really lovely. We were further north though. Penguin says he goes there to get some winter warmth!

In spite of being married to a pilot, I have never travelled first class. I don’t think OH has either! We once got upgraded by Qantas to business class but it was a short little flight from Auckland to Sydney and only because they had stuffed up something in a major way. The damage was already done, we have never flown with them since – that was 26 years ago – except OH when a company has sent him on a commercial flight & he had no control over the carrier. We’ve flown Emirates and Etihad numerous times, especially when OH worked in the UAE.

And Intesha, sounds like you live the high life too. We were just speaking to someone who took a shower on a flight. DD made everyone laugh by asking what happens when the ‘return to seat’ light comes on!

As for our holiday, I would have happily booked that gorilla trip for 22 December but DD put me off as she had no idea of her job search/interview plans and wanted to be available. Now she’s saying she wished we’d just gone and worried about all that later. I admit I’ve felt less motivated about overseas holidays in the last year for a few reasons. We’ll see what happens this year.

CalifD, OH was reading me a news article the other day about the puppy selling ban in California that you mentioned today. Anzac, I was so devastated by the death of our dingo, I couldn’t consider another dog. We had dogs boarding with us for years after that so there were lots of breeds to learn about.

LJ, sounds like your FD has gone well. I like the sound of your fruit but only have frozen bananas in the house. I’m still full from Spanish Fideos.

Hoping I’m all caught up and there are no posts I’ve missed as OH keeps asking if I’m ‘still’ talking to my forum buddies as he calls you.

Oh, P.S., short-lived bliss. Neighbours are back. Straight into the pool. Wonderful while it lasted. Today while the husband was pottering quietly in HIS back garden, I was sorely tempted to play on repeat on my Bose speaker the 20 minute audio of his feral children in their pool that I’d recorded last week. It would have been a perfect opportunity to let him have a taste of his own medicine – but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

Day two of the new year started well as a NFD, but … over-indulgence this evening. Have to NOT buy my favourite ice-cream just because it’s on special!!!!

@LindsayL, that’s very interesting about the seawater. I’d never looked at the research. It was when I was a child (50s) when it was something commonly believed – maybe the sea is much more polluted now??

@cinque, it’s interesting about clothing sizes. Even now, I can buy things from sizes 10 up to 18 of various styles, brands and shops, all fitting. Mostly though I’m a size 14-16 or M top, 16-18 bottom.

@ljoyce, that means I understand the challenges of sizes. I’m also very short – very relieved that nowadays they often have three-quarter length trousers which fit me perfectly as full length. 🙂

@rosy Posy, I’m a night owl – I can’t imagine doing what @gdayfromsa does, getting up at 4:30 a.m. Admittedly, when my head is in a good book, or I’m watching Wimbledon, I might go to bed at that hour….. I agree with @ljoyce re the loss of weight depending on where a person is on their weight journey. Plus, personally, if I eat things that are more salty, it takes a couple of days to clear out from my system.

@thinatlast, how lovely that you could enjoy even a few days of blissful quiet. Sorry it’s back to the noise again. Loved your comment “everything had dropped about 6 inches from when I’d last seen it” – I’m reluctantly accepting that will be the case when my weight drops more.
By the way, re Dr M’s book – maybe it just adds more of the research? I had a look at the public website, and it seems to be promoting 800 cals for 12 weeks for the pre-diabetics and diabetics, 5:2 for others, or just Mediterranean-style eating for maintenance, which really seems a combination of the two books plus newer research on the fact that a higher fat, lower carb diet is actually more healthy than the higher carb diet which doctors have advocated for years. The CSIRO Low-Carb Diet book has a lot about that, too. I considered going on that diet, but liked the thought of 5:2 better. The other thing about the website is that there seems to be an online component to this 800-cal regime for which people can enrol (and pay), and get regular advice from professionals during the 12-week program. Actually, anyone who wants can do that with the CSIRO Low-Carb diet, too.

@anzac65, wonderful, a trip booked to Europe and first class, wow! I’ve only ever travelled first class twice; once I was upgraded as there were no seats, and the other time was a medical evacuation from China to Melbourne due to a serious knee injury – and I can’t say I was able to enjoy that journey very much. Much better having it booked like this, and still 11 months to reach your goal weight. You can do it!!!

Good morning,

I’m a lark naturally (quite irritating to my owl friends) but chronic illness played havoc and I am only just getting back to having this nice early time of being up in the peace and quiet. Never 4:30am Gday, but how excellent you can do it through this hot summer.

