@jilly34, I’m so sorry you’ve had to go through this. Be gentle and patient with yourself and your body–it has taken care of you and successfully brought you through your cancer. I believe our bodies want to live and do seek health. Have you talked to your doctor about your low energy and down mood? It is possible that you’re just feeling the effects of what you’ve been through, but could it possibly be a medication that you’re taking? Or not sleeping well? They may be able to offer good advice based on your situation. Very best wishes, 🙂

Welcome back, Binks. So sorry about your bereavement! 100 lbs. is a lot of weight but on this diet I think you can do it. I am pleased I found it! It works. Occasionally, when I gain, I always know it’s my fault and I have to be more careful. I always plan my meals ahead of time and that really helps me keep on track. Some how exercise also helps me keep on track. When I exercise, I seem to find 5:2 easier. It’s something tangible I think! Anyway, I wish you the best of luck!

Patiger: Welcome back! I saw on the April Challenge board that it isn’t unusual to fast and that not see an immediate drop, even for people doing B2B2B fasts. They talk of having a whoosh after a few days later when suddenly the weight on the scale disappears. That might be happening to you, too. I wish you the very best!

@patiger, welcome back! I have to believe it’s going to make a dent in the weight. I know my scale is so erratic at times, but keep the faith, it can only go down if you’re eating healthy on NFD.

@binks, welcome back too! I’m adding my well wishes to ccco’s. I’m sorry about your loss. Good for you for taking care of yourself and focusing on your health!

Hi all.Coming back to 5:2 was the best move! You really need to be in the right head space, hey. Last year was impossible! I managed to do two good fast days, and walked a lot. I also think I feel better about food choices when I exercise, as I don’t want to undo the good work. I was really happy to see 1.2kg down on the scales today! Early days, but nice to be back in control again!

Hello ladies of a certain age! Have just read and been inspired by your posts. Thank you for your inspirational advise. I am 64, and have tried previously to loose weight with well known slimming groups but failed to maintain once i reached target. I saw a friend recently who looked fabulous and slim. I asked her what was she doing because she was transformed. She said she felt great, been doing 5-2 for 3 months and couldnt praise it, as a lifestyle, enough. So, here i am, 1 week in, and pleased with a 2lbs weight loss. Will keep reading your post to keep me on track. Well done on your successes!

@onlyhermes – Thanks for your reply. It’s true that I’m not very gentle with myself but I’ve lost all self-esteem since having the cancer. It hit me hard and really has aged me. I haven’t slept well in months – can’t remember the last time I had a decent nights sleep and the daily hormone tablet I have to take gives me hot sweats and painful joints. The excess weight that I’m carrying doesn’t help my joints of course. I’m going to try a FD today and not eat anything. I do drink tea with a little milk on my FD’s and some fizzy water but that’s all. Let’s see how I get on…..

I can’t really say if the milk in my tea has any effect as I’ve been doing FD’s like this since I started the diet. I know that it means I have some calorie intake on FD’s but it’s so minimal that I find I lose about 1kg per FD, until I start to plateau. Yesterday’s FD was tough. I took a pill and went to bed early(to avoid eating) but I slept for an hour and I’ve been tossing and turning for most of the night. So it’s now 5.07 in the morning and I’m up…….drinking tea!!

Emma, I will NEVER give up cheese! 🙂
Jilly: I, too, use milk in my tea. I remember Dr. Mosley saying that he does as well. I think it’s fine. I confess that I use sugar in the first cup of the day. I know I shouldn’t, but I try to use half of what I would usually use. I do not have anything else the rest of the day except water or unsweetened tea. In the evening I have my 500 calories. After my blood work showed that my cholesterol and triglycerides improved tremendously after 12 weeks, I didn’t really see the harm in it. There’s something about that first cup of the day!

So nice to see familiar names back on the thread. And to welcome some newcomers.

CSLB, I’m with you on cheese!
Jilly, the milk in the tea is not a problem. Not enough calories.
Lindanaf, cholesterol is affected by saturated fat. Cheese in moderation shouldn’t be a problem.

