Day 5-No. VA USA-FD800

Well, we had a little birthday lunch for my DD yesterday; nothing too lavish. There was a small slice of ice cream cake to celebrate. Back on the wagon today!
I have to rustle up some more candidates to interview for receptionist. We have had many, but I am looking for someone who can use a computer and perhaps has some phone experience. I got one young woman with an interesting resume but her primary training was in driving fork lifts. I couldn’t translate that to working at our front desk, though I admire the skill….

Day 5 – Ireland – FD 🚫🚶‍♂️ ✅

Hi everyone!
Yes another FD today! I am not going to use the F word but I didn’t succeed yesterday… 🤣 such a sunny day and all I wanted was icecream… seriously! I know better but…

@penz I use smaller plates too at home and in work I don’t have food with sauces.. we have a great food service and generally everything is very healthy but I tend to go for salads/veg and meat/fish. I try to eat slowly like @funshipfreddie so that the brain understand faster that I am full…

All the best for the week ahead @northgeorgia 💪

I hope all those stateside enjoyed Labour Day!

A sore thigh muscle from coughing @merryapple? That is a new one! You poor thing… And..another insight into your super interesting life there @merryapple 😄!! Where did you work as a child?
Thanks for your lovely comment… Mine are very much invisible illnesses and unless people know about the conditions they would never guess… I manage life around them and as you know try and do as much as I can – particularly exercise for my lungs but I am very good at resting up too… I’m 20+ years in so know my body quite well. It can be frustrating when super fit pals just don’t get it but… c’est la vie 😄

@songbirdme I like rugby but am not an avid follower.. having said that I will be in France around the World Cup so may get to some games.. we will see. Ireland should do well – maybe it will be our time 🏆 . We are very proud of our team who are doing incredibly well so wouldn’t it just be wonderful 😁 I hope you enjoy the game @songbirdme 🏉 my nephews are in Trinity but don’t play rugby anymore… but still : Go Trinity 😁💪
@daffodil2010 sorry to hear red wine is problematic – I cut it out a few years ago… but it wasn’t too hard for me whereas I think you really like your wine? Maybe look for one with little sulphite count? That might help?

Sorry to hear about the health worries @lilymartin – I had forgotten that you count chews… I don’t think I learned that while young although did learn to brush my hair 100 times 😁… I don’t do that either… maybe two easy habits to build… 🤔

@excelsior12309 good luck with the search!

Onward and downward ⬇️
We rise by lifting others 💕

Pocket List – Day 🎰
@daffodil2010
@jaifaim
@excelsior12309 FD800
@northgeorgia

Pocket List – Day 🎰
@daffodil2010
@jaifaim
@excelsior12309 FD800
@northgeorgia
@stitchincarol WFD

Day 5 UK CD
Day 4 LFD (!)
Day 3 NFD
Day 2 CD
Day 1 NFD

Phew – made it! I’ve been lurking for the last couple of days, trying to catch up with posts and now back on the waggon. Thank you @penz for hosting this month’s challenge

I’m F60 in London UK, put on weight over a number years with onset of mobility-restricting autoimmune/neuro conditions, stopping smoking and menopause. Joined 5:2 in Dec 2017 weighing 178lbs and went down to 145lbs over the next 9 months. Kept it off for a while then put on weight with Long Covid from Feb 2020… Still low energy, some cognitive impairment, hypertension, POTs and neuropathy. Came back earlier this year but Stuff, then again in mid-July weighing 182lbs. Got off to a good start in August but 2 weeks’ holiday – yay for camping trip! – and sugar/carbs meant I started Sept weighing 182lb again.

Last month’s challenge also helped reset my relationship with food, so although I’ve had some treats I’ve mostly been measured and found it easier to resist or make careful choices. There’s still a voice in my head tempting me to sugar, carbs, cheese, MORE but it’s a bit easier to ignore and not eat impulsively.

