hi goldworkout, spam isn’t welcome here.
also you are pushing your website onto people who are happily doing 5:2

Well I for one am happy to part with my money. It will make me feel lighter. You have to love it, don’t you. Next please.

Way to go Merry. As long as you drink lots I don’t think there are too many neg aspects to short duration fasts. Lots of up side though. I used to fast 60 hour (2 consecutive days) per week. Since reaching my goal weight back in March Ive been fasting 36 hours (1 day) every week. Monday is my fast day, and Ive just had my Sunday evening meal. Breakfast on Tuesday here we come. It trains your body to access stored fats very efficiently. Don’t expect to lose too much more than you would on a 500 cal day. The upside comes from liver and kidney cleanses, a liver that starts to access stored fats efficiently, autophagy that promotes cell growth that is able to use fats for energy as well as glucose. Good stuff Merry.

Good Morning!

Sherry, I’m picturing the gorgeous views you had on your hike. Hawaii is such a beautiful place. Sounds like you are enjoying your time there.

I reported the above post…hope it gets removed. Yes, parting with our money would make us lighter, wouldn’t it? 😉

Haven’t done much this weekend but watch football and read. Tomorrow hubby and I are going to go do a bit of shopping. A few things we need at some shops that are about 20 minutes from here. Maybe I’ll talk him into having lunch out.

Well, time for some coffee. I’m trying to fast until lunch time today. I did pretty well yesterday, but will have a proper fast day tomorrow.

Have a good day!

Good Sunday afternoon to you ladies!

Just re-read my prior entry- not that its a big deal but meant to say “Moku” Islands, not “Momu”! Had a fitful sleep last night-no idea why?

I got my morning walk in and now heading out for a little retail therapy. 😉

So my amazing news of the day is that I’ve finally reached my holy grail of entering into the 115’s (115.8 to be exact), my goal weight!!!!🎉 Of course it’s just a “toe” in and I’m sure it will jump back and forth into the 116’s for a while until it settles in. I’m soooo happy, and after a year plus at this, it doesn’t seem real. I think that uphill hike yesterday tipped the scales in my favor!

Lori, enjoy your day and lunch out, you happy retired lady, you!

Salma, good to see you posting and getting successfully back into the 5:2 groove! Btw, my eldest has had the same symptoms you described from stress recently, hers being mostly school related so I’ve seen what you’ve experienced. My hope is that you find some way of coping ( or changing jobs!) so that it calms down. I’ve tried to get my daughter to utilize some of those free meditation apps to de-stress, but she claims exercise is helping her more- we will see.

Cinque, how’s the fast and your project? Is there anyone to help you with it or does it fall square on your shoulders?

Have a lovely Sunday all, though as it’s afternoon here in Hawaii, it’s probably already Monday in most places by now!

Morning all!

Well, just as expected, back up to 116.8 this morn ( and I’d walked an hour that morning & a 2 hour walk into town last night) . Go figure! Oh well, we all know how this roller coaster ride goes-

Ok , time for breakfast then off for Pilates and lunch with my son’s former tae Kwan do instructor. She too moved here earlier this year. We’re going to this raw foods restaurant that I went to once with another friend. I was pretty amazed how good lasagna made with thin sliced zucchini and nut ricotta is! And I’m italian- I know good lasagna!

Have a great start to the week! This is my last week here… I leave Friday 😟. Good news is we come back for Thanksgiving. Bye for now!

Quick pop on before I run into the office! I work from home but try to go in on Wednesdays so they don’t forget about me, haha.

Siouxsee, your job is my dream job! I realized too late that I really should have been a librarian and I definitely want to work in a college library. I started a MLIS program when I was pregnant with my son but dropped out. Definitely regret that now!

Congrats, Sherry!!!

Lori, sounds as if you are staying busy!!!

Cinque, how do you find energy to do this huge project???

FD yesterday was so-so. I drove my daughter to an out of state GI appt and it kind of threw a kink in my plans. Anyway, we are going to give this new med a little longer and if it doesn’t help we’ll do an endoscopy to try to get some real information. I feel we probably need to do that but I really dread it. Maybe a miracle will happen and this med will kick in and take care of things….

I’ll go out to lunch with my husband today and with some girlfriends tomorrow. We’re actually going to vote first and then stop by a taco truck!

Hello and good luck to everyone I’m missing–I’ll try to do better when I get back on in a bit.

