Well done TopsyT,
Five dress sizes is a fantastic achievement. You must be thrilled.
I always wondered how I was supposed to eat normally on non fast days when I clearly wasn’t eating normally or I wouldn’t be overweight in the first place. It isn’t food that makes us fat, it is our habits. Changing those habits is more of a challenge and as someone who has been overweight for more than 2 decades it is something that interests and challenges me too.
For me a danger time is a trip to the shops in the evening if we have run out of milk. I gravitate towards the chocolate and sweets, those special offers of a bag of something for £1 is always attractive to me. My new approach though is to check the weight and look at the calories per 100g.The thought of 500 calories ‘spent’ by the bar of chocolate or sweets is enough for me to put the item down and just leave with the milk. I like to bake and love an Almond Croissant, but the questions that I pose to myself include ‘do i want to spend 600 calories on the croissant?’ ‘what am i not going to have,if i have that croissant?’For me this is a recent development but I find it very helpful. I stay in control but make an informed decision and it is working for me most of the time. Not fool proof, I am very much a work in progress, but the change in attitude on a daily basis is very helpful.
Have a wonderful time at the weekend and enjoy the positive comments.

Hi ladies! Checking in after a week of camping in the mountains with no internet access. May I join “Rubbish Eaters Anonymous”? Because I too ate lots of rubbish while gone and due to lack of interest on the part of the friends we traveled with, didn’t get much hiking in to compensate! They were more interested in taking trips into town to go to dinner or the bakery! Will be trying to “fast it off” tomorrow & Sunday. I can soooo relate Topsy! I am also very much an all or nothing sort of gal! Ok! Just admitting this and now moving on feels very cleansing! Onward & downward friends 😉

MN Miss, I may need a week of good behavior before visiting our friend, the scary scale again 🙁

Hi ladies
Thank you for all your comments and congratulations. It certainly helps to share experiences with you all. I am on a fast day today. I am out for a meal tomorrow night but am going to try and not have a dessert. Sat coked breakfast but again am going to try and not have anything other than that, no toast or cereal to start. It’s trying to be mindful of what I am eating rather than “that will do” attitude. Can’t promise it will work but I will try. My mantra at the moment is “I am not a dustbin” as well as “tomorrow is another day”.
Hope everyone has a good day whatever they are doing.

Hey All,

LoriPA, I’m happy to look out for you in case you need someone out here in case I get in “trouble” with TMJ. You’re most welcome!

TopsyT craving to eat cake and other rubbish food choices would concern me as well. If you’re interested, have a look at the penultimate post here:
https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/first-dayweek/ This is how I did 5:2 until I reached my goal–gradually introducing one food on the list at a time. I think it helped, though it is rather extreme and might not work for you. However, if reading this gives you other ideas that might work then hopefully it will help.

Salma, good luck with your training session! Please let us know how it goes.

Ginette, regarding your comment, “I am hoping that one day (and I find this thought impossible) that I will reach target and then go onto 6:1, with a bit of 5:2 occasionally” I have this to say: “Whether you believe you can or believe you can’t, you’re right.” I urge you to please not defeat yourself before you’ve made headway. Just a thought.

I also agree with Annette52 regarding TDEE. After the first day I started 5:2 I realized I hadn’t figured out my TDEE and did so immediately on day two. A day or two later I read someone’s post on another forum suggesting using the TDEE of your target weight rather than your current weight. Once I discovered that I used the target weight TDEE, never looked back, and made quick progress to maintenance. If I could do you so can you. Just a thought. I hope this helps.

Have a great impending weekend one and all!

Jayney

Well done Topsy T 5 dress sizes is a fantastic achievement.
Salma well done for going to the Gym, I bet your glad you did now if someone noticed your weight loss, it’s always a boost when someone notices.
Keep up the good work everyone.
I’m on a partial fast day tomorrow as I’m going out in the evening so will fast till then but probably have more than 500 cals.
Take care. X

Hello Everyone,

Have successfully fasted today, so hoping this puts me officially back on track. I will do another before week’s end. Getting my exercise chasing around these awful pantry moths that have invaded our food cupboard while we were gone (I must have brought them home in some flour, etc. 🙁 . I dumped everything that looked infested and set some of those hormone sticky traps to capture them…praying it works! Anyone have any other ideas on how to eradicate them?

Ginette and Salma, so encouraging to hear the positive responses you’ve received from people who haven’t seen you in a while! I can’t wait to get to that point! Salma, you should bounce back quickly at the gym as muscles have “memory” I’m told so it shouldn’t take you long to get back to where you were a few months ago!

