Hello.....I've been doing 5:2 since May and so far I have lost around 7 lbs give or take. I love this WOE! I'm leaving for a trip next weekend so i'm doing a fast three times this week in order to lose as much as possible before I go, there are so many clothes of mine that i want to bring that I don't fit into. Glad there is a thread for this.
wvuchick-Great job! Sounds like you really got this down That gives me hope that it will just get easier and easier!
MustLoseIt-Very interesting about the decrease in appetite! Hope your weekend goes well, you can do this!
Zumbachica-Glad its going so well for you
Yesterday started awesome but didn't end well. Long story short....I got talked into going out to eat by my fiance who was very adamant about treating me. I get he wanted to do something nice, but I had already planned dinner. I agreed though and it was so late I was outside my eating window and even though I didn't overeat and go crazy, I was still way over my calorie goals bc the restaurant food was so calorie dense So learned my lesson and I'm not going to change my eating plans again like that!
Today will be better. I'm also planning on going on a short hike. I managed to make breakfast and pac a picnic lunch without nibbling on anything
rooibos53-Glad you found the thread, I'm doing 16:8 as well
So yesterday went really good! At least for a weekend day it did haha I really managed my calories well(ate around maintenance) and stayed within my eating window so I consider that a success! I also went on a small hike. I made an epic dinner for my fiance and best friend. Pizza with a spiralized potato pizza "crust", vegan gluten free baked potato soup, and roasted peaches with vanilla ice cream. I make the soup in bulk to eat throughout the week so its dairy free, the rest of the stuff had dairy so I took my lactose pill. I think these pills are working less and less :/ I try not to take them very often but I keep having to switch brands. Sigh. Need to be more vigilant again on the dairy free.
Weight is up 1lb today from the past week's normal, I know its from the dairy though. I'm really hoping for a drop soon. I'm thinking of switching to 18:6 to help reduce calories further. Idk. I might stick with 16:8 another week and give my weight more time to drop.
Today's eating window will start at 1. I have plenty leftovers to eat.
Hope everyone's weekend is going well!
I'm so glad I took the time to read through the IF thread and learn more about it. First let me apologize, I didn't understand the intermittent fasting concept so this is the first I've taken the time to read through and understand it better. I'm actually excited by the whole concept!
I was recently diagnosed with fibroids. Yes they are common in women but I happen to suffer from most of the ill side effects due to their size and placement. One of the nasty side effects is a constant feeling of PMS...the biggest offender is the PMS food cravings! You know the uncontrollable sweet, chocolate, and all around bad food cravings?...well instead of suffering through a few days out of the month I have them a couple of weeks! It's terrible! After I read through this thread (I'm still reading) I wondered if something that would allow me to focus on eating during a shorter time frame would help me get control. I still feel that I need a caloric number to work with due to my cravings. Today was my first day testing this out and so far I feel great! When I got up this morning I reminded myself it wasn't time to eat or get my coffee and to just start the rest of my routine. Once I had it in my head I wasn't going to eat until 9 AM it was pretty nice going about my day not worried about food or mindlessly eating. At 9 AM I made my breakfast had my coffee and again focused on what I had to accomplish for today. LOL so pretty much I took the focus off food and put it on activities and tasks for the day! Amazing! I think this is what it feels like to have a normal day. This is only day 1 but I'm excited to give this a shot and see if I can regain control! Thanks for starting this thread!
Dottington: Maybe try 17:7 and see what happens. Then you can always shorten it if needed or wait til you hit a plateau to shorten to 18:6. Might help??
Roobios - Good Luck. IF is great hope you do well.
vealcalf - IF really does take your mind off food unlike a "normal" diet. Hope day 2 goes well for you.
I'm trucking along losing alittle over about 2 lbs a week. I never could have done that with regular old CR. I love IF. I don't think about food until I'm almost home from work. During the day I just chug my water if I get a hunger cue and it goes away immediately.
If you are just starting out, stick with it. Overtime cravings and hunger drop greatly. I will break my fast today at about hour 23 and it won't bother me a bit. I fasted Friday - Saturday for 24 hours, the week before was 25 hours. 4 months ago I would have thought it impossible!
