Week 15 - Slowly Losin'

It's Week 15 of our 5:2 Diet. It's not really of an adventure anymore. We're sort of seasoned pros at this and each fasting day is a mountain we've climbed before and can climb again.

I thought I'd give you an update of our stats. Truth be told, Mike and I have hit a number of plateaus. I've been going through one for the past 3 weeks and then today, BAM!, I saw a gorgeous 115.4 lbs. on the scale. Nonetheless, we're proud of the progress we've been making.  5:2 is a lot easier than *actually* dieting and we'll be satisfied with slow gains as long as we have five days of just enjoying food at leisure.

So, without further ado - Let's do the numbers!

Mike:

ORIGINAL --- TODAY

Neck: 18 inches --- 17 inches (-1)

Abdomen: 44 inches --- 42.5 inches (-1.5)

Body Fat %: ??? --- 29.7

Weight:: 246 lbs --- 229.8 lbs. (-16.2)

BMI: 29.9 --- 28.0 (-1.9)

Lori:

ORIGINAL --- TODAY

Neck: 12 inches --- 11.8 inches (-0.2)

Waist: 27.5 inches --- 26 inches (-1.5)

Hips: 40.5 inches --- 38 inches (-2.5)

Body Fat %: 32.53 --- 31.7 

Weight: 134 lbs. --- 115.4 lbs. (-18.6)

BMI: 25.3 --- 23.3 (-2.0)

Looking at the numbers, you can see that our weight loss is pretty impressive. Unfortunately, there's only a little to show as to where we've actually lost the weight. Yes, we've lost some inches. I wonder - how much does an inch of fat loss around the waist weigh? Numbers not shown here show that I've lost some weight in my arms and about 2 inches around my thighs.

Mike has started working out at the gym. He's learned that fasting while exercising is less than enjoyable.

I start grad school in a few weeks. I'm worried I will not be able to keep the weight loss going, because I'll be eating out more. Sure, it sounds easy to just "pack a lunch" but I know myself. Lori + Stressed = FOOD! Well, we'll see if 5:2 can keep up soon enough.

Week 10 Check-in

Week 10 -

Well, this adventure was only going to last 5 weeks, but the 5:2 diet is too good to desert. As of today, I have lost 14 lbs and I'm only ONE pound away from my goal weight (115 lbs). It's pretty incredible to think I've lost all this weight just by eating what I want 5 days a week and limiting calorie intake 2 days a week. It's almost sinfully easy.

I am changing my goal weight, though. So, I weighed 115 at the end of my senior year of high school. And that was fine, but I didn't necessarily eat well in high school. I lived on a diet of peanut butter bars and Tastycakes for lunch...and I ate a considerable amount of pizza and cheese fries when I hung out with my friends. So, while 115 is a nice number, I think I can do better. 105 lbs. is a safe, healthy weight for someone my height and body structure, too. Once I hit 105, I will be content to begin 5:2 maintenance (only fasting 1 day per week to maintain my current weight).

A lot of my clothes don't fit me anymore. Thankfully, I'm usually at my lowest weight of the year during the summer, so my summer wardrobe has some clothes that fit me well. However, I've had to give up on the shorts I bought last summer since they are ENORMOUS on me now. They hang at a weird spot on my hips because the waist is too wide now and there's so much extra room in the front that the fabric bunches up. The other day, I had to dig out my size 4 shorts that I bought ages ago. Size 8 to size 4 in 3 months - I'll take it! When winter comes, I will definitely need to go out and buy new clothes since my winter wardrobe contains size 8s and 10s. Certainly won't be fitting into those...

Mike has also lost about 15 lbs. He's been a little disappointed that he hasn't dropped more weight than me. I mean, isn't that how it's supposed to go -- men usually lose more weight and faster than women do. My goal weight was a lot easier to get to. I only needed to lose 15 lbs...he needed to lose 40-50 lbs.

The good news is that the 5:2 diet DOES WORK. I think it works at a reasonable pace, too. One pound per week is considered a healthy weight loss. Some people may think that it is too slow and that the plateaus are disheartening. But overall, you do lose weight and even better, you can easily keep it off. I mean, Mike and I went on vacation. I gained 2 lbs...I came home, started up the 5:2 diet, and lost those 2 lbs. plus an extra 2 lbs. Obviously, 5:2 works...and it works well.

