This topic contains 3,812 replies, has 216 voices, and was last updated by annette52 6 hours, 46 minutes ago.
Ohh friends,,, not good,,,, I have a taste of the sweets during holiday and the cravings are soooo back!
I tried to get in one fast over the week,,,, so much happening here,,,, it was only 700 calories but many times I picked up and up down! It was a really HARD “fast”
Have to get back into water again. I know my clothes feel better in morning but by evening, things seem smaller,,,,
Hoping for a better week,
Annette, I hear you about the tea….. My “go to” is coffee…. But I think it is just something in a cup to drink,,,, maybe it is the HOT cup… Thinking of doing hot water and maybe mint and lemon,,, or just lemon.
A fellow that was on one of our shows who has written many books and has said things n the past that people said he was crazy, but longitudinal research proved him rcorrect.
He has said cardio does not work,,if want to maintain weight loss then it has to be weight training!
Anyway,, he also says to drink water,,,,he said to drink the number of ounces in water same as your weight….well I would just have to camp out in bathroom by tap and toilet!!!!!
It makes me think about the lack of water I am drinking less than what I was drinking in the summer!
I have to start drinking!,,,,,,lolololo,,,
Good for you with the clothes slipping…congrats,
Hope your son is doing well.
I will go my friend’s place for a weigh in,,, I am glad I don’t have a scale! I would be on every second. I told myself that I would start a gym membership when back from holiday,,, but can I come up with more excuses?
Keep well and in touch
Hello
Good to hear about people getting back on track.
My relocation is making my fasting difficult due to feeling unsettled.
However, one of the long term effects of fasting is that my stomach is smaller. Went for my first proper location local Indian meal tonight, no rice, but I was still so over full – not a big meal, just no room.
At least that should give me traction for a Monday fast 🙂
Regarding commemorating bereavement – try recommending a friendship bracelet, if you set a precedent to tatt after a death, do you tatt for everyone that expires in your lifetime, or do you expose your flesh for people to question why certain people weren’t commemorated?
Cheers
Hey Debbie3339 thanks for the tip about the psychological effect of having a hot cup in your hand. I have been struggling with missing my coffee with chicory essence with milk. I can do the food fasting thing without too much pain. Started on the 22nd Sept. Have lost 3kg, which is not huge but it has been steady. Am drinking green tea now and ‘hugging’ the cup !
Hi all,
Need Help,,, I have to start saying nooooo to those Christmas treats and not buy any in the stores,,,, how do others do it?
I have to admit since being away on holidays a month ago, I am still losing .5 lbs but finding even one FAST a week pretty tough… I know I sound lighten up but I do not want to slip back,,, 14.6 lbs down but sooo much to go since September. It was easier and faster in the beginning but hard when too many tempting opportunities are lurking in the shadows!
How are all of you? I need some suggestions. Hey Phyllis, Annette… And blessings to all of us struggling eaters!
Hi Annette, Debbie, Phyllis and any others who have wished me well with my studies,
I’m not posting much these days for a variety of reasons, but I thought you would like to know that I finally got my MA result. I’ve passed! 🙂 My dissertation got me a Merit and, if my sums are right, I will have done enough to get an overall Merit when the full results are formally published in the next week or two.
Hope this bodes well for you, too, Annette. It’s good to hear that your son is now happy to talk about his friend. I kind of sympathise with the tattoo idea. I’m sure a discreet little monogram would be OK. I have to confess, if I wasn’t such a wuss about pain, I would even now, when I’m more than old enough to know better, have a tiny tattoo, e.g. a flower, ladybird or butterfly, possibly on one of my my now very nice shoulders.
Debbie – 14lbs-plus, what we would call a stone in this neck of the woods. Brilliant! Whatever you are doing, it works.
Re the sweeties. Could you possibly allocate yourself a little allowance of say 200-250 cals on non-fast days so that you can enjoy a sweet treat? Over the festive season, I would be inclined to take a break and eat what you fancy. Then, like millions of others, you could be super-strict for a couple of weeks when the festivities are over. You may well find that you can no longer handle nearly as much naughty stuff as in the past, so you might find you don’t do major harm to your weight loss campaign.
Well Hermajtomo and Annette,,,, well does not take long to slip into carb eating with cookies and fruit bread and chocolate vs good old protein.
