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

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New main Thread48

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I've read there is a trick to adding an extra post after 1000 ? If anyone knows how ( sed ? ), please add this link there too.
(I was caught out by a sudden thread end spurt with lots of posts, then my iPad died Sleeping on the job)

That's very interesting about sizes, vie

In other news: I've had to restore several 1000 lost files and links from iCloud after my iPad crash. My internet access is now so slow that when I type a line, I often see the individual letters appearing one by one.

I've tried total settings resets and reboots.
NOBODY upgrade Apple gadgets. Keep the IOS level you bought it on, because that's the only one that works properly.

Have just uploaded to my profile a silly picture that a friend took of me this morning :-)

Nice TIP! I haven't tried Bosu yet, it looks fun :) Would also be a useful thing for martial arts - we have to do a fair bit of balancing on one leg while we kick things

BCF Ugh, how annoying, tedious and crap. Thing is, they stop working on the old IOS' too, as apple refuse to support the older versions - my old iphone 3 runs at a snails pace these days. Hooray for wasteful, consumerist culture

BCF how annoying. Am more and more disillusioned with Apple, I have an old iphone 4 and when it dies which probably isn't far off I won't get another iPhone. We have Samsung tablet and an iPad 2 in the house and the Samsung is much faster.
Vie are you missing France at all? I hope you enjoy your new life in Hong Kong. France is finally admitted that there are some bigger sized women here. Up until now the biggest size available in most clothes shops was a size 42 but that is gradually changing...

Just seen your photo TIP it is great, what toned arms you have, I'm jealous. You don't get that with running, so there are some advantages to the gym

I'm impressed by how supple you look, tip
All straight limbs and back, no sign of nadgered knees.

I'm thinking of buying the iPad 4 and freezing its IOS, but my iPad 2 (IOS 6) was my self-Xmas present for 2012. Ridiculous to bin £700 so soon.

Oh well, enjoy the weekend everyone.
I've got heavy lifting & HIIT spin tomorrow afternoon, then another HIIT spin class Sunday, with a few Kindle SciFi books to enjoy in between. Bliss.

Bigchoc
I bought an iPad in time to go to NYC
its great fun but its a toy, not a proper machine
so for real life we all have laptops
all the phones are Andriod (mixture of samsung and motorola)
on my debt thread we've looked at the contract costs of phones - PAYG £150 phones are the way to go.

Betsy
I do squats on it : keeping my arms raised.

Also do forward fold, grip the side and then rock back and forth

that party piece is actually the last stage of the routine ....
start in yoga tree, then leg out in front, round to the side at hip height, round to the back, arms forward into warrior 3 , then arms into half moon, then rise back into tree, then hold foot and count to ten or 30 while I waited for sam to take the pic today

then - hands to either side, cross one foot over the other and do 10 press ups

then do balance routine on other leg

then pressups with legs crossed other way

Anglaise
weight bearing is king for 'bingo wings' - hence why I love yoga
Check FB and I'll tag you to one of my friends who has amazing ideas ...

Anglaise You need Big Girl Pressups, amazing for shoulder & arm definition
Tricep dips on a step, with straight legs, will also tone those bingo wings.

BigChoc I've got the newest update for my iPad2 and it works fine but then I only use it for light web browsing and watching TV on catch up. I make no apologies for being an Apple fanboy, am coveting an iPhone 6 and can highly recommend a MacBook Pro .

I feel your pain, BC!

My iPhone 4 (I'm another Apple fan, SED - I'm typing this on a MacBook) has, for the past couple of months, been giving up the ghost! The screen has become less and less responsive - different areas of the screen just do not respond. The latest facility to go on the blink is 'swiping' to turn the damn thing on. I have to swipe at least a dozen times and then it reluctantly allows access. So much so that I have it permanently switched on.

A friend of mine says he can fix this just as soon as he can get a new screen, so I live in hope.

And the other light at the end of the tunnel is that I shall be given an iPhone 5 in the new year, when my son gets an upgrade!

B&W I bought the iPhone 5S last year and it is excellent. You'll like it.
However, I only use it occasionally for phoning and photos - I have a visual handicap, so I can't easily use a small screen.
I haven't risked upgrading to IOS 8.

sed I like the joined-up working of iPhone, iPad & iCloud, but Apple gadgets have built-in obscolescence wrt IOS.
I use my iPad 2 exclusively for surfing, MNetting and private EMs, so I am really feeling the pain. Kindle is still fine, though.
I use Safarai - would Chrome would give better performance ?

B&W I've had the same thing with my iPhone 4 and had the screen replaced 18 mths ago. However I think the responsivity is going again now so I think I might need another new one soon. The first thing that went on my iphone 4 was the home button and that was been replaced too. Apart from that no real problems, but both cost around 160€ to correct when the phone was less than 2 years old....

I got my iphone 4s (very) wet in the summer and a couple of weeks ago the battery exploded, blasting out all the casing on both sides. I think we're quite lucky the house didn't burn down.

Like the fool I am, I have now bought an iphone 5 cheap on ebay. I have purchased a waterproof case for it though!

Evening. (Waves)

I've just eaten a load of stollen cake and that on the back of two cinnamon swirls this morning.

