I have been slowly losing weight for the past 5 years. I decided to not to much pressure on myself and stopped always getting on those scales, and decided to enjoy living the 5:2 way of life and the inner health associated with 5:2, and the weight loss is the bonus side effect.

I feel that after 5 years and I am so close to my goal that I finally have something that I can share with others. My successes and failures on the 5:2 journey, and what has worked for me, also what has worked for others through the variety of different support groups that I have run over the years.

The main thing I have noticed with the people who are successful, is their mindset. It is not enough to only want to lose the weight, but it is how you think about the weigh loss and body health as a whole.

I have decided to start my own accountability 5:2 support groups to help people on a more personal level. I started this a while ago, but got very busy with my other 2 businesses, that I was unable to continue with them on a monthly basis. Therefor I have decided to only open the support and accountability groups up twice a year for new members. Then all the new members can join together at the same time, and get to know each other and have each others back on this life long journey.

I started a Jan 2014 group when I decided to make 5:2 a massive focus in my life and had a large group of ladies join with me at the same time. Almost 3 years down the track, the group is still going and I have made some life long friends.

I run and manage lots of different groups for various educational purposes, so have a great deal of experience with helping people to improve themselves personally and for business.

For more information on this program please go to: http://www.sparkleclassacademy.com

Hello my fellow fasters.

So I have my positivity hat on today for the “End to Week 5″. I have just had a couple of weeks where I had not lost any weight, but worse still, I was also putting weight on. +600g one week, the +100g the next. That is 2 whole weigh in’s, and 2 weeks of this new journey where the scales where not giving me great results. And I was only 4 weeks in.

Today was the first time I had seen my ‘weigh-in day’ with a result of down and not up, and I am feeling great. But I was never disheartened on the weeks I put on weight at all. I was still super excited.

With the Facebook support groups that I am in I often see so very many people getting disheartened and upset when they do not get the results for one or 2 weeks when they get on the scales, and then it seems to define how they are going to feel about the 5:2 WOL as a whole, that 1 or 2 weeks or even 3 weeks which results may not be in their favor.

I would really love to share a thing I like to do, to help keep me motivated and also helping me to realise that I am on the right track and not be too hard on my self or even ‘quit’ when I have a few bad weeks, just like I have with other diets. I hope this helps to keep others inspired.

This is not a diet (it’s a WOL) – I know people laugh at your when you say WOL, but really it is. Only 2 days of paying attention to what we eat, and not 7 days a week, which 95% of people fail at because let’s admit it who really want to do that for the rest of your life. I sure don’t that’s why I always fail.

Healthy weighloss:

So the people in the know (doctors, health pros) say that 500g per week is health weigh loss.

You know what? I would even be happy with at least 200g per week, it might be a little slower but it is still in the right direction. Especially after being overweight pretty much my most of life. My life journey with weight challenges has been since childhood, but most attempts to try and reach my goal has been mainly the past over 16-20 years, since I was 18 – and never making it all the way.

How I set my realistic goals: (how to stay positive)

•  500g / week would get me to my goal of 65kg (22kg loss) in 45 weeks
  (that is less than a year) 
  • Average this or higher – mood “excited”
•  250g/ week would get me to my goal of 65kg (22kg loss) in 88 weeks
  (that is still just over a year and a half years)
  • Average this or higher – mood “very happy”
•  even 200g/ week would get me to my goal of 65kg (22kg loss) in 110 week
  (that is still just 2 year)
  • Average this or higher – mood “happy”

— 2 years! That is nothing compared to a 20 year battle — to only have at most 2 years to reach my goal — I can do that — it’s not a race it’s a WOL.

My maths method to positive scales:

I use this method below to work out the most important number you should be focusing on when you weigh in – Most important number in PINK

What most people see:

Last Week:
This Week:
This weeks loss: (last week minus this week)
Most people use this answer to determine if the diet is working.


This is what you should do every week before you determine how you feel:

Week no:
Start Weight:
Total loss:
Average weekly loss: (total weight loss/number of weeks)
This is the real number you should be watching, to stay positive.

How I stay positive:

If my average is over 200g, then I am going to choose to be happy, as based on my realistic goals I am on track… Pretty darn good if you ask me, and it allows for slowing when I also get closer to my goal.

