Congratulations Granny Lizzy! How wonderful! Give him a kiss from your ft mates. Xx P
This topic contains 16,527 replies, has 252 voices, and was last updated by Bob23 1 year, 3 months ago.
Lizzie, congratulations to all concerned. Your daughter must be very tired, but very happy.
Purple, mossies must be the most annoying creatures on earth, you have my sympathy. The Cuban mossies were most active as the sun went down and then they disappeared, and mercifully the bites were much less troublesome than any I’ve experienced before.
There will be a feeling of sadness in Sydney, but if you guys are anything like Londoners, and my guess is that you are, you will stick together and not bow down to acts of violent terrorism. The question that begs to be asked and answered, is how/why the perpetrator was granted asylum, and if there is anything to be learned from it.
Heartiest congratulations Lizzie, so exciting! That is a good weight for a first baby, my second son was 8.12 and is now 6’4″ tall. You must be so excited and also relieved! Keep us posted….
Purple I think all of Australia is sad today, I can’t help thinking of those three little children who have lost their Mummy. Senseless. I just hope they don’t try to put any blame on the police, they were wonderful.
Good fast day today. I have realized it’s a great day for physical work, extra cals burnt plus good distraction. My house got a good scrub today, esp the bathrooms and showers! We are having an early Xmas with half the family this Sat night as my niece is off to NY on Monday. Nothing like visitors to motivate cleaning! Doing 4:3 this week to try to balance out Christmas food, ok but respect for those of you who do it regularly!
Now for some ironing….all the jobs I really hate in the same day!
I’ve just had a lovely walk in Kew Garden. It is a glorious day and the sun is dazzling 
I visited their plant shop and took advantage of seasonal reductions.
I bought 3 evergreen ferns, a dwarf conifer, some grasses and a beautiful pink/purple tinged cordyline. I shall be out front tomorrow after the refuse collectors have been and plant up all the tubs. I need something else to go in the huge pot with the cordyline, but I’m going to wait for spring and buy pansies or violas or a spring flowering perennial. There will be room for something else, maybe a fuschia.
I’m bloated after my Sunday evening carb fest 
Hello Jojo & everyone!
Do you have room for another member? I’ve been doing 4:3/ADF for 4 weeks now and am down just under 5 lbs. Sometimes my “eating” days get away from me, thus the slow loss.
I, too, would like to lose another 30-40 lbs and would like a good bit of it gone by April 2015. I’d love to be an active poster here and give as well as get support and encouragement.
I’m 54 years old(soon to be 55) and live in Pennsylvania in the US. I do a strenuous boot camp workout at 5:45AM 3-4 days a week, but would like to start running again 3 days a week as well. Lots of goals for the new year!
I look forward to getting to know you all!
Hi Lori and welcome. The more the merrier as they say 😛
5:2 usually means a weight loss of 1lb per week for women. Doing 4:3/ADF is a brave way to start, but it speeds things up a bit. I had problems with over eating on non fast days so I counted calories for a few weeks which really helped me with portion control, and I now have a better idea of what I can eat without counting every calorie.
If you haven’t done so yet, get the tape measure out and jot down your vital statistics. On a day when the scales haven’t budged, it gives a lift to the spirit to discover that an inch has gone here or there.
Everyone on this thread is really positive, supportive and full of ideas for making the journey easier. I’ve find it really helpful having people who understand to talk to. We also have some fun!
Jojo leads by example. She has lost a huge amount of weight this year, and is always encouraging the rest of us.
We are all losers 😉
Thank you for the warm welcome Amazon. I can tell this is a fantastic group!
Sometimes I wonder if I should just do 5:2 and see how I go? I burn a lot of calories thru exercise and maybe all those fasting days are making my body panic? Who knows. It’s all a big experiment, isn’t it?
Thanks again and I look forward to being a member here!
Hiya and welcome Lori . this is a brilliant thread with lovely people .
Lizzie congrats pal . Enjoy your new grandson 🙂
Jojo hope your sister continues to improve pal .
