IF, 4:3, 5:2 - Maintaining a healthy weight - Chapter 2

[Breadandwine]

This thread is for those who have been practicing IF (Intermittent Fasting) for quite a while and are now at or nearing their target healthy weight. It's also for anyone who is doing it for the health benefits alone.

How do we experience fasts and balance a stable food intake while having little or no weight to lose?

How do we ensure that this WOL keeps us at the healthy weight long term rather than revert to yoyo games?

Several of us have been stable at our goal weight for a few months, now, and others are joining all the time. Obviously, the more the merrier!

Here is the current main thread for posters practicing IF to lose weight.

There are two other associated threads:
This one, which is an absolute goldmine of Tips and Links on how to practice IF, and the research behind it.

And here is a treasure trove of 5:2 recipes, mostly low calorie for fasting days, but there are also recipes for when you want to treat yourself. And, now we're maintaining, we'll need more of these!

Mumofcrazynamedkids thanks for your recipe link, sounds delicious, and I hope all is going well for you. frenchfancy as ellenbrodysays, it's the cross contamination of food that causes the problems. Tip home made is always best, and I admit I've been looking at deep fat fryers lately, perhaps I can justify the purchase on health grounds!

I would definitely get yourself a deep fat fryer. We only use it 2 or 3 times a month but as we don't have takeaways or eat out much it is a nice treat. There are loads of things you can do in them, not just chips.

I can't believe I'm in the weight loss section recommending fryers .

I'll look at that link TIP. I'm genuinely questioning my ideal weight. I picked my target because it was a weight I'd been happy at before DCs. I'm lucky to be an hour glass shape with curves in the right places and I don't want to lose them. But I feel so much better being 2 stone lighter that I woner if another half stone might be a good idea. Bank holiday here today - I'm going swinging through the trees with the dcs.

twoshiney I have bone density ishoos too, as does my DM, also most likely caused by coeliac. I use 30 day shred and ripped in 30 dvd's as there's jumping stuff. I can't run for toffee- I tried C25k but it was shambolic! (And I think I'm fairly fit).

fryers: has anyone got one of those air fryers?

yesterday ended up being an 850cal day rather than a fast, but still less than half my TDEE, so today is my final and proper 500cal fast of the week, really not struggling with 3 days straight, and todays scales showed another pound loss! I think fasting 3 days straight may be the way forward!

my weekend will also start on Friday am, I will go for coffee (and probably a big fat almond croissant or thick bakery toast) with a mum friend after school drop tomorrow, and then maybe meet someone for lunch, and probably have wine at kids dinner time with another Mum to start the weekend off......and I have a girlfriend coming for the weekend too.....

best is that i just don't weigh myself on Monday!

mumofcrazynamedkids Yes I have a Phillips AirFryer and I use it all the time. When I went to S.W a few years back, they suggested making your own chips which were par boiled, shaken to fluff up, then sprayed with lo-cal oil (YUK) and then popped into the oven.
I've followed this by spraying with olive oil and stirring in a bowl to coat. Then I pop them into the AirFryer and about 20 mins later (shake half way through) lovely crispy chips. I use Maris Pipers,leave the skins on and cut them quite chunky and they are yummy.
I would say though that the basket is not huge but big enough for 2 large portions . I also use it for bacon as the fat drains into the bottom and salmon fillets. I've done sausages and it cooks them really well but it smokes a bit from the fat splashing on the element and it sets off the smoke alarm . I'm sure it can be used for other things too but I have other cookers (halogen) which I use regularly.
DH and I have our 'treat' of chips once every week and have done all through my weight loss

I'm on a fast day and all this talk of chips has made me desire them now! Oh well, out into the garage gym for me.

Fast day for me too but I think proper chip shop chips are in order for tomorrow (haven't had chips in months but all this talk is making me crave them).

mumofcrazy that sounds like a wonderful 3 day weekend for you, enjoy!

Hi oldtimers! Long time no see! Thanks to Bssh, I got back on to see what's happening. How are you all doing?

virgin thanks for the review, does sound good, but as I'm moving North where the chip shop chips are good, maybe I should stick to those as the treat as well as the cakes, wine chocolate, cheese, bread

bsshh yes a great weekend, Sunday will be spent wandering round the flower market and spitalfields market as my friend loves to shop!

hope everyone has a great weekend planned?

hey thinkican how's it going for you?

