Mmmm Buttonboots – lots of really delicious sound ideas here!! You are making me hungry and I’m fasting today ha ha!!

Your recipe ideas sound delicious and I’m adding a spiralizer to my shopping list. All of my favourite recipes are carb heavy so it’ll be fun to see what I can adapt with my new toy!

MmeM — thank you for that. I’ve been reading masses of stuff over the last few weeks and that is an excellent examination of how prevailing nutritional beliefs screwed us up over the last 40 years. I completely bought into the low-fat thing, and I don’t know whether to be angry or sad about all the time I wasted beating myself up for failing. At least we have some better answers now.

Mme Monkey, thank you for the link, a fascinating read. To think that we are told that we can trust nutritional information…I just checked the German Gesellschaft für Ernährung – the second of their 10 rules: eat lots of cereals and potatoes; rule five: little fat and fatty foods.
And any institution that has to feed people (hospitals, schools, old people’s homes) plans their menus according to these guidelines.
A shame.

MMe thank you for the link – extremely interesting and informative! I’m glad the cauliflower rice was a success I’m hoping to give this a try soon. Hubby and I are embarking on eating low carb next two weeks while still fasting for two days a week to see what happens. Congratulations also on losing 2kg!!! That’s fantastic news well done!!

Well it’s weigh in day for me also today and I’m glad to report I said ‘Adios’ to two more pounds this week! Glad to see the back of them! It’s a bit of a double milestone for me as it brings me down to 198lbs (14st 2lb) and under the 200s and I’ve also broke the barrier of my first stone loss – I’ve lost 1 stone and 1lb since I first weighed myself on 5th February so very pleased this morning! Hope you all have a lovely Friday!

Thank you MMe!! Onederland – yes I’ve heard of that too!! Glad to get back to it! I’m only 5’1″ so a long way to go yet but heading in the right direction!

Great news, everyone! It seems you are all very consistently “releasing” weight, very, very inspiring in those dark nighttimes of the soul.

Onederland – I’m sorry, I don’t get it. What does it mean?

Cauliflower rice – now, does it STILL taste like shredded cauliflower, or does a miracle happen and does it taste more like rice? To me, cauliflower has such a distinct cabbage-y taste that I just can’t imagine using it to replace rice.

Have a great weekend, everyone, and good luck with your weight release endeavours! 🙂

Morning!

I’m another Onederlaner!….It is an amazing feeling!…I was actually topping the 300 pounds at my heaviest…I have lost over 100 pounds!

Temptation is high here at the moment…I must be strong! Yesterday, a parcel arrived from the German Deli – Mum and I decided to order a few items that we can’t get here in the UK….I was very restrained! Some cream cheese, and one small spreading sausage (I went for my favourite – Teewurst, a smoky pork spreading sausage) and some jelly-sachets (Woodruff flavour, which you just can’t get in the UK – or not where I live!)…Mum included Harzerkaese amongst her choices – and I’m guessing I’ll be smelling that every time I visit for the next week or so!!!! …I will be strictly controlling my Teewurst consumption – one slice of bread planned for lunch tomorrow with a generous but not too thick spreading of the smoky deliciousness!

Also, my brother has phoned and is coming to pay a visit today…wo Mum has baked a marble cake…and bless her, she has checked whether I am fasting today so she knows not to offer me a slice! (A slice will be reserved for me to enjoy later…just one slice!…it’s all about portion control!)

Woodruff flavour — Buttonboots, you took me back to the Berliner Weisses of my misspent youth! I envy you your Harzerkaese but your Teewurst is safe.

Your weight loss is so remarkable, but what makes it even more encouraging is that the foods you love can still be enjoyed in moderation. This is real life stuff, not an artificial diet semi-existence.

Hi everyone,

I need to loose 8 stones, i’m struggling a little bit because since i started the diet on 1 April 2016 i have been doing really well I’ve lost 5kgs, however i find that if i’m on a fast day over the weekend i find it really hard to stick to my Fast day, where as doing as fast day during the week seems a lot easier. Have you guys got any advice for me?

OK, been reading posts as they come through my email but until tonight I have not had time in the last couple of weeks to put fingers to keyboard.

LA, What an awful time you have had and how awful also for the friends with you, it must have been very scary all around. No wonder you took to your comfort zone, and who could blame you when we are all conditioned from babies to look for comfort in our times of stress.

What is done is done and now you have a marker for the next stressful event (hopefully not as dramatic)so you can look back and see, do I want to do the same and fall back into that habit or can I CHOOSE a different form of comfort – a massage or facial or a good comedy are all good stress relievers. I say this in hindsight as well as the last couple of weeks have not been as easy due to stress and working from home.

