Raworz congratulations on losing the regain!!! That's super encouraging and inspiration that it can be done! Well done you! It IS hard to say no to the foods I love and put off eating them till when I have the calories but the feeling of accomplishment in succeeding in saying "no" is amazing!

LoseToAll: First of all congrats on your husband's new job offer! May it work out to be great for your family. Also, yay on being down 2/5 cruise pounds! That's awesome! Well done for your commitment! Here's hoping you have a successful rest of day.

The past 2 days have been a little rough on the 5:2 plan for me. I'm nowhere near my 3000-cal days of previous weeks and in fact am within the rules listed in the 5:2 book, but I'm not eating according to my OWN rules (1200-1500 cal days + one 2000 day for "normal" eating days.). So yes, there is improvement, but it could be better. The plus side is that the old me would have thrown in the towel late at night when I was over in calories and said "well I might as well have a binge, I'll restart tomorrow," but I haven't done that. My attitude has more been that I may not be where I want to be exactly but I'm much better than last week and that is the basis to believe there will be improvement as this experiment continues. It's been a food-filled couple of days of Eid public holidays so all-in-all, that considered, I haven't done too badly. I had a great workout yesterday but not today as I had guests all day. Maybe if I go to bed early, like now, I'll wake up early and go work out.

Tomorrow is my 2nd fast day of the week and I'm looking forward to seeing how I get through that. It's TOM now so I'm not looking forward to weighing in but I'll put my big girl pants on (unfortunate turn of phrase here) and do another weigh in tomorrow or Friday. Here's wishing everyone a successful OP day!

Hey everyone! I hope you're all having amazing Thursdays. My 2nd fast day of the week is going well so far. I had blueberries and milky chamomile tea for breakfast and have been drinking water and milkless black tea all day. I have planned stirfried veggies, a half-cup of cooked basmati rice, and a salmon steak. It's about 7pm my time and I'm not starving but I AM looking forward to dinner. I'm still at work so dinner is still a bit of a way away. Oh well...

In other news, I did a mid-week weigh in this morning, TOM and all, and I was 4.5 lbs down confirming that some of Monday's terrible weigh in was flight-related water weight BUT this is still super-exciting and motivating vis-a-vis the 5:2 experiment. Here's hoping the rest of the day remains OP and here's wishing everyone an OP day.

Weigh in today and I am down 5.5 lbs. I lost the cruise weight plus a lb. I am thinking things are going really well with the 5:2 plan so far. But the weekend is coming and I always lose it. But I have saved my 2000 calories for the weekend and have been very careful this week.

Toastedsmoke your fast day meal sounds awesome. Congrats on the weight loss. You are really doing great. I can't believe how late you work is that normal for you?

Hi everyone. I'm new to this thread, but I'm excited to start losing again.

In April I was down to 259 lbs from a high of 290 lbs. Unfortunately, I just stopped working out and eating healthy. I lost my motivation.

Cue to October, I step on the scale and I'm shocked when I see 293 lbs! I was now bigger than when I was when I first started in January. I was upset, and I knew I couldn't let myself get to 300 lbs. I started watching my portions and going to the gym, and as of yesterday I'm now on the healthy eating train again. I'm now down 8 lbs.

But unfortunately, I still have a ways to go before I'm anywhere near where I was 6 months ago.

Hi all!

I'm new here and lost 100 pounds in 2008. I regained 70 after an accident and a very long recovery. It took a long time to find my motivation to get back to being healthy, but this week, it finally clicked. With help from all of you, I know I can do this a second time!

Welcome Dolphin9006 and Kendrabear. Glad to see you.

We have all been in your spot and now you are on the same road as we are. Just post daily your progress and we all help each other. Good luck and have a great on plan day.

Hey Dolphin9006 and Kendrabear, welcome! It's tough to pick yourself up and recover old ground but congrats on the decision. Kendrabear congrats on your progress so far!!! Stick around guys, join our little challenge maybe, you don't have to do the 5:2 with us, but set a goal for November 14 and let's work towards that together.

LoseToAll: Yayyy on being 5.5 lbs down already!!! Wooohoooo girl!!!!!! That's amazing! I'm liking the 5:2 so far. I don't know if it's specifically the plan itself or if it's just enjoying being back on such a regimented plan. It seems like I don't do well with losing weight without following specific calorie rules. I don't work late hours all the time. Usually I try to leave before 7pm. We're in production right now which makes it a little difficult to leave early.

The past couple of days have been alright calorie wise. My 2nd fast day on Thursday went pretty well and I've done okay, not great, but okay with calories for Friday and today especially considering I've pulled pretty intense workouts the past 2 days. My runs have been going pretty well so I'm excited about that. I'm looking forward to weighing in tomorrow/Monday to see my 1st weeks progress and also looking forward to the rest of the experiment! Go Us!!!

Calories, calories, calories. Had pizza and over indulged but then skipped dinner to make up for it. Fast day tomorrow it is all planned out with food. Best layed plans but I am determined.

Have a great night.

Here I am, dragging my sorry backside back here. I have had some difficulty in the last few weeks and I ate too much. I'm back to 311 lbs., as of yesterday morning.

I have been really trying hard to cut calories. I'm just not succeeding very well. I. Get. HUNGRY! I make a poor choice in a moment of indulgence. And the next thing I know, I'm over budget with my calories.

Today, it was sweet potato fries at lunch and rice at dinner. I hadn't planned to eat them, but nevertheless, I did. And I went over on TDEE by nearly 135 calories, and over what I intended to eat by 505 calories. I'm very frustrated with my inability to cut calories below 2400. Yes, I'm tall. Yes, I have a lot of lean mass. Yes, I workout a lot. But I'm not losing fat!

