This topic contains 11,627 replies, has 174 voices, and was last updated by hermajtomomi 6 months, 3 weeks ago.
Hi Polly,
Very timely comment! Being away you may have missed this item in the news, medical students complaining that they aren’t taught about how diet and lifestyle affect health, despite the fact that most illnesses now are diet and lifestyle related.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-43504125
Sad that our medical professionals are qualified only to treat symptoms and not address the cause. As we know from fasting though, there’s no money to be made from telling people to eat less!
On the TV in the USA, there are many adverts for pharmaceuticals. ‘Ask your doctor if _________ [brand name drug] is right for you!’ All the ads for diabetes meds show actors who are overweight. Why doesn’t the ‘doctor’ just tell them to lose 25 pounds and guide them through the process!?!?!?! Arrrrgh.
Barata, is there a food you should eliminate at this stage of life? For me it is white rice and beer that make the weight stick like glue. Also fried food. When I eat those, weight goes up. Try that.
Happy Passover. Happy Easter.
Yes, we’ve often commented on the drug ads in America. Talk about putting ideas into people’s heads as well.
Re foods, the main difference between OH and me is that he still eats bread almost every day, whereas I do very occasionally. Hence his returned beer gut! Of course, he insisted on buying hot cross buns
Pol
Fasting_me: Surprisingly, at the same time those ads you mention are taking place, we have a new movement over here in the U.S. that is telling people it is healthy and “body image” okay to be overweight; that being overweight for many people is simply the way they are. This movement certainly will help the pharmaceutical companies. We still have a huge thriving market for diet products. It is amazing that Americans can figure out what to do!! …And in our current drug oriented society today, it is not surprising that our doctors find it easy to just order up another drug for their patients! I don’t remember if you remember the Phen Phen crisis of the 1990s (the description weight loss drug)! I had a friend die from taking that drug. I had quite a few friends who took it!! It is illegal today but friends of mine did tell me you lost weight easily on it but as soon as you came off of it, you immediately gained the weight back!! We really need to learn to eat right and exercise to be healthy!
HappyNow: Thanks for the link. I read the article and the one on diet and mental health. Great articles. I know how doctors don’t seem to have any idea about proper nutrition. Once, when my husband had high cholesterol, his doctor recommended that he eat the “cabbage” diet! I was horrified that a doctor would recommend such a fad diet. I took it upon myself to create healthier meals for him and in a month and a half, he lost 30 lbs. and lowered his cholesterol to a safe and normal range. All I did is remove all the sides and toppings he was using! The doctor called me and said that he didn’t know what I did but it worked wonderfully. All I could think was “what is wrong with you?”. More recently another doctor recommended the same diet for my sister!! It would seem that they only read what the average lay person reads in ladies’ magazines and know less than we do from reading science articles on the topic! It’s amazing!
Thanks for the warm welcome, everybody, especially yours, PVE. As I write, I shall shift up and down in an attempt to answer all the questions and comments to avoid missing anyone out.
Yes, Pol. I’m happy to be busy on interesting stuff. The only problem is that it doesn’t always give me time for much in the way of walkies. I did try Dr M’s 3 bouts of 10 minutes high-intensity walking but it coincided with the nasty flu-like cold I was beset with for nearly two weeks, so I’m afraid I gave up rather too easily, feeling very sorry for myself.
Barata and Happy, I can’t tell you how happy I am to have moved. I love Cambridge for its beautiful architecture, made even more beautiful when offset by the flowers coming out and the trees starting to blossom in and around the city’s many large green spaces between the buildings. Provided the buses don’t cancel themselves without warning, it’s a 12-minute ride from home to the city centre. We’re also much closer to family members who we get to see much more often and with much less planning ahead than when we were in London.
I love the house, although it’s far from perfect and there are a lot of adjustments to be made. We certainly attacked the kitchen cupboards and medicine cabinets before leaving, but the biggest problem was, and continues to be, books, which run into thousands even after a major cull before we moved. I should add that my OH really didn’t want to leave our former home, accusing me of serious mental derangement for wanting to move. Things became quite unpleasant In fact, I think it was more a case of CbA (can’t be arsed, i.e. can’t be bothered) rather than any real attachment to the flat in North London, although I take his point that it is a massive upheaval. I think even he is beginning to enjoy being here, now he has a garden to work on and a variety of birds to watch.