Hi All!! I'm new to IF, but definitely not new to 3FC..I think I've tried a little bit of everything, and I'm still overweight..I know enough now to realize that I have a major problem with food, and trying to count calories or points just seems to increase my awareness of it..I'm hoping that this WOE will promote an out of sight, out of mind attitude, and I'll finally see some longterm success..Today is my first day, and I'm leaning towards only eating between 5 PM and 10 PM..Wish me luck, and I'll be sending good luck wishes your way as well!!
Wow, I feel like there's been an influx of new IFers lately!
Welcome RollTideRoll! I hope today goes great for you and that this lifestyles works out for you
wvuchick Two pounds a week is phenomenal, wow! I still find myself thinking about food throughout the day, so impressed that you're able to keep it off your mind completely
Friday will make one year since I started 5:2. I wish I had written down the exact date I added 16:8 to that (probably only a few months ago). I've lost 36 pounds in that year! And I know this coming year will be even more (I lost most of that weight after Jan. 1) because I feel so much more in control now that I've added 16:8 to the mix. It also marks one year since I've essentially gotten rid of my heartburn and IBS. Woohoo! Slow and steady, but I'm getting there. I don't think I could ever go back to "normal" eating.
wvuchick--Awesome weight loss! You're almost to onederland...it's coming soon, and so much sooner than your goal! You might have to redo those goals...
nonameslob--Wow, that's great that you've done so well the past year. It's so nice to hear that this woe is really that--a way of eating, which can be for a lifetime, unlike "dieting".
Welcome to rolltideroll and vealcalf (oh my, what's behind the name??)
Rolltideroll--I also used to count calories to lose weight, and while I did have success, it was never sustainable for me, and was frankly exhausting. I do Fast 5 now, with an eating window similar to your 5-10pm (although it's really more like Fast 6, 5:30-11:30pm so I can join my hubby in a glass of wine after the kids go to bed!). I have found that it definitely keeps my mind off food, and also makes it just so much easier to avoid food when it does come to mind, or is right in front of me. I can make my kids a yummy meal and know that I can have some later if I want, and I do fine.
So I was losing like crazy there for a couple of weeks after I got back from vacation. Seriously, I went from 151.8 when I returned (I still did mostly Fast 5 on the trip, but was definitely flexible and ate a lot more salty foods), and had gotten down to 143 a couple of weeks later. And now I'm at a stand still! Is this a plateau? It almost seems like the trip and IF semi-vacation helped me over a plateau I had been at then (stuck at 150 for 2 weeks), so do I need to do another IF semi-vacation to get past this? Or just stick it out a little longer? Any thoughts/suggestions?
vealcalf-Welcome! That's wonderful that IF is working so well for you so far I wish you continued success!
wvuchick-Thanks! Yes, I think I'm going to have to wait another week till I try shortening my eating window since this week is very chaotic for me Its so inspiring hearing about your experiences with IF! I'm so glad I've given this a try
rolltideroll-Really hope its going well for you and that you're having good luck!
noname-Congrats on your 1 year! You've done such an amazing job and should be so proud of yourself
lightenup-I'd stick it out a little longer I've had a lot of experience with plateaus and taking maintenance breaks help me if I've been stuck for a month or two. You'll get past it! Probably just water retention if its only been a week or two.
Yesterday I did a good job at staying within my window. I ate more calories then I would have liked, but still didn't do terrible. My eating really has stabilized a lot since starting IF. My weight has too. Normally I get these HUGE fluctuations but its been pretty much within the same 3lbs for the past week.
Today, I unfortunately had to eat outside my window. I didn't get enough sleep last night and woke up extremely hungry and nauseous. I drank my hot tea and that made it even worse and I couldn't keep it down I realized I needed something so sipped on a non fat latte with soy milk throughout the morning and immediately felt better. Besides that, I did well though. It threw me off calorie wise of course. Sigh. Still did better than expected today considering its piano camp week and I'm super stressed and having to eat out a lot for meetings. I learned my lesson though, I really can't handle black tea on an empty stomach!