I have however released some fat cells, just not as much as I would have liked but a drop on the scales is a high five!

Welcome to all the newbies here and there seem to be a few of you. Sazlovesmonkeys (slm for short) – notice how that spells slim you just have to put the I into it. LOL.
If fasting on the weekend is too hard then don’t do it, especially in the beginning. 5 Kg is am amazing release in less than 2 weeks so well done! I find fasting days( which I am now going to call Cleansing days) much easier to do when I am at work as I never get a lunch break anyway. I do 2 or 3 a week depending on how many days I am working and don’t eat at all until I come home. On cleansing days I have a light dinner eg a salad, on the other days I have something a bit more substantial. We are all different in our methods and it is trial and error to see what works into your lifestyle.

Everyone else, I have been cheering you on from the sidelines and toasted (with H2O) your successes.

I am looking forward to trying the Cauliflower rice, I make cauli puree sometimes instead of potatoes and recently made what was supposed to be a low carb version of potato fritters (baked) but ended up being high fat and a lot of carb as I had to add so much flour to the mixture – not in the recipe, and shallow fry as they wouldn’t bake. I ended up throwing most of them out which was hard as I am on a strict budget and really cant afford to throw out good food. I had to pretend it was “off”.

I do make a lovely Zucchini soup – I think some of you will call them courgettes?. It is more a puree but very tasty and freezes well. This is my winter standby.

I will need to go over and re-read some of the posts.

I release any excess fat cells that no longer serve me. Sweet dreams everyone.

So impressive, LA, to watch you get back on track after such an upsetting time. This is the stuff of success — the way we handle the bad things throw at us. Well done, you. And I’m glad to hear that your friend got the help he needed.

Sazlovesmonkeys — welcome! The beauty of 5:2 is that you can figure out what works for you and adapt it to your needs. Many people, for example, choose Mondays and Thursdays for their fast days. Others prefer the weekend as it suits them better. You’ve made a fantastic start, and I wish you great success on your journey.

Lisa, I do hope you’re not down with something too awful! Your life sounds very busy, but take care of yourself as well. Hugs.

It’s a fast day for me. 4:3 is working well and low carbs looks like a good fit. I’ve made a lot of discoveries in a short time about what suits my body. The weight is coming off and i couldn’t be happier. One of the biggest encouragements has been to see from you all that success is possible through different approaches.

A wonderful week to all of us!

Welcome, DeepPurpleMoon! You’ve found a wealth of experience and support on this site. Read the FAQ, read lots of posts for inspiration, and prepare for the success I am sure you can find with IF.

Thank you all for your support, ok so the weight loss so far isn’t just due to the 5:2, I tend to go for a 30/45 minute walk on my lunch break and I do the gym during the week for an hour. I know that at some point the weight loss slows down so trying everything I can to keep going. Thank you for all your support and the best of luck to all of you? I do think so far this seems to be the most successful diet/life style choice!

Good luck with it. Like you I had a massive loss right at the start but then it slowed right down to 1 or sometimes 2lbs (0.5-1kg) a week. This is totally normal. Don’t get disheartened.

Fast day today and it’s gone really well. Haven’t felt too hungry. Had a large portion of EAT spicy tomato and basil soup (164 cals) for lunch. Took me ages to eat and kept me full all afternoon. Dinner was an old standby of veggie omelette with a little sprinkling of cheese and dash of Tabasco.

Welcome also to DeepPurpleMoon! 😀

Mme I love omelettes as well. I often have one on a Cleansing day for dinner but I have mushroom with a small amount of grated cheese. Never tried veggies except for mushrooms.

Zucchini Soup is very basic and very easy.

I usually make a large batch but quantities are up to you.

1 onion chopped roughly. Sweat onion is a large pan with a touch of oil then add any herbs you like- I use basil, parsley, coriander and Italian herbs as well as garlic paste. About I teaspoon of garlic and a tablespoon of the others.
As I don’t have fresh herbs, I use the tubes that you keep in the fridge.

Transfer to a large saucepan and add 1kg of roughly chopped zucchini and about 1 litre of beef stock – veggie stock works just as well.
Bring to boil and simmer till Zucchinis are soft.

Drain off and KEEP the stock leaving a little with the Zuc’s in the saucepan.

I use a stick blender and give it a good wiz then return as much stock to the zucchini mix to make it a soupy mixture. Add a good dash of lemon juice.

