IF / ADF / 4:3 / 5:2 / 6:1 / 16:8 ~ Maintaining at a healthy weight ~ Chapter 4

[TalkinPeace]

This thread is for those of us 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 many 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 three maintenance threads and all the main 5:2 threads for posters practicing IF to lose weight here Fasting / 5:2 on the diet forum. We're currently on thread no. 35, but there is a new main thread every 2-3 weeks.

There are three 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!

Since I started the last Maintainers thread the importance of exercise has come to the fore, as part of our general health and to help weight loss. BigChocFrenzys thread is here

TIP not a twonk at all, just shows how hard you worked in the daytime, your mind was obviously on other things! You must be very relieved that your slippers are not of the pink fluffy variety

not half as relieved as the kids were
but it was a FANTASTIC day
we a re crowdsourcing pictures onto DH's FB page at the moment and will upload the videos during the week

his combined National Science week audience was nearly 4000

now his work eases off and mine ramps up
the joys of self employment

looking forward to the monday fast

Sounds like it was a great week TIP 4000 audience is impressive!
Will be joining you on a Monday fast. Anyone else?
Ran my PB by two seconds on a 10km yesterday, 46m26s in the cold wind and rain (should have done better!).
3 weeks to my first half marathon, so want to be fighting fit - and preferably not more than 57kgs - for that.

TIP that made me chuckle but I've done that before and have now twice gotten to town and realised DD had no shoes with her. Living in a hot climate and her running around barefoot and my scatter brain are not a good combo!

anglaise well done on the PB, especially in those tough conditions.

Failed, or is it postponed, fast day today. It was all going great until dinner time. I had soup for lunch then a salad for dinner. So far so good. Then I realised there was cheese left over and some wine left in the bottle. Oops. In my defense today had been a big day in out journey to shaking up our life and relocating.
Maybe I can manage a mini fast tomorrow. But I'm not going to be tough on myself. I seem to still be maintaining but I definitely need to find time for more exercise. One day at a time!

Wow, 4000! That's amazing, TiP I love the idea of you going out for dinner in your slippers...that's the sort of thing I would do by choice if I could get away with it :)

Welcome back FF sounds like you had an amazing trip :) So you got to meet ATB ....one day, I'm going to get Stateside again I'm so impressed you've only put on 2kg over the whole trip, especially as some of that is bound to be water retention from the flight home. Well done you :)

Congrats Anglaise - a 2 second PB is not a small matter....races are won (and lost) in a lot less than that Stick at it, and we'll see you on the Tour de France yet...(maybe...!)

Oscar is so cute B&W and growing up so fast....glad to hear you and Laska are both finding ways to get time with the gorgeous grandchildren Funnily enough, I was never remotely broody/family minded before I had children, but always knew I really wanted to be a grandma - and there was only one way to do that!! So it's very reassuring to see that grandparenthood looks so fab....

Thanks for all the support and reassurance. I haven't quite fallen off the maintenance wagon, but my eating patterns have been all over the place and I need to get control. Part of the problem is that I find I now compensate for over-eating/unhealthy eating at one meal by simply not eating again that day. Which is (sort of) fine, as it helps to re-dress the harm done, but then it doesn't set me up well for the following day.

For example: 4lbs up on Friday morning. no breakfast or lunch on Friday, but pita bread and hummous at 3pm. Followed by classic 'Friday night dinner' (chicken soup, roast potatoes, roast chicken, veg, apple cake) at MIL.

Now 'only' 3lbs up on Saturday morning. No breakfast. Guests for lunch, and had made a full Sabbath meal (beef stew, salt beef, potato kugel, coleslaw, tomato salad, green salad, Chinese cabbage salad, hummous, shug, matbucha and loads of challah bread, followed by apple bake, fruit cake, dairy-free ice cream and dairy free custard for dessert). Washed down with loads of whiskey. Wasn't hungry for the rest of the day but still ended up eating tons of cheddar, home made chutney, challah and butter and kettle crisps with dh late at night whilst watching Breaking Bad

Sunday morning: 5lbs up. No breakfast. Strada for lunch - 3 pizza and 1 garlic bread between dh, me and 3 dcs (plus my dsis nicked some), and a short walk, followed by cake and scones in the tea rooms nearby at 4pm. No dinner.

