This topic contains 7,289 replies, has 660 voices, and was last updated by Opal Shine 1 year ago.
HI Cheeseplease!
Lovely to know someone is starting the diet now. I am sure WE WILL MAKE IT. When I followed the high protein diet with shakes and diet bars, I found that support given at forums is very good because you don’t feel so lonely, people cheer you up when you “fail” and you also hear about really good hints and even recipes. I have been told that this diet sometimes takes a while to kick in, so I am ready to be patient. So let’s give it a go!
Lots of congratulations deserved. Fab weight losses – large and fast or slow and steady through illness are so impressed and inspiring to read about.
And 2000 messages is really something. Well done. xx
Hi Hermaj š
xx
Having irritating connection problems at the moment. Security and PC fighting! š
Welcome aboard iouabook and Cheeseplease,
iouabook, you seem to have the whole 5:2 thing sussed and with your very positive attitude you deserve to succeed, which I’m sure you will.
Cheeseplease, we have two pescatarians in our close family although I’ve never come across this very appropriate word before. Fish fits very nicely into 5:2, as of course do veggies. White fish and lots of green leafy stuff can fill you up quite well on fast days. Because of their higher, but healthy fat, I tend to save salmon, mackerel, etc for non-fast days.
Gomarg, thanks for your sympathy re bingo wings. I don’t think mine are quite bad enough to resort to surgery. They still consist of fat – or very flabby muscle – rather than superfluous skin. Maybe someone needs to invent some stylish long-sleeved beachwear, a nice 21st-century update of the sort of thing you see in piccies from the Victorian era – although we can all do without those horrible frilly cap things they used to stick on their heads.
Hi hermajtomomi
Thanks for your words of support, and advice re fish – I will certainly take that on board re salmon and mackerel – today I had some tinned tuna and salad for lunch on my fasting day, and probably enjoyed that meal more than many I have had recently! I had a sneak preview of your profile and see that you are doing an MA in History of Art. I did the OU Art and its Histories, and loved it. Good luck with that.
Best wishes.
Hi Smiffy,
I’ve only just spotted your post. Sorry to leave you out of the welcome message. Like you, I’m 5:2-ing with my other half. It does help, but sometimes it’s a case of one of us saying to hell with it (‘it’ being the fast day) and the other caving in as well. Even so, we have both had reasonable success with this very civilised way of eating, which we’ve been following for 16 months.
I see you like olives. Me too! They’re actually not that bad calorie-wise as long as you keep count of them and don’t go mad and hoover up a whole bowlful before dinner! They go well with a Diet Coke or slimline tonic wih ice and lemon.
Alcohol isn’t a problem for me. For some strange reason when I gave up smoking 12+ years ago, wine started to taste like vomit and G&T like something you use for cleaning the loo. Giving up the ciggies is supposed to make things taste better. It didn’t work like that for me. I still use wine in cooking, though.
Good luck with the Fast Diet. It really does work. Sometimes it’s a bit slow to take effect, but even if the weight falls away at snail’s pace, all sorts of other good things are happening to your body, like reduction in blood pressure and cholesterol and blood glucose levels.
Precious, it’s “starve a cold, feed a fever”. Fasting with a fever could be dangerous, because you’re already burning off a lot of calories and you may be severely ill. A simple head cold, whatever makes you feel better is best. Lots of liquids are good. The homeopathic zinc tablets work for me, not for everyone. Hope you feel better soon!
I’m 49 and just about through perimenopause. Have just started the 5:2 again after having had a break (and a few too many calories – damn it!)due to staying with relatives and not wanting to have to explain why I wasn’t eating lunch..Lost weight well when I did it properly, but like some others on here, felt I could really have what I liked on non-fast days, and treated myself, which doesn’t really seem to work for me – I still have to be careful and limit the amount of bread I eat(love bread!)I definitely have a flatter tum (my bĆŖte noire) if I don’t eat bread/starches.
Some people mentioned cortisol on here – I read that tea/coffee and stimulants effectively ‘stress’ the body (that twitchy feeling when you’ve drunk too much coffee..)and fat gets stored around the waist – not sure if that’s all true, but thought I might avoid caffeine on the fast days to see if it makes a difference. Trying to sub herbal tea for normal tea occasionally on normal days too. Love good old builders tea though!
