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

[TalkinPeace]

This thread is for those of us who have been practicing IF (Intermittent Fasting) for quite a while ( it being nearly 2 years since the Michael Mosely TV programme aired ) 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 mix fasts and 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?

More and more 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 four maintenance threads and all the main 5:2 threads for posters practising IF to lose weight here Fasting / 5:2 on the diet forum. We're currently on thread no. 46, 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 even more to the fore, as part of our general health and to help weight loss. BigChocFrenzys thread is here

First 10k race in a couple of weeks Anglaise - good point about the adrenaline, I'm used to sedate chatty runs with a friend.

I'm trying to fill myself up with nuts and chocolate stuff now so I've got some reserves for the killer class in a couple of hours!

When I bought new trainers and had my gait assessed, the guy said my run would be more efficient if I wasn't so bouncy. My take on that was that if I'm not bouncing then I'm not enjoying myself - screw efficiency, I'm in it for the FUN

If you want protein & energy before training, this is one of my fav shakes:

• 30 g low carb 80-100% pure whey protein powder
• 1 banana
• 1 level tbsp peanut butter (or 1 teasp for low cal)
• 250 ml almond milk
• 0.5 teasp cinammon
• optionally 0.5 teasp pure vanilla powder, dash of Manuka honey

hi all - been a bit AWOL but fasting today and need help....have 200cals saved for dinner (H/M soup), used 100 on breakfast smoothie, about 50 aside for tiniest splash of milk in tea....and I'm starving. Bearing in mind it's only 11:30am here and I can't chew anything that isn't stupidly soft...any ideas?!

Did my first ocean swim yesterday and it was really, really hard. Really hard. I'm supposed to be doing this stupid sprint tri in 2 weeks (less, in fact) and am absolutely shitting myself

have a pint of skim milk .... its effectively water but will make you feel fuller
or munch on a carrot ....

B&W In case you don't see my warning on the Exercise Thread:

The internet is full of snake-oil salesmen promoting pills, theories, magic underpants.
You've quoted Mercola a few times. He is notoriously dodgy on science.
There are many others around who are even worse.

ATB Do you actually need to lose much / any weight ?

FDs are great for weight loss and are OK with ordinary training.
However, for Anglaise -and maybe for you - fasting would interfere with performance when you are pushing your limits.
Depends if weight loss or tri performance is the main aim.

Even a sprint tri is an endurance event, lasting probably 90mins plus. Training involves building up endurance as well as cardio fitness.

Some very specific NutritionAdvice from a tri specialist.

No I don't but I'm still doing one a week for reset as I'm in major binge mentality at the moment, so it's helping.

Sprint tri is in two weeks so today was my final fast day til after the tri.

TiP I wish I could munch on a carrot! Bloody braces....

ATB
silly me! I remember those days. Low fat cottage cheese is good : in fact anything really low fat dairy as the calcium is good for you

how about fine grated carrot they you can almost gum

ATB If you're training hard you're possibly not "binging" but hungry? Especially if you can't crunch on solids.

Sorry this is late America but for next time, how about half a mashed banana?

nope definately not hungry - don't worry BigChoc, I can recognise when my tendancies go awry. It's not that bad - I'm a secret eater and a comfort eater and with DD having a week of appalling sleep all those factors have combined into over eating, some nights to the point of pain I'm so full. I'm dealing with it but the occasional Fast Day just helps me reset mentally and physically.

And I'm being careful when i fast - yesterday was a rest day exercise wise, today is a gentle one, tomorrow is hard core (more ocean swimming). I'm used to training hard having done a 545mile bike ride each summer the last few years, so I'm not going to undereat in the final preparations (undertraining issues are something else )

I discovered this amazing bruschetta mix that I buy to mix with steamed lentils is only 20kcal for 2 tblspns so I had a bit of that - brilliant discovery as I LOVE it....but did also finally brave reading the label on the almond butter that I've become addicted too - eeeeeeeeeek! Firmly keeping it for toast or sandwishes as a meal and stopping snacking on it using a spoon direct from the jar...

I just inhale mixed nut or almond butter jars. At 600-700 cals per 100g and 350g jars .... Much more dangerous for me than choc !

I only buy pnut butter now, because I can trust myself to add just a spoonful of that to a banana. Not as moreish.