Hi everyone,
Sunny day here for the moment in Melbourne. Spring has sprung and my crab apple trees are in full bloom.
Spent a fair bit of time sitting doing very little this week. The dreaded MS fatigue struck on the weekend. Having said that I have still managed three minor workouts at the gym although I need to rest for quite a while when I get home to recover 😬 As a consequence the weight has stayed put. Oh well fast day again today so we will see what happens.
Sounds like you have had a wonderful time Sherryann in Hawaii. I have never been there but my brother in law and sister in law who live in Portland, Oregon have had a number of holidays there and love it. We have been talking about where we go for next years holidays. My prerequisite is staying in one place, no touring around, no long haul flights and there needs to be a beach and warmth. We are blessed to have a lovely caravan so we can travel anywhere in Australia. Looks like North Queensland may be the destination. Cairns is a favored destination 😎 It’s generally fits the bill in June/July ☀️☀️☀️
Cinque sounds like you are on the right track with your project, hope you get the funding you need. Meetings are the bane of organizational life I think. My husband was on the board of a local charity and seemed to forever be having to meet with someone for something that needed seeing to!
Lori hope you enjoy your time away with your sister, sharing is always a great way to mitigate the damage of yummy but fattening things haha
Blessings all
Love Tilly 😘

Hi everyone….. I am new to this forum. I am in my early fifties. I have started my 5:2 diet for 7 weeks now. Was very excited when found out about this diet. I am totally fine in doing the fast. Some fast days are harder but I can do it.
I am just very frustrated that I have not lost any weight. I just don’t understand why nothing is happening. I do feel good on this diet. My clothes are fitting better but the scales have not moved. I just feel nothing ever works for me. I was happy to find this diet because I thought I could do this forever. I have tried many diets but counting calories everyday has not worked for me.
I have read your posts several times and that has kept me going so far but now I need your help me in continuing this. Any suggestions are welcomed!!!

HELP!!!

Hi Sarla,

I think I didn’t lose any weight for the first 4-5 weeks, in fact, I put weight on in the 3rd week, we went away for a few days, and although I still did 1 and a half fast days that week, I still put on a kilo! Then eventually, it start to go down, and my appetite reduced as well. I’ve just had another week off work, which means I totally didn’t even try to fast, so I just won’t weigh myself until I’m back fasting. I think I’ve lost 3 kilos (6.6lbs – ish) in about 10 weeks, but as I said, it didn’t seem to start straight away, even though I did feel like I was taking up less space in my clothes.

Good luck, and you can at least take comfort in the fact that fasting is supposed to help with a bunch of other health factors, and that weight loss is just one of the side-bonuses.

Hi Everyone,

Welcome Sarla!
I’d say that if your clothes are fitting better you are doing fine!
Congratulations!
Don’t worry what the scales say, they are stupid things.
(Okay, that might be a slight over exaggeration about the scales! 😉 )

Hello everyone else too!

SALMA! 79kg! Woot! Woot! Woot!
I am SO HAPPY for you! A little bit of time for you to settle there and then you may NEVER see 80 again!
It is Sunday here already and I am hoping that when it rolls around to Beirut you wake up to one of those wonderful days that are just for yourself.

I’ve had a hard week, and asthma as well, so haven’t managed my daily catch ups! And I am SO behind with all the things I need to do, that I should really be on them! But Oh a nice cuppa and a chat to start the day is a pleasure not to be denied!

Lori best wishes for a wonderful road trip! You’ll be on your way. Enjoy every minute!

Tilly, isn’t it hard with chronic illness. Sending best wishes and hoping today is better.
Ha, I understand your husband view of meetings, although most of mine are a pleasure, I had a lovely one last night with a neighbour who runs an inner city cafe and is such a wonderful mentor. I came home just so happy and feeling like I knew what I was doing!. Such a relief after the tricky ones.

Hi Sherry are you still shivering away in Hawaii? No, you must be home now. I hope you are nicely refreshed and ready to deal with the gang!
I am getting good help with my project…. and some help that just makes things harder. But that is a smaller part thank goodness, and I am still rejoicing every day that I have this wonderful opportunity.
I did an 800cal fast on Thursday. I’ll change it week to week depending on how I feel. I want to keep my Sunday fast Days under 500, but today I am taking some medication that I need to take at breakfast time with food, so that has meant a tweak in my Sunday fast. Lucky 5:2 is so adaptable.

