The exact opposite happened to me. I worked as an au pair in the South of France way back when dinosaurs still walked the Earth, and after six months I returned to the UK considerably slimmer. There I learnt about the Mediterranean diet which has influenced my eating patterns ever since. I saw courgettes, the little round ones, for the very first time and learnt to dress salads with a touch of olive oil and wine vinegar. Until then I had hated any form of salad.

The same thing happened on the two occasions I worked in Spain for a year. The first time I became slim enough to wear a bikini, the second I ended up looking great in a mini-skirt. The problem was that each time, within a month of getting home, I had put on nearly a stone. Someone suggested to me that because during each of the three periods working in Europe I had lived by the sea and maybe the iodine in the air speeded up my metabolism. That probably sounds like gobbledegook to anyone who understands science and I’d be happy if someone could explain.

Happily, thanks to 16 months of 5:2 I’m on the way back to my ‘continental’ shape with about 20lbs to go.

Good luck, Femme Anglaise. Sorry to hear about the thyroid problem which must make things difficult. However, I envy you the wonderful array of fruit and veg you have available to you. With the exception of apples, which for some reason seem to be better with nicer varieties this side of La Manche, fruit in France always seemed sweeter, more frangrant, and tastier than it does here.

Hi hermajtomomi
We are lucky enough to have a motor home and spent six weeks touring around, mostly the South of France – bliss! France is very motor home friendly, and we were often able to stay for a few Euros or sometimes none at all, so we were able to live more cheaply than at home, with no heating bills! Baguettes, croissants, cheese (of course), wine etc are my downfall, I am afraid, even though we do try and ration ourselves when away.

Thank you for all the advice, particularly about non fast day meals which I will take on board. I am sure I would be losing faster if I didn’t over indulge. Sigh – white wine is so lovely though! :-))

I will just keep on keeping on.

Cheeseplease, my OH also likes his wine but is now in the habit of cutting it with chilled sparkling mineral water to make a spritzer, thereby cutting the wine calories by half. Could be worth a try, some of the time at least, but not when you have something special in the way of wine, which would be sacreligious.

I speak as a non-drinker – went off it big time when I stopped smoking – but still use it in cooking and I’m not one to spoil other folk’s fun.

Hello Booboo and all you lovely international LOACA,
My life at the moment seems to be one long merry go round of lawn green bowls, walking, Nordic walking, and days out.
Keeps my mind off food a bit. LOL
Violet May, I don’t think you’re walking poles are anything like mine. My poles at 105mm they must stay behind you when you start walking and then you propel yourself forward, arms must not bend at a 45 degree; arms must not go above waist level.
Now about me and Boo meeting up, she has told me what she looks like so I will be looking for Compo’s Mum English comedy 1970/80 still being shown on our teles. But just in case your suggestion of the Rosettes sounds good too or we could also carry a copy of Dr Michaels’ 5-2. LOL.
PVE what are your veggie pattie , do you make them yourself.
Smiffy your meal sounded lovely. Did you get your ipad sorted? I have to take mine back to store Saturday. I will you all know how I get on.
Sgj53. My fasting days are changeable; I have Breakfast of fruit about 9 or 10 am. Soup about 2pm is anything. And I eat with hubby at about 5 – 6pm like you. I tried to do a 24 fast I did about 21 hour which was my second fast day B2B built I lost the 2lb and did not move the next day. I know I can do without food on fast days it’s the non-fast I have to get a bit more under control.
NickyF, the only good thing about getting old, is the lovely retirement time, so we have to get fit and do the 5-2 so we can live a longer and healthy life. LOL

Boo, sorry to hear your having a frustrating time life is sent to try us. I have just re-read your message (me under 9 stone) I would have even more wrinkles and I have enough now, only a few more pounds to come off and I will be happy.
My camping experience was 40 years ago and I said never again, I have a good memory for things I did not enjoy. It was the lack of a bed, weather was great, and toilet was miles away if I remember right.
Hello Femme Anglaise I am going to go on BBC iplayer to find that interview. It is nice to meet you. I have under active thyroid too I take 100 microgram tablet and also steroids for polymyalgia so it can be done, I did it walking and more walking and running for local bus, that’s another story.
We won at bowls again today, that is three wins this week and we have another game tomorrow. 4 games in 5 days. There will be nothing of me left. Wouldn’t that be a great. LOL
Good night all or good Morning as the case may be. JIP