Hi hermajtomomi
Thanks for getting back to me, re the polymyalgia , when I tried to come down to 3 gram I was feeling ill and it was like having flu but I realised it was the tablets, I phoned the doctor and he said increase to 20 like said in the last thread. I am trying again now, down to 4 grams this week. I have been told that I could be on them for life. If I must I will, because I cannot do anything when it hits me. Fasting back to back second day. JIP
BooBoo, just a quickie I went Nordic walking I enjoyed it. I got very wet,but I knew if I did not go today might have put it off and off. there is a 5 weeks training and i have been told I should do it in 2 now I hear you say ( Big Head) By the way it uses 90% more muscle than just walking. Playing bowls tonight I am driving so got to go.
Happy fasting. Back later I will not be home until 9pm. JIP
Hi JIP,
How awful if you do have to stay on the horrible things for life. However, if you have still managed to lose so much weight while on the steroids and feel unwell without them it might not be quite so bad.
I suppose the key question is, what effect have they had on your face? If you still look great, as befits a lady who’s lost 4 stone, maybe it’s liveable with. In my case I looked so dreadful I even deleted all my wedding photos. My OH and I finally married in 2010, after 24 years of ‘living in sin’ š but right in the middle of the steroid treatment. The great fat face and little piggy eyes were not exactly bride-like, nor was the size 20 outfit, at only 5’1″ not very flattering! I was also feeling rather ill – sheer exhaustion after having to deal with a very tough work assignment.
It was also at this time I went back to uni part-time and needed a number of ID photos which are still there as a reminder as the slimmer and not-too-bad-looking me reaches the final stage of the MA.
Hi Cheeseplease,
Interesting to hear you’ve done Art History at the OU. I so admire people who study via the OU. I know I wouldn’t have the self-discipline to do it that way. At Birkbeck we have to show up on a regular basis and meet deadlines, which keeps layabouts like me on their toes. I’ve learned all about deadlines through my day job – freelance translator – and I’ve never, ever missed one. Not because I’m particularly virtuous, it’s more that I’m afraid that if I don’t deliver on time the client will never give me work again.
Tuna and salad is also on my regular lunch menu – on fast days just with a few drops of balsamic vinegar, on non-fast days with some nice oil and vinegar dressing. I don’t know if you have ever logged on to the BBC Good Food website http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/ where there are some excellent low-calorie fish recipes, many between 200 and 300 that work very well on fast days.
As you really love chocolate, on non-fast days you could perhaps set aside some calories for a bit of the sweet stuff. Lindt’s unlikely combination of dark chocolate and sea salt is delicious, as is their one with chili. Dark chocolate with a high cocoa content is actually good for you as this link, and others, will show you.
http://authoritynutrition.com/7-health-benefits-dark-chocolate/
It’s a great source of anti-oxidants. That’s my excuse anyway š
Hermajtomomi, thanks for the tip about the BBC Goodfood website. I have used it in the past, but never thought it would be useful for this pattern of eating – I shall check out the recipes.
I also have great belief in the antioxident properties of chocolate š – I can always feel it doing me good! Trouble is, I tend to overdose ….
Hi Hermajtomomi. Many thanks for the welcome. Yes definitely olives and savoury nibbles are a big part of my problem. I do have a gripe about olives – I used to be able to buy tins of pitted black ones in brine from Sainsburys, but they’ve stopped doing them and only sell ones in oil. Ditto Tesco. I know Waitrose still do them but I’m quite away from my nearest – will have to take a trip and stock up. I don’t have a particularly sweet tooth but if I do fancy something then a mug of Cadburys Highlights usually does the trick and at only 40 calories, no harm done. Like you I am also very much into tuna – in fact all seafood. I feel that as we are being so restrictive (and saving an absolute fortune on wine, gin and Kettle Chips) we can afford to be a bit indulgent in what we CAN eat, so I have been out today and bought smoked salmon, prawns, asparagus and avocado. That should keep us on the straight and narrow for a few days! Lucky that you lost your taste for alcohol when you stopped smoking – an additional benefit. It’s a fasting day for me tomorrow so looking forward to a crab salad tomorrow night before the second weigh-in on Wednesday. Things are definitely feeling less snug…….!
Hi Smiffy, what a pity your Sainsbury’s don’t do the olives in brine. I’m a little surprised as our nearest – Wood Green, North London – which is not one of your posh branches still has them, in fact I’ve got a jar in the fridge at this moment.
