5:2 Thread 94 : Its a New Year, a New Day and we're feeling GOOD

[ListeningQuietly]

Welcome to the latest edition - 94,000 posts done and we are still here (just with less Chocolate Frenzy)

Links to lots of the ~ scientific information ~ hints and tips ~ abbreviations and terminology ~ are in the header of the last thread here
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/fasting_diet/4057993-5-2-Thread-number-93-Drive-in-the-fasting-lane-to-goal

But basically :
If you are new to fasting / 5:2 ~ welcome, introduce yourself and join in
If you are returning to 5:2 ~ welcome back
If you are a long standing Faster ~ great to see you still here

Kitchen closed on 741. Higher than normal but came on today so was hard going! Cycle all over the place, think it's my age!!!

Total for the 2 days 1285 so that will do. Not expecting to see a loss on the scales due to the time of the month but good fast days are never wasted right?!

We are having our pancake day tomorrow so am looking forward to some yummy pancakes with berries and maple syrup for brekkie!

Since restarting 5:2 last week I’ve tried to do 2-3 days fasting the other weekdays within TDEE but not worry about the weekend. Today was a TDEE day and came in 100calories under but I’m stuffed and realising how many cookies I must stuff into my fat little face in the evenings because I’m eating as normal during the day

FD tomorrow

Calories not cookies!

@KobaniDaughters I felt the same. Was totally full last night on 1300. Happy sedentary TDEE is 1450ish. I’d had lots of water and put it down to that . My stomach must’ve shrunk already because I’m not finder this hard at all. All those mindless extra portions and nibbles add up.

• finding

Thank you for all the kindness....I’m cross with myself (which is unhelpful) so it has helped to step back and remember that it’s ok to find things hard sometimes. I’ve take a couple of days off for half term and havent quite worked out how to fit in my next FD - today we’re doing some kind of walking treasure hunt in the rain, so probably not a FD, but will see how it goes. It’s hard with teenage girls: they are quite sensitive to me not eating, and I have always tried really hard not to talk about diets, or being fat (or thin!) or anything like that in front of them, but to stick to a narrative of eating healthily, making good choices, and lots of exercise. Unfortunately that makes fasting a bit more difficult when we are spending the whole day together!

With you in that @Fillybuster. I mentioned it up thread. One DD is at uni so just the 17 yr old here. She found me measuring porridge oats the other day so we had a chat and I explained that at my age that don’t need so much and a bit of winter weight has crept on. She was ok about it and we did as op suggested and worked out our TDEE. Hers was higher as she’s young and works out even though she’s shorter! DH’s was loads as he is very tall and very active. It was good to look at it in those terms, more factual rather than emotional. We didn’t get into fasting as we only eat together at night so she hasn’t noticed. I feel for young girls. Luckily mine are into healthy eating not dieting and they don’t need to be encouraged to walk , run or exercise at home.

Another lb off which leaves me 2lb or .7kg off my next target weight... so close! DH wants to try a new pizza place tonight so I think I'm just going to have fruit for lunch so I stay within touching distance of my TDEE

Well done @harriethoyle. Another maintain for me, but with time of the month, and all the other stuff I'll take that.

Today's plan is:
Brekkie :- Pancakes with raspberries and maple syrup
Lunch :- salad with sweet chilli noodle
Dinner - veggie sausage pasta bake

Allowing for an apple and a chocolate bar during the day will bring me in at 1562 about 100 under TDEE

You're right to be careful around your sons and daughters, you sound like you are doing the right thing. I was slightly overweight as a child and got sometimes teased at school, but the worst was comments from people in my own family. Not my parents but other relatives. These words hurt me very deeply. Then when was i was about 17 i went on a diet and was monitored by a dietitian. I lost about 10 kilos and finally felt at ease with my body. I was fine for a couple of years, and unfortunately I became anorexic when i left for uni and was on my own, with no one to keep an eye on me. I was so lucky to pull through, i know i will never go again to that dark place. It's different for each person, but I know deep down that my illness was partly caused by the comments i heard about my weight as a child. It's so important to promote a healthy body image, healthy eating habits and make exercise part of life, not a chore.

Anyway, now on my second FD of the week. Hubby prepared a yummy ratatouille in the slow cooker 😋

A good way to eat less but healthily is to focus on micronutrients
MFP is great for that as you can look at your weekly summary
and see that you need more green veg or more dairy or whatever

but using TDEE to show that teenagers need more calories than their Mum is an easy way for you to constructively eat different food from them one meal a day

@Lilice so sorry you went through the trauma of having an ED, and def agree with you that comments as a child must have lodged themselves to make it part of the problem.

My DS is 12 and my DD is 9 and I’ve always been so conscious about not making food an issue or a battle or talking about weight - I struggle to remember not to talk about my own body around them as it’s so ingrained to be unhappy with how I look even I know really I’m not fat. DH and I work out with and in front of them and talk about healthy diets and listening to your body and what it needs a lot but it still worries me so I def don’t make a thing of fasting around them either. A bit easier as they’re smaller though and DD has very particular food preferences so she’s used to having different stuff to the rest of us

I'm very mindful of not fasting or talking about diets or my weight in front of DSDs but it's obviously a lot easier to do this in my casesas they're not here full time. I always do fast days when they're with their mother.

