hi manda and welcome,

my name is taletha or pam depending whether you’re on here or facebook. your loss is fantastic, keep it going! I also fast Monday and Thursday but don’t weigh until a sunday morning.

it is Charmaine we have to thank for this lovely bunch of people as she started the thread and we’ve all sort of climbed onboard at various times. you will soon get to know everyone x

Jeannie – glad to hear your fast went well for you and I hope the other two go as easily. I think our bodies do their own thing at times and I regularly used to get disappointed at fat class when I thought I’d had a good week only to be disappointed on their scales!! now I have altered my mind set with this diet and know that I am doing the eating plan to suit myself and my own tastes (in a food sense) and the weight will leave me. it will never ever be as quick as I’d like but we will all get there by hook or by crook!!

PAM WHAT TAKES YOU TO YOUR MUMS? DOES SHE LIVE near you?

Morning everyone! Thanks for the encouragement and the welcome. Next fast day is tomorrow, but feel like i didnt have a very good day yesterday, so trying to be more cautious today.

Charmaine – Thats an amazing goal and a brilliant loss! I have been toying with the 4:3 idea, but I dont know if it will make it harder? I can do the exercise part. I go to about 5 gym classes a week just now, i just want to try and have more control over what I am eating if that makes sense. I will maybe think about doing something similar for a month, but set some of my own goals and see how i get on. 🙂 But I am sure you will find lots of support, especially on here!

Did any of you find it difficult switching to 4:3 some weeks? I have been thinking about it, because ideally I have still got quite a lot to loose and thought it might help, but i dont want it to be too difficult and me end up eating loads!

Karen – I wish i could hulahoop! I am useless at it. How do you manage with the 2 fasting days together?

Sorry for all the questions! I cant talk to my friends and some of my family about my 5:2, I dont think they would approve, and not all of the books can give a view of what its like.

Hope you are all doing great. And good luck if today is another fasting day for you.

Take care, A x

hi all,

manda – think I inadvertently called you Amanda yesterday. apologies for that. I think we all totally understand where you are coming from with not having people to talk to. it’s a lovely little secret to have knowing that you will surprise all those non believers one day and then can proudly say I did it via 5:2

Charmaine – whereabouts in india are you. I’m not very well up on that part of the world (I get lost here in the uk) it’s lovely to speak to people from around the world and this thread is becoming quite multi-national x

Karen – it’s hard to cover someone’s work. there are only two ladies here and we split things between us (cant rely on any help from the lads!!) when she is on holiday it’s tough going so can appreciate how it affects you

ken – cheerful and jolly as ever. it always makes me smile when I read your thread and you are a great pick me up when having a tough day. a lovely man x

david, Jeannie, dee, debby and anyone I have missed, have a lovely day

take care all x

In a way its great to find out my family are not the only ones that would be like this! Will wait till I am “buff”, and in my skinny jeans before I confess all! 🙂 Today is going better, and i have a Sh’bam class tonight!

Ken – Thanks for the welcome, and I will add you on FB if thats okay. x

Charmaine – Thanks so much for that, I think i will take your advice, and if i have issues with weight loss stalling or that maybe consider it then. But thanks so much. And I also cant wait for that moment! 🙂 but my secret for now (Hubby knows! but thats about it) x

Taletha – No apology needed! Amanda is my “sunday” name… or the name my mother shouted when i know i have done something wrong! 🙂 x

Jeannie – Thanks for that, its nice to know that I should be able to manage it if needed, and like everything it would probably just be an adjustment. I just need to make sure I am in the right mind set. I think as long as I am loosing okay on 5:2 i will try to maintain, but if it slows/stops i will maybe need to shake it up a bit! My husband is supportive too, but somehow manages to eat what he wants and never put on any weight… he goes through 3 multipacks of chocolate and a bakewell tart a week!! And thats on a good week! But I just need to try and have will power when he is eating it all, or its in the fridge shouting on me!! x

Have a good day. Fast day tomorrow so will probably post again then.

