This topic contains 7,289 replies, has 660 voices, and was last updated by Opal Shine 8 months, 3 weeks ago.
BlueOcean, I loved your owl story. A very similar thing happened to my brother. Stopping at some traffic lights, he looked out of his side window to be confronted by a large owl perched on the back of the passenger seat in the car beside his, staring at him and punctuating its gaze with those long slow blinks. The best part of the story was watching my bruv’s very convincing owl impersonation.
Hang on in there with 5:2, you are obviously doing a grand job.
@blueocean ….love the story of the owl. I would have been tail-gaiting that one too!
I kinda thankful we don’t have Thanksgiving here. All the food around Yule time is more than enough. I’m determined to make sure I have my ‘two’ days each week just to keep myself in check.
It’s not mealtimes that will be the problem – it’s easier to control portion sizes……and turkey and chicken are low fat anyway and so are the carrots and brussels sprouts, aren’t they? I’m not sure I can claim that the stuffing, chipolatas, bacon, cranberry sauce and roast potatoes come into that category though 😀 My downfall is all the food that will be around, the stuff I shouldn’t eat for a multitude of reasons ….the cake, the chocolate, the stollen, the shortbread and especially the lebkuchen!
I will be strong….I will only eat these in very small quantities ….I will keep telling myself this 😀 😀
Still feeling totally dispirited reading the posts by people who have lost so much weight- I’ve been on it about 8 weeks, no cheating, and always eat good vegetarian food, so no health problems. Turning 60 next week, haven’t spent a night in hospital since I was born in one.
Don’t own scales, so depending on measurements for results- have lost a pathetic 2 cm off waist, and, when I finally decided to start weighing myself once a fortnight, results as follows: first time, 64.8 kg, 2 weeks later, 63.8kg-OK I guess. But then last Thursday (another 2 week gap) I was 63.75! Weird thing is, I think I have actually lost a bit from my backside, thighs & upperarms, which are not a problem anyway- it’s just the stomach & waist I’m worried about. I’m determined to get below 60kg, and will persevere, but reading about the success of all you others is so hard!
Had a bit of a lapse last week on fast days as I was working outdoors in heat, dust & mud helping out with 350 extras on a huge film- started out OK but was starving by the time they gave us food so ate a bit more than I should have. Thought ‘what the hell, it’s not working for me anyway……’
Well, got all that off my chest, sorry to be such a whinger, I’ll try to be more positive next time I write!
Hi Lorett1
I am in the same boat. We weigh the same and are the same age( give or take a year or to). I am losing cms but not weight. So I figure the internal fat is disappearing. People are commenting so it must be noticeable. I think some of the other posters have a bit more to lose and that probably makes a difference. I am baking Christmas treats and sweets at the moment so that is helpoing sabotage my normal days. I think I am not going to worry to much until the New Year because feeling guilty and all that stuff just makes me angry with myself and then I go and eat. Vicious cycle. Keep smiling
Thanks Lizy for your solidarity- fortunately Christmas is a non-event here. We just have a few neighbours around for drinks by the pool and maybe a swim if very hot-no kids, no presents, no special food, at least nothing I’m inclined to eat much of. So, after last week’s movie set incident, I’ll be back to 5/2 this week- just changing the days around bit so I can have wine & cheese on my birthday!
Hi Lizy and Loretta
Please don’t despair! 🙂 if you stick with 5:2 the kgs will come off. This is not a quick weight loss regime but a Way Of Eating that should give you lots of health and other benefits, you just need to give it time.
For every person who has lost a lot of weight quickly, there are others who certainly haven’t. The average loss is about a pound a week, but there is a lot of individual variation.
If you are noticing a loss of cms, then that is great! 🙂 fat loss can occur in lots of ways, and the scales are not always the best measure.
Unfortunately it sometimes is harder to lose weight from the areas that you most want to – weight loss generally occurs evenly over the body, but it may be less noticeable in areas where you have more to lose – so do take lots of measurements.
With the waist, you are aiming for this to be half or less of your height, but people do have different body shapes which can make this more challenging for some. 🙁
Thanks for sharing your stories – can you tell us more about the film, Loretta?
This WOE is not about deprivation, so enjoy the wine and cheese, or any other foods that you wish to have, just try not to overindulge – but if you do, there is always another fast day coming up to help balance it out (tho of course the idea is not to overindulge/ fast/ overindulge/ etc!!).
Very best wishes on your 5:2 journey 🙂
Cheers
Sassy 😀
Good morning LOACA…..I feel a bit guilty posting today following the previous posts – but I’m really pleased today. I’ve been doing 5:2 for 4 weeks now and I’m down 7lbs in that time. Add that to the 35lbs I lost before I hit the plateau when I was just calorie counting, it’s a total now of 42lbs (3 stones).