Topsy, great job on your part…it’s a major accomplishment dropping 5 dress sizes :)!

Here’s to all finish STRONG this week!

Sherry

Good Morning!

Sherry…I had those moths once, years ago. They are horrible! I used the traps you are talking about and they worked quite well, but it does take time. Doesn’t it make you queasy to know that the eggs for the buggers are in the flour that we bring home? Ugh. Good luck getting rid of them.

I’m determined to stick to my eating window today as yesterday was a total blow out and I’m feeling quite “blah” this morning. I will go to boot camp and work off some of this bad feeling.

Weigh in tomorrow and then to get to business. Eating in a window 5 days a week with 2 500 calorie days in there. Probably Monday & Thursday. Also going to work on eating more salads and veggies. I’ve been really bad at that lately. We’re getting a new market close to where I work that is supposed to have a really nice organic section. Fresh veggies for me! It’s not that I don’t like them, but it is just easier to grab some cheese, pretzels & hummus. Protein & veggies have got to take the place of those “junk” foods.

Off to the golf course tomorrow morning for a tournament & then playing again on Sunday with some friends. Weather is looking nice! My husband will be home from his little vacation to the beach on Saturday afternoon and then we’re off for dinner with some friends. This place has an awesome seafood menu, so I should be able to make a good choice. Dessert will be a shared affair…if I have any at all.

Have a good Friday & a wonderful weekend!

Dear all,

Nice to read your posts as usual 🙂 some great insights and motivation.
So am relaxing with a glass of wine, today was NFD, but earlier I did some strength training * Jayneyw I’ll come back to that, and then I went for the perfect seafront run, long shadows, gentlest of wind, waves lapping and people really enjoying the little sunshine we get!

Did FD’s Mon/Tue and Thurs, Ok, but tough, yesterday ate a Freddo chocolate in mid fast, and then walked 3 miles, a bit mad really but all was not lost, at least. I find the 4:3 is a challenge (for the those of us who are 9-5pm) and as I work in a school, I sometimes wonder if I’m not as focused and “shiny” as I could be on FD’s but that’s the price to pay, not sure how much easier it would be at home. Anette I agree, I’m also better at choosing food now, and would think twice about a croissant, in terms of the impact it could have on the rest of my food choice, i.e rob me of any decent calories. I also try to think of veg as my carb portions, so courgettes and mushrooms, instead of bread etc..Total weight loss this week 1 Ib, will weigh again to double check. Have to be “swimsuit ready” by 23 August.

Jayneyw, when you say strength does that also include wall sits, lunges, planks? I don’t always do these on FD’s but have done, why do the wreck your muscles? thanks for the tip about get more sleep rather than getting up early to do exercise, lately I’m running in the evenings, and my Zumba is in the evening.

Salma, i might add some windows in a few weeks, they seem to be good a thing..Lori am with you on the hummus and cheese, so easy (and tasty ;-))

Ginette, it’s so nice when someone notices, you must feel pleased, a bloke at work said to me “you look different, what have you done? men don’t seem to notice the weight loss, but can see something has changed!
hope it’s going ok Topsy and Sherryann

great weekends to you’ll, I’m about to watch Chef, on Netflix, the movie, couldn’t watch it all week due to hunger pangs! lol

Hi all, am away for the weekend in Cheshire. Had a few things I shouldn’t yesterday but had an omelette for breakfast this morning rather than a fry up. Feeling very virtuous because a full English is my absolute favourite. May have one tomorrow but feel good at the moment.
Had lots of good comments about my loss Although one asked my husband if I was ill. I suppose they don’t want to say anything before they know which is fine. I am with you in that the men don’t notice but perhaps they are too embarrassed to say anything or don’t want to make personal comments.
By the way has anyone seen these five things you shouldn’t eat. It is concentrated orange juice, margarine, wheat bread, corn and things made from corn and whoops can’t remember the fifth thing. Interesting though.
Have a good day everyone.

August 1st has arrived! Stepped on the scale this morning to see that I’ve gained 1.5 lbs in the month of July. I was really expecting to see that I’d gained more. Whew! Now to get the silly scale moving in a downward direction. I’m going to weigh Mon, Wed & Fri for a while and see how it goes.

I do my boot camp workouts in a fasted state and then don’t eat for about 6 hours after. My theory is that I’m forcing my body to use the stored fat(fuel) to keep itself going. I may be doing myself a disservice, but so far I’ve had no problem doing it. Boot camp kills my appetite for quite a while, so waiting to eat is not a problem.

