Hi everyone, i live on the northern rivers NSW. I’ve been following this site for a few weeks and am so glad everyone is supportive, cheerful and knows what kilos are!

I have been using this way of eating since April ’13 and have gone from an obese 88 kilos down to overweight 77 kilos. ( bmi 32.7 down to 28.6)

Although I have at least another 10 kilos to lose, and have been at a plateau for a couple of months, I’m definitely noticing some remarkable changes in my body.

First thing my husband remarked on was my reduction in snoring, after the first 5 kilos came off. Now I never snore…so that’s a big bonus!

Next thing I noticed was I got my waist back! And since then, my belt has to be done up at the smallest hole! Previously it was on the last hole …. And that, as well as some poor blood glucose results, got me thinking about finally pulling my finger out and doing something about my poor health, before I had to buy bigger clothes and started becoming diabetic.

I noticed by thighs and bum are smaller, and my previously tight jeans now feel really loose. Looks like I might have to go shopping at the op shop for something a little smaller!!!

I think the best thing about being on this relatively easy w.o.e. is that my thirty-year-long bout of irritable bowel syndrome has
apparently disappeared! Yay! I can’t tell you what a wonderful relief it is…and if this would be the only benefit I gained from this w.o.e. I would be a very, very happy woman. I can only think the reason for it working so well in stopping my symptoms, is that I give my g.i tract a good rest and it gets to repair itself.

I used to hate exercise and going to the gym feels too scary, so I found some excellent home exercises on the O mag website, I find them effective and they give me more confidence in using my body, without other people around me passing judgmental comments on all of my wobbly bits. I’m looking forward to seeing what Doc Mike has to say in his new exercise book.

If anyone asked me to give them some tips, I’d say measure yourself before you start ( waist, hips, bum, thighs, neck, arms), weigh yourself and keep your weigh-in once a week at the same time. I’ve noticed I get my lowest weight 2 days after the last fast day….that is Sat morning for me. Keep track of these measurements in a notebook.
Use a food diary and calculate the calories, until you gain confidence about how many calories are in what. I had never dieted before, and calorie counting was something of a mystery.
If a cup of black tea or water isn’t cutting the hunger pains, I like to brush my teeth, as it totally distracts my taste buds and the hunger.
Keeping busy is easier than being bored, that’s when I often eat when I don’t need to, or aren’t even hungry.
I’m looking at this w.o.e. as a permanent part of my life, it is a marathon, not a sprint. I actually enjoy having the fast days, as I don’t need to worry about cooking anything fancy and I let my hubby look after his own food on those days.

I’m looking forward to participating in this forum, I’m so glad there are other Aussies here. All the best for the new year!

Great to hear your success so far Ihaveawaist! You have an inspiring testimony and I am encouraged to persevere for the long haul, Thank you!

I am pleased to announce that I started exercising today. I have just returned from a 4km walk with my DH. He has been trying to get me to walk for over 12 months but I always had an excuse – too tired, too hot, too cold, too wet, you name it I thought of it. I think he’d given up on me and was obviously shocked but pleased that I joined him today and he slowed his pace considerably to accommodate me. I hope I can keep my resolve and continue to exercise regularly, hence my posting this. I need you guys to help keep me accountable. That’s what I love about this forum – the support, encouragement and honest testimonies.

Keep up the good work everyone! Have a great New Year’s Eve!!

Hi new to groups so may have posted on wrong site. I live in Perth, really ready to start this. I am 69 and it is do this now or never. I would like to lose 20 kgs, biggest problem I think is knowing what 500 calories would look like. I believe a new recipe book is coming soon.i would appreciate any help, thank you.

Have you got the book? It has menu and with photos so you can see exactly what 500 calls looks like. Personally I tend to stick to much the sAme on my fast days as I have a ft job and not much time for creative cooking. So I have 3-4 breakfast options to choose from but for dinner I always have grilled fish and steamed veges – different fish and different veg each time.
Grilled fish with lemon juice and steamed broccoli and carrot taste delicious at the end of a fast!

Hi Mikayla, you and I are on a similar mission I think. I am 68 and looking to lose 20kg (although they tell me I should lose 30kg!!..That might have looked OK when I was 48 but probably not at 68:D) I’m new to this way of eating and to this forum too, having started the Fast plan at the end of November and joining this site a couple of weeks ago. I have had a few hiccups over the Christmas break and another challenge tomorrow, but will Fast again on Thursday and probably Saturday and hopefully that will see me on the way again. Good luck, keep us posted on your progress! Oh yes, my name is Jill and I live in northwest NSW where we are currently gearing up for a big festival:)

Happy First Day for 2014….being a non-drinker the morning is clear and wonderful….made our usual skim nespresso 150ml at 6:30 and in bed reading posts from all over.
Had to fly to Jindabyne yesterday and after enjoying some sliced Rockmelon on the way down with a slurp of water had to get some fuel for the borrowed vehicle…..and bought 2 x Cornettos at the Servo……how can we justify a 230 calorie treat v’s 4x nice bowls/cups of home made Vegetable Soup ?…..we continue to learn the process of change in the what we should or should not pop into our mouths !
The purchase of 2x Paddle Pops would have been smarter and way less calories at 78 !!!
My half an extra KG is gone so my average weekly calories around 1200 net per day is working perfectly without any hunger issues….my wife is to be blessed for maintaining the discipline…..but maybe she should pay for the fuel !!!

