That’s excellent Darwin girl! Great to hear that you found it doable and want continue to ward off dementia.
Keep posting, we’re all here to chat and offer advice.
This topic contains 28,298 replies, has 835 voices, and was last updated by thinatlast 1 day, 6 hours ago.
So I am back and happy to report I have seen progress!!!!!! I have lost 2kg’s and 3cm off my waist and 2cm off my hips!
This is the first time ever that I have stuck to an eating plan and seen the results that were promised!!! I am telling everyone I meet about this!
Oh and I should also add, that I can’t tolerate sugar anymore! Coke was my biggest weakness and now I can’t stomach it. I actually had a full on weekend so didn’t do any fast days and after three days of eating party food etc I was nauseous and felt so crappy that I went to bed at 8pm last night (i am usually up till midnight!)
Needless to say I am fasting today!!
Hi .. again!! Have just started this regime again after having to stop for health reasons (not related to the 5:2). Tomorrow will be my 3rd fast day. I am 74yo and weight has crept up on me and is hard to lose! I am rather inactive due to back and knee probs, so going for long walks, etc is not an option. Back on the exercise bike, which I hate!! Prob need to lose about 10kg so here’s hoping. Losing weight, even when dieting, is not easy, especially for a former gym junkie. Will check back as I progress and seek advice if needed. Haven’t been game to get on the scales yet, but will do so after tomorrow’s fast day. Not looking forward to that. Want to get down to 63kg (I am 173cm tall and l am used to being slim). Great forum, and so encouraging.
Morning all! So lovely to hear of all the successes! You are all so inspiring. Thank you for sharing. I woke up today on our public holiday Monday and wondered if I could be strong and do my usual Monday fast as everyone around me is in ‘party mode’. I’ve decided to keep with my usual routine and have my fast day as usual. I will try not to think of food and keep busy. Anyone else with me? 🙂
Hi All
Well here I sit, day one of hopefully of a long and healthier future. I saw half of Dr M’s story on channel 7, bought the book (read it in record time) did more research, read all your blog and procrastinated! So here we are ready to start.
I have a history of starting “diets”, loosing weight thinking I’m invincible and can do it alone so stop tracking, meetings and generally thinking. The weight comes back plus a little more. So this time hubby is along for the ride – his weight is up too. We are fasting Monday and Thursday – he’s not so sure he will make the day so will let you know what happens. I will not let him quit on me!!!!!
I am nowhere near ready to disclose any numbers so you’ll have to bear with me on that. Just had my first EVER milk free tea and you know what – it wasn’t so bad after all!
Thank you for the blog, its inspirational to read and does motivate you when you hear this plan works. Who knew two days of being super good food wise would have this type of effect on your health and future.
Well I’ll keep you all posted how we are going, its gonna be a long ride.
Hi all, it’s been a while since I posted. I normally do Mon/Thurs but I’ve been a bit out of whack this week. I was going out on Thursday so decided to do the fast on Friday instead, but Friday turned into a disaster. I just could not get my head around fasting so decided to throw in the towel for the day and just wait for Monday to roll around again. But on Saturday I woke up raring to go so fasted then instead. But that threw me out for this week because I don’t like to do my fast days too close together as that leaves me with a big gap until my next fast. So this week I’m doing Tues/Fri and hopefully back on track next week. Isn’t it funny the little mind games we all play. But I’ve lost 3 kilo so far since I started at the beginning of August and if I keep on like this I’ll be on track about Christmas. I don’t (and didn’t) have heaps to lose, just that last stubborn 8 kilos from my last pregnancy.
HB
Hi from Perth!
Hubby and I saw Eat, Fast and Live longer over 3 weeks ago on TV and decided to do it the next day. It was surprising that he was so keen on it cos Ive been asking him to join me in my numerous attempts to lose weight for years, all failed! Its hard when Im on counting calories, drinking shakes etc and I have to cook the family food.. Too challenging! We find this doable and I only have to cook the recipes from the book 🙂
My BMI is over 29 at 41 and its a bit scary knowing the risks.. I should know I am a nurse! Im so lazy to do exercise especially that I am 8 – 12 hrs on my feet while at work in ED. Going forward I am pleased that hubby lost 4 Kg and I have over 3 Kg since. The most weight loss Ive had since doing any sort of diet.
I started reading this forum and Im just wondering for those who are into a year at this, how are all you doing? Alimax, Sassy, Dumpling, KimG how has it been for you? Have you come close to your target and still maintaining it? Just curious cos its coming close to a year since this forum and if its sustainable. I would be intersted to know!
