5:2 diet

[Bann]

never got so sick of meal bars and shakes like I did

Menopause hit me like a truck... now that I am feeling so much better the past month or so...

I've been doing some form of aerobic/cardio exercise my whole adult life. Dancercise, Jazzercise, etc. I didn't regularly work out after I had kids in my 30's, but I had kids and they kept me active! In 1999, I discovered that I was HYPOthyroid, and was put on synthroid. I had gained about 20lbs more than normal for me, over time. I started doing low-carb. I also quit smoking in July 2000 and to counteract all the repercussions of doing THAT, I started exercising *regularly*. I rode a bicycle 7 miles a day nearly every day after the kids were on the bus. I also started taking another Jazzercise class a couple of times a week. When I moved here in 2005, I was quite fit and trim. Did my own thing of low carbing druing the week and eating whatever else I wanted on the weekends. My weight didn't fluctuate that much. I rarely ate out because I was a single mom with the 2 boys and no "RL" social life except for school events and activities.

Then when I met more peeps and then started dating, I started going out more (hello, FridayNighters!! :waving and eating out more & even "taking out" more. The weight crept up and of course, menopause. I was STILL WORKING OUT 3-5 days a week! Cardio Spin Classes 3X and a cardio weight class 2X. Couldn't EVER lose more than 5 lbs. But I wanted to lose more .

I was doing the same low carb during the week and what I wanted on the weekends, and using bars, shakes - nothing made a difference. THEN, last March, I decided to quit all the FAKE foods, and started eating everything. I didn't eliminate any food groups. I ate balanced, PORTION controlled meals every day. 3 X a day and 2 snacks. I kept it to about 1200 calories. According to the doctor at my physical in February, I lost 20 lbs! I was only trying to lose "that last 10". But I have also kept it off all the way from last year.

However, I do eat a lot of grilled chicken and salads for my every day lunch and dinners. On the weekends, I eat other things and just try to eat more fruit and veggies. I also drink a gallon of water every day. MORE when I take Spin class 3X a week.

For me - it was portion control and REAL food. As near to the original form that you can get. The body processess real food the right way.

I do still eat the goodies. I just keep them on the FEWER side. I save my calories for the realllly good things. Like margaritas on the weekend.

This is just my experience - as usual - YMMV.

 

[vraiblonde]

I save my calories for the realllly good things.

Unfortunately, with traveling full time, EVERYTHING is really good.

Fortunately, it does get old. (The eating, not the traveling.)

 

[Hannibal]

I won't preach on as a health instructor but I've been in good shape, then bad shape and now I am working on getting back to good shape (in my early 40's). I went from very active in my early 20's to sitting behind a desk to kids in my 30's to the soul crushing darkness of 40 years old and 75# too many. Following a terrible bout of bronchitis and pneumonia that had me panicked to breathe at some points, I committed to improving my health/weight. As I was recovering, I did a lot of research and spent a lot of time with a health coach and came to the realization that taking the weight off would not be fast and it would not be easy. Best I could conclude was that weight loss was simply a product of burning off more calories (metabolism/exercise) than consuming. You simply needed to create a caloric deficit. Quite simply in fact.

Key is knowing what you're working with and what you're doing. You can find plenty of info on how to determine your resting metabolic rate (what you burn off each day doing what you normally do). This is your baseline. Then you need to track what you do to influence it. For me, it was tracking my food. It's a PITA but an eye opener on what things have in them. You quickly learn to choose better foods or more filling options relative to the calories. IE - you can eat a f&ck ton of salad and veggies for the same calories as pudding cup. You come up with options.

I then made the investment of a Fitbit (Blaze). This does all kinds of things for me. Heartrate is a big one - especially my resting rate which improves with general health improvement. It also helps me track caloric output during exercise and records this information for reference. It tracks your sleep (and quality) which is eye opening. It records running information via GPS so I can track if my times/paces are improving (I want to run a 5K at the end of the summer). It's a huge tool that I cannot endorse enough for someone getting into the exercise bug.

All in all, I am down 40 lbs (approx.) from my heaviest but in general, I am much improved. I can definitely tell in my clothes and physique. My strength is greatly improved. My lungs are much happier and my recovery time between high intensity activities is fantastic. Where I was once winded climbing two flights of stairs, I can knock out two miles in under 20 minutes.

Again, it's calories in vs calories out. Simple as that. Keep track of your progress and set small goals (5lbs or 30 minutes of excercise without stopping, etc). Every success will serve as motivation for the next goal. It's contagious.

 

[Bann]

Unfortunately, with traveling full time, EVERYTHING is really good.

Fortunately, it does get old. (The eating, not the traveling.)

I know, right?! I am gonna have to careful!

