Hi CG,
Thanks for the kind words. Though the winter I was getting cold working outside on the farm and found it hard to stick to the fasts, although I didn’t gain. Now the weather has warmed a little and the sun is shining life in the fast lane is much more happy.
I have also repaired a couple of injuries so my pain has reduced, and I have OH unemployed at present, but that is not bad, it is great to have him here helping me on the farm and supporting me each and everyday.
IHAW, thanks for the positive support as well.
I have also managed to source a fresh supply of fish to have with salads on fast days and so I only have to make one meal as OH has the same as he loves fresh fish.
Winter also saw me go back to bad habits like eating bread, biscuits and cake that I made for the household on non fast days, and not counting calories.
Now I am back in control
Charlie. 🙂

Seriously, I have to get a pad and pencil to remember names to respond back personally to people like many of you do. It is obviously a ‘male brain’ thing but I cannot keep track. Please do not be offended people and I am looking at becoming better at this forum thing.

Kathryn, was it you asking me how the renovating is going? Honestly, if I have to paint another room or lay another tile in this lifetime…Have been getting ready for a garage sale we are having tomorrow…If there is one thing I hate more than painting and tiling it is getting ready for a garage sale!

Since starting this 5:2 diet (like many of you I simply started on the basic info provided on TV over the last few weeks) I have been thinking why it works for me and obviously others out there. My take is this:

I have tried all the diets. You know the ‘eat half a carrot and have the other half as an enema diet’, the ‘eat 5 litres of Spinach soup a day followed by the 5 litre spinach enema diet (you get the basic idea!). My two cents is that they all have a ‘ongoing guilt complex’ built into them by the very fact that you are on them 24/7. Once, you fall off the ‘very narrow path’ they set, the tendency is to really cut loose for a while or forever. However, 5:2 is different. It is more ‘forgiving’ by its very design. It has a ‘guilt release valve built in’.

See on 5:2 you can have the perfect start to a fast day till midday. Then, you find out your husband is having an affair with the guy next door, your daughter comes home for lunch and informs you she is pregnant to the ‘druggo’ running the ‘meth lab’ down the street, your best friend comes over to tell you she is a lesbian and fancies your sister and is determined to ruin her marriage to ‘win her’ and then your son lobs into the kitchen to inform you he has quit his job and is moving back home to save money. Meanwhile, your GP rings and tells you the results of those STD tests are back and you “better drop in for a chat ASAP”. By now, half way into that family block of chocolate, third glass of red wine and chaser of what’s left of last nights Chinese take away…the gig is up….but no quite the opposite.

Rather, unlike diets that are on 24/7, 5:2 will let you (as long as you do not take regular advantage), simply let you wipe the day and start afresh with a fast day later in the week. The disaster above simply becomes part of the ‘5’ of the diet regime. That I believe is its real inner beauty behind the science and research.

Wow, more newbies I see today. You guys go for it. I look forward to hearing about those early successes.

As always bigkahuna, your amusing, yet incredibly accurate descriptions of a real life scenario makes me want to read more. You have a way with words, and could definitely write a book, if not that a comedy-drama series for television, or perhaps a stage play? I can see it now…’5:2 not the drama, but the answer!’

Seriously though, it’s not what you say, but how you say it. Keeping it real is always a good thing, and 5:2 lets all of us get on with the really deep and important stuff, like getting our good health back!

Saw a news item last night about breast cancer being much higher in women with larger waist measurements, but good news is that the likely hood of it developing can be quickly reduced by reducing one’s waist measurement….so yet another excellent reason for doing 5:2!

I’m planning on keeping this up for the rest of my days, it’s not a quick fix for me. I literally need this to keep healthy, active and more switched on to life!

Cheers dears!

What fun you blokes are! Said with affection 🙂 Bay

Ha Bigkahuna, this morning your post really made me laugh as one of your scenarios happened to me recently, I won’t tell which one so it makes me seem more interesting!
I weighed in this morning for the first time since I started 5:2 two weeks ago and I have lost 3.1kg which I am very happy with, it’s been 2 days since my last fast day so I am assuming that’s real weight loss and not just fluid. Pretty amazing since I didn’t do any extra exercise (read none) and Thursday included cake and half a packet of clinkers. I am indeed a convert.
Have a great weekend everyone

Hi ihaw, I filled in my tracker this morning, that downward line put quite a smile on my face. I know my measurements pretty intimately cos I am a mad keen sewer and make a lot of clothes. No changes yet but I made a skirt yesterday and there was much admiring of my much flatter tummy – only by me, no-one else noticed!