Yesterday was first back at desk post holiday. 9 hours of emails and late finish so decided to make it a LFD – just 100ml green apple juice and a marmite tea, plus LOTS of fizzy water, some black decaf coffee and peppermint tea – <100 calories. This morning’s weigh-in was 178lb – a reminder why LFD/WFD are so helpful!

I broke my fast at 2pm with some carrot/red pepper crudites and a little homemade baba ganoush left over from Sunday’s community lunch. Late lunch at 3.30 was a salad with spinach, avocado, cucumber and tomato with fresh mozarella and a splash of elderberry vinegar. I resisted the urge to eat the whole avo and the whole mozarella! Supper will be a beetroot and sweet potato curry – veg are currently sitting chopped up in bowls ready to start cooking.

I’ve learned that if I not only plan but have a mental picture of what I’m going to be eating it helps me to resist temptation in The Now. Eg on Saturday I had already put a bowl of courgette, bean and pea miso soup in the fridge which helped me to resist the quiche and sandwiches at a cafe in favour of a large black coffee and fizzy water.

Right, off to start curry then finish today’s last jobs and plan the rest of the week. I’m out all day tomorrow – lunch with online friends over from Denmark,the funeral of a lovely elderly friend then helping with hospitality at an evening event. If I can find a light salad at lunch and take some homemade seed/fruit bread, fruit and crudites with me I should be able both to resist all the snacks/puddings and not come home late and hungry – a deeply unhelpful combination! DD is staying this week but out at the office & meeting friends so it’s passing conversations rather than long chats this time round.

Good to be back! Hope all who are ill feel better very soon. And here’s to Succeeding in September!

Day 6 NFD NZ

Today is the 3rd anniversary for my DH’s passing from cancer during a L4 lockdown. Since I am in a self imposed isolation it feels very reminiscent… I could have friends over but I would be like Typhoid Mary – sharing a little unseen something extra… I could never have anticipated the depth of feeling of loss, sadness and being alone even with the companionship of my wee West Highlander Macintosh. I know how privileged I am to have had such a beautiful relationship, the other side of the coin of an aching heart.
Billy would be very pleased and supportive of my weight loss. I used to tell him I am going to be so expensive when I hit the designer dress sizes, although I am too Scotch to pay for them. He was a very snappy dresser.🥰

Day 6 – South Africa 🇿🇦 – NFD

@penz – I had to Google ‘motza’ & found – ‘informal/Australian – a large sum of money, especially as won in gambling’. Re where to eat; I don’t eat in the mornings, & I always eat out for lunch on NFDs, so I only have my evening meal at home. I don’t like eating on the go, so I always sit down. But it’s usually on the sofa in front of the TV. Not very mindful, I guess, but as I live alone I don’t think it matters. Boo Boo doesn’t object 😅

Busy busy. A much-needed fast day planned for tomorrow.

Happy Hump Day! 🐫

Day 6 – NFD -New Zealand
I’m hoping on the wagon! Not going to lie it has been really tough for me getting back into 5:2, I have been unwell this year and then recent change of jobs has made me seem to forget about looking after myself? In the last 2 weeks I’ve started going back to the gym at least 3 days a week, the other days I go walking and I’m really proud of myself for getting back into my exercise. Also this week I’ve been trying to drink a minimum of 2litres of water and I’ve reduced my coffee intake by half. Now trying to get back into 5:2 tomorrow (Thursday), I aim to do tomorrow and Saturday as my fast days, no excuses

Day 6 – Rural Nebraska, USA – FD800-1200 – 155.6

I’m remembering how badly I lost the plot last Friday, so I’m modifying my Wednesday eating plan a bit, so that I don’t have so very few calories in me this Friday (yup, @funshipfreddie, just because it worked one week quite easily doesn’t mean it’ll work every week is what I discovered); we’ll see if that helps me maintain my restraint then. Lunch today is an avocado/peach salad with blueberries and raspberries, a few nuts, and an orange vinaigrette. It’s a new recipe and I’m really looking forward to it. Supper will be wagyu burgers. Haven’t entered it all into MFP yet, but will be content with however the calories add up.

