P, what lucky kids to see the process from seed to bread. My brother kept chickens and his wife took eggs to incubate at school with her class but they didn’t carry that experiment on any further than seeing the chicks hatch, don’t suppose roast chicken would have made for a happy classroom 🙁
The coffee grinder is time consuming (don’t want to over heat it) and noisy so I just do about 300 gms at a time and add in some white unbleached flour. Perhaps I should try 100% wholegrain (wholemeal? what’s the difference). I’m wondering how the winter weather will affect the sourdough process. At the moment we are having hot weather so when I need to build Hugo (starter) up I can feed him twice a day and have plenty of starter for another loaf in no time. Do you allow extra time in the winter for proving or just put it somewhere warm?

What a lot of fun you’ve all been having on here! Well done Transcend & Turnabout, welcome new people!

PVE, when you were away recently, you referred someone to another thread to find your sourdough recipe. I scrolled through but couldn’t find it. Sorry to be a pain but can you direct me there please? I don’t know if I’d risk eating any personally, since bread & I don’t seem to get along in the weight department, but OH is keen to get one going & I like the idea of naming it.

Thanks for the fast reply PVE, I’ll study it later. I’m sure I’ll have questions.

Wow, Purple

What a cook. 🙄 Wish you lived in my city. I love the idea of sourdough, but I think I’ll stay with my bread scarcity program. It takes me 10-12 days to eat a Deeks mixed grain gluten free loaf. None on my fast days.

Cheers, Bay 🙂

Hi Bay. It takes us a week to eat most of a loaf. One slice is enough. I’m using some leftover for a low sugar breaf pudding. Oops, forgot to add fruit…..
Thanks Bay!!! 😉 P

If I eat one SLICE of bread in a week, I’ll gain weight (or since starting 5 and 2, I’ll not lose weight). If it smells too good, it will be a real test for me!

Maybe I should wait until I’m in maintenance too.

Hello out there. Fiŕst fast day today and I’ve gone to bed early to save myself from myself. I’m from Hobart and starting with a BMI of 40. Yikes, when did that happen? recently diagnosed with high BP so this the wakeup call. Quite a few friends have done the program with inspiring results so after reading the book I am ready to start too.

Welcome to all the new people starting the 5:2 journey, this is most definitely a supportive bunch here!
One word of advice, some days you may start a fast day and mess up big time, but that doesn’t mean fasting isn’t for you it just means that particular day wasn’t a good day to fast. The reason I say this is because I just messed up big time yesterday!! After only having minimal sugar for two weeks, I increased my cups of tea and therefore sugar, had bread with honey and ice tea. Needless to say, I did not fast yesterday and boy did I pay for that sugar hit. I just felt, yuck VERY bloated, extremely flat and grumpy, but the upside is I’ve seen and felt what sugar does to my system and I’ve completely cut it out from my diet.
So on the upside, I haven’t had codiene for 5 days ( no withdrawals) and I don’t miss it, and even better PVE, “Bilbo” the sourdough has come to life, YAY. My husband came up with the name cause he suggested it should be something ancient like the practice of making sourdough. You may have to start your own sourdough blog Purple with all the people you’re inspiring, haha!

2nd fast day of the week for me today, thankfully I am busy at work – that always helps. A few figs and cucumber for lunch and then tonight – Zucchini & Bacon Soup for dinner, I may even throw in some broccoli – yum! It is low calorie and very filling.

I am loving the sound of the sour dough bread – but bread and I love each other too much – its almost a toxic relationship hahaha. I really have reduced my bread intake dramatically. I heard – one slice of white bread = 9 flights of stairs!!!

Hope everyone is having a good day – whether you are fasting or not 🙂

Take care everyone.

Hmmm, Bilbo stinks! From what I can gather, it’s normal for it too smell at first and one professional baker said if it smells like baby vomit at first it should be a good one, Mmm yum not! Hopefully it’s ok, cause stirring it at the moment is a bit of a gross experience. I would say it smells more like my kids lunch box when first opened after being left in their bag for too long
Good to see you enjoyed the gym Transcend, exercise is such a feel good thing to do, isn’t it?! I’m feeling heaps better today, I just got some new barefoot running shoes and I’m off for a run, well slow jog really.

