The FastDay Forum

Well I'll add myself to the ever swelling (or shrinking hopefully) ranks of gents around here

I'll put an 'introductory' post in the appropriate section, but seeing a few blokes around made me decide to join the forum, not that I don't like the lasses, but I have a bit more in common with the guys when it comes to health etc

Interesting that all(?) the men here (including me, originally) started 5:2 before posting here, many women post here as or before they start. Perhaps they are just a bit less shy than us, or we just get on with stuff and talk about it less!? Or is this just more stereotyping?

Personally I think most men just dive into something and then go looking for more information or forums. Whereas the Lady's will spend time and effort in the planning before jumping in

Regarding the Men only thread creating a 'ghetto'. It's what got my interest in the forum reading the posts, I think we all know the fairer sex will do whatever they want regardless of anything we men say Having a thread marked Men-only is like a big sign saying "Read me now !"

Si

Regarding the Men only thread creating a 'ghetto'. It's what got my interest in the forum reading the posts, I think we all know the fairer sex will do whatever they want regardless of anything we men say Having a thread marked Men-only is like a big sign saying "Read me now !"

Si

Yes that's correct, us lads would never consider looking at a women only thread eh

"Personally I think most men just dive into something and then go looking for more information or forums." Agreed, my wife won't let me unpack flat pack (like IKEA) stuff until she's found the instructions and forced me to read them! The Reverse Sliding Computer Desk was an interesting experiment!

The Reverse Sliding Computer Desk was an interesting experiment!

Reminds me of the lovely children's picture book 'No Problem' by Eileen Browne, about different animals assembling a kit without bothering to look at the instructions. Our kids loved it and 'No Problem' became a catchword in our house.

The strange (but presumably not accidental) thing about it was that all the characters in the story were female. Even the stupid ones!

I seem to remember that Men Only was actually full of women-I've always been nosy!

I have heard though that they were all in various states of undress...

Morning Chaps (and Chappettes!) Just came across this post and found it really interesting.
I started the 5:2 after seeing the horizon programme last August and have done Tuesday/ Thursday fasts ever since, except for wee blips at christmas etc. I don't eat from 7pm Monday/Wednesday evenings until dinner on Tuesday/ Thursday and find this works best for me. Drink lots of water and black coffee.
No sleeping problems but serious toilet issues. VERY constipated, even after so long.
I am delighted with the progress - Lost 55lbs, dropped from a tight 38" waist to a loose 32 and hopefully 30" by the end of May. BMI has gone from 32.93 to 24.63 so delighted with that. At doctors last week to get blood tests and cholesteral is now normal and blood pressure is perfect, although still on tablets.
Also doing it for the other health benefits but mainly to lose weight.
Good luck to all you guys out there but also many thanks for all the support and help from the wonderful ladies.
Now where is that beer (oops water!)

Very impressive stats bycress.

At the risk of TMI, is it really constipation or just that your gut is a lot emptier than normal? In my case I think it is a bit of both. Did you see the constipation topic?

When you say from tight 38" to loose 32" waist, which is indeed impressive, I am guessing you are going on trouser sizes rather than a 'true' waist measurement with a tape measure round the tummy button. Actual measurements are usually higher (I guess because we need the clothes to grip a bit?!). As you probably already know, the health guide is that actual waist should be not more than 50% of height (48% if you want to be pernickety).

I am delighted with the progress - Lost 55lbs, dropped from a tight 38" waist to a loose 32 and hopefully 30" by the end of May. BMI has gone from 32.93 to 24.63 so delighted with that. At doctors last week to get blood tests and cholesteral is now normal and blood pressure is perfect, although still on tablets.

I really like your tracker, because you started almost exactly where I started, and right now you're at or a little below my goal weight, and you pulled that off in 35 weeks! I figured it would take me at least a year, but even if it does I won't complain. It took me longer than that to put it on!

Great news on the bloods and BP. I was on BP meds until mid last year and came off them with exercise. That's when I found out that exercise is great for a lot of things, but not so much for weight loss if you don't control what you eat.

Similar to you, I started with a tight 40" waist (pants waistline, actual waistline was about 46") and now I'm wearing a loose 38", soon to transition to the 36" pants in my closet, but my goal is to get my waist measurement below 34" and be able to comfortably (maybe even a little bit loosely) wear 32". I had fun bagging up all my 40" pants for goodwill a couple weeks back.

Question for you: you seem to be roughly the same height as me (within an inch) but you've targeted a goal weight almost a stone lighter than my goal. How did you choose that number? I'm asking because I'm reassessing my target and wondering how others choose theirs.

I am a man.

It is good isn't it.

Re: Men Only!
by skippyscuffleton » 25 Apr 2013, 11:32

I have heard though that they were all in various states of undress...


WHAT? UNdress you say? All these years I thought the ladies were demonstrating how to put clothes ON! Just shows you how much I know about the male fantasies,

Ballerina x

BruceE: I think I am about as tall (5-10) and I started my 5:2 experience at 150 lbs, aiming for 144. I am now doing maintenance at around 138 lbs and feel great. We are all different, you pair probably have muscles & do real work, but I could pinch rolls of fat and was recently happy at 144 lbs so knew I had scope to get rid of some, as well as pick up the benefits of fasting re IGF-1 etc plus less load on my knackered hips. Get to your target & re-assess, as I did, when that happy day comes!

Dominic,

I see I worded my post badly. I did not mean to say I had a couple glasses of wine on fast days. I abstain from alcohol on those days. What I meant to say was that on other days I have a couple of glasses of wine and nibbles in the evening and I guess it is more or less a habit so it makes it harder on fast days not to do that (but so far I have succeeded). I agree with you that alcohol weakens resolve (in all sorts of ways) so I am planning on staying away from it on fast days.

As far as eating I am trying to do what my wife does. She has mild gastroparesis and needs to eat three times a day so we have 0% fat yogurt and fruit (a small portion actually in a wine glass) which is about 100 calories for b'fast, a large salad at lunchtime with balsamic and red wine vinegar dressing (about 150 calories) and a variation at night we really like an Indian Kale and chickpea dish which is 200 calories - below is the link to the recipe for those who like a little spice.
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/india ... kpeas.html

Cheers,

Allan.

I don't eat at all on fast days. I haven't lost much in the way of weight, but then weight wasn't exactly my goal. My Omron indicates I've lost a decent enough percentage of body fat. The trend is downward at least, so I'm hoping things tighten up soon.