Jip
I discovered these veggie patties in my local small supermarket. I doubt if you can get them in Wales. They are called “Bite Me Veggies patties” and are basically chickpea, peas, corn. onion, capsicum and come in at only 21 cal each. Brilliant with a bit of lettuce and a small tomato as a “take away” on a fast day. Very sustaining. I often have one just before bed to let me sleep on fast nights. I suspect I’m addicted to them!
PVE

Hi BooBoo
Now you know those are the best bits of camping and I couldn’t possibly deprive you ! :-))

Hi Nicky
I’ll have to check Woolies. I got mine at IGA. The patties I buy are only 21 cal per patty. I weighed and did the calculations. 25 gm each @ 355 kj per 100 gm (355 divided by, 4 divided by 4.186 = 21 Kcal) unless my maths has failed me again. I am an art student!!
They are vegan and gluten free, too, so suit my boys.
Have them with a bit of hummus, lettuce and tomato. PVE 🙂

Hi again PVE. These are 75g each. I had Googled them after your last post and their website has the same numbers as on my pack. I notice yours have chickpeas whereas these have potato. Needs more research!

Long drop dunnies! That takes me back. During our field work days, a trowel and roll of paper were our only equipment. If shrubbery was sparse like a lot of Australian desert, then you needed to walk a long way to find a hill to squat down below the horizon. Ahh, now that was civilised! 🙂

Wow PVE! you did the self-sufficiency thing? I had a hankering but OH wouldn’t countenance it so contented myself with Permaculture-style gardening and chook-keeping. A bit more like Tom and Barbara Good in the BBC comedy.

Yes Nicky
The full thing….goats, cows, chooks, ducks, guinea fowl, donkeys and horses. Trouble was, we had no rain for the first year! You need water to farm. Lots of fun though, making cheese, bread etc miles from local shops, no electricty, tv or sewer.Lots of home made music and fun.
We made friends out there you would never make in the city.And we were incredibly healthy and fit!
PVE 🙂

Wilbersnanna – well done for sticking with it. It does get better and once you start losing the weight and feel the benefits, it will spur you on.

BooBoo – I did my weigh-in this morning. 2 lbs off, including the lb I put on in Scotland, so very pleased. 2 more and I will qualify for one of your stone barrier awards! So sorry to hear you have a few difficulties at the moment. Life has a habit of throwing things at us just when we don’t need it. Hope you are sorted soon and can finally meet up with JIP. We are in the process of buying a holiday home in S Wales, which is taking forever, but who knows, by the time you get to meet up, I might be there to join you!

Forgot to say – JIP – once I had found where I had written down my password (!) and logged on again all was Ok with my iPad, though not sure why i had to do it. Hope yours is ok now – they are invaluable!

Hi all LOACA

I did a long post and then lost it must be my age! Wow some of us ladies are really energetic and I wish I had retired and could go off jet setting when ever I liked!

JIP, well done in your new milestone, just think all those new clothes. Go girl x

PVE, I loved the sound of your veggie patties, I looked on Google and doesn’t look like they are available here so I will have to find a chickpea based recipe and cook my own. Ladies watch this space for updates.

FEMME ANGLAIS, I would be in heaven and hell if I lived in France, all that freshly cooked bread, just wouldn’t be able to resist it. My best tips are plan meals for FD in advance so you don’t spend time planning what to eat when you can’t! Also apart from breakfast the idea is just plants and protein when fasting. I like the breakfast beauty shake, it keeps me going for ages. I have a few crudités if I can’t last the day between meals.

NICKYF, good job I don’t live near you, all those stalls I wouldn’t be able to stay away. Love the sound of the new Algerian stall, I wonder if it is food or clothing? Hope you had a great day there with the grandies and well done on going a size down.