 

[Dakota]

When you fasted every other day, did you stick to 500 calories or less on fast days? I may try this for a bit.

I did Medifast 8 years ago. It really worked but I don't know how I did it and could never do it again. I lost 90ish pounds in 8 months.

Yes... I always stayed within 500 calories. I tried not eating on fasting days and just couldn't do it. In fact, when I jumped to Medifast, the weight loss was slow and Medifast is expensive.

google Alternate-day fasting and you will find all sorts of positive feedback and research on it.

 

[Dakota]

I've been doing some form of aerobic/cardio exercise my whole adult life. Dancercise, Jazzercise, etc. I didn't regularly work out after I had kids in my 30's, but I had kids and they kept me active! In 1999, I discovered that I was HYPOthyroid, and was put on synthroid. I had gained about 20lbs more than normal for me, over time. I started doing low-carb. I also quit smoking in July 2000 and to counteract all the repercussions of doing THAT, I started exercising *regularly*. I rode a bicycle 7 miles a day nearly every day after the kids were on the bus. I also started taking another Jazzercise class a couple of times a week. When I moved here in 2005, I was quite fit and trim. Did my own thing of low carbing druing the week and eating whatever else I wanted on the weekends. My weight didn't fluctuate that much. I rarely ate out because I was a single mom with the 2 boys and no "RL" social life except for school events and activities.

Then when I met more peeps and then started dating, I started going out more (hello, FridayNighters!! :waving and eating out more & even "taking out" more. The weight crept up and of course, menopause. I was STILL WORKING OUT 3-5 days a week! Cardio Spin Classes 3X and a cardio weight class 2X. Couldn't EVER lose more than 5 lbs. But I wanted to lose more .

I was doing the same low carb during the week and what I wanted on the weekends, and using bars, shakes - nothing made a difference. THEN, last March, I decided to quit all the FAKE foods, and started eating everything. I didn't eliminate any food groups. I ate balanced, PORTION controlled meals every day. 3 X a day and 2 snacks. I kept it to about 1200 calories. According to the doctor at my physical in February, I lost 20 lbs! I was only trying to lose "that last 10". But I have also kept it off all the way from last year.

However, I do eat a lot of grilled chicken and salads for my every day lunch and dinners. On the weekends, I eat other things and just try to eat more fruit and veggies. I also drink a gallon of water every day. MORE when I take Spin class 3X a week.

For me - it was portion control and REAL food. As near to the original form that you can get. The body processess real food the right way.

I do still eat the goodies. I just keep them on the FEWER side. I save my calories for the realllly good things. Like margaritas on the weekend.

This is just my experience - as usual - YMMV.

Excellent

I had a gym membership close to my house. All these meatballs on sticks are grunting loudly while dead lifting weights slapping each other high 5's. They all seemed to work out their arms but never their legs. It was every single night and distracting. Finally I asked when older, ummm, people like me go and they said before 9 a.m. really? I didn't renew.

I did a drive-by at Planet Fitness and that looked to be a mixed age range so I am considering that. If anyone is a member in California, I'd be interested in hearing some feedback. *hint hint*

Also thanks for the recipe - I am so gonna make it this weekend.

 

[Dakota]

BTW kalmd,

I dropped 35 lbs. on Alternate-day fasting fairly quickly, like 2 months and another 15-20 on Medifast but that took like 6 months. What was crazy is I was running something like 20-25 miles per week with that slow weight loss & using a Total Gym. I would have been better off at that time transitioning to the 4 hour body way of eating. I tore a calf muscle, grade 3 and had some ligament damage in my ankle after a fall in my garden... My fricken garden.

I think we are so hard on ourselves when we have a set back and I am no exception. I let that ankle injury end my progress about 3 years ago. Now I have to get back to where I was and that isn't easy at my age to start over.

I also sit on my ass all day at the office

 

[Bann]

Excellent

I had a gym membership close to my house. All these meatballs on sticks are grunting loudly while dead lifting weights slapping each other high 5's. They all seemed to work out their arms but never their legs. It was every single night and distracting. Finally I asked when older, ummm, people like me go and they said before 9 a.m. really? I didn't renew.

I did a drive-by at Planet Fitness and that looked to be a mixed age range so I am considering that. If anyone is a member in California, I'd be interested in hearing some feedback. *hint hint*

Also thanks for the recipe - I am so gonna make it this weekend.