There will certainly be cats, but not until we can install the two flaps needed because of the way the ground floor is configured – there are two doors between the kitchen and the garden. Various things have to be dealt with before we can do that.
I regularly check the websites of Cats Protection and Blue Cross, both of which operate here. I would like to adopt a pair of adult cats – siblings, mother and child, or two buddies who have been brought up together. They have some wonderful big, bad-ass tabbies, black-and-white and ginger moggies who would scare the living daylights out of their neighbours, but it’s pointless looking seriously until the house is ready for them.
Happy, when I looked closer at the links you posted, I realised I already have Malcolm Kendrick’s book on my Kindle and have read extracts from it, all of which make excellent sense. I’m about to look at the BMJ piece.
ccco, I love your take on the prescription of statins and so agree with your conclusion that “we are supposed to take statins for no real good reason with the only real outcome of lowering our quality of life with side effects”. Am I being cynical that all too often the medics are more concerned with keeping Big Pharma happy and with the goodies they will receive as rewards for handing out the sweeties willy-nilly, than they are with healing their patients? Or am I just an evil-minded old bat?
I won’t enter the cholesterol battle. Suffice to say that the last time I was told I should start on statins again, I agreed to a doc’s appointment, which I promptly cancelled online.
I’m so pleased to hear that your move is fulfilling all your expectations, Hermaj, and that OH will likely end up thinking it was his idea! And having some renovations to do will make it so much ‘your’ place 🙂 Our home is now cat-free, after the demise of Merlin in December, and is likely to stay that way for the foreseeable. I expect the house to be warmer this winter, not just the retro-fitted double glazing on the southerly windows, but because the cat flap will not be flapping at every gust.
The US and New Zealand are the only countries that allow direct to customer marketing of prescription drugs, and I don’t know why we do it. An informed patient is one thing, but doctors don’t have time to counter pressure from all sides, not just from the marketers.
Here in NZ the medical practices are remunerated by the authorities per head of patients registered at the practice, so it’s more beneficial for them that the patients stay away, and stay healthy, so they can fit more on their books!
F_m, I don’t know what else to change (apart from the wine, and that’s a non-starter 🙂 ). I eat almost no flour-based products or rice, and many fewer potatoes, and rarely have beer. Often my non-FD lunch at work will be two boiled eggs, or an avocado. The only thing that I still enjoy is home-made muesli 3-4 times a week, full of nuts and seeds. I have changed my mind about fasting all this coming week, and will have four days of one small meal a day, so four FDs, and continue this until I solve my quandary. I WILL get back to 58.x kgs!!
herma, so nice to read your lovely descriptions of Cambridge and your new house.. grand that your husband has a garden an birds to watch. The rest will come.
I’m typing one-handed as the cat asked to be picked up and is purring gently on my shoulder.
I’m rooting for you Barata! Surely you can do this again. Your diet does sound appropriate. Maybe the muesli?
Fast Day tomorrow. Easter did very little damage, but must be careful around the Easter Basket.
ccco, great anecdote about how you improved your husband’s health through diet! Well done.
My ODH has returned to physical therapy. He’s been getting pills for his back pain for the past year but finally he asked about a course of PT. The therapist recommended going from 4 weeks to 10 weeks to address the problem. A step in the right direction.
I wouldn’t be too worried about Barata folk, she’s a skinny, tiny little thing. We maintainers, rightly so, stress about a kilo or 2, but it is all still within healthy. Winter is coming, B, you’ll need a bit of padding 😉
Glorious autumnal weather here still and with daylight saving time ended, the sun is up and shining in the morning. I’m finding it so productive…good weather and early rising…for excercise and gardening. My veg patch is producing far too much leafy green for us to manage, even with giving it away! P
The concern is not about the 2kgs themselves, but that they might creep up to four, and six… Skinny & tiny I’m not, not at 1.7m (historically, anyway, likely to have shrunk a little) but thanks for the shout-out, P 🙂 Fully agree with you on the leafy greens – both chard (silverbeet) and spinach are ginormous. I’m filling my salads with them. And the days continue to reach 20 degrees, our summer continues. Not an early riser by choice, though, (3.30 am this morning 🙁 )
It might be the muesli, FM, but that’s only four days a week, and I was eating it all the time I lost weight originally (and lots of other stuff!)
