This topic contains 7,289 replies, has 660 voices, and was last updated by Opal Shine 12 months ago.
BTW — it is 3:00pm where I live. It appears as 8:00pm on the post. It certainly appears as if I’m working late! I did want to mention my Scottish heritage, [MacGregors, Argyllshire]. I know my country is relatively young and Americans bore you with our ‘heritage’ talk/obsessions. N.Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales hold special places in my heart.
Good morning/afternoon/night Ladies. I’m starting my first fast today having speed read The Book after it arrived by post on Monday. A while ago my Dr told me my blood sugar was too high so I must cut out sugar for 2 months (over Christmas) and get retested. My blood sugar dropped back to acceptable and I’d lost 3 kg which seem to have sneaked back on over the past 18 months and I know cutting out sugar for the rest of my life is not an option. I kept a healthy weight all my life till my late 50s when the 1-2 kg I put on each winter (keeping warm by the fire, reading books and drinking coffee) failed to come off completely, and in following years failed to come off at all, in the summer months. At one time I had a diagnosis of Hashimoto’s disease but my thyroid levels seemed to have returned to normal without medication. So now I’d like to drop 5kg approx. and get into my (non-stretchy) denim wool jeans without having a struggle to zip them up.
The morning so far has been distracting and I hope when I’m at work this afternoon I’ll be so busy the time will fly… time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana.
It’s been helpful and inspiring to read the comments in this thread.
Onwards and downwards
VM
Hi All,
I am so pleased – but firstly many thanks for your kind e-mail links – they are certainly supportive.
I have lost 4 lbs in my first 2 days – so now I must try and eat normally and not overeat.
I do know that a lot of it might be fluid – but at least it is a start and it is always good to see a loss on the scales. I am going to weigh myself on Monday mornings – start of the 2 day fast, and then on Wed morning, end of the fast – that way I should be able to monitor the loss correctly.
I do realise that this 5:2 eating guide didn’t start out as a diet, but that is how it is being marketed now – and of course any health benefits will be gratefully received!!
Keep on – good luck to all.
xx
Hi
So at the end of my first week, after a very promising start I have lost 1 pound. Not all went to plan, being suddenly invited to an impromptu BBQ on my second fast day was not ideal (good party though) and then falling for the irresistible charms of a Domino’s Pizza didn’t help either !!!!!
Oh well back to the grind stone there is always another day to fast……
Good Morning All,
Thanks PVE!-I know the challenge as far as having a lower TDEE, but I’m doing okay. I don’t expect 2 lbs a week or any quick fix..I’m happy plugging along. At 58, I’m hoping it’s giving my skin time to catch up! I remember a quote from Barbara Cartland (oh, groan…remember we were all young once!) that as you age (and she looked ancient) you choose your face or your body. I choose both, as much as possible.
JIP- rub it in! There are sparse replies on “special awards”. For the people doing lbs. or stones.. I’m calling it the Magical Milestone Marker, just to myself. Can’t see that translating into kg, but I’m staving off “Old timers” by all this math.
Tomorrow is weigh in day- just kidding, everyday is weigh in day for me- but Friday is the one that counts.
Hi again PBB, I found my missing thread, give me more time I will come up with some more award names. But like you said on some other threads getting this weight off with 5-2 is it’s own reward. I was well and truly stuck until I found this book and your thread and others keep us going. I don’t think I sound quite as welshy as hi.di. hi, but I know I that as soon as I open my mouth on holidays anywhere people say what part of Wales are you from then? I am very sorry to say I don’t speak welsh but I am very proud to be welsh. I love rugby (that’s the funny shape ball ) in case anyone doesn’t know Heheheh! I love my outdoor bowls. It’s very lucky too that I like dieting not sure if I mean that but I have been doing it since I was 16 when my attempt then was a plate of Birds Eyes peas with a knob of butter when I got home from work. I weighed about a stone lighter than I am now. If only I could go back and give my sixteen year old self a good talking to. Heheh. Keep well and keep fasting. JIP
I am well into the certain age bracket & also find it hard to lose weight….
I’ve just returned to 5.2 fasting & realise that you still have to be careful what you eat on the 5 days & stick to your TDEE or less if you want to lose weight.
