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!

Well done @StealthOps - I need to follow your mindset as I am struggling. Working from home and it’s lunchtime, so I went for a walk to take my mind off not having food but it didn’t help! Coincidentally my dd who is in y12 just came home from college for lunch and told me I am a mean mum, not really sure why, so there is definitely something in the age being tricky I think!

hope you start to feel better soon @Fouramclub

WEEK ONE CHECK IN TOMORROW,
FRIDAY 08 DECEMBER!

Or if you're in Australia, NOW!

Congrats @Fouramclub - half a pain aux raisins is SERIOUSLY impressive

And yes, Im totally in the camp of not fasting or over-fasting when ill... I found it very encouraging that Gin Stephens endorses it, and suggests fasting is too much of a strain on the system when it is under stress. An 8 hour eating window feels very natural to me so I just go with that when life is challenging!

Just catching up on all the excellent messages above after a hectic couple of days ❤️

Last Fri: 80.6kg
Today: 79.8kg

This drop in weight gives an inaccurate picture - the 80.6 was higher than the days around it - but I am chuffed to have reached my pre-Christmas goal of being under 80kg.

Next goal: maintain this for two weeks.

That’s great to have met your goal already @HarpQuartet

i was dreaming about breakfast last night, but now I’m barely even hungry, I will have breakfast though as I want to build up my long fast time very gradually.

sep weight 203lbs, last week 186.5 this week 184.3. Fingers crossed I can keep some of the loss from yesterdays fast and lose a bit more again this week. I would love to be 179 by new year but that’s probably a bit too ambitious over Xmas!

Well done! That’s great, especially at this time of year. I’m not doing very well; I’m not weighing myself today. Although still (mainly) fasting around 16/17 hours, I’m not eating very well in my eating window. I’m tired, run down and reaching for quick hits in the form of chocolate, crisps etc. Our doggo is poorly this week so I’m up several times in the night, there’s work stress, Christmas stress, so I’m being kind to myself and not putting additional pressure on myself to fast and eat healthily! 😩

Snap @HarpQuartet ..

I am chuffed to have reached my pre-Christmas goal of being under 80kg.

Next goal: maintain this for two weeks.

I am a bit amazed and delighted:
Last Friday - 12.2
This Friday - 11.13

My goal had been to get to 11.13 by NEXT Friday and then maintain over the Christmas/New Year Period before starting weightloss again around 3 Jan.

So not quite sure how it happened and REALLY pleased... and if this is what I weigh next Friday I will be well chuffed....

Two good meals between now and then so may be a challenge - a remembrance lunch on my Mum's birthday today at the restaurant I took her to every year: I plan to truly enjoy all courses, as the food is exceptional. And I suspect it will be gently sad, very beautiful and hopefully full of lovely memories of her.

Oh Stealth, I'm easily defeated too. I think we all are.
Dieting and losing a pound a week seems such a small amount, even though it's positive. But it seems so little.

Right, I'm going to weigh myself now.

Weekly Weigh-In

Last week 16st 6lb

This week 16st 5lb

Weight lost 1lb

[Total weight lost (since started in June) 3st 9lb]

Goodness knows how I lost any weight this last week.

I've tried to stick to 1700 cals daily, but I'm sure I didn't succeed with that every day. And my fast was interrupted a few times, too.

Anyway - onwards and downwards. I think the Orlistat has a lot to do with it, so I'm sticking with it.

What is Orlistat?

It's a medication which causes less fat to be absorbed from the diet. In conjunction with fasting and eating fewer calories daily, it helps people to lose weight more quickly.

It's been a game-changer for me.

You can buy it OTC or online or your GP can prescribe it. I bought mine for the first two months, but when my doctor saw how much I was losing, she agreed to prescribe it. As I'm in Scotland, where prescriptions are free, it now costs me nothing.

I take 120mg three times a day.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orlistat

...............someone at work has kindly brought in cute tortilla chips in the shape of Christmas trees

This is why I'm glad I'm retired now. At least I can control what I buy at home.

When I was working, I could never resist treats like that.

Hello all. I've been quietly lurking on this thread (first time posting).

Hope it's ok to join you?

I'm interested in some of the comments about fasting/not fasting when unwell and also related to hormones and the menstrual cycle. I've read some of Mindy Pelz's books about not fasting for long in the week before your period.
I am finding that it is the actual week of my period that I feel weak, tired, needing food. But Mindy Pelz suggests that this is the week that we can do longer fasts. Has anyone got any experience or thoughts about this?
Thank you.

@Cherryblossom81 i have read Pelz’ book on menopause and found it interesting. However I do think her advice can be take with a pinch of salt as she is a chiropractor or something similar rather than a specialist in gynaecology or a similar relevant field to women’s hormonal health. As @StealthOps (i think) mentioned, there is a real lack of scientific research for women and the effects of fasting on hormones. Also the general advice for fasting is that if you feel weak etc you should listen to your body and stop the fast. I would guess if you want to follow her advice you can just shift things along a bit so that your nourishing week overlaps at least the beginning of your period? I have read that women require an extra 500 calories the week before their period, which may also be part of the logic in not calorie restricting on the lady 7 days of the cycle.

@Catherhino definitely be kind to yourself as apparently it can raise cortisol even more by trying to diet during periods of stress.

well done everyone on your weighins and on your losses @TheShellBeach and @loveyouradvice!

stealth - I have found I am the same in that it is taking a lot longer for weight loss to start up for me nowadays but then it seems to come off quite steadily (touch wood) - apparently it is to do with getting in to the fat burning zone - not sure where I read that but it seemed to make sense! Even if you don’t lose for a couple of weeks hopefully you are putting yourself in a good position for new year. Also fasting should make your tummy flatter to fit into your dress next weekend so win win.

Just catching up - what an interesting, emotionally intelligent, supportive bunch of people on this thread! And of course anyone new is most welcome.

@StealthOps and @Clearingaspace Thank you for your replies - really helpful. I didn't actually realise Pelz wasn't as qualified as I thought she must be (I first heard her on a podcast and maybe didn't do enough research into her background).

@HarpQuartet Thank you for the welcome. I've been lurking on a couple of the fasting threads.
I've been trying to experiment with what might help me to shift a bit of weight. I only have about half a stone to lose, but it's not shifting! I'm quite short, so daily recommended calories are already quite low & I think I already eat quite well. I wondered if some form of fasting might help.