Hi all,

[misty4me]

Hi everyone this forum thing is all new to me, I am still trying to get used to technology (50's) child so apologies in advance, I feel like I have been watching out for bad foods all my life then first sign of weight loss i sabotage myself why ??? I don't know and i hope through understanding problems others have that it might help me too I am now on Xenical as I need to lose weight for surgery so need to buckle down and stick to the right foods I see others like me would like a low calorie diet of 1200 cals daily set out with choices for each meal and would be grateful for help I would also like to join others for a weekly weigh in once i know how all this works is there any tool as well to graph weight loss / gain ? I hope to enjoy lots of chats with all of you soon bye 4 now 🙇

[gingernut49]

I lost the three stone I needed to on the 5:2 Diet after watching Michael Mosley's excellent Horizon programme in 2012, "Eat, Fast and Live Longer" tinyurl.com/qzgo7tq or tinyurl.com/a8ppjl7 and went from a size 16 to a size 10 by eating 500 calories two non-consecutive days a week. I've been maintaining my weight loss since April 2013 by just fasting one day a week - in the past I piled the weight back on as soon as I finished 'dieting'. I'd very much recommend you read Kate Harrison's book, "The 5:2 Diet" (tinyurl.com/qe6mz4u) - it really does work and it will save you a fortune (towards your smaller clothes!).

I'd also very much recommend a free app for your phone called MyFitnessPal. Counting calories is very important so you can see how much you're eating and therefore eat mindfully rather than mindlessly. There are excellent videos in the Help section on the app that show you how it works - there's even a barcode reader to scan in branded foods.

It's important you don't eat more than your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) on non-fasting days. You can work that out here thefastdiet.co.uk/how-many-.... If yours works out at more than 2000 then aim at 2000 on non-fasting days.

Here I am in the Daily Mail on 7th January tinyurl.com/m7rqecq. The other two ladies’ stories are inspiring!

Here Michael Mosley answers many questions on it dailymail.co.uk/health/arti...

This little video explains more youtu.be/W9Aj6hRYg4A(Not working as expected?)

[chrysallis in reply to gingernut49]

Thank you ginger nut49. I started the 5:2 several weeks ago and so far, so good! Your post and the related videos have refocused me on a fast day when I was feeling the pull towards the fridge...many thanks!

[misty4me in reply to gingernut49]

Thank you so much gingernut49 for your posting watched the videos on the 5.2 diet they were great and i feel that now together with orlistat that this is something that i'd like to try when i was younger and living on a very limited budget this was something i did all the time and had no weight issues i'm definately giving this a try you are such an inspiration thank you for sharing your success story it's great to know i'm not alone and that others too are on this journey i'll let you all know how i manage x

[gingernut49 in reply to misty4me]

I'm only on a pension so live on £20 a week for food. No expensive slimming clubs for me (which don't work anyway long-term) - 5:2 saves me money!