“Tiny” was not a reference to your height, B, but you lovely bone structure. 😊 I agree, keeping an eye on the slowly gained weight is vital. I’m accepting a slightly higher weight as it is very easy to maintain, but would stop eating completely if it creeps up to the next kilo. 🤨😐🙄 It took many years for me to become overweight originally. I doubt I have that many left to do it again 😂😂🤣🤣🤣😃P
Hello, maintainers. These kgs mean little to me, as does 1.7. I’m 5’3” . Are you similar, Barata?
Well, I disposed of the Cadbury mini eggs bu giving them to daughter to take back home. Her partner can eat most, as he’s an athlete and training hard for some veterans’ competition. I did eat too many of the Linfor chocs, though.
My weight seems to be varying so much that I’m wondering if the scales are kaput. OH is still being stubborn and bread features far too often for him. He’s also avoiding scales, although I can see that he’s become very cuddly-looking again. 🤨
Your weather is good st 20 degrees. There’s little sign of spring here yet. The sky is blue today, but it’s cold. Two of my friends are in New Zealand now, visiting their son for the first time. Unfortunately, the guy has injured his knee and is only seeing the inside of a hospital.
Pol. 💁🏼
i’m with you, Pol about kg and meters. Happily my computer has a conversion factor.
62 kg=136 pounds Barata’s rapture begins at 132 pounds.
I know a woman who is always saying things like: ‘oh, she’s a little skinny thing — well, almost like you.’ I try to take it as a compliment. I’m not short [5’5″ = 1,67 meters] yet I wear a size XS Petite.
Today is cold and sunny after a night of fierce wind [40 knots = 74 kph = 46 mph] which knocked out the power until early morning. Still blustery.
Fasting food: ham + chive omelette; wonton soup
I thought the UK changed to metric years ago (except mph). The USA are amongst the few still clinging to Imperial measurements. Use the converter on your smart phone to familiarise yourself with it. Using just pounds (US), not stones and pounds (UK) always intrigues me.
60kg is my limit. It is a nice round figure. 😉 I’m meant to be about 164cm…5’4 1/2″. That’s 1/2″ shorter than I used to be 🤨😐
P,
We have indeed gone metric for all sorts of things, but imperial measures haven’t gone away.
I’m 5ft7, not 170cm. My waist is 27 inches. But I weigh 59-60kg.
When I go for a run, I’ll do 5km. But when I drive to Dad’s it’s 280 miles.
I measure my gin in ml. A beer comes in a pint glass.
Depending on the age of my recipes, I’m metric or imperial!
We are much the same in Aus, Happy. We dispensed with “old money” in 1966. I grew up with Imperial measurements, but despite the fact that we have been officially Metric since 1974 I still regularly switch between them. Mr P tells me the size of something in mm, while I really need fractions of an inch for small measurements still. Longer lengths, like road trips, are always in kilometres. Old recipes are in Imperial, but I always convert them to metric. I have certain easy “go to” informal conversion rates… 600mm is a dishwasher width. 250gm of butter is roughly 1/2 pound or 8oz. But a woman’s ideal figure really should be 36, 24, 36 (inches!!!)
I love the way “the kids” (30s and 40s) can still happily accept talk about something being an inch, yet they have only ever learnt metric.
Thank goodness for smartphones 😉
59.1 this morning, so my week’s efforts have paid off. Great to have it confirmed that I am in control! 🙂 Three days (Tuesday – Thursday) of one meal a day – sort of 5:2, but not counting calories in the evening. I’ve had my first morning coffee for the week, as I was just doing water / herb teas during the day. I might do the same next week, where the Monday FD will again be moved to Tuesday as we are travelling for a family funeral.
I appear to be your size & weight, Happy, however we measure it! The few things in imperial that seem to have stuck over the years, are height in feet in an aircraft, and weight of babies! There might be a bit of mental effort in measurement conversions, but what comes out of my mouth is determinedly metric.
