Hi Joan

Yes I know I set a pound a week however I do expect to lose more. For me an minimum of a pound a week is what I hope to lose. This has always been the case and so far I have always achieved this but often more than that.

In fact if I only lose 4lbs in a month I am stricter the next month and often add another day a week to keep the momentum going. So far this has worked.

In six months I have lost over 40lbs so I am happy with that.

I will be on a fast day tomorrow (Friday) as I had a meal out, you just need to get into the swing of it first and then you can try different variations what suits one person may not suit another. You will find that your eating habits change and you will be looking forward to fast days…….as crazy as this may sound.

Drink plenty of water and especially on a fast day, this helps with preventing headaches and also with constipation which you might find happens after a while.

It will be interesting to see your full weeks results. Oh and did I say to measure yourself? It is good to keep a record of the starting measurements for later comparison.

Ginette

Hi Joan

Well done a great result!! I had to laugh at your fright in measuring, my reaction was the same. If it makes you feel better I think that around the largest part of me the tummy it was 54 inches now down to 50.

I have lost a lot more off of other parts of my body. I see a health trainer and he said that the only way to lose tummy fat is to exercise. I am looking into joining a local gym as I can pay per session and I want to target specific areas.

I was going to have strawberries for breakfast, but I changed my mind as the melon looked as if it needed eating. Make sure that you drink plenty of water as it does three things, it makes you feel fuller, it helps you avoid constipation and I have seen lots of claims that it helps speed up weight loss. When I spoke to my trainer I told him I was getting constipated and he said that is because I am eating a lot of vegetables and so I needed to drink more water. So the first two I know are correct and I think (unless it is coincidence) that I lose better on weeks where I feel waterlogged. 🙂

Have you tried skyr yoghurt, deliciously thick it has lower sugar so may seem tart if you have sweet tastes although you can always add a little stevia to sweeten. I tried the small ones first by they are over in a flash I now try the larger ones. I have just bought the honey one for the first time and I shall now buy the large strawberry one. They sell in all of the major supermarkets, look them up online.

Enjoy your weekend, I always think that if I have a strict week I can relax at the weekend. This is what 5:2 is all about.

Ginette

Hi Ben

That sounds like a very low loss. I have heard about people having a slow start.

Why don’t you maybe try the following things. Download my fitness pal app. I use this to log fast day foods on. On there you can set a weight loss target, maybe try 1lb loss to start with. Log the weight that you want to be in goals and the loss per week. It will then give you a calorie limit per day. If you don’t know calories then I know that this feels hard work but log every calorie eaten or drunk for two weeks. You may find that you are going a long way over without realising.

It will truly be worth finding out. I know that this is a drag. I take it you do count calories on fast days. Not by guesswork and that you do include drinks in this. Long term it is ideal to be able to count calories only on fast days and be mindful on other days.

Where are you based and how much have you got to lose. The first question is curiosity the second is important to know.

If you are weight training at the gym then muscle weights heavier than fat. These factors all need to be taken into account. You need to measure yourself as sometimes you can lose inches without losing lbs. Drinking water helps lose weight as well I am not sure how this works as it is illogical to me but it has worked for me as well.

I hope this helps.

Ginette

Hi Loz

How are you doing?

Ginette

Hi Loz

Glad to see you here. Yes it got a bit hectic for a while on the other thread. I dipped out for a day as well, didn’t want to jump in the middle of that. As you probably know that person seems to have now left and the thread has calmed down.

Occasionally a person like this will come almond, evangelical and forceful about their beliefs. I always think the way forward is best through mutual support and encouragement. Follow the other thread to see all is calm and then come back to it.

Glad you will be posting your 10 weeks soon.

Good on you for all those fast days.

Here are a few recipes I was looking up for the fat bustin Brits site. Someone has just jot a chicken that she needs to cook up and then freeze down.

Strawberries and Melon (cantaloupe is my favorite) are both really low in calories and refreshing on a journey.

Here is the recipe link I am posting on the other thread.

http://www.womanmagazine.co.uk/diet-food/slimmer-dinners-meals-under-300-calories-31299

Ginette

Hi Lisa

Nice to see you here, I was out last night so I am a bit late posting.

I was wondering how much you had to lose when you started.

I had about 8 stone when I started 5:2 and I had already lost a sone in the previous 9 months. Now I have about four and a half stone to go.

The reason that I ask how much you have to lose is because of the loose skin issue. I have lost three and a half stone in 9 months and I find that this is starting to happen. I knew I would have some problems and I have not done much exercise, I have high blood pressure and this means that I get really overheated. Hence not exercising. I did in the cooler months through. I have now signed up to the gym to tone up and I think weights may help me as well. I am a bit concerned if I will like gym type exercise but if I don’t try how will I know?

Where are you from? I am from the south of England.

I would say that although this seems a brilliant amount of weight to lose it may be better to lose it more slowly, I do believe that the body needs to adjust to the new weight and especially the skin.

I know that non fast days can be harder than fast days sometimes. I have made a really conscious effort to slow loss down and I am trying to now lose between 2-4lbs a month.

