4 week fasting countdown to March 2024

[Fouramclub]

Hello all

just starting a new thread to carry on the good work of @peae@HarpQuartet tagging others @welcometothenightcourt @loveyouradvice

and anyone else who wants to join! I couldn't tag everyone for some reason as some usernames don't seem to work!

checkins are on Fridays but feel free to check in anytime for support/musings/a rant/anything else!

1 pound off. I need to come back and read, but before I forget - I think my body fat has gone down from over 50% to 25% - fairly sure I have made a mistake somewhere along the lines! I guess bloating at the start could have been an issue?

by the way am I the only person who measures their waist as way higher than their belly button?

@StealthLaSilkySightHound
Thank you so much for all your advice. I'm learning more and more that I need to be gentle on myself.
I'm learning to incorporate all the things you've mentioned like not eating for 3 hours prior to sleep, aim for regular sleep pattern, I also do a pre sleep meditation and my room is very dark.

Sugar is definitely my downfall, I'm not horrendously bad but I do love a nice cinnamon bun.

Cutting out UPF has actually been pretty easy as we already eat a really good diet and I cook most of the food from scratch.

I'm planning to do a Dutch test in the next few weeks, hopefully I'll learn more about what my hormones are up to right now.

@Fullsteamahead i have found I need to supplement vitamin d and half a dose of floradix iron supplement (during eating periods when I remember so not religiously) to keep my period on track. Might be worth seeing if you are on the low end for anything - not sure if that comes up in a Dutch test?

@desikated are you restricting calories in between fasts? When I did fast 800 a few years back I felt similar and struggled with blood sugar when I exercising, particularly when I was close to goal weight. Might be too much stress on your body. I get on ok exercising fasted but not doing anything hardcore, o would probably time things to eat straight after. I am not counting calories now and I am relying on fasting to lose weight, but probably need to be more careful with what I eat now the first chunk of weight is off.

self care - I completely forgot this week and my face has only been cleaned in the shower. I will try again this week for skin care. Off work today so had more than an hours walk with dh including a latte at the mid way point and did a quick 10 mills les mills bike session, then had an Epsom salt bath. Dds are at the cinema so I am watching white lotus now.

Thank you @StealthLaSilkySightHound I will do

Also thanks others, I think it probably is about timing.

Anyway in others news I just totally caved and did a lot of eating. Might write today off (lots going on) and get back on the horse tomorrow.......

@Clearingaspace
I'm doing 16:8 and then limiting calories to under 1500. I'm pretty active (without the running). With the running, it's even more so. I'm very aware from previous attempts that exercise does not equal weight loss! And the fasting this time round with the calorie counting is shifting some weight.

Maybe you could up calories a bit or not count them for a week - just am for healthy options and see how you feel?

Check in!

SW Jan: 73.6kg
weight 2 Feb: 71.1kg
CW 16 Feb: 71.1kg

no change for me but there have been lots of fluctuations between 2 Feb - 16 Feb and to be honest I have had more than I would usually eat last weekend due to family birthday celebrations so the fact my weight has remained the same is a win! I feel like I say this every month but I feel like I have come a long way since my 75kg in August and it's probably better for me to lose weight slowly so I can sustain it in the long term.

I do tend to eat more than I should but I find the action of eating so comforting. Hopefully the slow weightloss means I'm making some permanent changes to my eating habits without it being too much of a shock to the system. Ideally I'd like to be 69kg by the end of May when I go on holiday and 67-65kg by October when it's my bday. If I can hit these goals it would be a win.

I do really like fasting and I find I feel less hungry when I'm busy and moving which is slightly hard when I have a sedentary job.

i would love to be a runner but I just find it very hard to run continuously without stopping a lot 😂 I did couch to 5k a few years ago so I know I can do it but as soon as I hit the target of running 5k without stopping I promptly gave up. I just find I'm so heavy and sluggish when I run. Even when I have a good sports bra on I hate the way my boobs bounce and I don't like how it feels. I prefer swimming but I find it harder to get the time in for a swim with the kids and work.

some self care goals over the next week - see if I can avoid doom scrolling on my phone at home and save it for when I'm commuting only. Ideally I want to give up instagram completely but I have found it useful for things like days out with the kids and holiday research.

