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Hi there

I see some reference to low fat. I do NOT believe in low fat. Low carb Yes, low fat No.

I eat normal products such as Greek yogurt, quality olive oil, avocados and I still managed to lose 15 kgs in less than six months. The weight loss was through giving up wheat and sugar and starch and having some alcohol free days.

Cheers, Bay 🙂

G’day bigkahunadad and lizzy3. I too find fasting by eating zero calories during my fasting days not that hard to do. It does come down to individual preferences as many prefer to eat a bit. We are all different. Once you realise there’s no food coming today, you don’t think about it and life goes on.

With the tea, I drink a lot of tea and i also had trouble sleeping – i believe because of the overdose of caffeine. i’ll back off on the tea a couple of hours before bed.

Pattience, ha ha your lucky you’ve got grass. The closest i’ve got, is a front yard of weeds and brown stuff which could possibly be classified grass (i just sprayed it). Generally speaking, for me anyway – any exercise is good exercise.

As far as HIIT goes, we need to listen carefully to our body as your absolutely right, it’s easy to injure yourself if your not vigilant. I have injured myself before doing HIIT.

Time to go pull some weeds out now.

Baz 🙂

Hi Bazman, just wondering what HIIT you’re following, I remember seeing some info on this site but can’t find it now. I need to get fit, hubby and I are off to the Kimberley’s in April, and I expect there will be a lot of walking/climbing involved. I know I’ll need endurance fitness too, but I’ve heard of the great results you can get from HIIT
Cheers Liz

HI Sarah67 – food diaries can be amazing tools for weight loss. Many studies over the years assessing the effectiveness of various “diets” have found a common denominator – the people who keep food diaries lose more weight, regardless of the regime they are following.
This has been the case for me too. I think it keeps me accountable. If you use an app or website like My Fitness Pal (there are others too) it is also educational. It has helped me know what my regular diet “looks” like energy wise, and I have tweaked some favourite recipes to be lower energy without losing flavour. It’s also a good place to look when you’re not losing the weight.
It’s a tedious process, and sometimes you just have to make your best guess if you’ve been out for a meal, but in general, it’s worth it. I do it periodically now, say one week in 4 or so to keep me honest.

Hi Newbies

Welcome on board the 5:2 way of life WOL. Please keep a diary and Measure, measure , measure. Each and every bit of yourself that you want to know for the future. I only measured my waist, bust and hips. Later on I wished I had measured upper arms and thighs. When I lost the fat from every part of my body, I was thrilled. See me dance a jig 🙂

Sometimes you will find there is no weight loss, but there are cms going from vital stats. For example, I have reduced my waist by 19 cms and have lost fat from my upper arms and thighs, from my back and from around my internal organs.

This new shape gives me far greater pleasure than the weight loss. I can now wear clothing in size 11 when I was wearing size 16 over Christmas. Unbelievable for me! I now have a waist and new clothes that I love.

All the best. Enjoy the journey. Feel the support. Bay 🙂

Sarah, keeping a food diary is an excellent idea. I have been doing it all year. If nothing else, and you find you are not losing weight or something happens, you can go back and reassess what you are eating and modify quantities or choices.

For anyone not counting calories, you can also rate your hunger and satiety and use that as a way to moderate your calorific intake. It only works properly with whole foods and if you are eating high fat diet/low carb, then you must accept that you will always be eating at “just satisfied”. that is how you will feel at the end of a meal but you will be fine until the next one without hunger.

This is a system of intuitive eating developed by Dr Amanda Sainsbury Salis – an australian scientists who has been researching some of the nitty gritty factors of weightloss for a long time and has a write a couple of very good books with some excellent advice. Its the don’t go hungry diet and don’t go hungry for life which i came across first in a public library and the second one i found in a second hand book shop. I liked them both a lot. Very useful and applicable to any diet or non-diet.

