To a healthy BMI and beyond!

This topic contains 15 replies, has 5 voices, and was last updated by N4M11S 10 years, 3 months ago.

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N4M11S

3:57 pm
8 Aug 14
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Hello all,

this is my first week of trying the 5:2 and I have to say, I’m feeling pretty good!

I have tried so many other ways of loosing weight, other diets, not dieting, pounding the treadmill and every other machine in the gym and nothing really seems to be working. I have lost about 1 stone since being at my heaviest but now I fluctuate between 11.9 and 11.4 and have done for quite some time.

After watching the documentary with Michael Mosley, I was so impressed with the science behind it, I thought I should give it a go. For weight loss reasons but also for health reasons as there is a history of Cancer, and other degenerative diseases in my family. I also just want to stop feeling bad about myself so here I am.

The first day of fasting was hard, but the second, not hard at all. I opted for not eating until the evening on my second fast day which seemed to work a treat. I was sharp, energised and felt very few hunger pangs so i’ll stick with that going forward.

The only disappointing thing is that I didn’t have scales so I don’t know if I have lost any weight in the first week and I jumped on my newly purchased set of scales today only to discover that I am 11st 8Lbs! shocker and a major disappointment as I thought I was about 5 pounds lighter! I also have had some tummy trouble after fasting days, but this is manageable for now.

Hopefully I will see some results. I’m desperate to feel better about myself and in myself and 5:2 appears to be the holy grail!

Wish me luck and if you have any advice/ tips please feel free to share your thoughts. 🙂

Iwillbe12st

4:17 pm
8 Aug 14
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Welcome N4M .. My personal feeling is people get hung up on the weight.. and really it’s size and shape that are the key indicators…

I don’t have scales and a year on I am now on maintenance regime.. (see my profile for comments I’ve made on both scales and IF and more receontly my fast / HIT exercise routine..)

I also found that it was easier to simply eat in the evening on a fast day. I still do this for 3 – 5 days a week, depending a bit on what I have on etc..

I wish you will on your journey to a healhty BMI / shape etc

N4M11S

4:29 pm
8 Aug 14
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Hi Iwillbe12st,

Thanks for your message, yea I hear you re the size vs body shape size. Just gotta keep going I guess! Just disappointing I guess as I don’t really know what I started at this week but I’ll know next week 🙂

If nothing happens for a few weeks I might try 3:4 to see how that feels but one day at a time at the moment.

Good luck with your journey and I’ll have a peek at your profile for some inspiration.

luckylucy

7:34 pm
8 Aug 14
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Hi N4M11S welcome! I would recommend taking measurements of your hips/waist/chest etc. too as definitely agree that shape/size can change without a budge on the scales. Also don’t get too hung up about your weight on the scales, it is just a number and you are doing something about it so that’s a positive right? I had a bit of a shock when I first clambered on the scales too as I thought I was about 7lbs lighter. Congratulations on getting through your first week!

N4M11S

10:41 am
9 Aug 14
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Hi luckylucky, thanks for the advice! I measured myself this morning so I’ll enter my stats in and see how I progress over the coming months. I really hope there will be some progress but its hard to believe it could really be this easy at first! My TDEE is just over 1900 per day so I still have to be quite careful when I’m not fasting.

One thing I have noticed after one week of fasting is that I am much more ware of what I want to eat, when want to eat and when I am overdoing it. Its really helpful! Have you had any similar feelings?

🙂

N4M11S

10:41 am
11 Aug 14
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So today is the 3rd fast day. I’m struggling a little but I’ve seen a drop on the scales. I have gone from 166 pounds to 160 pounds since Friday. I can’t quite believe it nor do I trust is as I’m sure I may put that 6 pounds back on. I know it can be up and down so trying to remain focused and keep the end goal in mind.

One thing I have noticed and am rather enjoying is the fact that on my fast days I feel more alert and switched on. I’m more productive at work and feel almost buzzy!

