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!

Awkward I do my run as soon as I wake up so it's easy, I'm still half asleep I want to do a 10k race this year but it is difficult as I work weekends.
Moominsummermadness 2kgs is a lot in a week - I'm sure it must be due to fluid retention. I'm back on 5:2 this week as well as I've put on a little kg since last week and want to get back to below 56kg. Too much cheese, wine and chocolate!

Moomin, Anglaise at least you now know what to do to keep the weight in check. I'm positive it's fluid retention/hormones/natural fluctuations.

I'm back on 5:2 again this week as I'm back in weightloss mode. I could easily shed another 10lbs I think as I want to reveal more of these muscles I'm "growing". I'm apparently, according to the weight lifting/body building forums I'm perusing, in the "cutting phase".

NSV today. I just bumped into someone who I haven't seen for a while. he didn't recognise me , then said I looked 10 years younger

For those of you struggling to keep your weight constant, here's what I do.
For the past 3 weeks I have stayed the same to the lb. Last week we had family down and had many meals out (fish&chips and gourmet) and indulged in choc/ice cream etc, all the usual stuff. When I jumped on the scales on Saturday I was still the same.
Because I don't want to yo-yo either up or down if I can help it, I still fast for two days but I don't eat until the evening and then I don't limit to 500 cals. Also, since starting 5:2 I haven't felt like breakfast so I no longer have it even on NFD's.
I eat healthily through Mon-Fri and then eat what I like at the weekends as I know many others do. So far this has held my weight very steady and I love to get on the scales and see no change because I am eating loads and don't ever feel deprived.
Of course, the bonus of the health benefits are very important to me and this is why I don't do 6:1 as I'm not sure this gives the same.
I exercise 5 days a week.

ff I bet that made your day - yay!

Well, again, my cold didn't really materialise. This is the second time I've noticed this. I had a sore throat and felt a bit yuk yesterday - I had a 3-hour kip in the afternoon, and I've been feeling OK since.

Woke up this morning - still a bit of a sore throat, but my energy levels are back to normal. Skipped across the lounge to open the curtains, etc.

I'll be doing a lot of skipping now, since I found an old skipping rope at the back of a drawer this morning. Did 50 skips straight off - will see how this progresses.

Also teaching myself to juggle with three balls - my record is 9 so far.

Minimum fast today - aiming for

virginposter interesting what you said about 16:8 - do you think the benefits of doing this outweigh the benefits of a 24 hour fast once a week (like 6:1)?

Anglais1 I didn't mention 16:8 but Moomin did.
But as the health benefits of 6:1 have yet to be tested more thoroughly, I would (in my humble opinion) think that maybe 16:8 more than once a week might have a better effect. Or maybe doing 6:1 plus one or two 16:8? Does anyone else have an opinion on this?

TIP Betsy hah yes, I might have been abrupt, I don't know. I do think a number of people who've heard about this more recently seem to be very negative about the idea of "calorie counting." I'm still on the Facebook group, and more than a few people aren't interested in checking their calorie intake on non-fast days. MM didn't count his, but then, he was a an average weight when he started it, so was unlikely to have a habit of overeating regularly.

Ah, anyway. Got to pack, am heading off tomorrow. Fasting today- good day for it as I'm quite busy! :)

hi all, feeling guilty, not managed a successful fast in a few weeks, and while I'm still maintaining weightwise, i really don't want to stop fasting, I definitely want the health benefits ....(similar to breadandwines observation i've not had any sort of cold or infection since i started last august), i also like the feeling of elation I get from succeeding at a fast, and also realistically, I am high end of normal BMI, and I always hoped after a while maintaining at that level I would start to lose again once my exercise increased.

today I was going to get back on the wagon, but I've already blown it by eating some oat biscuits at 11 and then some hazelnot confection brought back from someones holidays at work.

last week I went for the first run in about a year followed by a swim, so maybe I should aim for the same tomorrow, and as I am off work, maybe I should cook some low cal food to freeze and give me some variety and easy to stick to, but tasty options?

really want to get this thing back in control.

on a plus note, non related to fasting, I've got a new buyer for my london place and for more money than the last buyer, so hopefully by the end of the summer my Wirral move can happen, and I can still buy the same house up there, so a delay, a few weeks of misery and stress, but a silver lining!

