M2G

Oh my gosh that is exciting, the countdown begins! That would be frustrating to not know how much it weighs. Gah. When I get on the scale, if my hair is clipped up, I will take off the clip, lol, so yeah that would drive me crazy having to get on there with a cast.

Do you still have your gall bladder? If so, it might be pain caused from gall stones.

Yay, great photo!

We loved DM2 also! Cheri I was thinking of you this am...as I was baking BANANA BREAD. lol Why am I doing this on a fast day? It will be a good test of my willpower. I didn't want the bananas to go to waste. Also loving all the new photos! SStums...how did your daughter's birthday party go? OD...how many more days with the cast?

Honestly I don't. We are a family of 4 and we usually just eat the leftovers from the fridge for a few days. (Sometimes my family complains about TOO much chicken, sigh) but I could eat it all the time, lol. If you don't season it one way or the other (ie taco or BBQ) you can change it daily. So portion out what you need for taco night, and the next night add BBQ sauce. So I just usually cook it and leave it plain until I decide how I'm going to use it. You could try freezing it but I'm just not a huge fan of cooked, then frozen, then reheated meat. Hope that helps.

Have to agree with BTB, and LV on this. As much knowledge, time, and money you have spent on getting optimum nutrition, fitness, etc. I would think that you would WANT to see blood results. The labs, combined with you listing out ALL of your supplements, (make a list and write down what worked and didn't,) bring all of this to your dr. visit and hopefully you can get some answers that you are looking for. And definitely write down a list of the things you mentioned about how you feel in general. Good luck!

Thank you! I like your new one too!

MS- you can cut it in half by starting about 35 minutes in but it is well worth the entire hour to watch!

What kind of appetite suppressant are you taking? Do you think it works? more info please...

Well, you don't sound completely off the rails so far. Vacation is meant for enjoying, and you already know you will have buckle down after the 17th. Very cool about going to a star studded party. That would be SO fun!

Ooooh, got it. That stinks. Darn I wish you could watch it. It was really facsinating. Yeah I took notes so that I could relay some of the info to you.

I know I know, freakin Dots! Gah! And I didn't really COUNT or measure, we just passed a big box around (2 here, 3 that time, 2 again, and so on) and I just estimated that I ate about 20 or so of them and estimated that to probably be about 1/2 a cup. Thanks girl. Took it last night. Seems a little "pink" to me but haven't bothered to fix it. OD- I hope your cast loosens up too. I hate that too tight feeling just from like bandaids and stuff, can't imagine a cast. 2 weeks left right? LV- You are thinking about the holidays already? And losing sleep over it? Like Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas? LOL! I probably should start thinking about that too. Last year I gained and have been battling it *still* this year. Well, now that I'm been on the 5:2 I've probably lost the holiday gain. Just need to keep this going. Oh and if any of you missed it, Chimera posted a link to a really great video abou the 5:2 in the Vet's Forum. It takes an hour to watch, but is REALLY worth the time and effort to watch it.

It won't play for you Dee? Well I finally was able to watch it this am. The link Chimera gave worked fine and I watched it from my computer. If anyone is short on time, he really starts exploring ADF and 5:2 at about 35 minutes in (it's just shy of 60 mins long), but basically the show was about exploring the link between calorie reduction and longevity. He tried a 4 day fast and did blood panels before and after and there was a dramatic difference in the after, but it didn't last. Then he did the 5:2 and in 5 weeks he lost -14lbs, cut his body fat from 27% to 19% and cut his IGF (cancer risk factor) by 50%. Oh and his blood sugar and cholesterol which were above normal went down into the normal range. He ended it by saying there still need to be a lot of scientific trials on humans (vs. animals) but that he thought it was something that really could have widespread positive results if people could try it. He felt he was going to continue with it. And Chimera...that exercise one looks really interesting too (I can't get it to play right now...it gave me a blurb about technical difficulties...maybe that is what you got Dee?...anyway will try to view it again later.) Thanks again for the link!

Present and accounted for! Started July 16th and at the 3 week mark I was down -9lbs.

Cool thank you!

Fast day...great plan but terrible execution. My girls wanted pizza for lunch (just from the freezer to oven kind) and I literally hid in the basement with the sewing maching (I'm not great at sewing but my 12 yo wanted some jeans to go from "bootcut" to "skinny" ...gotta love youtube!) so I drank a cup of broth while sewing to avoid the smell of pizza! Then we all decided to go to the movies. I caved. Who knew that Dots have like 200+ calories for 1/2 cup? Aaargh. So my "fast" day ended at 931...and like 200 of that was from Dots. Sigh. Oh and dinner at Olive Garden. I did have salad, one breadstick and a tiny chicken breast. So yeah fasting...notsomuch. Tomorrow is a new day.

Just eat it plain. Or serve with veggies. You can season it with taco seasoning (try McCormicks it doesn't have MSG like Old El Paso does) add a bit of cheese and a smidge of sour cream and you don't need tortillas at all. Or you can put BBQ sauce on it and serve a side of broccoli. No rice needed. I rarely serve bread, pasta or rice at my dinner table.

Cheri, yay for having your house back! LV - sorry abour your dog. That stuff is never easy. Our cat is 16 and counting...so far all is well but I dread... OD - yep the countdown is on, you will be soooo happy to be rid of that extra weight around your wrist! Yesterday I ended at 580 (I'm always OVER the 500 mark but it's working...) and today I was at 1244. Fast again tomorrow. For all you pizza lovers, try this: Take a chicken breast and pound it thin. Cook it in a sauce pan until golden and done. Top with pizza sauce and whatever you normally would put on a pizza. We had that for dinner tonight, it's a family favorite. I like Contadina Pizza Squeeze sauce and I just keep it in the fridge for such nights. No need to open a whole can of sauce. Pizza without the guilt.

I'm fasting today too GT. Be strong, I've had feed days like that also, but no panic allowed ok?

Here are some ways to still enjoy pancakes. I don't know if Eggface has any recipes that would work for waffles tho... http://theworldaccor...ancake-day.html Looks like "National pancake Day" is coming up next month. Do we NEED a day to Celebrate pancakes? I know they have "National" days for all sorts of junk food, trying hard to remember if I ever saw "National Broccoli Day"....hummmmm.

Congratulations on your success! You look fantastic!

Thank you Coops! I can't tell you what a big smile you gave me the time you posted that phrase! I just went over to calorie count to check and the last time I lost -9lbs it took me over 3 months! I was eating about 1200-1400 cals a day and that is how long it took me. WOW! Talk about inspiration to stick with it! :wub:

Okay...make today 3 weeks since I started and now the number is: -9lbs

Fast day today. I will post this over in our 'stats' thread (really can't remember the name so I'm just calling it that for now) but today marks 3 weeks since I began my 5:2 way of eating and I'm down -9lbs. Chuffed to beans as my lovely Brit Coops would say!

Great idea BTB. Going for a run instead of eating. Eating never makes it better so I'm not sure why we do it. Temporary fix I guess.