I know that it seems unbelievable at first that it does work. It obviously does though. I used to do three days a week if I was going out for a meal or if I felt that I had eaten something to excess on one week. I intermittently did three days. I now have done it fir a few weeks there are too reasons for this the first is that I lose really slowly over the summer and often the scales can show that I have increased in past years. This is water weight as I suffer from a lot of water retention. This year I have only gained half a pound one week and as tge weather has cooled I have had a couple of big losses.

Now I remain the same for about three weeks at a time, hopefully with the (dreaded) gym this won’t happen.

Have you checked your TDEE on this site? I use a calorie goal that is set by My Fitness Pal as a guide. I have found this really useful, I put in that I wanted to lose 1lb a week.

This has also been a theme with me, staying on any eating plan for a length of time. This one works for me.

Do your friends and family notice, have you measured yourself? I know so many questions.

I am pleased you have done so well as that will keep you to plan, of course there are the unseen health benefits from fasting, let’s not forget those.

Hi Cinque

Nice to see you here as well, tell us a little bit about yourself.

Where you come from, how much you have to lose and have lost, alsohow long you have been doing 5:2.

Like you there were always odd occasions that I did 4:3, I am not so far very physically active so feel that I need this.

Yes I think it really changes your thinking and tastes. I eat far less carbohydrates now although I am going through a phase where I am eating too many sweet fits and treats, I need to stop this.

It will be nice to hear a few more details.

Ginette

Hi Cinque

The more the merrier, I am sorry to hear about your health problems. Yes, I found fasting after a couple of events in my life caused my blood pressure to raise to dangerously high levels, I was made redundant and then my brother died, this was all in the space of a couple of months. Through losing about four and a half stone my blood pressure is down to just high now. My doctor thinks I am still suffering from underlying stress and that is why the haven’t reduced further.

I enjoy the fasting way of life although just at the moment a lot of the old cravings are back. I hope to get thus under control by joining the gym, I have found in the past that exercise reduces my cravings.

I bought a Wii and started using it, I lost a bit of weight without trying to change my food habits, they did change, I was not so drawn to sweet things, I could eat one chocolate and not want more, very unlike me!!

I am sure that thus is to do with endorphins, but the fact that it worked was good.

I like you have been overweight from childhood, it started when my parents divorced. I just have to control food around stressful times.

If you have access to a Wii, it is a good way to exercise, I started at 10 minutes a time, I soon started to build it up. I would only do about 30/40 minutes in a week when I started, I found it fun and addictive.

I wish you luck in your continued weight loss, there are many nice threads on here.

Let me know how you are doing from time to time.

Ginette

Ginette

Hi Cinque

I must admit that when I first started I did a few balancing exercises and some gentle walking (all on the Wii) I did not do more than 10 minutes but I did build up. I didn’t do aerobic or anything so strenuous.

I understand that it must be frustrating, tge good thing is that 5:2 works without exercising and we can only do what our bodies allow us to. I know when I start back exercising I shall start slowly and easily and then increase as I see fit.

I am trying to listen to my body but also add some common sense, when by bodie get cravings for chocolate I know it is time for me not to listen but to achieve this better I need to exercise as this seems to dull the need.

Keep popping in and updating with your progress.

Ginette

Hi Lisa

Well done on your pre Christmas loss and you have managed to keep it off, brilliant. It’s always a difficult time with family friends and socialising. Let’s hope we build on success through 2016. That’s a great loss though in all.

I have had a couple of months off being strict. Saying that I was mostly doing 4:3 and the two Christmas weeks 5:2 as I was on a plateau. I put on a little but nothing I can’t handle. I have now got my enthusiasm back, helped along by all the dieting programs and a couple of articles in the Mail by Michael Mosely. These are aimed at diabetics really but give an alternative method to either reverse diabetes (if you have had it less than three years I think) or improve blood sugar levels. There is an astounding lot of weight loss that comes from eating 800 calories a day for 8 weeks.

Hi Duchess

I too am in Hampshire. Pills I am assuming must be for blood pressure or diabetes. I suffer with my blood pressure but the doctor thinks that it is caused by underlying stress. I am lucky that I do not have diabetes.

I shall post a link here ti the article that Michael Mosley wrote. It is in a few parts so it’s worth having a look. I don’t like the recipe plan but I might adapt and have one of these days a week with my three fast days. I don’t want to do every day as this would feel like a diet. I shall see how weight loss progresses. I did 10 months of 5:2 or 4:3 before reaching a plateau, I did read a weeks break might help but I extended that as I felt worn down by not losing and although I still did the fasting I wasn’t careful on the other days. In fact I ate all the wrong foods and I am currently trying to wean myself back off of them.

Hi Joan

Yes it can be easy to back slide. I carried on doing the fast days. Did you? I still put on a few pounds I am still losing the extra weight gained. I am now eating lots of soup at lunchtime. Making soup with a soupmaker is so easy. They have the mixed packets of ready prepared soup in Asda on offer and they are so easy. I have butternut squash or leek and potato on non fast days and sometimes I add a little to them especially the look and potato as I find it a bit bland and I love lots of veg. I have vegetable or green vegetable soup on fast days as it is lower in calorie.

Yes it’s a good idea to go back to basics and start to eat healthily again.

Hi Ben well done on the training, intense training for short periods is good but be careful not to overdo and warm up before and afterwards I didn’t and ended up with a acute sprain I have to take things easy now as old injury will resurface.

I’ll have a look for the link I mentioned above.

Ginette