Hello everyone!
Welcome to the newbies and the oldies. Not much of a wizard, Jade at the moment. It has been a tough week both at home and at work, so I have decided to give myself some slack and no FD this week. I also had a week moment walking home in the pouring rain and driving gales yesterday, but I didn’t feel guilty for one moment. I enjoyed every morsel in the knowledge that it was a one off(when it used to be several times a day) and now today has been a new day with restraint that has been easy. I suppose there are days when it is a breeze and days when it is anything but, the difference is that that the easy days get easier and much more frequent as the weeks tick by.

Just 1 more day than a whole week off work(half term) and I cannot wait! I am planning a couple of FD, but will see how it goes with plans to catch up with friends and stay with family. I am not putting myself under any pressure.

My pleasure. I hope it helps and do drop in and ask for help/advice etc. We are an eclectic bunch with a wide range of experience. Never a day goes by where I don’t learn something on the forum.

Top tip-meal plan, which means buying the food before a fast day(FD). I like things that are quick and tasty on a FD, so that my time in the kitchen is limited. The fast day cook book is a good place to start for ideas.

Weigh all pasta and rice.

Aim for protein and leaves on a FD. Avoid carbs.

I miss breakfast on a FD, but have a simple lunch at work(provided free and there is a choice) and then use up my calories in the evening. I go to bed early and then aim to eat ‘normally’ the other 5 days.

It will make life much easier if you can reduce your sugar intake each week.I have just given up sugar in my tea after 40+ years, it will never set my world alight, but I am prepared to live with that on the basis that I am no longer a complete lunatic looking for my next sugar fix after every ‘crash’. Plus, your mood will stabilize and you will look much better. There may be a headache along the way, but it has been so worth it for what I have gained.

There are 2 books with the similar normal eating title- “The rules of Normal Eating” by Koenig, which I own and found to be similar to Roth’s books (Eh, not the greatest book. Roth’s are far better). Then there is “Normal Eating” by Sheryl Cantor, which lays out a 4 step plan to addressing first the binging, and then the eating out of non hunger. Stage 1 addresses binging, and then when you are reliably binge free, you start to address the non hunger eating. You work in stages, as trying to cure binge eating and stop yourself from eating when not hungry is too much at once. This is the book I have pdf’d.
I found Cantor’s book far better. Its more direct and to the point with clear instructions and guidelines, and a 4 step plan. I think many people relapse in spite of these books because they go into it trying to use it as another diet to lose weight rather then cure binging, I know I did in the beginning. Eventually I resolved the binging but I still struggle with non hunger too- hence trying the 5 to 2. I am really a huge failure at mindfulness and using a food/emotion diary, that is why I still struggle with the non hunger eating. But the binging was relatively easy to get rid of.

Ack! What a day! I’ve been running constantly the whole morning and am just sitting down to lunch at 2:30 and cooking dinner while I eat. As I’m caramelizing onions in the oven this means getting up every 5 minutes to stir them. Hardly what I’d call “mindful” eating! 😡

But there’s very good news to report. I had to see my doctor to get all my prescriptions either filled or brought up to date so I can order them with a phone call from Vancouver. I knew this would involve being weighed. First I hoped I’d break 180. Then I started looking at my “How Fat Am I” pix and I saw nothing encouraging. Plus I’ve overdone my eating a good number of times. Not eating the wrong kinds of foods but overdoing the high quality nutrition to be sure. So I began preparing myself for no or very minimal weight loss.

When I stepped on the scale I was down 4 pounds in just over 2 weeks! Glory hallelujah! But that’s not even the best part! I told him I am only using my steroid inhaler infrequently as I hear “krinkly” breathing. Instead of the typical speech about I just have to realize I’m an asthmatic and be rigorous about not letting it get ahead of me he said if I’m not using it consistently it’s not doing anything and if I’m not getting myself into distress not using it, I might as well dump it. I AM OFF INHALED STEROIDS!!!!!! I haven’t been able to say that in 20 year or more.