I’m sorry Lizy and Loretta …I don’t mean to upset you but it’s a big thing for me. I lnow how hard it is hearing about others’ successes – believe me I’ve been there! If you are losing inches/cms that’s great and the weight will go too.
Please try not to fall into the trap of ‘it’s not working so I’ll just eat’ – I’ve done that too in the past and it just makes you feel worse and do it more. A very vicious circle and so self destructive.
When I hit the plateau, which lasted nearly 2 months, people kept telling me ‘perservere’ and, honestly, I wanted to hit them!! But I did perservere and here I am – I’ve now lost 75% of the weight I need to lose. I don’t know how long it will take to lose the last stone but I’ll just keep plodding on.
BTW – I am 67 (no spring chicken)..I was diagnosed with Osteoarthritis in both hips and my spine, and 2 years ago I had high blood pressure, high cholesterol and Impaired Glucose Tolerance. At my last check up my BP, cholesterol and blood sugars were at normal levels and I haven’t needed pain killers for my OA for ages. I started at 201 lbs (91.1kg), I’m at 159 (72.1kg) just now and need to be 140 (63.5). Persevering is definitely worth it!
Added to that I can now wear the smaller size clothes that have been hanging in my wardrobe. And that feels great too.
Just climb on the wagon ladies, we’ll get there together. xx
Hi all, adding my greetings to fellow LOACA.
Lizy and Loretta I feel for you, the problems you describe are why I never stick to diets, but I now see that many diets are one-trick ponies. “Buy this book, eat this weird food, DEFINITELY don’t have that food that you love and which keeps you going and if doesn’t work, well you’re not trying hard enough”.
Pah to all that! The reason I now have to eat no more than 1400 calories on normal days for years and YEARS, the reason why I’m obese whilst still doing that? Because I listened to all those claims and believed them and when they didn’t work and reasoned the fault lay entirely with myself, as did everyone else, I think. We’ve ruined our physiologies to the extent that they don’t know whether they are coming or going.
Now we have a way of eating which fits in my today’s hectic lifestyle and the tricks up this diet’s sleeve that some folk try is to fast for 3 days instead of 2 to kick-start things again. I don’t know if this will work for you? I haven’t tried it yet, I’m going by what other forum folk have said and I will if I need to. I *did* read about a lady who had no weight loss at all for 3 weeks and lost 5lbs in in week 4!
I have a lot of weight to lose and you might think that if you put an obese person on any diet, the weight would drop off them, not so. My weight loss is about a pound a week, hardly earth-shattering but the general trend is downward with a few lumps & bumps on the way, and that’s never happened to me on a diet before.
I come on the forum a lot, even if it is just to hear that other folk are struggling (which bizarrely, makes me feel better, you know ‘it’s not just me’) and there’s always others about to say ‘You’re doing great, KEEP GOING!’
I wish you all the best whatever you decide to do. Loretta, that film you are working on sounds fantastic and Lizy, how lovely to get compliments 🙂
Aud x
well done Sylvestra. That is awe inspiring and you deserve to be pleased.
I have hit a bad phase. I’ve put nearly half a stone on!! I know why. its obviously my own fault. I took the ‘eating normally’ on non fast days a bit too far. I’m back on track as of today and am doing 3;4 if I can to boost things and lift my spirits.
Not only am I of a certain age (51), but I take medications which interfere with weight loss and because of my other chronic conditions ( Fibromyalgia and M.E), I am fairly immobile so not a lot of positives going for me!!!
Keep up your excellent work
I was about to have a major whinge. I’ve been going since the beginning of Feb and have lost 6 kilos altogether, only one of these since mid-September, despite sticking closely to 5:2 and for the last week or two paying much closer attention to calorie counts on feast days.
Spending the w/e alone while other half tries to sort out his increasingly confused 93-year-old mum, I did very well with only 500 cal on the clock until about 8 p.m. Then the cold got the better of me and I had a bacon sarnie – two tiny slices, together less than a whole standard slice, and one very lean rasher of back bacon – every scrap of fat trimmed off. Then I followed it with two oatcakes and a matchbox-sized chunk of chili Cheddar. I doubt whether it totalled more than 1100-1200 cal for the day but still it was naughty.
The problem is because the diet seems to be having little or no effect on my weight, I’m getting demotivated and beginning to wonder why I’m bothering. Admittedly, my bp has plunged and my cholesterol has gone down to accepable levels, which is good, but the loss of a kilo or two more would be encouraging. However, I see that others are in similar boats, so I shall soldier on.
just a question and you may be doing this already but – you say you don’t own scales. Where are you weighing yourself? Is it the same scales, same day of the week, same time of day wearing the same clothes?
As I said you’re probably doing this but if not, that would account for some of the ‘ups and downs’. I stepped on the scales at the gym and was 1kg lighter than when I came home and stepped on my own scales. I don’t know which was correct but since I weigh on my own ones every week, it’s best to record any differences from them.