Hi Southerners, I live in country Victoria near the Murray river. I saw the Eat Fast doco in November and started the next day. Since then to Saturday 28th of December I have lost 8.1kg, but due to bad family history of cancer and type 2diabetiesI still have a long way to go. I am 53 years young and since starting on this WOE/L I have reduced my snoring and have lots more energy. I have spent the past few days reading all your posts and feel even more energised. Today NewYears Day I began exercising by spending 30 minutes on my exercise bike. I too fast on Mondays and Thursdays and have a very supportive husband that does not need to loose any weight, plus a friend that is also doing this so we can help each other. Here’s to a lighter 2014. Charlie G

Thanks so much for all the encouragement and advice. I have not been able to fast yet but am doing my first one tomorrow. I am new to groups so having trouble finding Help! All ladies of a certain age etc. Will have another look Vicki.
Does anyone fast more than 2 days a week?
I am ready for the big adventure. Wish me luck.

Welcome Charlie G and congrats on that terrific weight loss. I have a lot to lose too but have only just started on this plan (end of Nov). the weight is not falling off (and some came back on again over the Christmas period) but I feel good about myself when I put myself back in the driver’s seat and gain control again. So onward and downward for me in 2014!

Oops, I linked the last page (and my last post) but you can navigate back as far as you want via the page number links. Hope that helps!

Thanks for the encouragement and advice, I just cannot believe that this is so good for us all. To all of those who are fasting today Good Luck and keep up the good work. Charlie

Well done! It feels great to realize that eating in this way won’t make you ‘run a mock in a cake shop’, to quote doc Mosley.

I’m coming up to my eighth month doing this and I enjoy the strange kind of mastery this w.o.e. gives me, I’m going to start weighing myself on sat mornings, as last week I saw an extra .5 kilo shed then. There seems to be a delayed effect for the 48 hours after fasting, so I’ll tell you what happens tomorrow. This morning’s weigh-in remained the same as this time last fri, so it appears as a plateau, but my waist has gone down 2 cm! So YAY!!

Hope everyone had a lovely new year celebration and now it’s time to get used to writing ’14 instead of ’13.

Jaybee68, you must be near Brisbane, like me. It was 39 degrees on our outdoor thermometer today, and that was in the shade. As I just said on the LOACA forum, I’m not looking forward to my weigh-in tomorrow after New Year excesses and continuing to eat Christmas left-overs. Normally, I do find Saturday the best day to weigh myself. I used to do Tuesday, but found that results were better after the Thursday fast. Charlie G, you must be fit to do 30 minutes on your exercise bike. I can barely do 20 minutes. This morning I managed 5 minutes and felt too hot to do more (no air con in our garage where the bike is set up). I only use it on weekends, usually, when I don’t go for a walk. If anyone is interested in some low-calorie recipes for Australian conditions, I have found a great blog called “The Paddington Foodie” (the lady lives in Sydney, not Paddington in Brisbane) and has been doing the 5:2 way of eating for a few months:
http://thepaddingtonfoodie.com/the-5-2-challenge/

Ooooh Gomarg, I’m like you and have been a bit lax over the past week, but am looking forward to my Saturday weigh in.

We walk the beach with the dog for 5km, once a week, but it’s not often enough!
Maybe that will be a New year ‘resolution’!

It was 35 here at Bribie, with a sea breeze and we did nothing but loll in the pool when we felt the urge!
I never thought I would say that it was too hot to eat!
Tomorrow looks like being even hotter, so food will be the least thing on my mind!

Hi all and greetings from northern NSW, and hour or so north of Jaybee68 🙂

I’ve been doing 5:2 fasting since 8th November, so not quite 2 months yet. So far, I’ve said goodbye to 5 kilos with great pleasure. I’m well into the obese range of the BMI, though, so there’s another 25 kilos that I’d like to see go. (I’d still be overweight at that, according to BMI, but I don’t hold the BMI that highly!)

I’m 51, and some medical issues from 2008-2011 really limited my exercise (an unexploded aneurism in my head…) but brain surgery 3 years ago finally dealt with that. I’ve been trying to lose weight since then through diet and gentle exercise but without much success, until I started 5:2 fasting. So I’m motivated by the results so far and committed to keeping it up!

It was 39 here today, which is unusual for us on top of the mountains, and the reason I live here is because I don’t like heat! I have to confess to going a little over my 500 calories today, for the first time since I started 2 months ago – I gave in to the temptation of a mini Magnum icecream in the afternoon heat. Perhaps we can regard that as ‘medicinal’?