Fiber is good, but for gut health pulverized greens are a good solution — especially as we age. The SAD [standard american diet/western diet] starves the gut flora. I have come up with a way to improve transit without excessive fiber and I call it Green Milk. Every Slow Day, I put 1/2 cup milk, 1 oz salad greens, 1 oz apple [with skin], and 1/2 oz date in the blender and whizz it up until there are no visible bits. Then I add another 1/2 cup of milk and ‘stir’ it on low power. It is delicious and it works. Also gives me a healthy amount of Calcium. Very filling.
Breakfast today = Smoked Salmon/Green Onion Scrambled Eggs with mango on the side.
Dinner tonight = Steak Salad containing asparagus, green beans, mango, and lettuce.

Hi!
I’m in B.C., Canada. I’m 55+ and I had such a bad menopause that I went on HRT for a few years. I’m just coming off it slowly, now.

Any other menopausal ladies who’ve been on HRT? Did it impact your weight loss?

I’m just starting 5:2 and am hopeful. I lost one pound, but probably will put it back on again this weekend with the various food events lined up.

Hello, Di, and welcome to Fasting. I can’t give you any advice on the HrT or severe responses to menopause as I was luck enough to by-pass those issues. If you can get ahold of a Tincture of Motherwort [herb: Leonuris cardiaca] you may find that it helps you. I make my own, since the herb grows wild in my yard here in New Hampshire, USA. 10-15 drops/day in 8+ oz water ought to minimize your symptoms.
Good luck.

Fasting today: Cornmeal stars with yogurt and fruit for breakfast. For dinner, chicken and chickpeas in puttanesca sauce with asparagus.

What are you eating? Hope you each had a good weekend. We got a lot of yard work done before the rains of yesterday.

Hi, anyone there? If not I’ll just talk to myself. I’m not doing very well this time around. I’m seriously thinking of seeing a naturapath about this stupid bowel problem. Of course I’m not going to lose weight if I don’t eliminate!! And I don’t want to get addicted to laxatives. I eat really healthy and drink water , take acv etc…
Any way, have a nice day.

Hi ladies! 55 in two months and had gotten to my highest weight which was 150 lbs (I’m just 5’3”) and I honestly felt sick. I always put 128 lbs as my goal weight, which always seems more aspirational than attainable. I started back up the 5:2 after flirting with other diets in January. I did 5:2 all month with a guessed 1700 calorie: 500 calories nonfast to fast ratio. I didn’t lose a pound! That was so discouraging because it wasn’t exactly easy and I wanted to give up, but I came back to this forum and read about two things that changed everything: TDEE and every other day fasting. My TDEE was actually 1400 and so I adjusted that and went down to 400 cals on fasting days. It started to work slowly- I dropped two pounds the first week (yay) but then only one pound the next week) I decided I wanted faster results so moved to doing the fast every other day. I saw major results. I am now at 128lbs in May. Other than dealing with actual hunger the first month (it got much better for me as my body adjusted) the psychological adjustment was the biggest shift. I had to just get over feeling sorry for myself or comparing how much I could eat to my husband. It is what it is, as they say. Keep working- it will pay off and if it doesn’t I would recommend seeing a doctor because there may be a thyroid problem or other physiological block. The hard part now is maintenance, which I plan on fasting a day or two a week. Good luck!

Thank you fasting-me! I’ll google it first as my Dr has left and I don’t have a new one yet. (They don’t hang around long these days!)
Hi spunk town, I also have been thinking seriously about ADF, as I am such a slow loser! You have done well! My hubby is skinny and eats anything and everything and never puts on weight! He sometimes apologises to me when I get so fed up and miserable 🙂 Our bodies are all so different.
Cheers, happy weekend.

Hey there, fatteacher — I remember you! You had done realy well on 5:2 to get ready for a vacation…. then what happened? You did this before! You can do it again! keep your eyes on the prize.

