Day 10 Massachusetts USA NFD This is so wonderful to see communication from China to USA to New Zealand and points in between! Yesterday’s FD was very successful. I was actually quite hungry mid-afternoon but I’m committed and ended the day at 400 calories. This morning I planned a substantial breakfast but found I could only eat 1/2 of it. Since I’m trying to be an appropriate weight for my petite frame, this is my body getting the message that I need less food! I’m short and short waisted (and had 3 kids) so now I have all this extra skin in my mid-section that isn’t going anywhere (I won’t have surgery). Anyone else have this going on?

Day 10, Guildford UK, NFD

Still in bed, lots of strange, sweaty and smelly, feeling dehydrated with a massive headache.

Feeling bloated and obvious stomach swelling.

On target but struggling.

2nd post….

A big thank you to everyone who commented on me getting my Mojo back. It feels great to be back in normal society again….

Lesson learned….. keep fighting…… if life hands you lemons, start throw them damn things right back at it…….

I’m also glad that you are all enjoying my ending…. I was out and about one day and saw that saying as a sign in one of the stores I was at…. people around me thought I was nuts cuz I seriously never laughed so hard in my life. Plus, it was the first time I laughed in months…. which is probably why I nearly pee my pants/trousers and made a fool of myself.

@ strawberriesand cream…. here’s the info. Thank you for doing it, for what ever reason my tablet won’t let me pull it up
Day
1….. FD. Start weight for the month 142.8
2. NFD
3. FD
4. NFD
5. FD
6. FD
7. NFD
8. FD… weigh in 140.2 yippee I’m down
9. NFD
10. Today FD

Okay, well the laundry is calling my name! So, I’m off!

How long do I have to practice King-fu fighting? My kicks are never going to be fast as lighting but they be burning like I was just hit by lightening…….

Day 10 NFD (controlled) country West Australia
Day 9 inadvertent FD. Went to lunch with my sister and had only soup. Got home late and decided to fast as not hungry. DH decided to do a fast with me – he is already thin as a whippet – so we both didn’t have dinner last night or breakfast and ended with brunch of eggs on toast. Yummiferous!
Scales still playing host to the Fat Fairy and bouncing up and down but no real loss.
Have a few friends who have had sudden deaths in the family or serious medical problems diagnosed, so a misbehaving scale doesn’t even come close.
Desperate for rain so if anyone OS could just send the rainclouds down under we would really appreciate it!
Have a nice weekend everyone.

Day 10 Post 1 Huntingdon UK NFD….. doing a lot of steps today …. was pleased with scale read out this morning .

Day 10 NFD California USA
Yesterday was a NFD following a FD and I managed to lose .2 pounds. I often see a small gain on those days. One thing I did differently was to keep track of my calories using myfitnesspal and managed to stay within a couple points of my TDEE. I hate to track every bite on my NFD, but it clearly helps. So I’m down 1.6 pounds since June 1st.

Today is exactly 1 month since I began the 5:2 plan and my loss for the month is 7.2 pounds, 3.2 kg. Most of that was in the first few days, so probably water weight, but I’ll take it! I weigh 148.6 or 67.4 kg.

@bert1802 I like your saying, “If life hands you lemons start throwing them damn things right back at it.” We have a cat that has a tumor in her lower jaw that isn’t treatable given her age and fragility, and we’re trying to keep her comfortable and do what we can as long as her quality of life is reasonably good and she’s active. It always comes down to knowing when it’s time but she clearly has the will to live at present. So we’re just taking it one day at a time. But it’s very sad and stressful.

@lilymartin, Unintended FD are the best! Not many hours left to worry about it when you finally make the decision and it’s a FD out of the way for the week.

@rainbowsmile, are you coming down with some sort of bug? Hope you’re feeling better.

@annemarilyn, how is the 4:3 plan working for you? Have you been doing it for a while? I wanted to try a full month on the 5:2 to give it a fair try before I experimented, but it would be nice to see faster results.

Day 10, Rochester NY USA, NFD

Yesterday’s fast day was much easier for me than previous ones. My hunger was much less intense this time around, which was a relief! I haven’t been strictly counting calories on fast days. I’ve been breaking my fast with a nutritional shake/smoothie (around 200 calories) at 4pm and then have a small dinner (usually a salad) a few hours later.

