Two stone lost – this was my approach

This topic contains 17 replies, has 14 voices, and was last updated by katser12 10 years ago.

Viewing 18 posts - 1 through 18 (of 18 total)

Jem79

1:47 pm
20 Sep 13
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16 weeks in, 2 stone down, into healthy BMI. And these are my tips as I find this website so helpful I wanted to give something back!

I cycle 3 x 20mins a week.
I do a leisurely walk of about 5 miles on a Sunday.
Monday & Wednesday I fast, porridge for breakfast, a carrot at lunch, fish & veg for tea.
Tuesday, Thursday, Friday I never go above 2000 calories – I don’t count calories but I try not to be naughty.
I still drink too much wine (Thursday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday) but not really prepared to change this.
I eat whatever I want on Saturday and Sunday…..chocolate and puddings too!

I intend to stay fasting 2 days a week forever…..I don’t think I can sustain my weight and lifestyle (wine) on just one day a week……plus I look forward to the rest from eating now 🙂

And it was as simple as that…..I did plateau twice…..and only drop about 3/4 of a pound a week in recent weeks.

Best of luck – you can do it!!!

symba7

2:09 pm
20 Sep 13
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Well done Jem,

I do the same as you, I fast Monday and Thursday. So I eat and drink what I want without going too over the top Friday, Saturday and Sunday. On Tuesday and Wednesday, I eat carefully and think what I am going to cook. No calorie counting at all even on a Fast Day.

I also swim one hour twice a week and walk for 30 mins three times a week.

I am loosing the 1 lb a week what the book says and sometimes 2 lbs. I have been on the 5.2 for two months and I have lost 12 lbs.

My BMI has gone from 28.7 to 26.8 so going down nicely.

I am really pleased with the weight loss it’s not fast but coming off slowly, hopefully to stay off.

SH1

2:26 pm
20 Sep 13
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Well done!
I miss having wine with meals but found that 1 glass makes me so hungry afterwards for carbs !! So now I try to limit it to occasional glass. I hope I can make it to 16 weeks!!

PreciousBooBoo

5:50 pm
22 Sep 13
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Wow Jem79

You’ve lost 2 stone in 16 weeks! I’m green with envy but pleased for you at the same time.

I love the honesty about your love of wine-and the fact that you are not prepared to cut down. The best way to approach this eating regime (I think) is to make it fit into your life style and you are certainly doing that.
With fantastic results to boot-well done you

vickimummy

8:58 pm
22 Oct 13
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Hi Jem I want to do the same as you! We’ll done! Did you count the wine in your 2000 cals? I love my wine, that’s what’s made me put 3 stone on because I only used to drink at weekends but 3 years ago started having red wine in the evenings once my little boys were in bed. I now need to reverse the damage but don’t want to give up my wine completely because I enjoy it. First fast day today and first day in 3 years without my wine! Feels weird but I know I can have it tomorrow if I want to.

tomtommum

12:00 pm
25 Oct 13
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vickimummy, hope your first fast day went ok.

I started 5:2 at the beginning of Sept when I decided to have a booze free month, after a rather over-indulgent summer…. I had got to a point of getting the bottle out of the fridge as soon as i got back from work at 6.30pm (ie before my 10 year old was in bed!).

I broke the wine fast at the end of Sept for a big party and felt so rough the next day that to be honest it has been just as easy to go back to no wine. I love my wine, and am more than happy to drink when the occasion arises, but really it’s not as bad as I thought. And when I feel like a glass i have one, but that is less and less often now.

So good luck with the 5:2 and with the wine reduction, you will find your health benefits in so many ways, and I feel so much more alert and energetic than i did 8 weeks ago (not to mention somewhat lighter!).

vickimummy

2:23 pm
25 Oct 13
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Thanks tomtommum.

I’ve been on the diet since Monday and had Tues & Thurs as fast days where I did really well and stuck to the 500 cals (and no wine)! its amazing how I have actually gone off having wine now too. I’m not even craving wine after work today even though its Friday! I will probably have some wine tomorrow night while watching X Factor.

I also had such a good sleep on my fast days! (maybe no wine helped)which I wasn’t expecting.

Sounds like you’re doing really well if you’re feeling a lot better! Well Done!

Quick

2:50 pm
25 Oct 13
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Hi Everyone,

Good on you. Sounds like everyone is doing well. Especially Jem79, 2 stone in 16 weeks is fantastic.

I think that staying off wine is not that difficult for me. About a year ago I started waking up in the middle of the night and having a hard time getting back to sleep. I finally made the connection that the nights I had trouble sleeping were the nights that I had wine. I cut out the wine and have been sleeping better ever since. I still have a glass or 2 some weekend evenings but not that often any more. I would say that I usually sleep better, lost weight and generally feel better without the alcohol.

Happy fasting.

Quick

Happy fasting.

Quick

etherial

5:06 pm
2 Nov 13
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Not giving up my wine, even if Dr. Mosley stood on the cork!

pdquick

7:27 am
13 May 14
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Ha! I haven’t heard anyone else say they look forward to the rest from eating! A friend asked me the other day if I have less energy on fast days. I told him that digesting food requires energy, too, so in the short term it’s a wash.

veggiemaggie

5:31 am
11 Aug 14
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Congrats! I love the honesty about your wine.
Most of the weight I’m trying to loose is because of my love of wine and beer. I gained a lot of weight a couple of years ago when I was working as a bartender for a venue that gave us massive amounts of wine to take home after every shift. It was always good wine and free, and, of course, I would be tired after work, so the ritual of sitting with a huge glass of wine and watching tv became the norm.
Now, I work in the beer industry which means I’m surrounded by beer. (That “beer belly” thing is NOT a myth!)
It would be very tough for me to not drink at events, (although, I do tend to drink very low alcohol brews as I’m mindful of the addictive natural of alcohol), but the calories are over the top.
This is the first diet/lifestyle I’ve come across that doesn’t tell me I have to cut drinking out.
And quite frankly, if I loose as much weight as you did in 16 weeks, I’ll be having a drink to celebrate! 😉