Take care, A

mandy or is it ann? or amanda? the “skinny jeans” will come to you as a bonus when you are NOT WATCHING! focus on your fasting days- and stick with us!

charmaine started us all off earlier this year and I just keep on getting such lovely compliments on my weight/appearance, then when I get away those trousers i couldnt get into FIT! and others i need a tighter belt for,

CHarmine i started on tuesdays and thursdays fast days- but my routine keeps on varying-like going away- or to staying with relatives or not being there for a friday weigh in-or cycling/not cycling to work- so I will focus on trying tuesday -thursday fast days-but had a real craving this morning coz my host in n”castle are on a NON CEREAL-very LIGHT Breakfast diet- i was so desperate for a braekfast bar- but just had an apple until those nice nice bickys around 10am with coffee- so thats what happened after yesterdays fast- but xcesize seems to be best antidote to hunger! apparrantly 25 mins cycling is 300 cals!

@davidrob

“are you diabetic-?the only time i eat cake is when I am NOT on a fast day”

I may be considered pre-diabetic and I don’t really know what that means, however, it doesn’t sound good.

I don’t eat sweets or cakes. Except. I did have some pieces at a recent graduation ceremony and it tasted good.

Who invented chocolate covered strawberries?

➰

manda – where are you from? it’s nice to know that there are others to chat to. helps ease the path in my opinion. I think we all have clothes like that 🙂 I know I certainly have x

david – nice to have set fast days but also nice to be able to move them around. lovely that people are commenting on your change of weight/appearance. can I ask your age? just curious as younger people usually find it a little easier to drop the weight

Jeannie – you are doing so well with your 3 fast days. like you I haven’t really said what I’m doing but will when the time is right. people shouldn’t care what we eat but they seem to have a knack of making us feel guilty one way or another. don’t let anything spoil your special occasion

la_dolce:

It will sort itself out, but maybe not in your timeframe. Exercise is very important, and I never would suggest anyone not exercise. But exercise really does not burn many calories unless you do a lot of it, and if you do a lot quickly the water retention slows your weight loss. As your timeframe is just a month, starting to exercise almost seven days a week just won’t help that much, and may hurt – not your health, but your desired weight loss.

I would stay at your previous exercise level and go for your weight loss. When your challenge is over, up your exercise to whatever level you want – understanding it may slow your weight loss progress for a bit.

But the overall goal of weight loss is better health, and exercise is definitely a part of that, so I never suggest not to exercise so you can lose weight. I do try to warn people that start a diet and begin to exercise that initially they may not lose weight as fast as they would like and they should not quit the diet because it does not work.

It does.

la_dolce_vita:

Any weight loss diet only works if it creates caloric restriction. The amount of the restriction will determine how well the diet works – fast or slow. The type of diet will determine how long some one can live with it before quitting, and how well they maintain their weight loss after they quit. Eating nothing but grapefruit will cause you to lose weight fast, but you usually can’t do it for long, and rarely keep it up after you lose the weight you want to lose.

5:2, 4:3, 6:1, ADF all create caloric restriction because, if you do them right, you eat only 500/600 calories in about a 32 hour period however many times a week. You can overeat on your non diet days, but unless you overeat so much on non diet days that you erase the caloric deficit(s) caused by the diet days, you usually will lose weight at some pace, basically determined by your TDEE. The difference between your TDEE and your caloric intake will generally be the amount of fat (not water) weight you can lose in a given time period.

As 5:2 and friends teach you how to control your calories, but let you eat the foods you like, they are also proving to be good for both time on diet and weight maintenance. Time on diet is important because it allows a person to stay on the diet long enough to lose all the weight they want (if not as fast as they want). Weight maintenance is important for long term health and not feeling like a loser for gaining back weight you fought so hard and long to lose.

There is some really interesting research going on concerning other impacts of intermittent severe caloric restriction, but for now there is no question that 5:2 and friends are very effective weight loss and weight maintenance diets.

Non IF diets work just fine for weight loss. They generally target about a 500 calorie a day deficit (of course it varies) and often prescribe what types of foods you have to eat (low fat, low carb, grapefruit etc.). Of course, all experience to date indicates they don’t seem to work for really large weight losses because it is hard to be hungry day after day and/or only eat certain foods for the months on end it takes to lose 50 or 100 pounds (I know, a few make it), and, after a person ends the diet they usually gain it all back and more. There are many reasons for the regains, ranging from the body getting used to the consistent lower caloric intake (a lower TDEE), thus slowing/stopping weight loss (and making it easier to gain it back after the diet has ended), to the individual just not being able stand the hunger or the dietary constraints that come with these daily reduced calorie diets for any longer than they have to. I also believe carb addiction has something to do with weight regains, but there is no research that supports that belief.