Amazon have you checked the wine is OK wink 🙂
Hello to everyone of you as RT says ” you all know who you are” xx
got my decorations up at last and looking very festive :)..
had a sneaky peek at the scales and down another pound so under the stone again . 5 years ago I was 16st 6 pounds . in july( when I started 5.2)I was 14 st 10 pounds and today I am 11 st 13 pounds whooopeeeee !!!!
Thanks everyone for being there for me and each other
Wee xx
Hi fast trackers
Nicky Emel and Aussie Oma in South Aus Nama in Victoria Bay in ACT PVE in NSW and Jojo SAMM HappyNow Wiwi Amazon Herm Lizzy Ply Weemam Tartan lass Smiffy and Hello World (You know Who You) 😆
Happy Hump day losers Lizzy fabulous news a grandson hey life really is wonderful and AO ooh you show off stop it with all your IT jargon speak I feel your power now what I would nt give for a 4G dongle hhmmm 😉 Weemam continuing on the steady weight loss well done you congrats and at 97 your Dad well love is all around us Amazon 10000 step walk in one go that’s impressive you know when you read back through the old posts that every one has contributed to its bloody awesome it really is.The Sydney situation a dark day absolutely for us and this year there has been way too many of them for there has been some horrific things happening. Bay wow under 60kg another powerful example of eat fast and live longer noice “kath and kim”Welcome newbies as jojo says the more the merrier a feed day today for me and some indulgence is required and demanded 😆 oysers kilpatrick i think 12… and the end at the of the week holidays bring it on.Nicky enjoy your last day there is no better day IMO.
The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched they must be felt with the heart..
Peace Love and Happiness
RT
Thanks again for all the welcomes!
I have been eating low carb for quite some time, but just recently I’ve been having more days where I forget that I don’t eat sugar! I lost 30 lbs from Jan-April 2013, but have been hovering at the same weight since(almost 2 years!) and I have more weight to shift! Another 30 at least!
As was mentioned, I just need a better handle on my eating days and I’ll be golden! I’ll get there eventually.
Thanks again!
Good morning one and all … welcome all the new posters 
RT you norty boy you 😆 but I had to laugh, just thinking about boys with their toys (IYKWIM) 😆
This week it’s B2B Mon/Tue then semi today and FD tomorrow as have many functions coming up three alone on Friday, more on the weekend and of course Chrissy next week the day before my weigh in day. So I’m having as many FD’s as I can manage in between. Thankfully there’s only New Years to go after that and I can get back into a regular rhythm again.
Lizzy heart felt congratulations on the birth of your first grandy … they are just so awesome as they hold our hearts in their little hands and give such joy to all around them 
Wee have a wonderful time with your darling Dad … I think of you often with him 😀
Must run for now and get babies food ready, feed them, then it’s time to get ready for work as final day of OFA training … had LOTS of homework for it last night but went through and completed all the questions in the workbook, now it’s just practical (oh yes and had to learn how to take blood pressures the old fashioned way with manually pumping up cuff and I was presented with my own stethoscope). I got to “play” with the defibrillator too along with some other neat stuff 😀 . I hadn’t practiced 1st Aid even for several years but passed with flying colours the CPR on Adult, Child and Infant. So today is another learning day 😀
Have fun one and all … successful FD to those having one today and try not to over indulge in between as the next two weeks are full of temptations and it will be so easy to add on … myself I’ll be happy just to maintain for this time but would love to lose at least 500g (a touch over 1 lb).
Hi everyone –
I’m sneaking into your topic at Jojo’s invitation, popping across from the ‘maintenance chatbox’ – and there will probably be more of us, so I hope that’s ok.
Jojo explained that you’re all doing this huge challenge, and asked if some of us who’ve reached target weight and are managing to maintain it would let you have some of our statistics, to encourage you all, plus our favourite piece of 5:2 advice. So what follows is intended as encouragement, not bragging, ok?
I’m 69, 5ft 6 and a half, and until my 40s always weighed around 8 and a half stone, other than during pregnancies. It all changed at 40ish, with a combination of hormones, a demanding job and still cooking for a large family which, one by one, left home over the next 10 years, instead of the 2 of us actually there. By my mid 50s I hit 12stone.