I need to sit down and read through all the thread but @Welcometothenightcourt i just wanted to say I have read iron flame but I didn't get on with it so haven't read the rest of the series. I would totally recommend the kingdom of lies series by Stacia Stark!

@Saraswati was it you who had a fun weekend in London last weekend including SJP at the theatre? I hope it was ace!

@HarpQuartet yes it was me, thank you it was so much fun! Had a dishoom (my favourite) some drinks and then a lovely evening of theatre, very good for the soul.

Hooray! Mmmm, Dishoom, lush

@Saraswati yum, love dishoom! Glad you had a wonderful time!

@Clearingaspace i have no idea where to measure the waist and probably do it differently each time. I tend to do it between the belly button and bottom of the ribs but no idea if this is right

@Clearingaspace thank you for this suggestion. I'm not convinced Dutch test will show that, it's all about hormones really. But my friend was suggesting last night that it could be a thyroid issue or possibly lack of iodine. Looks like I might have to ask for a blood test at the GP, oh the joys!

I take a lot of supplements including vitamin D and multivitamins plus magnesium but it really does seem like something is out of balance.

Weighing in today ....12.1 so curiously the same as last week though I spent most of last week at 11.13. I so enjoyed being UNDER 12 and am looking forward to getting back there again soon.... yup, it's shallow but it feels SO good.

I loved reading all your updates - congrats to those who've had a successful week, whether losing or staying the same - and commiserations for those where it didn't quite pan out as you hoped.

My self care for the coming week is getting in touch with 3 friends a day - can be the same ones, could be just a text - or like today seeing more than 3 at a friend's opening. I'm so aware that I tend to prioritise work over friends and am trying to shift the balance.

And gratitude ... I am immensely grateful for how much my wonderful friends add to my life, and how many of them have been there for me through a truly challenging year.... unexpected, heartwarming and very humbling.

Start weight Feb 1 - 12st
Weigh in #1 Feb 9 - 11st9 + 3/4
Weigh in #2 Feb 16 - 11st8 + 1/4 1.5 lb loss

Bit frustrated though, as I haven’t stuck rigidly to the fasting this weekend but still drink plenty of water and ate minimal UPF, just weighed myself again on Sunday night and I’ve put on 6lb 😭

hoping by this Friday I will have clawed it back, as atm feels like I’m not doing great.

Hope you can relax @Carno18 ... this happens to me too - You lost a HUGE amount in just 16 days: 6lbs.

My unscientific suspicion based on what my body does is that it claws it back in water/rapid weight gain as soon as I go remotely off piste, but then responds by losing it fast again if I fast strictly.

Hopefully this will happen to you too.

Just wanted to cheer you for your patience @Fouramclub ...coming from someone impatient, I am so impressed by your approach, long-term weightloss by doing it slowly. You've kept off 4kg, want to lose another 2kg in the next 3.5 months and then another 2-4kg in the next 4.5 months. Wow - kudos - and serious respect.

You remind me of someone I know who lost 1 stone a year for 3 years and has then kept it off for over a decade.

@Clearingaspace ....

Read something interesting in gin Stephens’ book about a daily window of less than 5 hours is helpful for staying in fat burning mode.

Can you share more? Is this about eating in a short window? Or the long fasting window that this creates? Which has the impact? I imagine with your fast of more than 22 hours you had to be in fat burning mode unless something strange had happened....

love to learn more!!! And I'll use it, especially to help balance the days after I've had a long eating window with a few extra calories....

@loveyouradvice Stephen’s basically says that a level of consistency means that glycogen stores remain depleted which ignites fat burning. Too many long eating windows will mean that glycogen stores are fully replenished so the body doesn’t need to tap into fat stores.

There is definitely some contradiction across the different fasting methods though about how long eating windows should be and frequency of fasts etc.

