Tuesday, 227.50.  So down a pound, but yesterday was a fast day that was a little on the feast side.  Allergies really bothering me, feeling pretty poorly late in the day, had some nuts and granola in addition to my chicken piccata.  So maybe 800-1000 calories yesterday.

Still feeling pretty yucky today, don't really feel much like eating so should be a low cal day.

Monday, and I'm at 228.50.  Now, that seems a bit disappointing--I've gained a pound in a week.  But the last few days have been tough--birthday dinner binge on Thursday; big sushi dinner on Friday; then dinner and drinks Saturday night.  Sunday was a doink around the house day, meaning lots of snacking and a nice chicken piccata dinner (followed by some leftover birthday cake).

So the takeway  here is that you can't eat like a pit and expect this to work.  I does, however, look like the fasting helps make up for the occasional binge, because I'm still down 2 lbs for the three weeks.

Fast today, get back on track.

Friday, 226.5.  Not a surprise, considering I had a huge birthday fat feast for my son last night, courtesy of Valentino's Little Italy in St. Petersburg, FL.  I'm going to do better this weekend, shooting to hit below this 225.5 recorded this past Monday.  Starting today with a mini-fast--it's a Friday in Lent, after all.

Thursday, 225.5.  Little surprised no loss from yesterday, since I was pretty good.  Little pre-packaged 210 calorie salad for lunch, apple (50 calories) then some homemade chicken piccata, with sauted spinach--that could not have been more than 250 calories.  Then some plain, airpopped popcorn.  So I think I was well within 600 calories.

Today, I had an omelette for breakfast, with cheese and sausage.  And I just ate a really  nice donut.  Tonight is birthday dinner for my son, so I'll have to eat well so as not to offend him, so I'll go easy at lunch.  Maybe just some beans and rice.

I guess my fasting worked yesterday--got a new Pope, and looks like a good one.

225.5 today, Wednesday--that's pretty awesome, especially considering I had a nice big piece of that evil chocolate peanut butter pie last night after dinner.  And dinner was pretty heavy, too.  Though had a light salad lunch (because my wife surprised me with an evil 4 pack of Chick Fil A Chicken Minis at about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday).

Today is fast day so I can have a decent meal for my son's birthday on Thursday.  So we'll see how fast/feast/fast/ then feast for 4 days works.

I've decided to offer up my fasting for guidance that the Cardinals hear the Holy Spirit and elect the Pope we need.  Clearly, we need a special Pope.

Today weight is 227--Tuesday, day after fast, so down only 1/2 pound from yesterday (was normally seeing 3 pounds or so after fast day).
Yesterday was not a good day for fasting.  I was super hungry during the afternoon, cheated with a few crackers.  Dinner was not bad--had 2 homemade tacos, couldn't have been more calories than Taco Bell, with homemade chicken filling.  Salsa had some pineapple in it, but still probably not more than 300 calories for the meal (though I did cheat with a few tortilla chips).  Then I blew it--made a chocolate peanut butter pie that my daughter had been begging for.  Licked a few spoons, spatulas, bowls.  Didn't fill me up, but I'm sure added calories to the day.  So that's probably why the 227.

I definitely feel thinner today.  For breakfast I had a little omelette with cheese and a slice of corned beef leftover from my family's dinner out last night.  And a very small piece of the aforementioned pie, which was excellent.  I'm going to take it easy at lunch--maybe a small salad.  Then probably fast on Wednesday this week--going out for my son's birthday Thursday.  Might fast again Friday--no fish fry this week.

Good news today, Monday:  Weigh in is 227.50.  So 3 pounds lost in the last week--actually 3 pounds in the last two weeks, since I lost nothing the first week.  I think the big turkey dinner last Sunday did me in the first week.  Normal eating on the weekend, and some exercise both Saturday and Sunday.  I think the moderation and the exercise were key.

Today is fast day, trying to stick with the Monday fast.  Have a pre-packaged salad worth 210 calories for lunch, an apple a little later.  Dinner will be tricky--family going to an all you can eat buffet that's paid for, but I think I'll skip that.  Near occasion of sin and all.