And Hi Carolina, don’t family mess with plans! i do hope the meds start doing the right thing for your daughter. Modern medicine is so wonderful, but Oh the things that still need to be understood and discovered and done! And those of us with the symptoms that aren’t well understood, have to suffer, be patient, bravely try new things, be stoic and keep hoping!
Good wishes to you for doing 5:2 as best you can around it all.

Well, I have worked my way back up the thread to my last post!
I’d better head off and tackle my list. Oh it is long! Wish me luck!
Best wishes for your fast days, or non fast days today!

A quick Hello from Virginia Beach! Good trip here with one glitch. I lost one of my diamond earrings that were my retirement gift from work. 🙁 I’m a bit upset, but in the grand scheme, it is a small problem. I took my sweatshirt off at a rest area stop and I think that must be where I lost it. Oh well… It can be replaced.

We had a great dinner and a nice walk along the beach. An early night and we’ll get up early in the morning for a sunrise walk on the beach.

Have a great weekend!

Thank you all for your good advises. I will try to track my calories on my non fast days like I do on my fast days. I get disheartened when nothing moves on the scale for me and I read all your wonderful posts with all the success stories which keeps me going but I still get disappointed for me!!

To simcoeluv…..I have read all your posts and suggestions. It seems you are so knowledgeable about this diet. I need your help in figuring out when and how many calories should I be eating in order to lose weight. I am short…my height is 4feet 11inchs, 53yrs and my weight is 170-1lbs. My TDEE is 1500 so on fast days I should eat 375. I am going to do this. Also on fast days does it matter when I eat my calories? I feel I probably have to eat less than what is my TDEE to lose weight. Can you help me figure this out??

I am on my eighth week and today is my fast day. I will try to be better this week. I would like to continue on this diet because fasting is not a problem for me. I might also think about adding another day of fasting so 4:3. I just want my body to respond. I have done weight watchers in the past and had lost some weight but couldn’t do the tracking regularly and the weight wasn’t coming off so stopped it. I thought this I could do but looks like I have track for this diet too in order for it to work. I thought fasting would have taken care of it but anyway I will continue with it and hope to see some weight loss!!!

Thank you all for motivating me….it really helps me!!!

Hi Sarla and welcome:

Thank you for your kind words!

It sounds like you are just starting 5:2. So some basics.

First, the TDEE calculator only gives an estimate of your TDEE. So while it is a number to start with, it probably will not give you an accurate number for you. So the concept to start is use the number but understand if you are not getting the results you want/expect, you will have to adjust that number down. There will not be a problem with ‘the diet’ or even with what/how much you are eating. It will be an inaccurate number allowing you to eat more than you need to eat to lose weight.

The way to counter the possibility that it is giving you a number higher than it actually is is two fold. First, use sedentary for your activity level. As one of my posts points out, if you walk 5 miles three times a week, for TDEE purposes you are right on the border of being sedentary. Most people overestimate their activity level and end up with a TDEE estimate that is too high. Second, you can use your goal weight instead of your current weight when computing the TDEE number. These two together will insure that you are not eating too much on your non diet days. And along the way you will gain an understanding of how little food you will be able to eat if you want to maintain your goal weight. In all honesty, many, on starting to understand this fact of how little they can eat without regaining their lost weight, decide they would rather continue being fat than eating so little for the rest of their lives. That is a personal choice and I have no opinion on whether or not it is a good or proper choice for any individual.

You have discovered your TDEE is very low. As height is a major factor in TDEE (skin being the body’s largest organ and a person needing more of it the taller they are) the taller you are, the higher your TDEE – and vice versa. If you have read my TDEE post, you will know you will be losing weigh slowly on 5:2 (after perhaps an initial quicker water weight loss). As a reminder, with a 1500 TDEE and eating 375 cal. twice a week you will be cutting a total of 2250 calories a week from your diet. That comes out to a weekly loss of approximately 290 grams or 10 ounces. Upping that to 4:3 will add an additional loss of approximately 145 grams or 5 ounces. As you are aware that you can experience daily weight fluctuations of two or more pounds because of water retention/dehydration and the weight of food in transit, you can understand your fat weight losses may be disguised/covered up by these factors and may only show itself after a few weeks of perfectly following 5:2.