I managed to lose a stone and a half by the time I retired in 2009, but the rest was proving very stubborn. I discovered 5:2 in early 2013, and started to do it in March 13.
I reached 8stone 6lbs last June (2014) and have been maintaining (doing 6:1, or occasionally 5:2 if I’ve over indulged) ever since. I’ve actually lost a few more pounds – didn’t intend to, but I’m quite glad to have some ‘wriggle room’ for high days and holidays; I now vary within a range of 8st 2lbs to 8st 5lbs.
It does work! For me, the thing which made it possible was knowing that if I felt really deprived of something, I could always eat it the next day – I can’t do day-after-day diets! And my favourite piece of advice? It’s the old one about ‘how do you eat an elephant?’ (Answer: ‘one bite at a time. ‘) I think if I’d set out to lose 4stone I’d have been far too discouraged to do it – just too much. I started aiming for 10 stone; when I got there I thought ‘perhaps I could do 9…’, and when I got to 9 I decided to just see if I could get back to my normal, pre-gain, weight. (But nb one warning: if you are prone to addictive behaviour, be aware that this could get out of hand: we’ve discussed this on the maintenance thread and concluded that you do need to set yourself a minimum – however unrealistic it feels at the moment – and stick to it, so that you don’t keep revising downward indefinitely. )
I’m back to my wedding day weight, and very happy – just wish I’d done it ages ago – but it stops here. I know now how to maintain it – which is a whole new challenge!
You CAN do it: go for it!
RT, yes it is bloody awesome. I think we sometimes undervalue our achievements, and we should give ourselves a pat on the back more often.
I decided against the wine as it would have meant opening a bottle, and there is no-one to share it with (poor little me 
) so I would have to drink it all over the next couple of days.
I’ve still not weighed myself post Cuba. I want to get to the next stone marker by the end of December, but I’m not sure how achieveable that is. I’ll give it a go though!
FastFastSlow, I was going to abbreviate but thought better of it……..
Thanks for sharing your experience with us. Every little piece of advice helps someone to reach their goal, and mot of us are long enough in the tooth to know that there is always more than one way to do something.
I’ve just reduced my goal weight, which I set quite high as I never thought I would get anywhere near it, and now that I’ve lost a fair amount, I can see that there is still plenty to lose!
I’m looking forward to hearing from other maintainers 😛
Congratulations, Lizzy on becoming a grandmother. Such a lovely time ahead. 🙂
Jojo and others, yes, I will go back to no sugar and carbs and see if there is a difference in my waist. 😳 Aargh! Not a good time of year for this experiment. However, I will still have a piece of home made pudding and a homemade mince pie on the day. 😆
RT, love the image. Dongle!
Cheers, all, Bay 🙂
Jojo, Will post summary of stats another time. Following hints below, I lost 8 kg (18 lbs) in first 7 weeks.
In brief, if you want to lose weight, my hints:
Drink lots of water spread throughout the day. Measure into jug or bottle, and ensure you have 4 pints or 2 litres without fail.
Give up all sugar or sweetened foods, and all white carbs on any day.
Eat protein and green vegetables every day.
Keep active every day. Do something active every two hours. Do all your housework etc on a fast day.
Cheers, Bay 🙂
Just popping in
havent read all posts.
learning from my planned break. Realizing that im nit close to final maintenace . When Im free to chose. Im still making poor decisions.
I agree with you jojo . There needs to be time each day to have an indulgence, but it can be beneficial both nutritionally and please the senses. If satiating enough can become an intrinsic woe.
best wishes friends.
Also reading about air purifiers.
Aviod the electro magnetic filterless types as the can may produce ozone and can be problematic for those with lung and breathing issues. Thinking of your sister jojo.
I plan to use the two new items ive experienced. The tumeric coconut wraps and orange peel dark chocolate probiotic. To enjoy after my last meals instead of snacking. Basically an evening tea with healing intake. After exercise to relax.
Hi FTS
I’m supposed to be working, but keep getting hilarious posts from this mob! Love your drinking santa Amazon. RT, you always have me in fits of giggles. Good stuff!