 Here are my current results:

So as of the end of my 5^th week.

Weighed in today and this is what I see
Start date: 5 Jan 2015
Week no: 5
Start Weight:
 86.9
This week: 82.5
Total loss:
 4.4
Average weekly loss: 880g (total weight loss/number of weeks)

 So I am happy — this is way more than 500g, so and well above being on track, I have heaps of spare in the trunk for when I have a bad week or two or three that might run in a row.

Here were my results for the previous 2 weeks:

Week no: 4
Start Weight:
 86.9
Last week: 83.6
This week: 83.7
Weekly gain: +100g
Total loss:
 3.2
Average weekly loss: 800g

 Week no: 3
Start Weight:
 86.9
Last week: 83
This week: 83.6
Weekly gain: +600g
Total loss:
 3.3
Average weekly loss: 1.1kg

Now if I didn’t look at the average, I would have been getting very upset that I had gained weight for those 2 weeks, but because my average was above 250g which is my realistic goal that I would still be happy with.

Also above 500g each week, which is the top end goal, how do you think my mood is from the number on the scale.

 I am still smashing it with this new WOL. 800g leave me plenty of room to not worry for ages. Now even though the scales were not good for 2 whole weeks, I am awesome and on track.

Want help?

If your not sure how to work it out comment below and I will be than happy to help you work out your numbers.

Share with me:

Share your results below, in the comments. I would love to see how you are going on your 5:2 journey.

Give it time:

Especially if you are only starting out, you really need to give this WOL at least 8 weeks to start seeing decent averages. Then if not working, I would suggest looking at your TDEE intake.

Wow. I cannot believe it I am already 4 week in. Usually by now on other diets I am secretly thinking to myself – “is this worth it?” – But not this time. I am in love with this new way of life, even though the past 2 weeks the scales have not shown good numbers.

The fasting is getting easier, but some days are easier than others.

Last week was a gain of 500g – and I know your all asking yourself if I have had a decent bowel movement – lol TMI? — Well since you asked “I did a little thank you” and the weekly results are in: 

My 5:2 weight graph (4 weeks)

I have gained again, only 100g. But I still feel good with this WOL.

Here is a pic of my daily weigh chart for the past 4 weeks, up to today (Tuesday). I weigh daily, but just because I love to watch the graph. But I only compare Monday to Monday.

Today being Tuesday, and a day after my fast day, my weight has gone down. But the numbers on the scales can vary so much I do not let it bother me. It is what it is! I am more looking forward to seeing my blood test results after 6months on this.

See the big drop last week, that was after my b2b, and then it climbed back up again. But the overall results are in a downward pattern so that is great.

Fast Day 5 (attempt):
Monday 26th Jan 15

Breakfast – I had black coffee.

Lunch - Another black coffee and lots of water.

Dinner - I caved, and gave this fast day a miss.

It was Australia Day and I wanted to have a few drinks with hubby and also we were child free for the night as your daughter had gone to stay at a friends house. So we decided to have takeaway and a few aussie day beverages.

In the morning I did decide that I was going to give the day and go, but never committed totally as I knew that it was Aussie Day. So didn’t feel so bad for not following through.

Fast Day 5 (success):
Tuesday 27th Jan 15

Breakfast – I had black coffee.

Lunch - Just a bit of a chew on a carrot and another coffee. Finding that half a carrot really helps a lot to push down the hunger.

Dinner - Revamped my Oyakodon recipe and instead of serving on rice, I served it on cauliflower rice. It was so filling at 384cals

Went to sleep thinking of doing a back to back (b2b) due to the following reasons

Thursday my husband goes into hospital, and will be with him most of the day and then in the evening I have a staff meeting at work and the boss is putting on dinner for us.

Friday, my husband comes home from hospital and he will want something yummy, and I have chosen to not fast Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays (as I love weekends)

Fast Day 6 (first B2B):
Wednesday 28th Jan 15

Breakfast – Bring on the coffee. 1 calorie.

Lunch - Coffee and more coffee – and water. And then a my bunny food snack.

Dinner - Pulled out some pulled pork serve from the freezer and made a pulled pork shepards pie (but used cauliflower instead of mashed spud).