IHAW – re: Meditation

I’ve beed away for a few days and our thread has exploded!!!

Anyway, I have been using meditation as a tool for relaxation and change for about 10 years. I discovered “Yoga Nidra” when I was a pretty strung out new mother of twins. It’s a guided meditation by a Swami (I have several different ones which I use depending on my needs) that has quite profound effects. There is an element to yoga called a “salkalpa” (?sp) which you say at the beginning and end of the meditation, and you can use as a seed to plant deep in your brain to help you deal with issues or make the changes you need to in life. This all sounds very airy fairy, and I’m no hippie. But this works. Even my physics geek husband uses it from time to time, particularly if he’s stressed out or travelling and trying to deal with jet lag. The CDs I have are from the Satyananda style of yoga. I don’t know if the other branches of yoga are comparable.
I sometimes need to use it on fast days as I sometimes am a bit too alert and need to get to sleep. Other times I used it when I’m stewing over something I need to let go. And also when I need to get back on track with an issue like diet or study.
What are your meditation techniques?

Hi MM, great to hear you use meditation too.
I like sitting and breathing using a similar yoga nidra technique, focusing on saying phrases in my mind which start with…’I am….’ , like “I am still, I am peace, I am satisfied, I am whole, I am complete”, etc….Each time I breathe in slowly and steadily and say the phrase to myself. I also focus on the either the crown chakra, heart, solar plexus, hands, as I do this.

I’ve shown some of my massage clients with stress related anxiety other simpler ways to calm down with simple meditative breathing, by counting the seconds on the in breath and then the out breath….I like to say count slowly in to 4, and then out to 4. Counting gives the mind something to do, and lets the slower breathing calm down their overactive nervous system. It’s easy to master and highly effective. They can use it anywhere, anytime and costs nothing!

Good morning SH mates.

Tim, so glad to hear from you and that you’re recovering. Sorry about the taste buds and sense of smell. As you say, in the meantime you’ll save a bundle on cheese, coffee &c.

Charlie, well done on the loss. So irritating when gains/plateaux happen for no obvious reason. Fortunately we all know they do happen so it doesn’t derail us in this WOL. In any other situation, I would have eaten half a packet (at least) of Tim Tams accompanied by all sorts of breast-beating when the scales show an increase despite best efforts.

BKD your accurate description of life’s de-railings was so entertaining. When you’ve finished renovating &c. maybe a book?

All washing blowing on the line and have just looked critically at my mending/alterations pile 🙁 My new MS Surface Pro is playing up so am planning trip to city this pm to get it looked at and a visit to DJs to buy something new in my new size. Have older clothes that fit but a new top calls. Football GF means should be quiet there.

Welcome to all new recruits and keep up the good work everyone. N

If only Clinkers were the secret weight loss ingredient – what a perfect world that would be

Hello everyone. My partner Simon and I have just started the Alternate Day Fasting, and today is our second fast day. I live in Canberra (don’t hold that against me!) and I watched Michael Mosley’s “Eat Fast & Live Longer” doc on my phone several days ago and can say I am a convert!

Yes I know – watching a movie on a tiny screen is not normally something I would do – but am SO glad I did! So I found my copy of the fast diet book which I purchased some months ago because a friend had raved about it, and read it. I’m impressed!

Hi all . So good to see lots of new people here. I’ve been doing 5 2 for two weeks now ( I’m pretty new too! )and am loving it! I fast Mon and Tue, and actually look forward to it. Is that weird or what! I don’t have breakfast on those days, just lots of herbal teas and a salad with a little protein like tuna or ham etc. Dinner is usually veg and another small protein. I like the rose hip tea with lemongrass and ginger by Nerada, it’s a lot nicer than green tea. Also Hawthorn tea, as I read it’s good for high bp, which I have. Since doing all this, bp has reduced heaps! My Dr gave me a prescription for bp pills, and It’s stuck on the fridge as a reminder of what could be if I don’t do something about it. It’s a great idea to use the tracker here, too. I’m already losing cm’s and I’m down 2.3kg! My jeans are feeling loose, and my head is feeling wooo! Happy days to us all, Linda 🙂

Jenklar, 3.1kg that is a great effort and ‘all power to you for the effort to date’. As to the flat stomach, I am sorry that no one noticed. As a male I would say this was due to the ‘cut’ of the skirt’. If it sat just on your hip bones, had no back in it and all your midriff was exposed ‘perhaps’ one perceptive male may have commented!! Maybe a suggestion for your next outfit…lol.