Hi, I’m in Mangawhai, New Zealand. Day 2 of fasting today. I’m doing Mon and Wed as that suits my work routines. I’m not hungry but very very light headed. Blurry eye sight too. Sticking with it of course, hoping things will improve. I’m in the severely obese category so really need to do something about it. Exercising as well so today I’ve burnned off more calories than I’ve eaten so far but planning an exciting 200 calorie dinner.

Hi Sally

Welcome aboard this way of life. Hope you’re drinking at least two litres of water. Should help.

Cheers, Bay 🙂

I’ve been inspired to start my first sourdough – thanks for the recipe, P. Guess I will have to find a name once it starts bubbling.

Welcome, newbies, to 5:2. I haven’t posted on this thread before, but I have been around the bourses for a while, sharing and enjoying the vibes. I’m from Wellington, Sally, have been doing this for about 18 months and am pretty much at where I would like to be. I would love to be able to encourage some of my workmates onto this regime, but they are not in the right place yet. One of my bosses, who is very clued up about health, has been listening to what I have been saying about fasting, obviously done some research himself as he was discussing the healing properties today.

Thank you to everyone. I’m very focussed on it. But can’t repeat a day like yesterday. I need to experiment with when I eat my 500 cal. Next week I’m going to have the bulk at lunch time because I just hit the wall in the afternoon. I don’t need so much in the evening. The first few weeks will be the toughest, I know this.

Thankyou Transend.
As you have just started too, it will be interesting to see how we go.
Didn’t have any trouble with the fasting day and felt really so good the next day I decided to do my second fasting day then. We had visitors arrive yesterday so got my 2nd fasting day out of the way. No trouble again but did wake up with a headache the next day, so will stagger them from now on.
Haven’t weighed myself yet (cant stand to hear the scales scream with agony), so I will wait until Monday when I have been on this for a week. Here’s hoping I’ve gone down 2 dress sizes haha.
Well done on getting the bloods done, haven’t done that as I live out in the sticks, will do it though.
Good luck.

Hi everyone I’m a newbie from the Waikato, havent even started 5:2 yet but seen the doco, ordered the book and cant wait to try it! Seeing my doc for blood tests tomorrow and will even ask her to check my IGF-1 to see if it makes any difference after a month or two of 5:2. Strong family history of Type 2 diabetes and cannot lose the weight easily as I did when younger. Recently quit smoking and thought if I’m now strong enough to control my addiction to nicotine, surely I can do this too! Oh well, can only but try 🙂

And very well done on the smoking – that’s harder than re-training your eating habits, so this should be a piece of cake (non-fast days only, though) 🙂

Thank you Barata! I think you’re the only one who has responded to any of my posts, mind you I’m new and still dont know how it all works in here yet. Really appreciate your response and I laughed about the piece of cake yum I think about cake A LOT but they’re only thoughts and as with smoking, I have more self-discipline now and choose not to act on every thought. Quit smoking is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my whole entire life and it really is one day at a time. Get through today then work on getting through tomorrow.

I LOVE your story! Has given me hope that maybe just maybe for once in my life I have discovered a diet that works! Not just for losing weight and I have quite a bit to lose but if I dont do this now, I will definitely end up with Type 2 which I must try my hardest to prevent. For me and my whanau 🙂

Happy Thursday everyone. Welcome to Sally, Coconutbunz and Roslyn. I’m very new to this like you – I am having my second ever fast today.

Roslyn – I haven’t found the food too different in Australia compared with UK. But I have found the cooking times very different. I think we must cook our foods more lightly. If I’d cooked a frittata I found in the recipe book as long as it said to, it would have been burnt to a cinder!

Wekalegs – I’m going for just weighing in once a week too officially, but I have had a bit of a sneek peek. But my weight has changed each day so it’s what the scales and tape measure say next Monday morning that counts.