I'd probably eat 100g of green beans from a tin with balsamic vinegar because there are only 28 cals and you get a lot of beans for that. But you have to like them (I do, on fast days French beans and tuna is a very filling FD meal.
BC I still haven't found almond butter but that's probably good considering my over consumption of almonds which are still my favourite food.
ATB So impressed that you are doing a tri, I couldn't cope with swimming the crawl in a pool let alone the sea. What temperature is the sea btw? Warmer than the 18°C we have here I hope! I'm a bit jealous of the running and cycling, though. I bet you'll enjoy doing all of it (or will have when you've finished). I always eat more when in serious training, I get really hungry when running 60kms a week or so.
I'm much better now and went back to teaching today, although feeling rather wiped out tonight. I think the iron tablets are working as I'm constipated and my poo is black (sorry to anyone eating and reading this) so there are definitely some changes occuring.
I'm hoping to be up to racing a 10km on 12th October in Rennes all being well.

Almond butter is in health food shops, like Holland & Barrett in the UK (don't know if the French tolerate such shops !)
You can order online from H&B, or of course Amazon.
But beware, if you are already an almond "nut," life will never be the same

Almonds used to be a big downfall of mine. Then I got braces and couldn't eat them.

Then I discovered almond butter

I adore almonds (and other nuts) and eat loads of them, but I only ever eat almond butter on Vogel (or similar) bread with mashed banana. Or spooned into porridge very occasionally. Unlike peanut butter I have no desire to eat it straight from the jar. I get the Meridian brand because they sell it in sainsbury's and the co-op

Also, I have lost weight since I gained a serious nut habit.* I think they have special qualities - calorific but in a really easy to burn off way, unlike, say, cake. I also don't find they lead to craving other, less healthy, calorific foods.

*I'm not actually implying nuts are responsible for weight loss - that's attributed to generally eating less and doing loads of exercise.

I posted a link a while back on the weight loss benefits of almonds but can't find it now. Here is similar information on What Almonds Do

Hope everyone is feeling better.

I ended up with full-blown flu at the end of last week and still not quite over it. Keep thinking I'm better then getting really shakey/headachey all over again...

Still haven't managed a proper fast - it's been weeks now. Even when I do fast, I end up eating way too much at the end for one reason or another. Been stuck 9.6-9.9 for weeks, when I really want to be hanging out 9.3-9.5.

Monday was a FD, then my manager took me out for lunch. Really nice Turkish. Yum, and necessary: there's some bad shit going down in our team.

Yesterday (Tuesday) tried FD again. Then at 12 got a text from a super-senior chap I met a few months back offering to take me out for 'lunch and a chat'. Really need to network (due to bad shit in team) so back to really nice Turkish. Yum, and again, necessary, but oh dear. Just had soup for supper, so impact not too bad. Scales still at 9.7 this morning.

Today: trying again. But wfh and feeling pre-tom, so finding it oh-so-much-harder than a busy day in the office. And feeling pretty crappy still, too.

So disappointed with myself, but really feeling like I've totally lost my mojo...:(

Filly hope work calms down soon - could you rotate your fasts a bit and do minimal supper and breakfast, leaving room for the lunches ?

Thanks TiP - that's pretty much what I've been doing. No breakfast, ever (as much as possible), and trying to keep dinner to an absolute minimum. But dinner is the only time I see dh, and whilst he's fine with me not eating much, I must admit to finding it almost impossible to go from lunch to lunch each day without eating in between...plus, I end up eating waaay too much at lunch if I do that!

Must admit to feeling pretty blue at the moment. It's mainly work-related, so I need to find ways to stop it spilling into everything else.

Hello! May I join you? I haven't done 5:2 yet (I mean, as a weight-loss mechanism), but I'd like to maintain my weight with it, as it seems a sustainable and healthy approach to eating.

Since April, I've tried to overhaul completely my weight and - more importantly - health. I was creeping close to the 'overweight' band in the BMI calculator, and was feeling just generally a bit blobby. My weight had been slowly creeping up for a couple of years, and I suddenly realized that (though I looked ok-ish [I'm an hourglass and distribute weight evenly over my body when I put it on]), if I kept on as I was I would be overweight, and it would become more difficult, not less, to get back into shape. Also, at 36 I was now nearer to 40 than 30...