MelbourneMum, you sew and meditate? I do not believe then you could possibly have children. How do you ‘cleanse your sharkra’ while a child is pestering you for a vegemite sandwich in your ear?

ihaveawaist, thanks for the flattering comments. You are such a positive and supportive influence on all those reporting successes here. I would nominate you as the perfect ‘coffee pal’. Empathetic, caring and sharing!

Hey Nicky, did you wipe the wallet out and max the credit card on a summer wardrobe? More to the point, I hope you did not give your ‘significant other’ a heart attack on return from DJ’s.

Chikita…..6kg in one week!!! Are you on the ‘0:7’ diet? Amazzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzing. Or did I read your post wrong. After reading your post you are a weight loss queen. I am sending you the crown in the post this week. It is made of quality Belgian chocolate…

Great to quickly catch up and hi again to all the new people joining here. The people I have mentioned here by name are great people to read posts from and gain support through. Have a great day everyone.

Oh, in closing. Had our garage sale yesterday. Was like a scene from the film ‘Deliverence’. Funny, Funny day of dealing with ‘hardened garage sale types’. But, I will spare everyone the details…You can read all about it on the forum I have started here called “5:2 Garage Sale Crazies”….

Hi MM, I’m the same,
I wake up super early and do my meditation when the rest of the world is fast asleep. No use trying to do it when there are interruptions and phones ringing. It makes a big difference having meditation start my day, everyday, even on holidays.
Without iti feel uneasy and unsettled. With it I feel wonderful.

Hello…. anyone else from the Gold Coast here? I started last Monday and am sooo happy to report I’ve already lost 1.5 kilo and its not that hard you just have to keep reminding yourself “its only for one day” and tomorrow I can eat whatever I want.
Also I havent done any excercise either.

Happy Sunday SH fasters,
IHAW, does milking cows count as meditation? I do it because I love the girls and it means for two hours a week I do not have to deal with the human of the species.
MM I too am a sewer, but at present I am spending all my time taking things in. Today is warm and sunny and for the first time in years I have ventured out in shorts. Can’t believe how good it feels.
Vegie garden is looking great, and that feels good. Been planting more leafy green seeds. Fasting today as I have blood donation tomorrow, then OH has night out on Tuesday so will fast again Thursday.
Have a happy week everyone
Charlie.

PS. BigDad your post reminded me of some of the people I used to deal with years ago when I was a police officer, no wonder I like cows and no you bum did not look big in that. ( hug)

Hi SHs (or should I say, lucky Spring bunnies!)
How good is this weather for showing off new bodies?
ihaw, I like to draw and sculpt and go into a meditative state when occupied with these passions. Never happens when sewing. I am a good seamstress, but have to concentrate on it too much. Artwork seems to just allow me to drift away into a higher plane.
I gave up trying to do yoga and meditate in the early mornings as OH would always seek me out and interrupt!!!! He just doesn’t get it.
Have had a full on social weekend, but have gained no weight. Maintenance just becomes second nature after a while.
As I’ve said before, if you are replacing your summer clothes, buy smaller than you think you are. I am too small now for the clothes I bought last summer when I was almost at goal. My shape continues to change.
Have a happy weekend all, P

Hi from Melbourne!

I’m a female in my early forties and I heard about 5:2 and bought the book a while ago and have watched a friend do incredibly well on it. I did start one day and was very confronted by the reality that my emotional attachment to food is greater than I thought it was. I have since been putting off getting started. I was having some fatigue issues and when I read that IF was contra-indicated for fatigue, I used that as an excuse. But afore-mentioned friend also has adrenal issues and she has adjusted just fine, so I know now it’s just a dishonest self-justification!