So to do it, the basics are this: Copy these ratings into your diary. And use them for every meal and every thing that goes into your mouth. e.g. cup of coffee spoonful of peanut butter mid morning.

the idea is you work towards the majority of your ratings being in the +/- 2s and 3s. Do it for about three months to internalise the behaviour. the thing to understand is that eating to fullness is overeating. Waiting till you are famished will cause overeating. Hence aiming for just satisfied and elegantly satisfied and quite hungry and very hungry are the ways to eat what your body needs. But also she doesn’t seem to recommend eating at set meal times. I prefer to eat at set meal times but i can see how if you eat when you need to you might eat even less.

Anyway the ratings are useful.

Hunger Satiety
-4 – ravenously hungry and I could eat anything right now +1 unsatisfied – I still feel a bit hungry and i’d gladly eat something else right now
-3 – very hungry and i’d like to eat something substantial now +2 just satisfied – My body is relaxed and comfortable and if i ate any more, I would still feel comfortable, but i don’t need any more.
-2 – quite hungry and i’d like to eat something now, perhaps a snack or a light meal +3 Elegantly satisfied – My body is relaxed and comfortable and if i ate any more i would begin to feel over full.
-1 – a little bit hungry and i’d be comfortable to wait a while before eating. +4 over satisfied – I know in my heart of hearts that i’ve eaten more than my body wants and i feel uncomfortable.
0 – Not hungry and i’m not hungry at all.

Well done Miss Lizzie C, some great additions to the LOACA recipe thread. That should give people some more ideas.
Good luck with the rest of your day, P

I hope all those weeds are fast disappearing, like your weight, Bay 🙂

Instead of grilling or frying fish, I wrap it in an aluminium foil parcel with the flavourings (shallots, ginger, slices of a big chilli, leek etc) and either pop it on the bbq, in the oven or in a frying pan, no oil needed. The fish ends up moist and favouresome. Served with a leafy salad. It can even be prepared the day before. I’m a great believer in not having to think about food or spend much time in the kitchen when you are new at 5:2. The advantage of the bbq is less washing up and no residual food smell in the house. Purple

Yes Macandmui
Do what gets you to keep going. I’ve never had as much as 500 cal on fast days. Started on 400 and usually have about 350. The long gaps between eating are what you need to develop for long term health. PVE

Hi all, hope you’ve had a great day. I’m on day 3 now, I jumped on the scales this morning and I’ve lost 1.8kg. My first 2 days were 500 calorie days, today I thought I’d just carry on the same way. but keep to those guidelines but not class it as a strict fasting day. I changed my breaky today to a weetbix with milk and a little sugar and I found that after a couple of hours I was having a terrible time concentrating at work. So now I’m going back to having the breaky I had on the first 2 days which was I apple and an orange blended together with some water. I don’t drink it all at once, I drink it in about 4 lots over the space of about an hour and a half. I am enjoying this way of eating so much. It’s taken all the pressure off all the negative thoughts about yourself when you eat the wrong food.

Chicita, you’re body could possibly be in starvation mode. It’s really important that you don’t go too far under your calorie needs. I don’t know your height but I’m guessing at 65 kilos you don’t have a lot to lose??? I know myself when I was on a very low calorie diet I stopped losing pretty quickly because my metabolism would slow down. When I started eating more, but not excessive, my metabolism would correct itself and start losing again. 4 days fasting sounds a lot

No Lizzy. Starvation mode does not happen with 5:2.
Look at Michael’s article on it on the home page. PVE

Yeah, but 4 days fasting??? Sounds excessive, and if the TDEE isn’t being reached that may be enough, everyone’s different. I’ll have another read though.

Hi PVE, Lizzy was commenting on Chicitas post who says (she?) Has done 8 fast days in just two weeks! So more than possible I’d say. In a previous life I’d also put weight ON during plain water fasting for more than 10 days. Me I’m doing 5:2. Chicita 3:4 does seem a bit harsh on yourself?

I’ve deleted this post but I’m frustrated!!! and my tongue is bleeding.

Thanks Bazman for the link. I need all the help with computers that I can get.
I have copied a few of the recipes out and will give them a go.
I’m from the south coast near Nowra.
cheers
Jane

(Hi Birdlady,I’m just up the road in Wollongong).

Did my first fast day today and went really pretty well. Probably not the smartest move though, spending all day looking at prospective recipes!!! Found a lot of our usual meals will be useful on fast days.