I will still need to use a topical steroid on my skin but I’m using that only occasionally. I can see myself saying I’m steroid-free one day and meaning *all* of it! 🏆 🎉 👍 🏆 🎉 👍

Had a blood test as well. It will be interesting to see how that is but they didn’t make that face and say my blood pressure was high and I should watch it.

On my way home I bought myself a kombucha to celebrate. It had some sugar. It was great!

Planning continues for the move but now it’s less clear where we’ll be moving to…

Tonight is my last meal until Monday at this time. I’m making ratatouille. I love, love, love it but it’s really for my husband who’s life is hell at the moment. That makes me extra grateful that you lovely ladies and Plainy (thanks for that heads up!) are out there so I can share my excitement and then be all sympathy and quiet voices when he gets home.

Wishing all of you all the best! I hope the weekend is a treat for you!

The great man himself-Robert Lustig http://authoritynutrition.com/why-is-fructose-bad-for-you/

Fantastic news Chubs, you must be delighted.
Jade, glad the lizards have left you alone. They seem to have moved to my house.
Squircle, never mind. It happens. Tis almost a new week.

Tough week for me, at work and at home, plus gifts of the sweet stuff. So it is back to the notepad for me to keep track of what I am scoffing up to my TDEE, to re-set my new normal..again.

Half term for me. Lots of catching up with friends and seeing family too. My plan is to not exceed my TDEE, get out for a short run if it ever stays dry, and make sure that I clock up 10,000 steps every day.

Good advice from Annette and Chubs, Squircle – and kudos on the FDs! But during bad times, weight loss takes second priority to comfort. Relax your goals and feel good about what you can reasonably achieve. “No binge” is still a good day, when you get right down to it.

I’m putting up a valiant effort against the sweets today. A FD is probably unrealistic. If not, then I’ll go for the whole foods and at least not be hungry. Say, Chubs, that soup does sound good – I never thought of combining chicken broth and tomato juice, yum. Sorry to hear about your tummy issues, but sounds as though you are prepared to deal with them. That’s half the battle done already. Any more news on the move?

Hey Annette, let’s send Chubs our lizards, she’ll pack them in a box and maybe drop it off a bridge or into the ocean. Begone lizards. Let’s do this, gang, it’s one day, one step at a time. Spring is coming, and I want my pink shorts xxx

Brilliant idea for the lizards! Just got to catch the blighters and then they will be on their way to you!!

Nothing in food that is a trigger, just used the sweet stuff in times of stress. I need to find another way of dealing with that. I would like to get back to studying, but essay deadlines always involved me making at least 1 cake….and eating it through the many re-writes to try an fit within the dreaded word count. A re-think required.

Chubs, the move all sounds very exciting. Hopefully the stomach issues will all settle down.

Well done Jade. I am struggling which is not a surprise after the week, but the plan is now a FD tomorrow. I need a ‘re-set’ and to get back into the groove and see what I can achieve with the shorts by the end off the month.

I have just done a weigh and complete measure. Not as bad as I thought but not as good as it was…and a way to go for those pink shorts.

I am about to walk an hour round trip with my trolley to the fruit and veg men, the fruit is much fresher and cheaper than the super markets. I have changed what I buy, for me the biggest change has been ditching that spoon of sugar in my tea and those jar tomato sauces with the addition of brown rice and wholewheat pasta. There are some things that I will spend money on now and others that never get into my basket at all.

I have always enjoyed cooking but have found it a challenge to find food that is healthy, filling for 4 young men, affordable and that everyone likes. Now the preparation of a meal that we all sit down to and talk about the day, is of prime importance to me. I have got rather a lot of cookery books, several of which are charity shop purchases and that combined with recipes on line has broadened what we eat. I was rather bored with the same dishes.

Good Afternoon for all those in my time zone!

Thank you all for your support. I feel so much better this week. Having gone over my diet for last week, I saw I had eaten too many sugary snacks and treats. Even on one of my fasting days, the 500 calories comprised mostly of ‘unhealthy’ foods. I am determined to do better this week.