Wee, how fantastic, that’s 18 kilos. Good work. Must be all the cleaning you seem to do. 😉
Jojo, I agree with Bay’s ideas.
I started this woe in April 2013. I was, realistically, 30 kilograms/ 4stone 10 lb heavier than my normal weight as a young adult. I was 61.
I bought Kate Harrison’s 5:2 Diet book as well as Michael’s book. I calculated that the maximum I could be to be healthy was 65 kg. I needed to lose at least 20kg (44 lbs). So, I set about eating only the allowable amount for a sedentary person of my height and my goal weight. I figured eating ¼ of my TDEE for my heavier weight was counter productive.
I lost 21 kg in the first 26 weeks. Pretty consistently. Then hit Christmas and gained 1.5kg. I got home, went back to my normal fasting diet and continued to lose. I returned to the pre-Christmas weight in a matter of weeks, but from then on my weight came off much more slowly. I wonder, in retrospect, if I became less strict as I had reached my initial goal and was within healthy range.
I reset my goal to under 60kg and reached that in another 16 weeks (6kg in 16 weeks, much slower than before.) I thought I had stopped losing, but by weighing every single morning, I realised I would gain again if I didn’t continue 2 fasts a week, but more relaxed on normal days. I have lost another nearly 4 kg over the past 8 months. My weight in my early 20s (I was very thin and active) is within a kilo (2.2 lbs) now. I regard this as what I should always have been. Never hungry. Never overfull.
My hints:
Have a goal to get to the middle of your healthy range, but set realistic mini goals to celebrate.
Eat as a thin person from the beginning to change the habits of a lifetime.
Graph a line to realistically set yourself a time frame.
Weigh every day to monitor your progress. You will have a range of up to 2.5kg (5 1/2lbs) daily. That’s normal, not weight gain. If you find you have not lost (or worse gained) take a note of what you did and don’t do it again.
Calculate the calories in foods you love and normally eat when you start. Record them and recipes to refer to often. Choose the ones with lowest calories. Eg a blueberry over a banana. A glass of wine over a piece of cake. 😉 Once you know this, choosing wisely becomes intuitive, not restrictive.
Find foods that satiate. Fish, lots of non starchy veg with heaps of low cal flavour, chickpeas.
Challenge yourself not to eat for 1,2,3,4 hours. (eg ”I won’t eat until 12. That worked, I’ll wait until 1” etc) Learn to treat yourself with non food things…watch a movie, go for a run, make something.
Find a low cal snack when you are really peckish and have tried everything else. Have it readily available. I have little vegie patties (chickpea and veg 21 cal) ready for emergencies. Fill, satisfy and don’t break the cal bank.
Freeze everything in single serve sizes, with cals or fd or not written on them! I freeze meat in 50g packets. I use two each for a normal day. Make large pots of veg soups (no starch) and freeze in portions.
I increased the ratio of leafy veg and cut out all alcohol, sugar, fat, white carbs, processed foods on fast days. That left lean protein, lots of healthy salads and veg soup on fast days.
I emptied the house of tempting naughty food. If it’s not there, I don’t eat it.
We quickly stopped snacking and became so used to fast days, we were simply eating larger versions of fast food on normal days. Didn’t eat rice all year; the occasional single small potato. I took up making homemade bread and freezing it as we ate so little. No pasta, only ever zero noodles.
By strictly working out which foods are highly calorific and seeking recipes that were flavoursome and low cal, we changed our tastes completely and it became easy. No more counting calories as I knew which foods can be eaten in bulk. We have been helping the lettuce, bok choy, spinach and blueberry growers no end!
We had only one glass of wine with dinner on normal nights. On fast days I quickly realised we liked the ritual of dinner, so I often lit a candle, poured soda water in champagne flutes, put on soft music, served a mini dessert of berries and yogurt. We felt normal, not deprived.
We did not take up exercise regimes, but with our lighter bodies, felt like moving more quickly, running, walking longer distances for the pure joy of it. No compulsion. I hate to do things because they are ‘good for me’.