I didn’t find it hard to fast, and I usually drink about 8-10 glasses of water anyway, so that was fine, too. I found the hardest thing was restricting the amount of tea I drink. I have skim in it, but do drink quite a lot. After today I reckon I’ll be a brunch and dinner kinda gal.

It’s great being ‘here’ and reading all the supportive comments. Thanks everyone.

Hi all, and welcome to all the newbies, so many ‘new recruits’.
Good luck all. I’m a convert after just 4 weeks!
Just finished (or should I say survived!) my first 2 day fast (more for organisational reasons than cause I was dying to try it!).
I was a bit scared, but it was totally doable apart from a few weak moments at work. I didn’t sleep well last night, but hope tonight will be different (still got to get through till tomorrow), so maybe getting a bit ahead of myself!
Thanks for the recipe Lizzie, sounds yum.
Thanks also everyone for all the informative posts re exercise, low fat-vs low carbs, fibre…So much to learn, and I thought I was pretty well-informed healthwise!
I will look into the food diary idea too, as I have wondered if I have issues with something (+++bloating some days).
Chichita, that sounds really hard, and not easy to understand. Try not to get dispirited and think outside the box for another cause…When was your last general checkup? (BTW, you can imagine what I think of as a midwife!;-).
Happy 5:2ing everyone, it’s great to know you’re all out there and to have this forum.
Sue

Hi fast family,

Wow there are so many excited and anxious lovely new people……don’t panic, keep calm. Alway remember this is a slow steady return to good health, not a race to see how quickly you can get there!

Chichita, sue is correct, please please go get a full checkup, something could be up that you hadn’t expected. And also please try and not be so hard on yourself. Four fast days in a week is way way too much for anyone. There’s a good reason for eating on both your fast and non-fast days, that is to remain sustainable practice, but also let your body gently repair and slowly reconfigure itself away from inflammatory reactionary swings….take me as an example….away from 145/90 blood pressure to 110/60…. or from 30 years of IBS to none!

So as of this morning, I’m even closer to my goal of 65kg, at a lovely 66.8! Working while fasting is a great thing for me, as I’m so busy on my feet, that I barely have time to think about food.

The other thing I’ve noticed, is that suddenly since Sunday, everyone is asking me about 5:2 and I’m having to give me opinions. Sadly some of them are under the misunderstanding that it’s a fast without food, and you have to excerice at the same time. I say no to both, as I’ve gone the slow and conservative route, eating 2 small meals on fast days and dancing when I feel like it, instead of running/cycling on the HIIT.

Well that’s all from me, please be kind and gentle with yourselves, good results are possible without thrashing yourselves!!

Cheers.

Hi,
Today is my first day at fasting on this diet, so far I am going well just trying to beat the hunger is my issue at the moment. I’m feeling good at the moment just need to train my brain to not eat so much on these days.

HI Bayleafoz..
I’ve been doing paleo for over 2 yrs so I haven’t had grains etc in ages. The one area I don’t follow paleo is for dairy and I do have a little rice. I rarely have potatoes also and when I do it’s only a very small amount. I’m pretty much 90/10 with that part of my diet. I’ve also cut sugar which made making my salad last night interesting since I couldn’t add beetroot or gherkins to add flavour since both have sugar added. Thank goodness my home made pickled onions don’t!!

Since I got my new phone with the app. I’ve been very good at logging food intake and adding up calories etc I always add any glasses of wine to my calorie count and haven’t been drinking lately.

I’m pretty sure I am doing everything right diet wise so hopefully the weight loss will start with fasting as well. Looking forward to not worrying about having too many cals today..yay..and not sure if I’ll do two days of fast in a row next time. I’m going to play it by ear.

Hi Purple Vegie Eater, couldn’t agree more. That’s why I love this new way of eating cause it’s long term, and a life change. I’m guessing there would be a few new people who expect a quick fix and not realise how much they can now enjoy the freedom from dieting. Congratulations on what you’ve achieved, it must feel amazing to not only see your weight results, but also your health results too! I don’t have a weight goal, mines more a cm off the belly which I’m hoping will equate to fat off the internal organs too.
Happy fasting everyone!