Amazon that is exactly why I often swim in the afternoon, have the pool and the changeroom to myself!
I added some chopped fresh green beans to my coleslaw tonight, the crunch and the flavour was amazing, or was that because it was breaking a fast?!

Hello everyone a returning 5 2 er . Just checked my tracker and I’m actually one pound heavier than my start weight the last time. That’s not as bad as I thought, thank goodness. I’m holidaying in Italy this summer and I need to kickstart myself.So helpful to read everyones posts. wish me luck !!!

I rarely cook aubergines and only bought one because I had a delicious lunch in Rome.

My gym works out at £10 per week. I guess living in London means that there are lots and they need to keep their prices competitive. I certainly get value for my money 🙂

I am very hungry today too. I’ve just put dinner in the oven. I usually eat at 4pm on FDs but it’ll be later today.

I am now going to polish my halo as I’ve done the ironing. When you open the wardrobe and it is full of empty hangers it’s time 😆

Hello,

So many new words and menus I am learning here! Got to go to Google University and check it out 😜
No! Not easy being hungry specially when you didn’t have too many choices as a child and now so much and we have to limit it. Yes! Food it’s comfort and it’s not the enemy if we could only control our selves.
I am only 90 minutes away from my 21:3 fast. Very well needed salada, quinoa, saurkraut and little chicken as I write my mouth it’s watering. I hope I can wait.
All of this to balance our sugar levels and be heathy 👍
Welcome newcomers!
Gorgeous day here.
Xoxo
B

All this discussion of aubergines makes me we wonder why we Americans call them eggplant!

jojoba – why don’t you try fitness dvd at home? It takes some motivation but they are cheap and effective?

I had such a boozy weekend with lots of spontaneous nights out with friends, it sort of undid the good of me fasting again….was supposed to fast today, but we have another invite to have dinner at a friends house. It’s good though and nice to see people.

In regards to aubergines – I use them in replacement of pasta in turkey mince lasagna. It’s really tasty and super light on the calories!

HCB,

Is that eggplant or oberjean?!

😀

Thanks Ali – I love your moniker, by the way. I definitely want to wear a bikini this year but my holiday is only 47 days away : ( Finding it tough to get into a routine but reading how other people manage really helps. I’ve started using Foid Focus again – not sure if it’s just a UK thing but I found it useful in the past to help me track calories. I eat far more than I think when I’m not tracking. Also, I made some food in advance tonight because I eat biscuits and other non-diet stuff when I’m not prepared and come home from work hungry.
Made smoked herring pate and will have it with crisp toast thingies. Also made a batch of cous cous with fruit and pine nuts (wow – 1 tiny little pine nut really packs punches with the calories!). I’m trying to eat less overall and concentrate on food that has high nutritional value – is this a good approach? I just don’t feel satisfied after a salad. Baked a couple of salmon fillets also.
Is there a recipe book with calories counted that anyone would recommend?
Thanks again all for being there. This is a terrific community and I wish I’d found it sooner.
A 😊

Hi everyone.

I love eggplant too, although only came to it relatively recently – the purple skin was offputting.

Last week I made a lasagne with a very hi-veg beef bolognese sauce, layered with eggplant slices and for the creamy layer low fat ricotta with an egg to loosen it and lots of sliced mushrooms and chopped spring onions. Very tasty with a sprinkle of grated parmesan over it but not I suspect for a FD meal. However, did avoid the carbs from traditional lasagne noodles. OH liked it too so now added to our regular recipe rotation.

As many of you know, my OH is skinny and I cook the same meal for both of us on FDs, just with more for him. Last night tried fried cauliflower ‘rice’ with peas, carrot, onion, red capsicum and bean sprouts and 100g of chopped raw prawns stirred through at the end with a good dollop of soy sauce and a 1-egg omelette thinly sliced over the top. Half a cauli plus other veg, 1T oil and the prawns and egg made a heap of FD yumminess. I love the traditional dish but OH hates rice so this was a win all round.

Yesterday’s fast went well with another one tomorrow. Weight training after work today. Amazon, ‘Trust me I’m a doctor’ has been showing here and last night’s was about exercise. You probably saw it ages ago. Very interesting findings re fat loss and exercise in fasted and unfasted states – most women lost more fat when they trained after eating, in contrast to the men who lost more when training on an empty stomach. Looking forward to a late-ish lunch in preparation – nearly 2pm here.