These days, to maintain, we still fast twice a week, but I tend to have about 600 cals after a 20 hour fast. I used to have about 350 cals. A light salad for late lunch, fish and veg for dinner. With the obligatory yoghurt and berries 😉
I weigh every day and adjust my food accordingly. I rarely snack and crave healthy food. When eating out, I tend to choose the vegetarian options. My OH judges his food intake by his daily bloodsugar levels. Up a little, he cuts down on food. He still fasts the whole day. Dinner only.
We both like the regularity of Monday and Thursday fasting. It resets our palate and portion size.
In total, to date, I have lost 29 kilos.(4 stone 7 lbs). Yeah for 5:2!!
I hope this helps. P
All power to ADF people. I don’t like it all. 😆
Only doing ADF for Christmas. 😉 my original results of 17 kg lost and 3 clothing sizes down were achieved on good ole basic 5:2 which I find sustainable into the future.
Feeling grumpy as third fast in 5 days, Saturday, Monday, Wednesday. Probably grumpy because of sugar yesterday. 😳
Cheers, Bay 🙂
Hi Purple
Our posts crossed. What a fantastic story. You are more disciplined than I am. 😉
I support your post 100 per cent. So long as I eat fish and green vegetables, or homemade soup, and do not snack, and keep active, I never gain weight. 😆
It’s because I have this sweet tooth that I keep having small indulgences, followed by strict fasts. 😳
Cheers, Bay 🙂
Thank you Dr M for publicising this research and way of eating.
Bah humbug Bay. It’s Christmas that makes you grumpy! Not more disciplined. ..I was fatter!
I was lucky to be born with savoury tastes. But my OH sweet tooth is so much better for enjoying the natural non sugar tastes in food now. He even eats food he thought he was “allergic” to now that his taste buds are reawakened. 😉 P
Mine too pve.
Lori pa
if you look at it in the long view.
if 500 calorie fasting days become long term like jojo myself and others. Then the feed days are of lesser importance in the first 3 months. Eventually as the fast days became regular then I was able to put more attention on feed days. Started counting calories seriously about the 4 month mark on both feed and fasting days both.. Avoiding starchy high calorie things like pasta and breads. Also started eating more fish and vegetables on feed days. Made the binge days fewer and fewer . It also helped me to only order non battered fish when eating out . Especially when its supposed to be a fast day, and I want to go out to dinner with friends and family. Ordering the healthy fish from the menus helped keep the estimatef calories well within range of tdee.
I just let others have my breads.
A little ps to this morning’s epistle.
I only started 5:2 to help my husband gain control of his downward spiraling health. I seriously didn’t see myself as fat. How embarrassing is that??
OH has lost 33 kg, has gone from being an insulin dependent diabetic to no diabetic drugs at all. He’s gone from erratic dangerous blood sugar levels to even normal levels. He is thrilled. He followed the same 5:2 diet as me and we have been interested how we have coursed down at the same rate (10kg apart) despite being completely different constitutions, quite different energy levels and food tastes. He eats lunch at work and gets his own breakfast, so we only eat dinner together.
Like me, and Samm, he has found it is the general changes in type and quantity of food that changes everything. OH quickly dropped breakfast and lunch on fast days (despite all the people who erroneously panic that diabetics should eat regularly). He finds he has to continue fasting twice a week as this is what keeps the bs steady. He’ll do it for life. There are definite health benefits from this wol. P 🙂
Morning All,
I’ve been quiet recently, nothing to say! But I have been following you all (does that count as cyber-stalking?). Think I’ve been quietly slipping into midwinter blues/ bah humbug depression…
I think I’ve posted before that I just did 5:2 to lose weight, but pretty much cut out all processed carb and sugar every day, and also tend not to eat before 11am.
I didn’t do any exercise while losing weight, but quite a lot since (the joy of running without my fat suit jiggling up and down…)
I had some weeks where I lost 2lbs, but mostly it was 1lb. I was happy with that because this has been about making a long term sustainable change. In total I have now lost 14kg, with 5 of those since reaching my ‘goal’ weight (10st, 63kg) in April. I’m 5ft 7 and now a little over 9 stone (58 – 59kg). And that will be my lower limit, as I too recognize the addictive possibilities of just losing a little bit more (although there are still some fatty deposits on my bum I’d like to shed!).
