So pleased to hear you enjoyed your visitors, Elainefriend, and they didn’t go “off”.
Happy’s dad is a legend, isn’t he? I hope he pops in to this thread too.
Cheers PVE
This topic contains 11,642 replies, has 174 voices, and was last updated by Pollypenny 3 weeks, 3 days ago.
Hello everyone, I am going to be on here all afternoon I have a lot of catching up to do.
I am doing B2B yesterday and today hoping to stay the weight or even a HALF pound off. LOL.
But on my other thread a lovely LOACA posted this link so, while I am busy reading all you lovely posts click on to this link, not sure how many this applies to but I am sure you will enjoy.
JIP
Hi All, and welcome back Elaine. I’d say only 1lb gained over the 9 days and with no fasting was an amazing result. Well done you! Were you consciously mindful of your eating?
I’ve decided to have a go at a 24hr fast, on a 2 til 2 basis. Not sure if I’ll last til 2 tomorrow, but I’ll be OK with anything after 10! Because my normal breakfast (fruit and natural yoghurt) is pretty low cal anyway, I reckon I should be able to compensate that later in the day so hopefully not lose any more weight!
Dad did have a look at the forums but to be honest I think he was interested to find out about other people’s experience of fasting and not necessarily their lives!
HappyNow, I just read your reply to the interesting article posted by Dr Mosley that a group of 1,700 calories a day dieters who spread their food over six meals a day lost less weight, and experienced more hunger, than those eating two meals a day.
I remember that both you and I observed that we ‘naturally’ missed out breakfast in our youth and stayed slim, but both gained weight when we succumbed to pressure to eat ‘the most important meal of the day” – breakfast. Hmmm, preferably supplied by one of the huge multinational processed food companies no doubt!
We all need to be able to think out of the box (of cereals) when assessing what’s accurate and what’s not. What scientific evidence/studies are there to support the hypothesis that ‘breakfast is the most import meal of the day’. It’s almost a religion now, I’ve had my head bitten off many a time for questioning the science behind this! Traditionally, the Greek people never ate breakfast, but have been persuaded to do so now (via advertising) guess what? The nation now has a weight problem/diabetes problem! Are we surprised, no we are not!
Hi Elaine.
I’m so annoyed that I finally succumbed to the pressure and started eating when I wasn’t hungry! But the experts were suggesting that skipping breakfast would actively lead to ill health, and who was I to argue?
The food industry will have been rubbing their hands in glee (if they could break off long enough from counting the money) at another sucker brainwashed into mindlessly eating their way to… oh, look, it’s the pharmaceutical companies waiting for me! Ably aided and abetted by the medical profession who mostly can’t treat you unless it involves synthetic chemicals.
Hmphh. Struggling to maintain my sunny disposition in the face of the insidious and invidious nature of big business…..
Hi Auriga (off in France), Bayleaf, Fran, Dave, (not so?)Happy, JIP, Elaine and diroseberry
We seem to have lost our momentum on this thread since our great leader buzzed off on holidays.
I hope that means we are all maintaining well. I know we all dabble on other threads, too, but keep this one up the top too 🙂 Such a lovely bunch of mates.
I find maintenance still requires constant vigilance, but, hey, that is probably why we all had to reshape ourselves in the first place. Lost our sight on the end goal….a long, healthy life.
Have fun and cheer up, Happy, turn your frown upside down ;), PVE
Hi Elaine and Happy,
I love my breakfast but nowadays it has to be protein, such as egg or fish. With a little protein on board I can go all day. And I can play golf for 18 holes. Without it, I get the rumbles by lunchtime, and I’m tired when trying to get physical exercise.
I used to eat muesli and yogurt in my 20s to 40s but now think that carbs like that are part of my problem. Also in my middle years, I jogged every day! Horses for courses. Maybe carbo loading was good for that.
All it goes to prove is that we’re all different. Is there proof on the question of time of day eating? By which I mean is there research that shows if you eat the biggest meal for lunch, as many cultures do, rather than an evening meal, that you have better weight control? My instinct Is that lunchtime main meal eating is good for me. What about others?
Happy maintaining. Fasting today on two soft boiled eggs and coffee. 🙂
I agree PVE we need to keep this thread going as the biggest hurdle is in front of us, that of maintaining our weight loss whilst continuing to reap the health benefits associated with fasting without continuing to lose weight. There are lots of interesting links but none such as this one dedicated especially to maintenance.