The initial quick water weight loss you might (but may not) experience turns out to be dangerous for many people – not physically dangerous, but mentally dangerous. The reason is that in two or three weeks, that nice, quick weight loss stops and people believe they are experiencing a ‘plateau’. They then often think they are ‘doing something wrong’ or ‘the diet does not work’ or ‘their metabolism has slowed down’ or whatever and quit the diet or go off on a tangent trying to continue that initial, rapid weight loss. Tangents include exercising more, trying another or an additional way of eating like ’16:8′, other types of meal timing, or another diet like WW, SW, Atkins or whatever. Many times their weight loss resumes and they give the ‘tangent’ the credit, but it is really the continued reduction in calories that is working and they would have experienced the identical weight loss had they just continued doing 5:2 properly.

So, with all of that, to your questions. Start with whatever TDEE number you choose to start with, with the understanding that if you do not lose any weight in a month or so you will have to revise the TDEE number down. Make sure you accurately count your calories on your diet days. That will not only insure you are eating the correct amount, but also start to educate you in ‘portion sizes’. Research is clear that you can eat at any times and as often as you want on diet days. Some people on this site disagree, but the research is solid and has not been discredited. Because carbs make you hungry, it is best to try to eat high fat/moderate protein foods on your diet days, and many find one such meal in the evening works best. Some find not eating anything on diet days works even better (and increases the calorie deficit, leading to a little more weight loss).

Non diet days are often the ‘killer’ for people starting 5:2. Many do not understand how many calories they are actually eating – research shows most people underestimate their calorie intake by 50%, and even ‘nutritionists’, with all of their education and knowledge, underestimate their calorie intake by almost 20%. So if you are not losing weight after a month or so, try counting calories for a week and that usually identifies the problem.

Unfortunately, it just takes a lot of time to lose a lot of weight. And if you have a low TDEE, it takes even longer. Focus on doing your diet days correctly at the start, watch what you eat on your non diet days and usually things fall into place within a month or two. The mistake most make is they never give 5:2 that long to work. But if you look at the posters on the maintenance thread, you will find most did the ‘simple or basic’ 5:2 for as long as it took – and are the happier for it now!

Good Luck!

Thank you both simcoeluv and bigbooty for helping me!!

First of all let me tell you guys a little bit about me. I am not a junk food eater which means I don’t eat potato chips, cookies, cake, ice cream….soda, chocolates on a regular basis. I do eat it occasionally. I am not a emotional eater either. I can go for hours without eating. All my life I have dealt with my weight issues. I was never a skinny kid. So my problem I think is my metabolism and gene. Now of course having gone thru menopause hasn’t helped either. I have lost weight on my own and am probably lowest after long time. But now I am stuck!!

Simcoeluv… I have been on this diet for about two months now. I thought if I was loosing weight before when I was eating every day then with fasting two days I should loose. I don’t go crazy on my non diet days. And infact day after my fast days I am not that hungry so I don’t go crazy.

bigbooty….my typical day is like this….breakfast- two scrambled eggs with 2 whole wheat bread(120 calories),maybe banana if I have it, tea and water. Lunch- either salad with grilled chicken or leftover from last night….baked chicken with vegetables or tuna fish sandwich. For snacks fruits…could be pear, peach, plum, apple or grapes and almonds, cashews or peanuts. Tea again in the evening with some wheat crackers. For dinner- one piece of Indian bread with chicken or fish with vegetables. I drink lots of water and occasionally a piece of chocolate or some apricots or some sweets.
We are not big on process foods. I make everything we eat no package food. Once in a while I make pasta and rice. We used to have rice all the time but now I have even stopped that. I only have it once in a while. I have even stopped any form of sugar in my tea/coffee for months. So you see it is not easy for me to find what to stop eating that will impact my weight loss. Most people tell me I have to eat more to loose weight. I don’t do that. Maybe I don’t eat enough vegetables/fruits. Maybe I am not eating the right kind of food which I don’t what it is??

When I found out about this diet I thought I can do this forever. Even after one month when nothing happened I still continued hoping my body is very stubborn and maybe it needs more time. I didn’t even have the initial water weight loss. I have continued for another month. I do feel good from inside and I know fasting will be good for my body but even a small amount of weight loss will make me happy. After reading about all of your successes I thought I need to reach out to you guys to get some help. What am I doing wrong??

I have started to do that….you are right I am going to do this and see what happens!!!

bigbooty….Thank you so much for your input. I so appreciate it!!
When I started I was eating 500 cal on my fast days but I just recently realized that I can’t eat that amount. I just started that today. Today is my fast day and after I eat my Greek yogurt tonight I would have eaten 375. I will also try to eat as less as possible tomorrow and Thursday will try to do just water and tea day. Let’s see what happens!!

