Good morning SH mates.

Lovely day here in Adelaide, just back from my Corporate Cup walk – can’t run easily yet so don’t do it in public 🙂 So lovely just ‘being in the moment’, sun glinting on the water, cooling light breeze, fluffy ducklings everywhere and the deciduous trees are bursting into leaf.

Hi ibardell, another Mon-Tues b2b faster. It fits my life too.

Two good fast days under my belt with an average of 425C each day. Another 0.2kg up in smoke and 1cm more off my waist. So far so good – 10.3kg fat and 14cm from waist lost in total. Minimal effort on non FDs, like Bigkahuna.

Just about to have first café latte for the week – yummmmm!

Keep up the good work everyone. N

Well I made it through my first fast day. Not as hard as I thought it would be. Had some hunger pains but nothing I couldn’t handle. Got on the scales this morning and had lost 1kg. I know that it is proberly just fluid and won’t stay off but it made me feel good anyway. Having a bit of a problem with the tracker. Somehow deleted yesterdays entery when I tried to fill in another one. So I redid it but even though I put in the right dates, they show up wrong on the chart. Oh well hopefully I will still be able to see my progress.

It was me Kathryn. I also think the rag trade picks up Mon and Thurs with all the hungry women keeping away from food outlets!
Keep up the great work all. P 🙂

Hi all,

ihaveawaist -(gee I hope I can say that one day), thanks so much for the advice. Electrolite balance is a little beyond me but dehydration and/or depletion of glycogen stores sounds eminently plausible since yesterday I was fairly active outside all day and it was pretty warm down here in outer Woop Woop.

I have been maintaining my fluids, not so much with water but with green tea which of course is just flavoured water. No milk or sugar so no calories I think.

You suggest Miso soup, (excellent suggestion at 28 calories a serve) which prompts a question. Do you or anybody else know how many calories are in a bowl of vegetable soup? And how long is a piece of string? On my fast days I don’t eat at all until the evening when I have three bowls of home made soup. It contains carrots, celery, zucchini, onion, leaks, heaps of beans (red kidney, cannellini, lima, butter beans), chick peas, sweet corn, brown lentils, tomatoes, garlic, and parika. I thought I would be well within my 600 calories with this but I’m unable to verify whether or not I am. The vegetable stock is also home made from, you guessed it, vegetables. Nothing else at all. I don’t have any bread with it, just the soup on its own.

It’s quite filling but I thought with all these great veges and nothing else I would be ‘safe’. Any thoughts anyone?

Next fast day Friday. Good luck everybody.

Hi Sassy,
I think a lot of people watched the Michael Mosley doco on SBS. Thats how many people heard about it and then saw the books in the stores 🙂
Cheers,
Michelle

Well done Nicky. 14 cms off waist. Woohoo! Cheers, Bay 🙂

Wow! You have so much self control Bacchus!

My favourite soup thats about 100 calories is miso, with bokchoy,baby spinach, red capsicum, bean shoots and any other vege I have in the fridge, then I add a packet of SPLENDIA noodles. They are made from Japanese Konjac root and a serve is 8 – 10 calories 🙂 :). You wash them well and add to anything. They are really filling. You could add a bit of chicken if you wanted to but I’m lazy and generally go for vegetarian on fasting days as I can’t go all day with out anything. Plenty of fresh coriander on top….yum!

I eat a carrot, drink teas, a boiled egg, or tin of weight watchers baked bean as my miso noodle soup is so low in calories. I even have enough calories for a Skinny Cow ice-cream. So go the lighter broths if you want to. Everyone is different. No matter what though, there are tough times. But, I love that the next day you can eat normally.

The noodles are in the health food section of Coles/Woolworths and are a white packet with Splendier or Splendia on them, they come in noodles, spaghetti or rice form. Filling and easy.
Cheers MW

Hello all,

I’m 38 and new to 5:2 and from Albury (Regional NSW). I started on Monday 29th September and today is my second fast day. I am using my fitness pal to track my food which I am finding very educational. I am tracking on my non fast days as well for the next few weeks so I am aware of the calorie amounts for my regular food I eat. I eat cleanly anyway so its more about educating myself. I currently weigh 70.3kg and hoping to get down to 68kg. I am getting married in 9 weeks so I’m trying to get those childbearing hips down a little for the wedding 🙂 I am extremely motivated and excited to be sharing this journey with you all and I love reading the tips and ideas you guys share. I love hearing the success stories on here.

