@pp. Ha ha ha. Mediterranean diet is pasta and bread. Too funny. I think the lady was confusing the Mediterranean diet with the see-food diet. You see the food and you eat the food.
This topic contains 11,627 replies, has 174 voices, and was last updated by hermajtomomi 7 months, 3 weeks ago.
@pp. Ha ha ha. Mediterranean diet is pasta and bread. Too funny. I think the lady was confusing the Mediterranean diet with the see-food diet. You see the food and you eat the food.
Oh, ladies, I’ve had a bad day! 😳😁
Grumpy Old Women lunch session (U3A) and I was hoping to get away with a coffee. However, it was -5 here and I fell for the soup, with a wedge of bread, of course! The bread was horrible, too, but I ate it! We’re out tonight, with U3A agsin. At least we’ve ordered from the Pre-theatre menu, which has smaller portions.
I have to confess to an ice cream at theatregoer yesterday, too. My sister was having one, so I said yes. The irony is that I know damn well that I could have done without.
Have to put my foot down with a firm hand tomorrow! 😁😁😁
Pol. 💁🏼
Ah Polly! But you’ve got plenty of wriggle room, the odd blow out is I think necessary to offset the fasting and control, and to remind us of why we do this!
I had a bad day yesterday, so strict fast today! Just about to break it with frittata and salad. It’s been cold here too so I’m more than ready for some sustenance 😁
Hello everyone!
I’ve just completed my circuit training session and can hardly walk up the stairs! It’s the first time I’ve been in three months…..mainly due to my appendix suddenly deciding it wanted to get out of my body and leaking resulting in emergency surgery 😫 During the months of no training and limited walking my lab, Rollo, I’ve gained quite a few pounds.
I’ve had a boiled egg for breakfast followed by tuna salad and tonight my hubby has made us spaghetti bolognese. I’ve also eaten 2 fruit pastels but am relieved to say that the packet is now empty so no more sugary treats!!
It’s my fast day tomorrow. I’m actually looking forward to it. 😀
It’s really nice to know where in the world you all live. With the cold temperature here in the UK I wish I was in Sydney!! I’m off to Cuba for a fortnight in the middle of March. I can’t wait! 😀
Well I finally bought a spiralizer before Christmas, but haven’t used it yet! Doh. I even made OH spaghetti tonight…and me a frittata… 😵
Ezz, I’m pleased to hear you’ve emptied the house of sweets. I think that must have been what I was doing scoffing mixed nuts and dried fruit yesterday…Getting rid of temptation!
I think, given my poor willpower post Christmas, I’m going to try and avoid eating until lunchtime tomorrow. I really do need to drop a kg (for peace of mind not health I know!) and at the moment eating anything early in the day wakes my hungry worm 😞
You are right Happy. I had a spectacular fail on a fast yesterday. ..first time in I don’t know how long. I blame it on getting out of the habit of not eating before at least 10:30 on normal days. Often I then don’t eat until lunchtime as I’ve fooled myself that I’ve had breakfast and clean my teeth. ☺☺
Mindgames P
Hi all, have been reading the posts with interest but with guests present thought it too rude to start replying.
My first fast today since pre Christmas and boy it’s a struggle! The first hunger pains usually strike about 2.30- not today, been longing for food since 11.30!!
It’s now 2.30 and I’m trying to resist til teatime! It’s hot here today (37!) and I’m drinking lots of water.
Don’t have scales but can tell by my stomach I’m either at trigger or a bit over. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll feel much better. Have really just pigged over Xmas/NY and now I’m paying for it! 😳
Hiya, and welcome, Ezz. I’m the Kiwi of the bunch, have just landed back in NZ from our holiday in Sydney to catch up with children and grandchildren, have brought one of the latter back and dumped him on his uncle for a couple of nights. Christmas tree is down, but I still have to deal with the Christmas ham!