Back to his original weight, I’m afraid, P. I put him at severely insulin resistant. But so Mr P must have been, and 5:2 was sufficient to reverse his. The next step, which has to be his, is either low to zero carb, or longer fasts. Don’t hold your breathe! He sees himself as having no ill-health (which of course he doesn’t, overtly), but with a fasting insulin level of 130 !!!…
Yes, we’re totally illogical on measurements in the UK. You’ll find flooring prices quoted in both metric and imperial, before being sold in metric. We use Celsius, then miles. Recipes come in either imperial or metric.
You’re all clearly slimmer than I, but I really do not want to go under 126lbs at nearly 71. High cheek bones were good when I was young; now I look gaunt. My waist is 28, down from a shameful 38 two years ago.
Sort of glad to hear that my OH is not the only one, Barata!
Pol.
Today is our 5th Anniversary of Fasting. We weighed and measured today and entered it in the book where we also record our blood work results. Still good — in fact, I weighed exactly what I weighed 12 months ago! ODH is a little higher than he’d like to be by 5 pounds. Nothing he can’t take care of — if he’ll lay off the cookies. Altogether, quite pleased. So, naturally, I nibbled a lot today. Must stop that.
Hope your recent Fast was good for you too.
Hi Everyone
This is my first post and it’s really just a huge thank you to a Michael Mosley. I’m a 7 year breast cancer survivor who gained weight during chemo and couldn’t budge it no matter what I did. 12 weeks ago I set myself a goal to loose 8kg in 16 weeks, bought the fast diet and fast exercise books. Today I weighed myself and I have exceed my goal and have lost a total,of 9.5kg. I feel great. I’m going on the 6 1 maintenance now. It’s a great way of life, it isn’t about denial, it just makes you think about what you eat even on non fast days. As a Mum I chose not to make special meals for myself but just eat smaller portions of family meals, using a food diary app made it all easier and my kitchen scales have had a workout measuring my portion size to stay within the 500 calories. Fast exercise has seen me utilise my husbands “wind trainer” ( it converts a normal bike to a stationary bike) HIT 3 times a week and a 15 minutes “spin” on the other days (it started out at 5 minutes) and I’m walking more and feel great. I can’t thank Michael enough. I now have the “tools” to help me negotiate menopause and weight gain. Thank you thank you thank you.
Hello
My first post in maintenance. I have been doing 5:2 for a few years now and boy did it take a while to get off my surplus of 3stone 5pounds. Last November I wrecked my ankle, got a virus which laid me out over Christmas, lost my appetite well and truly, and here I am! I have since had another virus and still not regained my appetite!! I wouldn’t recommend it as a way to maintenance but I am holding steady now. Thanks to MM and everyone on here.
I have no idea what I weigh as the scales ran out of battery a few weeks ago. All I can say is size 14 (UK) jeans are really baggy and I can take them down and up without undoing them. I am so relieved I can’t tell you how good it feels to be able to cut my own toenails again, and reach the bottom shelves in the supermarket, and get up stairs with ease….what JOY!
Don’t know whether to get a new battery for the scales or not. Anyone else just go by size of clothes?
Anyway, thanks for listening. You are all doing so well. Thank you!!
Bev
Congratulations Kryztal and Beverley and welcome!
My anniversary is 25 April and if it’s 5 years for you PVE must be 4 for me! I’m shocking with dates but other reminders work.
So I’m on a bit of a negative cycle for some reason 😡
I’ve had DIL and grandchildren here since Easter and think the rot must have started to set in since then. I’m still below second trigger point but have been above first trigger point regularly for the past two weeks now.
I’m not worried but find it frustrating and intriguing as to what actually changes.
Over Easter and post Easter I understood and thought I deserve d the extra weight but this week I’ve been very vigilant but still creeping up not down. Oh well, see what next week brings!
kryztal and Beverley you will see the we share the ups and downs we go through. It all helps with everyone’s learning and maintenance. 😊
Greetings to Kryztal & Beverley. Welcome to the club.
Carolan, I know what you mean when the weight comes on and then won’t go off! I’ve been over my Target off and on [mostly over] since early January and now FINALLY am back where I want to be for several days running. It is frustrating, but we know that it can be remedied — given time and effort.