I walk or swim or both for at least 30 minutes a day .. I think thats essential to shift the lbs
Just eat a healthy diet…. with not too many ‘ naughties’ > Hope this helps .
Annie
Hi girls (and boys)
Still having a marvellous holiday! As long as I can get my Size 9 jeans done up, I am ok. Trying to choose low carb meals, but have fallen for scrumptious bread in a few places. Cooking myself egg and smoked salmon each morning, had lovely spicy lentil and tomato soup yesterday for lunch, but about 3 times the quantity I should have had 🙁 The crispy goat with fetta and walnuts last night was unbelievable, in a cosy Irish-style pub.
Meeting up with an old schoolfriend for lunch. Haven’t seen her for 26 years… should be interesting. I think I scrub up ok. Spent ages with the makeup!
Thanks for the lavender hint on dry eye. I’ll give it a go when I get home.
I am wearing my award proudly, Precious. I like the idea of just random awards for anything (eg jeans falling down). I think the gains from 5:2 eating have their own intrinsic rewards. (besides the obvious health gains such as diabetes, there’s smaller new clothes, ease of movement, saving money on food, a more flexible body for CERTAIN things, a new light weight partner – if you are both doing the fasting- to bring back memories of your earlier relationship, if you know what I mean 😉 and being able to romp around the house again naked as the bod looks SO much better…. Don’t do this if you still have kids at home though)
As to your skin catching up…it DOES seem to. Our skin seems to be reducing down to our new sizes and we have VERY different skin types. I find I use all over body moisturiser to help the process.
Re Bank holiday. We have it, but only for financial businesses. The rest of us have to wait for proper public holidays.
Precious, as a girl with Scottish heritage, I love visiting Scotland, but now understand what the highland clearances were about. It was the pesky summer midges that actually drove people to emigrate!
Ah, Scotland. I can’t wait to visit again…..
Cheers to all, PVE
Hi PBB and co, I am up todate with threads now, Well done Piper in the MMM award. I am after it. LOL
I am disappointed that the name PBB was for your dog, I had a picture of it being the name your hubby calls you. LOL.
I am now heading for piper’s awards MMM. I have 2 lb to get to WW goal and a few more to get into the 9’s so watch this space. I am fasting today and doing a back to back tomorrow, because I am out all day from 8am until late on Sunday playing bowls and food is provided so I can not miss out on that, can I? I will also do a fast day on Monday for WW on Tuesday and I am only going to weigh myself at home after fasting because the scales are moving up and down over a week.
Happy fasting. JIP
well it’s Friday…140.6. wrong direction but in the ballpark. I’m still feeling good about it because I bounce between usually a couple lbs. in a week, sometimes even in one day…
I had a candy bar yesterday and it really disagreed with me. I don’t normally have much sugar, not none but it’s becoming a rarity. I don’t add it to cereals or drinks…I could see my belly was swollen and tight and the measurement was up 2 inches on the waist, which is gone today. I’m becoming a lot more aware of how different foods affect me.
Hi All…
I’m also that certain age!! And the weight is harder to shift by far despite eating less.
I did the 5:2 and apart from the a few pounds the first week – nothing else. So I have now switched to Alternate Day Fasting… its easier in the sense that I can’t now procrastinate on which 2 days to fast, and a further tweak has been to only have the one evening meal – this stops obsessing about food – and I plan in the morning what that evening is to be. Just seen recently one called the DODO diet – day on and day off – same as the ADF, but another tip was instead of calorie counting on the fast day, just have a palm size piece of protein, 2 handfuls of veggies/salad and a dash of oil for the meal. It all adds up to less obsession, regular weight loss and feeling good.
Hope this helps in any way :-)) Good luck to all x
Hi Piper! Yes sitting here waiting for the delivery. They have 35 minutes still to be inside the time. I’m debating if I should phone and check – otherwise it will be next Monday! 🙁 But I expect they will be here.
I have never bought something so problematic before I think. The original order with another company went wrong is about 10 ways and I still haven’t got my money back from them – because although I can pay them in a couple of hours via my bank, even if they messed up big time and couldn’t supply, it is still taking them 6 working says to refund me!