In my defence it's been an awful week and pmt etc. won't bore you all with details though.

Tomorrow is another healthier day

I've had an iPhone 4, 5 and now a 6. First two died from cracked screens. The 4 has been repaired and DH is using it as his personal phone as he has an iPhone 6 from work.

The 5 has another issue. If you touch it with cold hands the battery immediately discharges itself. And when you recharge you have to do it 5 mins at a time and unplug because it gets super hot. I think it's fair to say it's dead. Shame as DH wanted it.

I do like them but I do have concerns about them and safety. I've also had two charger leads actually explode.

MrsF I'm at the gym, just relaxing after boxaerobics and planning my lunch: I'm deciding between fish, chips and mushy peas, Chez Choc or the healthy big prawn and melon salad at our excellent Greek restaurant - hmm that needs chips with it. Might have their super-duper taramasalta with olive oil pita bread too < ponders gluttonous options >

High tea will be a BIG cheese fondue ( heh, heh, bet you're drooling ) with fresh rolls, apple and salad.

Fasting and health: more research

Several papers from Mark Mattson authored 2012-2014, also this interesting discussion between him, Michael Mosely and Dr Valter Longo:Transcript

All of them thought exercise very important for health, but agreed fasting hinders performance in endurance exercise. (e.g. running, but Anglaise knows this)

Mattson seems very much to favour 5:2 over ADF, at least for a longterm WOL, probably because his 2012 study showed heart damage in rats on longterm ADF - his paper recommended longterm human ADF studies.
He started a 5:2 human study this month - I don't know details, but this is great news. Remember, he originally suggested the basis of 5:2 to Mosely.

V interesting research by Longo into one-off several day fasts as part of treating cancer. He's done many studies on how fasting helps chemo, whereas a few clinics do much longer fasting as a treatment itself.

Something B&W would dispute ! In another interview, Mattson recommended against fasting for those over 70, partly because some extra weight is beneficial.

Thanks for posting the link Big Choc - very interesting. It isn't good timing for me because I've let myself go completely since living with someone again. Scales showed another 2kg increase overnight which means I'm now 4,5kgs over where I want to be. I've re-gained nearly all the weight I lost on 5:2. So back to fasting twice a week for me and skipping lunch. I hope to lose the weight before Christmas because after training for the marathon starts seriously. I agree that fasting and endurance training don't go together, you need the fuel in your body to do endurance sports.
Funnily enough the extra weight doesn't seem to have affected negatively my running, at yesterday's training session I was very fast. I'll see what my 10k time in 2 weeks is like.
Not a good start to the week but I've only got myself to blame

Anglaise Good to hear you are happy with your nice new chap

Worry and stress can indeed keep weight down sometimes (or increase it for some folk)
Have you confirmed with the tape measure and clothes fit that it is fat increase, not muscle ? Anyway, after 2 FDs, a few dumps and release of water retained with treat carbs, some of that weight might go quite quickly.

Anglaise
Good to hear you have somebody to snuggle up with of an evening.
I'm really tired : have had nearly a month of house guests and DH not having much work on so the house is in dire need of blitzing.
Soon.

((TIP)) house guests of a few nights is enough for me. I hope you get the house sorted out soon.
BCF jeans definitely tighter, waist bigger and ribs no longer very visible;-) I knew I was overeating and voilà the proof. Hopefully at least some of the 2kg overnight gain is in some way due to the treat carbs this weekend. But even if it is I need to be more 'mindful' regarding diet in future.

Hello...How are you all? Oh, I am missing you all, shame I'm still fat.. ..... today though I made my 5:2 roasted cauli (with a glass of and thought of you all, and how i used to love how i was on 5:2..

I'm not even posting anywhere on MN at the moment , but this is partly because if I keep off the net I dont spend money.. (bad karma on the job front , with all the local authority cuts, one reason im not 5:2 ing because im trying to eat v. cheap and pay off CC before the job goes totally t!ts up .. another uis that Im just not seeimg to get back in the headspace, so yes, I'm still a stone up and the old waistbands are pretty tight (sigh)

But enough about that .. Its good to see you are all still here , (and great that you are happy with a new man Anglaise)

Tip I have interview for job in Eastleigh! (its a couple of weeks yet and so I am trying not to overthink it ...thoughwould be quite a hike ..) Actually i'd just like to take the redundancy and not work at at all anymore but thats simply not practical..

Keep up the good work, I really do need to re-think 5:2 maybe if I just ate veg.. ..

Laska
Let me know when you are over and we can have a chin wag :-)

Hi TiP I wont be able to do the interview day as its a lateish PM slot , and ill need to get myself psyched up! But yes would love to meet up another day v soon .. All business meeting visits over the water cancelled right now due to council lackof ££s .. but ill let you know next time i'm doing a drive by your way.. sure ill be doing so pretty soon , taking the lovely GS back to his mum one weekend ..

Laska Sorry to hear about your troubles. I hope you find a new job you like, with decent pay.
It is normally cheaper to eat on 5:2 than normal eating or daily CR unless you now frequently go to expensive restaurants on NFDs because you no longer have junk Frenzies. This is not a signed confession
Why not try making your FDs vegan ? On NFDs, instead of meat, have cheaper protein like eggs, tinned fish, beans, lentils.