This morning: 9.4.8 (so just inside the 'safe zone' of 9.2-9.5) but really hungry as I haven't eaten since yesterday mid-afternoon, which was all sugar/cake calories rather than anything useful.

It's meant to be a FD today, but finding it much harder than usual (also cos I'm wfh), and I can see that having a sensible meal last night would have been so much better than going into it already 8 hours hungry by bedtime.

I really want to get down to 9.1/9.2 before we go away for 2 weeks over Passover. Because of the food restrictions (including no bread, so you'd have thought this would be a good thing!) its a really hard time of year to keep weight down (everything involves huge amounts of eggs, oil, nuts and matzo meal) plus that's 2 weeks of going to the beach and generally being in a lovely warm sunny climate with my super slim sis-in-law, so I really want to look and feel good. I shreded Weds, Thurs & Fri, and again this morning, so hopefully that will help, but I really really need to maintain focus and not cock up my FDs over the next few weeks.

Aaargh.

Just realised how stupidly, embarrassingly long this post is...please forgive me. I'm hoping that by 'putting it out there' I can find a way to break a slightly unhealthy cycle. Thanks all.

Filly this is exactly why this quiet corner exists, get it off your chest, talk it through and try to work out a better strategy - at least you're doing some damage limitation! I find if I start a slippery slope my sod it button is pressed and i carry on eating the rest of the day despite being full!

FD today as well and back to being vegan after an omnivore weekend. I can't really see myself going vegan FT (sorry B&W) but am quite enjoying it and actually felt better in myself so I'm going to keep it up and maybe have one or two omnivore days a week, and it has been a brilliant way of avoiding butter and egg laden sweet treats - although I'm getting a bit too good at vegan cookies

nice work MrTiP! and well done Anglaise on your PB - whats your current time for a half? I'm determined to get out for a run this week, I'm really taken with the idea of attempting a tri next year (prob not an olympic one though). A friend moved to Malibu at the weekend so I'm going to bike up to the Canyons on Wednesday then tackle the horrible hill she lives at the top of (and has the reward of an incredible sea view) and drop by for coffee. Then a Mother's Day ride followed by Brunch on Sunday - I have my first century on April 5th and am getting slightly terrified about completing it in under 10 hours (including breaks), none of my friends are freee to do it with me is the only thing

Good luck today fasters

Thanks for all your congrats, still think I should have done better!
Filly Post away on this thread, that's what it's for! If you are shredding, make sure you take measurements as well as weigh - working out will give you more muscle so you might not notice a difference in weight but you will still be slimmer. It's ATB who will be on the Tour de France, not me, I just run - I'm not a cyclist!
ATB I haven't done a half marathon yet, it will be my first one. Based on my 10km time I should be under 1h45m...but it will probably be different in practice.
Fasting has not been fun today, the coldest day in a long time and rain, I'm looking forward to my bacon and egg salad very soon!

Thanks for being luffly :)

A really good FD yesterday, plus a shred (despite small glass of in the evening) resulted in scales saying 9.2.6 this morning.

A great result, right? So I promised myself I would continue to fast until lunch (cos I never eat breakfast anyway), which would give me approx 600cals in 48 hours.

What do I do? Get off the train into work, stop at POD and buy scrambled eggs and toast. Then 2 chocolate ginger cookies (because they were there). And then 2 Oreos (because they were also there). And its only 11.20.

Somebody stop me and give me a slap, please? It's like having seen a reasonable number on the scales something in my head has just let rip, even though I know I've got a way to go...

hey all, good to hear you're all so busy! Well done tip on slippers out for dinner!

filly I genuinely think maintaining was much harder than fasting to lose weight, i utterly failed at managing to maintain, hence back to square one and restarting - you have not failed, you are within your target, you are just struggling (although pretty successfully) at finding the best way for you to maintain. definitely vent here!

b&W oscar gorgeous, and why do they have to grow so fast? I love teh baby bit, although every stage has it's good moments!

So I moved house on Sat again, and despite that I'm almost completely unpacked, (my bedroom is the only room not done, wardrobe doors seem to have not gone back together too well....damn ikea! but I will be putting away tonight and hopefully have a tv set up in my room ready for shred!

I successfully fasted yesterday, and am attempting a second fast today (have come on here as the homemade apple pie was just winking at me), I need to kickstart the weightloss as i seem to be getting nowhere, have never managed 3 days in the past, but I think i'm going to attempt mon, tues and thurs fasts, for a few weeks just to reset my overeating on non fast days.