Doing a bit of laundry before heading to the golf course for the tournament. Hoping I can play well today. You never know! Just when you think you have it figured out, the next time you play it’s like you’ve never touched a club before!

My husband is coming home from the beach today. I do miss him. I was looking forward to some alone time, but now I’m ready for him to be home.

Have a lovely weekend all!

Hi Everyone,

Well, after a good FD on Thursday, I had a bad NFD yesterday…ugh! Summer is so hard for me with the vacations and the kids out of school. Having to feed them/give them snacks constantly as opposed to when they’re in school is difficult. I try to buy healthy prepackaged foods whenever possible so I won’t eat them but not all foods come that way so often I find that I’m throwing a “random” 😉 cracker or other treat in my mouth…ok, it’s more than one cracker usually! If I let them get the treats themselves, they usually overdo it. Also, all their fighting and “I’m bored” stresses me out (which can also lead to random easting episodes)! Do any of you still have kids at home and have any advice to offer? Salma, I know you have your son (though I’m guessing he’s older?) at home and can probably relate?

Salma, I know what you mean about “why is life so hard, you try to lose weight and life gets in the way”. I just need a couple of weeks of no vacations, parties, dinners out, etc. so I can make some headway and then I think I’ll be Ok for the most part!

Topsy, how wonderful to have people notice your weight loss! Being in the U.S., I’m curious as to what the “full English breakfast” actually consists of? So, why are you not supposed to eat the things you mentioned? I know corn is heavily genetically modified (at least in the U.S. unless you buy organic), and margarine is never good.

DJ, how great that you are so close to maintenance! We all know that the last 5-10 lbs. are always the hardest to lose! Maybe shake up the types of food you’re eating? I’ve heard that helps sometimes.

Lori, I’ve heard both theories that working out before you eat does cause you to burn the fat better and also have heard as Jayney has stated that you need fuel prior to build muscle…it is so confusing! I guess like you said, whatever works for you is the best course! It’s great your scale experience wasn’t as scary as anticipated!

Beldy, at least you got out there and walked off that dessert! Bravo! So it sounds like a fair amount of you are doing the 4:3? Are you finding much better results doing that as opposed to 5:2?

Jayney, I know you’ve posted the general plan your naturopath prescribed but I’m a bit confused. Can you summarize it (sorry, I’m a tad ADD!)…do you take the olive oil and supplements daily (and how much again?) or just on the FD’s? Also, when figuring out your caloric intake on NFD’s, you suggested using your goal weight as the one you input into the formula, correct? If I walk an hour 6-7 days a week and do some moderate weight training twice a week, what do you suggest should I enter as my activity level? Thanks in advance for your assistance…you are always so helpful in giving advice to us 🙂 !

Well, school starts in a few weeks and then I’m back to a more normal, hopefully less stressful schedule where I have time to start seeing a trainer again to hopefully rehab my SI joint issue and get to the chiropractor more often.

Have a wonderful and successful weekend, all!

Sherry

Hi all

Sherryann, a full English is sausage, bacon, fried egg, tomatoes, mushrooms, black pudding, hash browns and toast. I love it. Did succumb today but didn’t have too big a portion.
The five things you should never eat included soy and products from soy. The concentrated orange juice was because there is no fibre and basically it’s just sugared water. The margarine was because it contains trans fats and the corn because it produces a chemical which then makes the body store fat (allegedly). With all these things you never know the truth of it. It’s like nuts are fattening but they are good for you and now they are saying because they are harder to digest they may not be so fattening after all. You have to take it all with a pinch of salt (which is also bad for you). Ha,ha.
I have eaten far too much this weekend but back fasting tomorrow and strangely I am looking forward to it.
Have a good Sunday everyone.

Hey Lori, your boot camp sounds similar to my Tabata class (that I take once weekly), and I sometimes fast on class days, so you should be fine with that. If it’s like my Tabata class we generally don’t use anything over five pounds, and it’s really considered more cardio than anything else to boost metabolism. I’ve never had a problem fasting on those days, but generally don’t make a habit of it. Just FYI.

I’ll be doing laundry later myself–after my workout, aerials, and following group meditation.

Have a great day one and all, and a great week ahead!

Jayney

Hi Sherry,

You’re most welcome! Is the number you mentioned for your target weight or your current weight? Also, for what activity level? A lot of people on this forum use the lowest number while reducing, but due to my aerial work I couldn’t do that or it’d probably kill me ;-).