Try not to get too despondent about others’ results. Just think ‘if they can do it, so can I’.
And @lizy ….just think of it this way…..you and loretta are the weight I’m trying to GET to!!!
Hi all,
sylvestra, At the rate you are going now you will be here with Loretta and I in no time. And I am really sorry if I gave the impression that you upset me. On the contrary I really enjoy reading your updates.
For me it is the health benefits really that I am interested in given the family history. The weight loss is a bonus and it would be great to get to 60kgs but the pay off with that will be a few more wrinkles on the face. Have any of you noticed that?
It would be great to think that in five years time the people involved in these posts could be surveyed to see what benefits have occurred. There must be a wealth of research material here.
Audrich, I have a very close friend who seems to have similar experience as you. Over the years she has lost her total weight over and over again but the yoyo huge weight loss has caused her to be bigger each time she regains. I am very evangelistic about this way of eating so I am trying to set an example that she might like to follow. The forums also make a huge difference. In a way they act in the same way that a WW. meeting does. Except we are not bombarded with a whole lot of product to buy or have to pay to meet. Woo Hoo.
I rushed off to start to give my house it’s weekly birthday. ( that is what I do on one of my fast days to take my mind off it) when I thought to reply to you, Herma ( have shortened the name, sorry.) I am easily side tracked!!
Sorting out a person with dementia is so stressful and emotionally draining that it I can understand a little fall off the wagon. My husband had to go into psycho-geriatric care at the tender age of 67 (on his birthday, actually.) This is as a result of an early onset dementia. Hence my interest in the health benefits of this way of eating. Early research witnessed in Michael’s documentary appeared to show that the brain grows new neurons during the fasting phase. I am all for that cos I am determined NOT going to end up like your mother in law or my poor man.
Here’s to another fasting day.
About various weightlosses, I don’t think I would have lost anything like as much if I were not staying pretty low carb on feast days. If I eat things like croissants, bread etc on feast days – even keeping withing the calorie limits, I feel sure I wouldn’t have lost half as much.
If weightloss is your primary goal with 5:2 and it’s not happening (quickly enough), think about eating what you want to, but low carb for a couple of weeks and see if it helps. Especially no bread I think.
I think that may be the case. I have been low carb on my normal days too. I have ‘cauliflower rice’ and ‘courgette spaghetti’ instead of the ‘real’ thing. Low carb and low calorie. I started having it on fast days to save calories and now find I prefer it as it’s lighter on the digestion too. It may be the yeast in bread etc but I find that it seems to ‘lie’ in my stomach now.
Wow- so many interesting responses to my whining!
In answer to a couple of you, the film I was working on is some final scenes for the new ‘Mad Max’ which. although most of it was shot last year in Namibia owing to the Australian desert turning green, these bits are being done in Sydney.
About trying to kick start by doing 4/3: I am resistant to this idea because it would be difficult to fit into my very busy lifestyle, especially if on a film or TV show- 12 hour days are minimum. Also, because I want to adopt this programme permanently, I want to stick as closely as possible to my normal, healthy vegetarian diet. 5/2 is obviously more suited to carnivores, as our meals tend to be based around rice, pasta, lentils, quinoa, cous cous etc as ‘fillers’ and I probably eat too much of them. I’ve eliminated all this stuff, as well as wine & cheese from the fast days, but I really think that in terms of quality my diet is very good- a bit too good, hence I eat too much, although many people tell me I eat very little. I normally drink wine with dinner and this probably doesn’t help, but, once again, I want to adhere as closely as possible to my ‘normal’ diet, otherwise it just won’t work. It seems so barbaric not to have wine with dinner!
Lizy -what is the house’s ‘weekly birthday’? Cleaning? I’ve just acquired a robot- I hate housework- my husband and I usually ignore it until one of us can’t stand it any longer, then goes around with the hoover, filling the house with ‘the smell of burning martyr” (to quote Fawlty Towers)
Although I’m not having a great deal of success, I’m pretty sure it will work eventually- I only need to lose the waist & belly fat as I have perfect health and BMI is within the ideal range. I’m sending the book to my brother who is getting fat and has had health problems- it seems to work better for men.
To the lady who asked about the scales- I weigh at the local pharmacy once a fortnight, when we go into town to watch 2 movies on Thursdays (my husband is a film reviewer). But last week I weighed on a different one, in Sydney where I was working for the week. I don’t own a scale as I have not been obsessed with my weight since I was about 17 and don’t want to start now. The tape measure doesn’t lie.
And finally- well done Sylvestra- how inspiring.
Hi Loretta.
I think the 5:2 is perfect for vegetarians. I’m not vegetarian – except on fast days! I find that without meat on those days I can use my 500 calories on so many things. I don’t eat a lot of carbs on those days except for breakfast when I have porridge made with 25g oatmeal and water served with 50ml almond milk, lunch is a vegetable soup then I fill my plate at dinner with maybe a veggie curry accompanied by cauliflower rice with fruit to follow.