I thought to myself, OMG I am on the home stretch just need to go to sleep and then I will have succeed my second attempt at a b2b. I failed last time.

I did however struggle to get to sleep, and I spent some time pacing the kitchen at midnight scanning barcodes as I still had around 180cal left. I was not totally shaking starving like on my first 2 fast days, but I was hungry and I think a lot of it was in my mind as I could not sleep. Open the fridge have look, close the fridge, open the pantry have a look, close the pantry. Nothing took my fancy… did that a few times until I finally fell asleep around 2:30am.

Post fast day:

I got up and normally do not have breakfast on the post fast day, but I had the most delightful piece of toast with vegemite and cheese. I savoured every single bite.

I told my husband how I could not sleep and was up half the night scanning stuff, and he replied with, “is that why there was all those different packets of food sitting out on all the benches in the kitchen this morning” — LOL

Surprised myself:

Achieved my first back to back fast day. It can be done!!!

My stats:

Week starting weight: 83.6kg
This weeks gain: 100g
Finished on 83.7kg
Total loss is kg in 4 weeks
Average of 0.725kg/wk

My third week has been the best so far. I have slept better, not needing to eat until late afternoon and think I am starting to find what pattern works for me.

I feel so much better for it, and I am finding myself more and more in love with this way of life. I have never been on a diet before where I was proud to tell people that I was on a new diet. I have tried many different diets in the past, and it is always a well kept secret from all my friends and family as I don’t like knowing as I always fail. “not this time – so sir”

This week was the week that my husband registered this web address for me to start my blog, and it was not until the weekend that I started playing around trying to navigate my way through this unfamiliar world of blogging.

I also weighed in and to my surprise I had actually put back on the 500g that I lost last week. So I am back to the 3kg loss that I had in my first week.

This week however I have not had a decent bowel movement for about 4 days. So I decided to take my own advise and not get bogged down in the numbers and remember that I am doing this not just for the weigh loss but to be much healthier inside as well as out.

The previous week just out of curiosity I weighed in the morning, then half an hour later I had a poo, jumped back on the scales and I had lost 500g. My husband laughed and said wow that must have been a big one! Hope you didn’t clog the toilet.

Fast Day 4:
Monday 19th Jan 15

Breakfast – I had black coffee. Then I went into work to get some paperwork done for an upcoming audit, and someone offered to make me a coffee. I said yes without stating that I wanted it black, and because they went out of their way to make a proper ground coffee, I drank it (but thought to myself, wasted calories)

Lunch - Another black coffee and lots of water.

Dinner - After spending the day at work I wanted something easy so I made a simple vegetarian spaghetti bolognese, using 3 different packet ingredients. I will post this soon in the recipe section. Only took me about 10mins to throw it together and it was very filling I didn’t even finish it.

I found that working away from the home office was good, and it helped to keep my mind occupied. Once I return to work on a weekly basis, I may change my fast days to work days.

Post fast day:

I was again not hungry but decided not to attempt a b2b this week as a failed miserably last week. By lunch I was craving Red Rooster, so I got a flayva wrap. Yummy!!

Fast Day 6:
Thursday 22nd Jan 15

Breakfast – Guess what I had??.

Lunch - And the same this as the morning – yes that’s right – Coffee!! Gotta love a good coffee. We are a bit of a coffee snob family. Has to be good ground fresh coffee. We drink coffee like it is wine and can taste all the flavour notes in it.

Mid afternoon - I was struggling a little bit, so I just had a few carrot stick and that was just perfect to help push those hunger pains away.

Dinner - I forgot that I was meant to be meeting a very good friend for dinner. Lucky she is a health nut, so when she suggested we meet down at the beach as it was such a lovely day, I said that a picnic would be nice. That was perfect as I was able to take a serve of pulled pork and have it with a simple coleslaw that I made in a rye bread wrap.

She was so interested in hearing about the 5:2 fast, and I was so excited to tell her about it we chatted for ages about what I have been up to and how much I love it. She texted over the weekend and said that she had done 2 fast days since we chatted and was going to try it for a while.