Oh my!!! We have been travelling since 28 th nov, now we are in Los Angeles, heading to salt lake this afternoon, we get back 15 th jan after Disneyland and Fiji, . We have been everywhere,..and that 7 kilos I lost before taking the family ( 5 kids) away, I think has found it’s way back..or at least some of those kilos are now found!
But it is all good, we have had a fantastic time, and still got 2 weeks to go, so not stressing cos now I KNoW how to lose weight.
I haven’t been on scales…but I can feel rolls.
We were in Kent, uk, for Christmas…where the storms were, the flooding was terrible. Of course I had to eat quality street…

Re the scales…lighter 2 days after a fast
YES me too…I found another half kilo usually off 2 days later, not the next day as much…maybe only 200 grams, so if that is happening, weigh 2 days after a fast each week.

I am quietly looking forward to having veg again and being ‘ in control’ 2 days a week
The French are not big veg/ salad eaters. They like their meat and their patisseries!
But no one is fat, ( they all smoke though) so maybe the 10 choc au pain I was having was a good thing….

Happy new year everyone !! May 2014 be the year we all get to a weight our bodies need and require and we feed them the things they want. Roll on a healthier dec 2014

Hi Everyone! I’m new to posting on the forum, but have been reading for a few weeks now.
I live in Lake Macquarie on the east coast of NSW. I am 35yrs old and have been following this WOE since the end of October. I was just going to give it a try for a month, but now I am addicted. I spent December doing 4:3 with the aim of being under 70kg by Christmas Day. 69.8kg on Christmas morning, its the lightest I’ve been in about 15yrs.
I am looking forward to continuing this year and reaching my goal, somewhere in between 65 and 60. I am only 157cm tall!
All your stories are so inspiring. I often find a big smile spreading across my face as I read thru. Keep up all your hard work this year, we will all achieve our dreams in the end.
Happy Fasting
Dayna

Hi all and welcome to those recently joined. After 44+ degrees yesterday, we are having a reprieve of 36 today (ha). Last week I thought 36 was beyond a joke…had I but known what was in store.

Sadly my first weigh in after Christmas showed me what I feared…almost a kg back on…serves me right:( Back on track again now and fasting today and Tuesday to try to start downwards again…

Hey there Charlie,
I agree that we all need to take notice of the small changes in our bodies, rather than relying on the weight measurements alone.

As a good example, this morning after my cold shower ( due to the crazy heat) I looked in the mirror and was shocked that there’s a gap forming between my inner thighs, and that my knees aren’t as ‘blobby’any more, they seem to have somehow toned up around the top of my patella! Here’s hoping that I’m not hallucinating…if this good change in my legs and knees keeps up, I might even try wearing shorter shorts some time before Easter!!!

I looked up the paddingtonfoodie website and it really is wonderful, plenty of inspirational food and yummy pics, great instructions on how to make things like homemade yogurt, which I’m planning to try!

Didn’t you know Dumpling? It’s all part of our plan for hobbit world domination….we’re only STARTING in Aus ; )

Hi Peter and Helen, my fitness pal makes things much easier. I have three friends who also use it and I have opened up my data so they can see it….helps keep you honest!
Cass

Good luck! I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you. I have my 2nd fast day today…..offsite workshops, my birthday and two festival of Sydney events next week so getting it in while I can! Feeling really good, I noticed I didn’t want to eat as much on my my non fast day yesterday…..amazing how quickly your body adjusts!

Hello c_j_l, Dayna05 and other fellow hobbits! Actually, at 163 cm, I might just qualify as a Middle-Earth dwarf (I do have small size 7 feet!). Hello Aussienow, Jaybee68, bronwyn and ihaveawaist! How are you all coping today in the fires of Mordor? It reached 43 degrees outside in the shade here today, but, unlike you, Aussienow, the hot weather doesn’t put me off my food. Only severe illness does that and I can only remember a couple of instances in the last 40 years. As I suspected, I had a gain at today’s weigh-in (0.3 kg). I am not deterred, as I know I will be able to get on track again next week. The mince pies and rum balls are nearly gone now and the extreme hot weather should be gone by Monday so that I can start walking again. Enjoy your celebrations tonight and tomorrow, Charlie G. That’s the beauty of intermittent fasting – you don’t have to miss out on the good things in life for the other 5 days of the week, unlike on other low-calorie diets. You deserve to kick up your heels this weekend, Charlie G, with all the work you do in your tough farming lifestyle. What a great time you must be having on your extended holiday, dumpling! Apparently, the French are not all as thin as they used to be, now that they have welcomed “Les McDonalds” into their country! I’ve heard that French women shop for fresh produce at their local markets each day, so they do a lot of walking (and stair-climbing if they live in apartments) and maybe having dinner late at 9.00 pm is like having a short fast daily.

@gomarg
” Apparently, the French are not all as thin as they used to be, now that they have welcomed “Les McDonalds” into their country! ”

So they are humans, after all, succumbing to the marketing messages.

They were good mythical role models for a long time.

Actually, I thought they invented fasting a long time ago, although it was involuntary fasting.

➰

Congrats on the weight loss prc! And I hope you recover quickly from your hospital stay.
I’m glad it’s cooler here today, I can start feeling normal again. Looking forward to fasting tomorrow!