I was so pleased to find my weight was 113.8 pounds this morning. I haven’t seen 113 on the scale since May of last year! This is encouraging since I ate out a lot more than usual this past week. I also had a beer with each of these meals (and I’ve been trying to not drink during the week….didn’t work so well this week!)

This coming week I will do fast days on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. On Friday, I will fast until dinner and then eat freely (within reason). My cousin is getting married a week from today, and I feel if I add an extra FD, I will be able to enjoy the festivities without worrying about undoing the progress I’ve made.

I hope you’re all making progress toward your goals! Have a wonderful day! 🙂

Actually watching ChoppeD Jr., not Chopper….

Day 10 NFD St. Louis USA
Just scanning through posts now. Went to my kettle bell class yesterday and was re-measured and was surprised when she told me I had lost an inch and a half in my waist and an inch in my hips. I had gained an inch in my thighs but she said that is normal gaining muscle when doing this kind of weight training. I’ve always had been legs anyway. I’ve also lost 10 1/2 pounds since the beginning of March. Shifted my goal down to 132 pounds. I have also started to notice a difference in my clothes. I found I don’t really get hungry on the fast days. I do allow myself some snacks on my non-fast days but don’t go overboard. Pleasantly surprised at how well this is working. I really do believe having the support and knowing there are so many of us in this challenge together that helps keep us on track.

Best of luck to all.

Post 2

My stomach capacity is shrinking. Had a take-away chicken tikka naga biryani for tea and struggled to finish it. 3 months ago I would have had a few poppadoms, a starter, a naan. And probably a pudding. And then later some crisps or nuts. Now I’m just pleased that I’ve got a FD tomorrow!

Day 10- Colorado USA — NFD

Still on vacay in Orlando! So they’re ALL NFD’s!! 😆

Today according to the deal I have with myself, I enjoyed a vanilla soft serve ice cream cone. 🍦 Yum!
I never ever buy ice cream at home…but 3 x per year, on vacation I allow myself ice cream. Makes it a wonderful rare treat! 👍🏼

Day 11 NFD NZ
I think I’ll fast until about 2pm today then have a short eating window until about 6pm with no calorie counting.
I’ve found this helps me stay better controlled on NFDs.
This coming week I’m going to btb Mon and Tues while I’m at work. I often don’t get a lunch break on workdays anyway so it’s actually quite straightforward.
I’ll have a controlled eating day on Wed then fast Thurs and have the shortened eating window on Fri when we go out to a dance with friends.
The dance is in a small town about 20mins away so im going to be the sober driver to ensure alcohol calories stay at zero!
I’m hopeful all of this will fit me into the dress I intend to wear.
@bert1802 I love your admission of a large shoe collection. I had to empty one of my wardrobes for access to the floor space under our house once and the poor man watching me stack up just that one wardrobe full of my shoes nearly popped the retinas right out of his eyeballs. I haven’t counted for a long time but off the top of my head I have a dozen pairs of sneakers and about 11 pairs of just the black boots, add in the other colour boots, flat shoes, heels, sandals etc and I’m sure you can imagine.
Think I’m going to head out for a power walk – I like to think of it as that while I recharge my mental batteries in the fresh air and stride round my neighbourhood.

Hi bigbooty,
Have you seen that CSIRO have now said how beneficial the 5:2 diet is? It has has only taken them about 5 years to catch up with this research!

ashwpz,

No but it dosen’t surprise me. When research dollars are in short supply people are all too willing to do what it takes to secure those dollars. It leads to a compromise in (scientific) integrity. Have you done the CSIRO healthy diet score quiz? I scored quite low in that quiz, I think from memory about 60. My problem is I really don’t eat a lot of food. So I repeated the quiz and changed my answers from the amount I actually ate to the maximum servings possible which was 14 (serves). So 14 serves of “healthy” bread, 14 serves of vegetables, 14 serves of fruit, 14 serves of fish etc. Low and behold I scored 90/100. And to run insult into injury my report card recommended that I needed to increase my servings of veggies. I was so appalled at the quiz that I was compelled to email them. I have done so 3 times without any joy. When I pointed out that if I were to eat all that food on a daily basis I would be a very healthy 200kgs their response was to not actually answer it, rather they just gave me some pre-prepared generic playlist answer.

