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.

Well done @FastingPhilly best to look at the bigger picture though 5lbs in 10days is incredible and slower weight loss is easier to maintain in the long term as they always say!

Start weight 14 stone 7
last week 12 stone 13.3
today 12 stone 11.5

@FastingPhilly 2lbs down is great - that’s considered rapid weight-loss if it happens every week.

Welcome @CreationNat1on

well done @Saraswati , also @HarpQuartet for keeping going during stressful times.

I haven’t done amazing this week with my goals around sleep (did terribly on this one!) or veg but I did get 1 les mills workout and an hours walk every day.

1st Jan: 195.2
5th Jan: 194.4
12th Jan: 194.4

Well that's disappointing. I've been doing a minimum of 17:7 since Monday 8th (not as much as 18:6 though). Think I'll have to try to get some 18:6 days in next week and see how that works out for me.

Hello all

I am SO enjoying being back in the zone with three OMAD days this week. Im truly relishing my food, how delicious it is and how full and satisfied I feel for the rest of the day.

Loss this week: 2lbs (so just 1lb left to lose of 8lb Christmas gain) Phew!!!
CW: 12.1
TW: 11.2
Approach last week: three OMAD days in one hour window, lowish carb, high protein, lots of veggies and some dark chocolate. 700-1000 cals.
Approach taking next 7 days: as above, with more OMAD days and most at 700-800. Increasing exercise gently.
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

@pottypotamus So impressive - congrats - I hope it feels really good to be so close to your goal!! Fab to have lost two-thirds of what you're aiming for
@Saraswati a 4lb loss in 10 days is great!! Congrats
@HarpQuartet I so so so agree - eating some good food and not being catatonic is often a far greater victory than losing 2lbs... that can wait until the time is right
@FastingPhilly you're doing it like me - hitting it hard - don't forget that the scales can fluctuate hugely and your body can hold onto the weight as water - I've sometimes found I've done this sort of regime and lost 0lb in a week and then 5lb in the following week with great whooshes

@StealthLaSilkySightHound it is fascinating stuff, the link between mental health and food - I'm looking forward to listening to that podcast, thanks for posting. At the mo, Im in the camp of the wrong food can have an awful impact on your mh, but less in the camp of the right food can make you feel good so looking forward to having my thinking challenged!!

Well done all!

And thank you for your encouraging words xx

@Clearingaspace your start weight very similar to mine - how long has that loss taken you please?

Hi everybody, sorry I disappeared for a bit, had a couple of pretty busy days.

@Clearingaspace
I finished my fast on Wednesday at 4.30 pm making it to 74 hours. In all honesty I think I could have gone on longer but I've now entered pre period phase and apparently it's not a good idea to fast before period as it can really mess up your progesterone. It was an incredible experience, I'd definitely describe it as a spiritual one, and a huge battle of wills. The most fascinating thing for me was the last 20 or so hours when I became massively achey in my legs and lower back. From what I gather at that stage in the fast body starts to repair old injuries and concentrate on areas that need it most. Plus it starts to produce new stem cells which in itself can be painful. So last night of the fast was tricky, very little sleep and a lot of pain.
All of that said I do feel like I've been born again. I'm not even sure how to describe it but I feel lighter, my mental clarity is phenomenal, I'm very calm and I feel like all my organs have had a wonderful detox.

@StealthLaSilkySightHound
Do you mind me asking how old you are? Could the tearful moments of this week be in any way associated with perimenopause?
On the other subject, I think you probably have read Ultra Processed People? One thing that really resonated with me from the book is that none of us should put a blame on ourselves. Large corporations have been messing with our food for decades and we have been expected to show will power and strength to lose weight. And if we didn't it was on us. It's such a twisted ideology, you should not blame yourself for not being able to resist that white bread or that strawberry jam. That's on those corporations for feeding us with addictive, chemical and preservative laden food. You are a hero for trying your best for your own health and you are doing so so well, you should be really proud!

My stats:

05/01/24 66.1 kg
12/01/24 63.7 kg
Goal weight 60 kg

And I just wanted to say a huge well done to everyone regardless of whether you have lost any weight this week or not! You are all amazing!

Gah I knew it wouldn't be good today, been unwell last few days so carbs have been high.

In a positive i'm on day 7 of Adrienne, got a lot of steps in during lunchtime walks from the office, fasting has been manageable, and even got a couple of gym sessions in before feeling lousy, so I'll keep plugging at it.

Lovely to read all the weight losses though.

5/1 80kg
12/1 81.5kg

I am very impressed that you were hitting the gym when unwell @GreatHighway - it probably would have been too much for your body to restrict food as well when ill.

@FastingPhilly I had a half hearted attempt since sep 23 to eat more healthily etc but only lost about 4lbs. It is really only since Halloweenish that I have joined this thread and started fasting that I have been seeing the scale come down more consistently (other than small gain at Xmas) and lost another 20lbs or so

@Fullsteamahead 74 hours is amazing - really interesting about the aches for the last 20 hours - I think that might have made me want to stop the fast where in actual fact it seems like it was a positive thing! That really demonstrates the importance of researching fasting and having an idea of what is happening to our bodies. I love that you did an extra 2 hours! I have been getting occasional slight backache since fasting and I am glad to hear it might be something good going on - fingers crossed.