Hi PVE
Just lost my post. Took too long so will be brief.
Are you continuing to lose weight on 5:2? I am drifting down very slowly. Love it, as it gives me a margin of safety for a week of non fasting like school holidays. Or a week of indulgence as in travel to Europe later this year. 🙂
My waist has shrunk another 2 cm to a total of 17 cm off. Dowagers hump talk made me look in mirror. Wow, almost gone!
Hi Elaine and Happy,
Breakfast is essential for me when fasting. I like an egg or a bit of fish or chicken, and then I can go all day without stomach rumbles. Also I can play 18 holes of golf or go on long walks without getting too tired, if I have protein. We’re all different. 🙂
For breakfast in my middle years, I used to have muesli and yogurt. Since I also jogged each day, maybe carbo loading was good for that. That is all in the past. 🙂
Hi Bayleafoz, Having said all that about breakfast, I’m very partial to a Full English Breakfast in a nice little BandB somewhere cozy and occasionally I do fancy a soft poached egg on toast or eggs and bacon with the old man on a sunday morning but, on the whole, I rarely get hungry until lunchtime, so I use that to my advantage, save some calories and also get to do 18/6 effortlessly. We are all different and that’s where this link is so useful, it allows us to share our experiences and reassure one another that all our different approaches to fasting and maintaining are individual but just as valid if it works:-)
Hi Bayleaf
Yes. Ditto. Continuing to creep down and love the “window of error” I now have. It means I can have that extra glass or creamy sauce and not worry. I do feel proud of myself after (note AFTER) every fast day. It is good for my self control.
At my holiday place there are full length mirrors. I am more than happy to catch sight of the naked bod in all its glory now. I even go in and out again at the waistline:)
Happy days PVE
Sorry Bayleaf. I just read this on the big computer and realised I called you Elaine. Sorry.I DO know the difference. You were suffering from fog in southern NSW/ACT while Elaine is basking in the Greek sunshine.
Blame it on the tiny screen on the phone or the distraction of the breaching whales 🙁 There is one at the moment going around and around a boat and showing off like made. So sociable. Pity I have to leave soon.
And Elaine, if you’ve got it, flaunt it, I say.
Cheers
PVE
Morning All.
I’ve had a busy couple of days so not had a chance to pop in. It has been quiet recently so was really pleased to.see a bit more activity. I agree it’s probably a reflection of successful maintenance and nothing to report!
I’d aimed to do a 2 til 2 true fast earlier this week but must admit to a natural yoghurt at 21hrs, not because I couldn’t last, more because I wasn’t really sure why I was doing it! Is there evidence that 24 provides significant health benefits over 16, 18, 20? And it wasn’t for weightloss… that’s still hovering in the 59-60 range.
Went out walking in the mountains yesterday, and found up and down much easier than it has been for the last couple of years. Steep climbs and big steps much easier, and downhill less jarring, without that unnecessary 13kg. And interestingly my balance is much improved, I guess that flab had a momentum of it’s own and kept moving even when my muscles were trying to change direction! And not forgetting how much easier it is to be out in t-shirt and shorts without flabby thighs rubbing together, Michelin man/muffin top middle, and pudgy upper arms!
Talking of breakfast, I’m hungry this morning. May be due to the extra activity yesterday or maybe to the carbs consumed. Whatever! I’ll be eating early today, and not stressing.
So far so good, and no sign yet of slipping back into bad habits. Long may it last!
Happy maintaining!
Elaine (and all),
I agree this thread is important for us to keep sharing experiences.
I think it’s good also because it gives us a forum to celebrate our success in a totally guilt free way and safe in the knowledge that the rest of the group don’t have any reason to make snide comments or to try and undermine our successes. In the real world not everyone is as genuinely supportive.
And, and I think equally importantly, we have a duty (to society and humanity! No pressure girls!) to keep telling the world that 5:2 works for weight loss and health benefits, and it is possible to then maintain a healthy weight (and keep reaping the health rewards), provided you embrace IF as a lifestyle change and not just a short-term means to an end.