Hello ThinkICan .

mumofcrazy we live in London too so we'll be going to the Natural History Museum (at request of my 4 year old) on one day then cakes at Ottolenghi followed by a walk through Highbury Fields on another day. Just hope the weather keeps up.

we do home made oven chips ...... ie toss in oil and then spread on a tray in the oven .... no need for a fryer!

welcome back thinkIcan

was chatting to a colleague today and explaining that because you keep going on fasting after you stop losing weight, this way of eating should prevent yo yo weight gain .... she looked almost convinced!

Hiya,
I'm just popping in for some motivation but don't really belong here !!
Starting out 5:2- 1 FD under belt- was sort of ok,,! I kept under tdee on NFD but gained 2lbs! I'm wanting to lose a stone...am 5'7 and target weight 9 stone-- how long u reckon it will take me to get there??
Congrats to all who have reached your targets... Look fwd to joining u!! Thanks.....

Hi there I?m back again special hello to piebaldrider and thinkIcan great to see you back

And also fastfeeder nettnett posy twoshiney and postman who I don?t think I?ve said Hi to yet..
Like all this chip talk..(that?s what so great about 5:2 aint it ?, you wouldn?t get this on WW!) I do TiPs method , works fine for me , but do also check out my roasted cauliflower on the recipe thread.. Its chips you eat on fast days ! ( and I love it!)

Well I hate to say it TiP my friend but you were right again .. I?m back down to 10.2 again after a frightening 10.7 on Sunday !!!! .. It must have been glycogen or whatever left from the £1 carb-filled diet and also possibly water retention , due to getting a ?water? infection . But despite doing the bicarb and cranberry it didn?t seem to be getting much better so I went to the doc yesterday , and got a 3 day antibiotic course which is helping but I?m still feeling quite swollen up , and .back-achey , but hopefully it should clear up now.

so I?ve been feeling a bit mis , and have only half-fasted this week , but its hard when you don?t feel quite well. ,

Next week , though , I?m going to start my 2013 ?bikini campaign? in earnest .. I?m off on 20th June so not long to look ?hot? on the beach (She laughs! remember I?m 55!! LOL , so I?ll be happy with not too wrinkly or flobby .. I don?t think it?s going to be quite be ?Girl from Ipenema? .. Look it up you youngsters! )

) ..

What?s great though is last year?s ?bikini?diet saw me going off at 11st 3! And i though that was good! This was before discovering 5:2 though , and I put on 7lbs back on while I was on that holiday!

elliiiee Hi, good luck with it ,, only a stone ,so you'll soon be a bone fide member of the Maintainers . Difficult to say how long it will take you . because we are all different , but stick to it . 5:2 is the only WOE i've ever found which works long term and is easy to maintain after .

I'm on a zero cal, 36 hour fast today. My 4th. Finding it difficult today but will try and keep at it and remember that I can always have a 500 cal meal if I need to. Thing is, it's not hunger but greed habit that's making me drool over think about food tonight.

elliiiee welcome. Keep at it. Give this WOE at least a month. You don't have much to lose so losses may be slow. Your 2lb gain might just be water/hormones as your body adjusts to fasting.

at Laska : we auditors are good at looking smug!!

it was amusing explaining to colleague - who knackered her system on meal replacement diets : that this WOE is not about weight loss - its about being healthy for ever.

BsshBossh was good all day but feel much better after curry and cider! am just too tired to do long fasts - but one good meal a day is actually pleasant after mainlining tea all day.

TIP I bet you really savoured that meal didn't you. I always appreciate food when I'm truly hungry for it. One of the best discoveries of this WOE for me.

Well I'm over the slump. I have to admit that it didn't help that DH texted me from work to tell me he was having a Mexican burrito for dinner. But I've overcome all fantasies of sticking his face in burrito. My mind is clear and I've got a spurt of energy suddenly. So looks like I'm going to not sleep at all last the full 36 hours.

oh my god meal replacement diets.. the utter pits.. I know so many women at work who have done these, lost loads of weight and then put it all back on and more in very short order . In fact they have all put back on and some spectacularly more..
Slimfast , Cambridge etc.