Getting used to the "fast feeling"--a little light headed during the day.  Trying to keep busy.  

Today is Friday.  Yesterday was a fast day and today my weight is 226.  That's .5 lbs less than last Friday, so there's a little progress.  Again, next Monday a.m. will be the critical weigh in.  I'll try to do better this weekend.  I think my Sunday eating last week killed me.

Fast food yesterday was a grilled chicken caesar salad at McDonald's, with low fat Italian dressing, and an apple for lunch.  For dinner, two Taco Bell Crunchy Taco's, fresco style.  I seem to be gravitating toward fast food on the fast days.  The calorie count seems easily quantifiable--you just check the nutrition info on their web page, or use myfitnesspal.  Next week I'm going to try to make and eat some recipes I'm seeing on  other 5:2 blogs.  It could be that the fast food nutrition info could be inaccurate--lying and cheating in the name of profit seems to be coming a way of life in America.

Tuesday, feast day after fast day.  My weight today is 228.50--the same as last week on Tuesday a.m.  I'm beginning to sense a pattern . . .

Monday was good, but I felt very hungry all day.  I think my calorie intake was quite a bit less than 600, though the weight today doesn't reflect that.  Had 1/2 cup of my wife's sloppy joe's for dinner, which according to myfitnesspal should have been about 225 calories.  Maybe more, maybe less.

So we'll stay with the plan this week--will fast again Thursday.

Back where I started

Today is the start of the second week.  5 days of regular eating, 2 days of fasting.  Saw weight loss at the end of each of the 2 fasting days.  So weigh in this morning will show what 1 week of the 5/2 will do.

And the answer is . .  nothing.  Weight this a.m. is 230.5--exactly what it was a week ago.  Today is super cold here in Florida, so I've got an extra shirt on.  Maybe 1/2 pound, maybe not.

Overall my eating for the week, on the 5 "feast" days, was pretty normal.  In fact, I  was really cognizant of the food I was eating, trying not to go overboard.  I skipped some cheese, skipped an extra cookie after one meal, was pretty good.  But yesterday could have been the problem.  On a cold morning I woke up and decided we needed to have a huge turkey dinner Sunday.  So I roasted a turkey breast on a bed of homemade stuffing, made some quick homemade gravy, mashed potatoes, even jellied cranberries.  But even eating that, I only had one (huge) plate.  And maybe I picked at the leftovers . . .   So that's likely the problem.

So we'll see what tomorrow weight looks like, compared to last week's day 2 weight.

Good news is that, unlike last week, I don't have a raging Chinese-food inspired migraine headache.  So the day should go better.

Started off with some Mystic Monk Breakfast Blend and sugar free Coffee Mate French Vanilla Creamer, 15 calories there.  For lunch, I'm going to have a salad with carrots, hard boiled egg and some of last night's turkey, some low cal dressing, a small apple--overall only 253 calories.

So we'll see how tomorrow weigh in looks.

It's Friday and my weight is 226.50--that's four pounds down from Monday.  Yesterday was fast day.  It really isn't hard to do, especially during a busy work day.  By night, I was a little hungry but it wasn't bad.  I definitely felt good, clear minded, happy all day.  I went to sleep right away. When I did get to eat it was a treat.

Fasting makes you see food for what it's supposed to be:  Fuel for the day.  So much of what we do is recreational eating.  Eating at a restaurant is pretty much complete recreational eating.  If you go with some friends and socialize and have a good time, that's cool--it's part of the experience.  But going out to an expensive meal during the week?  That's a waste of time and money and calories.  Better just to eat what you need, not what you want.  I'm sure the folks at the Outback consortium aren't happy about that statement, but that's part of the problem too.  It's all about money and the ads on TV make us think that we have to eat a Bloomin' Onion to be happy.

I told my mom about this diet and she was like, "be careful, fasting is dangerous."  That's the TV talking.  Fasting has a long productive history.  Fasting and prayer--it's in the Bible.  And both fasting and prayer work.

