Bootsy, still waiting on background check. I had to be fingerprinted and undergo a physical. My FBI check was cleared. Just waiting for the Dept. of Justice to get their butts in gear. The executive chef called me and said he’d wait because he has a good feeling about me. Well, you better wait, you spent over $1,000 to have me checked out! Crazy.

Anyway, I’m back in my size 10 jeans today and my next goal is back in the size 8s, then toss all of ’em out and slip into my size 5-6s. It’s going to take some time, but what else am I doing? I did go out with hubby last night and we kicked up our heels at an auction and saw people we hadn’t seen in a while. I drank my wine like a fish and we ate cracked crab. It was a charity held by one of the local high schools.

I asked what happens to the crab that doesn’t get eaten and our server came back with a giant bucket of cooked crab that I’ll have to peel tomorrow so I can make a slew of crab cakes. I love making crab cakes Maryland-style; they’re the best.

I’ve lost a total of 7.8 lbs. since January 2, and moving on to the next goal. Chat at cha later.

Hello All I am just catching up on the posts since I haven’t been on in a while.
I just read your post Bootsy and I can relate. I too had a rough Feb. AT LEAST I DIDN’T GAIN!
It has been a horrible month that has broken all records. Snow has fallen 22 of the 28 days (over 100 inches) and temps have been at or below 0’F with only 8 hours above freezing. Impossible to go out and walk (can’t find the sidewalks and too flippin’ cold). As the thermometer dropped so did my resolve. This is enough to make me run to the kitchen, unhinge my jaw and toss back the refrigerator! I didn’t dare weigh or measure all month.
Fasted, yesterday and faced the scale/tape measure this morning, I just keep reminding least I didn’t gain! As you say “take it a day at a time and concentrate on the results”

One thing I did notice in my tracker is that in Jan. I was doing HIT (on bicycle) at the gym and lost 3 lbs, in Feb (when I could get to the gym ) I concentrated more on aerobic capacity on the tread mill. I don’t know if that is a change of workout or the wheels having fallen of my 5/2 routine. Think I’ll go back to HIT.
Mmmmmm ….. sticky toffee pudding …

Lori I gather you are in PA, I am in Maine. Your weather is arriving here tonight. Too cold for me to think about ice cream just yet…..but that sticky toffee pudding …just can’t get that out f my mind!

Aha! Sticky Toffee Pudding-Gate!

My fast has gone really well today 🙂

I’ve just realised that, last week when I was feeling so down, I was convinced that I was the only one falling off the wagon; and that the rest of the world was full of super-committed fasters. Now I feel calmer, I’m noticing that everyone else has their struggles too. The fantasies I create when I’m feeling stressed!

My Big News is that I am going to hire an exercise bike and have a good go at HIIT. It’s a bit of a stretch, financially, but I regard it as an investment. If it goes well, I shall seriously consider buying one. Once I’ve tried one on rental, I’ll be better able to understand all the techno-speak they put on the sales websites, which so far have just left my mind fairly boggled! I also plan to complement it with some strength exercises, as outlined in the Fast Exercise book. I know a 13 y.o who is very keen on all that, so I shall persuade him to teach me. He’ll enjoy being knowledgeable!

Spring is coming, honestly! Hang on in there across the pond!

Well done, Lori! And Annette!

I encountered a Wii-fit yesterday. According to that, there is no change since I last weighed myself at end Jan. Given last week, I wasn’t surprised but I was still a little disappointed, as I had still been hoping for some ‘magic’. When I got back to more grounded thinking, I was still pleased that I hadn’t gained. Keep on keepin’ on, as they say!

Have a great Friday, All!

Hello Everybod

Well done, Annette. I’m so pleased that you ‘won’ your earrings. I have had a good week: 2 FDs and 2 eating to my TDEE. I used to think that counting calories would be oppressive but those TDEE days felt a relief: I didn’t have to think about how much I ate, only what I would enjoy eating within that limit.

I cycled to Chipping Sodbury today! (Sodding Chipbury, haha) It’s a fair bit more than my ride to Bitton the other week, especially as I got lost and added to the distance covered. I reckon I did about 20 miles in all. I also got extremely muddy as I went up a bridleway which had been churned up by a farmer’s tractor. I went to see a friend who lives over that way – and she plied me with cake 😉 I hope we can meet at Bitton one day but it would indeed be a long ride for you; I live only about 6 miles away.

Hope everyone has a good week x

Was it a sticky toffee pudding cake?

Annette! Congratulations on the summer skirts looking good! In a few weeks I’ll be trying on summer things getting ready to go on a cruise. Hope I have the same experience that you had!

Made it thru my fast and should be good till tomorrow. I need to reign in the eating days although it’s not the ones during the week that get me, it’s those weekend days! :-O

Good luck with your FD Bootsy. As you said, take it as it comes.

Later everyone!

That is what I must do annette, 1 treat day and no more. Solid advice. Once this depressing, cold winter is behind us, I think I’ll do better. I wanted to lose more weight before the cruise, but I’ll have fun anyway! I still have 5 weeks….wanted 10 more pounds off, but that seems unlikely at this point. Even a couple pounds will have to do. Just have to keep on trying!

I’m going to do a couple miles on the treadmill this morning. It is so boring, but I have to do it. Now that the weather is breaking, we’ll be going outside and doing some running at boot camp. If I don’t do some training, I will feel like I’m going to die.