But sadly several of them think I'm the one doing the dangerous thing ,

I am failing catestrophicaly this week - combination of two boozy nights after three weeks of nearly teetotalness, depression over upcoming 30th birthday and DD's sleep being so unbelieveably bad.

Friends for dinner tonight then I WILL fast tomorrow, then at least I'll have done 6:1 this week. From Monday I am in full mode getting our house packed up and moved and final set of training before doing the charity ride, I'm not going to have alcohol, will do some form of exercise every day and go back to 4:3 because the last 3 weeks of doing that I felt amazing, and I need to be seriously on form over the next month.

Hi guys

Just wanted to share with you all what a great week I've had.

It began on Sunday, when I had 11 students in a small village hall (Hornblotton, near Shepton Mallett) making half a dozen varieties of bread from 10 until 4 (second session next Sunday). Then I did a 34 hour fast starting after midnight on Sunday (I was baking, and the loaf didn't come out of the oven until 12.30, so I had to taste it!) with only 71 calories for Monday's evening meal.

On Tuesday, another gorgeous day, I made 4 pizzas in my chiminea - one of which is still in the freezer. (Would have made these on Monday, but, since I was fasting, I didn't - luckily the weather held until Tuesday.)

On Wednesday I taught 11 parents and 15 children at a Sure Start centre in Taunton - making fancy dinner rolls (plus assorted mice, caterpillars, hedgehogs, etc. A simple bread dough is the original playdough!).

This morning I had 8 families (with year one children) making sizzlers (cheese and tomato wraps) and bread shapes in a Bridgwater primary school.

And this afternoon I made bread with the guys at a care home, also in Taunton, where we made bread with chocolate spread, banana and a curried cheese and potato filling. (Not all in the same batch, I hasten to add!).

And tomorrow morning I have a long-standing Family Learning commitment at another Taunton PS, where we'll likely make a couple of varieties of soda bread and a batch of bread rolls (utilising the original playdough theme!).

3 spin-offs (one definite, 2 possible)- one of the guys on the Hornblotton course asked if I'd like to run a similar day at another village hall where he's the chair of the VH committee; The nursery supervisor at the Sure Start centre has booked me in for a session next month (she has 40 children registered, so there might be more work); and the primary school teacher indicated she'd like to get me back for another session at some time.

Finally, for dinner tonight I had the remains of a Thai curry I'd made yesterday, with some chips from the chip shop (I had rice with it yesterday). For pudding I made a chocolate 'cake in a mug' (which I've refined - and nailed!) along with some vegan ice cream. So I'm one happy bunny!

Plus I've just caught up with thread number 19 - it's exactly the same as when you guys began thread number one last August, except for the changes in personnel. But the ethos is no different - I always read with a smile on my face.

Cheers, B&W

ATB you've got so much on dont beat your self up..House moving and looking after kids is hard enough , as well as fitting in training , and you've done brilliantly up to now, so a little break is fine.

I know its easy for me to say this and i do understand how you are feeling , but being 30 is just a number, really it is , it really doesn't change who you are except in your head if you let it.. i've seen 40 and 50!.., 50 was particularly hard to face , but i got over it pretty quick , and actually now - especially as I'm 3st slimmer than when I hit 50 , I now feel much younger at 55!

I've not been too chipper this week , but also planning on going back to 4:3 next week

B&W
you are such an inspiration!, seeATB the good life doesn't stop s after 30! or 70 either

Pizza in a chimera.. now there's an idea ( dont have one though.. Id like to build a pizza oven out back , have been looking it up on line .

have to go my cat is trying to help me type and keeps getting on the keyboard ..

B&W your post made me hungry. I am planning baked bready goodness for tomorrow's meals.

Americas goodness you've got so much going on, give yourself a break. And turning 30? Well, my 30s turned out to be a much better decade than my 20s, purely because I became so much more self-confident in my 30s. My sef-esteem sky-rocketed in my 30s.