Today is a fast day and I’m just back from my first post-op walk. 3 and a bit miles and about 9000 steps. I feel good, if a bit light-headed. Stopping of at Dobbies half way for a coffee was a real test of my will power. Soooooo many cream cakes…and scones…and cream scones!

Time for some soup!

Can guys wear pink shorts?

I bet you are noticing that you’re eating better food, annette and Jade. And I don’t mean that just nutritionally either. I bet you have food that fills your self-esteem as well as your bellies. I know cooking is very important to me and I could sooner give up eating than cooking. And now, on 5:2, I DO!!! Happily.

annette, can you prepare your meals as pairings of protein & veggies with filling starches like polenta, pasta, rice, pilafs, etc? Then the boys can chow down on the simple carbs they can metabolize and you can minimize that part of the meal? But, of course, this is probably old business since you’ve been doing this for so long.

Mostly, props to both of you for making the big change from processed foods to homemade food from real ingredients. You’re doing a wonderful thing for your families as well as yourselves!

Very exciting to be beginning with you, Plainy. Sounds like you’re off to a great start with the activity and inclusion of *lots* of water. Smart too, I think, to push your meal back as late as possible. I bet you find that, so long as you keep yourself busy and distracted, it’s not as hard as you may anticipate.

I know treats are allowed, squirrel, but maybe they’re better enjoyed after you’ve reached your intermittent fasting stride. I suspect they’re making things harder for you than they need to be. Of course maybe your metabolism is very different than mine. I don’t have anything with sugars (watch out for many different *kinds* of sugar in processed foods) or grains because I know they’d just keep me in the struggling with cravings zone.

If it’s any kind of encouragement, I can tell you that I can bake wonderful things and throughly enjoy the experience and the achievement PROVIDED I don’t have any of it. When I don’t have that stuff in my system I am completely LIBERATED from the craving for them. That’s the miracle of intermittent fasting for me: I am ABLE to make choices and I am HAPPY with the choices that serve me best.

I experienced that too, keeptrying. My first 6 weeks were effortless and highly productive. My husband noticed I was losing weight before I told him what I was doing. Thank god! Boy! that motivated me!!! Then I started having gastric distress when I fasted.

The think what I’d ask you is have you figured out all your trigger foods? Is there something sneaking into your food that is fueling these cravings? My trigger foods are things that I *love* so I was very skillful at *not* recognizing them for a whole lifetime but when I finally gave up and gave them up, *everything* became easier. Another approach might be to try an extra fast day and stick to very simple veggies/protein/beans so you could reset your appetites. Don’t forget to have *lots* of water and JadeLark has success putting lemon in it. Those are the things that work for me.

Yesterday was a fast day and a good day for me. I took a PPI (Prevacid) first thing in the morning and I think it kept the stomach acids at bay. At least I wasn’t bothered by them on my FDs for the first time in *weeks*. I have to take my PPI at night because the doctors tell me when I’m lying prone the acids do their most damage but I think an extra morning one on Saturdays and Sunday will be the ticket. because yesterday my hunger came and went as it typically would but there was no burning in my gut. Yay!

Food day for me today. I confited some tomatoes last night. Looking forward to adding them to my salad later today.

Here is another entry from Varady’s FB page.

http://news.meta.com/2015/11/19/cell-nutrition-is-personal-identical-foods-produce-healthy-and-unhealthy-responses-in-different-individuals/

It describes how individual our responses to food are. In one example given, a woman had glucose spikes from eating tomatoes which I think almost everyone would classify as a “healthy” food. Meanwhile, the woman had no idea they were causing her problems.

I put this up for annette and JadeLark who may still need to track down some “innocent” thing in their lives that are making things tougher for them. Maybe boring old food diaries, guys?