I am still not finished fast feast repeat so will update if I get a better grip on this!

Fab thank you - really great reminder and that makes sense... Look forward to pooling knowledge as we all move forward

Hi everyone! Sorry I missed the check in! I got Covid AGAIN and the whole family was sick over half term/last week of school. Became quite anxious and stressed out, and starting slipping on the IF. At one point last week I was down to 64.9, but back up to 65.6 today. When I weighed I really did feel like sacking it all in and not bothering anymore. But I got dressed nicely and my husband has been complimenting me lots today so I felt a lot better. I want to see results long term so it's no point freaking out in the first couple weeks.

So
SW 08/02/24 66.8
09/02/24 66.4
12/02/24 65.9
16/02/24 - 64.9 (after illness, dehydrated and not eating much)
CW 12/02/24 - 65.6

When I write it out it looks like I'm 1.2 kg down which really actually isn't bad... I don't know why I'm finding it so hard. I'm not actually restricting food out of fear of my old ED. I'm in a different place now though and I need to realise that. I eat relatively healthy things but just a lot of them. Wondering what the best way would be to nourish myself properly and make sure I'm losing weight without triggering obsessive behaviour. Bit of a tightrope eh. Still here though.

Whatsmore I'm so so busy. I work full time condensed hours and then take care of my kids. I want to be a good friend, wife, family member. I want our home to feel fun and cosy for the girls. Counting calories feels like mental burden I fear. But what of the mental burden of hating what I see in the mirror? Will it all suddenly start making sense once I've started?

Any and all advice welcome.

Sending love!

@Welcometothenightcourt sorry to hear you have had Covid and well done for keeping going - fantastic to overall have a loss. I can’t really advise because I have a lot of similar feelings. For instance I have drinks with friends tomorrow and a big part of me would like to cancel because I know it will probably mean a stay the same weigh in on Friday - as a best case scenario! But longer term friends are more important so I am going. I will try to drink as little as possible, but these are top your wine glass up kind of friends so not sure how well I do!

one thing is that I am not counting calories at the moment - I aim for as little processed food as possible and not too much alcohol. Also as my eating opportunities are more limited it makes sense to get as much good nutrition as possible so I kept that in mind for most of my choices today and ate a lot better (other than two mini donuts!).

@Welcometothenightcourt well done on the 1.2kg loss so far, I think that's great progress!

I hear you about feeling frustrated. My weight loss since August had been very slow, particularly as I keep comparing to my weight loss 10 years ago when I did the 5:2 diet. I dropped 10kg in something like 3-4 months. The kgs would fall off every week. I sometimes think, I did it then, why can't I do it now? The difference now is I'm 10 years older, have two kids under 5 who need a lot of attention, I don't get as much time to exercise and my sleep is poor - I get 6 hours of broken sleep a night. 10 years ago, I used to walk to and from work every day - a good 2hrs of fast walking. I used to go to the gym/swim 4-5x per week. Now I'm lucky if I can get in x2 YouTube workouts done a week and if I can do 10k steps once a week.

of course the weight all piled back on two years after I lost the weight and then increased after I had kids 🤪 I'm only just now at the weight I was when I started 5:2.

overall my perspective on the weight loss has changed as my circumstances have changed so much. I'm not counting calories in a strict way as I need a bit of leeway if I need energy to get me through the day after a crap night with the toddler. I'm trying cut UPF and eat more vegetables and change my eating habits for long term health. I'm hoping that this slower approach means I can slow whittle my weight down but ultimately keep it down and steady for the rest of my life and not get type 2 diabetes like others in my family. Thinking of 16:8 as a tool to change my diet long term has really helped keep me going!

thank you @loveyouradvice for cheering my patience. It made me chuckle as I'm literally the most impatient person in the world and every morning I hope the scales will magically show a 2kg drop and then I have a mini strop in my head when they don't 😂 I then remind myself why I'm doing this and it's going to take time especially as I'm exceedingly greedy and don't want to change my portion sizes too drastically!