The ex bf helped with the move at the weekend, we did have a sat night together for proper conversation and I feel like i have a bit more closure and understanding, he's just too worried about his mental ex wife refusing access again if we live together and his dd having issues, he's just not prepared to take any risks with that, although he should have just spoken to me honestly rather than doing a runner and forcing me to end things! gggrrr, anyway, it confirms my decision not to waste anymore time on a relationship that isn't likely to progress the way I want, so on to a slimmer, fitter me and back to the dating scene!

really hungry now....aagghhh!!!

I'm in the Apple store so can't write much until tonight when I get home.

Filly Well done for yesterday. You don't need anymore crap! Depending on what you've had this afternoon, when you get home it may be an idea to declare at an early time that the kitchen is well and truly closed!

Hi MOCNK I hope you will be happy in your new home. Don't forget the apple pie will be there tomorrow.

Maintaining is harder in that the fasting is just for health and not for weight loss
hence why I do a lot of 16:8
regularly do 23 1/2 hous without food
but very rarely stick to 500 calories
it seems to work
because I'm keeping the patterns of eating / not eating without the deficits

MOCNK its a shame it did not work out, but you now know where you stand and are able to move forwards

ATB could you shove a bit of sunshine our way - its MISERABLE here

filly close the kitchen and so not even let yourself LOOK at the fast food stalls - think of other people's grimy fingers touching the food and eat at home

Betsy I still hanker after junk but nowhere near as much as I used to pre-5:2 (though even then I didn’t eat a huge amount). I can’t ever imagine not loving both wanting and eating my crappy treats - Reese’s chocolate peanut butter sticks, Refresher sweets and Boost bars…looking forward to Easter!

My sardines and chickpeas dinner doesn’t really involve a recipe - I just put a can of the peas in a bowl and add a tin of sardines in water in the microwave for two minutes, later adding seasoning, anything I have to hand - parsley or chilli seeds work well but good old salt and pepper is fine too. It’s 344 calories, full of protein, iron, calcium, vitamins D, B12, fibre and costs slightly less than £1.50 all in (I get organic peas). To be even healthier I guess you could add a portion of veg.

*FF Can we expect any pics from your fab holiday? . I remember when I first went to a supermarket in the states (in the south). Two stones overweight and in the grips of emotional overeating, I felt like Charlie Bucket when he entered the chocolate factory - so much delicious looking crap on the shelves quite reasonably priced, quite a contrast to the British supermarkets I was used to and I recall making several trips. I think if I were to go back to this store I’d be horrified and yes the portions over there generally are ridiculously large. Over there and when I was in Florida, obesity seems to be accepted but maybe that’s changed now. Though I haven’t been to the west coast, now I think I identify more with the Californian healthy ethos of eating which I believe is even more social class linked than it is here in Britain - what do you think ATB? Maybe I’ve been watching too many films, though

B&W Laska I love reading about grandparents being so active with their grandkids. I never knew mine when I was growing up and did feel I missed out to an extent but heigh-ho.

Filly There’s nothing to forgive, missus. These threads are all about honesty and support after all. Do you think you’re drinking enough water? And are you sleeping enough? I would also try if I were you to cut back on the carbs a little when you’re out and have more protein (I see you’re another bread fiend!).

I’m back to target weight even after a splurgy night last Thursday when I unusually snacked on a bit of cake and a glass of wine at a book event because it was free. In hindsight I’m so glad I didn’t continue to drink when I got home and did a mini-fast on Saturday.

Have seen him now B&W he's beautiful lovely photos .. hope you had a good weekend withyour other grandchildren.

The wedding was great and I wore a sz 10 dress that i bought for summer hols last year ,( which was very forgiving..)

But have tried on another couple of less so ones (including a nice Laura Ashley 'vintage print' linen shift dress tha i definately want to wear again this year and have found that I really do need to stop pretending.. Too tight across the bust again , and my tum is definately on the wobbly side..

I know what it is . ! I simply have to stop for a month or so if i want to get it off , i think.. have managed to get back into fasting but somehow i keep drinking duringthe week.. and theres a waitrose order with a dozen bottles coming tomorrow and its too late to take them off now .

time for evil jillian?