Cali, it sounds like you had a lovely greeting of the New Year. And now you will enjoy a few good days to coax the scales into giving you nice numbers again.

Thin, I am so glad you got a few days break from those rowdy neighbours. Hopefully they will go away again through the holidays. I am finding it interesting watching Dr Mosley in action. To sell his new book he needs to stay on message about where he has got to after 5:2 and why his new plan is so good. That does feel a bit like he has left us behind, especially those of us who like fasty fast days, but I think it is just his current focus.
Betsy, I like how you summed it up. I am looking forward to reading the new book to see what adds to the research.

LJoyce, I’ve found a recipe for savoury zucchini loaf that I am going to try 🙂

Rosy keep eating sensible things and that bloat should fade. Infact, I hope you wake up (slowly 😉 ) this morning and it is gone. I’m the expert that hasn’t got a pair of scales and so my advice is just keep doing the sensible things and take the long view!
That soup is brilliant! It does belong on our recipe page.
And yes, Cali is Californian. She heard us talking about parrots and joined in to tell us of her dear one, and we kept her!

Anzac, exciting news, and won’t it make this year fun! Enjoy the social event today, it is nearly back to work time! Haha. But I know the feeling of pleasure, being back in our regular routines and being able to fast properly.

Intesha, I do so hope this year is full of positive times for you.
Thinking about the difficulties of living a restricted life and giving up so many things, I remember when I was struggling so much living with chronic illness, I read a book by a Buddhist nun (Cave in The Snow) who lived in an isolated cave in Tibet FOR 12 YEARS! I kept thinking, Good Grief! She chose this! https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/may/15/buddhist-retreat-religion-first-person
Now you and I can think “Well at least I am not in cave in Tibet” Haha. or “What a hermit I am, how holy!” 😉

I’m not being a hermit today though, it is my turn to go shopping for supplies (lots of veggies) and call into a few op shops!

Lovely day after Fast Day, and thinking of all the veggies I will eat.

Best wishes to every one of you. It is 2019. (Three days gone already!!!)

Hi All. This is my first week on 5:2. I’ve struggled with weight all my life (now mid 50s – eerch!). In and out of Weight Watchers for years – with weight rising and falling like a seesaw. My dr had mentioned this diet a couple of years ago and I did some cursory research…. starving yourself?! (definitely not what WW recommends – “you’re not eating all your points” they say “eat more” they say).But then I watched Dr Mosley’s Horizon doc. Things really made sense – medical sense too. So here I am. This week I’ve done my first FD…..and surprisingly it was not as difficult as I thought. The other thing I noticed was that I didn’t wake up the next day famished. In fact, I really didn’t crave food very much the next day either. I’ve increased my activity and done a HIT session as well this week. So wish me luck. So far I’m doing ok. Let’s see what the scales say at the end of the week.

My 5:2 year in Review

This morning I decided to check back on the last year. I am 1.3kg lower than a year ago, so I view that as a successful year of maintenance.
Looking back on previous years I can also see that I am now 10.7kg lower than I was 2 years ago, when I first came to the 5:2 forum.
I also looked back over my 31st of Dec weights – they go all the way back to 2012 and my current weight is the lowest for all of those years. Traditionally December has not been a good month for me (and for many of those years I was much heavier and still on my weight loss journey).
It shows me that, not only that maintenance is getting easier, but even difficult times like the Christmas season don’t have to derail me. I was actually shocked by how easy December felt this year, despite the fact that I probably had more food events to deal with this year than I normally do. I guess that means a change of mindset for me.
In 2018 I also learned some new things about myself and 5:2. I finally accepted that adding more FDs wasn’t a good solution for me as it just triggers more overeating on the remaining NFDs. The big task was to learn how to be more controlled on some (not all) of my NFDs. That learning curve will continue this year I think.
I have also noticed a reduction in the fear I used to feel about my weight – or specifically my weight increasing back to its old morbidly obese levels. That fear or panic doesn’t seem to be there any more. I guess that’s reflected in recent my acceptance of my body finding it’s own healthy level even if that’s a lower weight that I previously felt confident about maintaining.
This all feel like helpful progress to me. Although, as with all things I do, it was definitely a two steps forward and one back journey.

Intesha’s goals got me thinking about what I’d like to focus on this year.
I think it’s fitness. Maintaining the right level of activity is so good for my health, my mobility and my weight, so I think it’s the most important area for me. I have trouble finding balance with this as there are some things I physically can’t or shouldn’t do and a very limited number of things that I can actually say I like doing. I don’t have a plan yet, I need to work on that.