Oh, you 2, Westwings and penguin, discussing the best places to eat and drink, lol. I’m waking up after a FD to your discussion. Thanks for the description of Butty Bach penguin, as I thought it might be a play on Butter Beer from Harry P & co, which I’ve tasted, and is thoroughly full of calories! Being regularly ale-ish it doesn’t tempt me at all. Perhaps I should take note of the list as Mr M and I are hoping to plan a UK trip soon. Mr M has done the Anglesey walk and I think Abergavenny was on his trip also.

Birthday child wants Grannie to get up!
Back later, paintings to admire
Merry

It does seem ironic talking about restaurants etc on a “diet” website, but 5:2 and IF were about health first and weight loss was the secondary effect.

Thin, I hope the menu choices work out for you tonight. I regularly order meals that come with rice and send back a plate with nothing on it but the untouched mound of white rice.
I have an extremely negative opinion of rice. Unlike many grains it’s virtually devoid of fibre (0.7%) and it has a higher percentage of starchy carbs than any other grain – with the exception of sago/tapioca which has slightly more. If I’m going to eat grains, it’s not difficult to find options that offer better fibre, protein and other nutrients than rice.
I also resent using calories on food that has virtually no flavour – why? Probably the only time it’s an advantage is if accompanied by a hair raising vindaloo! It’s the only time some bland padding is helpful.
I will also concede that it’s a useful grain for celiacs, who have few suitable grains available to them.

Diverdog, yes cricket can be boring, especially the 5 day test matches, although it’s somehow more interesting when we’re winning.
I had seen the details of Valter Longo’s FMD. I did consider doing this but knew it wasn’t for me. What is odd is that I lost most of my weight on a strict VLCD with almost complete meal replacements apart from a few veg. I did this in a series of 3 month blocks eating 600-800 calories each day. Even though I know I did this, these days I can’t even contemplate a week of that sort of restriction. I just seem to be mentally unable to deal with the idea of it now. I think it has something to do with the story I told myself at the time, that if I stuck with it I would never have to diet again. Luckily the way I approach 5:2 doesn’t feel like a diet, just natural variation in day to day food intake. Even when I talk to others about how I maintain my weight I don’t say “fasting”, I just say: “A couple of days a week I just eat dinner. That’s enough to compensate for the days when I eat a bit too much.”

I was meant to start baking the christmas shortbread today, but I know I’m not strong enough to face trays of cooked biscuits today so I’ve delayed it until tomorrow or Thursday (it’s going to take 2 days). I have to bake 250 pieces of shortbread by Sunday so I had planned to spread the task over several days. I might try to do the bulk of it on Thursday and Sunday as they’re FDs, so I know I have to leave the baked treats alone. I also have to convince myself that there might not be enough for the 10 boxes of shortbread I need to make up if I start scoffing it myself.

I’ve managed to avoid the afternoon munchies which feels like a bit of a miracle. I might tempt fate and make a pot of tea.

Thin – if it’s cold in Perth you can probably blame your brother, I’m sure he was praying rain at the Gabba yesterday. Is he still getting up in the middle of the night to watch?
I’m not surprised your hubby doesn’t like the game, I don’t know any Americans who like it or understand it. But then I’ve never bothered to watch a baseball or grid iron match either, so I have no idea of the merits of the favourite American sports.
My cricket watching is patchy. The only day everyone in my family sat down to watch cricket was the boxing day test – usually just day 1. And I’m sure that was because we needed an excuse to lie around while we tried to finish digesting the overindulgence from christmas day.

Day19. By the time I finish this post I will be 44 hours into my fast. In the last 24 hours I have not lost weight. I blame Westwings for making me think about food – thoughts must have a calorific value. In our defence, it should be said that most of the places we discussed believe in quality rather than quantity.

I have played about 6 games of cricket in my life. I played Rugby for 38 years. I played it badly in the sense that I didn’t really care that much who won as long as we had fun. There are some things in life about which I can get very competitive but ball games are not among them. My attitude to sport is that it is something you do, not something you watch others doing . Even so it is impossible for me not to know the test result because the TV news is full of people lamenting this national disaster. I am underwhelmed.

Hi everyone! I have a lot of catching up to do. I’ve been really busy with work this last week or so, stressful busy, not the good kind. Hope tomorrow everything is calmed down.