I’m glad that Hobart is much cooler today, Baroness. Enjoy it.

I did the blood tests too Coconut – got my results today. There is no super serious problem, but I will be interested to see changes in three months.

Best wishes to you all – fast well!!!

Hi everyone, and welcome to all the Newbies, both Ozzies and Kiwis, and congratulations on your decision to get healthier, and for most of us, to say goodbye to some kilos.

Checking in: now on 2 nd fasting day of week 13, and today I started wearing the next size down in trousers, and bought a t shirt and trousers of the new size. Yay!!

Over the last month or so I’ve been trialling lots of things for what I eat on non- fasting days. So far have worked out that, for me, I need to eliminate all grain based foods, and also, now I know the GF versions are a no- no for me weight wise as well. (I am grain and gluten intolerant- medically diagnosed – except for corn and a small portion of rice). I can cope with my intolerance reactions to some grain food so that I can for eg eat a piece of birthday cake, or a slice of pizza or something with a small amount of pastry, as long as I don’t do it very often( 1/ month ish), but have found that if I eat grain based foods on any days I don’t lose any weight. Over the last fortnight I have checked up on Gluten Free grain foods re weight loss, and the same thing happens i.e. No weight loss. So I’ve sorted that out, and now know what I have to work with.

The reason I’ve gone down this path of checking and rechecking is because I go through periods where I am away from home a lot, and these are the times I usually have something I’m intolerant to, because other people cook, am eating off amenu full of grains, especially lunch menus, or I just plain want to eat something I shouldn’t because it’s there in front of me, whereas at home it’s not. At home I don’t have things I shouldn’t have in the house. Anyway, …..now I have a full list of stuff I know I can and can’t have and still lose the weight.

So here’s my progress:
1st 6 weeks – lost 3.8kgs ( no grains)
Wks 7-12 ( xmas, new year, bread/ grain trial, Gluten Free bread/ grain trial, family birthday) – lost 1.2 kgs.
Total lost is 5 kgs in 12 weeks.

Now I look at it in those terms of 6 week periods, I still managed an average of 200 gms loss through those last 6 weeks of a hodge podge of things going on, so I’m pretty happy with that.:-)

Well done, Merryme, on the smaller clothes. Isn’t the most satisfying thing, to HAVE to go shopping for smaller sizes? 5 kgs in 12 weeks is all in the right direction.

I have just been watching the Christchurch cricket world cup opening ceremony. It should be a great competition – go the Black Caps!!

Coconut, so many people are reporting losses and success on 5:2 that I think we are at the forefront of a revolution. And the health benefits, as you mention, can be massive.

End of a fast day here, must get off to bed as work tomorrow, with drinks and nibbles at the end of the day, but I don’t nibble quite as much as I used to.

Hi and welcome to all,
Great to see so many succeeding with this way of eating.
My scales still the same as last week (at least it didn’t go up). Am 0.5cm down on my waist. Just need to loose 1.4 kg and 2.5cm of waist and 2cm of hips to get back to what I was before Christmas :(.
Will see what next week does.
Have a good weekend and stay safe everyone.
Jane

Hi Aussie
Eating ‘mindfully’ on non fast days does the trick. You don’t have to bog yourself down with calorie counting. Just be aware of what and when you eat. P 🙂

Howdy bron 55, I’d love to have a whole non eat day, but i just can’t sleep on an empty stomach, so i just have the meal’s for tea that i know is within the calories less thinking that way, haha!
Hi Merryme, just wondering if you have ever tried imported grain products from I think Italy or Germany or even organically grown wheat products? The reason why i ask is I’ve been reading a number of stories from both healthcare professionals and people who can’t eat the American based wheat products, as many are gmo or nonorganic (like ours), but when they travel overseas where the wheat isn’t mucked about with, they don’t have any problems. I just thought it was really interesting and it’s spurred me on to make my own organic sourdough bread
Welcome to all the new people and have fun with your new WOL!