I read your comment, @songbirdme, about how you don’t pull off WFs and spent the day wondering why I find that so simple–well, relatively, LOL!–but doing a 1500 NFD is often beyond my control–or, beyond the control I can persuade myself to muster, at any rate. If I can apply my usual WFD control to an NFD, this extra weight will fall off me. I’ll keep working on the mind game that’s clearly going on inside me.

@merryapple Just read your comment about sugar-coated cereal; actually, what I had was Grape Nuts Flakes, not sugar-coated, and very high in fiber, with skim milk added…

@penz I chuckled to read your confusion about a chicken fried pork cubed steak–very understandable. The meat is a pork steak (perhaps a loin?), it’s run through the machine at the butcher’s that “cubes” it (which serves to make it thin and to make it tender), then it’s fried like chicken is by being breaded, except my mom’s tradition and what I do is to dip it in egg and then in crushed saltine crackers and fried until the coating is nicely crisp and brown (3-4 minutes per side) at which point the meat is tender. Not the healthiest approach to food, but serious comfort food, and I only do it once or twice a year usually. And since we had corn on the cob and steamed broccoli with it, not seriously damaging in the calorie department.

And, actually, @merryapple and @penz, my physician said to me years ago that OTC cough syrups are useless; because we are friends, he was comfortable saying I should either use the stuff with codeine (which he didn’t prescribe that day…) or a swallow of brandy to soothe all the roughed up innards. So to this day, I have a bottle of brandy, which I really don’t like at all, but it comes in handy when I start coughing and can’t stop!

@metatauta Lovely to hear chatter from you, and you sound quite active even if you chose a place to retire with a slower pace, LOL!

@northgeorgia I’m quite impressed that you weighed 225 on Sunday morning, spent the day with family with all the accompanying food and temptations, and started your Monday fast at 224! Perhaps it’s only a few ounces that tipped you that way, but the fact that you tipped down at all is proof that you used restraint on Sunday; WELL DONE. Today’s 219 had to have been a welcome sight! Have you said and I missed what’s making this week so stressful???

@songbirdme Crab salad?? YUM. What kind of crab do you buy for that? It sounds glorious and I’m considering when I could add that to our menu…

@excelsior12309 Happy birthday to your DD! I do not envy you the challenge of interviewing candidates for a job, but wish you luck in several lovely people to choose from!

@michelinme Great to have you back, so glad your time away was lovely, and it was good to read all your thoughts and plans and actions; you sound very solidly on the wagon!

@merryapple My condolences on the loss of Billy. 💞

@fastingnurse I’m so sad for you for the difficulties you’ve had this year, but you are in the exact right place to restart the journey down; welcome back!

Okay, my comments were all over the place and several of you showed up multiple times as I tried to catch up on things I missed, but I’ve now read everything I’d missed over the weekend.

Today is a strange day: DH has a funeral to attend in Lincoln (50 miles south) and then a doctor’s appointment in Omaha (50 miles northeast from the funeral) and then home by four o’clock for the usual Wednesday catechism classes (40 miles west). So I have the day entirely to myself, and although there’s lots I COULD do, the temptation to play hookey is quite strong, LOL! So perhaps I’ll work a bit, play a bit, and continue that pattern? 🤪

Have a grand one, everyone!

Day 7 Auck/NZ NFD 83kg

The good news is that’s 10kg down since I started back in mid January.
Now I’m on to letters to the editor and corrections… It is the second not third anniversary of my DH’s passing. He died in 2021. Next I have to apologise to @lilymartin and @stitchincarol for making assumptions – @lilymartin for what was meant to be a tongue in cheek comment about doing the walk ahead of doing the talk and @stitchincarol for even thinking that she might have sugar coated cereal in the kitchen…
@penz thank you for the reminders of some of the little things that go by the wayside with TVs etc. I am going to set a place at my dining table tonight with a placemat and linen napkin, wine and water glasses and eat properly!
@northgeorgia You’re back in the teens! Go you!
@newbound and @fastingnurse Welcome! There is still time to lose a clothing size (5kg/11lb) before Christmas which here in the Sthern Hemisphere will be hot!!