On fast days you just tell yourself you can have wine tomorrow. 😀
Good luck, you can do it. And it’s worth it for loads of reasons.
Hi again Loretta.
Yup I’ve been cleaning. Have seen those robot things advertised and wondered how good they are. (I know, I know- we are off subject.)
It sure sounds like you and your husband have interesting jobs. I figure you live out of Sydney. I am in Hamilton, NZ.
What I have been doing is eating one meal in the evening on fast days. Always 130 gm of some sort of fish along with cauliflower and broccoli. Strawberries are in great supply at the moment so am following up with 100gms. I have found that having a little flat scale on the bench is helpful as I have been under estimating what I eat. 100gms of strawberries for example means 4 big ones not 10!! Anyway if we can’t enjoy a glass of wine on our days off we are not going to stick to this regime. Life has got to have some pleasures, eh.
I forgot to add to my last post….there is a book by Kate Harrison called ‘The 5:2 Diet Book’ with an accompanying Recipe Book. Kate Harrison is a vegetarian and approaches the diet from that angle because she felt the original Fast Diet book was more meat orientated.
I’ve noted too on other threads that there are many vegetarians following 5:2
I’m not sure if it’s available in shops in Australia and NZ but it’s stocked by Amazon.com who will ship there
lizy, thanks for your kind words and so very sorry to hear about your husband’s plight, so heartbreaking for you both.
Certainly, the Fast Diet’s possible effect on intellectual capacity was one of the main selling points for me. I’m also attempting to keep the brain in gear by continuing to work and returning to uni part-time where I’m halfway through an MA MA. Of course, there is no guarantee I won’t eventually succumb to dementia – look what happened to Iris Murdoch, one of the great minds of the 20th-century – but hopefully taking the mind out of its comfort zone on a regular basis could help.
syvestra, thanks for making room on the waggon.
It’s a typo, lizy. My apologies. I’m the dyspraxia queen, only such a thing wasn’t recognised in my youth. It was then called naughtiness, punishable by a smacked arse. These days kids get help and so they should. If I were judged purely on my manual skills I would have a score of minus 200. Fortunately all my uni work is run past my eagle-eyed hubby – a skilled and meticulous proofreader among other things – so they don’t know what a clumsy klutz I can be.
It should of course be MA pure and simple. Such mistakes happen when I’m working – as a translator – and I restructure a sentence, as I did here, and don’t always clear up the resulting mess. There are in fact people – certainly in Germany – who manage to get themselves more than one doctorate and are known as Doctor Doctor Schmidt or whatever.
Hi all. I think I should say hello now as I have just completed my first month and so far I have been lurking & reading your posts for encouragement. I’m 55 and reckon I needed to lose at least 60lb and 16in off my waist. Well after the first month I have managed 7lb and 2 inches and if I can keep that up I shall be v happy!
As you can imagine, with that to lose I had all sorts of reasons to tackle the weight but I needed something to reset my eating habits and I thought the 5:2 would do it…I tried in the spring but just couldn’t sleep, gave up after about 4 fasts. So I thought I would try again when the clocks went back and I’m sleepier…and it’s been ok.
I don’t eat a lot of rubbish, don’t even like fizzy drinks & biscuits, but working what I call ‘full time plus’ in a sedentary job I’ve just let the weight drift on- low carb worked for me 10 years ago but long term it is too restrictive, and I do like good bread and potatoes.
I have noticed that my appetite is noticeably less after fast day so maybe my stomach has shrunk! and if I eat what used to be normally on the next feed day I am starting to feel a bit greedy. Interesting. My shopping list for the week has definitely shrunk.
Well it is still early days so hope it all goes ok, thank you again for sharing your experiences and being so encouraging.
Hi Dot
Well done on completing your first month. I’ve just completed my first month too and have also lost 7lb in that time.
I came to 5:2 after losing 35lb calorie counting since the beginning of the year and then reaching a plateau which lasted 2 months.
I started with over 60lbs to lose and have so far lost 42 of them. I notice that my appetite on normal days has reduced. I often find I haven’t used up all my calorie ‘budget’ for those days too. I use myfitnesspal.com to record my calories.
Just climb aboard the wagon, we’re all heading in the same direction and we’ll get there in the end.
Thanks to you all for the encouragement- although I don’t have any problems adhering to the 5/ diet as a vegetarian on the fast days- it’s easy for us but it just doesn’t seem to work for me-still unacceptable waist measurement after 9 weeks!
I suppose I am too impatient for results. As I’ve said before, the health benefits are irrelevant for me- no problems there.
Interesting comments about people not sleeping well-I am finding the opposite. After fast days (like yesterday) I sleep ‘like a rat” (to quote Bob Dylan) and find it hard to wake up in the morning! Fortunately my cat does not allow me to stay in bed.