However I am eating less and FEEL I am getting smaller…. but the quality is just NOT there. I have to start getting smarter or I won’t be able to get back into it.
I have not been on scales in two weeks. I will do one weigh in, do the odd fast day and BE BETTER in January!
Hope all is well with everyone
Great job, Phyllis on the MA,,, way to go! ( clapping fiercely)
Annette, you make me feel normal in my feelings about food and not beat myself so much…. Hate guilt!
Keep well!
Annette, you are so right,,, I am sick of my own guilt sessions! I have brow beaten myself so much of my life, I don’t need enemies for I am the best one at it.
I don’t know about what your country is into but we are all over the topic of BULLIES… Well I have been my own worst BULLY. I just realized this!
Wow,,, euphony!
Wow,, maybe this is what it is all about,, being kind to myself!
Gee zzz it has taken me long enough,, however, maybe I would have never realized!
Keep well
Hello everyone, I’m new to this forum – in fact, I’ve never posted in a forum in my entire life! I just wanted to share a few things with you which you may find useful… I hope someone does anyway!
Having been an on/off dieter for the past twenty years, I know exactly how demoralising it feels when you step on the scales and either they haven’t budged… or worse they’ve gone up!!! I’ve tried so many diets and have wasted so much energy on feeling guilty for eating the “wrong” foods or not exercising. That all stopped in March of this year when I decided to enough was enough and this 5:2 “diet” was the way forward..
I had watched the horizon programme and felt convinced by the evidence that this way of eating would work for me. However, there were a couple of things which I knew I no longer wanted to do. Number one: no more weekly weighing. Number two: no more calorie counting. So here’s what I did/do…
I decided that on my two fast days a week (which varied according to my schedule) I would make green smoothies. I change the ingredients regularly. For example sometimes I use spinach, beetroot, lemon and orange. Other weeks I blend spinach, kiwis, bananas and lemon etc. I’ve just experimented with the flavours and found what suits my taste. By the way, I’m not “juicing”. I bought a vitamix and blend everything (skins and all) until smooth. That way, all the fibre is retained and there’s no waste.
Some of you might be thinking that’s not enough food to have in a day… well here’s the thing… for me personally, once I start eating, it wakes the dragon. My appetite kicks in and then my whole focus becomes on food.
Similarly, if I was to cook meals during my fast day, my focus would then be on the clock waiting for my feed time!!! But that’s just me!
So instead, I wake up and drink tea or coffee (milk no sugar) and head to work. I take a smoothie with me and whenever I feel I’m ready (which means I’m tuning in to my body’s hunger messages), I have it. I continue to drink tea and coffee with milk throughout the day plus 1.5 litres of water and if I’m very hungry (which can happen if I’m tired, cold, hormonal etc.) I’ll munch on some carrots.
I don’t know how many calories I consume, but I am pretty much confident it comes in at under 500. How can I be sure? Well, I was wearing a size 16 clothes in March and I’m now wearing size 10. I’ve lost three dress sizes, everyone keeps asking how I’ve lost all my weight and I FEEL and LOOK so much better.
I also want you know that I eat whatever I want on feast days. Honestly, I have never counted a calorie. Some days it’s fair to say that I have a bit of an unhealthy binge, but I physically cannot ingest the amount of food that I used to and I feel satisfied much more quickly.
However, one thing that might be in my favour is that I am only an occasional drinker. I’m guessing that it would be very easy to consume a lot of empty calories if you were a daily alcohol drinker. That’s just my theory though.
Before anyone challenges me (which is possible lol), I’m not saying that my way of doing this 5:2 is the best way and in fact I’m aware that I probably don’t intake enough vitamins, minerals and protein on my fast days. However, this is what works for me and I take a good multivitamin to try and compensate for where I might fall short. I agree this isn’t ideal, but again I have to do what’s right for me.
Another thing I just want to say though is that although I have had success, who knows whether I will continue to lose and keep the weight off? Sometimes, life just gets in the way. The mind is so powerful and if you’re not mentally ready and focussed, goals just become so much harder to achieve. I hope I remain eating this way for the rest of my life; but I’m also a realist. I’m prepared for setbacks!