Even without doing my best while starting IF this past week or so, my calories are still low enough that I should be losing weight. Unfortunately the scale isn't showing any loss, but I'm having some NSV's like last week with my waist measurement going down, being able to restrain myself more, and then yesterday I got a bra fitting at Victoria's Secret and was happy that my band size has gone down and funnily enough my cup size went up??!!! haha Guess I'm a 32DD now which means there are exactly 3 bras in the store that fit! lol So I'm just trying to be positive and trust in the process
Dottington: So you've been IF'ing for a little over a week right? I would definitely keep your window the same. The Fast 5 book states that it takes your body a few weeks to adjust to IF.
lightenup - I do think it can be good sometimes to go off plan for a few days to shake things up. The danger of that is not getting back on plan, but if you are feeling strong and definitely think you can get back to it I say go for it. Eat breakfast a few days at the conventionally accepted breakfast time. LOL I think it could really help you. I have an unofficial goal of Onederland by Labor Day, but I like to keep my official goals realistic.
I agree noname. I don't think I could go back to my old ways at least I hope I am never tempted!
Thanks Dottington and wvuchick! I think I will wait it out another week and see how it goes before I take a mini break. TTOM is coming up, which could be a factor in water retention this week.
And ha, my birthday was yesterday, and in lieu of cake, we took the kids to Krispy Kreme for doughnuts. I planned on only eating one, but darned if they didn't have HOT glazed doughnuts! I'm such a sucker, and was lucky to get out having only eaten 2.5!
One more thing, and I'm just going to throw this out there...does anyone have regularity issues doing IF?? I was doing great before, and on our trip, but once we got back, bam, I've been having issues! I'm also wondering though, if it could be related to our recent purchase and use of a cast iron griddle. I don't supplement with iron and now I'm wondering if that's causing a problem. Anyway, I don't really want to stop using the cast iron, but at the same time I hope it's not an IF issue!
PS: My husband is now IF-ing with me! He's doing Fast 5 as well, only his window is 7pm-12am. Today I actually waited and first ate when he did at 7pm. I was definitely even more full at dinnertime, which was at 8pm, so I'll probably try to wait and eat later like this when I can. But I do like to have smoothies with the kids at 5pm, so I'll still do that some days. But anyway, it's nice to have an in-house fellow IF-er!
Last edited by lightenup2014; 07-29-2014 at 10:07 PM.
wvuchick-ok thanks for the advice! I'm going to give it more time with the 8 hour window then. Glad you had a good day!
lightenup-Its probably totally TTOM that's causing the water retention. Happy belated birthday! Glad it was good for you You know, I've actually become much more regular since starting IF.....hmm has anything in your diet composition changed? Hope its not the cast iron :/ Aw that's awesome your husband has joined in IF too, must be great to have that extra support at home!
Today went great Stayed in a good calorie range and didn't feel too much hunger. Late morning I had some stomach grumbling and felt a little bit of a headache but it was manageable and went away. Also, didn't have any tea and experienced no nausea today! yay! Guess it really was the tea causing it...
I haven't been sleeping well though and am really going to try and get to bed really early since tomorrow is going to be a crazy day T_T
Weight is still not budging. Still trusting in the process though. Since it takes a few weeks for the body to adjust I'm still giving it time.
lightenup2014 That must be so awesome to have him doing it with you! Certainly limits temptations and makes meal planning easier. Is he doing it to lose weight? Regarding your regularity issues, if you mean "constipation" then YES. However, for me, I just thought it was constipation at first, but the reality is I just don't poop as often anymore lol It's not uncomfortable (maybe a bit when I first started 5:2). Your cast iron should not be having that heavy of an effect on your iron levels, though it does provide some iron.
Dottington Woohoo! It sounds like you've adjusted so quickly! Your body will catch up.
I think the 5:2 thread is dead, which is a shame because it's nice to have people to commiserate with on fasting days heh Struggling a bit on my IF days to eat within my window. I had quite a debate with myself last night about having a snack at 9:30, one hour past my window. I at least talked myself down to a lower calorie snack.
Does anyone else get super excited for weigh-in days? I'm like a kid before Christmas sometimes.
Last edited by nonameslob; 07-30-2014 at 04:12 PM.
That gives me hope that it will just get easier and easier!
So learned my lesson and I'm not going to change my eating plans again like that! 
Its so inspiring hearing about your experiences with IF! I'm so glad I've given this a try 
You've done such an amazing job and should be so proud of yourself 
So I'm just trying to be positive and trust in the process 