Lunch with P and Mr P on Wednesday was lovely, sitting among the aforementioned gum trees and enjoying the balmy climate. Thanks again, P, for the food, the company, and the Lego! 🙂 Back to windy Wellington, where summer has been cancelled – or at least until we all go back to work. The summer-flowering pohutukawa trees are still coming into bloom, and the cat hasn’t quite finished his spring moult, so I know something was pending.
We are most happy – no weight gained while we were away, in spite of no fasting. 🙂 When I look at what I ate, there was almost no bread, no desserts, and as DIL is gluten-free, none of that either for the meals we ate with them. But we enjoyed the airport lounges and eating out with family.
Jason Fung is a great source of information, Hermaj. Have a look at his blog, Intensive Dietary Management, for lots of detailed analysis of why fasting works, and calorie restriction doesn’t.
Hi, Carol and Barata. Sounds as if you’ve both maintained, with the good habits entrenched now.
37 degrees! Phew! That’s hot. I love up to 30. Sounds as if NZ summers are as reliable as those in the uk.
We both had a horrible night’s sleep last night after our meal out. The so-called ‘smaller’ portions were generous. Neither of us finished courses, but it still gave an uncomfortable night. I’ll be glad when this gallivanting period ends. We won’t get back to proper routine until we’re in freezing Princeton at our son’s next week. That will also have to fit in with meal rescues to from She Who Must Be Obeyed!
Off to find a new case to replace the one that lost a wheel on the last trip! 🤔
Pol. 💁🏼
Tell me about the horrible night’s sleep, Pol. Had several of those over Christmas, not through violent excess but eating a tad too much of sweet stuff that I rarely touch.
BTW, please don’t stress about sometimes blowing it. One of the beauties of 5:2 is you can always try again and compensate for any fall(s) from the wagon.
Question/request for advice for Fung fans. I’m limbering up for a 24-hour fast – I almost did an unplanned one a couple of days back but gave in on hour 22.
Spuds. I love ’em. Always assuming they are home prepared, i.e. not processed, either baked in their jackets, parboiled then sauteed in a bit of oil or butter, mashed or made into salad with oil and vinny, can they be included in moderation on NFDs?
I can’t find any direct reference in the book – apart from the bit about the advantages of added vinegar, which is fine by me.
Hi Hermaj,
Not sure what you want to know, but I am eating my evening meal then nothing else until my evening meal the following evening. In between I drink tea with FF milk and have no intentions of drinking it without milk..ever. I gave up sugar in my tea after 40+ years. Just keep busy and keep going is the best advice that I can give. You can do it, after all, if I can…anyone can.
Why don’t you try the spuds and see if they make any difference.Are you eating any other refined carbs? If so, could you cut out 1 of them?
I am eating with 1 son every evening at the moment and although we have meals without refined carbs, I am trying to find a balance. We had pasta for the first time in weeks last night but I didn’t sleep terribly well, so not sure if there is a link there. We are having rice tonight with homemade chicken curry and noodles with a stir fry tomorrow evening. I will be having a weigh and measure on Sunday to see what the Fung effect is after week 1.
Next week, back to work and my aim is not to eat with my chaps in the evening, so less refined carbs and more salad/soup at work.I am intrigued to see what the Fung effect might be at the end of the month. Fancy joining me in a piece of very limited research?
Herm, you’re right about the sweet stuff. I think that was the problem. And some nattering, so bring less aware of eating. Not that I was talking with my mouth full, though.
Thankfully our expected visitors for tomorrow have cried off with bad colds! We can take it easy then, couscous mirin salad for me!
Re potatoes, I was amazed to read that baking them makes them less healthy. We occasionally have 100grs of boiled new potatoes now, rather than my pile every other day!
Hi Annette,
Thanks for your helpful reply. I understand how 24 hour fasting works. In my case, I would fast between dinner on day 1 and dinner on day 2. The unplanned one last week lasted from 7 o’clock on day 1, but I succumbed at 5 p.m. on day 2.