To Lizy- yes, I live near Byron Bay on the NSW North Coast, although we have an apartment in Sydney. The robot is great! I have named her Robina the Cleaner (of course she is a she, as she is doing a great job- if she starts to malfunction she will be re-named Naughty Boy)
Hi everyone
So much has been added since my last post that I will only add comment on bits and pieces 🙂
Loretta – thanks for info on your movie. I am envious of your involvement in film production, tho I appreciate that working in that industry would have lots of challenges. I was very fortunate to have some peripheral involvement with the production of a documentary – and as a desk bound public servant for a lot of my working life, it was a lot of fun!
Re your wish to reduce your waist perimeter – what is your waist to height ratio – is it (much) above 50%? And, yes, 9 weeks can be a little early to get a lot of change for some people in measurements – have you had any reduction?
Dot – great start! 🙂 sounds like 5:2 has given your body the kick you wanted!! 😀 There should be room for the foods you really love in this eating regime, so go ahead (in moderation!!) with good bread and potatoes. And enjoy them when you have them! 🙂
Lizy – so sorry to hear about your husband 🙁 That would have had a huge impact on you and your life (I know I am stating the obvious). I hope you have lots of people around for support.
Re your qn about more wrinkles on the face. That depends on your body type I think. Although I have lost 17kg, if you compare my face before and after, you cannot tell any difference!! I am very envious of those whose look changes completely – for the better – after weight loss. I would love not to have such chubby cheeks, but I guess it does mean no extra wrinkles. What is noticeable is the saggy wrinkly skin on my arms…!!! Legs still chubby too. Sorry, hope this is not offputting – overall I LOVE how I now look 😀 😀
Herma – stick with it, you’ll get there. I have noticed that you have been great support to others on this forum, hopefully we can all help you keep going 🙂 How much more are you hoping to lose? Congrats on doing the MA, by the way, you’re a great role model for those of us that could, should? but don’t…
Ruthmel – good on you for taking up 5:2 again. You know what it is all about and so should get into the groove again quickly, and hopefully those lbs you put on will quickly come off. Best wishes! 🙂
Aud – trust things are going ok for you 🙂 you also have been great support to others on this forum, so hopefully we can help you too. I have tried 4:3, but it didn’t work for me – it seemed like I felt hungry a lot of the time, which is not the point of this WOE. But I do know of a number of others who do this on an ongoing basis and swear by it. So it can be worth trying if you hit a prolonged plateau. 16:8 seems to work better for me.
And hi Speedy and Sylvestra, and anyone else I have missed 🙂 Keep up the good work!
Cheers
Sassy 😀
Ladies
the post I just commented on by issambenzr, after finding that she/he has posted similarly on many threads, appears to have the answer (NOT)
Here it is
Apparently we need to take 2 spoonfuls of coconut oil, spin round till you’re dizzy and eat three apples and you’ll lose weight!!
And of course, you must follow the link and go to her/his website and sign up and he/she will take lots of money out of your bank account and tell you nothing!
Gosh and here we are fasting twice a week when the answer was there all the time 😀
TROLL IN THE ROOM!!!!
Hi Sassy,
You really are a star poster. I love the way you find something encouraging and supportive to each of us.
Thanks for your kind words to me. In answer to your question, another 12 kilos would be nice. In other words I’m about a third of the way there. Even then I would still be slightly over the ideal weight, but having once hit optimum weight in my mid-20s, when my body looked great but the face looked haggard, I’d sooner stay that bit above. In fact, I believe mature ladies like ourselves are advised that being a tad – i.e. 4-5 kilos max – over is no bad thing and a form of protection against broken bones and the like. Maybe someone with greater medical knowledge can talk us through that one.
I have rather lost heart because throughout my adult life I’ve had to struggle to lose weight and it’s NOT due to eating sugary, fatty stuff – much of which I don’t like anyway – or to comfort eating, overindulging in the booze, being a couch potato, etc., etc. It’s partly genes – two fat parents – and partly being fed far, far too much in childhood. Not rubbish, good home-cooked food but in gargantuan portions. Also giving up smoking, which I did nearly 12 years ago,
hasn’t helped. It used to be reduce calories, reduce weight. Now it’s reduce calories – zilch weight loss.
Re the question of wrinkles you and lizy raised, one benefit of being a bit bonny – all right, fat!! – is that the skin – at least on the face – ages far less quickly. Again, genes. My brother, although, white-haired, has youthful, smooth skin, as did my dad, as do I, thanks also to sensible but inexpensive skin care. It wouldn’t shame someone 15 or 20 years younger – except first thing in the morning when I look and feel about 103! There’s a Spanish saying that after a certain age, a woman has to choose between “cara” – face – or “culo” – bum. i.e. you can have either a lovely smooth face and a big butt, or a pert little bottom and a face like a road map. I’m of the “cara” persuasion, although my problem is belly and batwings, the butt could be a lot worse.