FD today and stupidly didn’t Pre plan. I’m making African peanut stew for dinner but not sure how many calories it will be yet so not sure how many I have available for lunch, such poor planning!

Managed it! Closing the kitchen at 469 calories - feeling full now but it’s only 6:30pm so will have an early night I think.

Have prepped some overnight oats in my favourite cashew yoghurt for my lunch tomorrow as a treat to look forward to

My DD is only 8, and she knows I fast. I haven't really explained why, it's just all she's ever known. But I am conscious of not speaking about my weight in front of her.

Morning all. @ginsparkles it’s when they get to teenagers and are self conscious of their changing shape that it can become a sensitive topic.
Second FD today. I’m down 0.8lb this week so 4.8lbs total so far. I’m feeling great and strong which I’m pleased about as I’m home this week. Been getting in 10,000 steps most days as I’ve had the time and not a great deal else to do. I bought some Polish beetroot soup mix for lunch (40 cals) and planning an omelette tonight. The water is working op !

I’m glad so many of you understand what I meant about managing the conversations with kids - thank you! It’s a big thing for me, because I grew up in a household where my mother was always on one fad diet or another (I can remember the Cambridge & the grapefruit diet plans being stuck to our fridge when I was very little), and she would make a big thing about making herself completely different food to the rest of us (annoyingly, it usually looks far nicer too!), as well as talking openly about her diets and how much she disliked her body, or being fat, or thin, in front of me and my sister. We are both now in our mid 40s: we both internalised a whole load of really unhealthy behaviours and attitudes that have taken us years to shift (anyone else watch their mum chew chocolates then spit them out, so as to enjoy them without the calories?!). So I’m working really hard on the strong, healthy body messaging with my dcs. I’ve banned all body talk in front of them (you know, the “you’re looking lovely and thin” type comments that pass for compliments in my wider family, since they were born, and I work out in front of them, and encourage them to be active and sporty and proud of their physical achievements.
Mostly, that’s working fairly well, but I am even more sensitive to it now that my 2 girls especially are in their early teens. Both are quite aware that they are less skinny than some of their friends (natural shape in my family, they will grow out of it), and I’m determined to protect them as much as possible.
But it does make fasting much harder when they are around, even more when I’m off work during half term so they notice if I’m not eating with them!

Interestingly DH has pointed out we will have the opposite problem with DS as they are both super skinny and DH was teased horribly as a teen - both mine are leggy and thin at the moment but I was never a chubby teen and STILL have body confidence issues because society is shit.

In my house we were constantly told to always eat all our food because there were children starving in Africa which means I’m a secret binge eater now and tie food up with guilt - there are so many potential issues around food and growing children!!!

Glad the water is working Benji

And YYY to the differences in body shape and accepting that
not everybody can be slim
but everybody can aim for lean

A friend of mine is a very successful model.
Tall and willowy and super slim
and eats ASTOUNDING amounts of food I've known her all her life
but
she is veggie and never snacks

The main thing for all of us is to eat a mixed diet with lots of veg
and not focus on weight loss
hence why I NEVER refer to targets
but always happy weight

Well said op! Kitchen closed on just under 500. Will have a herbal tea later. I’m realising that a lot of my eating is just out of habit and social cues. Today I didn’t eat anything apart from carrott and lettuce until 6pm, I walked with the dog for an hour and a half in the sunshine around a lake and felt full of energy. If I’d have thought I was going to eat, I’d have got hungry. It’s quite revealing.

I’m going to try the glass of water while cooking trick - did it yesterday and it worked a treat, forgot today and ended up snacking and now stuffed because I still ate a full portion of dinner

JUST within TDEE for today though, have planned out tomorrow’s fast day in advance

Morning all. Small weight loss this week, .3 of a kilo but happy with that. I looked back at some stats and I am the lightest I have been for years. I would love to lose another 2 kilos but not sure how realisitic this is for me and how I would look. Will aim for another kilo over a few weeks and see.
I am finding that my tdee seems like quite a lot of food now which i never did before and i am eating much more healthier.
Going to try an up my water intake , i am not great at water.
Quick question, mfp seems to show little calcium in skimmed milk, i googled and it seemed to be quite good for calcium so i hope mfp is wrong or i will have to up my calcium.
Good luck fasters.

Morning all. I delighted as after my second FD this week I’ve lost just under another 2lb!!! What’s definitely working for me is happy sedentary on NFD and 8k steps per day at least. I agree my TDEE seems plenty on nfd. In the week I average 1300 but feel full. I go up to 1500 at the weekend with wine.

@Humphriescushion I drink skimmed milk, always have as I dislike the taste of milk. My understanding is that the calcium is no lower, just the fat content. Weirdly I do like full fat Greek yoghurt and cheese so probably get my calcium there.
Last night I made a simple chicken casserole which was very filling and about 350 cals so I had a small spoon of mash with it. Nice to eat normal family meals on FDs.