I am reasonably fit and healthy but I am ‘petite’ and pear-shaped, and am about 6-7 kgs over my most comfortable weight. I went shopping today. I found myself in the David Jones change rooms. There are SO MANY mirrors in those! And I really DID NOT like what I saw in the rear view mirror! I thought maybe those mirrors were particularly harsh. I went to Myer and discovered there was nothing wrong with the mirrors 🙂 And the warm weather has started – I want my bikini butt back by December!

So I am starting 5:2 tomorrow. I lost 23 kgs 10 years ago and was part of an online forum during that journey and it was awesome. I even made a friend who I still see.

So here I am, looking forward to the journey but knowing I can’t do it alone.

Evening SH chatter boxes, i love reading your posts, BKD you elicited a giggle or two from me :-). I have just finished my 2nd week. My waist has gone from 93cm to 86cm which is pretty good. I have tried to stay away from the wine as we love to hang out together. Im not racist, i love both red and white! Something in my brain has clicked and i now feel its ok to not have snacks and even brekky. Pre child i used to eat this way naturally then when i had my daughter and ate for Australia while i was pregnant i decided that to be healthy i should have being eating 3 healthy meals and 3 snacks a day. Consequently i gained 32 kg during pregnancy ( might have had something to do with having donuts for some of my snacks).I am so glad i can go back to eating how i used to (minus the cigarettes) and not feel guilty. I cant believe i have spent the last 12 years slogging it out at the gym and wondering why i never returned to my hottie body. Who knew! My fitness pal App is now my constant companion. Yeewww!!

Hi truegem, fellow Melbournian,welcome to group 🙂
I also have an emotional attachment to food,it developed after my mum was diagnosed with terminal cancer.She passed away only 6 weeks after diagnosis. I was 6 1/2 months pregnant at the time,and had heaps of support from family and friends, and so busy with Greek rituals of funeral and mourning period,then of course bub kept me on my toes! It didn’t hit me till months after my bub was born and the pain really hit me. It’s been 4 years since and although not entirely ready to let go of my comfort food (aka chilli flavoured chips!) took the plunge of 5:2 WOE. I am very much an all in kind of person, if you ask my kids what my motto would be, they’d quote my own words “Do a job, do it right, or don’t bother at all” so I’m hopping to apply my “oh well, you’ve opened that bag of chips,might as well finish it then” train of thought to being all in on 5:2. Crossing my fingers that I no longer give my emotions the power over my eating habits. For good measure I stuck a picture of my mum on the fridge, so every time I see it I know she’d scold at me for giving in too fast, a little spooky motivation lol, actually scares me away. Hope you find what works for you.

Sitash,don’t think I’ve seen your name before, so Hello 🙂 I gained close to 30 kgs with each of first 2 pregnancies,only 9kg for 3rd as too busy and stressed (explained above). Strangely,did nothing to loose kgs after preg 1 and 2, and they just dropped off, after 3rd, half the weight was the baby, my michellin man was an 8 1/2 pounder… but instead of loosing, I gained from the comfort eating.
I’ve managed to loose 12kg on my own over a slooooow 12 month period, and stagnated for a few months, and of course a slide backwards, when I saw the MM show on the Sunday program.Between my solo weight loss and the 5:2 WOE weight loss of 3kgs,I am almost to ‘normal’ bmi,so close I can taste it…but want to get to middle of normal bracket, 8kgs to go,where I was 12 years ago on my wedding day (I know, such a cliche,but thats the last time frame I remember of normal weight,due to all the bridal fittings, I wasn’t one of those brides who lost weight)

I’m only fairly much a newbie, about to start my 3rd week tomorrow, so happy to read any chatter about your discoveries on your 5:2 journey. So far my ‘all in’ mentality is working, and a big part of it has to do with the fact that with this forum, I don’t feel alone and get really great tips and advice. Also keeps my fingers busy on those times the pantry is calling me, so apologies for the long spills guys

Happy fasting guys this week, good luck, no, scrap that, You can do it! no luck necessary 🙂

Morning SHs
Thanks ihaw for your usual balanced, generous replies.
I would add to the discussion re sleep that it IS an evolutionary connection to our hunter gatherer ancestors. My OH and I have overcome it by eating the “bulk” of our meagre fast day cals (350-400) in the evening. Also, after 18 months we may be more used to fasting.