I'm off to buy some carrots!

welcome new maintainers too!

I always tend to do 16:8 either on its own (especially when maintaining) or combined with 6:1 or 5:2 (for weightloss). I like the idea of having a 16 hour fast every day. Weekends excluded. But I'm incredibly flexible around fasting and mix and match alot (except in weightloss mode when I revert to strict 5:2).

mumofcrazy terrific news about your house!

thanks bsshh

thinking about my fasting thing though, I think i can recover today, I did the 16 hous since last nights dinner at 7pm, and the biscuits and hazelnut things add up to approx 288 cals, so as long as I have very low cal (230 cal soup already in fridge at home) thne I can get back on track and succeed........phew

I think the temptation to throw in the towel once I have deviated from plan is too strong and I need to build in some changes to the usual (including just skipping meals in order to rebalance)

Good article here by Dr Mercola on 16:8:

lewrockwell.com/mercola/mercola279.html

and quoting Mark Mattson:

Mattson has also researched the protective benefits of fasting to neurons. If you don't eat for 10?16 hours, your body will go to its fat stores for energy, and fatty acids called ketones will be released into the bloodstream. This has been shown to protect memory and learning functionality, says Mattson, as well as slow disease processes in the brain.

Will add to Hints & Tips thread now.

I must admit I'm planning to stick with 5:2
not fasting today as went out to lunch with a friend - but we each only had a starter which leaves us both space for supper with husbands tonight.

16:8 - I guess I always have because I do not eat breakfast on week days but it was never a concious thing

the thing with fasting twice a week is that it effectively means I have to behave all week and then relax at the weekend.

MOCNK fingers crossed for you.
frenchfancy how cool is that!

bsshh very interesting link, thanks! frenchfancy that must have made your day, brilliant!

I'm managing to maintain too - around 9.4 with a bit of wriggle room either side. Hard to believe I've managed a holiday, 2 big birthday celebrations, a few meals out and some awful work lunches over the last 4-6weeks and not put any weight back on .

My main strategy is to put off eating as long as possible during the week, skip breakfast every day apart from weekends, some days skip lunch unless I have a work thing or am working at home. Work lunches are rarely healthy, home lunches will be left overs or salad and always healthy. Days in the office without lunchtime meetings will be proper fast days - sometimes I manage two a week, more often it's one. Weekends I have breakfast but then often no lunch and then maybe a takeaway or meal out. I have even been eating puddings

If I do the sums that means 5 days a week I have a 10-16 hr fast so I guess I'm doing 16:8

Today I had some revolting sandwiches for lunch - thought I was choosing a nice option but it turned out to be something tasteless with mayo. Managed to resist the baguette stand at the station so am now on the train home watching the man opposite drink white wine and eat cheese n onion crisps - part of me is but I know when I get home I can have a nice big salad and a large glass of red .

I will do a toast to Dr M and all my fellow fasters on here

Great news mumofcrazy

Easy fast day today. I even went food shopping with no temptation at all. I await tomorrows wi with interest.

catsrus well done for resisting wine and crisps! Now that I fast (and don't snack) I find myself really appreciating my main meals. Why waste my appetite on crisps when I could wait an hour or two more and tuck into a yummy curry or stew or salad or bit of poached fish with roasted vegetables? It's okay to wait, it's okay to feel a bit hungry!

Reading these posts I can see that anglaise1 was right, I have been doing 16:8 each day without realising it, how cool is that and it's great to see so many of us sucessfully maintaining using so different methods. This woe is wonderful for weight loss, health and also keeping those dreaded pounds off. Three cheers for Dr MM.