Bev, I too am a daily weigher. Saw several articles yesterday about the importance of ‘loving the scales’ and weighing daily. As PVE says, constant vigilance.
Another daily weigher here, too. Traditional diet advice usually says to weigh weekly as the scales vary so much. Of course they do, but that can be down to transition. As long as the general movement of the numbers is down, that’s fine. I seem to have gained 2 &1/2lbs overnight. Ate one meal on Tuesday, out for a meal last night before seeing Macbeth live from the RSC. Two glasses of wine and an ice cream accounts for it. 500 cals today will see me back to my 126.
Wow! Isn’t this a coincidence with our anniversaries! Anyone else having an April birthday? Mine on on the 16th and was one of the reasons I faced up to my rotundity, as well as the painful knee and bring force-fed in Ireland. 😀
Pol.
Probably not coincidence really Poll…the doco showed on tv, it took off like wildfire and the rest is history! 😉
I can never understand weekly weighing. Totally nonsensical…transit time, scale variations, temperature of the day..etc, etc…are going to give different results. A bit silly waiting a whole week to see if you are on the right track 😐
35 deg here today…and it’s autumn??? I’ve had several swims and about to cook bbq salmon outside. P
I’ve never seen that documentary, PVE. Daughter did and bought the book, did 5:2 and bought a copy for us, well for her dad, really.
I’ve just bought one for son as that stupid diet he and daughter-in-law are on is just not sustainable. As he thinks his science degrees are worth more than the arts degrees of me and his sister, he should appreciate it.
Four years since I reached goal, although another 5 weeks til I reached current weight and stabilised.
Polly, yes, I’m an April baby too, my birthday is this weekend. But that had nothing to do with the onset of IF. That was solely driven by my gluttony over the preceding Christmas and NY, where I gorged on Christmas cake and mince pies and vacuumed chocolates by mouth. I suspect it was my brain pushing me into the realms of ‘you’re disgusting’ as a wake up call/ call to action. It worked!
Bev,
I didn’t weigh myself before I started 5:2, and thought I’d stop again once I’d reached goal. But actually I’m still a daily weigher too. Clothes fit leaves too much room to find I’ve gained 6lbs before my waistband tells me I’ve gained weight. And I don’t calorie count, so daily weighing is how I monitor intake.
You might be interested to read the following:
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/jan/11/how-often-should-i-weigh-myself
Cause for celebration. I’m now wearing my very first size 12 – skinny, indigo, denim jeggings. The 14s are still a favourite, but a younger rellie kindly pointed out that I clearly needed a smaller size. They will be in the charity shop once they have been washed.
OK, it’s a Marks & Spencer size 12, in other words on the generous side. And I will never be other than apple-shaped. My now (nearly) neat little bum is not a whole lot larger than my middle, so they have to be pull-on. A second pair in black is on order
But when I look back on the sizes 16, 18, and for a while 20 – the result of being stuffed with steroids by the quack for 2 1/2 years – “just in case” 🙁 the ability to flaunt said nice, tight, much-reduced bum with legs to match is nothing short of a major triumph.
Ps welcome to all the newbies who’ve slipped in while I’ve been quietly lurking: really good to have new voices, new expertise, new achievements, among the old friends- and inspiring for us old hands to be reminded of the thrill and gratitude of finding a woe which works. Thank you all!
. For what it’s worth, I’m definitely of the daily weighing persuasion (though I confess to sometimes postponing from the day before a FD to the day after!). Most of the time, if I suspect I shan’t like what I see, I reckon it’s better to know what has to be dealt with sooner, rather than later – ignoring it doesn’t make it go away, just allows it to grow. But all those who’ve already responded are right – it naturally goes up and down for a variety of reasons, so within a range of a few pounds / couple of kilos, it’s not a cause for depression – just a spur to action. And it’s so good to know that we’re in control of the action, and that it works!
My birthday isnt till September, but my 5year anniversary of starting 5:2 was in March, and in June it will be 4 years since I reached target weight (and in August, 2years at my current, lower, weight). As you say, P, not a fad diet…we are all living proof.
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