A little hint for beginners. ..read the Fast Diet books and the info on this homepage to be completely around the principal. I have concerns about folk who only watched the Sunday program and misunderstand.

Be kind to yourself until you are used to this wol. Start by trying to master 2 fast days (eg Mon and Thursday) eating 1/4 of your calculated daily needs over the 36 hours. Eat mindfully on the other days.

Once you have mastered fasting, start experimenting to find what suits you.
All the best. This will totally change your life! Happy fasting. PVE 🙂

ihaveawaist, asking me to ‘open up’ is the hardest thing to write about. I am even stalling now over the keys trying to put this into words. However, in this place I do not think my story could resonate with people better as I am sure many have ridden the same roller coaster.

I grew up a fat child and teenager, smothered in my mothers’ love and home cooking in an era where the ‘fat kid’ was the exception not the ‘norm’. The bullying, humiliation and loneliness experienced left deep emotional and psychological scars if truth be known. I look back on childhood as one of the most unhappy times in my life. It was here that deep feelings of worthlessness and self loathing took root and grew in my psyche. I still ‘prune’ these ‘vines’ every so often!

I finished school, went off to university and started studying English literature. In my first year of Uni I was 165cm tall and 105kg. Six months into uni study, my mother dropped dead of a heart attack caused by obesity aged 52.

The anguish this caused was ‘the spark’. I tried every diet and created a few of my own from this point on. I lost 40 kg (down to 65kg)in twelve months. It was during this time my obsession with ‘extreme’ exercise began. A year after the death of my mother, my grandmother (who became my surrogate mum) died of a heart attack caused by obesity aged 78. The ‘perfect storm’ for a spiral into self destruction was set.

I moved over to science at university and started taking an interest in physiology. Extreme dieting, starvation, a move into triathlon training followed. It was not long before I saw ‘binge and purge’ as the perfect solution to ‘my problems’. At 19 and 55kg the ‘warning bells’ were ringing for everyone around me. I have one picture from this period in my life and I look miserable and starved like those poor souls we see in refugee camps on our nightly televisions.

Eventually, after much intervention from friends and family I sought help. Nothing worked. I was determined to ‘get thin’ and get the perfect body. The ‘breakthrough came’ through a ‘exercise psychologist’ (yes they exist). He ‘used my exercise obsession against me’ and explained I could not do well at exercise without lots of protein, carbohydrates and certain fats. He devised a training program for me involving heavy weights and incorporating my triathlon training. Believe it or not this ‘broke the grip’ of bulimia. I started to ‘think’ about fuelling ‘a machine’ rather than ‘stripping one down’ to a point where it would not work!.

I won’t bore everyone further but what followed was a career as a teacher, stints working in gyms (where I meet some people that had more ‘hang ups’ than myself….lol), a few stunning girl friends and a short 3 year career as a professional track athlete.

As you can see, I feel I have ‘reserved’ my seat in the front car of the ‘roller coaster’ to weight loss with this 30 year battle. I know I share the seat with many, many others and my case does not give me ‘the sympathy seat’.

So, where am I now? Still fighting. 86kg, mid life spread into full swing, into second week of 5:2 (the above accounts for why fast days are not a huge challenge for me as I was already ‘pre-wired’ to extremes if need be). Not motivated so much by self loathing as I was back in my twenties. I just want to get back to ‘feeling healthy’, ‘looking normal’ (by society standards for blokes) and riding my beloved road cycling bikes that I have kept up with over the years on and off. It is more motivation to be around for my young family than anything else however. We have 5 healthy well adjusted children. The kids play outside, go for walks, do sports and we provide them with healthy food as I would not let them endure what I did as a child, teenager, young adult for all the money in the world. Sorry, but you did ask ihaveawaist…lol.

Oh, It is Monday. Happy fasting day for all on the Monday, Thursday cycle like myself. We will do this together today. I will be strong for you. I want you to do the same for us sharing the day with you…

I really appreciate you telling us your story bigkahuna, thanks! It means so much.

It’s really motivating to not repeat our past coping behaviours, move away from our possible genetic weak points and give ourselves and our kids a chance that we will stay here with them, in the best possible health that we can achieve.

Thanks again, remember you are worth it!

I had more of an image of Jenklar lying around being fed grapes gathered by the workers 😉