Its my fasting day today and its the headaches that is my problem… Ive read some of the advices and Ill try them and see if it works 🙂
HI all,
It’s the start of my week 2 and I’m feeling pumped!! Public holiday here today so the kiddies go back to school tomorrow and I’m back at work tomorrow blah!! Good luck to those starting out on this journey. My fast days are Mon/Thursday so this is my 3rd fast. I’m trying to get my soon to be hubby on board but he doesn’t think he could cope with the fast days…. he eats a lot! I’m feeling extremely positive about weigh in on Wednesday. Good luck to everyone 🙂
Hi all. Thanks for the welcome and encouraging posts. Today is fast day 3. Lasted from 5.30pm last night to 1pm today. Had 2 scrambled eggs and a tomato for ?lunch and will be having poached chicken sald tonight for dinner. Try to keep it simple and salad fills. Tend to be a bit obssessive about following rules and although I have been watching calories since my teens, I am afraid of going over the 500 calories! Feel a bit light headed but think it might be hysteria rather than anything else. I am not a big eater but tend to graze (sugar and sweet things come to mind). Am unsure of menus and am not a fan of the Fast recipe book menus. Is lean fillet steak (100g, which would be my usual size serving anyway) OK to eat. It’s not mentioned in the book. Still finding my way. Guess it’ll all work out. Will get up the courage tomorrow am to weigh and measure! Tend to be a bit obsessive about weight having been overweight during all of my teen years and was teased! Always had a horror of getting fat again!!! Can’t believe I stopped heavy smoking cold turkey in 1982 (no patches, lozenges, gum etc back in the day either), but can’t seem to. control the sugar cravings. Sorry about the long post .. just venting, I guess.
Hi, I am in Oz too and wonder does anyone know a good web site or phone app for android that will tell me the calories in foods? I have just eaten an avocado and am aware it is probably hugely calorically dense…
I’ve got a Samsung mobile so the Apple apps for 5:2 won’t work for me.
I always eat fresh food and it doesn’t come with any calorie content labels so am looking for someplace to get calorie info fast when in the green grocer for example.
I have never before counted a calorie so definitely had a calorically mispent youth.
Best wishes to everyone.:)
On SUGAR CRAVINGS. The short answer is quit sugar (refined sugar, honey and artificial sweetener). Once you get used to living without all that sweetness you all find very easy to live without sugar. But you have to make the mental commitment. I’ve been doing it all year. I never crave sugar.
Another short answer is eating something else instead of sugar. Maybe you are just hungry and need food! Or Water! Maybe you are thirsty.
If you stick well to rules, you may find coming up with some rules along the lines i did, work for you as well. There’s a weightloss book by Australian psychiatrist Dr George Blair-West who talks about the value of rules and other psychological aspects of weightless. Its called Weightloss for Food lovers. He has a great chapter on exercise as well. He used to own a gym. His chapter is all about the myths relating exercise to weightloss.
Anyway I started off with the idea of quitting sugar (and that exercise wasn’t necessary). I knew i had to quit sugar. I have an incurable and insatiable appetite for sugar. Once i start i can’t stop. So i said that’s it, i’m done. Its probably gonna kill me but most of all i’m sick of being fat. I’m gonna lose this flab by the end of the year and i’m never getting fat again!
Then knowing it would be sort of stupid to forbid myself sugar 100% of the time, as one does with cigarettes or drugs, I came up with some rules where i have some low risk situations where i can eat sweets. It took me a few weeks to work out these rules but that was fine as i wasn’t in a hurry to eat any sugar in the beginning of my diet anyway. These rules have enabled me to feel that i’m not missing out. (the other thing that helps is to make sure all my food is as delicious as i can make it whilst still losing weight.) I eat sweets when i’m out if someone offers them to me. I only have one serve. Or if i was out at a restaurant with other people, i can have dessert. In the beginning i did a fair bit of self talking about it all and how it would stop after that and so on but as i go on i find i am getting more relaxed about it and have grown stronger with it all. I would avoid having to look at sweets and still stay out of the sweet aisle at the supermarket. I try to avoid looking at the sweets parts of recipes books because they get me going too.
Situations that continue to be hard are buffet spreads. Such difficult situations are best avoided if possible because the temptations feels intense. I have had a few of these occasions and i don’t really like them.
Still so far i have been very good with my sugar intake of this kind.
