Counting down to June...

[desikated]

All welcome - new posters and old!

A gentle supportive fasting thread with as much or as little checking in as you like

@HarpQuartet @loveyouradvice @ItRainsItPours @Clearingaspace @Catherino @Saraswati @ItRainsItPours @jane46b @TooEarlyForBreakfastInApril @angeldebs444

Have you been in a lot of pain, @desikated ?

Commiserations, whatever is going on. I don't know the answer, but perhaps if I can come up with a "menu" of ideas to stop comfort eating, one might strike a chord.

-A hot water bottle and some fruit tea.

-Make yourself put on your shoes and go for a stomp around the block (or a pretty park, or looking at nice front gardens, if you're lucky) and set a timer for ten minutes, then home again.

-Eat it, whatever it is, but while paying attention: telly off, phone in another room. Put the chocolate (or whatever) on a plate and look at it, noticing its colour and texture. Smell it. Taste it, but don't chew straight away, notice it on your tongue first. And if you've got some headspace available, check how your breathing is doing, and do a little scan down your body. If your shoulders are stiff or your tummy is sore or your legs are tense, you don't necessarily have to do anything to change that, you're just meeting your whole self where you are.

-Set a timer for five minutes and write about what's happening and how you're feeling. You don't have to stop when the timer goes off, unless you want to.

-Ask your favourite WhatsApp group to cheer you up with cat photos or a cartoon they've enjoyed or something nice or funny that happened to them.

-New series of Bridgerton with a cup of tea however you like it - some milk or sugar won't be the end of the world.

I do two things to reduce evening eating. The first is to not have the most addictive foods in never mind anywhere near the sofa. The second is to brush my teeth when I have eaten all I planned.

I feel faintly ridiculous – I reached 11.8 back in March and then again by the end of April... but I am now at 12.0 again. My goal in coming weeks is to get back to 11.8, and then stay there for a while with my focus on eating healthily rather than thinking about my target weight of 11.2.

So I’m glad to be back with all of you, and will check in again on Friday – and I am being gentle with myself as I’m still grappling with my mental health /grief. One thing I know is that if I am eating well ie lots of superhealthy food I feel better about myself and I believe it supports better mental health in a way that biscuits and chocolate don’t.

And yes, I've read the whole thread and will post on my response - Im feeling deeply inspired by you all, by how brave and resolute we are in the face of challenges and how we support each other as we move forward

@desikated – thanks for creating this thread and cheering us all on – I hope you are feeling better and gosh the stress of possible toddler concussion (and I confess to crumpet envy!!). Congrats on weight loss and size 10 dress... Hold onto this, that is a TRIUMPH. I've huge compassion for comfort eating and love the advice above. My thoughts - which sometimes work and sometimes don't: I accept that sometimes the craving is just too great and the challenge then is to limit the damage and try to really enjoy and extract full comfort from the food you eat, and regularly pause when possible to ask Is this enough, rather than just immerse oneself in the binge (which I often have). So tactics that sometimes work for me: 1. engaging with bigger picture, celebrating how far I've come, going to look at the clothes Im longing to wear again, typing up what I want to eat and ask if it is really worth it, reading this and other threads on Mumsnet 2. Distraction and refocus: Venting on here/ring a friend/dance round kitchen to faab uplifting tune, bury my face in toddler's tummy and relish it (or in my case, with DC now at uni, my wee dog's) ...

So good to know Im not alone in yoyoing around – huge empathy @Clearingaspace and @TooEarlyForBreakfastInMay And yes I share reverse body dysmorphia @Clearingaspace : its always a shock to see the real me, instead of the young lithe thing I imagine!!

Fabulous to see really impressive weight losses @ItRainsItPours ... seriously utterly amazing, and only human to have wee glitches along the way ... so tiny in the scale of what you have achieved

And great to see you edging down triumphantly @HarpQuartet – under 77kg is brill!! And really great that you came and vented with us ... we’ve all been there with that quick (or slow!) Fuuuuuuck....As you know I love your rules and have adopted many of them!! So good to get into the self-coaching mindset and share on here, inspiring others as well as yourself...And I will again be a weight-training buddy once I feel a little better: so great you are still doing this!!

@Saraswati THE BIG QUESTION - how did the race go yesterday?? How are you feeling? I hope triumphant and in holiday mode.

Welcome@Benvolio and @mynamechangemyrules and @prettygreenteacup . Yes, I love too how much I enjoy IF and how it works for my body in the way nothing else does: Congrats on November wedding and looking forward to cheering you on feeling confident and beautiful on such a special day

So happy to see you are posting @loveyouradvice. I think I need to do something similar as proper weightloss is not happening for me now. I was originally losing weight for a holiday this half term but unfortunately we have had to cancel and I have slightly thought to hell with it this weekend!

right step 1 I am currently doing prawn stir fry instead of toast for lunch!

step 2 for the rest of this week I will see what happens if I eat at maintenance.

step 3 weigh in tomorrow and see where I am

Ah thanks @loveyouradvice it was very hot but I did it! Slightly disappointed with my time as have run that route quicker before. However it was about 10 degrees hotter yesterday and I'm 2 days away from my period so considering those factors I'm happy with it.

My friend who runs told me when things get tough she repeats to herself 'I can do hard things' and I think I'm going to use that in life not just in running! (Like when I just want to drown myself in crisps and wine 🤣)

Next up, half marathon training for oct!

@Saraswati well done!! And thank you for that mantra: I can do hard things.

@Saraswati well done, there was a marathon near me this weekend and I really felt for the runners. It was an absolute scorcher.

