Our Brand New Scales

It's been a while since we updated our blog. This is mainly due to Christmas which meant it was much too difficult to fast, so we had a few week hiatus. In this time Sophie put on 8 of the 10 pounds she lost so it was a case of starting afresh in the New Year. The weight came off much quicker this time round though!

So today we got our brand new scales - Weight Watchers ones! Which tell us our weight, body fat percentage, body water percentage and BMI - excellent! Although there is a fear that Melody may get a tad over enthusiastic on the weighing front, so these will be locked away and only used once a week on a Thursday. And hopefully the threat of telling her husband she has scales will be enough to prevent her from relapsing into Weighing-Scales-Obsession.

Below is the table showing the levels. We are both 20-29 and female...

Today's results:

                                                       Melody                                     Sophie

Weight:                                         10 st 11                                    11 st 9

Body fat %age:                             29%                                         26.9%

Water %age:                                51.89%                                    53.3%

BMI:                                               25.2                                          24.1

Warfarin and the 5:2 Diet

Before I begin, just a quick disclaimer to say that this is my personal experience with the 5:2 diet while taking Warfarin - I don't recommend it to anyone who is on it, and you should always consult your doctor before embarking on any kind of diet or eating regime!

I have a heart and lung condition (Eisenmenger's Syndrome) which makes me more likely to have blood clots. I had one 4 years ago when I was 21, and it caused me to have a ministroke. I am now on the anticoagulant Warfarin for the rest of my life.

As anyone on Warfarin will know, it's a bit of a pain. It interacts with all medicines, lifestyle changes, alcohol, and diets. Everything in moderation is what I was told - if you're going to drink alcohol then do, but make sure it's a small amount, and preferably the same every day, certainly don't ever binge; if you're going to diet then do, but don't do it suddenly and don't completely change your eating habits at once (one of my problems is I don't often listen to doctors....)

Well, I had my INR (I don't know what this stands for, but basically it has something to do with the target level of Warfarin!) tested after the first 2 fast days. My target is 2.5, but anywhere between 2-3 is acceptable. It was 2.4 - pretty near perfect.

I'm under the Royal Brompton Hospital for my health condition, and I spoke to them about the diet. I was advised that it probably isn't a good idea - it won't make me feel good, I'll be very tired and lacking in energy, I might upset my body by not eating much one day and then eating the wrong things the next, etc etc. They also don't know how it will affect my Warfarin. They said by all means I could carry on if I want to, but they wouldn't advise it.

I intend to get my INR checked next week, and will definitely be keeping an eye on it while on this diet. If it is having a negative affect on it then obviously I will rethink doing the 5:2 diet....but in the meantime I guess I'll carry on picking and choosing which bits of medical advice I listen to!

Sophie

The Third Weigh In...

Just a note to start this week, that I seem to have caught Melody's weighing-scales-obsession condition. I think I can quite safely say that I weighed about 8 times every single day - I found myself getting frustrated and upset when I didn't like the results, and I absolutely wrecked my feeding days by calculating calories in certain foods and concluding it totally wasn't worth eating them. I'm going to try this week to go back to doing a 2 day fast, and to eat normally on my feeding days...

Monday morning (first fast day, week 3)
11 stone 12 / 75.3kg
Not too bad, put on 2 pounds over the weekend.

Tuesday morning
11 stone 11 / 74.8kg
Lost a pound on the first fast day...

Wednesday morning (second fast day, week 3)

11 stone 11 / 74.8kg

Thursday morning 
11 stone 10 / 74.4kg
Another pound gone...

Saturday morning (third fast day, week 3)

11 stone 10 / 74.4kg

Sunday morning

11 stone 9 / 73.9kg
And another pound. But then I weighed this morning (monday) and was back to 11 stone 10. I find it so unbelievably annoying that after one feeding day, when I was very careful with food, I put another pound back on. I think I should stop weighing every day.

Sophie

The Anger Scale - Week 3

So just how Hangry were we in the third week of the fast..... 

Anger Scale After Three Fast Days

           
             Melody                    1        2       3        4        5        6        7        8         9        10

Notes: Again my anger has regulated. Although I have been asleep for most of the week, even when I have had 13 hours sleep I still feel tired. The miserable weather could be the culprit.

           Sophie                   1        2       3        4        5        6        7        8         9        10

Notes: This week I got very angry, especially on the second day of fasting. I was hoping to see better results as the first week or two I saw more progress with my weight, and the frustration was putting me in a bit of a strop! I went out for dinner on Saturday night (my third fast day) and felt rather grumpy eating my way through a portion of plain grilled haddock while everyone else had much tastier looking food and desserts to follow...

Week 3 - What we ate

This week we both decided to do three days - just to see how we would cope.

Here's what we have eaten this week...

Week 3 - First Fast Monday

Melody 

Breakfast - Coffee and semi-skimmed milk (15 cals)

Lunch - Pate on soda bread (200 cals)

Dinner - Half pizza express pizza (230 cals)

Snack - Coffee and semi-skimmed milk (15 cals)

Fail - Marshmallow (25 cals)TOTAL = 485 cals. Still need to eat better food...