Two simple rules:
If you eat only foods that your grandmother would recognize as food I think youre more than half way there.

Don’t eat foods that don’t go off or spoil. Theres a big clue right there. If other organisms wont/cant eat it, it cant be that good. Processed flour and sugar are prime examples.

Day 11 NFD country West Australia
Sometimes the news puts things in perspective.
Feeling somewhat embarrassed/ashamed. Heard just now on the news that unless the world sends emergency aid funds the food stocks in Ethiopia will only last about a month with 8,000,000 people in Africa facing starvation and 17,000,000 yes SEVENTEEN MILLION people with/ facing malnutrition.
And here am I needing support not to wantonly overeat.
Was it Ghandi who said ‘ there is enough for everyone’s need but not everyone’s greed’ alluding to life in general?
@simcoeluv re diabetes. Some people still require insulin to control their disease.
Not everyone’s diabetes can be controlled by diet alone. Dr Mosley mentions this, I think but am not 100 % sure, in one of his books ?? 5:2 book, especially T1D when the pancreas is mal/non functioning.
My father was a T2D and diagnosed in the 1970’s. When he was eventually diagnosed – excessive thirst and tiredness – the staff were shocked at his BSLs, some of the highest they had seen in years. In the 20s if I remember correctly.
Luckily his diabetic specialist was up-to-date with the latest research and advised my father to lose weight, exercise, eat a lot of vegetables, some meat, some fruit BUT to eat few grapes and only a small wedge of watermelon occasionally( both these fruit really spike BSLs quickly).
To be mindful of sweet treats but when he had them to eat the ‘real deal’ and not substitutes e.g. real chocolate, a beer a few times a week etc. Importantly to be careful of saturated fats. Most things in moderation basically.
Dad lived until he was 89 and mum made sure that he followed the doctor’s advice pretty strictly. He was lucky not to require any amputation- an unfortunate sequelae for many with diabetes.
Even though he lost weight ( didn’t fast) he still required insulin daily.
My sister is a diabetes educator and she says that sugar is not the problem ( with the caveat that sugar is generally not good for anyone) but that saturated fats have to be VERY carefully watched.

I agree about the plethora of diet books and the billions of dollars spent annually worldwide by people trying to lose weight.
I think the benefits of IF is gradually gaining traction. In WA there seem to be more articles in the news, on TV and radio programmes, in newspapers about IF ( it could be that I am really interested in this area and just happen to notice them when mentioned), the gut biome and gut health. Certainly more people I know are talking about it.
2 of my family are now doing 5:2 and enjoying good results so far.
@ashwpz , ?? Do I now ditch the CSIRO book I bought many years ago with their first edition of the CSIRO diet ???
( they do have some good recipes never-the-less)
@lany36, I love the description of the tradie with his retinas popping ( could just be my macabre sense of humour but I have a very clear image in my head!)
@bigviking, the decrease in appetite is such a plus
@happymargo, enjoy every last lick of your ice-cream and the rest of your vacay
Off to church in a beautiful old stone church – very cold on a cold winter’s morning!
Go well all.😇
PS this week is Men’s Health Week. Hope all men and male OHs out there get their annual medical checks so that they know their numbers.

Day 11 UK FD

179.4lbs. Not a good start to managing more steadily. I already need an extra fast day to make up for yesterday. Couldn’t stop thinking about food. Ate right up to TDEE and found that weight again. I wasn’t even hungry but broke the eating window anyway. The psychological side is the hardest to sort out. But Saturday is always hardest for me so no need to despair. My self control is still around here somewhere, I just need to pick it up again. Lots of work today and the sun is shining. The garden is spectacular. The roses are cascading down over the paths. The fruit is dangling heavily from the bushes,trees and canes. Baby birds are flying clumsily about with parents anxiously hovering near by. Lovely. It should be easy to be positive.

DAY 11 – UK – FD

Well folks – I have to admit I have totally lost my way…..since about 4 weeks ago.
I have been trying to get back on track but have failed miserably. Despite my first month of losing and feeling great. I have battled for several months “maintaining” and just haven’t seen my weight go down….and now I seem to have lost it all completely. I have gained 3 lbs. and hate myself. I have noticed that things that were taboo have suddenly started creeping back into my diet, a few squares of chocolate, the odd biscuit, sneaky jam sandwich, more nuts than I should (for some reason OH has been buying several packs at a time and putting them in the “treats” cupboard…I can never stop at a small handful.)..and portions increasing in size.
So, I confess, it’s all gone pearshaped, and so have I !!! Time to shake off the demons and start again.