Aaahh I haven't posted in ages but I think my fasting is going well, I feel pretty trim at the moment and I'm on week 5 of consistent running routine too! We did a 7k walk yesterday too. I weighed myself this morning just out of sheer curiosity but don't think it was too accurate as had alcohol and no fasting over the weekend. May weigh again on Friday after a few good days of fasting. I'm also not sure where I am in my cycle which always impacts weight!

In other news I have my wedding dress!! And it's gorgeous but a style where I feel like I can't put a single pound on now until after the day 😂

We can do hard things! 💪 and thanks for the support everyone

I'm loving that - Yes, we can do hard things - what a great motto @Saraswati and huge congrats on your deeply impressive run. Loving having you on here, especially as such a beacon of hope for achieving goal weight and keeping it off while embracing life.

So exciting that you have found THE dress @prettygreenteacup - do tell us more, or even post a pic. Love the fact that you are going to look so great, with the running toning up your body and eating well.

@Clearingaspace Learning to eat at maintenance is such a great goal - something we all need to achieve so truly great practice for this phase of your life. Looking forward to hearing how its going

Hi all thanks so much for your unending wisdom and cheerleading. Had a real dip in the last week and yes definitely pain and stress related.

What a lovely group of supportive people you are. Well done on everyone's successes however big or small they are. Yesterday's small success for me was stopping after one spoonful of peanut butter straight from the jar.

I think we are all somewhat on the journey of re imagining how we interact with and eat food, and how we think about our bodies. And probably (?) this is all so deeply ingrained in how we've grown up / understood food / been made to feel about ourselves. So what's my point? It's hard!

I do love @Saraswati phrase - it's hard, I can do hard things!

I also like / have In mind that feeling overwhelmed / out of control with food or feeling shit about my body is HARD. Doing fasting or eating healthily or doing the damn run or weight training is HARD.

Which HARD are you going to pick?!

Thanks again all xx

My hard today is my back pain flaring up again so I am back on ibuprofen 3x per day. This makes fasting and keeping calories down much harder. I have gained the 3lbs I lost this month after just two days on ibuprofen, despite not eating too much extra. I just keep telling myself it will fall back off once the pain subsides.
I can take or leave peanut butter but am pretending the idea of eating my dcs nutella with a spoon doesn’t appeal.

Oh no@ItRainsItPours i hope the pain subsides soon. I guess some of the weight could be water retention due to inflammation and hopefully like you say it will drop off.

@loveyouradvice you are right, it is good practice maintenance eating- actually to be honest I am logging in the morning but then forgetting so I need to try and really log everything tomorrow!

@desikated i think the annoying thing is that being healthy is hard when it shouldn’t be! I could make it easier by meal planning and what not, but I am too disorganised! I kind of know what to do in theory but can’t stick to things.

@ItRainsItPours I'm sorry - trying to manage pain flare ups is awful. Painkillers also lead to water retention and general blog so please don't be disheartened by current scales. Hope it lifts soon x

Shiiiiiiiit, having one of my relapses, doritos and chocolate biscuits and the like for a few days. Today I can get myself back on track and feeling better (these things DO NOT leave me feeling well!):

Strength training video
Remember I like apples
Throw the remaining doritos away (can't bring myself to waste the biscuits, but will at least put them out of sight)
Make a nice lunch
And a healthy dinner
Go for a rainy walk

I pledge to do all this today.

Huge congrats @HarpQuartet for getting back on track - always a challenge and BRILLIANT when you do it ... come and let us know at the end of the day how those 6 pledges have gone?

Cheering you on all the way!

@ItRainsItPours - so feel for you - truly horrid. And my experience is that swiftly gained weight like that does fall off fast once you are able to reengage with healthier eating.... Good luck with making the best choices you can in your current condition

This is such a lovely thread, thank you everyone. The back is a little better each day so hopefully I can ditch the ibuprofen tomorrow. Only snag is we are away for the bank holiday weekend and will be partaking in food van fodder. I will try to keep up the fasting to limit the damage and return to this thread for accountability on Tuesday 🤣

And I have done all the things on my list but also had a Cornetto and a snickers bar, what a twat! Thank goodness there are two more Fridays in may - I think my chances of finishing under the magical 77kg are good as long as I give myself a compassionate but firm talking to.

@HarpQuartet i won’t list what I have had today but it would probably be similar and I haven’t done half the good stuff like exercise - although I have done a walk in the rain! As you say may isn’t over and a good outcome over may is all that matters - 80:20 healthy choices:indulgent choices over a week or month seems to be the winning formula!

enjoy your weekend @ItRainsItPours 😊

Yes @HarpQuartet there are two more Fridays - and there's also today!!

You can do it ... what are you going to do today?

Congrats on doing the rest of your pledges

Aha,yes, a plan for today!

Strength training video
Healthy dinner with no pudding! The reason that's important is that I've developed an unwanted habit of eating chocolate or biscuits after dinner, and it really is a habit, not a need or even particularly a want.
I've just had ice cream after lunch and I didn't really enjoy it, so what a silly thing to do!

Maybe we should band together for a sugar reduction week @HarpQuartet! I bought the fast 800 treats recipe book at sainsburys and my daughter made one of the recipes which was very nice (too rich for her though). The recipes are pretty basic but there is something nice about the fact it is a full recipe book to choose from! Feel’s quite the indulgent. The recipes are higher in fibre and protein and a bit more nutritious than upf treats

Yes, def up for a sugar reduction week. I need to be a "one day at a time" sort of person as otherwise I just get grumpy, so for today I'm saying only fruit and yoghurt for the rest of the day. For me it's quantity, and having sugar that I'm not even enjoying 🫣 what's the recipe you enjoyed?

Just looked up the recipes list for that book, some there that I would def like especially the fridge bars/biscuits