BEcuase alcohol and soft drinks are not an issue for me, they are not part of my no sugar rule. That is to say i almost never buy a can of soft drink anyway. And i don’t drink very much alcohol. Dried fruit came in about 3 months after starting but i have to be careful with them. They are more satisfying than man made sweets but its best not to eat much of it. Now i can enjoy my porridge with no sweetness at all. My soups taste sweet despite having no sugar in them.
About a month ago, i thought maybe i could make some sugar free desserts but this is a risky area and i wouldn’t recommend it when starting out. Last week i made my third dessert of this kind – with nuts, medjool dates and lots of butter among another things. I ate the whole recipe! So now i’m not going to try making any more desserts for a while. I can’t trust myself. (Stewed and fresh fruit is perfectly fine). A few days ago i had a binge on dried figs and a few other savoury foods (nuts and cheese but mostly figs). i felt not so great afterwards (but much much better than i used to feel after an ice-cream binge) but I realised my calorie level was too low which caused the appetite problem. Those two incidents are the only binges i’ve had this year. I have done everything i can to change my usual bad dietary habits which centre around sweets. Anyway despite last weeks flipflop, i’m good again. Just did two days consecutive fasting and am on plan again today.
I’ve written at length about these issues exercise and sugar, because i thought they would be helpful. I hate seeing suffer so much over the notion that they should be exercising. And i hate seeing people struggle with the business of sugar. Weightloss has to be easy and it has to be rewarding. If you make it hard to do, you will fail.
Hi to all the new people.
Here’s some of my tips.
*There are no right or wrong foods. This is a calorie restricted, two day a week way of eating. If you want protein in the form of steak…then eat it. Just add up the calories as you go. I try to eat food that’s nutrient rich (lean protein and veggies), instead of loading up on the carbs during my fast days.
*use the tracker on this site to assist you, or use a book to record everything, including your weight, measurements of hips, waist, bum, legs, etc. sometimes you you lose around your waist, but not on the scales. This can give you perspective as you go along, or hit a plateau.
*record your food and drink intake, keep a food diary, when you crave food and your emotional state. It shows you a lot of interesting things when you start to look back….maybe you like to eat late at night, or when you feel bored.
*get a full checkup and find out what state your blood pressure, cholesterol and blood glucose are in. I’ve found that mine have dropped back to normal since starting the 5:2 in April ’13. It’s why I like this way of eating, it actually makes a big difference to your overall health and wellbeing.
*last tip, but the best…be kind and gentle with yourself! It’s a slow and steady way to regain good health and weight. It’s a marathon, not a sprint! So be your own best friend and let the 5:2 work its magic….don’t rush, enjoy the slow process of finding yourself again.
As for myself, I keep looking in the mirror and being surprised at how much younger I’m looking! Which is something I really didn’t expect!
So cheers everyone, I hope you’ve all had a lovely fast day today!
Hi guys. Just read the latest posts. Reflecting on my post I find it hard to equate my thoughts today with my past experiences. This old chick used to stick religiously the Mayo Clinic Egg Diet way back when and lose 7lbs/week without a problem! Now that was a HARD diet. Think I am just sooking! Pattience, 18 months ago I cut out sugar for about 6 months, lost 10kg and agree that you don’t crave it after a while. But it is hard to keep it up. My young sister (10 yrs younger than I) keeps telling me it’s time to let go of my weight obsessions given my age (74)!!! wish i could tho. Healthwise I am lucky .. perfect cholesterol, tending to low blood pressure at times and in general good health. Just need to re-arrange the curves to where they should be. I refuse to give in and let myself go! I will do this.
Hope everybody’s Monday fast went well. Onwards and upwards!
Hello to all,
A lot of activity on the forum today which is good to see, welcome to all the new people, and as usual some inspiring stuff – in particular Shoshanna, 74, good on ya!
There seem to be different interpretations as to how this all works and for my part I tend to agree with Ihaveawaist. There are no right or wrong foods. On our non fast days we can eat normally, and that is the whole point of this. We are not ‘on a diet’ – we are changing the way we eat, and as long as we restrict our calories to the required level dependant on gender on our Fast Days then everything else can remain the same.
That is what makes this program so appealing and so achievable. It is not about deprivation. Don’t get me wrong here. If you have the willpower to eliminate sweeteners from your diet then I have nothing but admiration for you. But the whole nature of this program makes that unnecessary and a lot of us are pursuing this program because we don’t have the discipline to deprive ourselves of the foods that have put us in this position. If we try we will probably fail, as many of us have in the past, and that is no good to any of us. My advice would be stick to what Michael recommends – it appears to have a very high success rate.