That gets to the 16:8s 20:4s and the rest of the one day diets. My observation is you can follow them precisely and gain weight. After all, a person can eat quite a few calories in a couple of hours if they want to. So they really depend on the person to restrict the caloric intake. They say calories are restricted because, for instance, you don’t eat breakfast. But you can then eat a 2000 calorie lunch and be following the ‘diet’ precisely. I constantly see people start on 16:8. It does not work for them (they eat too much in their 8 hour window) so they go to 20:4. When they get to 23:30:30 they tend to finally lose some weight (just exaggerating a bit).

So I think that if limiting your eating to an ‘eating window’ works for you, great, but that is a function of your personal eating choices, not having anything to do with ‘the diet’. I guess its cool to say I’m doing 23:1, instead of saying I’m eating less, but in my opinion, they are at best standard, every day calorie restricted diets that carry with them the same problems all other every day calorie restricted diets carry. And none of the potential benefits that may come from periodic, severe, caloric restriction.

My general thoughts on caloric restriction are here: http://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/52-calorie-restriction-v-fasting-for-newbies/. The TDEE link has a bit on how the numbers work and how to figure out how much you might generally expect to lose on any diet plan you might develop.

All of this, of course, is just my opinion. You must do whatever works for you!

good day to you all.

Karen and Charmaine – good luck on the second day of your back to back. I truly hope it works for you both as you have tried so hard 🙂

manda – as ken says there are a few of us on FB. feel free to add me. my name on there is pam jo and is a picture of two cats on the sofa.

simco – I had a look at the article you kindly put on for Charmaine and like ken found it interesting and informative.

ken – good luck with the fast day and I’m sure you will manage to “stay away from the beer!!” I also fast Thursdays and it is going fine so far.

hi to everyone else. hope your day is going well either fasting or non fasting.

take care all x

hi david,

you sound really down today after your mishap with the cereal bars. we all have bad days and I’m sure you will pick up and come back fighting.

brilliant about the swimming and the walk. sounds like a good workout and be lovely to be in a pool after a hot day.

I will keep my fingers crossed for your weigh in. you have plenty of time to reverse any little gain.

I asked yesterday how old you were if you don’t mind me asking. as I mentioned I’m just curious cos younger people seem to lose weight a little easier

Hello fellow fasters! How are you all today? Today is my second fast day of this week. Been a quieter day at work , so its been a bit harder today. But on track for tomorrow’s weigh in. So far just had water and tea! Looking forward to dinner tonight though (my 500 cals). I will update tomorrow with what the scales say. Been walking much more lately too, we have recently moved to a new house and my wee puppy has been loving the longer walks.. so helps me too!

Charmaine – Feel free to use AMANDA when i have been bad! would just feel like home! heehee! 🙂

Ken & Pam – I still havent got round to being on facebook yet, so will do it today or tomorrow (testing my memory!). If any of you are on it before me feel free to add Amanda Millar, Livingston.

David – Hope you are alright, you do sound a bit down, but its not unrecoverable, and we are all bound to have days like that. 🙂 Chin up.

Hi Paradise, thanks for the welcome. I hope your fast day is going well. I dont have the courage to weigh in more than once a week! Well done on your loss. 🙂

Well thats me for now…. Take care, and i will update tomorrow.
A

afternoon all. fast day going ok and coming in under target with the remainder for tea tonight. very warm here so cold water is lovely to drink

paradise – enjoy your walk with the doggies. you sound like you are having a good day too 🙂

ken – you also sound like your day is going great with only 200 so far. don’t you be drowning your sorrows with whiskey tonight :))

manda – its a full house of happy fasters today. looking forward to hearing what your scales have to say tomorrow 🙂 I looked for you on FB but there are a few with the same name but couldn’t see one in Livingston. what is your picture?

hope everyone else is having a good day

take care all x

Jumping in to say hello before I close out the workday — 3pm-ish here. Thank you for the Facebook requests. I believe I’ve confirmed all now.

Kjbee — Inspiring post. I anticipate slow, but permanent progress with my new lifestyle. Please keep checking in.