Post fast day:

This post fast day, I found I was making much better choices and loving the pulled pork. So I created a pulled pork and egg in a rye cup for dinner. Even though it was not a fast day, it was a perfect meal for a fast day. I will share this one soon on the recipe section when I get time to post it.

My best week ever:

I really feel I am finding my groove

Breakfast: just coffee

Nothing until mid afternoon around 3ish and maybe a little snack (this is optional depending on how much my tummy talks to me)

Dinner: save most of my calories for dinner and make something scrumptious and hopefully nice enough to share with my support group and now on my blog for other to drool over.

Even though I put on weight this week, I still see it as a success as I still completed my 2 fast days. Maybe after a good number 2 in the loo this coming week, the scales will show nicer numbers. My average per week has dropped from 3.25kg to only 1kg average, but still above the recommended 500g per week. So very happy with that. Taking a big bite of my own advise and trying to not let it bother me.

Note to self: Do not the numbers on the scales define how happy I choose to be.

My stats:

Week starting weight: 83.1kg
This weeks gain: 500g
Finished on 83.6kg
Total loss is 3kg in 3 weeks
Average of 1kg/wk

Now that this blog is up and running I will try to get posts done to catch up for the last few weeks for my Journal entries.

So my second week was definitely better than my first. I have started to listen to my body signals more and I am actually understanding that hunger passes and is not something that comes on and stays with you all day. Just having a drink and waiting around 10-15mins and it subsides.

This weeks weigh in at the end of the week was a loss of 500g.

I am now getting very excited about this way of life, and have given more of my time online to support groups, and had started thinking about this blog and how I would go about sharing my recipes. I find that thinking about what I can do with recipes that I already have to make them fast day friendly helps to fill my day along with research. It is my motivation on fast days to have something to share with my support group and recipe page on Facebook at the end of the day.

I do not return to work until 11th of February teaching, so I have a little free time on my hands until then, in-between designing for clients and being a work at home Mum. Then things will start to get hectic when I begin a Masters Post Grad in March (that’s a little daunting).

Fast Day 3:
Monday 12th Jan 15

Breakfast – I had black coffee

Lunch - Surprisingly I was not hungry, but I had spent all morning creating my pulled pork recipes and it was cooking away in the slow cooker. I was also preoccupied with what I was going to put with it.

I was forgetting to drink but then I saw the word water on Facebook. Bells rand and I had a drink, as I spent a fair bit of time checking the fasting day thread to keep me motivated, every time someone posted the word “water” I had a big drink. By the end of the day I had a very full bladder. We all like to remind each other to drink water and you can do it to get through the day.

Dinner - After spending the day working with a couple of client and in my spare time researching what I was going to put with my pulled pork I got to work on making Zoodles to go with my Pulled Pork Meal 

It was a very successful day, and only at around 3pm I noticed I was hungry, but it only lasted 5-10mins and then I was all good for the rest of the day.

Post fast day:

I was again not hungry and was feeling the best I had so far. I decided in the morning that I would give a B2B a go. I was doing very well until about 6pm and then I just could not help myself… I caved, and ended up having takeaway for dinner. I was well under my TDEE and I also stopped eating when I was no longer hungry. I was happy that I got an extra half day fast, it was a few extra hours for my body to stay in repair mode.

I did have a few drinks that night too, but chose a better option than wine and I had Vodka with infused mineral water which as only 71cals per drink. Yay!!!

Fast Day 4:
Thursday 15th Jan 15

Breakfast – I had black coffee, easy.

Lunch - OMG today was getting hard, nothing like Monday. I was really struggling again. Maybe it was the fish and chips I had the night before. I read that if you have carbs the night before your fast night, it can make it harder on your fast days.

So I made a basic salad with no dressing and put a poached egg on it. It needed more flavour, I think next time I will use some lime juice. It was enough to put the hunger a bay for a little bit, but the hunger was defiantly stronger and more often today. But I stayed strong seeking support online.

Dinner - I tried a new recipe tonight, Asian style mini meatballs, which I put on some ready-made crunchy asian salad from Coles. I didn’t use the salad dressing that it came with, as the sauce from my meatballs was enough. It was o.k, but needs a little bit more work on the flavours before I share this one.