So 11 June….stating weight 140lbs. December target 133 lbs. (I’m trying to be realistic here). I am 70 at the end of the month, and am disappointed not to have reached my target weight ….the older I get, the harder it becomes. But hopefully I should be able to manage a lb a month!!!!. I am going to try anyway….just that few extra lbs. makes such a difference to one’s mood. My starting weight in Jan was 149 lbs. so I have been successful, but that all came off intially and I have plateaud since then altho I fleetingly got down to 137.4 (for two days)….so it can be done.

Sorry to be a bore, but had to get it all out. I’m hoping the therapy will work!!!
If I am successful to-day, I know I can do another fd tomorrow as I am out all day, and that makes it so much easier. So good luck to you all and to me!

Soo UK days 9, 10 and 11
Day 9 Fri FD – Did not work at all. Felt sick while walking to work but it stopped about an hour in. Fasted and felt ok during the day. Walked home with a colleague and started feeling like Im drunk. Everything started swimming I could not walk in straight line and started to see bright lights at the edge of my vision i.e I was about to pass out. I managed to get home ate normal meal laid down eventually felt better.
Day 10 NFD -Stayed nearly all day in bed feeling wiped out. Ate as normal did no walks or runs. The scale heard a lot of short, sharo 4 letter words…
Day 11 NFD – Feeling better and will walk for a hour or two with a friend. Than gym appointment and hopefully a run. Did not hop on the scale. My other half would hear all the Polish swearwords and he learned way too many from me already. Not that I teach him but he overhears me enough 😑I just hope he ll not try to demonstrate this knowlege when we will visit my mum in July 😂
To sum up I need to up my food game I used to pass out a lot until few years ago so I know why I felt so ill. I csnt do sleep deprivation and this combined with no home cooked food is a killer fot me. Made lovely curry last night. Dome to freeze some yo eat. Today will make fadting day full of veg soup, bake bread and make another freezable meal. Im about to do 3 weeks of 10 – 11 hours of working days as I agreed to help out with another dept at work. I just didnt realize how much time will be involved. Ah well. It means I need to make sure food is ready and handy through the week so that I fuel well. Sunday will be my cooking day for a long while it seems.This game is about not giving up. Thanfully Im a persistent b#@@! I hope to read some of the thread tonight before bed I missed out on 3 days worth Onwards and downwards!!

2nd post
@chocolatemilkshake absolutely the right place to ask the question about TDEE. You’ll find there will be a number of different opinions regarding eating 500 calories or 1/4 of TDEE on fast days so I can only offer my personal experience. I wasn’t even aware of TDEE when I began 5:2 and religiously stuck to 500 calories. I’m short only 159cm or 5’2″ but still managed to lose 42lb. I focussed on healthy eating and was very happy with a steady weightloss.
Good luck with your journey.

It looks like my last two posts vanished. Thus testing if this one shows at all.

Day 11, London, UK, NFD.

A little bit over my target for yesterdays’ FD, but it was the 4th this week, so not too bothered, and it was 16:8!! I’ll stick to ADF this week rather than the BSD experiment; I’ll save that for the inevitable plateau to come!!

@lany36, you’re not alone on the shoe front, being overweight, I never got excited by clothes ‘cause I couldn’t fit into the things I wanted to and had to settle for the ‘big girl’ alternative!! NOT so with the shoes – no big girl alternatives required, although a ‘wide fit’ during the summer is a godsend!!! Men have no idea, because for them it’s ‘Black/ brown, casual/smart/ work or sport/ beach’……….that’s it!!!

@chocolatemilkshake, I would suggest you take things slowly, start with 500 cals, it really is just an average number used for this system, but it has the same effect for everyone. I think amending your FD limit when you get closer to your goal weight is probably best and as you progress and become more comfortable, you’ll find yourself on max 100cal liquid FDs or B2Bs or 4:3, you’ll be comfortable and confident enough to listen to your body and experiment to see what ‘fits’. The longer the fasting window the better, I find myself more in control and less likely to eat the entire contents of my fridge when I do 18:6 or 20:4 days, Good luck!!!