Keeping off refined carbs as far as possible won’t be a major problem. I seem to remember that Dr Fung says such things can be enjoyed very occasionally, such as at some special event, but for the rest of the time should be avoided. I don’t have a problem with that. As you found with the pasta,I’m getting increasingly less comfortable with carbs in general and can’t even touch them until mid- to late afternoon, otherwise I feel extremely unwell, queasy and bloated. I’ve already been on soup or salad lunches for at least three years. As for evening meals, thank God for Slim Rice and Zero Noodles which aren’t carbs at all.
My main question is about potatoes, cooked freshly, by me, by one of the methods quoted. Also such things as sweet potatoes and butternut squash. Sure, they are carbs, but they are unprocessed. In a word, are they off limits?
It was great to discover that tea with a little milk is OK. I also had a glass of mint tea yesterday, made with fresh mint. I let it stew for a while as it was scalding hot. It was absolutely delicious and felt like a treat. So I’m well set up for fast days.
It might be fun to work together. We would have to decide when our start date would be. Are you doing two 24-hour fasts each week?
Hi,
When my mint re-emerges in the spring, I am going to try that as a drink, sounds lovely.
Try the spuds, enjoy them and see what happens. If you are not eating refined carbs as well, I would imagine that it would be fine. I remember Fung talking about populations that consumed rice on a daily basis and had no problems with obesity until they adopted the western diet and then levels of obesity soared. My understanding was that refined carbs+ sugar=obesity.
I would regard sweet potatoes and butternut squash as vegetables that are unprocessed and therefore to be enjoyed.I am not a fan of either but my boys like the squash roasted whole in the bottom of the oven when roasting a chicken, and the sweet potatoes cut up into wedges, drizzled with oil and roasted.
I am aiming for x2 24 hour fasts each week and next week I think I will try from lunchtime to lunchtime. Shall we start Monday 9th? I hope to post positive news on Sunday.
Polly and Hermaj, I had a shocking nights sleep the other night brought on I’m sure by all the sweet stuff consumed during the day ie biscuits wine stollen!
Re the potatoes Herm- I have the occasional boiled or mashed potato with my tea and haven’t notice it makes a difference to weight or how I feel. I love them and maybe have one once a week.
Hermaj the JF book sounds good. I intend to purchase but haven’t done so yet. Does JF talk about the impact of specific foods in the book?
BTW I would consider 22 hours a successful fast!
I have a question- I don’t have the Jason Fung book yet so maybe the answer will be in there – but how much fruit do people eat?
I notice little mention made about eating fruit from MM and others, just a reference to veggies.
On a non FD I enjoy a piece of fruit and a few almonds as a snack. I have berries every morning for my breakfast and occasionally if I have a real sweet craving I may have a few berries and yoghurt after tea, but that is quite rare.
Just curious as I enjoy the fruit but wonder if I’m doing the wrong thing.
My take is that the gi of foods is the issue. Lower gi foods reduce insulin spikes. White potatoes have a higher gi relative to other veg and really should be a sometimes food. Same thing with some fruits. We group sugar, rice, pasta, wheat flour and potatoes in that group. While losing weight we avoided these conscientiously. We don’t have them at all on fast days and only include them in our normal diet in careful moderation. Mr P definitely gets blood sugar highs after potatoes.
Berries have a low gi and therefore csn be eaten on fast days. P
I have some fruit, usually berries with my yogurt, or a kiwi fruit. Sometimes an apple for lunch. If your in maintenance then its probably OK, if your still looking to lose weight then it probably doesn’t do you any favours. I make small changes in my diet and then have my bloods taken after six months to see what happens. I upped my fruit consumption and my LDL levels crept up a little. Not good but the increase was modest. According to Gary Fetke fructose increase LDL production and my results back that up.
Hi All,
Some tricky questions today!
Hermaj,
I still eat potato on non-fast days….roast, mashed, cheesy mash, jacket, rosti, patatas bravas, salad in summer, new, stuffed skins… just in smaller portions.
I also sometimes do a substitute… OH really REALLY likes his mash with lashings of butter and cheese. So I’ll make that for him and have sweet potato or mashed swede maybe.
I wouldn’t stress too much about it, unless spuds are your Achilles heel.