ModelBehaviour

1:06 pm
6 Nov 14
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I have read this thread with increasing enthusiasm and hope. My goal is to lose a stone before christmas. This is my first week of 5:2 and today (thursday) is my second day of fasting. I started the diet last saturday. This morning I weighed myself (yesterday was NOT a fast day) and the scales show that I have lost 5lbs!! I realise that this may not be an accurate measurement of weight loss so early in but boy has it encouraged me and spurred me on. I’ve been trying to lose weight for over a year, something that I’ve always been great at doing but the older I get the harder it is. I really need to lose this excess (2 and a half stone in total but definitely 14lbs before Christmas) for my mental AND physical wellbeing.

bigbuttbgone

8:06 am
8 Nov 14
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Hi ModelBehaviour, I have as much enthusiasm and hope as you do and I too started this week. My first fast day was on Thursday. You have the same amount of weight as I do to lose. I gave up smoking 18 mths ago, and the weight has crept up on me. So if you want to share any handy tip or tricks to help us on the way I would be grateful.

ModelBehaviour

4:48 pm
8 Nov 14
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Hi Bigbuttbgone! 😀 First of all WELL DONE for kicking the weed! I too stopped smoking 4 months ago but I’m afraid my weight had started creeping on long before that.

The way I started this week was probably more akin to the Fast BEACH Diet which is a 6 week more intense version of the basic 5:2 and one which shouldn’t really be continued for longer than 6 weeks but I am so determined to lose a stone before christmas that I have decided to be extra strict with myself. So I don’t eat ANYTHING on my fast days at all and I fast for 36 hours which includes two sleeps. On my eating days, I’ve been careful too. Typically a day will start with i sachet of Oats so Good porridge made with half water and half skimmed milk and a good handful of blueberries. I generally don’t eat lunch but if I did, I’d have some fat free cottage cheese and a bowl of mixed salad with a drizzle of salad dressing and then for dinner I’ve been eating steamed fish and veg and sometimes a baked potato. I certainly don’t starve on non fast days but I eat very sensibly and slowly. I definitely will NOT be touching pasta, butter, bread, cheese or crisps during the run up to Christmas. The desire to be slim again far outweighs any desire to cheat on my diet. I always tend to remember what Kate Moss says: “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels”. I agree with her, so WHY did I put on this extra weight??!! Come on, WE CAN LOSE IT!! 😉

katser12

12:53 pm
13 Nov 14
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Hi modelbehaviour, you are an inspiration. I started today and am finding it really hard!!! I did do the diet last year and lost about 10 lbs in about 9 months so not very impressive but felt good on holiday for THE FIRST TIME EVER as I was able to wear shorts and not feel too fat!!!!! Can I ask, how do you manage to NOT EAT ANYTHING on your fast days and do you fast for 36 hrs in a row? Any advice would be SO appreciated. I want to lose 10lbs before Christmas.

PeelyWally

1:15 pm
13 Nov 14
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A question here from a man who’s been following 5:2 since October 16th. All going well and losing weight. The post at the beginning of this article states fish and veg for tea and I think I’ve heard other folk who also avoid carbs on their fast day.
I tend to just buy a supermarket diet meal with about 400 cals for my evening meal but these all have pasta, rice or potatoes. I can be sure I have not exceeded my 600 calorie total that way though.
Just wondering how you can be sure with the home cooked fish and veg, as nice as it sounds, particularly if it’s more filling.

ModelBehaviour

3:04 pm
24 Nov 14
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Hi Katser12, I’m glad I’m inspiring you, that makes me really happy. To answer your Q’s, yes I do fast for 36 hours. I don’t know how I can advise you but all I can say is that the mind is a very powerful thing. I am so determined to lose weight that it helps me to get through. Mind over matter. The hunger pangs come but they don’t stay and they don’t get worse or more intense. They just come…and go..and you can get through them by:

a. thinking that the hunger feeling is your best friend- your body is burning stored fat
b. Imagine what the scales will say in the morning and how fantastic you’ll feel
c. Imagine how you’re going to look in those jeans/that dress/ etc etc
d. Have LOTS of drinks, even a milky coffee is ok if you’re not eating anything (although I did this initially, I stick to herbal teas and allow myself half a pint of semi-skimmed for normal tea now)

I find that it’s actually easier not to have to think about food on fast days at all. Once I start eating, I want to eat more and so even on non-fast days I often don’t eat a proper meal until the evening.

Good luck Katser12. Let me know how you’re doing. Mind over matter. WANT to be slimmer more than you want to eat. 🙂

PeelyWally- because you weigh/measure the food you are using and add up all of the calories.

katser12

8:21 am
1 Dec 14
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Hi ModeklBehaviour, How you doing? After this week of 2 day fasting, I lost 2 lbs, so am happy with that. Today is fast day so started day with a coffee with just a little milk. Plan to just have tea throughout day then salad with salmon for evening meal. Christmas is fast approaching and have a work do on Saturday, that will involve a lot of eating and drinking (but hopefully will offer to drive so I won’t drink). Quite a few social events before Christmas and people don’t like it when you don’t eat with them, they get easily offended if you try to shrug it off and say, I’m trying to cut down’. Well, going to be really positive today and look forward to being (hopefully,) lighter tomorrow, hope you have a good day.