Kia Kaha! (Stay Strong!)

Day 7 – Ireland 🇮🇪 – FD

So @penz, it’s one week in and I am down almost a kilo too so I am happy about that. And happy to be in 160 land again, and WILL go lower.

Smaller portions, all little things to help.

I have also been eating a small cold cooked potato almost daily, plus cooking all my others carbs and letting them go cold before eating, and it does seem to be helping with my gut issues. Fingers crossed I have found a way that does not involve doctors and medicine.

Happy Thursday fast day 😄
@daffodil2010

Day 7 – Ireland – CD 🚫🚶🏽‍♀️ ✅

Hi all hope everyone is well!

All going well this week and feeling better off the meds… long may that continue 🙂. Back to the consultant for review. A very busy week this week with work and social events and I’m trying to build up my self care habits but hard to find the time. Physio and mindfulness are key… my muscles get tight when cycling lots.

Hello @fastingnurse!! Great to see you… stay with us now – we are all still tipping away ⛏️
Welcome @newbound – great to have you and hope you don’t need an ileostomy 🙏 . Where are you based?

@stitchincarol I am still swinging in roundabouts… up after the weekends and back down by Friday… 🫤 I am
Now making my own gluten free sugar free granola… it’s yum – just fire anything thing in that isn’t the above – so lots of nuts and seeds – and roast it up -with coconut oil and apple sauce 😋 I will take on board the brandy tip for lurgies as, where I can, I try to avoid taking extra medication than I have to…

@songbirdme – well done to Trinity! I didn’t realise they were playing the Naval Academy.. one of your navy ships (the USS Mesa Verde) was in port recently for the NFL Game and I went down to see it – my goodness it was enormous! Very impressive! I love crab!!! I used not like it at all but really do now.

@merryapple 👏 to you and @northgeorgia 👏and to @penz 👏 and @daffodil2010 👏 I’m back in maintenance zone so happy with that – briefly saw a lower number flash on the scale this morning (sneaky weigh in as usually weigh on Fridays) so maybe I’ll see that number soon – would be nice to have some more wriggle room. 😊

@daffodil2010 I’m not sure if I said before but there are great frozen baked potatoes which you can cook – 5 minutes and are delicious… I am pretty sure that the resistant starch benefit is the same if you reheat a potato which has been cooled… I could be wrong… but they are delicious… you can get them in the freezer aisle.

Hi @funshipfreddie! Hope your weather has improved and all is ok.

I’m off to a conference for the day… not sure how food options will go but will do my best.

Have a lovely day all!

Onward and downward ⬇️
We rise by lifting others 💕

Day 7 UK CD 180lb
Day 6 FD600

Yesterday’s outing turned out to be an unexpected FD600, tho sadly almost all carbs! the lunch place didn’t have gluten-free options so I just had a sparkling rhubarb and ate my packed tea (seedy/raisin oat bread and apple). I resisted the canapes at the wake and wine at the evening event infavour of cranberry juice, olives and TWO PACKETS of cheese and onion crips! I was very hungry trying to fall asleep but kept repeating the Audacious August reminders like a mantra

I’ll swap my usual Thurs FD for a CD, rebalancing yesterday’s poor diet with protein and vitamins and eating up leftovers. I’ve broken my fast with midday brunch of avocado, mozarella and poached eggs (while making toast for my lovely PA!). Supper will be Tuesday’s beetroot and butternut squash curry with corn on the cob and cauliflower followed by pineapple and passionfruit. This evening I’ll batchcook a butternut squash and carrot dahl for tomorrow’s supper, and tomorrow make a courgette and bean soup for Friday/Sat lunches with a couple of pots for the freezer. That should all set me up for easy healthier meals in the very busy next week.