I managed to get up and do 20 min of yoga this morning which was good and I’m going to try to go to the gym this afternoon.

I am a little concerned thought as I have not yet braved the gym on a fast day for fear of passing out or not being able to do a good workout. I guess you don’t know until you try so I’ll go and go gently this evening and see what comes.

ShariB01

6:21 am
14 Aug 14
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Hi,

I know what you mean about those scales. I wasn’t sure whether or not to trust them either and I would go up and down but I have noticed after a while that I was going up a little less and down a little more and so on. I weigh myself in kgs so I say that I generally fluctuate between 92 and 94 kgs. I started at 97kg. Generally speaking I am 93kg. My measurements show more consistency and keep going down.

I have had in total, 9 fast days and they have been easier and easier. I have been adjusting my fast days to ensure that I don’t have to eat in the evening (which is when I feel the hunger pangs more). The changes are helping.

I also know what you mean about awareness. There is more consideration time that goes into what to eat or do I need to eat that.

It is so nice to have a place to go to share all these things. I do feel like I am with like minded people hear.

Thank you for sharing and I look forward to hearing more from you.

N4M11S

9:25 am
14 Aug 14
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Hi ShariB, hope you had a good day yesterday and thanks for your lovely message!

Miraculously I have managed to loose 1 more pound and lost an additional inch and a half off of my waist and 1 inch off of everything else. My boyfriend even commented that my face looks slimmer and my skin looks more glowy! High praise indeed as he is not one to offer up compliments willy nilly.

Sounds like you are doing the right thing adjusting your fast days as you go. I too am finding them easier and even look forward to them not as it feels like I’m hitting the reset button. I was pretty hungry yesterday and I’m not sure that I sticked exactly to my 500 calories but I don’t really know. I just know I made a really nice dinner- roasted lemony, spicy butternut squash with sautéed green veggies and a chicken breast stuffed with spinach and garlic, Yum. I used a website that allows you to put in all the ingredients of your recipe including quantities and it spits our the nutritional information. Great if you are making up a dish from scratch. This is the page: http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php

This morning I got on the scales and I have not gained any weight which is good but for the first time I experienced a panic that my weight was going to slow right down or stop. I know it will slow down but I need to prepare myself for the slow and steady losses and keep looking at my measurements as lots of people on the forum have said that weight can stand still for weeks but inches keep coming off.

I am also having trouble fitting in exercise during the week as I feel quite tired when I have finished work on a fast day and so far I have brought my gym kit with me every day but failed to use it! Feeling a bit frustrated about that but I am walking a lot, have done a bit of Yoga in the mornings and run and swim on a Sunday. I just don’t feel like I’m getting enough anaerobic exercise in during the week. Perhaps I’m bring a bit hard on myself!

I too feel like its a really nice thing having the support of so many people doing this. I can’t seem to find anyone saying anything negative about 5:2 and so many people have had success, which really gives me hope.

Happy fasting/ not fasting today 🙂

Ainsley

1:17 am
16 Aug 14
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Hi everyone – have been on the 5:2 for about 10 weeks and have lost weight and feel a lot better – more energy and slimmer waist. Blood pressure and cholesterol measurements are the best that they have ever been. Have always been active (play football 2 or 3 times a week and take regular walks) but also enjoyed the good life. Never weighed myself but decided to weigh myself at the local chemist (machine in the shop) – well I was shocked – apparently I am obese (BMI 30.2)!!

So how accurate is the BMI index? I am not over weight but am obese according to BMI measurements (Family and friends say I look well and have lost weight). My feeling would be to take BMI measurements with a ‘pinch of salt’ – but apparently this is bad for you as well!

Iwillbe12st

9:15 am
16 Aug 14
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Hi N4M… Just in response to squeezing in the aerobic exercise..

have you thought about using a “Fast Exercise” type routine.. AM I do 100 step ups (50 off each leg), 50 star jumps and 30 plus lunges.. all in under 5 mins.. ( I only run once or twice a week and find that I am still improving my distance and times with this level of exercise…) I also do a last thing at night routine of press ups (from the knees) bench and pilates foam roller type stuff for my core.. (look up pilates foam roller legs on youtube there are loads of really good exercises.)