This is a good meal:
Fish Tacos: 266 calories 2.6 g fat 3.6 g fiber 23 g protein 37 g carbs 118 mg Calcium PB The food truck staple is now available for a Fast Day. Add more spices to suit your taste.
two 6” corn tortillas 3 oz cooked fish HINT: next time you grill or broil fish, cook an extra 3 oz for this recipe. Wrap it and label and store in freezer until needed. ½ cup tomato, cubed ½ cup cabbage, chopped 1 oz red onion, sliced 1 Tbsp lime juice or salsa verde [Herdez brand is good] pinch chili powder pinch cumin 1.5 Tbsp plain yogurt
Combine the cabbage, tomato, and onion in a bowl with the lime juice and spices. Heat a large griddle or cast iron pan and put the tortillas in it until they are warm, pliable, and beginning to brown. Remove to your plate. Spread the tortillas with the yogurt. Divide the fish between the tortillas and add a splash of lime juice or salsa verde. Top with the vegetable slaw. If there is too much slaw to fit into the tortillas, serve it on the side. What a simple summer dish!

fatteacher: I am quite a bit older than you but like you, I only have a small amount of weight to lose. Fortunately, I love to exercise and do personal training and yoga. Don’t let those 8 lbs. dictate your life or you will make it way to hard to lose those 8 lbs. A small amount of weight is harder to lose than a large amount. It will go more slowly. I recommend low carb ( by that I mean veggies low on the glycemic index), protein, and good fats (measure the fats carefully as they are high in calories but well help you lose. I do a 24 hour water fast every now and then, stick to 5:2 protocol of eating healthy food on NFDs and 500 calories on FDs (except when I do the 24 hour water fast), and I exercise. I also recommend you find your TDEE on this website and don’t go over it. I use my TDEE for the weight I want to be rather than the weight I am. I don’t want to risk being in maintenance! …And I exercise! It makes me feel so good. Join the June Challenge for daily support and advice, if you think it will help you. Lots of people here will be there for you!

I do not know if I’m peri-menopausal yet, but I’m certainly in the age range. After I turned 40, my weight started creeping up by about 5 lbs (2 kg) a year. Then about 2 years ago, I went through such a stressful period that I gained 20-30 lbs (15 kg) in 1 year! I’ve never been overweight before. I don’t have a fast metabolism – I just never really ate that much. I also used to train for half-marathons during the summers to take off any winter weight (usually 5-10 lbs).

I tried calorie reduction for about six months, and that didn’t work. I also grew really tired of such limited eating, and I didn’t have the time to exercise it all off like I used to. So I’ve been doing 4:3 for the past 5 months, and I’m pleased to say that I’ve lost a solid 15 – 20 lbs (6-9 kg)! 4:3 is a bit more extreme than 5:2 but right now with my desk job, I’m extremely sedentary. It isn’t as hard to do now that I’m used to it.

This weight loss journey has been really interesting. I often don’t see much weight loss for 2-4 weeks at a time, and usually during that time the scale will go all the way back up by 4 lbs! Then I will enter into a phase where my body seems really angry at me for about 1-2 days. This period is quite miserable because it’s usually accompanied by headaches and exhaustion. After the phase is over though, I will have dropped 5-6 lbs, and the weight stays off. Anyone else experience this?

One thing I do during my feed days is lengthen the amount of time my body is in ketosis by spending the last half the day eating a very low amount of carbs. Ketosis is where your body is burning fat for fuel, not glycogen or protein, and is also how your body produces fuel during fasting. I also limit my 500-600 calories on fast days to keto diet foods only (low carb veggies, cheese, plain yogurt, meats). I believe this helps a lot. I also have a hard time eating a lot on feed days since I’m fasting a lot. I’m considering going on a 3-4 day water fast. I read some research that concluded extended fasts can increase base metabolism by up to 13%. Fasting for that length of time is a bit scary to me, so I want life to slow down for a bit before I try that.

At any rate, once I reach my goal weight I plan to experiment with eating a bit more regularly. I suspect from here on out, I will have to do some form of intermittent fasting to stay within a normal weight, due to a slower metabolism.

Hey ladies, I have been trying to lose weight by exercising and going to the gym,
but it’s tough. I have not seen much results. I know I need to change
my diet and eat better. I am not ready to try an expensive drug for
weight loss. I’m interested to learn more about the proper foods I need
to eat, and might even try fasting. Can eating the right foods really have
that big of an effect on weight loss, even without the exercise? I just read
this article: about it: https://byeoverweightcom.wordpress.com./
Does this actually work? I don’t want to live like this anymore.
Any advice on that article? There’s so much misinformation out there.