Tip lol at the slippers ! and you are still so young... so cannot blame meno yet!

filly your weekend sabbath meals sound great , Can I come over next week? But yes its so hard when you have guests and I too try and make up for eating badly at one meal by not having more that day. I am doing better at this but there do seem to have been far too many big meals going on at mine recently ..

But one thing i have changed (due to reading some of the finance threads and using a good spreadsheet of TiPs ) has been trying to take more control of my monthly budget , (hence the Waitrose order ,) and despite it being an expensive place to shop (but with free deliv and money off vouchers) and not counting the wine order which is a bit bad ive found that having just one delivery a month and only shopping for fresh veg and milk other time (we make our own bread) it does seem to be working out .. I have 'planned' my FD and weekend meals for at least the next month now so Im hoping that it will help with fasting also. (actually ive also found it cheaper than sainsburys strangely , but I do usualy only buy 'basic' stuff)

Have just made 'bottom of the veg drawer' soup for the rest of the weeks fasts (tomorrow and thursday).. but actually it doesnt seem too appetising right now (have slight feeling of 'washing machine tummy' theres a lot of norovirus going around here hoping its not coming my way)

MOCNK have the apple pie tomorrow.. but be kind to yourself also .. sorry it didnt work out , but as you say you have 6 months in the new place to reflect, regroup and decide your way forward . and (ok sorry if htis is a bit homely/trite sounding) but ive found that the old saying of one door closing and another opening is often remarkably true..

Welcome back FF! yes pictures please.

ATB and Anglaise please can you recommend ways that i can get those running shoes out of the box and onto my feet and then out of the door? (perhaps I should post a photo of my wobbly gut , but then i dont want to put you all off your NFD dinners!)

i've survived...well, i went about 50 cals over, but it's bedtime, hurrah back to back fasts. tomorrow apple pie, or leftover roast chicken from Sunday - or both! hurrah hurrah i may be single but i'm not going to be a sodding size 14 large size 12 for much longer

laska i'll keep opening doors expectantly...I'm so not patient! and a dozen bottles? eeekk too much temptation, I've just ordered 3 bottles of prosecco from asda and thought that was overindulgent, then again it is just for me!...but it's mothers day!

wish I could still shop at waitrose........

Laska Have you done a 'Couch to 5k' type app programme? Works like a charm as it starts you off so easily you get the most amazing sense of achievement straight away. If you did it first thing in the morning it would help steer you off the booze too - much easier to get up and out the door without wine the day before! And your purse would be happier

SED I do like the sound of the chickpeas and sardines. I'm trying to steer away from meat on fast days, back onto the veggies and fish as I always used to. I've realised that I don't want my fast day meals to pretend to be NFD ones, I like the marked difference of the fast days - I'm sure my FD day portion sizes have been creeping up recently.

betsy i loved the couch25k thingy, although in my usual impatient way i ran more and walked less than suggested, although even at the 5k point i was still having to walk, asthmatic wheezer that i am, still marvel at all those people who seem to run so effortlessly while talking at the same time???!!!

Laska I do that too with my monthly food shop - not only is it more convenient but it also means less frequent top-up visits when I'm prone to buying non-essential stuff because I'm hungry or bored (not just food). I also don't throw anything away now being more organised. I can't wait to revisit the Yogel bread I've ordered that was enthused about yesterday on thread 41.

mocnk it depends on what speed you go whether you can talk - at race speed of 13kph it is impossible, but when you train doing a long run you should never run over 70% of your race speed, so chatting is very easy.
laska there are a lot of couch25k programmes available and you might fird that will help as betsy said. I didn't do one as it was too slow for me, I just started with a 3k run then did a 5k run the next time, but I know the plans work well for a lot of people.
I don't know where you are on the IOW but there is a 5k park run every Saturday in Medina at 9am
www.parkrun.org.uk/medina/
you against the clock, and that could be a goal to aim for - you would also meet fellow runners there. Having a running friend is a great motivator to get you out and it is more fun running and chatting.