Also worth looking at is the site Fit450 which despite it’s name has HITT / Fast exercises for anyone from teens up 😉

My TDEE has jumped on this routine to 2650 ish from 17600 (I’m 5’10”) and although I’m essentially on maitenance now (see Maintenance Chat thread) I appear to be still loosing weight… tho’ I have little faith in the weight / BMI thing.

N4M11S

10:01 am
16 Aug 14
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Hi Iwillbe12st, thanks for the advice, that’s really helpful, I’ll have a look. I think I will try and get into the habit of doing some pressups and core stuff before bed or when I get up in the morning.

I will continue my swimming each week and yoga in the mornings a couple of times a week and perhaps try to fit in an additional run. That should get everything going 🙂

How did your TDEE jump up? did you enter some figures somewhere to change it?

Thanks again and have a great weekend 🙂

N4

Iwillbe12st

5:28 pm
16 Aug 14
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N4 .. TDEE is Total Daily Energy Expenditure so exercise increases the figure..

If you have a look here http://thefastdiet.co.uk/how-many-calories-on-a-non-fast-day/

I now classify myself as moderate .. I was sendentary / light.. it’s far easier and I suspect less hard on the joints etc to exercise once you have shed a few pounds..

N4M11S

7:48 pm
17 Aug 14
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Hi Iwillb12st,

Thanks for that. I’m going try and be positive about it. Its going to be hellish week so I’m hoping this will give me something else to focus on!

I hope you have a good week!

N4

N4M11S

8:17 pm
18 Aug 14
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Week three-

So how am I feeling today? Ok, well the weekend wasn’t too heavy and I don’t think I have gained any weight but I’m feeling desperate to get under 11 stone. That will be a mile stone for me and I think if I can get there, I can really get to where I want to be.

I realised that exercise tends to be the first thing to slip off when ever work gets stressful and I am having an exhausting, emotional roller-coaster with it at the moment so I’m not surprised that I didn’t/ don’t much feel like exercising.I did go for a run today which has really helped lift my mood and now I’m starting to feel like I can do my fast tomorrow. It may be a little difficult as I’m on a first aid course and everyone will wonder why I’m not eating but I’ll just have to explain I suppose!

Will update at the end of this week with measurements and weight loss (if there is any!)

Iwillbe12st

7:05 pm
19 Aug 14
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Hi N4… don’t worry about weeks that don’t go as planned..

The trick I’ve found is to learn from them what triggers the non fasting / bad eating habits or less successful exercise sessions.. then not to dwell on it .. just get on with the next week.. if you go into the next week feeling like a failure (watch the negative self talk) you will undermine your fast / exercise targets. Are you keeping a fast diary..? it can help too.

Also don’t put yourself under too much pressure re weight loss.. it is typically unpredictable and rate of loss tends to slow down the nearer you get to your target..

Hope the week goes as well as possible.

PS to Ainsley

Re BMI .. mmm I treat with scepticism.. it doesn’t work for me.. I prefer the height / waist ratio as an indicator. See the caveat here about BMI http://thefastdiet.co.uk/how-many-calories-on-a-non-fast-day/

N4M11S

10:05 pm
23 Aug 14
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So today was the first official weigh in after this weeks fasts. I have lost two pounds! that around 8 pounds in 3/4weeks, I cant remember if it is three or four weeks as time just goes so fast. That takes me down to 11st 2 lbs which is the lightest I have been in an ages. 3 more pounds ans I’ll be under that 11 stone mark!!

Very happy with my weight loss so far and trying to take all of the challenges all in my stride, taking one day at a time but hoping the weight continues to come off.I haven’t been brilliant with my food today but it could have been a lot lot worse!

Started doing press ups and planks just before going to bed which seems to be working quite well. 🙂