Fasting today and broke it after 18 hours with a chopped green, red, orange pepper salad plus grated carrot and chopped onion dressed with a teaspoon of olive oil and lemon juice plus two chopped crab sticks. Spouse is barbecuing steak this eve so will have a piece with the rest of the salad – not really counting nor weighing but that’s as near to dam it 500 calories for the day. Weigh-in in the morning, hoping to have lost the 1lb I put on with last week’s visitors. I’ve got my birthday next Friday and actually have met the goals I originally set for that – of less than 60 kgs and less than 130 lbs. ive since moved the goal- post and it would be nice to reached under 9st but 9st 1lb or 2lb is still an achievement – so all going well and it’s fabulous to feel slim and healthy for the summer here in Greece :-))
Hi gang
Happy, you are right. Moving is SO much easier without the extra load. I love striding uphill the best. With the lovely weather and views, I walked far too much in the sun while away and now have a thumping headache. I can’t imagine why I didn’t take a hat with me!
Well done, Elaine. Even with all the visitors you have stayed slim. 🙂 I only did a half fast yesterday as we ate out (small and tasty) when I got back to Sydney. But …. I hit a new PB this morning so…I can get away with it. Love being at maintenance.
Great to hear from you Auriga. Love to be there too 😉 Even if you have put on a little, you know what to do. That’s the beauty of this empowering WOL, isn’t it?
Cheers PVE
Hi Auriga, enjoy the lovely holiday food 🙂 I’ll make you a bet that any weight or waist put on will be gone after your first or second fast day when home. I find I can indulge and it usually goes with a single fast day. Such a relief. I indulged yesterday which should gave been a FD. Guess what, weighed the same this morning. I agree with continuing to share what works. Happy days, all.
Hello everyone, especially Michael! I started the 5:2 diet the end of January this year weighing 25 stone, so far I have lost 4 stone and I feel amazing. I have gone from a 50 inch waist to a 44 and my work shirts are 2xl instead of 4xl. I weigh every 4 weeks and last 4 weeks lost 20lb. On fast days I eat breakfast of 40 g of porridge oats 2tsp low cal sweetener and 1tsp cinnamon and an evening meal of a basic salad, tin of tuna in spring water with 3tbsp Morrison’s low cal dressing. On non-fast days eating 3 times a day I can easily manage under 2000 calories.
I love the site and all the great information and people here.
Mark.
Auriga,
France sounds great, and you’d be mad not to partake while there! Hopefully you’ll be pleasantly surprised when you get back, and find you’ve actually gained very little or nothing at all. And as PVE says, even if you have put on, you’ll be able to shed it again.
PVE.
I’ve also got a PB this week. I did a long fast early in the week (but with less than a 1000 cal deficit over 2 days), went out hill walking on Weds (ate bread products all day), was starving hungry all yesterday (so ate well, finishing up with pasta for tea which I was still picking out of the pan at 11pm….), and have broken my no alcohol in the week rule. And this morning I’m another lb lighter. We’ve got a weekend of socializing coming up. Nice thought that I’m really not going to have to watch what I eat!
And I’ve had my first ‘compliment’ from hubby….. He said ‘I’m going to have to start running again, because I’m not having you being thin and me not.’ I think it was a compliment anyway?! Thank God I’m old enough to know that confidence comes from within, and you can’t rely on others for your happiness….!
Well done Happy!!!!
I’m sure it WAS a compliment. My husband and I often say we are pleased we have matching bodies.After he lost more quickly originally (he needed to), for nearly a year we have been consistently coursing downward 10 kg apart. It is amazing, considering we are totally different in our approach to food and exercise!
Good on yours for wanting to trim up for his lovely “new” wife.
🙂 PVE
Hi Mark (Hambo31).
Congratulations on your amazing results so far. You must be thrilled and should be rightly feeling really proud of yourself.
If there is a downside for us all, I guess it’s the expense of all those new smaller clothes! But perhaps offset a bit by the food savings. Has anyone calculated how much they’ve reduced their food bills (and food miles)?
Happy Holidays Auriga – eat the bread, drink the wine, who wouldn’t in France! You’ll find any weight you gain, you’ll quickly lose it, after all ‘manintanence’ is just that, it’s not ‘dieting’. I guess once in maintanence we can view two weeks holiday as non-fast days. The brilliant thing is, that although you may put on a few pounds, at least you’ll only have to lose a little pat of butter once home and not the whole butter mountain that you’ve already successfully shifted:-))
My wife and I daydream about moving to France when we retire. We stayed a couple of weeks in a gite just outside of Arle a couple of years ago, and drove about 1500 miles around Provence and Languadoc. It’s so beautiful and the food is so good everywhere. We live in Kennewick, Washington State, an area with about 1/4 million people 200 miles from Seattle. Good restaurants are rare and bad chain restaurants and fast food, ubiquitous.