All very interesting…
Yesterday was a FD and I was busy, I was out and about. I had a light lunch. I could have gone without lunch, I think and just kept going until dinner, but by 4pm I was hungry. Managed to keep going until 6 when I ate over the 500 calories. No disaster, but that made me wonder if I ate below my TDEE on the other 5 days, whether that would help on a FD. So I am going to give it a try and see how I get on. Missing lunch completely when at work, isn’t an option for me as it is a social time to catch up with work colleagues and I could have soup or salad.
I have no intention of giving up rice or pasta chubs, but I do need to dish myself up smaller portions. I am afraid that years of boys standing behind me making sure that everyone has exactly the same are rather ingrained in my psyche! I have also used food as a stress reliever over the years and that is a habit that I must try to change. So I have 2 pieces of homework! I found that after starting the 5:2 that the mindless snacking stopped all by itself, which is extraordinary as I was prolific in the evening in front of the TV. It was one of those things that I noticed after I had stopped doing it and not during…weird. I eat 3 meals a day with fruit or nuts in between and usually nothing in the evening after dinner.
We ate little processed food before, apart from several jars of tomato sauce a week, and now that I have given up sugar in my tea and watch the sugar content of what we eat, and cook from scratch…I am not sure what improvements that I can make. Apart from my portion size of carbs and getting more legumes in our meals.
House is a tip, dentist to fix a hole in my tooth and friend to see later for a catch up. I love half term.

Queen we are all so much alike even if a bit different. I can eat frozen brownies and they taste even better because they are that much chewier! Honestly I’m serious that food is its own trigger sometimes. But then not others. So, like you, I’m trustworthy only if that stuff is not in the house!

Annette I wish we could all have dinner with you! That sounds delicious and thanks for sharing the recipe. I was wishing this morning that I had something to toss in the slow cooker, as I have to work late today and really do not want take-out or pasta (the only thing hubs knows how to cook).

I’m between classes – will catch up more later! xxx 🏃

Sorry to hear you’re struggling. It’ll get better chick.

I’ve regained a more balanced relax with food by doing the 16:8 every day and only once that was conquered did I move on to 5:2. It works for me because nothing is off limits and I know I never wait that long for gratification.

I now seldom think of food unless I’m particularly hungry.

Good luck and best wishes

Victoria

Hi guys-

It has been whacky and breathless and expensive around here. How does my new hard drive look on me?

I not only had a computer malfunction — here’s a hint for you guys: DON’T drop your computers on concrete floors — but I didn’t have any backup because, as we all know, don’t we?, backups are for the faint of heart. It happened as we were in the Apple store getting new phones that could take both a US and a Canadian chip. Then I took my car in for service to make sure it was up for the long drive. Good thing I did! I had 2 tires that had no tread left and 2 that had chunks out of them where I tried to save time by driving over curbs — silly me! I can only imagine what would have happened to that latter 2 if I had been driving at high speed for 3 days. 😲 I could have solved my weight problem right there by leaving a good deal of it on the pavement. Much as I may hate to give up yummy things on 5:2 I still think it’s a better plan. Yup, I do! 😉

So, sorry to say I haven’t been doing a good job of keeping up. And I haven’t been doing a stellar job of 5:2 either. I’m running, running, running and for meals I’m trying to clean out the fridge with the old Chubster Vacaroonie. 😖

For the trip, tho, I plan to avoid the very bad food along the interstate and pack my salad ingredients for rest stop lunches. Then I can probably rely on restaurants for a protein and veggies dinner if I judiciously scrape some other things off my plate. I’ll take some hard boiled eggs and salmon with me just in case though. Bringing salmon to Vancouver! Who but me would do such a ridiculous thing?! One thing I can count on though, there won’t be a lot of options tempting me in a car in the middle of nowhere. 😉 Maybe that will get me to my size 12s ’cause I haven’t seen much progress toward that the last week or 2. 😧

Wednesday is the day!

Hope you all are doing well. I’ll catch up with you once I get up there and settle in. Or perhaps I’ll surprise myself and get ready early and have some downtime after the weekend. ‘Til then smooches and skinny thoughts!

I don’t know if anyone here is raising small children but this ought to stiffen everyone’s resolve to stay away from sugar.

http://www.thekitchn.com/the-potential-dangers-of-sugar-on-early-childhood-development-228429

The link to the actual research is embedded in the article’s text.