Off work today which is luxury. Dh and I finally broke through 6k on our daily briskish walk, going through 3 local parks. Love going past the duck (ahem luckily caught the auto correct) ponds and feeling less city grey around me.

Love your post and your plan for next week @loveyouradvice, so copying you my plan for next week - I might do another longer fast so 43 hours to carry on increasing the length, then a mix of 1, 2 and 3 meal days depending what’s happening. I hope to get 2 les mills workouts done also. Veg and sleep ideally to be better than this week!

Thanks @Clearingaspace ... liike others I fancy longer fasts when the weather is warmer ... it may well not be til March for me .. And meanwhile I am fascinated to read everyone's experiences - some great NSV. Very inspiring!

@StealthLaSilkySightHound ... I so agree... I walked past a the cake aisle and thought how can people be putting all this horrid stuff in their mouths?... Now off to watch Ultra Processed People (old Panorama programme) to reinforce these beliefs. Very useful while losing weight and a million miles from the Christmas Day me who was scoffing chocolates/sweet nibbley bits like there was no tomorrow.

Here's my check-in, will come back to catch up later:

• at least 14-hour fasts every day. Yes! Between 15 and 18.
• at least a Zoe score of 50 per day (this means basically low UPF and high in plant-based foods). Nope, had a couple in the 40s.
• at least 10k steps a day on my sedentary drive-to-work days days. Yes, easily, but today has been sedentary so I've got another 3k to do before bedtime.
• get to the gym and lift x6 and swim x3. So far lift x3 and swim x3.

Lost another pound, I'm now 13st 5.

I have been trying to reduce upf for a while now. I usually shop online so mostly just scroll through my favourites. I did a full shop in a local supermarket recently as I was passing. Oh my god I was shocked by how many aisles are just ufp and how small the ‘real food’ sections are. For example a small bit with raw meat and then about 4 x as much space for ready meals, whole aisles for fizzy drinks, crisps, biscuits, sweets and chocolate.

Well done everyone on getting through the week.

here's my check in:

start weight in Jan: 73.6kg
weight 5 Jan: 74.2 kg 😬
weight 12 jan: 73.1kg

a loss of 1.1kg this week which I am pleased with. This week I have calorie counted, stuck to 16:8 fasting windows and done two OMADs.

One of the biggest issues for me at the moment is sleep. I have a 5 year old and two year old and both of them are excruciatingly early risers and wake through the night. On a good night I'll get 6hours broken the sleep (at least one wake up during the night). I know people say sleep gets better as they get older but it's been 5 years of shit broken sleep so I can't see it getting better anytime soon and I despair at the fact that I'll never sleep through the night properly again or ever have proper undisturbed lie in as I feel waking through the night and early rising is a habit now.

When I have a bad night I usually reach for the sugar. I've had several of those nights this week and I'm proud to say I battled through until 12pm! Onwards and upwards!

@Fouramclub well done on more than 1kg off that is amazing when sleep deprived. You have my sympathy on sleep, my ds was very much the same, dds a bit less so, but yeah broken sleep and early mornings for many years and it majorly sucked. But it passed and weirdly there was a time when I missed the dc clambering into our bed early in the morning. My teen ds was late up for work this morning and we had to keep knocking on his door to get him up 😂

Horribly stressy couple of days, stuck to window, but went back to binge food yesterday. It’s gone now, I’ve regained one pound.

Other aspects of life are under better control. It was just a stupid spur-of-the-moment addition to the online supermarket order.

Exercise has been sporadic. This morning was good. I got into the garden for some pruning and tidying.

Congratulations on your success in week one @pottypotamus, @FastingPhilly , @Clearingaspace , @loveyouradvice , @Fullsteamahead , @Fouramclub

@Saraswati I too have been impacted by weather and hormones this week!

Good to see you here @HarpQuartet. Keep on keeping on to you, @GreatHighway , @StealthLaSilkySightHound , @LosingAndWinning and @Catherhino

Welcome @CreationNat1on and @GildedAge (did I miss your check-in?

(I hope I haven't missed anyone out).

After yesterday's success I have had my first relapse. Fasted for 18 hours but feeling very down and fed up, had a packet of biscuits, skipped the gym and had takeaway for tea.

Hi @Peae and all the other lovely people here. Peae, I just wanted to say how grateful I am for you doing this thread, and please don't lose heart with what's happened today, we'll keep on keeping on, as you say. In the grand scheme of things, it's just a slip, a blip, you can draw a line under it. Onwards and upwards.

I've been bingeing a bit - not to the extent I have at my lowest, but enough to feel unwell. Anyway, today I've been able to close my eating window at 4pm and feel relieved really: I've said before that the "hard stop" suits my temperament well.

Let's hope for a good sleep tonight; tomorrow we get another go at this x

@Peae don’t think I checked into the thread but started 18:6 fasting on 1st January and lost 3llbs so far. I’m also doing yoga with Adrianne each day and trying to get my steps in.

Let's hope for a good sleep tonight; tomorrow we get another go at this x

Absolutely x

@GildedAge excellent stuff!