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

[Talkinpeace]

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?
How do we ensure that we keep ourselves looking great rather than just thin?

Many of us have been maintaining at our original goal weight for a few months, and others are joining all the time.
Obviously, the more the merrier!
It is also worth considering whether a second, leaner target might be achievable.

You'll find the first two maintenance threads and all the main 5:2 threads for posters practicing IF to lose weight here on the Fasting / 5:2 on the diet forum. We're currently on thread no. 23, but there is a new main thread every 2-3 weeks.

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!

PS thanks to Breadandwine (proof that this forum welcomes everybody, not just Mums) for setting up the last thread while my old name that set up the first one was on 'holiday'

Photos please cats we want to see how fab you look now ....

Boo

I don't have waitrose or m&s

Finally, finally, I've managed to upload some pics of young Oscar Charles and family:

nobreadisanisland.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/new-baker-joins-family.html

There's a 50 second video at the end of the post - which runs all the time and has no sound. Haven't figured out how to post these properly, yet!

(Thanks, Laska, I've been around, but I didn't want to post until I had something for you guys.)

OC is now 6 weeks old, and his weight is exactly as it should be. However, he is very grizzly, bordering on colicky, and is making severe demands on his mother and her boobs!

We've all been there, folks, I'm sure (not the boobs bit for me, obviously!), and we all know it's just a phase - what we don't know is how long the phase will last.

Lovely photos B&W, especially the one with your SIL (can't believe he got his chest waxed but as you say, respect!)
ATB no M&S or Waitrose here either, or ready made soups, we have to make our own (the non fresh ones aren't that great!). I cook a mean French onion soup which is very tasty and simple and which I lived on for my fast days when I was originally on the 5:2 last Jan/Feb.
I still don't weigh enough to fast as I'm back down to minimum BMI but when I do it will be FO soup again.

atb whole foods markets do delicious soups out there don't they? I have a friend who works in the UK branches.

I totally agree with ready made or home made anglaise you have me craving FO soup now, haven't made that for ages, but not sure it would be quite right without a huge crouton loaded with parmesan cheese, and therefore not really a fast day soup!

fussy eater bf declared a love of leeks yesterday (we've been together getting on for 2 years and i've never seen him touch a leek....and the list of foods he won't eat is long yawn so I feel a garlicky leek and potato soup coming on.

now it's nearly winter i'm going to stock the fridge and freezer with soups and hope that enables/encourages me to get back to regular fasting, the jeans really are just a bit too tight.

breadandwine my sister who had her little one at the same time as your daughter also has a fussy/colicky/constantly feeding little one (as was my dd), she is gorgeous, but you just can't stop jiggling her to try and keep her happy, but she has just started to enjoy lying and smiling on her sheepskin now that she's discovered a dummy, my sister was fairly against them, but having peace from fussing for a couple of hours in teh evening has converted her! They grow super quick and then their insides get big enough to cope with teh wind and also to take in more milk at a sitting and tehrefore not feed quite so constantly, but the beginning can be tough and I think there is not enough honesty about that, but if she can get through the first 2 months she'll be home and dry I reckon....breastfeeding wise anyway

sarah what about a banana? I have a friend who just eats 2 bananas every day and then a normal evening meal as a variation of fasting that he could cope with.

cyclistist atb tip I'm impressed that you are all getting back on teh fasting pre christmas wagon, I need to join you, going to fast today, only a coffee with milk so far, don't think i'm going to manage to ever give up milk in coffee or tea to do a pure 16:8 but I'm going back to what worked for me before which is the soup thing, 2 per day, lunch and dinner.

oohh b&w Oscar charles is just gorgeous, love the video of him and your Daughter!

SoupsRus! Dont for get my wonferful Mr Ls roasted carrot and Red pepper in the recipe thread, and anglaise pleaase can we have your FO soup recipe also !.. ATB ithoght you were stil over hereinthe UK , but have made my own versionof Souper Green soup which i reckion gis almost as good as theirs , so will put it through MFP for calories and post later on ..