I’m’ back up to 180lbs but that’s still looking like 2lbs down on the month so far. And I can see that my carbtastic stomach has shrunk already, from last week’s looking like 8 months’ pregnant to maybe halfway back to what it was pre-holiday. Great to see and feel progress even if the numbers are slower to change. This will be the month that I get into and stay in the 170s. I want to be well into the 160s by Christmas and I know it’s possible if I stick to the basics and make healthy choices.

Day 8 – Ireland 🇮🇪 – NFD

Happy Fri-yay!!

Feeling great this morning, much healthier than the last couple of weeks. Busy week in work with people on leave and me having to take up the slack so I am really looking forward to this weekend to relax.

DH off tonight and tomorrow with a work thing, so I will have a simple supper and then either watch the first game of the Rugby Worl Cup (France V New Zealand….go @merryapple). Or watch something on Netflix that I know DH would not enjoy (period dramas etc 😄).

Relax in the garden tomorrow. And Sunday we are bringing Dad to Sunday lunch so looking forward to that and catching up with Dad who is still going strong despite nearly 87 and mobilift issues….but his sense of humour is still as sharp as ever ☺️

Have a great weekend all. @penz, my self care routine involves relaxing and reading the newspaper, or a cheeky tea and toast in bed on a weekend morning, or just getting my hands dirty mucking about in the garden ☘

Day 8 – USA/GA – NFD

Weigh-in: 221 lbs. Funny; I didn’t do any fast yesterday, well except skipped supper, so technically I guess I did a 16:8, and lost 2 1/2 lbs. All that water bloat from the carbs went away haha

Oh, whew, what a day. I attended an all-day training event where there was a team-building activity. We had to row a dragon boat hundreds of meters into the lake and back!! I got in the boat but my hip didn’t! Ouch…I think I pulled a muscle, and my back muscles today… uff. Anyway, I had to run from that, change clothes at work, and go to the huge event — I am the M.C. for my department’s graduation. We had around 130 graduates march, and all their family and friends, VIPs, etc. So yeah, around 1,000 people. The funny thing is that I’m not nervous at all doing that, but when I had my property tax hearing in front of a panel in the courthouse earlier this week, with about 10 county agents and their documents entering the room and just as many taxpayers waiting for their cases to be heard, my stomach was in knots even over an hour after the hearing! Hey, but the unexpected happened — the panel found in my favor!

Whew, what a week….taking the day off work to catch a breath. Still some crazy events next week and each week for the rest of the month, but this past week was probably the most intense.

Day 8 UK OMAD FD800?

Quick check in for accountability- it’s been full on today. Yesterday Tired Me succumbed to evening oat/seed/fruit bread x 2 and a handful of boiled sweets – not high in calories but sugartastic. Today I’ve been very puffy indeed so having OMAD ahead of tomorrow’s community events.

Next week is utterly pants – 6 x different projects each with a key meeting or launch event! I’m so glad my freezer is stuffed full of vegan curry & dahl for super-speedy healthy meals to keep me on the waggon.

Right, off to supper and shower and bed. So tired! Have a lovely weekend xx

Day 9-No. VA USA-FD

Well yet again I have proved that by over-indulging in carbs you can gain three pounds overnight. Enough said. Back on the wagon! (But in my defense, we were celebrating paying off the mortgage on the house yesterday. So there was that. :))

Day 9 – USA/GA – NFD

Weigh-in: 224 lbs. My trend this week has been sad, but in fairness, it wasn’t a nice week for me. Still, I could have shown better restraint yesterday. Lots of non-stop snacking from lunch to night, including left over fries in front of the TV.

I find it odd how I can crave things, but if I eat too much or especially if I eat the wrong things (overly processed foods, sugary stuff, etc.), I feel the “yuck” all over my body within minutes and it lasts hours. The only thing that feels good is the short-term effect on the tongue and the chemical stimulation in the brain. If I can only get back to the mindset of “why bother? It’s poison and it feels disgusting after eating it,” I’ll get back on a better track.