Yes, I take all the calories from the olive oil into account on the NFDs. You’re right that it doesn’t leave much room for solid foods (isn’t protein powder wonderful? 😉 Yes, you’re right about eating almost half (actually, when I was trimming down, it was more like 2/3 of my day’s calories) in olive oil. The naturopath suggested this because there are studies and research that apparently show that people consistently drop weight by consuming this much olive oil–or more–per day. He was as astounded as I was. However, I attribute the olive oil as one of the reasons why I was able to drop ~30 pounds/13.6 kilos/2.14 stone in 3 1/2 months. As to why the olive oil helps with weight loss, I believe that is still under research. At this point, I’m not sure if they know WHY it works, they only know THAT it works. You bring up an interesting point regarding in essence replacing bad fats with good. I’m not sure if that’s how it works, but it’s an interesting thought.

Regarding the psyllium powder I take daily, I take the dosage recommended on the package (in this case one tablespoon) twice daily now that I’m on maintenance, but three times daily when I was trimming down. If I understand your next question properly, it sounds like you’re wondering whether the body can get dependent on psyllium to eliminate. That hasn’t been my experience. There have been times when I’ve missed a serving and still been able to eliminate. Besides, it isn’t a laxative, it’s fibre that most people don’t get enough of (which is the main reason for taking it).

All questions are welcome–from you and everyone else! Professionally I’m an instructional designer. However, I enjoy doing aerial dance, so do it three times weekly (on trapeze, rope, and sling).

I miss Milena and Minnesota Miss as well! I hope to hear from both of you soon! Then again, it is summer, and things can get quite busy. BTW, starting this week things will once again be busy for me as well, so I don’t know if I’ll be able to post again before Saturday. Just FYI.

Have a great week one and all,

Jayney

Jayney, Oh, and yes, that calorie level is calculated at my goal weight of 120 and I believe it was the “active” (second to the last which was extremely active?) category that I used since I walk daily, 1 hour and do upper body weights 2x/wk. Sherry

Hi all!

Topsy, wow, 5 dress sizes! You and, actually all of you ladies, are really inspiring. I seem to struggle with each half pound. DJ, I think there is something to the fact that when we aren’t all that far from target the body really wants to hang onto those last 5-10 lbs. Jayney, I know you did the last bit with 4:3, but I just can’t seem to fit that into my life right now.

Salma, I’m with you that “life gets in the way.” My plans were for a FD yesterday and one next Tuesday. Yesterday a friend came over to help with my garden, which of course meant pasta and a bottle of wine, though I did make a garden pasta and put in only half the pasta and twice the veggies. It was good that way. It’s the bottle of wine that put me over the top. And now another friend says Tuesday is the only day her husband can babysit and we could go cycling and then have dinner. Monday, lunch with a colleague, Wednesday dinner with my boyfriend. So when to fast? I’m hoping if I fast all day and order carefully on Tuesday(maybe only one glass of proseco??) I can stay close to the 500 limit on at least that one day.

Sherry, I’m staying off the scary scale as well this week, waiting till this unusual spate of social events passes and I can have a total fast day. That might be hard to do until the end of the month when school starts again. I don’t have kids around the house, but as a teacher, I find it hard to fast when I’m home all day, and now we’re in the round of “oh my gosh, summer’s also over and we haven’t partied yet.”

Jayney, I’m curious about the olive oil. I love the stuff and buy it by the tin at a local middle eastern deli (for me the stronger the better). It’s the only oil I use other than butter on occasion. Consuming a lot of olive oil has definitely raised my good cholesterol, though not lowered the bad. Looking on the web I see recommendations for anywhere from 1.5 to 6 Tbs. a day for losing weight. You’re definitely at the high end. I do think I may try adding olive oil to my lunches on non-fast days. Did you take your oil with meals or between them?

Lori, I’m trying the eating window approach this week. Too many social events in the evening have made complete fast days hard to fit in but I’m hoping that eating only in the mid afternoon and evening on three or four days of the week at least gives my body a fast of 16-19 hours. Do you do the window every single day?

Hope you’re all having a lovely weekend. I’ll get on that old scale on Wednesday and let you all know how it’s going.

MM

Thanks, Lori. I think five days this week is doable. I’ll let you know how it goes at the end of the week.

Hi all

reading backwards, didn’t realise I was missed, been lurking.

