Hi there and well done on your first week,
can you go swimming? its a very good way to tone up.

As someone who has had to adjust with impairment secondary to cancer…I appreciate your posting these sites and have bookmarked the first!

Thank you, both, Carla and Radroa – my pleasure, to help.

Hi, maccolla1641 – Thanks for the details about the Otto Bock C-Leg. As prosthetics go, that looks like a pretty neat improvement on mechanical systems. Not ever having to deal with any amputation so far, myself, watching the various online videos which feature users learning how to move around was a great education. No doubt, technology will be moving apace now, improving designs all the time, but, I guess, still one’s pockets would have to be quite deep to afford the best?
With regard to your exercise options, my mind idly turned towards a fixed-wheel (fixed-gear) bike. Would that be feasible for you, with or without your C-Leg? Personally, I love pootling around my local area on my 20″ small-wheel bike, especially having one or two of my friends’ dogs trotting beside me through the park. I live in an urban area and need eyes in the back of my head to watch out for thoughtless drivers – the dogs and I (carefully) use the pavements/sidewalks as much as possible – but my bike is my most treasured possession, giving me freedom, cheap transport and good, open-air, easy exercise. I hope you are doing well. All best wishes.

Hi, macchola1641 – My first thought was ‘Just keep on, keeping on.” You are already losing inches and it’s too soon to think something’s gone wrong. And, yes, daily fluctuations by two pounds/1kg or more are perfectly normal. (That’s why some people advocate weighing oneself only once a week at most, on a set day, at a set time, in order to get comparable figures and not to experience so many emotional highs and lows at the variable results gained from more frequent weigh-ins.)
Perhaps read around the site for comments from some longer-term, successful 5:2 Users, to see just how much time it can take for the body to fully adjust and respond to this new eating plan – Maybe see Tracy J: http://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/amount-of-calories-or-amount-of-time-fasted/#post-5308 or Jackie J : http://thefastdiet.co.uk/wol/ . For some motivation to keep going during periods where the weight hits a plateau, see ‘fast for life’ at http://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/10-months-in/#post-4015 and http://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/10-months-in/#post-4998 .
My second thought was ‘Hmm, maybe toning down the ”epicurean bacchanal” somewhat might be a good idea?’ I’m sure you know already that large doses of wine and beer most especially are not good news on a weight-loss regime. Still, hopefully, as the weeks role on, your relationship to food and drink will shift and you’ll spontaneously make more suitable choices to get you where you want to be.
My final thought was ‘Waist 41.5 inches, eh?’ Unless you’re close to seven foot tall, then your goal of 13st 1lb (183lb/ 83 kg) for a ‘healthy’ BMI (Body Mass Index) may not give you the full picture. See below for more information – just one article of many about a better way to gauge one’s size/weight:

Article: Waist-to-height ratio may be useful measurement – By Harry Jackson Jr., St. Louis Post-Dispatch (POSTED: 07/14/2013 12:01:00 AM CDT):

Extracts: “The ratio says waistlines should be no more than half of height.” said Dr. Mario Morales, medical director of the SSM Weight-Loss Institute at DePaul Health Center in Bridgeton, Mo…..The new measure is “much more sensitive to (health risks) than BMI,” because waist-to-height ratio takes into account “where the patients hold their weight — apple shape, pear shape…. Fat that’s behind the abdominal wall is not just cells; it’s called metabolic reactive fat. It creates (chemicals) that cause inflammation….” So organs are exposed to “… adverse hormones and inflammation chemicals that cause diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease – those types of things. And the BMI doesn’t address that….” Morales said.

See full article at: http://www.twincities.com/health/ci_23643133/waist-height-ratio-may-be-useful-measurement

Similar article: ‘Forget BMI, just measure your waist and height’ say scientists – http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9260091/Forget-BMI-just-measure-your-waist-and-height-say-scientists.html

Well done for the success you’ve had so far and the positive changes you’ve been making – I hope you already feel better for them. All best wishes to you for on-going good health and well-being.

Hi, macchola1641 – I’m glad your height/waist ratio is so good – no problem there then. Yes, the more I read around the subject, the complexities of what works and what doesn’t when using the 5:2 approach – especially the question about ‘To exercise or not?’ – seems an ever-increasing mystery. Each individual’s story is just so different from that of every other person.
I’ve written here before about how I think the ‘tomorrow you can eat as you please’ message in the book needs more qualification [**]. Whilst no type of food has to be ‘off the menu’, just the laws of physics say that – for weight-loss – the quantities may have to be adjusted. If that idea is ‘a bridge too far’ for you, then only time will tell how things will develop. I wish you pleasurable eating as well as every success in reaching your goals.

[** http://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/the-fast-diet-have-your-cake-and-eat-it-this-easter/#post-1580 ]