I had a lovely week catching up with friends and seeing family, however I have caught a cold and feel rubbish. I am sipping a hot cold remedy with chocolate…not ideal but it is helping me feel better!

squircle Put some vaseline or if you have a small one nappy rash cream on your sore thighs to soothe them. Well done on the steps too, you must be very proud. I do 10,000 every day to and from work, manage the same on Saturday with ease, but have to work at it on a Sunday. You will see the difference to the definition of both your arms and legs to say nothing of a waist. Walking is truly brilliant for fitness and toning. In another few weeks you will be able to walk faster.

As a man you will lose weight faster than the women simply because you have more muscle, so enjoy that element. If you are feeling a bit deprived then think about what you are missing and have a ‘small something’ after you have looked at the calories and then seen how far you would have to walk to burn it off. I decide to have something, look at the numbers and then usually put it back(not always). I read recently that it takes a mile of running to burn 100 calories, which is rather depressing.

Keep going and be very pleased with what you have achieved. Have you added up what you have lost so far and then found items that equal that and then tried to pick them up? I remember struggling to carry a 5KG bag of rice from the shops a distance to a ten minute walk uphill. Then I remembered that I had lost the equivalent of 2 bags of rice, which explained why my knees ached and I was breathless on exertion!

Perhaps try more calories for a week and see how you feel. There is no race.

Chocolate is really helping my head/cough and lack of sleep!

Spring, how great to have you out of the cave! I keep diving back into mine but darn if I don’t just really buy the 5:2 lifestyle. It just works for me. Which isn’t to say that it’s easy or that I follow the rules –OH NO that would be asking way too much, wouldn’t it??– but it’s just there, waiting for me like a patient old St. Bernard when I periodically sing the Misfit Island national anthem that you sang in your last paragraph.

Wow, the dairy is what gets you, huh? And I can’t even eat that stuff – well, not unless I take a pill. And that really takes the shine off things. Anyway, I’ve taken to just limiting myself to a bit of sugar at night. I don’t need it at all during the day, perfectly happy with my righteous salad or yogurt or healthy-schmelthy meal. So maybe you could wait and have the dairy with dinner? After dinner?

I took a bit of a break last week, sickness in the family, and I need to MFP again but of course now I am getting everyone else’s cold 😡 You too, Annette? Bleah I hate that feeling, it’s like a lizard is crawling up my throat. So I may take it easy another week. I am still boycotting the scales. And truth be told, I hate MFP too but between that and the scales, MFP is the more reliable way to be accountable.

Squircle well done on the walking! Sorry, I had to laugh about almost starting a fire with your legs 😅 But it’s not really funny, that skin is delicate and those blisters can be painful. Annette had a brilliant idea with the baby rash ointment, or even Vaseline, and I’d also put some Bactine or other spray/lotion to keep the redness down. If it’s not too large an area, I’d use bandages just to keep from rubbing them again. Ouch – hope they feel better soon!

I need a day of sunbathing on the beach, who’s with me? Ha, I wish! School is hectic and students are all so frantic and anxious…I want to tell them to slow down, enjoy the sunshine, enjoy being young….💐☀️🚴💃
Night everyone 💤 jade xx

Hello Strangers!

Sorry I have been away on PLANET PRETEND I AM NORMAL. Rather unsurprisingly, this has led to me regaining a quarter of my original loss, so here I am, back with my tail between my legs. In Chubster’s wise words, I am pressing my reset button.

Here is what I discovered (well, what I already knew but was in massive denial about). I have to weigh myself every single day or I just overeat. I’m going to try this for a month.

Chubs – Great news about your inhaler! Don’t worry about your binge – definitely a nerve binge – these things happen. It’s not about how you fall but how you get up again, so just dust yourself off and jump back on the wagon.

Jade this is an old post but well done on the one doughnut. From where you started that is an amazing victory.

Annette – ‘cakegate’ – LOL. I definitely had a cakegate moment…. Well… month…

Squircle – as Jade suggested, have you tried reading ‘Brain over Binge’ ? It might help you – it helped me and I can identify with the size, calorie content and nature of your binge foods. And well done on that week where you lost 3lbs despite a few bad days. This is the wonder of 5:2!