Hi Kathryn
Sorry your kids are still ill. Have you tried giving them diluted apple cider vinegar with honey (warmed)? The vinegar does wonders with all sorts of bugs, including stomach.
Go girl with your goal! Aim to be in mid range healthy so you have “wriggle room”.
Happy fasting P

I’m sorry. Sick on the school holidays is no fun at all. I hope they are better soon. I tried on a size 12 skirt this morning and it zipped up nice and easy. I’m down 3 kg since starting but have definitely lost more in cm as I was a 14 when I started. I’m feeling energetic and sleeping through the night. I couldn’t be happier with the results so it’s all been worth it so far. Today holding out for 1pm so I can have a poached egg with some smoked salmon and then some veggies for dinner.

Hi skinnybitch….some days ARE a struggle, you just have to get through them and remember that it’s only one day. I’m onto my 6th fast day today, so am pretty new at it too. My first day, I broke it up into 3 meals and I found I was STARVING after my breakfast…..since then I don’t eat until about 11am or 12noon…..and then usually just dinner and it’s much easier….lots of fluids hepls, especially water and I drink green tea.

Hope today is much better for you 🙂

PVE thanks for apple cider tip!! Don’t know if it’s psychological, but kids seem better already 🙂 Definitely aiming for mid range mbi. It seems so doable now.

kerm222 you are about where I was 12 months ago weight wise, but I didn’t start with 5:2 till 3 weeks ago,and we’re are close in height too (I’m 162).I struggled with the weight loss (12kg in 12 months) by myself. These weeks on 5:2 have been in so many ways much easier. Obviously this SH forum is such a great support. Also, it truly is a way of life and not a diet. There is -or should be – no guilt, take each day as it comes, pick yourself up and keep going.

sarah67, way to go!!! My pants are really loose and I’ve got belt on a tighter notch, but I actually got rid of a lot of ‘skinny’clothes,so looking forward to go shopping. I never made that connection in regards to sleep, I’m sleeping well through the night,which is completely unlike me,could be the 5:2 or temporary nurse-maid job!!

skinnybitch welcome to group 🙂 I’m doing Tues/Thurs too. Is 1200 your tdee? The format is there to be changed to what suits you best. I don’t eat till dinner time 5pm-ish, as if I start earlier I feel the hunger. Supposed to be something to do with our caveman ancestors feast/famine evolution. If you know you’re not going to have food,your brain switches off some hunger pangs.Bring that on!! Wish you luck xx

Just a little tip to newbies, though I’m no ‘oldie’ myself,so correct me if I’m wrong any other ‘oldie’ in group, but if you do too much of calorie restriction chances are you’ll get burnt out and give up.That’s the point to 5:2,it’s not a calorie restrictive diet every day.That’s why for most of us, all/most other diets have not been a long term solution. Don’t push too hard on fast days too, 500 cals is what the brain needs to function and to keep your body from turning to muscles and soft tissue for energy (it’s called autophagia, in case you want to look it up), you don’t want to loose muscle/tissue but fat. It will happen! Keep in mind, the average weight loss on 5:2 is approximately 1lb, or in our aussie terms 453 grams a week. I’ve done double that at 1kg a week,with may I stress,minimal effort!!!!! I actually coincidentally have not even exercised since before starting 5:2 either, my normal 5k morning run goes out the window during school holidays.

Apologies, don’t mean to sound like I’m preaching,but this WOE has done so much for me already and I so hope it does for you all too, their is heaps of wiggle room within this WOE, but over restriction of cals isn’t one of them.

((hugs)) to all

Hey KathrynE! Thanks for the welcome.

My TDEE is 2,100. I try to stick to 1,200 calories generally, with the hope that on my ‘bad’ days, when I have more, I can still lose weight. This hasn’t been working great lately, so I’m trying the fast diet. The idea is that I’ll do my 2 fast days, try stick to around 1,200 on other days, but then on days where I might go out for lunch or dinner, or have a few glasses of wine, I don’t need to worry. Hopefully this works!

Today has definitely been easier, with my first meal being around 1pm. Fingers crossed it stays this way!