Take care all and keep up the good work. n xxx

Morning/evening all,

Nicky, that is an interesting point about exercise but if my memory serves me correctly in the book it says that women find it easier to exercise in a fasted state, and if Jason Fung is correct and I am inclined to believe that he is, weight loss is 95% calorie restriction and 5% exercise so IMHO it isn’t worth worrying about when we eat.
I’ll check exactly what it says in the fast diet book and post again later.
I find it much easier to exercise on an empty stomach and I know if I ate first I wouldn’t be able to put a sufficient amount of effort into it.

We also all know that exercise is not necessary to lose weight and I think some of us get too hung up on how much we do. There are some advertising videos that are shown in the gym about exercise regimes such as (?) Insanity and portable gym equipment and accompanying DVDs. They all show superfit toned people with before and after pictures and captions stating how much weight they lost. Somewhere in amongst all of this is a 2 second view of the small print about the accompanying diet recipe book, a slender woman nibbling a salad and a disclaimer stating that it needs to be followed for weight loss to occur. I’m sure that many people spend money on these things and fail because the importance of calorie restriction isn’t emphasised sufficiently in the advertising.

Keep focussed everyone, we all need to eat less to lose the flab!
We also need to remind ourselves that Wee, Purple and many others have successfully lost weight and kept it off without flinging themselves round the gym or doing HIIT.

I love working out and will never regret joining the gym. It has made me fitter, more flexible and I really enjoy it but I know it hasn’t contributed significantly to my weight loss as I lost the first 3 stones before I joined.

Another beautiful morning here. It is so nice to wake up with the morning sun coming through the window 🙂
Yesterday’s FD didn’t go well but that’s the way it goes sometimes. I’ll fast again today and hopefully it’ll be easier.

I am trying to decide between the gym and a walk……

Have a good one everybody 😜

Hi Wiwi,

It will be a walk and I’ll go to the gym tomorrow as rain is forecast. Kew Gardens here I come 🙂

Hi everyone,

I decided to pick up some face cream before my walk and when I got to the shop they had the shampoo and conditioner I use on sale for half price so I bought two of each. Ithen saw another couple of regularly used items on offer so ended up with a heavy bag of items. I decided that I would get the bus to Kew and walk home through the gardens which would have worked really well had I not been daydreaming on the bus and was nearly home by the time I woke up!
I’m taking my great nephew out later so I’ll be walking around the park instead.

Jo, I love the feel good factor of exercise too and if I don’t do any for a couple of days I become restless.
I’ve noticed that all across this forum ie on most of the threads, there are people who have started 5:2 and think that they should be losing at a faster rate because they go to the gym three times a week. Doctors still tell people to lose weight and take exercise but don’t bother to explain that the exercise has health benefits rather than aiding weight loss and that a good walk is just as beneficial as the gym or swimming or a game of football as it is about doing something that the individual enjoys.

Hello, darling fasters!

Just read an article in Harvard Magazine by Dr. Jason Fung, which led me to his blog posts. I assume these are the basis for the book, The Obesity Code, but are in smaller bits and free. Completely fascinating. Go to the site and start with Calorie I, you will not be able to stop reading!

intensivedietarymanagement.com

Jojo…West Wing was a favorite. I’d vote for Jed Bartlett in a heartbeat.

Hi Ali

Good question. You asked and I am responding straight from the hip. Congratulations. You have decided that your health is at stake and You have to take responsibility for seeing it through. All of us make excuses, me included, for lapses along the way. The main thing is to have a long term goal and to stick to it. So if a fast day fails today, then you get up and fast tomorrow. 😏😏

Through my whole 2.5 year journey OH has never restricted himself in any way. You just have to focus on your own goals and totally ignore what your OH is eating. You can Fast today instead of yesterday. Be glad you had a semi fast day yesterday. Always look on the bright side. 👯👯

Minimise carbs on all days you’re not out with OH. Eat lots of fish, some nuts, vegetables and salads and homemade soups. Minimise alcohol intake and have no sugars of any kind until you reach goal. No sodas, no sweets, no pastries. Focus on finding tasty low carb food and feast on that. Treats are exactly that, to only be eaten once a week maximum.