And I love the French. Most of them are normally friendly, or at least they were, maybe working at it especially hard because of their fear of a bad tourist economy. But there are those still who look down their nose, like Charles de Gaulle, as if to say, “are you trying to speak French you stupid American, you think you are great, but you are an ignorant, insignificant blot on the world”, or “you don’t even try to speak French, you stupid American…”. I just love it, I think because I’m sure that’s the way I would be if I were French.
Morning All.
Just stopping by to report… nothing really! Had a very.sociable weekend. Meal in on Fri, barbecue on Sat, meal out on Sun. Would previously have been a licence to overeat, but not any longer. I ate well, but sensible portion sizes, and no urge for seconds. Yup, I ate like a thin person.
My new weight was discussed. Some people are genuinely pleased; some (mostly those struggling with weight issues of their own) less so, and smugly predicting that I will put the weight back on. Thanks! No, I say, I’m pretty sure that won’t happen. Although I might choose to gain a few pounds just to see if I can pad out the toastrack!
So this morning after a weekend of relative excess I’m 60kg. Hmmm, unremarkable!
Anyway, hope you all had good weekends and are similarly successfully maintaining?
Ditto Happy
Lots of socialising, didn’t pig out (I like your line “ate like a thin person”) and just 60 this morning.
I would have to put on 10kg to “pad out the toast racks” so, no I’ll stick here.
I also get praise as well as negative talk. SO funny.
I don’t care. I love the new me 🙂 PVE
ps at the end of my fast today…good luck with yours!
Hi PVE.
It’s been a 16:8 today, and not a 5:2. Hubby away later in the week so will do a low cal andlor longer fast then. Am sticking to a max of one per week at the mo so I don’t lose any more weight.
Yes, I must admit I don’t take offence but find it funny that some people would rather I failed and was fat, unhealthy and unhappy! But I’m not, ha ha, I’m slim, healthy and happy! How even more annoying for them that I can’t stop grinning at them as they are ill wishing me…!
Hello,
I wanted to share my story here as well as I understand that it is dealing with “maintenance mode”. I really think it works :). I have spent 8 months on it now after doing 5:2 between November 2012 and October 2013. My cholesterol went up to 5.4 again (arggh) from 4.5 when I switched mode but I am suspecting that there may be something else going on here… I am trying something for a few months and will see if it has any impact. Otherwise my BMI, IGF1, glucose and weight all look excellent with 6:1 and I managed to keep those nice values I achieved with 5:2. It just felt very natural for me to go to 6:1 and to be honest, 5:2 would not have been sustainable any longer for me – I had reached a very good weight and did not want to lose more and my body was actually screaming for food by the end of that first year on 5:2. 6:1 is a different business altogether – it is much easier to manage as I was used to 5:2. I am being told all the time that I look slim, and I feel slim so it seems to work :). I still feel very motivated to do this after soon two years so it seems this diet just works for me.
I normally have moderate amounts of protein and fat on a fasting day and low carb, but I do eat some fruit to get things like vitamin C in decent amounts. I also focus on getting lots of minerals like magnesium and iron. Pumpkin and sesame seeds are two of my best friends :). I think another advantage of 6:1 is that you can experiment a bit – if you get it wrong, so to say, that will have a lesser impact overall then if you do it twice per week.
Tobias:
Increased cholesterol is a byproduct of weight loss. The cholesterol in your fat cells is released with the fat. As you stop losing and maintain your weight, your cholesterol number should normalize.
However, we now know there is nothing wrong with a higher cholesterol count and, if you are over 65, the higher the better!
Congratulations on your success with 5:2.
Thanks simmo. It is always great to read your reasoned explanations.
Well done Tobias! I agree, 6:1 is easy after a long time on 5:2. However, my diabetic husband finds he has to maintain the two days to keep the blood sugar levels down. He is just less fussy now on other days. He believes he will have to do the 2 for the rest of his life. He’s used to it and the health rewards are incredible.
Keep posting. Great to hear your slant on maintaining.
Cheers to all the Mainenance Mates 🙂 PVE
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We pay tribute to our dear friend and colleague, Dr. Michael Mosley. Michael was an integral part of our lives, […]
Michael is touring Australia this September! Here's a link to dates and tickets. Hope to see you there.
Michael Mosley gives an update for 2019, current research in the field and announces a tour starting in February.
11:21 am
30 Jun 14