My fifth Fast Day tomorrow. I’m off to the big smoke for an appointment with my eye specialist which is usually a round trip of about seven or eight hours depending on traffic, so I’ll be in the car all day driving and listening to music. If the music doesn’t detract from the hunger pangs at least it will drown out my stomach rumblings.
Best wishes everyone – onwards and downwards.
Hi Matrika…..If you have a Samsung, then you could use the Samsung health app…It will total your calories for you, and count your steps. Thats how I do it
I also put in what I plan to eat on my fast days the night before. That way i know how many calories I will be consuming and it is there for me to refer to, as opposed to eating and then adding up calories.
Hope that helps, and all the best.
Hi all
The above posts are all quite encouraging. I’m 22 and need to lose fair amount of weight and have had some initial success with 5:2. I did it for about 7 weeks but stopped recently when I was a bit snowed under with work. I found the hardest thing for me was gauging when to eat, especially as I have quite a busy work and university schedule. I tried three small meals and also two larger meals at either end of the day. I was wondering what everyone’s experience was with eating times and what balance tends to work for you?
Shoshana, I wonder if you missed this part of my post (about halfway through)?
“Then knowing it would be sort of stupid to forbid myself sugar 100% of the time, as one does with cigarettes or drugs, I came up with some rules where i have some low risk situations where i can eat sweets.” If you stopped reading before that part.
I guess i get to eat it about once month on average. I’ve even safely got christmas pudding out of the way already so i don’t worry about Christmas at all now.
But other people are lucky – they find they can eat it every day and not put on weight. Given the sorts of things i’ve read about dopamine and the goings on in the brain from sugar, I think because of the way i’ve eaten sugar over the years, i’ve created that addiction pathway in my brain so i feel i’ve got no option but to quit in the terms i’ve proposed for myself. I’ve tried the alternatives and had much less success than this. This is not the first time i’ve quit either, but i needed to fine tune my strategy so this time has been more successful and i’m determined it will be permanent. The alternative for me is permanent fatness. 5:2 is only a comparatively recent addition to my successfully dieting strategies.
Oh i hadn’t realised that Bacchus and probably others were talking to me. You may call it what you like but diet is not a dirty word for me. Diet is how or what you eat. Way of eating is a cumbersome term for me. I don’t care to use it but if you like it, who am i to tell you what words to use – they mean the same thing to me. Just as everyone has preferences for this or that type of food, everyone has preferences for different words. My diet is for life. Weightloss is temporary.
The way the diet has been sold to you has been intelligently over simplified. It was to motivate you to give it a go and its clearly worked. I doubt any of the longterm fasters on this forum are eating the same way they were when they started out. But it shouldn’t worry you. Changing what and how much you eat can be a natural processes. If you want to continue eating 5 sausages and 4 eggs for breakfast and have 3 beers of an evening you will found out eventually that not much changing around the waistline. And one shouldn’t be fooled into thinking that this diet is failsafe. My own GP has failed at this diet! People tend not to broadcast their failure to the world. They just go quiet and disappear from the scene. (not that i’m saying that’s the only reason people leave a forum). You can’t go about this diet any more casually than you can go about any other weightloss program. The smart thing to do is to make this diet work for you and that may involve doing a bit more than eating 500 calories two days a week and eating the same foods you always eat the rest of the time.
Except in my teenage years, i never followed any restrictive diets that so many people seem to have tried and failed at. The only other planned diet i ever tried was the CSIRO diet and i learned a lot from that experience but even that i didn’t try to follow to the letter. I am very much in favour of tailoring any diet to your own needs. This year only because someone on a forum was banging on so much about it and i was so skeptical, did i decide to have a go at low carb but by then i’d already lost most of the weight i needed to lose. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I combined the practice with some reading and I discovered that fat was ok but i didn’t care for the induction and severe restrictions of some styles and still don’t think its necessary to go to such extremes. But i also discovered the value of significant reduction of refined carbs beyond sugar! And now I eat a lot less bread pasta and rice not because i think they are particularly bad foods in themselves, although i now believe that some people can’t control their intake in the way i can’t control my intake with sugar so they are bad for some people. Coming off low carb was tricky, because coming off low carb means you have also to come off eating lots of cream and the sudden increase in carbs meant i got my appetite back suddenly so then i needed to fast to get a grip on my appetite again.