Today was a FD and it went well, just under 500 calories. I was up to 60.1 this morning. My FTD plan (fast til dinner) didn’t really work that well on Saturday as I was starving by 3 pm. I guess it was too soon after a FD. Or maybe it’s all the temptations with the holidays. I did manage, with OFM to get the trees finished and most of the other stuff as well. Just a few red bows to straighten out and put on the banisters and it will be done.

3 big eating days in a row, Saturday dinner out with OH and DS which is always nice. Sunday going over to our neice and OH home in Santa Rosa (the ones who lost their home to the recent fire). Sunday we’re having another niece and her OH here for dinner. I need to buy just enough dessert type things for the meal and not end up with leftovers. OH is thin and likes sweets but doesn’t eat them up fast enough. A single slice of cake after dinner and then doesn’t touch any more til at least noon the next day. I mean, who does that?? Who could leave half a cake on the counter all that time without having a ‘little tiny piece’ at least every time they walked past it. I don’t think he even realizes it has a little voice that calls out! 😁

I’ve never watched a Cricket game. Baseball is too slow for me. I love the sound of grid iron football in the background while I’m cooking or busy with other things. It’s a nice sound of fall. I’ve watched some soccer games and enjoy that. Basketball is fun to watch because it moves so fast.

Hope all of you are having a great day. And welcome Westwings!

Hi Merryme,
With regards to the word butty, yes in England it refers to a sandwich. However, in this part of the world we are a few miles from the border with Wales, indeed I work in South Wales, and in Welsh butty means friend. All my Welsh work colleagues say something along the lines of “All right butt?” as a way of saying hello. To everyone in the US and the southern hemisphere that must sound hilarious!

Hi LJoyce,
Don’t worry about the cricket. I’m more interested in the upcoming Six Nations rugby and next years soccer world cup. We went to watch Wales v South Africa in Cardiff on the 2nd. Far too much beer was consumed.

Hello Califdreamer,
Thanks for the welcome! We visited Monteray Bay last year to watch the whales and then drove up to San Francisco for a few nights. We had lots of fun and adventures and generally had an epic time. Foodie highlight was the clam chowder in a sourdough bread cob roll at Bourdins. Beautiful part of the world. We’re rather partial to the Californian Pinot Noirs.

Good morning Penguin,
Yes, we have been to The Walnut Tree but only once. Like you say, you have to book a long time in advance. The Lough Pool is on our radar but we have yet to go.
We can recommend the 1861 Restaurant at Cross Ash near Abergavenny.

To everyone else,
I had no idea that the 5:2 way of life had encompassed the globe. When I posted on here yesterday I did not expect to be communicating with people from the USA and elsewhere, within 24 hours. I’m totally blown away by all this.

I really don’t understand why the medical profession and governments are not advocating this lifestyle. The science behind fasting is evidence based and is proven to provide considerable health benefits.

To everyone fasting today, good luck and avoid the temptation of the Quality Streets (small chocolates) and the mince pies.

I’m just home from a great morning at the gym.

I did some shopping on the way home and bought 4 big packs of chocolate but they were all for the food bank. Such a shame that so many are struggling even in London. It also reminded me that I have no business over-eating when their are people living in my area who don’t have enough money to feed their families.

The food bank have requested some treats for this weeks boxes which is why I bought chocolate. Apparently rthey’ve got a good stock of staples and they want to be able to give everyone something that will make Christmas nicer for their recipients.

Westwings,

the food industry across the world is very powerful and they are very resistant to change. The amount of foods and drinks aimed at children that are basically sugar makes me very angry.
The other problem is that the unhealthiest food is invariably very cheap and often requires little or no preparation. It also often contains all manner of additives to make the food look better and keep longer.

I agree that governments everywhere should be sitting up and taking note but before that happens the medical profession will have to do so and that requires eating their words and changing the advice they’ve been giving out for far too long.

OK, I’m putting the soapbox away now 😉

I really enjoyed the gym this morning and am pleased I made the effort. I wasn’t going to as I’m fighting off a virus but it has made me feel much better 🙂

LJ,

I am really bad at wanting everything now and the hardest thing is convincing myself that slice of cake or piece of cheese will still be there tomorrow and I don’t need to eat it today. I’ve come a long way since I started this WOL but Im not there yet.