The wrinkly question.
I’m lucky in that I have very few wrinkles even when I lose weight and I have very good skin thanks to E45 lotion which I find more effective than expensive stuff.
I think, as hermaj says, it’s definitely in the genes. I have a half sisters the youngest of whom is 49 (and built like a pencil, but I’ll pass that by) She may have inherited the ‘thin’ gene from our maternal grandfather’s side (I got my paternal grandmother’s build…thanks Dad) but, bless her, she has a load of wrinkles on her face. Her paternal grandmother, no blood relation to me had, and this is not meant unkindly, skin like a Shar pei dog….so many wrinkles.
The bigger problem is the loose skin everywhere else, the batwings and the belly flab but hey! That’s what sleeves and control knickers are for 😀
Did you see Anna2013 on the other threads? I suppose it is inevitable that these type of exploiters will try and make money out of those who are vulnerable.
I am having a big struggle this week and it is as if my mind is telling me to get back on the eating bandwagon and back to ‘normal’. Consequently have indulged in a bit of mid night snacking, I am ashamed to say. Feeling pretty fed up with myself this morning. It makes me so annoyed that I am weak enough to allow that little man in my head to control my impulses.( Please note it is a man in my head and not a sensible, controlled and sensitive woman:-)) Wish I could do those smiley face thingys sylvestra.
Welcome Dot. This is a very supportive thread.
Herma, I loved the Spanish saying. My culo is flat and I suppose I am what they call an apple shape. I compare well with my other friends of a certain age as far as face wrinkles go but it is the wattle under my face which has gone and instead there are lines. Does this make your mind boggle?
Anyway, it is encouraging to read all of your comments and they give me a kick start to the day.
Lizy…..try a colon and a capital D 😀 or a semi colon and a bracket 😉
Anna 2013 has gone the same way as the other troll. If you click ‘report this post’ at the top right of every post, it allows you to email the admins and asks you why. I did this with both the trolls and the posts were gone PDQ, Someone called JJ emailed me thanking me for bringing it their attention and telling me what they had done. These trolls are such a pain.
Now – step away from the snacks and climb back up here on the wagon!!!!
lizy, I’m an apple too. With good posture and judicious dressing we can more or less disguise the apple-y bits. Anyway everyone except real weirdos or the sort of people who going around looking for bonny people to bully, will notice our nice not-too-wrinkly faces first.
As you say, sylvestra, that’s what sleeves are for. So are control knickers, despite the fact the name sounds like the sort of nickname you would give to your weird old headmistress who’d clearly never had it and didn’t think you should either. Sorry, lowering the tone again. Have these Londoners no manners at all?!
Hi to Sassy & others- don’t be envious of my involvement in film production- it’s a nightmare! I used to think the fashion industry was tough, but it’s a walk in the park compared to film & TV work.
A couple of answers / observations if I may:
Re my waist measurement- it’s OK by the stats, but last time I measured, still over 30″ which is acceptable for a man- not a woman. I work in Costume so I am an expert on this!
Re wrinkles- I believe it’s true that thin people look wrinklier- I have friend who has been overweight since we started school together at age 5- the skin on her face is like her grown-up daughter’s. But I don’t envy her enormous boobs!
Re control knickers- are you guys kidding? I buy them for actresses, they are rightly concerned with their on-camera appearance- but real people? Never- did feminism completely pass you by? Such garments belong in Victorian and 1950s costume dramas.
To the guys who are tempted by baking “Christmas treats’- just don’t do it. If you don’t have that kind of food in the house, you can’t eat it. Shops are open on Christmas Eve, (at least here in Australia they are)- go out and buy some if you need to for the following day, then give the leftovers to guests to take home with them.
OK, got that off my chest- tape measure out tomorrow, my 60th birthday – hope I get a nice surprise!
Sorry loretta but yes!…to control knickers.
Absolutely nothing to do with feminism either. I don’t feel it passed me by, more that I never felt the need to ‘burn my bra’ – literally or metaphorically.
But I dress for me and try to look as good as I can, so I do what I have to. I wear a bra on my top half so what’s the difference in wearing something to hold the bottom half.
I’m not talking about corsets or the awful ’18 hour girdles’ that were around when I was in my teens and twenties I’m talking about the comfortable kind of knickers/pants/underwear that keep everything in place under a close fitting dress.
I believe it’s recommended that the waist should be no more than half the height for a woman. So a 30″ waist would be acceptable (medically) for a woman of 5′ (60″) or more. Unless, of course, the person is in movies.
Have great birthday – hope the tape measure is kind.
Hi ladies of a certain age.
I am 57 years old and started the 5:2 diet the day after the original documentary last year.
At 5ft 3 inches I was 8 st 7lbs at best in my teens and 20’s. I could never get below this and I looked about right. I crept up to 9st 3-7 lbs by my 50’s and although not really fat I felt frumpy and discontented.