Losing weight successfully involves a fine balance between cutting calories and appetite management. Many people who diet cut calories too severely. Food choices make a large difference in this regard (but its not all about food – there are other factors). Anyway foods that satisfy me for longer and provide the most nutrition are my preferences and i strongly recommend that approach. I may deprive myself of sugar but i do not feel deprived and my body does not miss it either. I am eating so much better than before i started this diet. Shoshana said she craves sugar. I have found that eating nutritiously and food that is sufficiently yummy and interesting, I don’t crave sugar except when its under my nose. But it turns out that if it comes out of a box, its not all its cracked up to be most of the time anyway.
Good mornng all, hope you had a lovely sleep.
Watch the sunrise and remember today is another day, have fun in the spring weather, watch for all the beautiful blossoms bursting out, bulbs showing their colours, fresh green foliage growing fast.
What a beautiful world it is! Even in the harshest places, there are still butterflies and birds going about their days uninterrupted by humans and all of their crazy busyiness, angst and drama.
I love seeing the world through grateful eyes, loving the wonders around me and hoping that you all do too!
Cheers dears! Have a truly great one.
Morning all
Hope you are all going well and having some success
Yesterday was my third fast day and at weight in this morning l have lost 2kg
which is the most weight I have lost on any eating plan at so early into the program.
I love that I can eat without worrying about that extra piece of cheese or slice of peanut butter toast..
I have decided to fast on Monday and Thursday as these days will not interfere with my social calendar…and if feeling the need can add an extra day
during the week..leaving Friday Saturday and Sunday to eat well..
Cheers and thanks for allowing me to post my thoughts
Good morning everyone. Today is my third fast day and it may be a bit of a challenge for me. I am meeting up with my cousins (who I haven’t seen in years) at my sisters place for lunch. Still haven’t decided if I eat early before I go (which will be easier) or cook an egg and toast at my sisters. Hanging off until lunch worked for me last week and I’m worried if I eat now it will be too tempted to eat something when I’m with them. Also my partner has to be somewhere early tomorrow morning for work and it is a fair drive away. He has asked his work if he could leave with the truck tonight, take me with him and stay at our friends house, which will make it easier for him to be where he needs to be, in the early hours of tomorrow morning. This will mean fasting while travelling and staying at someones house. Oh well if I plan to stick with eating like this for life, I will come up against lots of days like this. I just didn’t want to test myself so early into starting, but I will just try to remember that tommorow is a new day and surely I can stick to it for one day. Have a great day everyone.
Hi peeps!
I’m down to 63.5kg. 500g away from my goal weight!!!!!! I started off at 73.5 so I’ve lost 10kg in 10 weeks. I LOVE this WOL.
I can’t remember if I posted my HIIT routine here or not so forgive me if I have. I want to share it with everyone because just like 5:2 it is soooooooooooo do-able.
Do the following 6 times with as long a break as you need to ger back to feeling normal (i.e. ready to go again)
– 40 star jumps
– running on the spot like a crazy woman for about 10-15 seconds
– 20 star jumps
Start where you are at though. If 20 star jumps exhaust you then stop there, rest recover and do 5 more sets of 20 jumps.
I LOVE that I can do this at home with no sneakers. I do put on a sports bra so I don’t further damage my blessed little tea bag boobies. In between my sets of HIIT i do housework or read or watch TV.
I’ve bought a HR monitor and my HR gets into the 160’s doing the following routine. So I know I’m reaching my target HR.
Soooooooooooooooo inspired by all the newbies and by the ‘old gang’ x
Hi guys.
8 hrs to “breakfast” and reading your posts at home on the couch is keeping me out of the cupboard. Reading about your successes is proving to be powerful reinforcement as I execute my first holiday fast!
Pattience: Great post above! Sugar: The White Death. While different diets affect variable individual outcomes, Im sure we can all benefit from avoiding sugar. For me, quitting cigarettes was easier than cutting sugar and fast food, which produced horrible headaches and even the sweats for the first couple days!
Ihaveawaist: Thanyou for your salutation! You have inspired me to take my son to the beach today, and bask in a hunger-tuned high resolution world.
Good luck fellow tuesday fasters! Whatever your goals are, I hope you find your way to enjoy being hungry!
Kierra – an egg and a piece of unbuttered toast is about 160 calories. Here are a couple of awesome salad ideas I use. I bring the ready made salads with me if I go to someone else’s house. You might like one of these ideas:
PRAWN SALAD
– spray a fry pan with olive oil, add a teaspoon of butter then put in125g of frozen prawns (66 cals for the prawns, 35 cals fir the butter).
