4-week fasting countdown to February 2024!

[Peae]

Welcome all, this a thread for Intermittent Fasters who want a weekly check-in on Fridays. Chat between the check-ins are welcome too, share as little or as much as you like. Each Friday, log your weight, fast, whatever metrics help you.

Check-in 0 Friday 5 January.
Check-in 1 Friday 12 January.
Check-in 2 Friday 19 January.
Check-in 3 Friday 26 January.
Check-in 4 Friday 2 February.

Loss this week: 5lbs (of 8lb Christmas gain) Phew!!!
CW: 12.3
TW: 11.2
Approach last week: 4-7 hr eating windows, lowish carb, highish protein and lots of veggies
Approach taking next 7 days: above + hopefully 2 x OMAD

Gentle reminder to self – I lost 40lbs in 2021 to reach my 11.2 target and kept it off for 14 months: I can do it again
IF is how I look after my body for the rest of my life

Huge congrats to all on a great start to the New Year.

@StealthLaSilkySightHound Having eaten really poorly for 7 days over Christmas, and previously had perhaps 3 or 4 Christmasses when I've eaten well and felt good , I so agree that it is NOT worth going mad in the festive season. I love the feeling good that comes with eating healthily, and adding MODEST amounts of sugar, alcohol and other goodies. So enjoying and joining in the festive spirit but still feeling great, and having some very healthy days between Christmas and New Year.... My goal for future Christmases and for holidays, which is my other danger time. When with friends with lots of food on offer, I just lose my off switch and eat absentmindedly. Almost as if I can't do two things at once...

Even if my good intentions all go to pot I'm going to hang around for your lovely lyrical posts @StealthLaSilkySightHound 😊

well done on all the weighins and goal setting everyone.

I haven’t got back to my pre Christmas low so mine is kind of uninspiring however I decided to convert to stones rather than pounds and was very happy to see that I have scraped into the 12s!

sw 14 stone 7.4
lw 12 stone 13.9
cw 12 stone 13.2

i will copy and paste my goals now.

• at least a 12 hour fast every day - yes
• log veg in some way and try to eat well between fasts - yes and no!
• sleep - in bed before 12 every day - 3 nights out of 4
• continue increasing length of longer fasts - not yet
• weight - i hope to have lost 2 stone in total and approx 6lbs for the month
• new do at least 1 workout from les mills online per week

I’m just finishing day 3 of 18:6 fasting, combined with the Cambridge plan (800 calories). Not having to shop/cook has made the diet so much easier to get into.

Starting weight on 2 Jan was 89.5kg, goal weight is 60kg (BMI currently 31, which shocked me a bit).

Taking each day at a time with the mantra “I’m not starting this again, so must keep going”!!

“I’m not starting this again, so must keep going”!!

Yes, that strikes a chord with me! Had a small takeaway tonight and my Zoe score plummeted. Back on it tomorrow with a lentil and bean-packed chilli and pearl barley rather than rice, plus back to the gym for a lower body workout. Am determined to keep on track after one measly takeaway.

Did I mention I'd lost my tracker or had it stolen at the gym last night? Well I've decided that my step counter is so useful to me, that I've spent my Christmas money on a new one. Over the course of a couple of years it'll be money well spent.

It was an old one (Fitbit Charge 2) so pricey when I bought it. I did look at basic pedometers, but in the end decided to go low/mid range with a new one (Fitbit Luxe) as it was reduced on Amazon. I've just read that it tracks swimming! So, I won't even have to take it off next week and it'll count my lengths for me.

I really do feel everyone's check-ins are inspiring and supportive. Community is so important to improving health and losing weight.

@StealthLaSilkySightHound I fantasise about being really rich too, and all the things it could buy me like perfectly prepared meals etc. Sometimes I have the mindset and energy to do it myself, but it would be lovely to outsource. Your daughter will realise in about another 15/20 years how lucky she was.

I forgot about the Friday weigh-in. I've lost three pounds so far. I think I've established good habits for myself during the holiday period, but the proof will be whether it's all sustainable through the stress of the new term.

One immediate goal is to move around more in the evenings, and go to bed and put the light out before midnight.

Down 3 lbs.

Target is half-stone blocks, try on too-tight clothes to see what fits now, and go for the next half-stone.

@LosingAndWinning i have the same sleep goal - right now I am so tired and would love a nap so I don’t know why I find it hard to just go to be at a decent time!!

i have heard a little about circadian rhythm lately and have been trying to do similar to your suggestions Stealth. I have been in the sun so much more this winter and definitely feel a bit less depressed than normally at this time of year. We have a large window in our loft bedroom and opening up the curtains to see the sun is a guaranteed mood booster. Fantastic that you have lost cms and that’s far more important than weightloss.

i am not doing well on eating more veg - avocado, bagged salad, maybe some carrots and peas seem to be about all I manage! The exception is veg/bean chilli which seems a good way to get lots of veg in.I like convenient things like jarred peppers but then often they are upf! Any suggestions for cooked veg dishes that keep nicely in the fridge? Not a huge fan of soup unfortunately. At the end of the day I am lazy and peeling veg seems too much like hard work!