I will also try to limit my carb this week and going forward. I will also do the same for fruits as you suggested but had heard that eating bananas are good for weight loss. I totally avoid potato so no problem there. I am going to be more mindful this week!!

May I ask how much weight have you lost and how long have you been on maintenance??

Thanks again for all your help!!!

bigbooty….thanks for sharing your personal success!!! It will keep me motivated!!!

Like I said earlier I will definitely try water fast on Thursday. Let’s see how it goes!!

Thanks again!!!

I guess talking to you guys have really helped….

Guess what? After doing my fast yesterday I stepped on my weighing scale this morning and it has finally moved…LOST little over a pound….it is big for me. Lowest in long time!!!
Simcoeluv…you were right. I was probably on a plateau for all this time!!

Thanks for all the encouragement….I will continue on my diet and really looking forward to counting and doing my water fast on Thursday!!!

Very happy!!!

Way to go Sarla. Sherryann I don’t think Im that strict but maybe I am going by my wife’s roll of the eyes when I mention food? I do like yogurt (plain greek style) and I do love real cheese, the stuff doesn’t come in plastic slices. Good luck with it ladies.

I bet you enjoyed that glass of wine Lori!
So sorry about the lost earring. I an dreadful with jewelry, I have had a few pieces that were precious to me that I lost. I still think about them sometimes (artisan made amethyst ring, another ring with three colours of gold in it, and a little necklace that spelled out ‘peace’ in the shape of a dove.)

Hi Sherry, Oh well if there is a once a year time to enjoy sweet things, it is Halloween!
Halloween hasn’t been a tradition in Australia, however there is money to be made, so every year it is being pushed more, my granddaughter hasn’t noticed it yet though! (I completely avoided it too!)

It is another Thursday half fast day for easing me into 5:2 maintenance. I am working out how I like to do them. I rather like feeling hungry all afternoon and then having my big bowl of miso soup, but having an extra something earlier in the day just makes it less intense, which is a bit of a treat!

I am still super busy every day, but I do feel like we are getting there!

Best wishes for your day!

Hi all,

A quick hello to everyone. I’ve been in a funk this past week since I came back from Hawaii. My eating has not be great and I can’t seem to get in the mood to do a proper fast though I will try hard to do one tomorrow. As I said, after this weekend (baby shower on Sat., Disneyland on Sun.), I plan to do a four day cleanse to give myself a good “re-set”. Doing the cleanse always seems to help me reframe as it were.

Hey, BB, I didn’t mean to say you eat exactly like me, but somewhat similar in that it seems you eat pretty “clean”! Btw, I do eat sheep/goat dairy. Thanks for all your help/cheering us on!

Lori, I don’t know why, but I was thinking you were just on a weekend trip (so of course you weren’t around for the trick or treaters). Sounds like a wonderful time you’re having! Enjoy!

Cinque, yes, we Americans are great at trying to export all our holidays to other places (just to get everyone to buy way too much stuff/candy/toys, etc). Hold strong! Don’t fall for it! 😉 Here’s hoping you get “there” sooner rather than later!

Hi Sue, good for you that the clothes are feeling looser and the weight is slowly going down. It’s not a race and it will happen!

Ok, time to get stuff done. I wish you all luck as we finish off this week (wish it for me too…I REALLY need it this week!).

Sherry

Hi all….I certainly had a good week. I have tracked everything this week and did almost water fast yesterday. I have stayed below 1200 on my NFD’s.

Bigbooty and Simcoeluv….I have done what you guys have suggested and it has worked….I am done by 3lbs in total this week. The scale has finally moved in the right direction. I did try the water fast and was pretty much able to do it except in the evening with my tea I had very crackers. I was just craving some salt. But other than that I two cups of tea and lots of water all day. I will try it again next week.

Feeling so good from inside and very motivated!! Thanks again!!!

Hello!

Today was a little less of a struggle than earlier in the week but still not a great eating day. I did get into the chips (kips for Cinque’s granddaughter!) and a mini cannoli at the baby shower today. Tomorrow is Disneyland which should actually work out ok since there’s lots of walking and there are some healthy eating choices.

I’ll check back in on Monday. Hoping to hear more from our long lost members in the upcoming week as it’s been way too quiet here! 😉

Cheers!