Last week was the first week back on the 5:2 for sometime and must say it feels so good to be back following this programme. Managed to lose 3lbs so over the moon and it just goes to show that the 5:2 is a brilliant eating plan. Always recommending it to others and realise that it is important to be mindful about what I eat and to use mfp to log foods that I eat.

Today is the first FD of the week so just making sure I have lots of water with me at work. I don't know about you but I do find sparkling water tastes so much better than still.

Fast day going ok at the moment. Nice salad for tea with a bit of griddles chicken.

dryheatfitness wrote: »

Had a great weekend but imbibed way too much - it was my birthday. Today's fast has been a struggle but still going. I'm on the bus home and then will take dogs for a vigorous walk to finish my 10k steps before dinner. Next fast day will have to wait for Thursday. I forgot to weigh in this morning so no clue where I'm at but feeling full of energy.

Well Happy Birthday!! Having a few (or several) drinks is all the fun of it, it comes once a year if we're lucky!!! Hope you had an awesome time

I had sort of a fast yesterday at 1003 cals with my walking exercise coming to 409 cals... Brings me to 600 or so if I choose to count them in the equation. I'm at a crossroads here... As I sit, I can grab a handful of my waist! Yet I've measured consistently at 30" the last 2 weeks and even this morning at 29 1/2".... I'm 5'6", so why am I still having love handles with almost a 29" waist?? I'm trying to weight train 3 times a week which has helped. So do I continue to 5:2 to loose more weight? Or try maintenance with doing 6:1 & just work harder on the weight training to firm up? Anyone else at this point? Guess it doesn't help with the fact that I'm not in my 20's anymore

I like your standards Kate: to be satisfied if I feel good and can do all the activities I want to do. Well, I admit I get really sore and tired after long hikes with lots of climbing. I have several of these hikes coming up this summer culminating with the ascent of Half Dome in October. My weight is still higher than it was at my lowest when I was fasting three times a week. I will probably always continue to fast two times a week to make up for my love of eating on the other days and to not have to stick to a traditional diet and for the health benefits, both physical and mental. Cheers to all!

Mama, your post could not be more timely. I'm at a crossroads myself. I've really been struggling to find the right balance in order to maintain my weight. I think I'm going to miss my goal by my birthday (Friday), but I'm ok with it. I had a great fast yesterday with one more planned on Friday, so I'll still see where I wind up on Saturday. But I'm experiencing real fear about how to maintain. I like the regular schedule of 2 FD. One FD seems really scary to me. To be honest, I don't track except for my dinner on FD. After a lifetime of painstaking calorie counting, I love the freedom of not tracking. However, that's doing 2 FD a week, which I believe is making it possible to not track. The other issue I've not mentioned is that my blood pressure appears to be running high and I'm concerned that it's the fasting. The 5:2 forums have a thread about it. I've started monitoring my BP to see what's going on, but the really scary thing is what if it is the fasting? What if I have to stop doing it? Am I going to be sacrificing my weight for my BP?!? I'm almost wondering if it would be worth it just to go on medication so I can continue to fast (assuming that my BP is high because of fasting...it does run in my family and this was the age my mom's BP went up, so it may be unrelated). I feel like I'm in limbo. I'm trying not to lose my head over this. I'm monitoring it for now then will address it after some time has passed. It still doesn't solve the fasting schedule for maintenance and, quite frankly, I'm afraid to try anything beyond what I've been doing for fear of gaining weight. I've waited sooo long for a body I feel comfortable with...I don't want to lose it!

I just want to express how much I appreciate all of your posts. Before I began 5:2, I had very little loss over a period of months. Honestly, I was losing and regaining the same couple of pounds.

Since starting 5:2 and tweaking my woe a few times, I can finally say I'm happy with how my losses are progressing. I still fluctuate but at least it is more of a noticeable downward trend than something given and then taken away.

I almost quit 5:2 as not eating and not losing was so frustrating. I could see the success many of you have/had and knew I had to be patient since I felt I was on the right track.

I'm so glad I decided to stay the course. Thank you for the positive influence and feed back.

Thank you megemrj!!!

Fast Day #2 is in the can. Did a switch up today and had 300 calorie breakfast and 200 calorie dinner (which I couldn't finish!). I also got in 13k steps and 8 miles on my bike (4 morning and 4 afternoon). My normal job is desk bound but today included 2 hours standing helping a computer training session, so my feet are beat! It feels good to feel TIRED!

My fast day yesterday was slightly off as I ate my meal at lunchtime. My normal pattern is a 4:3 as I find that is a better fit with my lifestyle but normally try to keep to 700-800 on those days. I just found it was too hard doing 500. I know this works for me but everyone is different and I think we all have to do what suits us best.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FLOSSY!

Did you actually say somewhere above that you're having a fd today??? If you are, I'll have a glass of wine later for you!!
Cheers!

Yesterday I ate more than 3200 calories and that is not untypical! So I need my fast days obviously . . .

mamainthekitchen I too have had those bizarre days where you get to the and and that little demon just eggs you on to eat the strangest things. It is almost as if the more you try to deny the worse the craving gets

That's something I struggle with too, getting to dinner time and not even being hungry and eating just because . . . it's 'dinner time!' In my mind I would love to be more like Gandhi and eat a modest amount of food for nutrition's sake only. I really enjoy healthy foods (and not so healthy stuff as well) and often will eat because something tastes good, not because of hunger. The link above to Mosley's Blood Sugar Diet above was interesting because it addresses cravings. A long time ago (pre-5:2) I had tried Atkins and was sad not to have foods that I was excited about (which maybe in itself is sad). Non-starchy vegetables and protein are fine and all, but the other delicious stuff is often my downfall. Sigh. I think it's time to stop talking about food and go for a bike ride!