Aftre last night I sat and asked myself once again the basic question , 'Do i really want to be thin or not?' and if I do ( I do!) then why am i carrying on self sabotaging with popcorn cheese etc? and not fasting much anymore? ive not put much back on but I have put on some about 6lbs, and I dont like it at all..

FFS i have degrees and everything.. Im quite intelliegent.. and I know what to do, so why aint I? ,

So pointy boot has been self-administerd firmly once more ..today eggs and soup only

.. I will go running and do Shread again .. (and yes i know youve heard it all before) BUt I have an added impetus not to ba k pedal any more (if she still wants to that is ) I can occaisionally get to see tip in real life and she's motivation in herself .

Now im off to go look at the MBGSITWWEWINCM photos ( young Oscar that is!)

laska your update could be written by me, I am doing the same....as in continually self sabotaging, but been here before and got out of it....albeit briefly in aid of a dress I wanted to get into, and didn't manage to maintain that loss, but know it can be done again, as I know you have, think we need to definitely take a leaf out of tip s book and aim for below target, espacially now in the run up to sshhhh christmas the coming eating season!

we can do it, just about getting back in the habit, one successful fast at a time, I'm aiming for just one full fast, and then let's see if I can manage a second, but no big plan, just let's get one under my belt!

Oh god me too! I totally annihilated a fat yesterday with the only packet of Percy pigs and only packet of green and blacks I brought back (both of which I was saving for post Hawaii!)

I do love soups and think its a good thing to get back into - ended up with soup at lunch yesterday out of green beans, sweet corn, chilli an garlic as it was all languishing at the bottom of the fridge! I need to get the children into soup really, that would help.

I'm going to try for 18:6 today, it's my day just with DS and we normally bake and go for frozen yoghurt together so I don't really like fasting on Tuesdays. Although its not a true fast as I need milk in my tea first thing, swiftly followed by coffee (the latest I'm up with DD at the moment is 5:30am, bleurgh) then I'm going to do two back to back FD weds and thurs so I still get in 4:3 this week.

Mentally I have to start my day saying "I am fasting today" if there's any wavering at all I don't just fail a fast, I binge, horrible the tricks my mind plays sometimes.

Oh Oscar is lovely B&W, sorry to hear he's unsettled - DS (my first) had colic on top of me having PND, I think I cried every day the first 4months of his life, it's so tough especially when it's your first. He is the easiest and sweetest child in the world now though, to make up for it.

Ok kids, FD soup recipes please. I made a HFW roasted tomato sauce the other day from what I salvaged from our neglected garden (ghgrrrrrr DH) so might try to turn some of it into soup. Not buying food til Friday in an effort to clear the freezer and spend as little as poss til Hawaii....so here's a challenge.

I have frozen broccoli, frozen leeks, roasted tomato sauce, fresh sweet corn, fresh parsley and coriander, frozen artichoke hearts. Will this make the most disgusting soup in the world?!

Hi all,
well I just got back from my four hour meeting and scoffed a slice of bread and phili!
It said "light lunch" on the paperwork. But lots of the older gents helped themselves so I got three chips and a quarter of a sweetcorn sandwich on plastic bread!

Laska yup - deffo John Lewis this time.
ATB Do you have a Wegmans or an IGA near you that might do a cool soup? Otherwise spanish omelettes are my great fun fast supper as with enough veg in them three small eggs go a very long way.

And please remember that one of my great motivators is pain : my knee joints are shot. For every six months I keep my weight down and my fitness up I delay massive surgery. I was first threatened with it over 20 years ago when 'total knee' was a pretty barbaric operation. Anything over 9st5 and I start to get agony days again.
Oh yeah, and I'm vain

B&W great photos of Oscar, and you are looking pretty good also, can see that 5:2 is working well for you

Heres a re-run of my Red Cabbage and Beet Borscht which I love and its nearly red cabbage time,, ( you could do it with other cabbage).. its on the recipe thread

This makes a rather startling colour but filling and earthy tasting soup (and has no pretensions towards being ‘the real thing’), but is great for a fast day.