Ask yourself if you’re serious, and act accordingly. It’s been 2.5 years along my 5:2 journey with lots of bumps along the way. Originally I lost 17 kg and maintained that easily for 12 months. Then I slowly put 4 kg back on by indulging myself regularly, and fasting only 6:1. This is not enough for me. I need to fast 5:2 to keep the weight off.

I am right now working on reversing that slow 4 kg gain. So far I have lost a kg. It has taken me to get serious about intermittent fasting, and to stop being lazy and indulgent about 5:2. Once you know you can lose weight on 5:2, then the temptation to indulge and think I can fast it off later, is very high. No support from OH, and none expected, as it is MY goal not his. He loved me the way I was. 🌺🌺🌺

Explore new recipes, on the Internet. Ask for 5:2 recipes and dish them up. Some of these threads have tasty 5:2 recipes. Don’t tell your OH they come from 5:2. Just cook them and work out what he likes that also suits your goals. Yesterday I made stir fry marinated beef with lots of vegetables and a tiny amount of coconut milk. It was delicious and OH had rice with it. I did not. He also had dessert and wine, and I did not. No big deal. I still had a successful fast day and lost weight. 🌺🌺🌺

When I stopped regularly eating desserts about 5 years ago, I said I was anxious about Alzheimers and sugar is implicated in dementia. This is the truth, as my dad had Alzheimer’s. It was understood I was minimising sugar intake for health not vanity.

I hope this gives you some idea of how I deal with being in this on my own while also serving up tasty food for others. I am spurred on by Amazon and Purple and the meals they talk about on this thread. Just because we’re all on 5:2 intermittent fasting and restricting carbs doesn’t mean we have to eat boring food. I use various combinations of lime, lemon, chilli, pepper, herbs and spices in almost every meal.

Best of luck to you. You will get great support from this and other threads.

Cheers, Bay 🎉🎉😜😜🌺🌺

Hi Fast Trackers
Nicky Emel and Aussie O in South Australia Nama in Victoria Bay in ACT PVE in NSW WiWi France Barata in NZ and Jojo HappyNow Amazon Herm Lizzy Ply Tartan lass Smiffy Weemam Lor_PA CakeyWakey Sarah103 HealthCoachB Tessy pen nib Iona72 Pentimento pranayama and Hello World (You All know Who You ARE) 😉
Great post Bay loveya work you are a shining star.
Some crazy football over the weekend and the pies are hot 😆 a good confidence boost all round there Nama how’s Richmond last kick after the siren and the blues 4 straight with freo yet to have a win very strange the crows very average and need to gell regroup reset and go again
I have been studying a new language this week with new and exciting different words including ketosis ketogenic keto adaptation nutritional ketosis 10% carb 20% protein and 70% (good fat) and millimolar to name but a few listening to tutorials and watching a heap of youtube on the subject with Jeff Volak Stephen Phinney Tim Noakes Jason Fung and Eric Westman and Jimmy Moore whose nutritional ketosis is numbers are 3% carbs 12% protein 85% fat these guys are all reading from the same book and pushing hard to change the world and save lives all power to the cause fantastic fascinating stuff.
Ok Off my soapbox now 😉 happy hump day people find your doable and keep on keeping on !!

“It is easier to avoid eating than to stop eating once started”
Peace RT

Hi Everyone,
Yesterday was my FD and went okay!
My back hurt and I was ready to seek for healp. Called my insurance company and wasn’t sure where to go first. Since I saw an orthopedic doctor back home, had and MRI, new I had an herniadic disk and the doctor prescribed pain killers I wasn’t that happy. I didn’t now where to go first. Long story short went to the first time to a chiropractor. Cracked my neck, pulled my lower back and I am hoping and praying everything will be fine again.
Ply – thanks for the link! Be ordering his book and two others this week through Amazon.
Bay – it’s a long term commitment with a well designed plan and ready to fell sometimes and come right back in again. My husband doesn’t need 5:2. He is slim but it’s his genetics however he only eats when hungry and not much. Prior to my FD I cook extra so I don’t have to be around extra food.
Also because we hear so much here in the US about probiotics I started making my own kefir and saurkraut which are both fermented foods. It’s been a year now and don’t have anything out of the work to say… They are both delicious.