Post fast day:

Today we had people come down to film some segments for the TV show that my husband co-hosts and we went out for lunch at a local pub after. I was not totally hungry, so instead of getting a kids and adults meal, I shared a parmi with my daughter, I ate the chicken and she had all the chips and veggies as she is a vegetarian.

Then my parents wanted to go out to a buffet for dinner, so I went, but didn’t make a pig of myself. Which was a nice change.

It is getting a little easier:

So this week was pretty good, however I did struggle more than I would have liked on Thursday. I am finding that the headaches are still there but not as bad.

Also on fast nights I am not sleeping as well. I have not taken any sleeping pills to help as I have a new puppy, and I have to get up to take her out during the night as I am still toilet training her. Only had her for a couple of weeks.

All in all week 2 ended well.

My stats:

Week starting weight: 83.6kg
This weeks loss: 500g
Finished on 83.1kg
Total loss is 3.5kg in 2 weeks
Average of 3.25kg/wk

After watching Michael Mosley’s inspirational documentary Eat, Fast and Live Longer way back in 2012, it sat in the back of my mind as something that I would consider attempting.

Now over 2 years later and a bit of a push from my husband as he wanted to lose weight, I decided that this year was the year. So I began my fasting lifestyle on the 5th Jan 2015. I had not planned to start, I just decided on the Sunday night and began on the Monday morning. I weighed in at 86.6kg, by the end of my first week I was 83.6kg (most I would say is water, not fat)

On my first day I had not made any plans, I just ate what I had in the cupboard and used My   Fitness Pal (MFP) to count the calories. It was a challenge.

Fast Day 1:
Monday 5th Jan 15

Breakfast – I had black coffee,

Brunch – I had 2 eggs on a cruskit. (decide that the cruskits were a waste of calories as they we not filling enough)

Mid afternoon – I was so hungry, but held out till dinner, but made another black coffee.

Dinner – I had a can of stockpot soup,

After Dinner – I was still very hungry and hunted the cupboards with MFP in hand scanning barcodes and seeing if I could keep under the 500 calories. Scanned Tuna, Cup of Soups, and found lots of them were too high. Finally calculated that 2 cruskets with a small amount of vegemite and some marg was just under so I made that.

I went to bed then thinking that I need to plan better and choose more sustaining food the next fast day.

All night long I thought about what I would have for breakfast.

Post first fast day:

To my surprise I was not hungry in the morning, and I didn’t eat anything until after lunch. But I got to planning my next fast day straight away.

Started reading as much research as I could, and also found a support group on Facebook to chat with others. I have since found that sharing this with others to be extremely helpful, and a way to help keep me on track.

I now have my own Facebook group of January 2015 5:2 fast starters and we have helped to support each other. From the research I have read, being in a support group gives you a higher chance of succeeding.

I also order the book and the recipe book online, and started thinking about my own recipes how I might be able to modify them to make them fast day friendly.

I also re-watched the documentary and got on you-tube and watched lots of interviews with Michael Mosley.

Fast Day 2:
Thursday 8th jan 15

I was more prepared this time around and we hd been to the shops and stocked up on food that would be fast day friendly

Breakfast – I again had a black coffee

Brunch – I had an egg again, but only 1 this time so that I had more calories left for the end of the day.

Lunch – nothing, but by 3pm, I was nearly falling into a heap as I was so hungry. But hung on with a coffee.

Dinner – I had planned so much better this time and made some Spaghetti Bolognese, with slender paster and veggies. It felt like such a massive meal by dinner time, I almost didn’t eat it all.

After dinner I still had some calories left, so decided to have a cup of soup and finished the day just under 400 calories.

It was a much better day, but I feel like I am still finding my groove and what works for me. I am also finding what food help with the hunger and are more sustainable as to not waste the precious calories on empty food.

Post fast day

Again to my surprise after not being able to sleep well, as I was thinking of breakfast and was quite hungry most of the night. By breakfast I didn’t  feel I needed or even wanted it, so I didn’t eat until around 12pm.

Very Proud

I am still finding my groove, and after a my first week I about nearly 3 kg’s. I know that I have a lot to learn and still finding what works best for me, but starting was better than not ever starting and thinking that I will try that next week.

The great thing is that even if the first fast days were hard, I knew that the next day I could eat what ever I was dreaming about.