3 years sticking religiously to Slimmer’s world ( miserable, although you can eat a lot)saw me around 9 stone but what an on going slog!
Enter the 5:2 . Within a few weeks I was down to 8 st 7 lbs !! For me a miracle as I always assumed post menopause that I would not be ABLE to get to that weight..something biological would stop me. Also that the last half stone would be impossible at my age .I had thought this for years.
Well..that thinking as all wrong. I think the place to start is to be honest about how you eat normally .I had been on Slimmer’s world long enough to know what I should be eating to not put on weight. so was aware when I was just being a pig!
So to begin with I ate more freely on the non fast days having things I wouldn’t have eaten before like toast with a bit of butter, eating non diet meals with friends etc. Like a person not on a diet but not like a loony. After years on SW I now have a pretty good diet in the main..fish, veg fruit etc. I tried to fairly sensible in the week and then be freer at the weekend mainly on Sundays.
Flushed with success I then went through a phase of going totally nuts on virtually every non fast day .You know the sort of thing…10 hob knobs, a family size CDM and an apple crumble from the garage. It was sort of trying to see how far I could push the ‘eat freely’ thing. I found that I was then fasting just to lose the weight I had gained as a result. It would take me a week of being really good on non fast days plus 2 fast days to undo the damage from a week of eating like that.
It’s the interpretation of ‘eat freely’ which can be the problem. Precious BooBoo : You say that you have been gaining weight for some years despite not eating any more. I think it’s true that it gets harder after the menopause and then if you’re like me and never do any exercise ,it makes it even worse! BUT…anyone who has seen secret eaters will know if they are secretly kidding themselves about how much they are really eating. The hard fact of life is that if we want to be slim we have to not stuff our faces as I have been doing. The 5:2 is fantastic ; it means I don’t have to ‘diet’ all the time, can eat more ‘normal’ things and also have really fattening things. But I can’t eat just fattening things all the time on non fast days.. It’s a shame that the 5:2 has seen me eat 1000 times more rubbish than before I started it. I have levelled off now and I’m not stupid so I can see what I can get away with and what I can’t. Maybe you could have a good look at your pre 5:2 diet and work out if it was a realistic level of cals to at least stay the same weight. Once you have adjusted that then the 5:2 should see you shedding quickly.
Foot note : I did send 3 weeks doing 3x x 30 min sessions a week on my husband’s elliptical trainer ( some time ago) Result: I went down to 8st 5lbs despite eating more chocolate! Wish I could keep it up as when I looked at the amount of cals I need a day as a ‘sedentary ‘ person it was only just over 1300. Eeek !However I have still lost weight fasting on 500 cals.
Keep going. I feel literally reborn .
I tried to get an answer to this one on another thread but no one has so far responded. Can any of you ladies help?
Since cholesterol/triglicerides are measured differently on either side of the Atlantic, could some kind person – either an American based in the UK or a Brit based in the US, or anyone else who just happens to know – how one system equates with other. For example, what would my UK 4.8 be in the US and how can you translate a US reading into its UK equivalent? I ask because a lot of online info on cholesterol comes from US websites and I’d like to understand these better.
Hi, if you google convert cholesterol there are sites online that do that job for you:
See here for example:
http://www.onlineconversion.com/cholesterol.htm
Hope it helps?
Stef.
Hi Herma,Have you tried the conversion tables on Google? Don’t know if there is one but it is worth a go. In NZ our system is the same as yours.
Sarowland, thanks for your story as you make it clear that really, it is a matter of sticking with it even though we try and fool ourselves sometimes.
Sylvestra, We used to call those dreadful pull up things we wore in our teens, ‘Easies’. They were anything but!!!!!
Loretta, I hope you had a great birthday and welcome to the new 40.
Sassy, I love reading your posts.
The first thing I do when I get up in the morning is turn on my computer and read all the updates. It is a great inspiration for the day. Thanks to you all.
Firstly, thanks for getting the troll kicked out, sylvestra, (can’t they get real jobs? *sigh*) and thanks for the tip about that Kate Harrison book, I was rapidly running out of veggie ideas from Dr Mosely’s book. I’ve just ordered it from Amazon (as well as a new border paper punch ~ HOW did that get in my basket? lol). Cauliflower rice sounds intriguing? *eyes wagon, concerned that if Aud gets herself on, she might cause the axle to break*
Dot, WELL DONE on your first month loss, wowie!!I too have a lot of weight to lose and hope this diet will change my eating patterns – I’ve just twigged that WOE = Way of eating *headdesk*
Ruthmel1, I hope this week is going better for you. We now have started to receive Christmas chocolates at work, I wonder if the containers will soon come with health warnings plastered all over them like ciggie packets?
