4-week fasting countdown to the New Year

[HarpQuartet]

Welcome all, this a thread for Intermittent Fasters who want a weekly check-in on Fridays. Chat and insights between the check-ins are welcome too, share as little or as much as you like. I weigh myself in between, others don’t, some of us are in kg, some in stones, it’s all good.

Here is a roll call for those who may wish to continue with accountability, encouragement, sharing your wisdom, wins, or woes. All are very welcome plus of course anyone new who'd like to join us. Sincere apologies to anyone I’ve inadvertently missed out; and if your name’s here but you’re not planning to join this thread, then wishing you well.

@Fouramclub
@pottypotamus
@trainplane
@TheShellBeach
@Clearingaspace
@putthehamsterbackinitscage
@MegBusset (hope you are still on your happy plateau)
@iwantavuvezela
@Clearingaspace
@Blackeyeliner
@Thereyougo10
@bluejay5
@gettingolderbutcooler
@Scentorii
@BackSeatDriving (would you like to continue stiffening your resolve? Such a good phrase)
@Sonnet
@Catherhino
@loveyouradvice welcome to the December thread!

In October 2022 I was heading for 90kg. Since then I've been losing weight slowly, and since June 2023 I've been doing 16:8 or thereabouts (and occasionally I eat like the world's going to end, but less often than I used to).

As of today: 80.6kg

Goals:
Under 80kg by the end of the year (or realistically, by Christmas, then I'll forgive what happens next)
77.5kg by Easter
74kg by the end of next year
Ultimate goal: 68kg (to get me out of the 'overweight' category)

Forgot to say, we'll have four check-ins on the four Fridays:

Week 1: 08 December
Week 2: 15 December
Week 3: 22 December
Week 4: 29 December

I’m struggling now; I lost around 10lb in 10 weeks (been doing IF since September) I’ve put a couple of lb back on - or seem to be losing and regaining the same 2lb. Anyway, as this is very much a lifestyle for me, I’m going to relax over December and not get too hung up on what the scales say. I’ll fast as long as I can on the days when I can, but Christmas festivities (and food & drink!) are there to be enjoyed 🤣 Still following this post for some accountability!

Sure thing, @Catherino sounds like a plan :-)

I’m in. I’m still fasting until the Zoe kit arrives and that might be weeks.

Hi everyone.

I will fall off the wagon now.
It'll be interesting to see how much I put on, actually.

I love Christmas and I'm not going to diet while it's coming up!

But in the New Year....... yes, I'll get started again.

So the thing is, I am not going to kid myself. I know what I'm like. There's no way I'll carry on losing weight, in the run up to Christmas. I'm not even going to try.

@Peae ! Nice to have you here 😊

@TheShellBeach I am wondering how popular this thread is going to be over the next few weeks for this reason! I know from struggling through two of my three sugar-free days that I sometimes have a bad reaction to rules, so I'll be cutting myself some slack too.

Thanks for the new thread, I’m in - I really want to keep losing I will def have some Christmas treats though!

Hi @Clearingaspace 👋 and welcome @StealthOps can I ask, were your healthy habits scuppered by Covid? Not the illness, but the lockdowns and other changes/worries?

Hi all!

thanks @HarpQuartet for the new thread, count me in!

@Catherhino i hear you!!! I feel EXACTLY the same. I say this to myself every month but I really need to write down what I eat every day to see where all those extra calories are I think calorie intake is the main problem for me.

I started 16:8 in August 2023 when I was 75kg. Prior to this, I was trying to lose weight through exercise and calorie intake but compliance sporadic with the later. I was around 81kg in August 2021 after the birth of my second kid (I weight 100kg full term!!!) and I slowly whittled it down to 75kg over 2 years but I would really like to ramp up the weight loss and get down to 65-67kg.

I've been up and down in weight since August 2023 but as of today I weigh 73.8kg so I'm going to take this as my new starting point. Over the past few months I feel like I have been gaining and losing the same kilo 😂

My ultimate goal is to get into the 65-67kg range as this was my weight before kids. It's going to be slow going but that's ok! As long as I can still eat the foods I love I don't mind if it takes me another year to get there (but hopefully no longer than that!)

I think my main issue is calorie intake and eating too much in terms of snacks during the fast period.

I also stopped breast feeding in mid October and I was hoping that would help with the weightloss but it's not made a difference 😂

I am going to enjoy myself over Christmas but I have found over the years that I don't enjoy over indulging all the time as it makes it less fun over time and I almost end up dreading the main day.

I have also found with fasting that most of the UPF I used to love doesn't taste good so I mainly avoid it (apart from Coke Zero - you will have to prise that from my cold dead hands 😂)

I will still aim to do strength training 2-3x a week and also try to walk a bit more. I have joined the Jordan Syatt inner circle programme- I hope I can stick to it, if not I will continue with body fit by amy.

anyway, on wards and upwards for December (or hopefully downwards!)

@Peae it will be interesting to see how Zoe works for you!

good luck everyone else!

Yes @Fouramclub it’s definitely the calorie intake/snacking in my eating window that’s screwing things up for me too 🙄However, for me it’s the wrong time of year to bother about all that 😂 I’m also going to up my exercise with strength work in the new year.
Good luck with your goals!

Realistically, it doesn't matter what we eat.
We just need to be in a calorie deficit in order to lose weight.

So if we only eat 1000 calories worth of Smarties every day, we'll lose weight.

It won't be healthy, of course, but that's how it works.

Arse larder, I like it! Quite a stressful day at work and I don't think it's a coincidence that I've eaten more chocolate than usual, and I only ate half a bowl of pasta for dinner so I could have a pudding. Which is kind of sensible, because I'd definitely have eaten the pudding otherwise, and with ALL the past I would have felt sick, so this is better. My fast was about 19 hours, which is longer than usual, so stressful day useful in that respect.

First beach holiday since 2019 booked for next February, so I am definitely sticking to the programme throughout December!

Weirdly, I wasn't planning on sugar-free Monday but it happened anyway. I am finding the less UPF I eat, the less I desire it. Another non-scales victory that was pointed out to me today is that despite my colleagues often coming down with bugs (due to the nature of our work) I, touch wood, don't.

Ok, I’m joining today

I’m not hungry, my cravings are all in my head, emotional wants and ‘needs’.

This relates. What's the idea Rangan Chatterjee talks about? "Eating to fill a hole in your heart rather than a hole in your stomach". I've had a good day, busy at work, holiday booked and a Christmas meal planned with friends. So I wasn't tempted to comfort eat at all.

Fast today was totally fine BUT I have a stinking snotty cold and feeling so bunged up has actually decreased my appetite so I haven't snacked as much. It's annoying as I would much rather not have a cold. I'm going to go over my fast hours so I can have a lemon and honey tea but I think I'm allowed this for medicinal purposes 🤪

@Peae funnily enough, when I did 5:2 diet for 2 years about 10 years ago, I barely got any colds! I was eating lots more veg and exercising more back then too so maybe IF does help with not getting sick so often (that and I didn't have small children with nursery and school germs 😂)

@StealthOps the cravings are all definitely in my head and my eyes are bigger than my stomach

I'm going to go over my fast hours so I can have a lemon and honey tea but I think I'm allowed this for medicinal purposes

Definitely! Medicine should come before fasting I reckon.