Skinnybitch, i cannot resist sharing my experience with you. I started off at or above your weight. (on my scale 80.5kg on my gps scale 85kg) I am your height and 51. I got down to a respectable weight (where i stopped feeling bad about my weight) in the first three months by cutting my calories to only 1600. And i found it easy. I think you would find it easier too if you ate more. I ate as health as i knew how and everything I would usually eat except sugar, (honey and artificial sweeteners). I began my diet on 3 January this year. I am currently 1kg away from goal. If you read my profile, you can see more about how i did it. If you make it so that its difficult and unpleasant you will not reach your goal.

Hey PVE,

I think I am – I just double checked and my TDEE came in at 2238 (I’m 34, weight is 73kg and height is 5″6 – goal weight is 65kg). I’m quite active, I go to the gym 4-5 times a week and do around 30-45 mins work – at least 2 of those are high intensity (eg spinning). Should I still be putting in inactive/sendentary for that?

Pattience, thanks for sharing – I’ll definitely have a read of your journey! I got married around 6 months ago and got to a weight I was happy with (68kg, not quite my goal, but I felt good) by working hard at the gym (weights and cardio) and eating right. I was sticking to 1,200-1,300 calories a day for around 4-5 days a week and not going crazy at weekends but not being too strict and cutting back on alcohol – wedding motivation is the best motivation! But for a few months after the wedding I stopped going to the gym regularly and wasn’t tracking what I was eating. I’ve put around 5 kilos back on, and I really want to get back to where I was and then focus on maintaining. At the moment I’ve been eating well around 3 days a week and counting calories, but then for the rest of the week/weekend I’m less strict and I think this is my downfall. I’m hoping that 5:2 is the change I need to move me forward.

Hi everyone. Today is my second fast day, the first was on Tuesday. I have been pleasently surprised at how easy I am finding it. I have always been one for breakfast but find that if I just ignore the normal hunger pains when I wake up, they go away after a little while. I can then hold off eating until around lunch time, when I have an egg on toast. This seems to last me until tea (fish and vegs). And I have a low fat hot chocolate before bed. I brought Dr. M’s book yesterday and really enjoyed reading it. And I have downloaded, My Fitness Pal, (I love the barcode feature). I have not been this excited and positive about a diet for a long time. The last time I felt like this I was able to stick to the Weight Watchers diet and lost 33kgs. Recently I put back on 8kgs and found it too hard to get motivated to do Weight Watchers again. But I am so motivated about the fast diet that I really believe that I can do this. I am hopeing to loose 20kgs. I think my poor partner is already sick of hearing how great this diet is (lol).But he understands that being positive and talking about it will help to keep me on track and he is being very suportive. Can’t wait to jump on the scales tomorrow.

PVE, thought you had to reach the 500 on fast day,mostly I do,but today I ate my lentil soup and a 1/2 cup greek yogurt and was completely stuffed! Glad you said that under 500 is ok 🙂 only reached just over half. Does your stomach shrink during fast days or something??

keirra,well done on your fast today 🙂 I too am a huge breakfast fan, that’s the one thing I miss on fast days but luckily it’s only an emotional attachment,as I do ok on the hunger part. Good luck with your weigh in tomorrow xx

CG, if I put my treadmill on that fast I would do a great imitation of a cartoon been flung across the room!! 2.5 kg to go, wow, that’s great, hope those buggers slide right of you as you’re HIIT’ing it

tubby plumber, I too had 20min naps at around 2:45 pre school pick up in the first week, think I might need some more to recover from school holidays…

Another end of a fast day,actually looking forward to next ones. Good luck to all fasting tomorrow 🙂

Hi Kathryn
I think your stomach does shrink on fast days.
Cheers, Bay 🙂

Well done CD
What a great life changing decision you have made. When the weight starts peeling off, you will feel revitalised and want to move more. Imagine how much better all your joints will feel without the extra load.
You CAN get back to that 57kg. Just set a few achievable goals on the way down. Measure yourself completely now (use the tracker on this site) so that you can watch your success.
All the best PVE