Me? I’m 52 menopausal with a worn out hip so have just had to stop Zumba after 18 months of doing it. Now looking to go back to walking around the lovely Sussex countryside when not working at school. I also want to start either yoga or Pilates to improve the mobility of my hip. Unfortunately bad hips run in the family, female side mostly. I have 1 FD a week and have lost 21lbs over last 18/24 months and follow a low GI diet to prevent snacking. Now a nice 12 rather than a tight 14 borderline 16. BMI down from 27+ to 23.6 so nearly there 0.5 lb off 9 stone! Love to 8.5 but must be realistic! FD are easy as I love the breakfast beauty shake and often eat kebabs or meat cooked on our new gas BBQ with salad in the evening. I even manage to supervise lunchtime at school on a fasting day! It’s easy when the meal doesn’t smell that good, no let’s be honest school meals have improved since my school days.
Keep losing slowly ladies.
Must check other posts to see how any lads are doing!
Love to all x

Wow, you guys are great. I admire your enthusiasm and positive attitude. I’m 53 and find that all my friends have failed to reach LOACA status yet so it’s something I feel I’m managing alone. It’s great to hear of others going through the same experiences as it makes me feel a little less ‘weird’.

I recently heard Michael speak at the Cheltenham Science Festival and it all just seemed to make so much sense. I knew immediately that this was something I wanted to try. As well as the health and weight-loss benefits I feel that this gives me a psychological release. As a woman, I have probably had a good/bad/awful/really terrible value judgement about almost everything that has gone into my mouth since I was a teenager and this approach to eating makes me feel that for 5 days a week I don’t have to be judged. That seems very healthy to me.

I’ve now done 4 fast days, 3 were pretty easy but 1 was a nightmare – I fasted on the day that I commute for over 3 hours by bicycle and by the evening I felt terrible and continued to feel awful for about 36 hours – lesson learnt to choose a different day.

But, the good news is that I’ve already lost the stubborn 5lbs that I have been trying to lose for years and have seen numbers on the scales that I had forgotten. I feel great. This really feels like a change in my lifestyle that I can keep to.

Thanks to all you LOACAs for letting me know that there are others out there 😉

Well hello everyone. This will be short as I have just lost my first post….! Just to say I have been very inspired by reading some of these posts tonight and have decided to give this diet a go. I’m 54 and hit menopause just after 50. it has taken me a long time coming to grips with it. However in the process I have gained 10kgs and most exercise no longer inspires me because of it. However some of these posts have been really encouraging. Thank you everyone.

Many thanks for all your responses, it’s lovely to know there are LOACA out there to offer support. I’ve battled with my weight since I got married in 1972 (I weighed 8st 10lbs!)and have been up to 13st following pregnancies. I have lots of willpower until the evening comes and if something triggers me I can eat a 500g bar of dark chocolate (my greatest weakness) in a matter of minutes. Fortunately, I don’t enjoy cheese, and wine I only indulge in occasionally, but a warm baguette can get me any time. I can eat a whole baguette in a day (as you know the french don’t use preservatives in their bread so it would be rock-hard by the next morning – well that’s my excuse!) Also as I live alone in the heart of Burgundy I don’t have anyone to stop me from indulging.
Yesterday, was my first FD and by 5 p.m. I was ready for my poached egg on toast. It was delicious; but I began to worry that I would not last the evening. Well, to my surprise I did – I knew that today I would be able to eat up to my TDEE.
Again many thanks to you all

Hi Femme Anglaise

Well done on your first fast, I thought the first would be very hard but I was so chuffed when I managed it. My 18 yr old daughter has a fab figure so I, like you, am watching my weight alone; I find this thread does help. To know you aren’t alone! Being the other side of 50 and menopausal has its challenges. Currently I am adding ground flax seed, linseed, to my breakfast shakes to see if it helps the hot flushes. This current warm spell doesn’t help either. Can’t remember the last time I wore a jumper, I have my own central heating system but the thermostat has gone haywire!