Yes next Wednesday, so far I’m not too nervous. We’ll see how it goes. 🙂
It’s so true how different foods have huge effects. But also that you can be effectively addicted to foods that make you feel bad! Crazy but I have that with bread.
I’ve not been fasting since I’ve been kindey stoning! And have gone back to eating bread even though it makes me feel full and bloated. I sometimes wonder if I really am sentient!!! I know it, I anticipate the bloated feeling yet still buy it and eat it.
But my plan is after Wednesday + a week or so recovery to get back to fasting and that lovely, lovely feeling of control. xx
Well Precious, I like to include the “boys” as I know my boy enjoys hearing all the comments and without him I probably wouldn’t stay on the straight and narrow… he also leads me astray at times too!
With my husband’s incredible success re Type 2 diabetes within weeks of starting, I have to thank him for my commitment to the cause. So, I think we need to recognise that LOACA still need members of the opposite sex!
I also congratulate you PBB on your constant positive individual responses to your followers. Brilliant! You deserve a star, too!
Cheers
PVE
Indeed Precious. It has bee a quiet 24 hours.
Sadly our holiday finishes this afternoon. Back to reality. It was Mothers Day over here yesterday and, despite being Autumn and our secret location being closer to the South Pole, the sun shone, the leaves were magical hues and all was right with the world.
Back to a couple of fast days Tuesday and Thursday to keep the clothes fitting.
We have found by staying in an apartment we were able to prepare 2 out of three of our meals while away, so were able to avoid too much in the way of carby/fatty food you tend to be served in cafes. Having fruit, eggs, smoked salmon and the makings of salad (plus the wine bottles and some delicious blue cheese, used sparingly) kept us more than happy.
Will let you know how we fared re the scales!!
Cheers PVE
PreciousBooBoo
Start with the Mark Starr and the Dr Brownstein books.
Also there are some online webinars on now – think they are free been too crazed to join in yet however getting bits and bobs of the fall out from different bloggers.
Like this below for instance.
The site is thethyroidsessions.com/access – haven’t gone there as I said.
And putting this below as it is important I believe re exercise – some schedules I see here seem a bit harsh and could interrupt the body’s already fragile LOACA balance. Now I weigh everyday and see the value of my exercise so clearly so I know it is important for me personally to keep up a certain level of this. I am mad for tennis and is usually when I get my biggest drop and yet it never feels like hard graft. The 10 minute daily rebounder sessions also are important as not been able to do it with dodgy ankle and it shows! Then some yoga stretching or one 20 min exercise video I have which I love as it is very stretchy and using body weight – so looks like the balance I seek may just be on the horizon. The last bit was the FD.
I don’t eat till lunch, just coffee with cream in the morning – even if I have a morning tennis lesson – this is the ID intermittent diet where after dinner to lunch you fast – so started with that. Sunday am breakfast I make fabulous porridge with seeds and cinnamon and mace and nutmeg and dollop of soured cream on top – and seriously notice that this once a week breakfast has me hungry ALL day! Now this is just me but it is seriously noticeable! I love my sunday morning porridge but will see how I go.
Did the grain free but big constipation issues till I added a bit of grain back in – learnt to make sourdough best no bloat due to the soaking of the grain. Also the relationship between adrenals and thyroid is a might important one as the Mark Starr book points out
I firmly believe that everyone should get educated at least a little bit on the basics of thyroid health, because it’s SO prominent in our society and yet so underdiagnosed, possibly because low thyroid symptoms are incredibly varied. Here is the link thethyroidsessions.com/access and a few notes from those talks:
▪ There are hormone receptors on all the cells in the body, some for some hormones, some for others. The only two that are on literally every cell in the human person are Vitamin D and thyroid. That’s why when you’re having thyroid issues, it can demonstrate itself in SO many different ways, because it impacts so many different systems!
▪ Gluten sensitivity can hurt the thyroid gland, because gluten antibodies see pieces that look enough like gluten literally on the thyroid organ, and they attack it like it’s an intruder.
▪ Signs of thyroid issues? Cold hands and feet, fatigue, inability to lose “that last 5 pounds” no matter what, trouble sleeping, infertility issues, and so, so many more.