As the other maintainers report, my portion sizes reduced naturally, I get full sooner and can’t overeat now, and food preferences have changed (like P I don’t really have a sweet tooth anymore. However if I eat sugar then the addiction does beckon. Easiest to steer clear mostly!). Unlike P, my snacks are often not low cal. I eat a lot of almonds, and also full fat cheese on it’s own…
I’m a bit younger than some of the other maintainers and, since reaching goal, don’t do 5:2 (or even full 6:1) anymore. I do semi-fasts occasionally and always skip breakfast. I really think the key has been cutting out processed carbs and sugars, although I do eat these at weekends now!
Good Morning!
Thank you so much for taking the time to post your story and tips, all of you! It is such a help to those of us just starting out.
I had a good fast day yesterday and mean to keep today’s eating under control. I’m off for my boot camp workout in a few minutes(5:45AM) so I’ll be burning a lot of calories.
Have a good day everyone!
What a great discussion jojo
what I hate about being fat.
floppy when I exercise.
summers seem hotter
stairs seem higher
bridges seem weaker
when I flex my muscles people laugh
its hard to be taken seriously with dieting advice at the buffet.
kids scream tidal wave when I dive in pools
poeple scream out CRACK KILLS when put air in my tires
Morning all.
Thanks to maintainers for posting their stories and experiences. It is very helpful to all of us but especially for those of us like me, Jojo, Wee, SAMM and numerous others, who have lost a lot of weight but still have a long way to go.
Since I’ve been back from Cuba despite 6FDs I’ve been struggling, eating too much on non fast days and craving carbs, and it has made me miserable. I ate the last 2 slices of bread from the freezer yesterday and sighed with relief because I know I can’t have any more!
I am going to try to make the next week really count. The fridge is practically empty which is really helpful. No cheese or anything else to nibble on. Having said that there are several bars of chocolate sitting there that have been there since last Christmas, and I’m not interested in the slightest!
Jojo, I second what Purple said, you are very a brave and determined woman. I recognise most of the reasons on your list for not wanting to be fat.
You missed one off, not liking yourself for allowing it to happen.
It has been a very long time since I’ve been able to really look at myself in a full length mirror and smile, but I’m doing that now. I’m not satisfied though, because the flab has diminished considerably but not disappeared, and I am going to get rid of every last bit of it!
Today is a FD, and from now on my TDEE will be that of my goal weight, and my FD calories 25% of that.
Have a good day/evening friends 
I’ll add:
Hating to be seen naked
Seeing myself in photos and not recognising myself
Huffing and puffing instead of the joy of running with abandon
Comments about your shape by grandkids
Having to give up bike riding
Paying for premium economy on long haul flights to get comfortable seats
Not fitting with the tray down in the plane
Having to wear elastic waisted slacks
P
Hi jojo,
I have always had chunky calves, and the embarrassment of trying long boots on but being unable to zip them up, and even having wellies wrinkled and taut with trousers ballooned above, unable to tuck them in…
And yes, thighs that rub sore in summer… For the first time in my life that is not a problem for me.
I know it’s a long journey for you, but you will not regret it.
Hello everyone and Welcome Lori!
You have chosen well Lori, there are so many wise and experienced fasters on this thread, hang around and it will rub off on you. I am a relative newbie, started mid Sept, but so wish I had found out about fasting years ago. I have battled my ‘fat gene’ since I was 16 (now 61) and although managed to get weight off, never managed to keep it off! And the diets were SO hard because it was a constant battle with willpower and feeling deprived. The miracle (hey it’s that time of the year!) of 5:2 is you never need to feel deprived, because you can have it tomorrow! Mostly when tomorrow comes, you don’t really want it, but there didn’t have to be a struggle. I have lost 10.5 kgs in about 13 weeks, average 750g a week, (2lb). And It has been so easy compared to the usual diets. I know I will still have to be determined to maintain, but I really feel quite prepared to fast forever, if it has the health benefits we hope it does, plus I can still have yummy food! My sweet tooth has all but gone since cutting out carbs, that’s a miracle in itself! And I agree with everyone else, I just don’t crave junk food any more, I automatically choose healthier stuff and I cannot eat big portions either! The fast days get easier and easier with practice.
