The FastDay Forum

[carorees]

Progress reports are a fantastic way to encourage others and to keep motivated. I was wondering whether it would be useful to include the kind of starting and current info that Dr Mosley provides in the book? Here's mine to show you what I mean:
Started 5:2 on 5th Nov 2012, have completed 11 weeks (but took 2 off over Xmas)
Height: 5'5"/165cm
Weight: starting 105kg, current 95kg
BMI: starting 38.6, current 34.9 (recommended 18.5 -24.9)
Waist: starting 43" ish (didn't start measuring until recently), current 39" (recommended: half your height)
Fasting blood glucose: don't know (recommended 3.9 - 5.8 mmol/l)
Total cholesterol: don't know (recommended less than 4.0 - 5.0 mmol/l)
LDL cholesterol: don't know (recommended- less than 2.0 - 3.0 mmol/l)
HDL cholesterol: don't know (recommended 1.2 mmol/L or more)
Total cholesterol to HDL ratio: don't know (recommended 4.5 or less)
IGF1: don't know (normal range 11.3 - 30.1)
Blood pressure: starting 139/95, current 135/85 (recommended below 135/85)

Also some info that may help us to understand the effects of the slightly different approaches to the diet:
Fasting regime being followed: 36 hours on 500 cals twice a week
Average daily calorie intake: 1600

As you can see, I don't know all of my values but going to get the blood cholesterol etc levels done soon and I'll take a note of what they were last time and update my figures. However I can see a great change in weight, bmi and waist. My blood pressure looks OK but I'm on medication so it would be nice to think I might be able to come off it at some point!

I'm interested in seeing what happens to my BP also; had high blood pressure for a few years now and it's been outrageously high a couple of times (nurses went white when they took it) and doc was on the edge of prescribing medication for it unless I could get it down with diet and exercise. I think it may have come down a bit but not by any huge amount yet. Must start recording it regularly again, I did for a while but fell by the wayside

[carorees]

So, after 16 weeks of 5:2ing, the weight loss has slowed from 1kg a week to 0.5 kg, but it's still going down!

Current weight 93kg (2 kg down from my last update)
Total loss since starting 5:2 is 12 kg (2 stone) - nearly halfway to my target!
Waist measurement is now 36.5", down by at least 4" (didn't start measuring for a few weeks so not sure of the starting size) and 4" to go to reach a healthy waist: height ratio.
Blood pressure may have fallen a bit more but it's hard to tell as it seems very variable.
Sleep is improving.
No change to tinnitus, fibromyalgia or (possible) trigeminal neuralgia that I can be sure of as yet.

I'm going away to a hotel for 3 nights this weekend where eating will be very much on the agenda. Hopefully the damage will not be too great. Intending to fast before and after the visit!

Will update in another month.

Thanks for the updates Caroline. well done on your progress.

Good for you Caroline.
You've done amazingly well, and are such an inspiration to us all.
I'd love to just weigh in once a month, but am not really at the confident stage yet.
At 4 weeks in I'm still trying to work things out, but feeling all the positive physical and mental benefits of this WOE.
Enjoy your weekend....guilt free! X

[carorees]

So today I hit two milestones: 3.5 stone lost and finally under 13 stone. Gosh that still sounds a lot but I have less than an inch to go on my waist to hit my first target of having a waist measurement under half my height!

Someone PMed me and asked me how I've managed to lose so much, and I can't say I've done anything particularly different from other folk, but this is what I said:

Yes, I'm one of the lucky ones whose weight loss has been faster than average. I haven't done anything that special but here's what I'm doing:

I fast Mondays and Thursdays usually.
I just have one meal on fast days, which is always very low carb. I have a small piece of salmon baked in the oven (about 120g) with a vegetable stir fry of onion, carrot, courgette, mushrooms, broccoli, cabbage or whatever veg I've got lurking in the fridge. I use a little coconut oil to fry the veg and add Thai spices (garlic, ginger, lemongrass, chili, tamarind), soy sauce, lime juice and fish sauce for flavour. I might have a small bowl of berries for dessert. Alternatively, I may have whatever the rest of the family is having but with no starches (no potato, rice, pasta, bread etc), but with lots of vegetables.

I drink plenty of coffee (black) and water during the day.

I include a high intensity interval exercise session of 3 x 20 seconds maximum effort biking on an exercise bike (with a couple of minutes recovery between each bout) on each fast day and one other day of the week but not much other exercise. I do have a pedometer app on my phone but I don't get near the 10000 steps we're meant to be doing!

On feed days I've eaten what I fancy but not in big quantities. I cook everything from scratch so no low fat diet food or any take aways. I usually have home-made granola and home-made yogurt for breakfast and I try to leave at least 12 hours with no food overnight. I may have a piece of cake at coffee time. lunch is often soup or eggs or a cheese sandwich. evening meal can be anything really but always lots of veg and I try not to overdo the carbs. There may be dessert and wine at a weekend. I try to eat under TDEE during the week and over at weekends. I did keep a rough track of calories on feed days for a while but now I just do it occasionally to check I'm not overeating.

I hope that's useful

Also, re my high blood pressure, it does at last seem to be coming down and I'm off the medications.

You have just been promoted to Poster Girl for 5.2!! This is a fabulous transformation. I am so impressed by your shrinking waist - it must feel great. Thanks for the inspiration.

Wow !!! Thank you Caroline for the inspiration that your post brings
Well done you Sue

Congratulations, Caroline! What a significant weight loss and so encouraging for everyone else on this forum! It shows those that are trying to lose more than a few pounds, that it is possible to keep going with this WOE and lose a significant amount of weight.

Thank you for sharing this with us and being such an important part of the forum.

Well done, Caroline. Thanks for being such an inspiration!

Well done Caroline. whenever I read your weight lost amount I'm always inspired.

Well done Caroline. Nice to see you getting a reward for all the help you give the rest of us.

I can only echo what has already been said; you truly are an inspiration for the rest of us Caroline. Congratulations on your continued success and thank you for your wonderful input on the forum!

Well done Caroline, you are doing brilliantly! x

Well done Caroline - You are doing just great. Following you make me believe that I can do it - like you