Day 46 - "Tweeking the Diet"

Day 46 - Wow, long time, no post. Mike and I are still doing the fast diet...but we've had to alter it some. I'll give you some small highlights from the past few weeks.

• Mike's headaches seem to be twofold when fasting. After doing some research, Mike discovered two things - first, caffeine is really bad to have when you're fasting. So Mike cut out drinking yerba mate tea. Second, he learned that he might be hypoglycemic, which can cause headaches. So now Mike is eating throughout the day. He's still staying close to his 600 calories on fast days, but he drinks a mug of miso soup when he feels a headache coming on. Since he's implemented these changes, he's had better fasts and has continued to lose some weight.
• We went on vacation for a week. And the great thing about the fast diet is that we were able to say, "We're on vacation. No fasting this week." By the time our vacation was over, we were ready to get back to fasting. I have to say, this was the quickest way to lose the few pounds I tend to gain on vacation. One fasting day and I was back to normal!

So, we're doing well. We're at our lowest weight yet...and we're continuing with the fast diet. Fasting has become quite easy now, though there's one more change we have done - when we really start getting hungry around dinner time, we eat. No more waiting 12 hours between meals before eating. We are still fasting, just not for two 12 hour blocks. I actually extend my fast into my "feast day" by waiting to eat breakfast until 11 or even just skipping breakfast and going straight to lunch.

Things are looking up!

Day 21 - Plateau

Day 21 - Long time, no see!

We've gone through another fast day. Today (Thursday) is also a fast day, because Mike ate a donut yesterday when our fast slipped his mind. That's the great thing about the 5:2 diet, though. If you forget or if something comes up, you can simply slide your fast day forward.

The fasts are getting better, though not great. Around the 8 hour mark, my energy is sapped. I think if I was really "fasting" in the wilderness, I'd die due to lack of will to continue scavenging for food. Anyway, I usually end up lying around on the couch for the last 4 hours of the first 12 hour fast period and even when it is time to prepare dinner, I am lethargic at best. Meals have also improved significantly. First, Mike and I have been eating about half of our designated calories during breakfast which helps get through the day. Dinners are usually eaten around 8pm, so that helps us sleep. The weird thing is that dinner, at least for me, is really filling even though it is only 250-300 calories. I've made Japanese curry, orange and soy glazed tofu with vegetables, and tonight, we're having sweet corn salad with dill in a lowfat buttermilk dressing. Not bad, right?

One major disappointment, though, is that we don't seem to be losing weight anymore. This may be due to eating "too well" on our normal days. I've been stressed over applying to grad school and ate two calorie-rich slices of cheesecake and 2 boxes of Wegman's chocolate chip cookies. Yeah, I see why I'm not losing weight. I suppose I should be grateful that I'm not GAINING weight!!! Mike has been drinking beer at all sorts of occasions (and non occasions) in addition to his amazing chef-made lunches, so he too hasn't lost weight (though he hasn't gained and again, should be grateful!). So I think it is fair to say that the 5:2 diet requires some discipline during regular eating days and while you CAN eat whatever you want, you won't lose weight doing it.

Day 15 - Morning Measurements!

Old numbers first, new numbers second!

* Some of Mike's numbers have been changed. I found a better body fat calculator. When I put in Mike's old numbers, I received some different, more accurate results than we had previously.

Mike:

• Neck - 18 inches --> 17.5
• Abdomen - 44 inches --> 44
• Body fat % - 26.73% (obese) --> 28% (obese)
• body fat - 66* lbs  --> 67 lbs.
• lean body weight  - 180* lbs. --> 171 lbs.
• Weight - 246 lbs. --> 238.6 lbs.

Mike's numbers are weird! I tried a few different calculators and all relate the same information. Despite the fact that Mike has lost weight, somehow, his body fat has increased. He's lost lean mass instead. I think this is because he hasn't lost any inches on his abdomen. He's lost weight in other places, like his hips. He's now wearing his belt a notch or two under where he used to, but unfortunately, that progress is not a number used as part of the body fat measurement.

Lori:

• Neck - 12 inches --> 12
• Waist - 27.5 inches --> 27.5
• Hips -  40.5 inches --> 39
• Body fat % - 32.53% (obese) --> 31% (acceptable)
• body fat - 43 lbs. --> 38 lbs
• lean body weight - 87 lbs. --> 85 lbs.
• Weight  - 130 lbs. --> 123 lbs.