I've lost 14kg with calorie counting (using MFP; this has mainly meant being ruthless with portion sizes and cutting out all chocolate and cake), and I'm now at 60kg. At 5ft8in that gives me a BMI of 20.1 and a body-fat % of 23 (I think). I completed C25K over the summer, and now run 3 times a week, and have bought The Shred and will try to start that next week (I'm anal about needing to start things at the beginning of the week... ). I'm exercising for fitness purposes and because I look better for it. [vain]

I'm hoping that 5:2 will be good for me, as I'm a bit anxious that my thinking about food over the past few months has become very, very mildly 'disordered' (I use that reluctantly, as I wouldn't want to hurt anyone who has really suffered an ED). At the moment, if I feel the urge for something like a cake or chocolate, I find myself paralyzed with indecision: on the one hand, I am very aware of the 'cost' calorie-wise and feel worried that if I eat something now, I will struggle later in the day or will over-shoot my 'goal', on the other, even if I decide to 'allow' myself something very calorific, I can't decide on anything, as nothing seems 'worth' it (that is, I won't enjoy it enough to justify the calories), except ice-cream, and then I'm likely to eat my way through an entire tub, so I avoid that too! I feel a little bit apprehensive about eating to my TDEE (which is 2073, apparently; my MFP goal has been 1200) again and maintaining, rather than being in 'weight-loss mode', if that makes sense.

So, I don't think I have yet found an entirely healthy balance or mind-set, and I'm hoping that 5:2 will help to re-set all that.

As a family, we eat almost no processed food (except baked beans, some store-bought bread [though very little]), and I make our meals from scratch. We eat a lot of vegetable-based meals and fish quite regularly, and rarely eat red or white meat (as much because of the cost as for health reasons), so it is not a struggle for me to eat healthily or well - I just have to keep an eye on portion size!

Anyone been in a similar position, or have any tips? I'm thinking of starting next week (see above ) as I think I'm at a good weight and need to get out of the idea - which is niggling at me - that I should lose more (before it becomes too extreme for me).

Apologies for the insanely long post.

TIA!

Sorry - that was a very self-absorbed post, and completely ignored the conversation which had been going on. I'm not normally so rude, honest! I just thought I ought to give all my 'stats' (so to speak!).

Nomen
welcome aboard.
While you are getting used to the 'patterns' of 5:2 you might be best on the big main thread (most of us still post on there to help folks along)
and see how people manage with getting their food thought processes to be ordered

but yes, as a way of maintaining its a belter
little effort
easy to shift holiday overeating
and good for long term health

I’d never even heard of nut butters until this year when BigChoc mentioned them and now they’re an essential part of what I eat. I get the Meridian almond butter, like Betsy, and usually have two tablesppons straight out of the jar but as part of a meal, never as a snack. It’s also great on rye bread and like Betsy it never has any adverse effect on my weight. BigChoc is right, Anglaise, your life will never be the same again once you try it and neither will your bank balance .

Sympathies, Filly. I’ve also got awful crap at work at the moment if it’s any consolation. Had lunch today and yesterday near where we work - at Pilpel and Poncho, both great – do you like them? Too noisy, though, for your one-to-one networking.

Welcome Nomen. Perhaps you could include more protein in your diet so you wouldn't get as many urges to eat junk as you'd be filled up more? Or is it more of an emotional urge?

Filly and South I'm so sorry you are having crap times at work at the moment
It must be really hard to fast when you keep getting invited out to lunch, Filly and with a bout of flu and sh!t at work it can't be easy to be motivated to fast. Have you got a goal you can aim for or just set one day a week to fast (Monday?) And as it is getting autumnal now try and eat more soup - one of the best fasting foods.
Welcome Nomen.
Agree with everything that TIP said, don't be scared of trying at least - it is really easy and nice to eat guilt free on non fast days.
I'm the same height as you and have the same TDEE. I do a lot of running too because I love it and it means I can eat more especially when training for big races. I'm 58kgs, with 16% body fat and I have carb cravings too, which I indulge in fairly regularly.
I usually fast on a Monday (except when I'm in serious race training mode and running 50+kms a week) and if I eat a cake/cookie I have it instead of lunch so as not to over eat on non fast days.
I find fasting on Monday easiest, if I need to lose weight I fast on Thursdays usually as well.
Good luck!