Happy NY to all – Chub, you look absolutely terrific and a big encouragement to all of us starting this journey.

For myself, I found December very trying and didn’t fast from 15 Dec. It was too difficult with the various functions/catch ups so I decided to begin again 1 Jan. I am in Melb Aust so am a day ahead of most of you and fasted yesterday (1 Jan), so today (2 Jan) I weighed myself to find I am 1.5 kgs up on my previous weigh-in (15 Dec). Not too discouraged as I intend to fast Tues & Thurs as normal this week which would make 3 FDs for the week and I believe I can quickly regain lost ground. Another lesson learned on this journey which I began in October and have lost around 7 kgs – no other diet/WOL has done this for me.

My goals for 2017 are the same as NR & Curiouser – to continue this WOL, continue with aqua fitness, walk the dogs, all aimed at a better, healthier me.

I counted calories on a NFD, too. In fact, I soon found it impossible to reach my TDEE. Having lots of drinks is an excellent strategy. For months , I didn’t allow myself any chocolate at all. While on holiday in the USA, I did have the occasional wine, as we wanted to keep up 5:2 on the quiet.

@LAChubster – you are looking so great. Thanks for posting the inspirational pics. Good at this time of year to have a reminder of what can be done with this WOL. This my first FD since Christmas. Quite tough today but much needed. I am not yet 60, approaching fast at 57, but really enjoy keeping an eye on this thread and a couple of others for the focus and the tips. Happy new year everyone.

@curiouser. The feeling cold thing is your body trying to conserve as much energy as it can because it knows its not getting a food top up. Try going for a gentle walk to force the metabolism to access the stored fats rather than just shutting down to save on energy expenditure.

Hi Sarah. Im good. Actually lost 0.5 kg over Dec. Did my fast on Monday. Back at work now 🙁

Hi Curiouser, hope today is going well. I had a really bad night’s sleep after my first fast of the year. Awake from 3 amd captiulated at 5 with tea and toast and peanut butter. Quite tired and out of sorts all day. I am sure it was because of what I had been eating. Making good low carb quite high fat choices today. Hoping tomorrow’s fast will be easier as a result. At least I know it gets easier. Tomorrow going to drink more water and have a mug of boillion or teasp of marmite for salt. I really don’t like miso but I am sure that does the trick too. I am sure I got myself dehydrated yesterday.

If i get cold on a FD, really the only thing that solves it is a hot bath and that really seems to reset my body temp.

Bigbooty, well done. You really have this sorted. Back at work for me today too. Soooo grim!

Curiouser, the mushroom sounds lovely! I’ve had a big bowl of veg chili tonight plus grated cheese and some creme fraiche. When I started in September the NFDs were hard as I seemed to compensate a bit but I did get over that and trying to keep carbs low and alcohol really helped with that. I got on a bit of a roll and then Christmas and what felt like mass catering for almost two weeks tipped me off course a bit. I was down 20lbs and will certainly have put something on. I didn’t count calories at all after the first fast days when I was on 500 cals.

I am weighing on Friday after two fasts to assess the damage. But I am not too worried because I do believe I’ll get back on that roll again and I am not halfway there yet so I need to. Hope you have a good warm night tonight and good luck on your NFD.

Curiouser, in the early days it’s equally important to consider how your clothes feel. Are they still a bit tight? Or are they feeling blissfully looser?

We had some plateaus in the east weeks, then would lose more than usual in the following weeks. We had a good meal yesterday, followed by my beloved custard on apple crumble. We’re also out tonight, but have pre-ordered from the light menu. I could gain a couple of pounds, but OH still has a stone to lose.

Hi again Curiouser

The veg chili recipe is from BBC food recipes website under vegetarian chili and has green lentils in it. I really like it and it has the added bonus that it is one of the very few things my OH can cook. I am not sure if you are in UK but anyway if you have any trouble getting it, I can post it here. I have just had a look at it and it is 265 cals and you get a good big portion for that.

Time was I wouldn’t have had a meal like that without rice or a jacket potato, but now I generally don’t. The thing I do miss and still have but in much smaller quantities is bread.

On fast days I don’t count because I am so low, probably about 60-80 and on NFDs I don’t count either. I just try to be mindful and keep to low carbs. I am only vaguely aware of calories. That being said I am quite tall and quite large so my tdee is getting on for 2000. Anyway it is going ok so I don’t feel the need to count and I think I would actually rather put another fast day in than count on other days. Such a faff in my view.

Today’s fast has been much easier than Tuesdays. Probably the fear of getting on the scales tomorrow but physically just not tired or cold. I set myself up with good food choices yesterday and have been drinking more today. Plus have just had a teaspoon of marmite for the salt. Yum yum lucky me!

Hope your NFD has been tasty and mindful and you’ve had a good day. Don’t get discouraged re the pound off. It goes in fits and starts and sometimes you lose inches and it doesn’t show on the scales and then catches up.

Have a nice evening, Sarah.

Thankyou for the welcome Curiouser, I too belong to a community choir its such great fun. Singing is good for the soul isn’t it? The vege chilli sounds good I must look it up.A lovely sunny day here in NZ. Have a great day everyone.

Curiouser, that was my experience in the early days! I was a bit downhearted not to lose, in spite of looser jeans. Then a good few pounds off.

Once my digestive tract got used to IF I lost a pound most weeks.