I wish everyone lots of luck in their quest to be slimmer and healthier. I hope you all find your own way of following this 5:2 diet, because everyone is different. Just don’t give up. 🙂
Hi Annette
When I want to lose weight, I give up all added sugar, including artificial sweeteners, honey, all kinds of sucrose, glucose etc. I consider myself to have an addictive response to all forms of sugar and sweeteners. 🙄
You can get a headache or generally blah feeling for the first 24 hours. I call it my withdrawal symptoms. Just remember to drink plenty of water and you will survive.
Good luck, Bay 🙂
Hello
I don’t think that it would be a very successful strategy to give up snacks, cold turkey.
Maybe try a mid-morning and mid-afternoon low GL snack, e.g. oat bran biscuits with protein, like peanut butter, or cheese – should smooth out blood sugar spikes and dips and make bad snacking less likely.
I’ve gone through the dodgy artificial sweeteners and am now “using” stevia – differently sweet, for the first time in my life I can drink black tea, if lack of resources compels me, without any sweetening – so my palate has been reeducated.
Good luck to all who are probably planning their new year’s resolutions – aim big, so that partial success is still useful 🙂
Cheers
Ian
Hi All,
I hear you Annette. I know I must be addicted to sugar also or else it would not have the pull on me either.
I only have sugar in my pantry for baking and not in the kitchen. I do not PUT sugar into anything HOWEVER I seem to have sugar IN my food already.!!!!!
Over the holidays I had far to much sugary foods with cookies and candy. My plan is to:
ACTUALLY fast at least 2 days a week
Drink my water
Eat good food on the other five days.
I want to get back into losing 1-2 lbs a week instead of a decimal in front of the number!
,,,,,,,and my plan is to start today! I know I gained 3-4 lbs over holidays even though I have not weighed,,,I can just feel it.
Hope all is well and everyone gets all ther wishes
Debbie
Oh yeah, Annette,,,, and even though I said today I was going to start,,,, I absentmindedly picked up the little bag of left over peanuts…. I just check their calorie content and guess what,,,, over 500 calories,,,
So just SBSENTLY sabotaged this fast day! ,,,,, but I got in my protein!
Darn!
I have bought so many pedometers but none have worked well regardless of price tag! ,,,,walked all day as a teacher and only recorded 100 calories,,,,, or some crazy high number.
Got a gift card and will go out today and will buy one!
Hello Everyone
I have often browsed this thread but not posted here before…
I need a bit of encouragement to get back on post-Christmas track. I fasted on 23rd and felt marvellous on Christmas Eve. Those bursts of well-being don’t seem to be quite so frequent as back in the summer, when I began 5:2, so I relished the feeling. I enjoyed my Christmas dinner and various treats.
However, for the past 3 days I am aware that I have continued overeating and that I am sliding back into my compulsive eating mentality. I still have lots of sweet treats around and I am not having just one or two, but 5 or 6 at a time. I know this is a long-term, even a life-long issue for me to deal with, but I feel disappointed that I am letting myself drift back into that behaviour, when regular fasting was helping me behave in a different way.
I did aim to fast today, which would have been my 2nd day this week. However, I didn’t, so it’s been (another) 6:1 week; and lately those are becoming rather frequent. I do have a mild cold but didn’t even keep to my TDEE today, which was my fall-back plan.
So it would be great to hear from anyone, whether fellow strugglers or those who are still afloat.
On a more positive note, since I started in the summer, I have dropped a dress size (and last time I weighed myself in Nov, had lost 12lbs/5.4kg) – I JUST DON’T WANT TO UNDO ALL THAT GOOD WORK!
Best wishes to everyone on your journeys.
I hear ya on the not wanting to undo anything, but alas, I seem to be undoing almost every darn thing I’ve done, but like always, I undo some of what I’ve done without regard of any consequences. Meaning: My size 8’s are back to 10’s. Geez!
One major accomplishment is that we’ve been smoke-free since October 9, 2014, which is something I never thought I could accomplish. So far, so good. I can breathe again.
The best part of the start of a new year is that January is so user-friendly. I’m going to begin again.
Happy Holidays to you all!
Hi all
I hear you Bootsy B… I know exactly what you meant when sweets are multiples instead of one. Also how badly you feel as weight comes back.
I am in that same spot,,, gained a few back and doing it all again. I lost almost 15 lbs in just over three months,, with one slip up while on a 10 vacation,,,but lost it all in a week. I am hoping to do the same for Christmas.