Re the things I disliked about being fat.
Clothes too tight and uncomfortable, esp bras in the summer!
Not being able to fit into favourite things from the past.
Seeing myself in photos (that can’t be me!)
Worsening heartburn when bending in the garden, spoiling my favourite occupation.
Hating myself for letting it creep on again after the effort of losing it, losing belief in myself.
Refusing to wear bathers, when I love the water.
Worrying deep down that it wasn’t healthy!
All of these things are slowly disappearing and little moments of triumph happening, just because I finally found a diet that is DOABLE and a great bunch of knowledgable, wise, generous, kind and very, very funny people. On a thread that is skilfully driven by a retired teacher, assisted by another retired teacher, who must have been brilliant in their chosen careers! And they are assisted and supported by people who seem to have acquired lots of life experience and wisdom (one is our very own veritable font of knowledge/semi professional researcher). And you could learn to bake bread, make spicy soup, breed puppies, make great pastry, swing a kettle ball, jump rope, add emoticons, or even become a trader of shares!
Keep up the good work all, cheers!
Hi, I am also from the maintenance thread and responding to Jojo’s request. It is interesting how different we all are.
I am 54 and 5ft2 and a half and was very slim until my early forties when unfortunately I entered early menopause. I very slowly gained 16 lb even though I was always careful but was never really overweight.
I started 4:3 after the initial Horizon programme in August 2012 and lost 14lb by Christmas when I stopped for the festivities. In January 2013 I could just not get back to it due to, as I told myself, the severe cold I felt. By May/June I had gained back 7 lb and lost it by October, by doing 4:3 again. You won’t believe it, but I did the same thing again and found this summer losing for the third time much harder than the first time. (Probably psychological). I have been maintaining since September and my main goal is not to repeat the last two years.
I now find comfort in the structure that fasting days provide. I moved to 5:2 for maintenance occasionally 4:3 still, as my TDEE is only between 1300 and 1400 calories. Luckily most of the time fasting is not difficult for me.
Like bayleafoz, my main culprit is sugar. On fast days I experience no sugar craving at all but on eating days I do find myself binging regularly. So for that reason alone I will have to fast two days a week until I reach a place where I can eat sweet stuff in moderation.
I plan on cutting out sugar for a couple of months as of January (if I can) and see how that goes. This year I have tried to eat low carb but I just can’t do it long term. Although reducing carbs helped me to lose my last stubborn pounds in August, I find it very difficult to sustain this way of eating. Not eating potatoes, bread or pasta for me really means “being on a diet” and I don’t want to feel that way all the time. Also, meals of only protein and vegetables do not satisfy me for very long so I admire and envy Happy and Purple for their almost carb free lives. I would rather do zero cal fasting or do 4:3. Maybe at a later stage in my life. What I have found out with this way of life is that things change all the time. Our tastes, our timings and how we react emotionally.
My advice is to not make any plans for what you will do when you get to your goal weight. I have known people who get very frustrated and despondent because they thought that they could finally switch to 6:1 or 16:8. I weigh myself every day but my Monday weigh-ins will determine how strict my fasts will be for the week. If my weight is at the lower end of my target 5lb zone, I will do two generous fasts of 700-800cals (all consumed at one meal in the evening). If the scales are at the top end of my zone I will do two 350cal or less fasts and of course watch my feast days more. I find experimenting and taking a day at a time exciting.
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We pay tribute to our dear friend and colleague, Dr. Michael Mosley. Michael was an integral part of our lives, […]
Michael is touring Australia this September! Here's a link to dates and tickets. Hope to see you there.
Michael Mosley gives an update for 2019, current research in the field and announces a tour starting in February.
in Welcome to The Fast Diet and Exercise forums • updated 38 minutes ago by stitchincarol
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in Weight loss • updated 16 hours, 37 minutes ago by Brads27
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16 Dec 14