At the moment, I’m holding fast to the pocket winos because I’m out for my friends birthday meal & night away, on Friday…… we will not repeat the events of my Birthday in Feb (7 course tasting menu + paired wines …… I thought I was gonna POP then die, I didn’t sleep all night due to discomfort and cramp!!!!) I’ll wait for Friday to enjoy the vino and dinner without guilt and a new awareness of my shrunken tummy size; I MUST leave some food (not wine!!) behind!!!!

I hope we’re all gaining confidence and feeling positive and controlled, the feeling after 1 FD isn’t a fluke, remember that feeling of lightness, achievement and pride. I’ve felt this way before when I did a 2 week juice fast which, although great mentally and physically, wasn’t sustainable. I think the mental wellbeing comes from the ‘NO Digestion’ phase, as I lengthen my fasting window beyond 20 hrs the better I feel!!!

Good Luck everyone, keep the faith and keep going….. small steps people!!!!

Day 11, Guildford UK, WFD (water), ok maybe coffee too

Thank you for wishing me well, truly this is a loving group. When my brain is less fogged and my thoughts are clear I can think clearly and be more supportive in return, so please forgive me for my apparantly rudeness.

I am quite down about my injury as it jeopardises my progress, plus dancing is very important to me. I know this period of inactivity is necessary. I can’t say I enjoy bed rest and am surprised I have been able to sleap for almost 4 days non stop.

Up and about, still in pain, think tummy issues are largely pain killer problems. Reduced meds, it’s a lovely day will go for a walk. Get some vit D. Lift my mood.

Time to heal my pain or at least manage it.

Day 10 UK NFD 🌈
Day 11 UK NFD 🌈

Have a good day all 💦🐉🏋🏼‍♀️🤸🏼‍♀️👊🏻

Day 11 Newcastle UK 🇬🇧 NFD.
Weight 187lbs
All measurements stayed the same as last week 5lbs from goal never really thought I’d be getting this close after just 3 months
Just back from 20 mile bike ride a little difficult today due to the wind.
Down 2.5lbs this week, exercise going well. I had a tough tail end to last month quite happy it didn’t derail all my hard work. Had a few dodgy NFD over the last 3 months but only one failure on the fasting days, I think that was due to trying to do a fasting day when I wasn’t at work. Just been looking what what a 6 ft 2 man should be I was really surprised to see I should be somewhere between 148lbs and 186lbs. I was thinking about 175lbs to 182lbs I’m probably over thinking things at the moment. I know I would look ill at 148lbs not going there.
Well that’s enough waffling jobs to do cut the grass vacuum and wash the cars and after all the rain this week lots of weeding to be done up the allotment have a great day people stay focused and get to your goals

Day11 UK NFD

Just wanted to share something on this forum, it’s really given me a boost. Yesterday I tried on and bought a gorgeous pink lace shift dress in a uk size 18. My friend picked it out for me and I dismissed it as 1. being too young for me, she assured me pink is the colour du jour and that Pippa Middleton’s mum wore pink to the wedding of the year. 2. I don’t wear shift dresses as the last one I wore was 3 years ago on a cruise and I felt like an over stuffed sausage all night, her answer was I should try it on. You’ve guessed the rest, it fitted. When I put it on I was amazed at the person looking back, I live in trousers and jeans and don’t wear anything remotely fitted. I just looked and cried! To top it off the assistant brought in the most gorgeous sparkly sandals to go with it. A girl can’t have too many sparkly shoes right? So what was a quick walk around town to avoid the rain turned into a beautiful day for me. Anniversary dinner outfit sorted. Nieces 21st party and friends silver wedding outfit sorted. The assistant told me it could be taken in quite easily if I lose more weight and said the shop used their own seamstress.

I wanted to share this with you all, as I really feel that yesterday wouldn’t have happened but for the support and friendship offered by everyone here. It really showed me what has happened to my body since January and the possibility of what could happen in the future. I’ve been really struggling at times and have come here daily to help me keep going. I’ll stop gushing now as I’ve probably bored you, but the thanks are straight from my heart.