– When the prawns start to turn pink add a cup of water and season (I use garlic salt & chilli powder)
– keep cooking until the sauce reduces to about 1-2 tablespoons
– put a 100/150g back of salad mix into a bowl.
– empty contents of pan over salad leaves & toss
Super easy & DELICIOUS! You can add carrot, cucumber etc for crunch. In total this is about 150 cals!!!!!
You can swap:
– 100g skinless chicken breast with a spray of olive oil & some balsamic vinegar (the chicken salad version is about 200 cal)
– a tin of small tuna (in brine or springwater) (total salad about 100 cals)
– 50g smoked salmon (total salad about 159 cals)
I hope this helps x
Wow….so many new people on the forum here. Wonderful to see. I have not posted for a while myself but more than happy to sit back of an evening and allow others to vent their enthusiasm and new found diet regime. Some great inspiration coming form the ‘regular crew’. All great role models.
Chicita, 10kg in 10 weeks. What a remarkable effort on your behalf. I am trying to emulate you. It will be 3 weeks tomorrow for me and I have lost 3.1kg to date. Still enjoying an afternoon beer on non fast days.
Interesting to read ideas on exercise here and I know the 3 minute theory well. My ‘organised’ exercise routine is non existent. However, for those of you that are feeling guilty, I have been renovating a house so up and down ladders, laying tiles etc etc. Proves that if you have an active lifestyle or more importantly work a ‘physical job’ (not necessarily breaking rocks) you are constantly utilising energy. Regardless, all positive towards weight loss well being and physiological health.
Great to see you back in the forum Patience….I see your two week ‘self imposed exile’ from this forum is well and truely over and you are back with a vengence. Seems the ‘bullying’ you perceived when myself and others posted here about ‘sermonising’ and ‘dominating’ the forum has not squashed your enthusiasm. Everyone can now look forward to your wealth of knowledge and pontifications many times during the day…we are all in for a treat (again)!!!
It is a remarkable fact however how ‘beautifully our collective forum garden has grown’ when people get the ‘sunlight and air’ (space) to breathe…
Have a wonderful day everyone. It is great to see this WOL changing attitudes and lives.
Morning all and welcome to the new people. Kiera it can take some time to find what days to fast and how to fast that works right for you. This is my fourth week and I haven’t done the same two fast days yet, just gone with whatever is happening in my life that week. It’s worked fine, I was planning to settle into a schedule but I think I’ll keep winging it – I kind of enjoy the variety! You will work it out as you go along and you’ll do great.
I for one hate the word diet and won’t be using it in relation to this WOL. The same goes for restricting any one type of food. I don’t believe it is sustainable unless you are never going to eat out of your home and I think trying to do it while starting out on this new WOL would be counter productive and mentally very difficult.
Anyway that’s my 2 cents worth for what’s it’s worth.
Hope everyone has a great day, fasting or not.
Hi bigkahuna, good to see you back here. Looks like you’ve been having a fun time with your renovations.
I got a rush of blood to my head and stripped and painted my home clinic massage room yesterday. Haha! Now I’ve got to put it all back together with more shelving, less clutter and a lovely new paint job!
I agree with everything you say, and wish that I was as assertive and clear in my comments. I guess here on this forum we’re all kind of like a great big family, some you love and some, not so much….but they’re all still family. It’s like being stuck in a corner with an over-excited uncle telling you all about his never-ending war stories. He doesn’t see your eyes glazing over and you yawning, trying to stay awake….oh well, good thing it’s all relatively anonymous here and we can freely tell our stories to anyone who wishes to read them.
Great food suggestions Chichita, I’m a fan of prawns and salmon. Yum!
Have a wonderful day enjoying your family keirra and plumber. Spending time with those you love and adore is so important, worth more than anything and so very precious!
Wise words Jenklar.
This is a marathon not a sprint and like you, I don’t restrict myself regarding TYPE of food, just quantity. I read on another thread of a man who consumes cheesecake on his FDs and still loses weight.
I intend to live this way for the rest of my life so it’s important to avoid the sense of deprivation associated with daily ‘dieting’, which inevitably leads to ‘failure’ and all the associated negative feelings.
Had yummy stir-fry prawns with lots of veg and peanut butter sauce last night. Big plate and calculated at 280C/serve so even though not an official FD, still well below TDEE without trying very hard. After nearly a year practising this WOL I eat much less than before.