▪ Average thyroid tests are unreliable for a number of reasons. Just because your MD says your thyroid is fine, there could still be something going on that needs to be measured other than TSH.
▪ Exercise can kill your thyroid – your nervous system takes 48-72 hours to fully repair from HIIT or CrossFit type training, so you should never do them daily and only super-endurance train once a week.
▪ Although a low-carb diet is good for avoiding diabetes, if you’re a hard-core exercise buff, it could hurt you. You need carbs – best to eat them right after the workout when they won’t have as serious an effect on the waistline or sugar/glucose levels. This does the thyroid a favor.
If you’re interested in learning more, The Thyroid Sessions run officially through May 15 and then the most popular 4 sessions will replay the next two days (all for free!).
Hope this helps . . .
Much love and encouragement to all of you . . .
Hi everyone! I’m just back home from a 3 day trip away staying in a hotel which provided rather appetizing foods.
As I’d been managing quite comfortably on my way of doing this fasting which is all day til my evening meal I had to let it go to eat more conventionally albeit with very healthy choices.
My main concern is whether I can now discipline myself to get back to how I was eating before my holiday.
Today is the beginning so we shall see. I’m not aware of any weight gain since breaking my fasting so I’m hoping I can continue without any problems.
Good morning PBB, I am here, glad you missed me yesterday, bowling called, I was picked up by teams mates at 8am Sunday morning and played bowls from 9 am in hourly stints until 5pm we won 2 games and lost two but we did beat one team 14 -0 and before any one may ask were they a blind team. No, I think we upset one lady she said in all her bowling life she had never lost to a Duck. LOL
I have to confuse I have found the rum my husband had hidden it in the garage. Only a double and a diet coke but I did enjoy and it was not a fast day, glad to say I have not hit anyone with my bowl even if sometimes there may be a player one could hit. But it is a lovely game and the weather at 9am in Wales yesterday was awful but after the first game it brightened up but with gale winds helping and hindering our bowls for the rest of the day.
Not sure if the scales are going to move this week the food was lovely yesterday and when someone has put in all that effort what can do. LOL.
Fasting today out of desperation before Tuessay WW weigh in. Last week I only had one pound to get back to my WW goal. I am not sure if I can do it.
Off to have my hair cut now I have very thick short style so that could be a 1/2 lb off (if only) for tomorrow.
Happy fasting JIP
Hi PBB 🙂
Yes the tv is here, intact and installed! It struggels a bit with my other analoge boxes but I’m getting it trained!
Yes, imbibing RR all the time. 🙂 Really really hoping it all works fine this time and I can just forget about it all. Can’t imagine how great that would be and getting back to 5:2!
All being well I’ll be home Thursday evening so will post then or Friday as my s-i-l might stay here.
Thanks for your support. Really appreciated. xx
Just a quick wave to all other Monday Fasters! 😀
The rain is coming down in buckets so no walk for me today – laundry done, bed stripped and remade, house mostly shiny. Can you tell I am looking for jobs to occupy me today 🙂
I have caught up on 5:2 threads and will soon be off to collect my godson from school – then the fun will begin. Unfortunately he is always ‘starving’ when he comes in and will want treats to eat and tempt me before my ‘Salmon and salad’ dinner for fast days.
Ah well – I CAN RESIST 😀
I’m back in circulation after being in purdah while trying to get a large and difficult translation delivered and an MA-related presentation together on time. And, PBB, I even had to abandon my pipe, slippers and multiple medications and put my teeth back in for the duration.:)
Both deadlines were met and I had some very rewarding feedback on both. The translation was, I’m told “a joy to read”, and the presentation “interesting and engaging” – it was certainly fun to deliver. Sorry to brag but once again it’s a case of “is it ME they’re talking about?” Somewhere at the back of my head is the voice of the teachers telling me I was frivolous and irresponsible and predicting I would come to a bad end. And through it all I managed not to overstep the 500 cals on fast days by more than 20-50 cals and not to go bonkers on non-fast days.
Speedy, fingers, toes and everything crossed that all will go well for you on Wednesday. I share PBB’s “good feeling” about the op, but of course you are a wee bit nervous and are no doubt thinking that after Wednesday, the world will suddenly be a much better place. At least you’ll have brand new telly to look at while you convalesce. xx
Thank you so much Her Maj.