YES!! This really does work, Anna. 20 years ago, my husband decided to do something about his weight. He tried counting calories, reducing fat, but he couldn’t stick with it. 5 years ago he heard about Fasting from watching the TV show “Eat, Fast, Live”, bought the book and we were Fasting the following week. He lost 45 pounds and we are still Fasting twice/week. No expensive supplements or drugs to purchase, simply sensible eating.
Start Monday. Plan what to eat, buy the ingredients, drink lots of water, distract yourself, eat two meals of 300 calories or less. You will lose weight. What you eat on Slow days matters too. If you eat what you call ‘the right foods’ on Slow Days, then you should lose weight.

Here are some suggestions:
Cheesy-Bake: 256 calories 4.6 g fat 6.2 g fiber 12.1 g protein 40 g carbs 267 mg Calcium PB GF This is the baked version of a cheese omelette that thinks that it is a cheese souffle! Delicious.
One 2-oz egg 1/2 oz cheddar cheese, grated 1 Tbsp reduced fat ricotta cheese 1/2 c raspberries [When I use frozen fruit, I portion it into its dish the night before, so it will be thawed by morning] 1 oz apple, sliced blackish coffee or blackish tea or lemon juice & hot water, 5-6 oz fruit smoothie or natural apple cider
Spritz a ramekin with olive oil or non-stick spray. Set the toaster oven at 350 degrees F. Stir the two cheeses together with a fork until blended and whisk with the egg. Without waiting, pour into the ramekin and bake for 12-15 minutes, until puffed and beginning to brown. Prepare the fruit and beverages and enjoy a cheesy start to your day.

Salade Nicoise: 283 calories 16 g fat 3 g fiber 22.5 g protein 12.7 g carbs 198.3 mg Calcium PB GF HINT: If you plan ahead a bit, this meal goes together in minutes. A few days before, eat a meal of baked or grilled salmon and green beans. Prepare 3 oz more salmon than you’ll need for that meal and save it for this meal. Cooked salmon freezes well, just leave enough time to thaw it thoroughly. Also cook an extra bit of green beans and save them in the ‘fridge.
DRESSING: 1 tsp white wine vinegar + 1.5 tsp olive oil 3 leaves of romain, medium-sized 3 oz cooked salmon 3 oz green beans, cooked and cooled 2 black olives ½ hard-boiled egg 5 cherry tomatoes
Whisk the oil and vinegar in a wide shallow bowl. Add the beans and turn them to coat with dressing. Remove to another plate. Coarsely chop the lettuce and toss with dressing. Place the salmon in the center of the salad. Surround it with the remaining ingredients. A wonderful meal in no time flat.

Quesadillas : 295 cal 9 g. fat 2.7 g fiber 18.8 g protein 31.4 g carb 211.5 mg Calcium GF These are great. And you can prepare them ahead, wrap in foil, and grill them later. Thanks to S.M. for that tip.
2 six-inch corn tortillas HINT: Read the package! Make sure that each tortillas is 65 calories each or less. ¾ oz monterey jack cheese, grated 2 Tbsp non-fat cottage cheese, drained 2 Tbsp tomato salsa – drain it if it is very liquid large pinch Mexican oregano 1 oz [¼ cup] cooked shredded chicken breast 2 oz broccoli, steamed OR 1 cup salad tossed with the drained liquid from the salsa and cottage cheese
Heat a cast iron skillet and warm the tortillas on both sides until they are warm, pliant, and beginning to brown in spots. Remove and keep warm in a tea towel. Combine the cheeses, salsa, and oregano. Spoon half of the cheese mixture on each tortilla, then top with shredded cheese. Cook the broccoli. Fold over the tortillas and cook on both sides in the hot skillet until hot and toasty and melty. TIP: I sometimes need to put something on top of the folded tortillas to keep them folded as they begin to cook. No problem after they are flipped.

Good luck.

@helper1. Why not try 5:2? Im not sure that the magical red tea will actually work. It might make your wallet lighter?

Vin, I do hear what you are saying, but a pound a day is excessive. Working out is not the key to weight loss, although it is good for toning and maintaining muscles. The better route is calorie reduction, which is the key to Fasting. I wonder what metabolic mayhem the tea is creating in the body that promotes such a dramatic weight loss… Does not sound healthy. I know you think this is great, but the concept worries me.
Good luck to your mother.

@vin7. Good luck with the magic red tea potion. By all means please report back on the progress you have with it. 5:2 also works and costs nothing.

@thin. You mean its not a genuine magic potion to make you lose weight? Who would have guessed??