I have my food planned for the day. I’m not counting calories, I’m just going to go by how I feel. If I’m hungry, I’ll eat. I got so caught up in trying to make sure I ate to my TDEE that it was ridiculous. I need to change how I do 5:2. People seem to have good results by just doing 500 calories 2 days a week and not thinking about the other days that much. That’s my goal. If more weight comes off, it does. If not, I’ll still be happy!

Have a good day!

Hi Everybod!

Well done for giving us a shout, Linonchis, rather than packing it in. Well done, too for the 9 weeks you’ve done so far.

You’re saying you are now ‘completely unmotivated’. What was your original motivation: was it weight/size reduction, or did you have any other motives as well? The reason I ask is that, when I hit the inevitable plateau, I sometimes return to the other reasons I began 5:2, as my motivation to keep going. (If you’re interested, click on my name on the left and it will take you to my profile, where I have written about what I hope to gain from 5:2. I only suggest it as it might help you formulate some additional motivations to help you through this sluggish patch.)

It might seem a daft question, but how are you going about 5:2? Are you counting calories on your non FDs? If not, maybe that would be worth a try for a couple of weeks? Some people don’t only limit calorie intake to their current TDEE but calculate what their TDEE will be at their goal weight and just eat that amount.

I do hope something from this helps you. I’m sure lots of other people on here will have other good suggestions for you, too. I hope you’ll keep in touch with us 🙂

Thanks Lori and Annette for your thoughts on my FD. I’m happy to say, so far so good! Lori, am glad you’re not falling into ‘must lose 10lb before my cruise, or I’ve failed’ trap. As you say, even 2lb would be good. Every loss is a gain!(??) For all of us here in the Northern Hemisphere, I’m SURE 5:2-ing will get so much easier once summer arrives. Lovely sunny day here in Southern England.

Annette, Easter or Summer, whatever suits you for the Bitton trip. Maybe you could have a couple of short rides and then let me know how confident you feel?

And, folks … the exercise bike arrives tomorrow! HIIT, here I come 🙂

Hi Annette,

Thanks for your suggestions, it all makes sense. I go back and forth between weighing every day and then I’ll decide I’m not weighing for 2 weeks and then I change back to daily. Daily weighing doesn’t seem to be helping me stay on track as I hoped, so maybe putting them away would be the best thing.

I don’t want to have to count calories on a daily basis either. That is the appeal of 5:2 for me. I really don’t think I eat over my TDEE most non-fast days, yet the scale is saying something different. My boot camp workouts keep me in a constant state of muscle soreness, so that may attribute a little bit to the lack of loss, but I guess I have to assume I’m just eating too much. On the days I did count everything, I was often only around 1300-1500. At 5’8″ and 30 lbs over weight, my TDEE is at least 1900 with all the exercise I do. It scares me to death to think I’m not eating enough and I need to eat more. After a lifetime of dieting, thinking about eating more to lose just doesn’t seem right!

Thanks to menopause and a sluggish thyroid, the sands don’t shift as easily as they used to! 😉

Thanks for all the support!

Hey Guys! thanks for replying. I have been counting calories most of the time since I started, and usually keep below my 2000 a day calorie count, also on fasting days I am well below 500, eating only a small meal in the evening with mainly protein and some vegetables. I know it’s inevitable to reach a plateau, and usually this is when I abandon ship. I started this plan because I’ve always wanted to be below 70kg, and have never made it due to these plateaus. I started at 79 and I’m on 73 now, which is not bad, but always these last 5 kilos get me crazy.

Im really not in a hurry to drop the weight, but I really want to hear from someone who has more experience with it to tell me if the weight loss will come again… I’m really used to the fasting now, and it comes as no problem twice a week. I thinks Im retainig some water as well, and have been constipated much more than usual.

I really want to get to the summer minus these kilos!!!

Any encouragement is welcome 🙂

Hi Linonchis

Just wondering – how did you arrive at 2000 cals for your non FDs? It sounds quite high, as you mention you are currently in the ‘Sedentary’ range, due to your surgery. (Although maybe you are very tall.) For comparison, I am 5’6″/1.6m and class myself as ‘lightly active’ and my recommended calorie amount for non FDs is 1800.

Cheers

Yes, I was just having a “bad” day all around yesterday. I had a decent fast day, but I probably went over by about 100 calories. The scale took a big drop this morning, so I’m a happy girl!

I did a waist measurement yesterday too and it appears I’m down about 3 inches. Still a bit over 2 inches higher than the 1/2 your height recommendation. I’ll get there!

Teresa…hang in there. Your body needs to get used to this new eating pattern. Drink lots of water and keep doing the plan. I a very slow loser and it was(and is) hard to see all those people having big losses when I’m working so hard for small losses. We’re all on our own journey and we’ll get there in our own time.

I’m going to go do a bit of shopping tomorrow. I may stop at a large charity shop and have a look around for some things to take on my trip in 5 weeks. They also have a drop off where I can get rid of some of my clothes that are now too big. I have a growing pile of those!

Have a great Friday!

Even though I don’t fast anymore and am strictly low carb (Atkins, 1972), when I did fast, I stayed busy and took boiled eggs with me and drank coffee, tea, or water and I drank a lot of it. The eggs are only 75 cal. each and the fat and protein will keep you satisfied for long periods.