Hope August is a great month, cause July was craps! Seems the gods are with me, definitely not going on holiday to France this month – don’t really fancy driving to Dover from Edinburgh and being held up!

So we have decided to do some cat sitting instead, away next week to look after 3 kits in Oban. Must be mad! But need to find something to do to keep me away from food! Of course taking all our work but a change is as good as a rest – looks like we may have a sit of a burmese cattery in October. If anyone is south of London, let me know!

Still hoping to go on holiday in September, waiting to hear about son’s op – so 4:3 for the next few weeks – just in case we do get away! Is anyone else doing three at the mo?

Hi Minnesota Miss,

Regarding when I take my olive oil, generally 2 Tbsp with breakfast, 2 Tbsp with lunch, and 2 Tbsp with dinner. I’m not sure why I’d take it between meals when I can have it on a salad, in a protein drink, etc.

Sherry, with all due respect, I’m not sure if 1-2 Tbsp of olive oil will make any difference. Before I started 5:2 my nutritionist suggested 3 Tbsp of coconut oil. I first tried 2 Tbsp. Neither made any difference. It wasn’t until I started 6 Tbsp of olive oil per day that the weight loss started getting steady and noticeable. Of course, that’s just my experience, your mileage may vary, but I’m concerned that you might not notice any effects with that low of a dose. Just FYI.

Salma, big hugs from me too. I’m sorry you’re having such a frustrating time. Just FYI, I put on nearly 2 kilos after yesterday’s event, so I feel your pain.

Milena, so glad to see you back! Sorry to hear about Willow. How is she now? Do they know what to expect, so they can let you know, or is it all a crap shoot at this point? I hope things return to normal (if not better!) with you and your family soon!

Have a great week one and all,

Jayney

Good Morning!

Milena…glad to see you back here, but so sorry about Willow. I know how hard it is…hugs.

Salma..hang in there. I’ve put on over 1/2 a lb after a weekend of eating and drinking WAY too much while at the golf course. I’m feeling like quite the toad this morning. I’m hoping to see the number on the scale go down by Friday.

This olive oil thing is so interesting. Jayne..sorry if I missed it, but how do you take the oil? Just on salads or by the spoon or what? Did you ease into the 6 TBS? I think starting with 6 right off the bat would cause some intestinal distress? I’m going to try to up my coconut oil intake on non-fast days. I’m not sure how to get that many TBS in. I like it in my coffee, but I usually only drink coffee in the morning and my eating window doesn’t open until afternoon. Hmmm…this is going to take some planning.

I’m going to take my bulbous self to boot camp this morning. The shirt I have on is WAY too tight and I feel uncomfortable. I think I have to go look for a different one. 🙁

Have a good start to your week everyone!

Hello all. I’m off an a stat day today, so have the leisure of really getting to read everyone’s posts and absorb.

Yay Salma for getting back to the gym. Sending cyber consolation hugs for your binge day and how down it has gotten you, but you took the huge step of going back to the gym. Be proud girl, you’ve done something really great for yourself and your body.

TT – 5 dress sizes, what an achievement. Did you have a whole old wardrobe waiting for you or did you get to splurge on some new things? I did have a complete winter and summer old wardrobe that I can now fit back into. For work I tend to buy classics and for play I wear a mix of vintage and some random funky pieces that are one of a kind things I have built up over the years so there is no real style for them to go out of style :). If you got to go shopping please share, so I can have a vicarious shopping trip.

Sherryann my boys have been out of the house for 7 years now, so no advice unfortunately, but lots of cyber encouragement going your way.

Janey thanks for the clarification and the link. I don’t know why I had it in my head that you were taking tablets of some type, but there you go. The music festival I volunteer for is out in Hudson, Quebec. Blair Mackay who was the drummer for April Wine and his wife Lynda are the founders. We are lucky in Hudson in that it draws all sorts very well known and accomplished musicians as well as artists, artisans of all types and we have our own internationally renowned author – Louise Penny – of the Inspector Gamache series (for those of you who are murder mystery lovers). I miss being part of that community but at least it isn’t too far for commuting. On a week it is just under an hour’s drive each way.

BB, Ginette, Topsy and Janey, isn’t nice when people notice. This weekend I ran into tons of people who haven’t seen me in a while. They were full of complements, which was really nice. Receiving all those compliments has really helped steel my resolve for these last few lbs!

Strength and resolve to all fasters today – I am one of them – and a big hello to anyone I may have missed. I have the attention span of a gnat, so if it was too many posts back, I can’t retain it!