Here is an article which might help motivate you get on your fist run
www.runnersworld.co.uk/beginners/your-first-run/9092.html
It will be easier to find time to run when the clocks go forward, either early in the morning or the evening (preferably in the sunshine!)
As well as having very toned arms as well as legs now the endorphins that I get from running are incredible, it is a drug.
If you can find someone to run with then that can be a real motivator.
Just find a nice circuit, put your shoes on and do it

Due to popular demand I've put some photos on my profile.

anglaise ha ha ha, no seriously, I don't have a race speed and a normal speed, i just barely manage to run, extremely out of breath, bright red face, wheezing so much some of the time that I have to walk, I know my fitness improves the more I do it, but even at the 5k fun run stage, I still couldn't run non stop, nor could i talk! maybe one day! that could be my aim, to be able to run and talk at the same time!?

frenchfancy what a lovely looking family, ooohhh so want a holiday now, looks brilliant!

today a NFD, already eaten a hot cross bun with butter, an apple and a banana and now a slice of apple pie. need to reign it in for the rest of the day, recent problems have been with going totally overboard on NFD's so have had treats, and now need to be good. spag bol rather than lasagne with the mince for dinner later i think

Thanks again for the support and virtual slaps. I didn't quite get control yesterday (progressed onto a mammoth tub of salt popcorn, a masala chai curry for lunch, bag of hula hoops and a bag of yoghurt raisins, all before 4pm , followed by at team drinks and beer at a work evening event....) But, I did manage to stop at 5 v small canapes at the evening thing, and didn't eat anything else the remainder of the day and the scales were forgiving this morning (still at 9.2.6) so I feel like I might have got away with it. AF arrived out of nowhere last night, so that might not be entirely unconnected with bonkers eating yesterday!

NFD today, and I'm wfh, so have already shredded but holding off food for as long as I can. TiP I'm generally trying to stick with 16:8 as much as I can and for a while I was managing to maintain without couting cals at the end of a 24hr fast, but I generally only fast properly on a Monday, and I don't think 16:8 plus 6:1 is quite enough for me. Nearly, but definitely needs mixing up with some exercise, occasional 5:2 and some proper calorie counting on FDs now and again.

Great pics FF : you're looking lovely and your girls are so gorgeous :) :) Thanks for sharing!

MOCNK my turn to yell "step back from the snack food!" You know what to do: have a glass of water or a cup of tea or coffee next time you want to nibble something today. Then set yourself a challenge (fix the wardrobe doors or go for a run...) and promise yourself food afterwards. Thenhave another banana, or an apple (not more apple pie) if you need to or, even better, a couple of carrots and some hummous or something? You can do it

Congrats on getting back to your target weight SouthEast - that's really impressive, especially since not long ago you weren't sure you were going to make it. Well done and welcome back to maintainance - not that you ever really left us, of course

Glad you found something lovely to wear for the wedding Laska but hang away that nice forgiving dress and keep the Laura Ashley one right at the front of your wardrobe to remind you why you need to stick at this (and avoid the midweek mostly ). Come and shred with me...I dusted off the evil Jillian last week and have managed 5 out of the past 8 days - I swear I can nearly detect some emerging muscle tone, although I'm sticking with Level 1 for now. This time I'm not going to move up until I can do both rounds of pressups in the first circuit without dropping to me knees.... I'd love to have all of you on this thread over for one of my Sabbath meals...although I can only sit 22 (at a squeeze) so we might need to do a couple of sittings But I'd definitely outsource some of the cooking to all of you fabulously skilled lot!

Tummy rumbling, but going to try and hold off a bit longer before investigating the kitchen. There's a fresh loaf of sunflower and honey wholemeal in there that's still warm and calling my name...

Thought for the day: would this whole weight control/maintenance thing be harder or easier if we weren't all such mad foodies and (I suspect) good cooks? Or does it make no difference in the end?

thanks for the talking to filly have just taken your advice and had more coffee, i'm putting off lunch for another hour at least and have decided on home made smoked mackerel pate with cucumber, tomatoes, carrot sticks and a wholemeal pitta toasted (just mashed up black pepper mackerel with lemon juice and greek yogurt - unfortunately full fat as I'm out of the 0%)

also TOTM (do we all remember Top of the morning? still can't use that acronym without smiling) so am hoping that in the next day or two the water retention will subside and after thursdays fast I will start to notice some results! (eyes on the prize)

filly you've almost got me enthused enough to Shred....i work 9-3, but maybe once home with DC's from school I should do it then, they are in the garden most afternoons, and wouldn't hurt them to join in if they want. thought I could set up for my bedroom for the evenings but not sure there is enough room. but today is beautifully sunny, so after the asda delivery we're off for a walk down to the beach or up on the hill.