Bootsy, I find that if I have sweets in the house, I will eat them… They will scream at me from every corner. I must not buy them because they will NEVER be given as presents,,, I will also eat them!
MY BOTTOM line is, don’t buy! I am weak and my willpower just does not cut it when it comes to sweets!
I am being gentle to myself,,, no fast days Until JAN 1 ,,,,, but if I can fit one in before then, yeah for me,,, if I can do two,,, holy cow, clear the deck!
I was wanting to fast today but absently minded at the “little bag of peanuts that was left over”,,,, well that little bag was over the 500 calorie Mark….. And do you know what? I barely remember eating them!!!!!!!
Be kind to yourself, talk,even out loud, to yourself as though you were your best friend and tell yourself some encouraging words.
Keep talking on here,,, it helps,,, we are all in same boat, just different sizes, ages, nationalities!
Hello
Been pretty much treading water and getting nowhere in 2014.
Will use the new year to try and generate a more positive and consistent approach towards pursuing a healthy way of life – ’twas easy in 2012-2013, so no reason not to do it again, in 2015.
My worst food indulgence over Xmas was visiting my sister and other family on the 27th. When I got home I was pale, massive headache, with aching muscles. Next day realised that all the food was party food from a well known UK frozen food supermarket – bunged full of “spices”, which means garlic – so I did not have man flu, it was my garlic intolerance kicking in really soon ‘cos of the rubbish food. Last night I wasnt thinking and had some chicken tikka – more garlic, not normally enough to give me a migraine, but looks like I’m more sensitive once the intolerance threshold is exceeded.
So, easy fast for me today 🙂 Shame that it’s my first day back to work.
Cheers
Ian
Hello Everyone
Thanks @debbie3339 and @etherial for your encouragement. So often I find that if I post on here and am honest about my difficulties, I am able to fast with no prob the next day. So it’s proved today. I’m enjoying it!
I am going to freeze all the left over Christmas baking, for when I have company again. (I’m so with you on the sweets, too, Debbie3339.)
I’m off to have my one meal now. It’s about 4pm here and I find that’s the best time for me to eat. I’m having baked beans on toast: good winter fuel! Still enough calories left to have a couple more cups of tea (the one ‘vice’ I have no plans to let go of!)
@etherial: I’m very happy for you that you are smoke free. Am an ex-smoker myself as probably many on here are. (If you feel you are still getting strong psychological urges to smoke, there is a book I found very helpful. Let me know if you’d like the title and I’ll post it here; but I don’t want to dish out unasked for ‘advice’!)
@snedger – hope the migraine subsides soon.
Best wishes to all
😉
Annette, remember the song, “Don’t Cry For Me, Argentina”, from Evita? Well, that’s the attitude I’m taking now. I mean, yes, I’ve gained, but for some strange reason, I’m not as upset about it as I would have been in the past; scary, huh?
My muscle tone is still okay and I do eat a healthy diet. My habit around this time is THANKSGIVING, CHRISTMAS, NEW YEAR’S EVE, AND NEW YEAR’S DAY! HA! After those wonderful events, I break out the ballet barre and the free weights, and some days cardio dvd programs and will buckle down.
I guess I’ve retired my boxing gloves and won’t beat myself up anymore. Another feat that I’m proud of is quitting smoking. It’s been almost 3 months and I never thought I would or could do it.
I figure if I can quit a habit that was extremely difficult to overcome, then there’s a solution to my yo-yo eating/dieting and I’m going to figure that shi&*&t out.
Thanks for your continuing support, Annette; I’m good!
Happy New Year, Everyone!
Hello all and Happy New Year! I am so glad I found this thread! I have been doing the 5/2 since August and initially lost 8 lbs. But since then I ‘ve been up and down a lb. or 2 every week and then had shoulder surgery. The long recovery and inactivity had stalled the lbs ….and then came the holidays,(sabotage!)and now I gained back 4lbs. I joined a fitness center in Nov and bicycle and treadmill 3x a week. What I find curious is that I have lost 2 inches from hips and 2 inches from belly and while my Dr. is thrilled and taken me off BP pills,the lbs seem stuck.