hermajtomomi, I hope this week is going better? Please soldier on. I too am soldiering on; I’m the one at the back of the regiment, clinging onto a lamppost telling myself to get going soon, lol. I too came from a fat family, it was their way, ‘no good wholesome food to be left uneaten’, they meant well but I was a wee Michelin baby, a podgy infant, a plump teen, and so it goes on. Interestingly, I traced my biological family relatively recently and they too are very overweight, in fact more so than me, I’m the skinny obese one! I’ve got a nature vs. nurture double whammy, lol. Sorry I can’t help with your cholesterol question, but Stef’s link looks good?
lizy, I hope you don’t mind me saying that I am sorry to hear about your hubby, please accept my hugs if not too lame, and the wish for a way out of early-onset dementia, maybe this WOE is the start? Alos, kudos for quoting FT. the best one ever was ‘Flowery tw@ts’ My dad spat tea all over the tele when he saw that, & he was always good at Countdown ;D
Hi, Sassy, things are going well, thanks for asking x Doing 4:3 this week and my second fast is neraly over. Had my teeny evening meal and a cuppa tea and I’m FULL! If I get through the week, I may talk to you about 16:8, if that’s okay?
SAROWLAND, I have to ask, what’s a CDM and is it chocolate covered, ;D
I dream about being 8 stone-something. I think the last time I was that, I *was* 8!
Oh, and give up my control knickers? Out of my cold, dead fingers, but you can darn well have my dratted surgical support stockings in a flash, lol!
Aud x
PS Please excuse any spelling errors, I am absolutely knackered. I hope you can say knackered on here ;D
Thanks, lizy and steph, for the info about conversion websites. It never occurred to me to google them, despite the fact that I do decimal-imperial conversions on a regular basis.
aud, thanks for your sympathy, I’m keeping going hoping that one day the scales might tell a different story. You obviously share my childhood experience. I think part of the problem was that when I was very small – and it may well have been the same for you although you are a few years younger than me (Geez, it’s getting to the stage where even God is a few years younger than me!) – that having a bonny, bouncing baby was a kind of status symbol, a sign that the family were doing better than their peers, something that my wannabee upwardly mobile, working-class, nouveau-riche parents, would have striven towards. Also being brought up in the austerity years, we were, as you say, made to clear our plates and encouraged to think of the refugees who had nothing to eat. And if you suggested that the bloody refugees could eat your greens, semolina pudding or whatever other horror you were pushing around your plate for all you cared, the answer was a clip round the ear. BTW I now absolutely love green veg, although I did at age two do a green Exorcist-style projectile puke in a department store restaurant when someone unwisely tried to shovel cabbage down my throat.
When you talk about how you’ve traced your biological family and they are all obese, I think of how my brother who shares the family weight problem and his son, my nephew, both chose to pro-create with very slim women, thereby counteracting the propensity for their offspring to be podgy. My 14-year-old great-nephew could eat for England, hoovering up food in vast quantities but is as slim as a reed and as fit as a fiddle. He obviously takes after his mum’s side of the family, all of them tall, slim and athletic.
Thanks for the birthday wishes, ladies, and yes, my waist is another inch down today- but it will be a while before I’m back to 26″ I regret! Today is our 2 movie day, so I’m planning to have a choctop (ice-cream) for lunch, and we’re going out to dinner later, one of the ubiquitous Thais I think. Also, probably champagne- it’s not every day I turn 60. I am now officially eligible for a Senior’s pass!
Sarowland- I am also intrigued by your secret code- what is a hob nob and a CDM? Also, why do you keep apple crumble in the garage? Is it just we Australians who keep our cars in them?
Sylvestra- I take your point about the bra / control knickers thing, although both are instruments of torture. I only started wearing a bra around 35 when I found my nipples hurt, rubbing against my clothes-but I draw the line at underwires!
Hi Sarowland
I agree with you about the ‘eat freely’ part of this WOE. When I first read about the Fast/5:2, I thought ‘eat freely? …that’s a bit ambiguous and could lead to problems’. I would much rather see that as ‘eat freely but sensibly’.
I had lost 35lbs by using My Fitness Pal to record my daily calorie intake. I came to 5:2 to get myself off a plateau, which I’m happy to say I have done. Because I have become used to recording calories and it’s second nature to me now, I don’t overeat on normal days but I can see how easy it would be to do so. If someone has been overeating by 500 cals a day and gained weight ‘eat freely’ might see them eating in the same fashion on their normal days. So 5 normal days at 500 cals too many will cancel out the fast days.
I completely agree that anyone who finds that ‘5:2 isn’t working’ and looking for the reason why should start by looking at their normal days and recording calories even for just one week to see if the problem lies there. It may not be the reason but it’s a good starting point.
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We pay tribute to our dear friend and colleague, Dr. Michael Mosley. Michael was an integral part of our lives, […]
Michael is touring Australia this September! Here's a link to dates and tickets. Hope to see you there.
Michael Mosley gives an update for 2019, current research in the field and announces a tour starting in February.
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29 Nov 13