It's a great recipe!
Power walking is very good cardio, if you don't want to go to the gym! Also, I forgot to mention that I started taking Yoga about 2-1/2 years ago. I LOVE Yoga! It's one of the best things I've every done and I wish I'd started it yearssssss ago! I'm not into the new age, incense burning and chanting Yoga. Just regular Yoga - bearing your own body weight, stretching and a very calm, relaxing 1 hour is what I do. I don't go to the gym to workout, except for the Spin Class I take. They turn the lights down and you don't have to look at or talk to anyone if you don't wanna. (and I don't wanna at 0' dark thirty!) I take Yoga someplace different than the gym, also.

In order to add variation to the workouts I do, we started going on day hikes on local trails in Calvert. Or we drive to a trail somewhere up the road - there are parks scattered all over that have mountainous trails. Especially on the Applachian Trail. It's really great exercise and we go on a Sunday when we can be gone about 4 or 5 hours. Then we have a late lunch or early dinner. It's a great way to kick your routine up a bit. (y)

Good luck!

 

[kalmd]

Excellent

I had a gym membership close to my house. All these meatballs on sticks are grunting loudly while dead lifting weights slapping each other high 5's. They all seemed to work out their arms but never their legs. It was every single night and distracting. Finally I asked when older, ummm, people like me go and they said before 9 a.m. really? I didn't renew.

I did a drive-by at Planet Fitness and that looked to be a mixed age range so I am considering that. If anyone is a member in California, I'd be interested in hearing some feedback. *hint hint*

Also thanks for the recipe - I am so gonna make it this weekend.

Hubby and I go to PF in California (I'm 45, he's 51 - he's much more in shape than I am ). We've been going since they opened in January. It really is a mixture of people who go there. There are some of the gym rats but also older and more out of shape people. My hubby's friend, who is a wanna-be personal trainer, went with him and brought a gallon water jug. The staff told him he couldn't bring it anymore. He also got scolded for dropping weights. The staff does enforce their no gym intimidation policy. They try to make it so the everyday person is comfortable there. You can always sign up for the $10 per month and quit before the annual fee if you wanna try it out.

 

[kalmd]

Yes... I always stayed within 500 calories. I tried not eating on fasting days and just couldn't do it. In fact, when I jumped to Medifast, the weight loss was slow and Medifast is expensive.

google Alternate-day fasting and you will find all sorts of positive feedback and research on it.

Medifast worked great for me, but like you said it is expensive and I dont' I have the willpower to try it again. Right now I'm doing keto/lo-carb hybrid. It's been about 7 weeks and I've lost 21 pounds.

 

[vraiblonde]

I'm not sure why I eat things that I know I'm going to regret later. Yesterday we went down to the Pier and I thought I need an ice cream cone. There are not one but two of those crazy milkshake places where they're filled with all kinds of stuff and look like art. So we go into one of them and instead of my cone I got a waffle sundae with two scoops and some goober on top. It was ridiculous and not worth the calories or sugar crash, but I ate it anyway. Kind of like how I know that drinking three beers will make me sick the next day, but I do it anyway. But at least I really enjoy the beers - the ice cream not so much. The first two bites were delicious, and it went downhill from there.

Fortunately today is a fasting day so I can detox from that terrible sundae.

 

[vraiblonde]

So I just had the most amazing canned soup. Campbell's Home Style Light Chicken Noodle. I gave it a splash of rice vinegar and a small drizzle of Chinese hot oil, and it was not only quite tasty but I can eat the whole can for 150 cals. It was surprisingly hearty and filling, so I'ma make it my go-to on fasting days.

 

[Dakota]

I have a recipe that is a hybrid of Vrai's and my sister's for a Sausage Lentil Soup. It is AWWWWWESOME!

Chorizo will be really good with it!

Sausage Lentil Soup

1 lb-ish of hot Italian sausage 1 tsp. salt
1 small onion, chopped 2 tsp. black pepper
3 cloves of garlic, chopped 1 tsp cayenne
2 carrots, chopped 2 tsp oregano
2 stalks of celery, chopped 2 tsp basil
3 cans of chicken broth 2 tsp thyme
2 cans of diced tomatoes OR 1 Tbsp parsley
substitute 1 can Rotel
2 cups dried lentils

Squeeze the sausage out of its casing (if it's links), brown and chop in decent sized chunks, but not too big. Drain the fat if there's a lot, otherwise a little fat never hurt anyone. Then dump everything else in the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour.



Serve this with a really good whole grain bakery bread. (Giant bakery, Safeway bakery, etc)

I made this using 1/2 can of Rotel and not including the carrots (not slow carb friendly) and it is fantastic. :yummy:

I am a little surprised that by low/slow carbing I have dropped 6 lbs. in 10 days even after my 1st cheat day. And, on my cheat day, I ate absolute garbage. I loved it!!

My husband and I went to Harris Teeter for the 1st time and found organic red lentils. It is normal for these to completely dissolve?