8-40pm Friday
Hi all. Well I jumped on the scales this morning after two fast days this week and I have lost 2.2kgs. I’m really happy with that and hope that I don’t put on between now and my next fast day which is Tuesday. What has really surprised me is my measurements, between Tuesday morning and now I have lost 5cm off my Bust, 3 from my Waist and Hips, 1 from my Neck and Calves, 4 from Thighs and 2 from Arms. How is this possible in 3 days? Not that I’m complaining. I am really pleasently surprised by the results and how easy it has been. It makes me want to tell others how easy it is, especially my sister. Last night I spoke to her about it but she just brushed it off. I think I will try to see her today and give her the book. I am so worried about her. She is not a healthy woman. She is 55yrs, only 5 foot 2, and has been told by a chiroprator that she has one of the smallest frame she has ever seen. But she must weigh in excess of 150kg easy, if not more ( I think she is a size 24 or 26). It has got to the point recently where she has trouble walking without a walker(though she blames that on an injury that she did to her back when she was 15), she has terrible asma, and incontinance, to the point where she often feels that she can not leave her house. She has devoted her life to her children and forgotten about herself. She can’t exercise and finds diets too hard. She wanted to get lap surgery but missed out on getting it under medicare and as she is now on a disability pension she can’t afford to pay for it. They wont opperate on her bladder as they say its not bad enough. Dont know how bad it needs to be, if she has a cough she has to sit with 2 towels on her chair. I love my sister, she is a caring and loving person and I feel I might lose her soon if nothing is done. She has given up on life. Last night an old flame of hers contacted her, years ago he was in love with her, but she broke his heart and married someone else. She has always wondered what would have happened if she had broken off her engagement and gone out with him. She is now divorced and alone but told me she couldn’t meet up with him, looking as she does. I am hopeing that getting back in touch with him might inspire her to try and improve her life. Wish me luck with trying to convince her to give this a go. She deserves to be happy and healthy and to have a man in her life who loves her.

Keirra – I just read your post. Well done on such a great weight loss! I’m sorry to hear about your sister. Hopefully the combination of this old flame reaching out to her & your support will inspire her. I’ll be praying for her x

Hi all,

Thank you for all your success stories. it is so inspiring to read how well you are all doing. Keirra I hope your sister will see how well you are doing and be motivated to jump on board with 5:2. I took my book down to my sister last week when we had a picnic together during the school holiday and her response was ‘it’s not hard energy out v’s energy in’ so I just took my book back and started reading it again. She may change her mind when she sees my body becoming lean and toned (lol here’s hoping). Although I only started Monday I feel absolutely great. My fast days are Monday and Thursday and I have been really successful on these days and I’m really excited to see what the next few weeks brings. I didn’t have a tape measure on Monday to do my measurements but I have one today so I will do my measurements which will be a great help I think. Good luck to those on the fast train today! Remain focused and determined you got this!!! Enjoy your beautiful Friday…..

Fantastic fellow Friday faster! Feel fit for fun 🙂 P

Hi all and welcome to all the new starters. Nice early 5am start for me here in WA. Woke up feeling very alert and rested after a good fast day yesterday ( a great relief after the horror of Monday). Did my usual Saturday morning weigh in and I am .4 away from being in the healthy weight range – the very high end but still – yah! After only three weeks of fasting I am very pleased, my knees are feeling happier and I am surprised at my healthy attitude to this wol. I have had a tendency in the past to get very ‘in the zone’ when dieting and become a little obsessive (it never lasts of course) but with 5:2 I am being mindful on my fast days and then pretty much not thinking about it the rest of the time – a much healthier attitude both mentally and physically.
Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Hello to all you incredible shrinking people,

Well yesterday (Friday) was my fourth fast day and they do seem to becoming easier. As usual I abstained the entire day and had my usual soup in the evening except that I only had two bowls instead of three and didn’t miss the extra at all. Bay, I took your advice and left out the sweetcorn – thanks for the tip. Also no headache, which is encouraging. I sacrificed the green tea for plain water so whether or not that was a factor will be discovered over future fast days.

Given they’re called ‘Fast days’ they go bloody slowly!!

Awoke this morning expecting to be ravenous and wasn’t. Not even a little hungry. Didn’t have breakfast until 10 o’clock. Scary!!

P – You out-alliterated me the other day – Fantastic fellow Friday faster! Feel fit for fun – HA! Very good.

I see there are a lot of people losing some good weight out there which is very inspiring:

Nicky – 14cm off the waist, Chacita down to 64.9, KathrynE from 78 to 65.1 and dropping like a stone, Sarah67 down 3. You guys are fantastic and a tremendous source of motivation for those of us newly embarking upon this journey.

I hope you all have a great weekend – I will be imbibing a few glasses of good wine tonight (it’s been a while) – and all the very best to you all for your Fast Days next week.