Hi Oriaith,

You’ve come to the right place; this forum. I’ve had major health issues too and have been on hydrocortisone steroid medication for most of the past 4 years, though thankfully have weaned, though I’m still not able to exercise either. I’ve also been a binger, so know how that feels. There are so many supportive threads on this forum and what I would suggest is to click around and check some of them out since they are full of those very experienced as well as newbies like you and me (well I still feel like a newbie having begun 5:2 in late June 2016). I don’t feel like I could have continued and had the success I’ve had without tapping into the supportive threads. There are threads with many themes including a thread for those who binge, a thread for those who live in various locations and threads for those various amounts of weight to lose. There are also a couple of recipe threads! You can find all these active threads if you go to the top of this page and click the link in read called ‘Active Topics’ and it will reveal a smorgasbord of options!

Cheers!

Hello Orlaith, welcome to the forum.
You’re certainly in the right place for support in terms of 5:2 🙂

I’ve been on the 5:2 since June. I started with 74kg, just pushing below 68kg this week. My target is to get below 60kg by the end of this year, when I turn 40.
It has been relatively slow weight loss for me – mainly because I’ve been combining exercise and fasting. For me exercise is an antidepressant so I’ve kept going with despite this.
I started off with sticking to Dr. M’s book – 2 days with only 500 cals and rest of the week eating as normal. First 2 months, I split the 500cals into 2, at breakfast and dinner. Then I experimented with taking all my calories at dinner time for about a month – that worked better in comparison to splitting the calories.

I listen to my body – hunger, energy levels, cravings etc. I found it difficult at first suppressing the hunger pangs and cravings, but in time my body and mind got used to it.

Since 2 weeks ago, I’ve been trying out going with only water/0-calory liquids on FDs.

In terms of food, I’ve ditched all diet soda/cola, smoothies and fruit juices – even on non-fast days (NFDs). Sugar and sweet things are my vice (cakes, biscuits etc). I try to be sensible on NFDs and reduce refined carb intake, but it’s difficult.
I’m fearless about eating things like butter and full-fat yoghurt. Eggs are a staple in my house. I’ve also discovered cauliflower-rice – a very versatile low-carb rice equivalent. Also courgette spirals (aka courgetti) and other spirilised veg. I also drink a lot more water than I used to (thirst can be disguised as hunger and we end up eating instead of drinking to quench that need).

Couple of questions:
Have you already started 5:2?
How much does your injury limit you in terms of exercise? Is it just exercise? or general movement as well? Have you tried things like yoga?

Happy to answer any questions and listen to moans/groans/winges – we’ve all had it tough starting out on 5:2 and fallen off the wagon a few times. The main thing is to be honest to your self and keep going. The results will follow.

As Lael points out – check out the other threads also. You’ll learn a lot from other people’s experiences.

All the best 🙂

PS I also have the dubious privilege of being medically diagnosed hyperactive, so ending up unable to exercise is a very weird place to have found myself. So… I understand the huge change in your life.
Merry

I may be stating/asking the obvious here, but have you spoken with your GP about 5:2? If not, I’d highly recommend that before you start fasting. You’ll be putting your body under some stress during fasting, and considering you’ve got Addisons (and I assume you’re on medication for that) it may be prudent to consult a doctor as your steroid doses etc may need adjusting. The post Merryme suggested might have some more info about this.