Any suggestions anyone? Ali x

Hello fellow LOACAs

Booboo – I was brought low by a cold foggy morning that turned into a cold gloomy day, today at work the sun was shining again. I have a jump on my kids mini trampoline (1980s present from someone), it’s stored outside on the “patio” but the step exerciser is inside. This evening I stepped while starting an entrelac scarf (knitting) and listened to Griff Rhys Jones as he wandered around Gower/ Pembrokeshire on TV. Managed to get up to 10k steps so my FitBit gave me a hooray and a happy smiley face – much better than a chocolate digestive (I keep telling myself that anyway). I had lots of camping holidays as teenager with my parents, we camper vanned around Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy and even Yugoslavia before it disappeared. Dad only drove the wrong way round a roundabout once but that was in Brussels or Bruges. A few years ago my daughter took me camping in New Zealand. We mostly slept in tents on a thin mat but my hips ached no more than they usually did at home in my own bed. One thing I really wanted was a chair, logs and rocks were just not comfortable.

JIP – I’ve done a bit of research and trekking poles are not suitable for Nordic walking. I’ve watched a few YouTube videos and now I want to give it a try.

Nicky – what a win to find R.M. Williams pants at a bargain price. Last year a local frock shop was closing down and I got quite a few bargains but now my green denim wool jeans are decidedly baggy, not falling down yet because they were very old stock (high waisted not more fashionable low rise ones). Some of the other bargains may go straight to the Op Shop.

I really enjoy dark chilli chocolate too…

Hello. Am trying hard not to exceed estimated calorie needs on non fast days. Is this the right way to go about it? Not got much appetite ?due to fasting or it may be the hay fever + a cold I’vecaught from a grandson!

Hello – I’m 72 and have dieted all my life it seems. A friend recommended the 5/2 diet and I started on April 1st 2014 – so far I am down 20 pounds, I feel better, my clothes fit better and I have discontinued my two medications for high blood pressure! I still have 20 pounds to goal. I exercise in front of my computer rotating between Leslie Sansone’s 4 mile, 4 Mile Walk Slim and her 5 mile Fat Burning Walk – usually take one day off a week. I try to keep under 500 calories on my fast days (twice a week) but not always successful. I have ¼ of a papaya with lime juice every morning. My test will be July 1 to 15 when I go on holidays – wish me luck!!

Hello again, I am using my ipad. Yipeeeeeeee.
I had to download google chrome. I thought I would let you know just in case it happens to anyone else on here. JIP

Hi JIP

The only problem I have with my ipad is periodically I lose anything I’ve typed into the notes app. After checking on google it seems to be a fairly common problem 🙁 On the subject of fasting, I had to buy some buttonhole elastic today so I can adjust my trousers, 12 is too loose and I’m def not a 10! Don’t want to be any smaller, just to feel comfortable and have my clothes fitting nicely. X

Hi all…..thought it would be good to report in and let you all know how my first fast day went….lol….started by googling some sites to let me know how to count calories and how to convert kilojoules to calories. Found two good ones which are now easy for me to access. 500c….wow not much…started off the day with my fav espresso coffee…….later on before I went out to mow the lawns i thought I’d better have an egg on toast but when i saw how many calories was in a slice of bread that was dropped and instead i had my egg on steamed silver beet along with my vitamins. Out to do the lawns. Couldn’t finish them all (mowed for an hour)as I got hungry and tired. So inside I came and relaxed for the rest of the day. (Have had a stressy/busy month so was pretty tired in general). Made some pumpkin soup late afternoon and a couple of pieces of fruit and that was my 500 used up. However after a couple of frustrating hours on the computer in the evening I ended up having a yummy bowl of mince!!! However the scales this morning gave me a nice result so I’m still counting that as a fast day. One thing I have realised is the calorie value of the food I’m eating and this forum is really encouraging.

Hi folks, about 50 years ago I gave up full time PE to look after my children. Since then I have always had to battle to keep my weight down. I had been used to eating and enjoying a really big calorie intake and easily working it off. I found it hard to reduce my intake. I’ve tried all sorts of diets and regimes but never really successfully- TILL NOW!! On the 5/2 diet I have lost an average of a pound a week and over seven months I now weigh a couple of pounds over my college days weight. True it was all muscle and now its not!! However I could not be more pleased with myself and grateful to everyone who has brought the concept into the public domain. If you’re wondering if its too late to start don’t worry, its not difficult so just get going and I hope you will be as chuffed as I am with the results. I’m looking forward to losing that last couple of pounds and continuing with a 1/6 fast regime for the rest of my life. Wishing good luck to anyone yet to give it a go.