Okay, enough self pity. I'm going to bed and tomorrow is a new day.

Geoblewis. I feel your pain. I lose control and before I know it I have eaten a half a casserole or gone over 1000 calories.

I am in a good place right now. But I get off so easy and before I know it I am up 40 lbs. 40 lbs!!! And I wasn't at my goal. I have changed my goal to 200 and I feel good with it. Then I will reassess my goals.

It is a fast day today. Limiting calories to 500 for the day. I am just staying with fruits and veggies today. Had banana and squash for breakfast. Very good.

Well have a great OP day.

Lose, I'm planning a fast for tomorrow. I haven't been able to pull one off for weeks. Made several attempts at it, but lack of sleep seems to kill my commitment.

Today, I had planned for 1650 calories. I have 154 calories left for dinner, which is about three hours from now. I'm planning to have some vegetables, I guess. Broccoli and cauliflower, steamed and dressed with a little olive oil.

I thought I could find some form of "maintenance" in the form of maintaining a lifestyle and choices that would keep me losing weight. Since I started my weight loss journey, I've slowly cut things from my diet, ended behaviors, replaced them with sound practices and exercise. I lost 50+ lbs. that way. But now I'm hitting the hard stuff. Actually cutting how much I eat.

My body is accustomed to eating more. I like feeling full-ish. I feel "normal" with elevated blood sugar levels. Not good! When I cut calories enough and get my blood sugar levels down to a good normal range, I "feel" hypoglycemic! I have read that it may take weeks and weeks for my body to get used to the right blood sugar levels. So I just have to muscle through it all and ignore how I feel. I've been in the middle of the hypo-like times, tested my blood sugar, and have seen that it is definitely in the normal range. So I guess when I doubt myself, I should test my blood sugar to remind me that I'm not really hypoglycemic.

Geoblewis. I know how you feel. Deprivation does not go over well on my psyche. It messes with my mood.

Eating less is hard but your stomach will shrink if you keep at it. Then you will not be so hungry. Plus eating more veggies can fill you up too.

My fast went well today but I am planning for tomorrows food already. It is 7:00 pm and I want to go to bed to get away from the kitchen and food. But I am excited to weigh in the morning.

Well have a good night.

geoblewis: I totally get where you're coming from. I've had perfect on-plan days only to blow them at the end with cake (my favourite food group) or half a roast chicken or second helpings of whatever. And I know how bad those moments are because I still log my bad days. It's really tough. I like to be full enough after eating to feel full, but then at the same time, I hate how uncomfortable and bloated it makes me feel. It's really hard to find the balance so I definitely feel your pain. On the bright side, you're here and that's a first step. I feel bad saying it, but I always do better when I'm getting my hand held here on 3FC then when I try to go it alone. We get you and know you will succeed!

LoseToAll: Heyyy! yay on your fast going well! I've had some over-indulgey days as well, but they seem to be balancing out on the scale thanks to the two fast days and maybe the extra exercise I've been trying to get in. How did the weigh in go, how did the weigh in go?

Sunday was a bust food-wise, but I had a pretty alright fast yesterday. I actually kind of enjoy the discipline of fast days. I think it makes me a little more disciplined in other areas of my life as well, somehow and it makes me firmer with myself with what goes in my mouth and saying no to treats. I'm a little more lax on non-fast days somehow when I have more calories to play with. There IS only so much you can do with 500 calories. I'm going to put my week 1 update below to share my progress etc this first week of our challenge.

Okay so my goals were:
1.) 2 fast days a week of no more than 500 calories per day.- SUCCEDED
2.) 5 days a week of "normal" eating (1 day at 1200, 1 day at 2000 and 3 days at 1500 calories). ERRR... ABOUT THAT... THIS DIDN'T HAPPEN. I ate maybe 1800-2000 calories on my "normal" days
3.) Workout AT LEAST 3 times a week. OVERACHIEVER ALERT- Worked out 4 times in the week

And my stats after week 1 were:
SW: 182 (flight-related water weight but still OMgoodness!!!)- 14th Oct. 2013
CW: 176 (21st October 2013) (- 6 lbs)
GW: 170 - 14th Nov. 2013

So I'm pleased with the week 1 whoosh after months of packing it on. It's still quite a bit above where I was a few months ago but it's movement in the right direction AND it happened during TOM which is unheard of, so yay!!! I've dropped even lower this morning (to 174.5) after yesterday's fast but I'm not counting that for week 1. Week 2 may be less dramatic in weight loss since I'm not moving from 3000+ calories to sane eating this week but I'm still super pumped for it!

5:2 fast diet update.

Week one
242
237.5
That's 4.5
Exercised 3 days
Ate okay on non-fast days
Fasted 2 days 500 calories

Excellent outcome plus I am down to 234.5 as of this morning after fast day yesterday. That is halfway to my goal of 230 for the month goal.

Toastedsmoke. I am with you, the fast days are giving me clarity. And I am less hungry on non-fast days. I am still counting calories so I am accountable but 500 calories is working for me.

I am having rice pudding tonight so I am saving my calories so I can be on goal with calories for the day.

Excellent progress I think.

Awww

You two (Lose and Toasted) are just what I needed today! Thank you so much for the support. Yes, I always love having my hand held here at 3FC. In fact, I have several places I go to for support. Can't seem to accomplish any of this work on my own.

Today I found a very interesting article about a very Zen way to stop overeating. Just thought I'd share it. I'm going to try it. The article (and other sources) say it works after about 20 meals. So, since I'm currently fasting till tomorrow morning, and I try to eat only twice a day, should be over this overeating thing in 10 days...we'll see!