I’m happy to see that most of you are doing well. This certainly is a challenging time of year. I’ll be dining out for 5 of the next 6 days. I’m just going to try to eat and drink in moderation.

I’m entering uncharted territory with day 2 of my B2B water fast. So far no issues, I’m not hungry and I have plenty of energy. I’m taking a rest day from the gym.

I measured my BF% last night and it was the lowest I’ve seen as an adult. Skinny jeans fit well even after they just come out of the wash.

I think January will have a shift in strategy to attempt to build some muscle. Harder heavier weight workouts and more protein and calories on NFD’s when I lift

PS – sigh…I always think of something later….

Was there discussion of 5:2 and high blood pressure on this thread? Anyway…I have ME, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, commonly and badly named and known ask Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.( that’s cellular fatigue not the common garden variety of fatigue). I put on 30ish kgs after getting it. I got high blood pressure. After years, when I was well enough to think about it and buy food, prepare food, it took my 6yrs to take off 10kgs by changing my food. High BP remained. I got the remaining 21kgs off using 5:2.

When I started 5:2 my GP (General Practitioner) said I’d need to scale back my BP meds as the weight went down. Going down to half along the way was easily done, but no longer needing it happened only a few months later, and happened rather drammatically when I, forgettfully, set up a perfect storm of things – getting dehydrated – sitting down/standing up several times in quick succession, overtired, going to the loo. I passed out in the bathroom, ambulance, emergency room etc.

If you are on BP meds and normalising your weight, please check in with your Dr and be aware of not doing it the wrong way, like I did, dehydrating etc

Who else is doing a FD today?

Day 20. I am now 68 hours into this fast and another pound down. Since I hit target one the weight does not come off as easily, but it does come off.

I was taking 2 BP meds when I started 5:2 and decreased them as I lost weight, finally getting off of them. After being off, a couple months ago I was having lots of lightheadedness, to the point of having to lie down with my feet up to avoid passing out. Feeling that way lasted a couple weeks. I guess there were residual meds in my body for a while.

I have a home monitor which I haven’t checked in days, but when I was feeling dizzy I checked several times per day. Everything finally evened out on the dizziness and then went up a bit so I started taking 1 med again at a low dose which seems to be working. I’m pretty sure the recent increase is work related stress. I really need to check it more often.

Yay! Made it through my FD, phew. Very hot today -36C and with humidity had a “feels like” score of 40C. Will be the same tomorrow if not higher. Tried to have a quiet day before the OFMs) other family members) which mostly worked. Nearly caved at 3-4 ish but remebered Thin’s FD resolve, had a drink if ice water and went far away from the kitchen.

We discussed Christmas food, which in our family lasts for 2 days only – Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Concensus is for a lighter meal smaller in quantity than previously – cold presliced ham and lesser amount of turkey, prawns, 2 salads with the salads big enough to last 3 days, mangoes and strawberries; the budding 6 yr old chef is on the lookout for new interesting salad recipes.

Interesting reading everyone’s experiences with BP meds. A little tip for FDs: if you start to feel a little light headed, take a little amount of salt. Fasting means we aren’t getting salt out of food that our body needs. Also have extra wster because we aren’t getting the fluid that would normally be in our food.

The nuts are attempting to go rogue andattack me again so I’m going to clean my teeth and go to bed in about 5 mins

Thin – glad it gave you a chuckle. I find as the night wears on I seem to get a bit braver about what I’m prepared to say – too tired to worry about any repercussions.

Well done diver, Thin, lol ljoyce, and how’s the experiment going Ww? BusyM how are you going? Hi to everyone else.

What happens around 3-4pm on a FD? Mmm… I think it’s tiredness, a hunger trigger for me, and I probably should be having a rest or asleep. I think maybe, that this year has been so unrelenting on a daily basis, I have almost forgotten I should be resting/sleeping for a bit in the afternoon. 3 pm is a time I could usually fast to OK except on the very worst of days. Yesterday was not a stressed day but I keep forgetting to rest enough, and I can feel my body is not happy about it. With OFMs arriving today the littlies are all excited and no doubt they’ll be with them most of the time today and OH and I can both rest more. OH is still in recovery from an operation a while back, and also needs to be resting more. We are in the heat and humidity also which we find more energy sapping as we (dare I say it) get a bit older.