Sophie

Breakfast - 1 Slice Wholemeal Toast & Pate (125 cals)

Lunch - 2 Small Poached Eggs on Wholemeal Toast (134 cals)
Dinner - Two Tuna Steaks & Steamed Veg (314 cals)

TOTAL = 573 cals. Went over by quite a lot, need to improve...

Week 3 - Second Fast Wednesday

Melody 

Breakfast - Coffee and semi-skimmed milk (15 cals)

Lunch - Pate on soda bread (200 cals)

Dinner - Lasagne (309 cals)

Fail - 2 marshamallows (50 cals)

TOTAL = 574 cals total - not so good.

Sophie

Breakfast - 2 Medium Poached Eggs on Wholemeal Toast (220 cals)

Lunch - Bag of Sweet Chilli Snack a Jacks (91 cals)

Dinner - 1 Cod Fillet & Steamed Veg (167 cals)

Fail - Advent Calendar Chocolate (20 cals)

TOTAL = 498 cals. Finally under the 500 calories!

Week 3 - Third Fast Friday - MM Saturday - SP

Melody 

Breakfast - Coffee and semi-skimmed milk (15 cals)

Lunch - Skipped lunch

Dinner - Gnocchi and chilli pesto (300 cals)

Snack - Coffee and semi-skimmed milk (15 cals)

Fail - ended up going out and having half a bottle of white wine (350 cals) two rum and diet cokes (150 cals) and half a kebab on the way home after 12am - (500 cals)

TOTAL = Before 12am - (680 cals) after 12am - (650 cals) - so not really a fast day...

Sophie

Breakfast - Banana (100 cals)

Lunch - 1 Small Cod Fillet & Steamed Carrot (140 cals)

Dinner - 1 Haddock Fillet (140 cals)

Fail - Advent Calendar Chocolate (20 cals), Caramel Snack a Jacks (102 cals)
TOTAL = 502 cals - Getting better at aiming for the 500

Anger Scale - Week 2

So just how Hangry were we in the second week of the fast..... 

Anger Scale After Two Fast Days

           
             Melody                    1        2       3        4        5        6        7        8         9        10

Notes: I did not feel as angry this week. Moderately moody - but I had other things going on which could be responsible, my husband and I argued more so than normal - he is doing the diet too! Overall I feel very positive about this diet, which has made me consider doing a 4:3 version for a few weeks. I'll see how I go this week... watch this space.
 

           Sophie                   1        2       3        4        5        6        7        8         9        10

Notes: Not sure if angry is the right word, more irritable and tetchy, snapping at everyone around (sorry everyone). I found this week to be a lot harder than the first week. I felt dizzy, sick, and couldn't concentrate on Tuesday from hunger as I didn't eat lunch, and Thursday was by far the hardest in terms of just wanting to stop calorie counting and start eating. The thought of my sausage sandwich for breakfast on Friday morning kept me going! 

Week 2 - What we ate

We've made it through the two fast days of week 2!

Here's what we have eaten this week...

Week 2 - First Fast Tuesday 

Melody 

Breakfast - Mini milk Choc eggs (30 cals)
Coffee and semi-skimmed milk (15 cals)

Lunch - Wholewheat couscous with pepper, carrot, lettuce, cucumber and feta (226 cals)
Diet cola (1 cal)

Dinner - Plain Mc Donalds Cheeseburger* (3/4 eaten - 210 cals)
Diet cola (1 cal)

Snack - Coffee and semi-skimmed milk (15 cals)

TOTAL = 498 On track, but let's be honest I need to just eat healthier.

* The cheeseburger is because we ended up going out for the evening so couldn't eat our planned healthy dinner of fish and steamed veg.

Sophie

Breakfast - 1 Slice Wholemeal Toast & Pate (125 cals)

Lunch - None (This was a big mistake, cue feeling like death for the rest of the day and having to leave work early....)

Dinner - Two Tuna Steaks & Steamed Veg (328 cals)


Fail - 1 Thorntons Mini Caramel Shortcake (40 cals)
  TOTAL = 524 cals. Not bad, but a lesson learnt that I am not built to last all day on no lunch!



Week 2 - Second Fast Thursday 

Melody 

Breakfast - Coffee and semi-skimmed milk (15 cals)

Lunch - (See epic FAIL) & soda bread and pate (110) & Vanilla Shortbread Biscuit (65 cals)

Dinner - Wholewheat pasta with a spicy tomato sauce and small cheese portion (250)

Fail - 2 Liqourice allsorts, 2 marshamallows and mini wham (110 cals)

TOTAL = 550 cals total - worse than the day I ate a cheeseburger.

Sophie

Breakfast - 1 Slice Wholemeal Toast & Pate (125 cals)

Lunch - 2 Small Poached Eggs on Wholemeal Toast (134 cals)

Dinner - 1 Salmon Fillet & Steamed Veg (253 cals)

Fail - Breakfast Biscuit mid-afternoon (56 cals)

TOTAL = 568 cals. Bit over, but worth it to not feel as bad as on Tuesday!