I haven't managed a single fast since my ride, have put on weight and my vanity sizing size 2 shorts are tight

Have a friend staying this week so prob wont manage any proper fasts but at least I did a proper food shop and have planned healthy meals. She leaves Saturday so I'm going to get myself into the headspace this week to kick start again - Shred and 4:3 from Saturday.

I guess it's just been hard with all the comings and goings of people and as soon as I fail a fast my "fuck it" mentality kicks in

mocnk maybe we need to give each other the proverbial kick up the bum!

Hello all, not sure what my blip was yesterday, as I weighed again this morning (don't tell me off, TIP ) and I'm down to 56.6kg. Got on the scales 3 times to check! Maybe my scales are a bit dodgy. However, when I think of what I ate on Sunday, there was a lot of salt and carbs, so maybe it was fluid retention. Feeling much happier! It was tricky resisting the toad in the hole that I'd cooked for the girls last night, but spaghetti carbonara for dinner tonight .

Got halfway through a post yesterday, then lost it...

3rd birthday and party both went well, thanks - and it didn't rain in the end (hurrah!) so we didn't have 20 3 year olds rampaging through the house!! Dinosaur birthday cake looked pretty good (if I say so myself ) - will put some pics up on my profile this week and then shout about it over here....

First weekend ever that I have weighted in at 9.5 on a Monday, despite large amounts of nachos, cheese, chocolate cake and a BBQ dinner with dh that was delicious but hardly slimming.

DH pointed out that I am now eating much more slowly, and taking my time over my food, which (unsurprisingly) means I end up eating slightly less and feeling 'full' sooner. I'm surprised by this as I would have thought my reaction to hunger would be to wolf my food down, but i noticed last night (after a 24 hour fast) that I really took my time over my dinner.

Big new discovery (sorry if this is old news) is that Itsu's frozen yoghurt is 99 calories a pop. So far I've only been eating it on NFDs, because I tend to do a full 24hrs, but its a great 'treat' regardless, and bloody good to know about for when I have a FD wobble. Especially since it takes me ages to eat the whole portion and makes me feel quite full afterwards...not too sweet, either.

MOCNK great news on the house! Obviously the absolute best case scenario would be to get a better price on your house and then find a way of paying less for the Wirral one :) As for sticking to your FD - well, you know what to do, it's just a matter of doing it. And given everything else you've demonstrated that you can achieve, that bit should be easy :)

I've also found that (as with your caramel snack 'oh bugger' moment) it's ok now we're 'maintaining' to mess up by eating something like that on a FD because we forget we're fasting, then decide to mentally 'park it' and continue the fast. Overall (as you worked out in the end) it's never more than 100-200cals so worth heading straight back into fast day mode, rather than 'oh well, might as well eat now'. I don't even punish myself with a stupidly small supper, as I know it will sabotage my commitment to the next one, just accept that I will finish the day on 600/700 cals, which is a totally reasonable outcome at this stage. Not sure if that helps, or even make sense...I'm on a conference call whilst typing

Lovely to see you back here greeneggs I'm tempted to check out the main 5:2 thread, but not even sure where its got to these days...and a bit scared....

B&W - very impressed by your lack of cold. And damn right about not beating yourself up when you fall off the metaphorical wagon now and again - pretty much what I was just saying...

Welcome to all new maintainers - this is a lovely, supportive corner of MN :)

Some great advice and support on this thread I like the approach that if you eat something 'off plan' that's ok, just adjust and carry on. I'm also inspired to get my exercise sorted (not sure I'll ever make it to the heavy lifters corner but I need to get lifting some weight at least - arms like spaghetti).

I weighed myself this morning and have lost another pound or so, BMI now below 20 which is lower than I want to be. And I didn't hold back this weekend. So I'm going to eat more on NFDs this week and see what happens on the scales next week.

AmericasTorturedBrow
Supreme court ruling is out. Have you opened the fizzy?