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

Happy birthdayBigchoc!!

You sure don't look 58 on your profile photos!

Have an amazing birthday and enjoy some and possibly choc

Ooh, MrsF's birthday too! Sounds like you've had a a good one!

Happy Birthday BCF - I can't believe you are 58! Just goes to show what keeping fit does for you.
And Happy belated birthday Mrs F - hope it was a good one!

Happy birthday BigChoc and belated happy birthday wishes to Mrs F too.

Great NSVs here today. I can now get into size 12 trousers with no problem (I've always been pear shaped with thunder thighs normally) and I bought a new top today and its a size 8. Unbelievable!!!. I'm down to my lowest weight I can ever remember in my adult life and I'm ready for my holiday later in the month. 5:2 has changed my life completely. So happy.

Thanks Betsy and Anglaise.

It was a good one. Spoilt with very high quality presets and the DC did a fab job behaviourwise.

Sadly they have reverted to form this morning and have been wailing and squabbling since 5:45 this morning. my poor head.

I am finding that the longer I maintain, the easier it gets. I hardly have to think about FDs now. One just sort of slips in.

To be fair few of my FDs are 500 cals. More like 600/700. Essentially more like a "low" day than a full FD.
I still 16:8 a lot. Because I find it easy and it suits my routine.

I could probably make more of an effort but I find I don't really need to just now.
I'm still logging on MFP but that's mostly experimental to see how I fare and whether extra calories will creep in over time.
I lost my few lbs of holiday gain in less than two weeks which was great.

For me it's very exciting to be back to what I was before Inhad the DC. Never thought this would actually happen. I had more or less resigned myself to tubby middle aged frump.

Can't believe I got back to myself. I have now been maintaining since middle/end of Feb. I'm still amazed that I managed it. And it's good to know its easy to stay here.

I really ought to get myself back to the main 5:2 thread and support the new people. The support Inhad on there helped me enormously.

Well enough rambling. It's school run time. get your ear plugs at the ready....

Well done indeed, Mimi It's lovely to hear how 5:2 changed your life.

Your lowest adult weight, wow ! (IIRC you are slightly older than I)
You'll feel so confident on holiday knowing your bod looks its best.

Thanks BigChoc. You're definitely right about self confidence, mine has soared since losing weight. I know my body will never be the perfect shape, but hey ho, I'm happy with it (and I'm enjoying my 60's too)

I hope everyone had a good weekend. I'm not fasting today, the 27km trail race yesterday was harder than I thought due to all the rain and mud, we also were wading through streams and climbing steep banks on all fours. I was 2nd woman in the race (there were only 10 of us out of 90 competitors) and I kind of understand why, it was tough! 2H43mins in total.
I'm also spending today doing my Least Favourite Job, cutting the laurel hedges., but the sun is shining and I'm lucky to be working outside.
Good luck to everyone fasting today.

Folks, when you first started looking to maintain, did you gain weight? How easy is it to calculate your true maintenance TDEE?

Hi Wombles
the thing to remember with maintaining is that it DOES NOT MEAN staying the same weight the whole time.
It just means fluctuating very gently around your happy weight.

Today I went out for a v nice lunch - but did not eat very much
I'll probably have a bit of supper but as DH is away my alcohol calories will be zilch this week so meals are more relaxed.

If you start to gain, have an extra fast. If you keep losing, eat more, if you are staying pretty much the same, then you have found the right intake.

I've not logged into MFP for ages and ages. My jeans tell me all I need to know.

I calculate nothing. If I feel peculiar in one way then I'm not eating enough for my activity levels, if I feel yuk in a different way then I'm eating too much. Listen to your body, it knows what you need if you are in the healthy habits zone.

Maintaining on 5:2 isn't about just being the 'right' weight, it's about being able to respond appropriately to your body's (or waistband's) cues.

And about being able to be relaxed about food and not stress the calories in/calories out business.

That's how I feel about it anyway.

Maintenance and TDEE

Some folk regain (or don't continue losing) because they over-estimate their new TDEE:
their real TDEE after weight loss may be up to 15% lower than the calculated value.