Hi BKD, glad to see you posting, missed your chatty information. Have devised very simple HIIT routine up and down my long steep driveway. My HR gets up to about 160 and only takes 5 minutes. At work up and down 2 sets of stairs – old building with 4m ceilings so plenty of steps. I get to work before most people so don’t get any odd looks when I arrive at the top floor for the third time puffing like a beached whale.
Hi all .. another fast day over yesterday. I find it amazing how strong and determined you are the day prior to a fast day, and how happy and energised you feel the day after .. but fast day – dire! I am still finding my way and with the help of this fab site and posters will get to that space where ‘it is just another day’ in my life. ChicitaGatita, thank you so much for the recipe ideas. they sound fab. I get so caught up in trying to figure out what to eat to the exact calorie count! I am also coming from approx a 73kg base and my goal is 63kg. After fast day 3 yesterday, I got the courage to weigh myself and measure this morning. Was 71kg but have no baseline to gauge any benefit yet. Those 10kg were gained over the past 12 months. Not used to being this heavy and am determined to get back to where I was. At 74 yrs it ‘aint easy to lose weight! Good thoughts to all posters.
Hi all! Welcome to the newbies and good luck to you all.
Lots to read through, haven’t been on in a while, today is a fast day, so as usual I have a read of all posts and try to catch up,whilst having a black Greek coffee…..urgggggh!Usually have 1/2 a tsp of sugar-amazing what a difference that makes. Bitter but strangely satisfying.
Great to read so many success stories, it truly keeps me motivated 🙂
MelbourneMum…..I hear ya looooooooooud and clear, hooray for new school term 😉
I have been busy spring cleaning house today and packing things up that have been neglected.
Of course glutton for punishment that I am, I’ve thrown myself into my normal exercise routine,neglected for last 3 weeks, did a 5k run yesterday (kid free woo-hoo!!!and out in the fresh Melbourne air) on treadmill today (definitely not kid free…with my 4 year old popping his head around door way and asking, how many more minutes mummy? I’m hungry mummy….) and tummy crunches on fit ball. Did not even think that I might get hungry-so far so good- I feel as if I’ve been to boot camp! I am stiff all over lol…
I’ve started a 12 week challenge for myself,it’s about that long to Christmas,so just setting a mini goal, to loose 3 or 4 kilos by then.Just so I keep myself accountable, I’ll announce to you all, I’m 64kg and want to reach 60ish.I can’t actually believe I am in the 60’s bracket of weight, at 78kgs 13 months ago, even 70kg seemed unrealistic to me.
Anyone else doing a mini challenge/goal for end of year?
bigkahunadad, LOL……good idea for HIIT,much better and more fun than using kids skipping rope, maybe it was that you were only aiming for 3 minutes??? I’m sure that’s something my OH would be up for (no pun intended…lol)
Pattience, I understand where you’re coming from in regards to sugar. Sometimes it’s just easier to cut out the offending food culprit than to eat in moderation. I’m not much of a sugar fan in regards to lollies and such type sugary snacks,but do love a good choc mousse cake!!!
I am not one to only post my positives and hide the ugly down falls, I will confess to you all out right that last Saturday one of my offending foods -chilli potato chips (the other is salty pretzles)- came out to haunt me, completely my fault as I bought it, and of course, the packet was opened thus HAD to be consumed in one sitting….all or nothing! Must say though, had it been a month ago (pre 5:2) I would have followed that up by what ever else I found in the pantry via way of kids snacks, so already some changes due to 5:2.
Apart from that little chip-athon, I have not eaten any snacks,that’s my little rule, my normal day consists of breaky,lunch, a coffee with a biscuit, and dinner. I have dessert with the family on a Sunday or special occasion, as “sometimes foods” are actually just that,little mantra I’m trying to believe. Once the munchies begin they don’t want to leave,best not invite those unwanted visitors!