Carol,
Re: fruit. I used to eat loads, but that has naturally declined over time with intermittent fasting. Perhaps because I cut out added sugar and lost my sweet tooth? I think the guideline on fruit and veg consumption is heavily weighted to veg in any case. Most days I probably eat tomatoes and peppers (fruit), but I certainly don’t eat an apple/banana/orange every day anymore. I realised a while ago that I was giving our hens grapes as a treat…and I wasn’t eating any grapes!! I’m kind of being guided by what I fancy? I think in the absence of added sugar and refined carbs, my food cravings are perhaps a bit more reliable about what my body needs (rather than just dopamine release!).
Hi All
Second fast completed! It is hard as I am hungry today. I drank loads of water and herbal tea and have had 2 cups of coffee, with milk but without sugar. The only things I’ve eaten are 1 boiled egg, half a pink grapefruit and two sticks of celery with a tiny bit of humous.
I was busy at work again and when I got in decided to go to a local retail park for a wander round the shops. Purchased a new jacket then went home. I was desperately trying to get out of my usual Friday night routine of a large glass of wine and calorie laden food so went to clean the bathroom. I left my hubby and his daughter eating spaghetti bolognese (leftovers from previous night). Hubby only had a small portion as today is his fasting day too. I found my willpower from somewhere as I was tempted to eat some myself, opened the fridge door and gazed in but then closed it and took some post to my son’s bedroom. I was greeted with facing a load of his sugary sweets from Christmas and bolted out quickly before I crumbled! So I have then just soaked in a lovely hot bubble bath, painted my nails and am going to go to bed now.
On a very positive note, I weighed myself before getting into the bath and after day 4 of FD I have lost 5lbs!!😄😄😄 I’m so pleased!! Tomorrow we are going out for a meal to celebrate my father in laws birthday. I will definitely be thinking twice about my choices in the restaurant.
I’m going to bed one very happy lady tonight! 😄😄
Well done Ezz!
It’s amazing the willpower you can dredge up from somewhere on a fast day isn’t it! I think it’s because it’s one day only and you can have the ‘treat’ tomorrow. In reality, when ‘tomorrow’ arrives, and with permission to eat that previously forbidden treat, you realise you don’t actually want it after all. And in a bizarre way the fasting, and weight loss, is its own reward.
Enjoy your meal tomorrow!
Well done Ezz! You’re going great guns!
Thanks for feedback re fruit. Purple and Happy you confirmed what I already thought was Correct and have been pretty much following.
Bigbooty, interesting what you have noticed with LDL and fruit consumption. One of the things I have been most pleased about with 5:2 is that my LDL’s have gone down. I shall monitor the fruit consumption.
Well done Ezz. Spot on about “you can have the treat tomorrow” Happy. And when tomorrow comes you really don’t feel like it any more.
@ Carol. Apparently processing of fructose leads to higher LDL production. Saw this explained in a youtube clip by Dr Gary Fettke. He’s been silenced by APHRA and is no longer able to give people advice on diet. Telling people to eat healthy foods is frowned upon by the medical authorities. Might have to do a bit of investigating to find out how much funding APHRA gets from big food and pharma.
Hello everyone,
It’s hot in Melbourne!
It’s sugar I have to be careful of. Grains (and potatoes!) are fine for me some reason! But it is super easy to have enough fruit to set off the intolerable munchies. Like…. any at all!
Mind you I was saying to my sister that the white commercial bread is just like eating sugar, but then she pointed out that that would be the sugar they add to it! Good point sister!
No wonder my own homemade bread suits me best.
Anyway, what with maintaining and all I started sneaking in a few teeny weeny sweet things. No Cingue. You can’t. No wonder I have had a rough couple of weeks.
Fast Day tomorrow. Looking forward to it!
I spoke too soon yesterday. Today I am up 500 gms, and OH two kgs! Not sure where that came from 🙁 Perhaps I didn’t drink enough water while I was away? But OH, who doesn’t believe in water… I just hope it goes the same way. FD on Monday, and there will be a reward from that, Happy, which makes it worth while.