Char — We can all relate to impulse eating and you know, I think impulse buying as well. I’m trying to be wise about both. It’s amazing how much money we save when we’re not overeating and over-buying. I rather like it this way.

Paradise — How’s your 4:3 fasting going? What do you think about it?

Jeannie – I also stick with a similar menu on fast days. I make sure I like what I get to eat and there’s no temptations for me that way. You are doing so well!

Pam – Thanks for the FB invitation. I’m looking forward to taking a peek into everyone’s world

Hello lion willow — good to hear you are posting here again. It sounds like you know how to do the big trouser dance. Good on ya!

David — Hope your weigh in tomorrow goes how you want it to go. Sending good energy your way

Karen – Your trip sounds terrific. Happy ‘back to reality.’ There’s no place like home.

Ken – So good to learn about the healthy BMI and continued weight loss. You’re taking this seriously. What a beautiful gift for your grandchildren.

G – Nice to hear from someone who is loving the fast beach diet. Keep us informed.

Hello Manda — good results and good job!

Hello rocky & simcoe — hope you are having exceptional weeks

It’s time for me to take off. Great to catch up on the posts. I like the way you are all so supportive of one another. Inspiring for me to read. I’m doing 4:3 again this week and at 350 calories so far today. Although, I just put a hard caramel candy into my mouth. I plan a workout after work and will do liquids tonight. Husband in Central America this week along with his siblings. They are there via Project Hope — who build homes in an impoverished community. They are working hard, right along with new homeowners. That guy is going to come back trim. He had 10 pounds to lose to make his weight goal. Between the heat and work, I’m confident he’s met his goal. He has such a tender heart and willing spirit. An all around good guy. Thanks for putting up with my gooey words about my husband! Take care good people. Keep moving! Jean (or Dee)- I’ll answer to either.

Hi there 5-2ers!

We are a television show in Australia and are doing a profile on Dr Michael Mosley and the 5 2 diet. You can see our website here https://au.news.yahoo.com/sunday-night/#page1

We know many people all around the world are experiencing great results after being on Dr Mosley’s diet. We would love to share your experience with our viewers.

If you want to share your story, could you please send a ‘before’ and ‘after’ photo to our email address: sundaynightcompetitions@seven.com.au

You can remain completely anonymous. We would just love to know:

* Your age
* Your previous weight/size
* Your weight/size after trying 5:2
* How long you were on 5:2

Thank you for sharing your story,

The Sunday Night Team

Morning guys, happy to report a 2 lb loss from Monday’s post holiday start weight 🙂 So despite me not managing 4:3 this week I’ve lost 3 lbs in total from when I landed last Friday! So pleased with that. Next week I’m going to see how I go, no rush, only got 2 lbs to go till goal, I can hopefully do that fairly easily over the next few weeks.

JeanDee and 3wishes it’s nice to hear from you both. The pair of you seem to be sticking to 5:2 or 4:3 and doing brilliantly, well done.

Charmaine – can’t wait for your results on Tuesday, I have a feeling you’re going to do so well. Hopefully it will spur you on to keep going on your challenge and get you to your goal.

David, get back on the wagon today – I binged yesterday too, must have been the day for it. I still managed to lose and today is another day so onwards and downwards you can do it.

Ken, hope you weren’t too down about the footie, I didn’t watch it but I know we lost (wasn’t expecting us to win tbh). I hope you had that tot of whisky to cheer yourself up.

Manda, it’s nice to see the face behind the name! I’ve had a look at some of your pics and what a pretty wee lassie. My hubbie’s from Dundee so I’m married to a Scot, love the place.

I posted some of my holiday pics if anyone fancies a little peek. It just made me sad when I looked at them though, would be lovely to start the hol all over again.

Well better go, hope everyone has a great day, I’m looking forward to the weekend, only a week after to day to work on my own and hopefully after that not so stressed. 🙂 x

Hi,

Slimming down is often a challenging job but when you succeed in achieving it, makes you feel proud. Maintaining the weight loss is also a difficult task however by following a healthy diet plan it is feasible to keep the weight off and enjoy the way you look now.

How You Eat
Be Positive
Exercise
Motivation and Support
Choose your diet for weight loss carefully