RT – 85% fat 😱? Friday don’t talk bad about blondes please! I have fake highlights 😘.
Be good wherever you are ❤️
B

Hi all,

Just back from a lovely swim. Very cold out of the pool though, almost had to run to the shower!

Bay I second RT, I also enjoyed your post, great refresher for us all. As a long time dieter who kept regaining, fasting really is the only solution I believe. Having previously only dieted for ‘vanity’ reasons, its good to know the health benefits of fasting are so much more than just weight loss. Now that I need to be slim as I approach my dotage!

Yes RT, the footy was interesting last weekend. At least my team got some pride back! We are going to a family christening this weekend, where I will be surrounded by Essendon and Carlton fanatics, maybe I should get my black and white Pies scarf out just to annoy them! Great to read your education is continuing – fancy you learning a new language! I do hope all those people you quote can be heard, sadly I am a bit sceptical when they are up against big (food) business.

Healthcoach I do hope you get some relief with your back from the chiropractor. I have been a long time fan after a long-ago whiplash and too much lifting (nursing), but since retiring and having a monthly massage (remedial), I rarely get to the point of needing chiropractor now.

Hi Amazon, 😉😉🍷🍷🌺🌺 Bay

Hi Amazon. Sadly you used the “F” word describing your Monday attempt at a Fast Day. You did not “F”, you merely recognised that your needs, priorities and wants changed during the day. You noted these changes, adjusted your priorities and carried on with your day. You then adjusted your Fast Day to another day in the week and continued with your “POSITIVE” approach to your Way Of Life.
Remember the “F” word is not allowed in your thought process.
Well done on your “re-adjustment”.

RT, I’ll let you know when I’ve read it but it may be a while as there is a lot happening in the life of Amazon at present 🙂

Couscous, thanks for your kind words but I don’t have a problem with failing as it reminds us that everything isn’t as easy as we would like it to be and sometimes we need to try harder 😉

Hi Amazon. I’ve just bought Volek and Phinney’s sports training book, based on similar science. I’ve bought it for a friend but have a couple of weeks to read it before I give it to her!😉

I like their papers, was reading one from way back in the 80s and it was spot on. A well written paper based on soundly carried out research, no large claims where the evidence wasn’t clear. Unlike some other researchers at the time. Shame the world took so long to catch up.

Thanks for all the tips everyone. At the airport now heading to Europe for a couple of weeks, and very dedicated to doing this when I am away. I even have my workout DVDs packed and plenty of work out gear! We are busy moving houses there so keeping active will help. Husband is away all day Monday so will make that one of my fast days.

Apricot/Amazon, I just downloaded the book to read on the plane, so looking forward to some interesting reading. I am gluten free anyway so avoid bread etc, but do eat a lot of rice based products. My family love their carbs, so not sure how easy this will be to incorporate into our lives. I already cook separate meals often, and I don’t want to have to do this every meal. Life wasa lot easier before I got married, but not as much fun!

Bayleafox, you have a lot of willpower. Living with a very slim man who eats a lot is frustrating when trying to fast, but will try and just feed him pasta on the nights I am fasting. I did it yesterday and he had pasta while I had courgette pasta in replacement and worked out well.

Will not eat on the 9 hour flight as the food is disgusting on the plane, so will count that as a fast day!

Good luck everyone – all your posts really help with the motivation.

Hi Ali

Great idea to make travel days also your fast day. The food is mostly bad for you, plus you’re often sitting so you don’t need the fuel. I walk around the airport wherever I am, until just before boarding. Make sure you drink lots of water.

I’m curious where you say you make different meals. For yourself and family members. I never do. I make the meal complete with healthy carbs. Then I omit the carbs from my plate. So OH has potatoes with his meat and vegetables, while I have meat and green vegetables. He has stir fry with rice, or pasta with sauce, while I just have the stir fry part of the meal, or the meat sauce, zucchini and flakes of Parmesan. And salad. I may have a few nuts for a treat.

Cheers, Bay 🌺🌺.

On my third fast this week. Having a week of ADF and keeping busy in the garden and walking my minimum 10,000 steps each day. ☕️☕️😏😏. Time to wash the floor, always a good diversion from food. 😇😇😳😳