Billie’s Story
I have struggled with this weight for years finally weighing 15 stone at my heaviest. Like many people I have been on every diet known to man and have successfully managed to lose weight on all of them but never managed to maintain the loss due to the fact that I just could not live that way long term.
I have messed with my metabolic rate so much over the years with the yo yo dieting that I now find I gain weight on a very low calorie intake of 1000 cals.
I decided in August last year after yet another weight gain (having lost 5 stone just calorie counting and putting two stone back on after breaking my leg) that something had to change. I heard about the 5:2 regime and watched the documentary. I was inspired to try this more for the health benefits than for anything else really and started straight away with back to back fasting.
My weight had gone up to 184 pounds and I had an added incentive to lose this as my son is getting married in Barbados in May this year so I was totally focused in making this work. This time however, I made the conscious decision that this was not going to be just another diet – a means to an end of losing weight for a particular event, but this was going to be a change to my way of life!
I have been b2b fasting ever since and finding it really easy actually. The hardest thing was finding different things to eat on the fasting days. I am still struggling with increasing my calories but this is my next mission! Having reached my goal of 10 stone last week 7 months since starting, my plan is to try now to lose another 7 pounds so that I don’t have to worry about it on my holiday but when I get home, I am going to tackle the issue of my low calorie intake. I need to increase my calories to at least 1200 a day and more if possible and I am determined to do it.
The health benefits have been amazing so far too – I no longer suffer from heartburn, my joints have improved immensely, I have not suffered from flu or a cold this winter and I feel amazing!
My husband has also started doing the 5:2 which is a big plus for me as we can fast together – he has lost 21 pounds so far and is doing really well.
I hope this helps anyone thinking about trying this way of life, I can really recommend it whole heartedly.
Billie Stevens (Age 64)
Weight Loss since August 2014: 44 pounds