Save remaining stock for the next batch you make and I freeze it in a snap lock bag.

The soup lasts a good 5 days but you can freeze portions as needed. Great to take for lunch to have a warm drink to keep you going.

Doesn’t need cream or anything else, which I love as it really is very low calorie.

Morning everyone! Hope that you’re all well.

Well done Lolly, SB and MmeM on shedding more weight. Great news!! Apologies if I’ve missed anybody out – back from hols and trying to catch up with posts and all my work. SB, I too sometimes “cheat” and weigh myself after one fast day rather than two hehe. It does feel quite naughty when I do! My fingers are crossed for you that next weigh in you’ll be in the 13’s!!!

LA – my word, what a week you had (and what a fantastically written post – I was there with you!!). I’m so glad that it was all resolved OK. That even the fittest of us can suffer ill health is food for thought….Well done you for getting back to the fasting.

Welcome to all you lovely ladies who have joined the thread and I wish you all every success with this great way of eating.

Did you bake any low carb bread SB? I’d be interested to know how it turned out. Austrian, the flaxseed crackers sound great (and flaxseed is sooooo good for you). I don’t have a microwave so presume that I can bake, rather than microwave them?

I LOVE cauliflower rice and actually prefer with a curry than rice now. The texture is great. Those of you with spiralisers, do you have basic hand held ones? I looked a while back and there are so many types and some just don’t seem to do the job. LOVE the idea of spiralising beetroot!

Hope that you’re feeling better Lisa. Look after yourself.

Well I had a wonderful holiday. I allowed myself chocolate and ice cream whenever I wanted (pretty much every day!) and ate carbs too so was delighted to see that I’ve only gained 2lbs while I was away. So still under 14 1/2 stone. Really pleased as I know that I can release that again in no time and I’m back to fasting today, which I’m enjoying after all the over indulging. Although I’m not looking forward to having to go through the sugar withdrawal headache again.

I read a book called Toxic Relief by Don Colbert while I was on holiday. He was advocating fasting back in 2001 before it became mainstream. It’s very repetitive in parts and he has a penchant for using very unnecessary and basic analogies, but it’s a really interesting read if you’re fasting for more than just weight loss. I bought it second hand on Amazon for less than 50p plus P & P. Anyway, some great ideas in there that I”m going to implement for health reasons one of which will be a 3 day juice fast in a couple of weeks (need to get my liver ready for it first apparently). I’m looking forward to it already!

Have a great day everyone.

Cauliflower hash browns sound gorgeous!! Definitely going to try those. Thanks SB!

Thanks for the Kombucha link, LA…I’ll be looking into that. I’m in New Orleans, so cold tea is a necessity almost year-round. Even my Irish husband saw the light, once he’d spent a few summer months here.

I’ve notice a few people mention that they have a cup of miso soup/broth on fast days to hold them until dinner. Is there anyone that could recommend a brand or type? Is it a powdered, just-add-hot water deal, or is it in a can…?

I’ve also noticed that I’ve gathered LOTS of knowledge from previous diet efforts, and this is the one diet I’ve tried that I get to use all of them! The ‘good’ fats from Paleo, the ‘right’ carbs from Atkins, the weighing and measuring from calorie counting, the drinking plain, hot tea instead of snacking from…all of them, probably. And lots of water, which is the one and only health ‘tip’ I’ve managed to keep for 20 years. That stuff make fasting seem easier, whereas if I were starting as a total newbie to weight loss, I think this might be a bit harder.

Still nervous this will be a balls-to-the-wall first week, then…nothing…like I’ve done so many other times. I’m cautiously optimistic at best.

Good morning all!

DeepPurpleMoon really glad to hear your fast day went well yesterday, and the good news is it gets even easier as time goes on! I used to have a cup of Bovril on fast days if I felt I needed it, these days though I find I can manage without and just have water/black coffee/green tea during the day.

Lolly yes the hash browns were a big hit with us, we had them plain with a knob of butter on top but then put spices in the next batch to ‘spice’ them up a bit and they were good too. I think the options are endless!!

Second fast of the week for me today and then I’m done for the week. Next week back to Tuesday and Thursday! Have a lovely day all!!

I’ve been making a pot of soup for my fast days, just stock to which I add veggies and tofu. I drink the stock through the day and have the solids at dinner time. It’s remarkably satisfying and I actually look forward to it.

Ack, Buttonboots — those dragged out colds are a nuisance. Hugs from a safe distance!

I am so excited to tell you — I dismissed another 4 lbs this week! This is really really working and I’m walking on air. 😀