There are several sources, e.g. this was question and answer from Dr Varady on FB:

Q: "Does metabolism return to normal once your weight's been stable for 6 months after weight loss?"

A: The short answer is, unfortunately, no. To explain this, let me use some examples:

Let's say "Person A" weighs 140 lb (5'6 height) for their entire adult life and has a metabolic rate of 2000 calories per day. "Person B", on the other hand, lost 50 lb over the past year, and now weighs 140 lb (5'6 height).

You would assume that this person would now have the same metabolic rate as "Person A" (2000 calories per day). This is not the case, however.

The person that lost the weight would have a metabolic rate 10-15% lower (about 1800 calories per day) than the person who was weight stable all of their adult life.

Well done on finishing that trail race, Anglaise, it sounds a monster ! Your bod definitely deserves refuelling with lots of nutrients.
2nd female finisher is brilliant

Thanks BCF it was tough but fun, I felt a bit like Rambo.
wombles I never calculate anything either, just do the same as TIP and Betsy - if my jeans start getting tight or I know I've over eaten I do an extra fast, otherwise one a week seems to suffice.
Your activity level is also very important - I do a lot or sport and when I have long races I don't fast the week before or the week after because my body needs the fuel.
They key to eating like a thin person is to listen to your body, relax about food and not use it as an emotional crutch. Before 5:2 I used to think I had to have 3 meals a day, usually one hot, and definitely one in the evening. Now if I'm not hungry I skip a meal. If I'm going to have a big lunch I skip an evening meal dinner. If I want to eat a cake, I eat it and miss lunch.

I missed your trail race post Anglaise - Wow! Do you have to travel a bit to find races like that? I wish we had things like that locally. And if it's not local I'm unlikely to get involved. Although I think that's my allergy to car driving talking...

Hi Betsy you'd be surprised how many trail races are around, in my area in France there is usually one a month locally minimum.
Here is a calendar of UK trail race events, you can sort by location as well as date. I would recommend that you have run at the least a 10km road race before trying one of 15km - they are more difficult than road running even if you don't go as fast!

Ooh scary list Anglaise! Thank you! I am just about at 10k on the road/trails but nearest one to me is 21k! I'm definitely not ready for that. But I make my own trail runs through a local country park (which are wonderful; I love non-road running) so will stick with that for now

Betsy if you can do a 10k, try a 15k...if you manage that then 21k won't be a problem. I only started running seriously last September, before then I did 5km most mornings in around 28mins but never thought I'd be capable of 10k. But once I joined the club I realised that I could run as well and better than a lot of the other girls who had done a marathon so it gave me the confidence to push myself. It is amazing what your body can do once you start pushing it!

I hear you Anglaise I'm already at the stage so suddenly feeling like longer is a possibility. I did my first 9k the other day - I stopped as I didn't want to achieve my 10k goal that day but felt I could have gone on happily. I was high as a kite for the rest of the day, so excited about my achievement! The extra running did aggravate an injury from Tae Kwon Do though, so I'm going easy on training for a bit, so back at 5ks for a couple of weeks after having had a week's rest.

Sorry, a bit stream of consciousness there! I've only started running seriously in the last 3 months :)

Betsy maybe this will put you off doing trail races;-)

Love it Anglaise!

How are we all?
I've just booked my summer holiday flights. Now to find somewhere to stay when I get there.
And to fast like fury before I go!

Just thinking. I did a 1st aid refresher course at work today:
There were 16 participants, mostly male, all educated and in responsible positions, but only 4 of us plus the trainer were the correct weight.
At least 8 were obese, including 2 youngish women.

We were discussing in the course when to suspect a stroke and naturally said in a older person. However, we were firmly told that young adults and even children (!) were now suffering strokes.
The medical consensus for this: a massive lack of exercise.

As expected, the reasons for younger adults experiencing type 2 diabetes and heart attacks were given as obesity and again lack of exercise.

So, even this 1st aid course emphasised that although exercise generally plays a much lesser role than diet in determining weight, it is of great importance for health

Only 4 out of 16 participants the correct weight - that's scary BCF!
Exercise is so important. And fun, I don't know how some people really hate physical exercise and sport.
Where are you off to on holiday TIP? I hope you find somewhere to stay!