It must feel fab to have delivered on te deadline. A weight off I think! I remember doing Open University courses some years ago and the light feeling after a TMA was posted.
I bought an HDMI cable today for the tv so I feel I am really entering the modern era! 😉 xx
(I always want to say HTML!)
Hi PBB 🙂
I think but am not sure that you can view the mobile phone screen onthe television. I’d like that in a way because mobiles are far too tiny for me to see without a magnifying glass! But my mobile is 7 years old so it probably hasn’t got the right socket!
I admire non-mobile users! I know they have revolutionized much of the remote world and people can run micro-businesses, get weather forecasts and get prices for goods, what’s in stock where without having to walk miles to find these things out.
HDMI seems to be the new scart so I had hoped that the digital box my tv provider sent would plug directly into the tv with a HDMI without going through the analogue sattelite receiver. And then give me digital access – but no. Trouble is most of my stuff is analogue and just a little bit is digital and it’s all wired up in series so what can start out as digital can become analogue (I think!). I don’t really know! I’m just fiddling about with it and see what happens!
I’m not sure about Tuesday, last time I got several calls from people wishing me luck which was lovely but I need a bit of nothing time to keep calm if you know what I mean – and clean the house for my s-i-l dog sitter!
In a way I am calmer. Though still as if I am facing a firing squad! Sorry to be over-dramatic. I reckon I have internalised my anxiety and can feel my heart beating against my ribcage and skipping beats. I know logiclly that is just anxiety and probably not real. But it feels quite unpleasant and odd.
I was going to go to a Prana yoga session at my gym tomorrow morning but I read is slows your heatbeat and that’s the last thing I need with an already too slow heart lol!
I know the thing to do is let it all wash over you and relax. I have learnt a lot about myself though all this. Not just about the importance of losing weight 🙂 but about dealing with stressful situations – and how not to! Putting it into action is of course easier said than done. xx
Hi PBB, I have been on most of these threads and I have said that I have been at WW goal since 2011 after taking 17 months to lose 56 lbs to get there. I have stayed within 5 lbs which is allowed by WW’s without having to pay the fee. But since Christmas and a 10 day all-inclusive holiday in Tenerife end of January /February I gained a few more pounds and I have been struggling ever since. It was only 7 or 8 lb over goal and I lost and gained that extra with a pound off and the following week staying the same so that is why you have the pleasure of my company. LOl. Happy fasting everyone. JIP
PBB, you are so right about things that were said in our impressionable youth sticking with us. I must say also that not everyone understands why I should want to go on achieving AT MY AGE! There really are those out there who assume the whole pipe/slippers/teeth scenario – that we have a giggle about – really is all I’m capable of. Not, may I add, among my younger friends and rellies who have been right behind me all the way.
At one point there was nearly a major domestic incident when OH argued along those lines and claimed I would make a colossal fool of myself returning to uni. I realised then, and I know now, that it was more about him, than about me. I was starting to achieve while at that point he was going nowhere, not through any fault of his own but largely because his clients were sending their IT stuff offshore.
Since then, he has returned to studying, to qualify to teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector. It was a tough course but he has come through it well and is now slowly but surely heading for a totally new career as a teacher of Qi Gong and Tai Chi. He also admits he was wrong about me and is now cheering me on. To be fair, he has never complained about the job I do, because there’s too much tangible evidence that I’m actually quite good at it.
Hi PBB
Yes I am still galavanting 😀
We had a short break in Germany (Dresden and Berlin) in April, and next Monday we are off to Corfu to a villa we have stayed in many times. The advantage of this is we don’t need to dash all over to see the sights as we have seen them all! Just looking forward to lying in and around the pool, kindle in one hand, wine in the other 😛
I am still maintaining my weight on 6:1 but once we get back I might check the Beach diet book and maybe lose another few pounds and tone up a bit – although I am very happy with things as they are now really. You know the E word (exercise) frightens me 😛
@ Speedy Hope everything goes well for you on Wednesday – everyone will be looking after you and we LOACAs will send loads of healing vibes to you x
End of another fast day (4 almonds – how many cals? I really heard them calling me!) lol
Good morning ladies.