Now that I’m past the holiday mine field of sweets, I might step it up to 3/4 (today is #3 this week!) for a while and see if that doesn’t move the lbs along. I regard this as a way of life and, though I need to lose a lot of lbs, I’m in this for the long term metabolic changes as well weight loss. You are right, Annette, it is a marathon not a sprint. So with my new stats in my tracker I am starting the new year with resolve and a fast.
Hello again and thanks for welcoming me to this thread.
Just a quick check in as it’s quite late – we are just sliding into the 3rd of January in UK.
The above discussion on ‘losing height’ made me 🙂 “The Incredible Shrinking Women”. Annette, your post has reminded me to get the tape measure out over the weekend as it’s been a few weeks since I tracked my stats. I wonder what ‘height’ I’ll be, tee hee?
My current aim (apart from sticking to 2 fast days per week) is to get to uk size 14. My size 16 trousers are already pretty loose around the waist but I know my hips and especially thighs will be the last places to get to that size. I’m not setting a target date or anything because I’m totally with you on the ‘marathon not a sprint’ mindset.
Very interesting about your longer dresses, too @annette. One thing I’m very happy about is my bust has gone a lot smaller pretty quickly. It’s returned to a size which I’m much more used to and fits in with my mental image of myself. When I stacked on weight about 15 years ago (after giving up smoking – a familiar tale) it was quite a laugh to suddenly be fairly ‘well endowed’ but am much more comfortable with size I’ve gone back to.
Well done @oae on reducing your meds. @etherial I completely agree with you that there is scope to get on top of food issues now that you have begun to experience life without smoking. For myself, I know they have been entwined, substituting one for the other in an addictive process. I needed to knock the smoking on the head first but then the ‘food issues’ surfaced again and they were the more deep rooted ones. But yes, ‘Don’t cry…’ Good luck, Annette, with your next phase of your process: those sugar-free 6 weeks.
Best of luck to all in your individual journeys and thanks for being there!
Hi Annette52, i just wondered why you are cutting back on tea? Is it sugar or caffeine?, i cant tell the difference with decaf tea bags.I have been trying to give up sugar for about three years, had cut right down but still needed it in tea.
Then about two months ago i made a cup without sugar, thought il drink it anyway and haven’t had sugar since!.
As you may have guessed from my user name i am a man.Im 55,and weigh in at 17s 4lb, and i know i am staring at severe health problems, so im going to do the 5:2 starting this week, im 5’11” and hope to get down to 12s 10lb, so i am aware its going to take a while!. I have tried the 5:2 before but gave up, so more will power required this time!.
Your posts are an inspiration to those on here keep it up.
Perhaps i will post my hideous starting measurements on here before i start on Tuesday, could be interesting!
Hello Steve (like me, a newbie to this thread?)
Could I express a personal view re ‘willpower’, as you say you feel you need ‘more’? There’s something about that word I don’t like: to me it has connotations of straining and, for myself, then failing. It feels like a very critical, self flagellating starting point for any process of change. That was particularly the case for me when trying to stop smoking some years ago; and then when trying to lose weight after that ( and as a yo-yo teenager, too). I’ve gradually learnt a different approach which I try and implement as far as possible (but without straining and beating myself up!)
I have several times in various threads on this forum recommended the writings of Gillian Riley. I think they are worth a read (but a critical one ie I try not to take ANYTHING as ‘Gospel truth’.) She has devised a particular approach to both smoking and addictive eating. I used the former to finally leave smoking behind. I wasn’t 100% successful with the similar approach to over-eating but since starting the 5:2 I have found it a very helpful adjunct to both fast and non-fast days – particularly to avoid ‘compensatory bingeing’ on non-fast days. She has a website with a free extract from her book ‘Eating Less’, so if interested you could get an idea without spending money.
It might be interesting for you too Annette, as you aim to tackle the ‘hold’ you say sugar has on you. Riley’s thesis is that we need to learn to accept the addictive desire, rather than try and deny it; but then make the conscious choice NOT to act on it. I think this might be similar to your idea of being ‘mindful’ about sweet stuff.
Anyway, I truly don’t want to be evangelical about it. So many people on this forum comment on how 5:2 is so amazingly flexible to each person’s needs, preferences and temperament so take or leave my thoughts as you wish.
Cheers!
BB
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9 Nov 14