I, too, have not made progress with my actual body measurement numbers. My waist and hips are virtually the same and yet, I've moved into the acceptable range (a smidge below the obese line!).

Nonetheless, Mike and I have lost weight - no doubt about it - and we feel better about ourselves. The fact that we haven't lost or barely lost a lot of body fat is not what we expected, particularly after the results Dr. Mosley had. He lost a lot of body fat. Maybe we have to couple this with some exercise. Other than taking longer walks with the dog, I haven't jumped on my elliptical in over a week. Though maybe I should try Mosley's other suggestion about exercise - 20 seconds high impact exercise for 3 days a week :-D Hey, that's supposed to work, too!

Day 13 & 14 - Feelin' Light!

Day 13 - Our 4th fast went smoothly. Fasting on a Wednesday is apparently easier than fasting on a Sunday. Also, perhaps we're getting mildly better at figuring out what to eat and how to divide our calories between our two meals. We decided to split our calories pretty evenly between the two meals and that made the 12 hour fast feel more tolerable. Yogurt and strawberries makes quite a nice, filling breakfast! For dinner, we had orange soy glazed tofu with pan roasted carrots and sugar snap peas. We ate well for 500/600 calories!

Another interesting fact occurred to me. Mike told me he played basketball yesterday...on a fasting day...and he said he felt great afterwards. Last Wednesday, I, too, exercised and felt quite good even though it was a fasting day. I'm curious if there is a link between fasting and exercise (other than it burns extra fat). By the end of the 12 hour fast, I definitely feel like doing NOTHING, but those first few hours of fasting, I feel rather normal and okay to do things that require exertion.

Day 14 - Wow, we've come two full circles now. Our first 2 weeks on the Fast Diet have seemingly flown by. I suppose this means I should give you an update on our numbers to see just how well we've done in this short timespan. I'll update this post later with those numbers!

Day 10 - What'd We Do Wrong?

Day 10 - Our third fast day did not go well. Fasting on the weekend seems harder than on the weekdays. So, it was Sunday and by sleeping in, we didn't eat breakfast until 9:30am...which meant we couldn't have dinner until 9:30pm. Even though the stretch between the two meals was 12 hours, like always, it felt like an enormously long time.

Breakfast consisted of cottage cheese and fruit, a recommendation in The Fast Diet book. However, I quickly discovered that I do not like cottage cheese. The texture, the taste - ugh, it was awful. I didn't even finish the 1/2 cup I put on my plate.

Then the day dragged on. I (stupidly) decided to make vegetable broth from scratch as opposed to paying the usual $3.50 for a quart of store-bough vege broth. So, the house smelled luxuriously of food for hours, which certainly didn't make our stomachs feel very happy.

Mike tried to busy himself with a project, but the combination of hunger and staring at the computer screen were a terrible combination. He ended up getting a huge migraine around 5pm. Once again, The Fast Diet book seems to lie about the true nature of fasting. Our brains are clearly not compensating for our lack of food by creating additional neurons to "help us remember where we found food last in this period of famine." No, Mike and I are quite dysfunctional on our fasts. I am worse at doing crossword puzzles. Mike cannot concentrate and think deeply about things. Yep, no joyful fasting here.

My only good feeling during fasting is seeing my weight on the scale (125!) and noticing how my jeans can now be pulled off my hips with the zipper and button still fastened. I feel thinner. But unlike the book, I do not feel happier. My brain does not produce endorphins to help me survive through famine.

Dinner finally came at 9:30pm. Japanese curry tasted delicious though I found it hard to eat my serving. It was a strange phenomenon. Here I was, RAVENOUS, READY TO EAT, and then...I had a few spoonfuls and was sort of...full. I did in fact eat my whole bowl, but my stomach wasn't quite prepared for "that much" food. But after I ate dinner, I felt normal again. And Mike's migraine went away and he was feeling better, though he declared, "I am not waiting until 9:30 to eat breakfast!"

So what did we do wrong? Why was Sunday's fast so much worse than Wednesday's fast? Was it the time? The meals itself? Perhaps we should be splitting our calories evenly between our two meals, as opposed to saving an extra 100 or so for "dinner." I'm so confused. I just hope that when Wednesday rolls around, Mike doesn't get a migraine again (so sad!) and I don't feel so run down.