Haven’t posted for a while because nothing to say but have kept up; reading on fast days keeps me focussed.
The past few weeks weight has been bobbling along, due to interaction between Easter, birthday and weak will.
Last week I started a food diary for non-FDs and 1.2kg has gone up in smoke at weigh-in.
Precious, your funny and encouraging posts are a delight – thank you.
Speedy, will be thinking of you from far away in the southern hemisphere.
All other regular posters – thank you also, you all keep me inspired.
Hi Piper
Where in the world are you? The time stamp on your last post was 3:33am!
Is that GMT?
I posted about 0930hr Central Australian time, about 9.5 hours ahead of GMT but can’t get my head around others. It’s currently abt 3.30 pm here.
Non FD and non work day for me; veg soup and slice of toast for lunch, grilled steak and salad to come for dinner.
Beautiful mild autumn afternoon here in the Adelaide Hills, relaxing on the verandah with my laptop and cup of tea and two biscuits at my elbow, my husband in his study wrestling with reviewers’ comments on geological paper he’s writing (sooo glad I’ve finished with that awful business with reviewers).
Expecting my daughter and grandchildren after school so very pleasant day overall.
Enjoy the rest of the week everyone.
Nicky
PBB, are you OK? I am reporting in, I should have stayed from that demand drink, I am going to blame hubby for not hiding it well enough. But joking aside I cannot blame anyone else, I consumed too many calories and it as to stop. Well from tomorrow! that is, because I am going to finish the bottle of rum off tonight and then I will have no more temptation LOL. God I make them up as I go along. I have kept this bit of information until the end because if anyone is fed up with my rambling they will have deleted this thread by now and missed the bit where I tell PBB that I gained 1+1/2 lb. happy fasting from tomorrow. LOL JIP
Hello Boo and crew of beautiful women. I’m going to be lazy and post a generic message. Enjoyed reading your posts. Always leaves me with a smile. I finally feel better after a week of sinus infection. The term I used on an earlier post, ‘peachy’ is actually a positive, Southern region term in America. It refers to a sweet, yummy, juicy fruit grown in sun-drenched states. Compared to last week, I do feel ‘peachy.’ I only weigh once a month. I know, I’m a coward. I’m averaging 1 lb (1/2 kilo?) loss a week with 5:2, including multi exercises a week at the gym. No complaints. Wearing a purple, silk blouse today I haven’t worn for a couple of years. Fabulous feeling. Cheering on your successes. Stay motivated. Keep moving! Jean
I’m 60. 5’5 123lb. To loose your weight u need to engage in vigorous exercises. I don’t say long exercises, but mandatory HARD exercises. Some ladies on the forum stated that 40 min of walk or swimming 5 times a week, are not enough. I can say that time is not what you want to chase. 4.0 hours of moderate walking a week is just pure waste of time. Just walking in the park u’are not gonna lose fat. Your attention should be given to the INTENSITY level. It can be merely 20 min a day, but really intense. The level of intensity has to be such that you feeling hardly gasping for air and u sweat profusely. If you run, it has to be As-fast-as-u-only-can (SPRINTING). U feel like u giving all 100% of yourself. If u doing body-weight exercise, it has to be all-u-can-do for as-long-as-u-can. Don’t be afraid do do pull-ups, push-ups,burpees, box-jumps, heavy weights lift and such… Only by challenging yourself, u can achieve any loss of fat. Unfortunately, by the age 50 our metabolism drops to 50% of 20th y/o age level, and by 60 y/o to 20%. At the same time muscle mass drops at the same speed and hormonal activity somewhere the same. Don’t expect, that only by dieting u can lose your fat.
We are not born to spend our lives in the gym or on the trail.
Hi girls
So much for being on holidays….
We ate seafood on the wharf in the glorious sunshine before catching the plane home on Monday.
I then spent all Monday night vomiting and feel like a wet rag still. Apparently the oysters were off. Husband didn’t eat them.
I gained only 1kg while away, not fasting, but the upset stomach probably helped (!?!) the weight.
As a girl who LOVES oysters, I doubt I’ll be rushing into buying any some time soon.
A greenish PVE ;(
You must be logged in to reply.
8:08 pm
7 May 14