Where are you, all my lovely Sexy Sixties? I won’t be 69 all that much longer but I’d love to see this topic be reinvigorated so I’m offering this in the hope that the rest of you will come out of hiding. 😃

It’s uncharacteristically cold and rainy here in LA. And this is the remedy for that. It’s super easy and the yum factor is way out of proportion to the minor effort required. Here’s the recipe: http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018346-italian-style-fish-stew

I make it with either fresh fish or cooked and I use salmon as well as white-fleshed fish. I also halve the clams and use mussels and some calamari as well. Shrimp would made a good addition to but my husband can’t tolerate shrimp so I skip it.

Skip the bread, of course, but, otherwise, a great and delicious low carb choice.

What are you making for the cold days of Winter or the sizzly days of Summer in the Southern Hemisphere? How’s the year shaping up for you? Who’s made some IF progress or found a new tip?

Well, it wouldn’t be hot this time of year in LA, but it might be mild and, in fact, my daffodils are already blooming. But we’ve had a solid week of unseasonal rain and cold. It feels more like Vancouver here than Los Angeles.

I hope the activity of the trip makes it easier for you to be distracted from food and able to stay close to 16:8. I hope too that you’ll find more fresh vegetable choices than in the past. We are changing the way we eat. At least that’s so out here on the Left Coast. 😉

In any case, a holiday is a holiday. It won’t do much damage to enjoy it. I hope you do!

I’ve noticed a couple things lately. Don’t know if I can credit them to IF or if it’s a matter of being at a more “normal” weight or entirely unrelated to weight loss at all. In any case, I’m delighted.

One is that I get far fewer upper respiratory infections. I’m asthmatic so URIs have more serious effects and consequences for me. They frequently become bronchitis and require steroids. Plus, the asthma control meds I take make me more susceptible to URIs. But in the last year or two I’ve had almost none. So very unusual and welcome for me!

The other thing is that I suck in my gut quite unconsciously now. I used to take a regular Pilates class. Haven’t in years but that’s a lot of core work. And, when I was doing it, I sorta conditioned myself to suck my abs in when I was sitting in the car. Now I find that I’m standing around doing any sort of task and I’ve got tight abs. This does not change the fact that I still have a substantial bay window out front, mind you, but it’s a good thing for developing those muscles — which come to my aid breathing — as well as an appearance boost.

I’m doing badly this weekend, while in the USA. The boys are getting us up so early and daughter-in-law kindly bought the stuff we used to have – orange juice and Raisin Bran! Yuck! Sugar overload.

Hopefully, a normal week will enable OH and me to eat as we do st home.

It’s lovely being eith the boys, but I’m exhausted. And it’s sooooo cold here now, after the unusually mild Friday when we arrived.

Hope you’re all doing better than I!

Pol 🙋🏼

At 69 7/8 I bought my first 3″ heels in about 30 years this morning.

It’s amazing the difference not balancing an extra 40 pounds on my toes makes! In the long run I may or may not resign myself to tottering around on them more than occasionally. But at 5′ tall, it’s fun and cheap excitement feeling like a fashionista and being able to reach things on the top shelf at the grocers at the moment. 😃

LA, you go girl–more power to you! I think if it feels good, why not? You’ve earned it and deserve a sassy pair of heels. (Can you post a photo?) Wish I could wear high heels, but at 5’10”, I’d have my head in the clouds;) I really think it’s important to have rewards for all the hard work and discipline. I’m starting with little rewards, like a long bubble bath, pedicure, sitting by the fire with a book…As women, I don’t think we reward ourselves nearly enough, so I think building in treats of the non-edible kind is a good thing.

I also want to thank you for posting the recipe link–that stew looks yummy. Haven’t made it yet, but I will. Today would’ve been perfect–we had snow.

And, welcome, Radio! I’m also a newbie and just getting the hang of the 5:2. You’ll learn a lot from the ladies here who’ve had good success with it.

Polly, hope you’re finding better food options in NJ and are enjoying your stay. Whenever I go back–it’s my home state–all I want is pizza (best there is!) and chili dogs, and for breakfast, a Taylor Ham sandwich at the diner. I get into a lot of trouble when I go home–old habits die hard!

Here are the heels, as requested. Nothing really special about them. They were only $35 at Target — the right price for an experiment, I think.

But the point is, I CAN wear them. I haven’t worn anything taller than 1 1/2″ heels — and then only when an occasion DEMANDED it — since I got pregnant 30+ years ago. The last formal event I went to I had sneakers in a bag for when the pain was just more than I could bear. But I wore these all afternoon.

And this morning I had to punch 2 new holes in a belt.

After a year on 5:2 my progress is slow but I’m still making some!

Oh. Are they not? I can see them but perhaps that’s because the digital file came from my computer.

I’m sorry. I’m not computer literate enough to try a different approach but, as I said, they’re pretty ordinary. It’s just that north rancher asked for a pic so I tried. 😉

Tomorrow is a FD for me and I’m hoping it can get me back on track. I haven’t weighed myself since before the holidays. I’ll have oatmeal for breakfast (200 calories) and coffee. The rest of the day I’ll have plain sparkling water, and if I get hungry before dinner, I’ll eat an apple. For dinner, I’ll do a 300-calorie Lean Cuisine meal with water. I had so much sugar over the holidays that it’s taken me this long to lose the craving for it again. Now, I just look at a cookie and I’m repulsed, which is a relief. This week, I also need to add some activity, so I’ll get out and walk before the snow flies again.

LA, thanks for posting the photo–your heels look great on you! For some reason, I was visualizing skinny high heels! But, these look more wearable and comfortable. You’ve reached another big milestone. I hope the rest of us can do as well. I’m getting impatient! Slow results, thus far, for me.