On a personal note, got my blood results from yearly check up this week, my ratio of hdl to ld has gone down in the last year (was also dieting pre 5:2 also) I am now in the normal risk category,not so good at remembering specific numbers,but happy dance! What I have noticed as well is, pain down left side of my face from trigeminal neuralgia is at a much lower level in the days after fasting,so instead of b2b, I’m spreading them out to prolong that, hopefully will extend to every day as time passes, and fingers crossed ,my neorologist thinks if that’s the case, it might just revert to the numbness I used to have instead, which means no med and definitely no exploratory surgery!! Definitely happy dancing 🙂
On a completely un 5:2 related topic, I am sooooooooo excited, have just finished booking 🙂 and paying for 🙁 our family holiday for next year to Greek islands!!!!!!!!! By then it will be 13 years that I have been back, since honey moon in Aug/2002, and 23 years since moving back here (lived there from age 2-12). Big motivation to not only loose the weight but maintain it off with this WOE/L
Good luck all, will pop in on next fast day (Thurs) to have a read, and hopefully a much smaller post…Sorry!! To all those in Melbourne,rug up!!!! This wind is going through to the bone today bbbrrrrrrrrrrr
Big hello to all down under 🙂
So today is day 1 of 5:2 for me, and as I’m a very spontaneous person, turns out it’s a FD! Figured I’d made it to 1.30 on an egg… may as well keep going. My weight has been an issue my entire life until a couple of years ago, when I met a great personal trainer who has become a very close friend and I learned to love exercise. I lost 30kg over a couple of years and felt fabulous. I also gave up wheat as I hadn’t realised how much it disagreed with me! Still train like crazy, 6 – 10 times a week, and it’s the great group of ppl that I do it with that keep me motivated, I would never make it on my own. We have so much fun laughing at each other… so if you’re struggling with motivation in the exercise department, I highly recommend finding a group 🙂
Over the past couple of months I seem to have adopted an attitude that I exercise so much I can eat what ever I like, which was actually true for a little while, but the kilos are creeping back on, and after a two week o/s vacation I’m feeling rather frumpy with 12kg back on from my lowest point. So.. I saw the 5:2 on telly a little while back, I’ve fasted once or twice before and loved the clarity of thought it gave me, as well as the gratitude for the simple things we take forgranted, so I thought I’d give it a go. The most appealing aspect is that it has great health benefits without the deprivation mentality that goes with that word ‘diet’, and whilst I can appreciate that diet is simply what we consume, I much prefer a healthy WOL, because life is there to be enjoyed, and food is awesome! 🙂 Especially when shared with good company… so I think this will work well for me.
I don’t do scales, I don’t need a flashing number to mess with my head, but the bootcamp I attend does weigh in/measurements at the beginning of each new round, which just happens to be today 🙂 So I’ll have a starting point, and in six weeks, results… in between as long as I’m feeling healthy and positive, it’s all good!
Look forward to reading your posts, support and encouragement are imperative on any journey in life, thanks for providing it today.
Happy Tuesday!
BigKahunaDad….You make me laugh!!! Funnily enough this isn’t the first time I have heard of “that” being used as HIIT…My very energetic and health conscious husband is always offering to help me burn calories lol!!!
Loving this forum, and loving this lifestyle.. My daughters principal saw me this morning for the first time since starting the 5:2. She asked me what I had been doing for myself as I looked so well, my skin looked clearer and I looked happier! Double edge sword there, didn’t realise I looked to crap 3 weeks ago, but happy with how I am looking now!!!
Hi everyone
PINAR asked how those of us that have been doing the 5.2 for a year are going. I started on the 11/11/13 I lost 13kg by May 2014 and was loving it at my goal weight, took my eye off the ball in 6,1 mode and put 3 kg back on in 3 months. It was thanks to this forum I was able to restart the 5.2 again and have got to within half a kilo of my goal and thinking about changing the goalposts to 62kg.
Last year at a doctors visit with my identical twin, who by the way was at least 10 kg lighter than me back then. This fact was pointed out to me by the doc, I was really astonished. In the blurriness of my obvious delusion I thought we were pretty much the same, I could hide it right. Wrong so I got mad with doc and set out to show him. Found the 5.2 lost a few kgs went back he said I see you lost some weight I told him how I did it, he said most people just regain the weight afterwards!!!!I saw red and set out to prove him wrong.
I went for another visit last week he asked where the rest of me was. I loved it. I will continue to keep rubbing his nose in it and reminding him how wrong he is. Its in the patient/doc job description lol
I cant list all the benefits of my healthy new lifestyle, physically my skin is clear and I feel amazing, people have said I am glowing!!!!! Mentally I have stopped obsessing over everything I eat. I don’t feel deprived or that I even on the 5.2. Yes some fast days are harder than others but I always glad to do them and will keep doing them.
I hardly eat any sugar or wheat products now my stomach is flatter than it was in my teens so think there has always been bloating from eating bread through my life. My food choices have changed gradually during this time, I eat 90% fruit and vegetables, a little fish, raw nuts and cheese for protein and calcium and fresh cold-pressed locally grown olive oil for omega 3 etc I find I crave veges and plenty of them.
Apologies for raving but if I can do it anyone can.
Ps if anyone needs more motivation go to my doc LOL
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