 

[vraiblonde]

What happens, strangely enough, when you do two 500 calorie days a week is you lose your appetite. Today I had a bowl of soup at 10am, then at 5 I was hungry so I had three slices of deli ham wrapped around pickle slices. Before bed I'll have a couple of seed crackers so my stomach isn't empty, and that will be enough for the day. Not that I won't hit up the taco place on Friday - I definitely will - but it's not something that's consuming me like it did the first week.

 

[SamSpade]

Back in the 80's, I used to do something more drastic - starve for a week - and then eat for a week.
I actually lost an enormous amount of weight, not the least reason being that I worked outside all summer in the heat.
At my lowest I was around 169, which is extremely thin for my height and size. Looking at pictures of myself - it's scary.

I'm convinced that that was very unhealthy and at the time, I just liked the results.
The downside was, I typically was constipated the entire fasting week - until it ended.
Then I had what I called the monster #### - a very unpleasant experience.

 

[SamSpade]

What happens, strangely enough, when you do two 500 calorie days a week is you lose your appetite. .

In my previous post - yeah, noticed that. A day or so, hungry. After that, really didn't care much. It was easier to keep going once I started so long as I had fluids and SOME calories.

 

[vraiblonde]

I've seen a noticeable difference in the few weeks since I started this. It seems to be a good kickstart to better eating and portion control in general. Interesting article about where fat goes when you lose it:

https://www.npr.org/sections/health...1/when-you-burn-off-that-fat-where-does-it-go

TLDR: You exhale it.

Yes, we exhale lost fat. There it helps plants photosynthesize (if you're feeling noble) and contributes to global warming (if you're feeling guilty).

 

[vraiblonde]

I've lost an effortless pants size. The commitment to 2 days a week is easy and I actually find myself looking forward to it. Going a full month, or week, or few minutes, restricting calories and watching other people eat just isn't something I'm going to stick to. I know people who almost never eat anything other than salads and grilled chicken to keep trim, but I'm not going to do that. I want a steak and I want tacos and I want corn on the cob and I want pizza, and I want it more than one day a week and I don't want to feel guilty about it.

Fasting days feel good, and I'm thinking about adding another one. Like, if I went Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. I probably won't do that because I'm seeing the results I want with just Monday and Thursday.

I hate to say it after the way I've busted on canned soup in the past, but Campbell's Light soups were born for fasting days. They're vile on their own but with a splash of rice vinegar and a drizzle of hot oil, they are quite tasty. You can indeed get full on 200 calories, but that's not why most of us eat anyway - to get full. We eat because it tastes good and gives us pleasure, which is where steak and pizza come into play.

 

[Bann]

I've lost an effortless pants size. The commitment to 2 days a week is easy and I actually find myself looking forward to it. Going a full month, or week, or few minutes, restricting calories and watching other people eat just isn't something I'm going to stick to. I know people who almost never eat anything other than salads and grilled chicken to keep trim, but I'm not going to do that. I want a steak and I want tacos and I want corn on the cob and I want pizza, and I want it more than one day a week and I don't want to feel guilty about it.

Like me?!

I definitely do eat a lot of salads and grilled chicken at lunches and dinners, as my "go to" meals most of the time, but I really like them, too.

Ever since I started not eliminating food groups, I have felt better, and I don't really eat that many calories a day, because I'm full faster and it lasts longer. I make room for other foods, too, though. Like on our vacation to see you guys - I ate out way more than I normally do - but the foods I chose were not foods that caused me to overeat and then feel miserably full. (because of my way of eating now, I just DON'T eat as much food anymore.)

We even made room for a frozen yogurt, ice cream or cupcake or two. (Or margarita or 3! ) The scales only tipped about 2-3 lbs when I got back, which is probably water weight. Even if it isn't - a few pounds was totally worth having those Brisket Tacos at Muy Wayne-o's or the Grapefruit Margaritas at Sharkey's. And the pizza by the slice we tried in 3 places, and the slice of Cherry-0 cream cheese pie Foxhound's mom made him...

Fasting days feel good, and I'm thinking about adding another one. Like, if I went Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. I probably won't do that because I'm seeing the results I want with just Monday and Thursday.

I hate to say it after the way I've busted on canned soup in the past, but Campbell's Light soups were born for fasting days. They're vile on their own but with a splash of rice vinegar and a drizzle of hot oil, they are quite tasty. You can indeed get full on 200 calories, but that's not why most of us eat anyway - to get full. We eat because it tastes good and gives us pleasure, which is where steak and pizza come into play.

Conga-rats on losing another pant size!

 

[vraiblonde]

Like me?!

I was thinking about someone else, but yeah, you too.

And while I admire your svelte figure, I admire a grilled ribeye and corn on the cob more.