Planning for a FD tomorrow 🙂

Day 9 UK NFD

I managed to pull off a OMAD FD800 yesterday – yipee! I had to work hard to stick to it but reminded myself how glad I’d be if I could do it. And Lo! this morning I weighed in at 177lb, a whole 5lb down on the month and 2lb down on Friday! I know it won’t stay down but it’s encouraging as my stretch goal for this month is 6lbs

Up and out early this morning for community gathering, clutching the loaf i baked yesterday morning and ready to set up the zoom for live-streaming. Really good morning with the community and home in time for a project zoom meeting with a friend that got squeezed into my Saturday.

It’s 32C here and Far Too Hot for me. After a slice of my bread with a pile of strawberries I picked up a big bag of lentil crisps, as much for the salt and the crunch as anything else. Of course I’m now feeling very puffy, but at least I ummmed and ahhed and made a mindful choice of that 427 calories! Supper was homegrown corn on the cob plus broccoli and a portion of butternut squash and carrot dahl. Just need to water the pots then I’m off to shower and bed – being good to future me.

HOpe you are having a good weekend, whatever it holds x

Day 9 – Ireland – NFD 🚫🚶‍♂️ ✅
153.5 lbs

Hi all, just a very quick check in as I didn’t get to log in yesterday… vey happy to see a new number on the scales… just means I am a little more comfortable in maintenance zone.

@penz I hope you enjoy the book. I’ve read it and dip in to it now from time to time. Love it. ♥️ 📚

Have a lovely Sunday all! I’ll most likely be busy here so will check in on Monday .

Onward and downward ⬇️
We rise by lifting others 💕

Day 10 – USA/GA – FD

Weigh-in: 224 lbs. OK, let me look at the bright side; I’m still a pound lighter over last Sunday! Doing a WFD today and a FD500 tomorrow.

Pocket List – Day 10 🍒
@funshipfreddie
@northgeorgia

Day 11 – Ireland 🇮🇪 – NFD

Coffee is definitely first thing after waking for me, as my DH has developed this delightful routine of getting up when his alarm goes off, making us a cup of coffee and bringing it to me whilst I am still snuggled in bed, and often still asleep. It’s a cherished routine which I miss when he is away, so no Dr Moseley, I am keeping with my wake up coffee 😄

Saw a lovely weight on the scales Saturday morning, but after yesterday’s Sunday lunch etc with Dad it’s gone up a couple of pounds.

Got to run, until tomorrow xxx

Day 11 UK FD
Day 10 NFD

Yesterday was too hot and I should have stayed home, especially with the railway engineering works. But I was too tired to think. But at least I went to bed at 8pm and slept through until 7am which has given me the energy for today.

I am so proud of Past Me for pulling a Sunday within goal weight TDEE. I’m delighted to say that this morning I was down to 176.5b, just 0.5lb above where I was in mid-August before my holiday indulgence and nearly 6lb down since 1 September – a textbook EOEO! 🙂 I know there’s a LONG way to go (c30lbs) and it gets harder from here but it has certainly sparked my motivation. A not-so-secret secret seems to be staying away from sugar and drinking lots more water, who knew?!

Today is an old fashioned FD but I’ve got a 6.30-9.30pm meeting tonight which has simple supper provided. I’m drinking water with splashes of fresh pressed apple juice, black coffee and marmite tea to keep me going until 7.45pm then will indulge in hearty portion of whichever vegan soup and fruit is on offer, swerviing the roll and cake. I don’t want to blow the weekend’s progress so hopefully that will outweigh the temptation of tiredness and meeting stress! To finally see the scales moving down is a joyous thing and not to be wasted.

@northgeorgia great results after yesterday’s WFD! hope today’s FD goes equally well – and good idea to bank another FD this week for more progress

@penz so sorry you are still poorly – I hope this week brings much better health and energy

sorry to post and dash but it’s possibly my fullest week ever this week, bar conferences. I’ll make sure I post each day and read posts when I can, but prob not be able to chat much this month 🙁

Pocket List – Day 11 🍏
@merry🍎
@penz
@northgeorgia
@michelinme