Yum @StealthLaSilkySightHound - I'm coming to eat at your house - that sounds totallly delicious! Just my kind of food. Huge congrats on the 2cm smaller waist - that's a huge amount!! Deeply inspiring post all round and fascinating - I know I need to move my sleep window earlier: I much prefer it. Once DC back at Uni, it will happen.

@Clearingaspace one of my favourites is roast veggies - you dont need to peel most, just the onions really if the carrots have had a good wash ... I mix together whichever combination I have of rough chopped onions, celery, fennel, aubergine, courgettes, red peppers, whole unpeeled garlic cloves with a smidgen of olive oil, s&p, and whatever spices I fancy - usually smoked paprika, sometimes a whole paste of tomato/garlic puree with lots of other flavours thrown in.. roast in high oven, adding small tomatoes and mushrooms after 20 mins or so. Turn a couple of times and try to remember not to roast too long - they shrink alarmingly and you end up with less!! I keep in fridge and have with whatever I fancy - often chickpeas and a green veggie.

A QUESTION FOR ALL - how are you getting on and what are you noticing?

I think January is a really tough month to diet - cold, dark, wet. I seem to get hungrier earlier in the day - around 12 or 1, rather than 3 in the summer.

On days when I can have a large meal when it suits me - typically in an eating window of 1-3 pm - this fills me up for the day. I feel satisfied and not hungry again until the next day. (I'm lucky - I work from home mostly)

So on anti-social days this is great - but my big challenge is having a second meal when others are around - friends or uni DC. I don't need it and don't eat less in my first meal of the day in the winter (though I easily can in the summer). I realise this makes me a very strange beast in a world where most people have 3 meals a day - they find it easy to accept I dont have breakfast, but supper seems a key meal to most.

I AM LONGING TO HAVE MY HOUSE TO OURSELVES AGAIN AND JUST SEE FRIENDS FOR MOVIES ETC FOR THE NEXT FEW WEEKS... DH is very accepting of feeding himself, and totally understands how much I enjoy being slimmer and fitter. He lucky man is slim and superfit and a 3 meals/2 snacks a day kind of man.

I am struggling a bit with the winter / January / Sunday night blues! I am enjoying getting back in to the old exercise though. It warms me up and cheers me up.

16/18 hour fasts are going ok. I'm just struggling a bit with friends and family wanting to see me around a coffee and cake, or drinks or a meal... just stuff and times I don't really want to eat.

These are great suggestions thank you stealth and love. I think what I need to do is use one of my fasts as an opportunity to get ahead and prepare some dishes like these ready for my eating window. I am incapable of meal planning but surely I can get a bit more organised.

@loveyouradvice i feel like I am not 100% back on track but I hope the kids going back to school will signal some sort of fresh start! am trying to vary my eating to 1,2 or 3 meals and I would say 1 meal at 12 ish is in some ways the easiest of the lot as it’s not too long and I can eat a really nice satisfying meal but then go back to fasting. 3 meals is weirdly hard as I feel there is no excuse for grazing but my on switch gets flicked to eating mode! find it nearly impossible to eat 3 meals with a decent mini fast between each, I nearly always end up with some extras or milky drinks. I haven’t had a 0 meal day since Christmas but I am waiting until I get my period - this might also be helpful to feeling more on track.

@Peae my only suggestion would be could some of your meet ups be turned into walks through a park or something? I agree it’s really hard because obviously socialising is good for us. I have been known to skip an occasional meet-up when trying to lose weight which actually isn’t that healthy - but a night out can really undo a lot of diet effort. i have been trying not to snack on sweets in between meals, but ended up doing exactly that yesterday at my dsis’s house. I predictably ended up with full on carb munchies and low blood sugar once I got home. She would have been fine with me not having them (it’s pretty obvious I need to lose weight) so it’s my own fault really.

Yes, with walky friends, there’s no problem. It’ll be easier in the summer (isn’t everything?) when walks after work become possible, or even just sitting in a beer garden nursing a water whist everyone else is a paying customer.
(I’m allowing myself one evening of red wine a week. I’m not a big drinker, but Zoe prefers a red wine over lime and soda. It’s the polyphenols).

@loveyouradvice I'm similar in that I mostly work from home so can choose my schedule. Must be much harder if you have to fit around rigid breaks. I've been having some full fat yogurt and seeds, granola/fruit around 11 then I have dinner with the children at 5. Maybe a snack mid afternoon if i need it, usually apple and peanut butter. My kids are both primary school age so eat early which makes it easy for me to do the same.

The weekend was OK as my only social plan was a good 5 mile walk with my friend, we just had coffees no snacks but next weekend I have a dinner on sat night, will try and eat later on Sunday to make up for it and try and only have 2 drinks. I don't want to be a party pooper but equally don't want to derail on Sunday with carby hangover snacks.

I've felt really good energy wise, slept well and did a 5 mile walk and gym session yesterday and didn't feel exhausted at the end of the day. The next week I'll be premenstrual so it will probably be a different story!!

I never knew that about waist to height ratio! I'll have a measure later, thank you!