Happy FD for the Thursday fasters today

Good morning silly season challengers, it’s a much needed FD for me today.

Merry, mid to late afternoon is usually when my appetite kicks in strongly too. It’s also a time when my energy seems to dip – making me more vulnerable to eating anything without proper consideration. Distractions that involve activity aren’t attractive as I feel too tired to contemplate going for a walk. However, I always have a plan for food at that time of day (NFDs and FDs), just in case I need it.
On my FDs my usual choices are:
– half a punnet of strawberries
– one piece of any other seasonal fruit
– a mug of hot cocoa made with almond milk or skim milk & a little stevia
– some raw veg with hummus, or ricotta cheese, or a little nut butter
– a mug of hot soup
– a smoothie made with berries, kefir, almond milk and lots of ice
Strawberries or the veg & dip are my favourite options when I’m battling both appetite and those voices encouraging me to eat. I think it’s because I can snack on them slowly over a period of time, they aren’t gone quickly and that seems to help.
Although I don’t normally like eating dinner really early, on a FD I will eat as early as 5pm if it’s a day when I’m struggling. Because it’s my only substantial meal, dinner deals properly with that incessant hunger. Although I have the advantage of being retired and usually at home at 5pm, and I know this isn’t an option for everyone.

merryme, one thing you could try is to eat more healthy fat and less carbs. Since I’ve adjusted that way I never get an afternoon letdown even when I’m water fasting. Fat tempers blood sugar spikes and digests very slowly.

TAL, yes break-fast was a four egg omelet with onions sauteed in Irish butter, half an avocado and a fruit & veggie drink. It was all very yummy

Hi Everyone!

I’m fasting today (difficult to tell by time stamp if you, Then and merry are also fasting?). Usually I fast on a Friday though there is a customer Christmas party on that day this week. I was able to pull off a fast at the staff holiday party, though can’t get out of the customer version, since I’m working that day and expected to eat the sit down meal at hired venue, along with all the customers! I’m actually looking forward to the experience.

Good on you for that 12 km walk Thin! …And even better to be 600 grams lighter after finishing!

Wow! Penguin, 68 hours into a fast!?! …I think I recollect mention of B2B fasts being practiced on a previous page, though 68 hours sounds even longer than what I understand a B2B to be!

Great reading of all the BP improvements from practicing this WOL! …Even with the mishaps that happened along the way!

I’m enjoying feeling svelte as I head into the holiday season!

Thin, plenty for the “players and stayers” to smile about indeed. A big ‘ol smirky grin when I put on those skinny jeans and they fit perfectly! 😁

Minka, hi! Good to see you! We were posting at the same time.

Day 21. In the northern hemisphere the shortest day and longest night, a combination still celebrated in our far north with bonfires, over-eating and drinking. This far south, 31 December has become the mid-winter celebration. The first of our Christmas visitors are with us – two grandchildren and a dog. Whilst I was collecting them OH went into Grandma mode and produced a chocolate cake, which followed the cheesy cauliflower pasta that I made. Nearly 14 hours later I can still feel that fast breaker and it hasn’t done my weight any good. The dog is good for me -everyone else is just beginning to stir but he and I have already had our morning walk round the fields.

Yesterday I read a post Cinque had placed on the Related Science thread – unusual common sense about mixing intermittent fasting with Christmas. It will have to be applied.

Hi everyone,

My FD didn’t go well yesterday for various reasons and it turned into a NFD but I didn’t over eat. I’m fighting off a cold virus and was hungry from the moment I opened my eyes and by lunchtime I knew it wasn’t going to work out.

I’m going out this evening and aim not to eat before then. I also plan to fast either tomorrow or Saturday. I’m a couple of pounds less than when I started and there is still time to lose more if I can stay in control of NFDs apart from CD when all bets are off!

Penguin, we did get Ronnie Barker’s Porridge series here, although it might have been before Thin emigrated to Oz. I seem to remember it was on in the 70s – similar vintage to the Two Ronnies, which was very popular here.

Hopefully Fletcher is small enough to actually be a lapdog. My brother in law had a german shepherd that was also convinced he was a lapdog – a painful experience for the rest of us.