I like the sound of your shopping list although I’ll pass on the prawns. I can’t seem to get on with shellfish although I enjoy most varieties of what they call finfish in the USA. Smoked salmon and asparagus are my idea of heaven and I love avocado although I tread wearily, at least on fast days, because of the high, but healthy, fat content. Like you, I don’t have a sweet tooth and if I do pig out it will be on something savoury – please don’t let me near smoked salmon taramasalata which I could eat by the bucketful.
You’re about 3 years too late, Speedy. Thanks mostly to 5:2 I can actually look in the mirror and feel reasonably happy with the face that looks back at me. Can’t say the same for the bit around the middle which has shrunk a bit but doesn’t look as though it will disappear completely any time soon.
I’m sure you are short-changing yourself and you are not at all like I was back then. Certainly you can claim the fiver. Spend it on some little thing that will make you smile. Maybe a froggy? Ribbit, ribbit š xx
2000+ posts – that’s a lot of chat, cheer, concern, encouragement and reporting. Great job keeping the forum going, ladies! I agree with poster who noted relevancy of forum topic.
Hope you feel better soon, Boo. I was out with sinus infection a month ago. I ceased workouts for a week, drank plenty of liquids, absorbed fruits and basically did a modified fast. I certainly didn’t feel like eating much. It took 1/2 week more to get back to speed in the gym. Oh, and plenty of rest! I stayed home a day from work and slept. Better days ahead, Boo!
Fasting today. Doing the 4:3 until my end-of-month vacation. Liquids and fresh fruit for lunch, however, my evil twin grabbed a small, wrapped dark chocolate square from my desk candy dish. Hey, that’s for guests I told myself! Sometimes a girl just has to have a taste of dark chocolate.
Greetings to all posters. Glad to see new posters. We’re certainly all ages on the board; but one goal. Stay encouraged and Keep Moving!
Jean
Thanks BooBoo. Believe it or not, I have just had the awful cold you are talking about. It started just over a week ago with a raging sore throat, then a terrible cough, and over the weekend it turned into a full-blown cold. It made me feel dreadful for a few days – I spent a lot of time in bed – and although I’m on the mend I still have the cough and a few snuffles. I also feel completely washed out, and to cap it all my other half now has it (worse than me of course – he’s a man!). That said, I did do the diet, and haven’t felt it did me any harm. I dosed up on Beechams and Cavonia. I didn’t actually have much appetite for a couple of days, so capitalised on it. I do hope you feel better soon, it really is a horrid bug.
Hermajtomomi – I’m with you on the Taramasalata – I’ve been known to eat a whole tub with a pack of pitta all to myself! It’s the tinned olives I am mourning – I do find the jars in brine a bit more salty. Hey ho – I suppose I can always give them a rinse.
Boo Boo, sorry to hear that the same wretched cold bug is still doing the rounds and now it’s your turn. Hope it doesn’t hang on too long. I found the worst symptoms did wear off after a week or so and I was able to function – sort of. However,the coughing and spluttering continued for quite a while afterwards.
It’s nice to know you are also a Germanophile. I’ll get back to that tomorrow but for now, yes, I’ve been to Neuschwanstein, also in the winter, and found it quite magical.
Have a good sleep and get well soon. xx
Hi everyone. I didn’t want to admit it, but I guess I am now ALOACA. I’m 49 and my body has been flirting with the menopause for a year or so.
I started 5:2 yesterday with my first fast day and this morning I was 1.8lbs lighter…..to say I was amazed is an understatement. I didn’t expect huge weight losses in the first few days as I am following a low carb approach to eating (and have been for 6 years, lost 19lbs in 18 months then put it back on gradually as a result of too much happiness and bread!) so didn’t expect to have huge glycogen stores.
I did some HIT at the gym (at work, very lucky!) as well yesterday and plan to do my fast days Mon and Wed along with HIT as those are my work days at the moment. I will also play golf twice a week….not that strenuous but it is a long walk!
Hallo Precious Boo Boo,
Especially hate summer colds so just sending you a long distance hug and hope you are feeling a little better today.
xx
I saw on here there is a facebook group with a similar name and as I’m much more often on fb than on here I joined expecting it to be the regulars from here – but it’s not! (Or is it?) š x
Good evening BooBoo and all followers out there, God BooBoo it’s time for me to give up this thread you know me too well. LOL I cannot tell a lie I had a large no, very large (triple run) and that it’s now. I will be good I will still do 5-2 so you will have to put up with me. It was a nice feeling getting to goal again. July 3 years and I will still be there and hopeful under this. God night c u soon. JIP
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12:26 pm
2 Jun 14