Well done, Ezz, give yourself a good pat on the back 🙂
That was a busy day with lots of temptations avoided, ezz! Well done. Btw: don’t buy too many clothes now – you’ll be needing a smaller size in a few months. New top coat and some trousers for OH yesterday, thankfully in the sales! And we’d only gone for a new suitcase and Marks thermals for our trip to New Jersey next week.
I still eat about the same amount of fruit as before, half a banana on my porridge or bran flakes and an apple or two,satsuma for my dessert, Michael Mosley approves of satsuma as they have minimal calories and peeling them adds to the eating experience.
I love the whole psychology of IF and how it’s worked for us. There’s no forbidden foods, no ‘syns’ as if we should have it today we can have it tomorrow- by which time we don’t want it! Furthermore, eating less makes us want less, just as having huge blow outs makes us want more food.
I’m still amazed at seeing low 9 s on the scales in stead of being relieved at high 10s, or signing at 11+.
Technoklutz rides again! I stayed up an extra half hour to join in the current exchange of views, but the post disappeared into the ether. Sometimes I think my brother – a right old dinosaur who wants nothing to do with IT in any form – has the right idea.
Anyway – spuds. Happy and Carolanne , they aren’t my Achilles heel, but I would be miserable if I had to do without them completely. I don’t eat them every day and I only cook the exact number we need, for jacket potatoes I choose smallish ones or we share a larger one – much to OH’s disgust. but he’s not a natural fatty.
Also, I’m not really a fruit bat so perhaps only eating the occasional tangerine/mandarin, or maybe a nectarine or a serving of raspberries, leaves me a little more wriggle room to enjoy veggies. I’ve never understood the tradition of regaling a sick person with fruit. When I’m under the weather it’s the last thing I want. BTW, has anyone heard the definition of posh people? They’re the ones who have fruit on the sideboard when no one is ill.
P, I’ve already started revising GI/GL since they will be crucial to the new approach.
Finally, nice one, Ezz. A very gratifying result after only four days. 🙂
Very very interesting discussion. I had rice with my son last night with homemade curry and naan bread…and I felt lousy all evening and couldn’t keep my eyes open. I think it was the rice (I had naan with curry a few weeks ago and felt fine)…so that is an easy choice. No rice for me. I am playing around with which carbs to eat as i have started to increase my running..rather slowly. I do know that I am too hungry to run when I fast so I don’t. Week 1 of Fung will be reviewed tomorrow morning. I’ll let you know what the result is.
Annette, just an idea. When a meal requires rice, would it be worth cooking real rice for your son, while you have carb-free Slim Rice? https://www.eatwater.co.uk/products/slim-easy/slim-rice/
It only takes a few minutes to prepare and is stocked by Holland and Barrett who currently have a buy-one-get-one-for-a-penny offer.
I’ve been doing a bit of research in preparation for the new approach, including downloading a sample of Dr Michael’s 8-week blood sugar diet. I’m honest enough with myself to admit that I might screw up mightily trying to stick to a mere carefully chosen 800 cals a day, although he does offer you the option of a more gentle version, more akin to 5:2.
However, I have just ordered the accompanying recipe book. I’ve found Mimi Spencer’s two Fast Diet Recipe books hugely helpful and many of the dishes are fantastic and up to posh dinner party standard (not that I do posh dinner parties) but they are based on different criteria, although I imagine some of them will fit the bill. I’m sure the ideas in the new book, co-authored by Dr Michael’s wife, Dr Clare Bailey, will just as good.
Not the BSD as such, Annette. As I said, I don’t think I’m quite up too 800 cal per day for 8 weeks. Funnily enough, in Michael’s suggested “BSD-lite”, based on 5:2, the Fast Day allowance is 800 cals, probably because it allows for rather more fat and dairy, which for me would have to be, at least partly, lactose-free. Certainly, this is a possibility worth exploring, especially with the aid of the cookbook.
BTW, Mimi’s second book is a bit more exciting than the first, although some of the calorie counts are a rather high for fast days. However, they might fit quite neatly into a Fung-style regime.