Also Plainy you might find ‘Brain over Binge’ helpful. It’s a different approach to the ones suggested in Josie’s books but you will find what works for you.

Spring & Jade – sounds like you have both had a few ups and downs too recently – again it is reassuring to me that we all slip up but most importantly drag ourselves back to facing up to the realities.

Queen – love your Labrador metaphor. I am a Labrador.

Vet/Victoria – do you loose weight doing 16:8? I’ve read mixed reports on that one and I’d be interested to know how you’ve found it.

Sorry for all the jumping around all over the place.. been trying to catch up on over a month’s worth of posts.

I’m back on the Island, folks.

Mcca xx

Haha Jade, so true 🙂 🙂 and lovely to see you on the beach mcca!!! We will likely be here for some time so drop by whenever you want.

I’ve certainly visited all those planets myself lately, but it seems I also have one all to myself called the Big-Girl-Has-Lost-Her-Pants-Pity-Party Planet. In fact, sometimes I think I’m heading to Planet Pretend I am Normal just to discover a system override suddenly crash lands me in that godforsaken place. The “I’ll just buy this as hubby likes it” should be a BIG warning sign that auto-pilot has kicked in to somewhere I don’t really want to go and I so relate to buying something I know is a trigger and somehow thinking magic happens. Nope. No magic, just another crash landing. Let hubby buy his own treats I say (and hide them 😉 )

Annette I hope the cold is much better and Chubs, I just wanted to wish you super-strength in hunting out the healthy options as you head north. I spent a couple of years of my misspent youth driving around the USA and I was blown away at the availability of fast food on the highways – all these years later I doubt it is any less the case, if Australia is anything to go by.

Okay, well it’s late in the day now and my brain is fried. Just going to head into my cave for a little rest and wish you all (lurkers included) the very best. Love Spring xxx

Hello Everyone!
I am finally well after a pretty nasty cold. On the downside I have eaten biscuits every day and bought chocolate on my way home(something I haven’t done for a very long time) a couple of times. I thought that it would help me feel better, but I still felt as lousy and scoffed 600 calories in 10 minutes! Ho hum.
I seem to be maintaining and have done for a while according to the scales BUT I am shrinking above the waist. I have a much loved empire line dress that was too tight at the start of the year and needed a camisole underneath to avoid any potential embarrassment. I wore it last week and found that there is no need for a camisole anymore as it no fits perfectly at the neckline, however, the bodice was loose and the sleeves are loose and have morphed into bat wings! Another item for the charity shop pile.
I think that boredom is often a problem Jade. I notice that if I eat while looking at any screen, I am unaware of what I have eaten and how it has tasted which is such a waste. I am trying to focus on the food while I eat, so that I can remind myself what I have eaten.
Youngest son(19 and recently lost 3 stone from cutting out alcohol and snacking on rubbish) has told me that our portion sizes are too big. I always measure rice and pasta but he insists that I should reduce our Sunday Lunch further. So I will do that tonight and see what they think and whether they notice.
There is 3 weeks until school breaks up for Easter, so the plan is to avoid the biscuits for the remainder and go back to keeping a journal of what I consume up to the TDEE of the weight that I am aiming for(which is only 200 calories less than my actual weight). It really helps me to remember everything and the running total keeps me focused on the end goal and those pink shorts. I am going to try less carbohydrates in my diet and see what happens to my waistline.
I use that excuse too spring, and now with the shops full of Easter goodies, temptation is everywhere. I have to remind myself that the things that I crave are always a huge disappointment when I do have them and now I rarely bother. The siren call is quenched for ages and then I try again, BUT that is happening less and less as the months tick by which is a huge improvement from my daily battles.
Hope all is well with everyone and that Chubs is safe travelling.

Wouldn’t it have been nice if the deli gave weary travelers free salad?! That was supposed to be “green” salad but my autocorrect is random and fierce. ::sigh::