Serves 6 at 667 cals for the whole recipe so about 111 a portion

200g Potato chopped but skin left on
1 pack of 4 Cooked Beetroot In Natural Juices (Sainsburys sell this as do many other supermarkets) ,
2 Medium Onion -
1 Celery stalk, medium
1 large Carrot
Half a Red Cabbage chopped
Smoked Pancetta 110g, 1 pack
400g can Tinned chopped Tomatoes
Caraway Seed I teaspoon
Dried Dill half teaspoon
Fresh – Dill, small packet
Chicken (or veggie) Stock Cube, 1 cube
Splash of red wine or cider vinegar

Chop up celery onion carrot into small dice , Fry off with pancetta in large pans until soft and then drain off excess fat. (or if making veggie version use spray oil for this stage) .

Thinly slice potatoes (I left the skins on) and add to the pot with caraway seeds and dried dill. Add made up stock add to cover and simmer until pots are tender.

Shred cabbage and chop beetroot and add to the pot with the tinned tomatoes .salt and pepper to taste and simmer until cabbage is tender.

Add chopped fresh dill and splash of vinegar to taste and liquidise.

I like mine with a little crumbled feta on top and a splash of hot sauce (of course as it’s me!) ..though you could have half fat crème fraiche or sour cream
if you have the calories

A veggie version (no pancetta) will be only 542 for the whole recipe and 90cals a portion!!

Shall we start a 'soups' thread? or carry on with the recipe thread as it is?

Pop it onto the recipes and we'll keep it bumped .....

have just posted a new recipe for 'Almost (M&S) Souper Green Soup' on the recipe thread (had it tonight !yum and filling )

As well as the borscht there's a few other soup recipes of mine (and from others) on the recipe thread if you look back . The roasted carrot cardamom and orange one is good , id forgotten about that
also the yummy 'Mr Ls carrot and red pepper soup' that i often make leaving out the lentils for fewer calories and its just as yummy

I want but IM FASTING.. so off to bed early with book and mint now

Good girl.
Himself is away for the rest of the week and I was brought up to never drink alone so I'll get lots of odds and sods done instead.

Oooh sounds good Laska...I make a mean beet root and orange soup from the Riverford cookbook

But it's 28degrees so now the last thing I feel like!

gazpacho?

MOCNK my French Onion soup is so low in calories that you can add quite a bit of cheese, and probably still be well under 300 cals. When I fasted I ate nothing until evening, then my soup, an orange and 100 cals worth of chocolate. I lost 6kgs in 8 weeks with that, although it makes for a pretty boring fast day.

Morning all, well the dr's yesterday have confirmed I have Hypothyroiditis - underactive thyroid, my TSh levels were 10.69, although they didn't give me ts3 and ts4 which I will ask for next time I go for another blood test in 3 weeks, they've put me on thyroxine, only low 25mcg dose to start and see where that gets me. have to admit it makes me feel old, and a bit frustrated, to be on medication for teh rest of my life, I feel some research coming on, although i have had many of teh symptoms for most of my life, so maybe being able to shift weight easier? or have more energy? with the medication will be a blessing in disguise....we shall see.

phoned up and t4 was 11.2 and normal is 50-160, but no t3 test done.

anglaise soup sounds good, is teh recipe in the recipes thread?

laska soup sounds great except i have a childish aversion to beetroot, love red cabbage though.

gonna check out your souper green recipe as I seem to have an abundance of green stuff in the fridge and a craving for soup on this miserable rainy day!

atb vichysoisse is also served cold I think? along with the gazpacho and what about a chilled cucumber soup?

MOCNK its hereditary. Nothing you can have done will change it. My Grandmother was on those pills for decades till she died age 96. My Mum is on them, my Aunt was on them, one of my cousins is on them.
The clock is ticking for me.

Just had scrambled egg with LOADS of pepper as a hot lunch.