Lots to think about. I think that I need to get out my cookbooks and have a good look at different ways to cook fish which is my favourite.
Had a long chat with no.3 son who has Aspergers last night. He has lost approximately 2 stone(he refuses to stand on the scales) in the past year but he doesn’t think that he has done anything to make it happen but was thrilled that it seemed to just happen, quite an achievement as he has been working in a restaurant. He is quite rigid about what he will eat-very much a meat and 2 veg chap.
I pointed out that as well as being on his feet all day, he was sleeping better and was happier after struggling to find a paid job after 8 months working as a volunteer in a charity shop. I also suggested that he was having time when he wasn’t able to eat and that he was trying new food at work when he was there at lunchtime. I had also started presenting meals that didn’t have any refined carbs. We talked about what he ate around/during his shifts and I suggested that he tried to have bread once a day at the most and had rice/pasta in smaller portions and less often. He is having steak tonight and I am having fish, I asked him what would he like with it and the answer was peas, green beans and broccoli. I also asked him if he was aware that he had stopped snoring..he wasn’t so great success all round. There is probably another 2 stone more to lose to get him to the right weight for his height but I feel positive that he will make better choices most of the time and continue to shrink.
Hello
Not sure who runs this group but I would like to join – I have been reading some of the posts and you sound like a fountain of information and very supportive. I started the 5:2 WOL on my own in January 2016 and dropped 2 dress sizes – I then joined the November challenge with Coda and managed to reach my goal weight losing that last stubborn 7lbs or so and have maintained since early December.
Hi AT,
No one runs this, or indeed any other, group. There have been those on other parts of the forum who have appointed themselves leader, captain, top dog or whatever. Not here though.
You’re more than welcome to join in the fun whenever you feel like it. As someone who has hit target weight and is now successfully maintaining (one or two of us – including yours truly, I’m afraid – aren’t quite there yet) you’ve come to the right place.
Hi AT,
The thread founder (Auriga/ Sylvia) sadly left us after an unfortunate episode a long while ago. We’ve kept the thread going in her memory… Oh, OK! And because it’s important that those on the journey know that the results can stick! Our beloved founder did pop by a while ago… ha, our faith rewarded 😊
As Herm says, all welcome, all equal!
You sound like quite a few of us maintainers, did most if not all of it alone before joining in!
Hi AT
Welcome. We are like a coffee shop here….pop in, toss some ideas back and forth, head back out into the world.
Auriga/Sylvia started the thread to thank Dr M for getting her on this way of life. As Happy said, that’s what got many of us long term posts here. We’ve had a fun ride together over the years and enjoy new faces, regret the absence of old ones.
Cheers P 😊
Has anyone else read the book Fat Chance by Robert Lustig? Just started reading it. What an absolute eye opener. It really has very little to do with will power. Its all about the hormones. Eat the wrong things (for you) and your hormones will respond accordingly. I think the one universal baddie is sugar. It just screws up everything. The other “trigger” foods you have to find out what they are, and that’s up to the individual.
It’s amazingly complex isn’t it BigB? I haven’t read that book, but, even after discovering your trigger foods, it still takes willpower to avoid them. Most cigarette smokers know the damage they cause, but can’t kick the habit. I presume it’s the same with food.
I know if I have high gi food before lunch (bread, sugar etc ) I struggle to control my hunger. Sometimes I win. Sometimes I don’t. Easier to avoid those foods too early in the day. P
Ah yes, willpower – the answer to everything!
I remember reading a book ages ago purple, written by a doctor, who said the foods we most crave are usually the ones that do us the most harm. I’ve always remembered that and believe it applies to me.
Can’t find the list to acknowledge who it was, maybe Barata or Bigbooty about the fruit setting up a sugar craving. Hadn’t thought about that but I think it does for me.
Sounds like you’re on a roll Hermaj – good luck!
Welcome AT
BArata I’m in adelaide. What side of town are you?
Thanks for the info about books everyone. Going to get a couple of those for my New Years reading. I’ve never bothered with Mimi’s books in the past but maybe I’ll try some of her recipes.
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