So we'll have a normal three days, see what the weight looks like Monday a.m.  I'm going to plan on fasting Monday, like this week, and hope for no headache from hell.

Today is Thursday, and it is going to be a fast day.  No headache today, so we'll see what it's really like.

I started out with my Mystic Monk coffee, 1 TBS of heavy cream, and a packet of Splenda.  I'll follow the same plan for lunch--2 hard boiled eggs, and an apple, maybe spread out just a bit (and a diet Pepsi).  For dinner, might try the Taco Bell plan--that's an easy 300+ calories for 2 tacos or a bean burrito.

My weight today on the official scale is 230.  That seems high.  My eating last last 2 feast days has been pretty "normal"--nothing outrageous.  The best apples to apples number will be next Monday a.m., especially after a weekend of normal eating.

Ok, the first day was hell, but not because of the fast.  For some reason I got one of my migraine/sinus headaches, probably made worse by the hunger but not really related.  (Probably caused by chinese dinner  night before.)   But I made it through.  Menu was:
--coffee w/1 TBS heavy cream, splenda
--2 hard boiled eggs, 1 apple
--2 Taco Bell crunchy tacos

myfitnesspal shows 595 calories.

Today's weight:  228.5 lbs and I feel great.

I'm planning to fast either Thursday or Friday--I fry fish at a church fish fry on Friday, so that could either be good or bad.  Might try Thursday.

Starting today with fast day.  Trying to plan my meals ahead of time to get to 600 calories, and I've used the app myfitnesspal in the past to track calories.  It's kind of an interesting program--you tell it how much weight you want to lose in a certain amount of time, and it tells you how many calories you have to eat each day to get there.  And it keeps track of the calories you eat as you input them each day.  I tried it a few years ago and the whole "game" of it wears off after awhile.  But its calorie counting feature is cool because it's loaded with just about every food in the universe.  Really makes you think, "are those calories worth it?"

So I started the day off with coffee (Mystic Monk, from the Carmelites in Wyoming) with a TBS of cream (not a big slug) and some splenda.  My plan is 2 hard boiled eggs mid morning, then an apple about lunch time.  For dinner, I've got lots of running to do with kids, so it will have to be something fast food and I need about 300 calories to make my 600.  So a bean burrito from Taco Bell or some Chicken McNuggets will fit that bill.  That's my plan.

Right off the bat I feel pretty yucky.  Headache and light headed.  The coffee wasn't enough to make my body happy.  So I'm going to drink plenty of water, say a lot of Hail Marys, and get through to my hard boiled eggs--which are sounding pretty good right about now.

The official freight scale says 230.5.  So that's where I'm starting the journey.  Destination:  199.

The beginning

So this is where it starts.  I weight 232 pounds on the freight scale at work with shoes on, no iphone, keys or wallet.  I want to weigh less than 200.  If I can get there, I'm buying myself a Porsche or a Bertram 28 fishing boat.  Though given the state of the economy it might have to be a scale model of either.

I am not a dieter.  About 10 years ago I went from 255 to 206 in about 90 days with Atkins.  So in 10 years I've gained about half back--not bad, but I'll be 49 this year and with all the uncertainty about health care for the next 30 years I figure the best way to beat the system is to stay healthy.  I originally lost weight to drop my cholesterol count and bring down my blood pressure.  Those numbers are still decent (though the drug companies are now starting to circle me, getting ready for my mandatory dose of drugs).  But I know for a fact that losing weight is the best way to keep those important numbers in the black zone.

We all need a strategy.  Face it, the food and drug companies know their customers, are hungry for our money and are likely in cahoots.  I read in the Wall Street Journal this week that food companies have crews of scientists and chemists studying how to include addictive compounds in our foods.  Money is king.  In a sense, we are sort of powerless against them, especially if you're like me--proud victim of the Pringles generation.

Think there might be some mind altering, more-addictive-than-crack P & G compounds in those crunchy slices of heaven?

So is the 5-2 a gimmick?  I'm thinking not.  It's a strategy.  To beat the bastards.  So let's see if it works.  Tomorrow is the first fast day.