Counting down to July

[desikated]

And we're here......
1st June
As the great Delia Smith once said, let's be having you...

@Clearingaspace @Cherryblossom81 @HarpQuartet @Saraswati @ItRainsItPours @Loubelle70 @TooEarlyForBreakfastInMay

@ItRainsItPours one day at a time is such a good mantra ...you're doing great... over 2.5 stone is something to celebrate!!! How are you with berries? They are my go-to fruit when losing weight, especially frozen ones which are cheaper.

@HarpQuartet So so agree - I love the accountability of Fridays ... and your image of you as a wee foraging beastie a la David `Attenborough... Congrats on browsing and not grazing!! I too weigh daily and have managed to make it just something I do, rather than emotionally-weighted. You're so on track for 76kg for July!! And Im looking forward to hearing how it goes not eating something sweet after dinner. Me, I love my dark chocolate habit - I'm now easily satisfied with half a square of 85% with a couple of nuts as my sweet treat (... most of the time.... )

My goal for this month: 11.8 again and STAYING THERE ... I've bounced around for the last 4 months and am fed up of doing so!! I'm pleased with the 3lbs off this week with easy and enjoyable 8h eating: it came on fast, it's gone off fast. And I'm now getting such pleasure from this way of eating and see it as my go-to for life: lots of veg, berries, protein, some pulses/grains/nuts and dark chocolate and kefir/yogourt with the occasional treat, usually when eating with friends. The more I can embed this the happier (and hopefully healthier) I will be

Sw: 14.2
LW: 12.0
CW:11.11

And from today, I'm doing the Prolon Fasting Mimicking Diet for the next 5 days - primarily for health, but it means I'm likely to be 11.8 by next Friday.

So - my challenge is eating well and healthily after that, from Wednesday, sticking to 1200/1300 calories in an 8h window with the occasional indulgence with friends. And a wee hurdle - a very sociable Sunday when I will not be eating anything but my Prolon stuff, but food all around!!

My self-care - lots of time in the sunshine! I love it - especially reading in the garden at the end of the day.

Berries is a good call for lower sugar fruit. I love them fresh but I’d be interested to know what you do with the frozen ones.

Frozen fruit in bowl, microwave until steamy and gloopy, flop a big spoonful of yoghurt on top of it and some seeds and/or walnuts or something. Yummy.

totally what @HarpQuartet says - my favourite healthy pud!!

And otherwise I just let a bowl defrost and eat them when I fancy a bit...

I probably eat a bowl or two most days....

And if you want a breakfast, similar but frozen berries in bowl with some porridge oats and milk, you get to know the quantities when you've tried it.. microwave for a minute or so, then yoghurt and seeds too if you like

Hmmm, does sound yummy, I don’t eat enough yoghurt atm.

Well done everyone. I’m finding the fasting easier as I’m getting more used to it and definitely feel less bloated. Do struggle to stay within calories on the weekends but finding balance x

I'm finding the same @Bunnie007 the fasting is definitely getting easier. I managed 20 hours today but then blew it by eating twice this evening!!! I ended up in a situation where food was offered and it seemed really impolite to decline.

@Eastie77Returns thank you for the info on fasting during peri and periods. The idea of following the moon made me laugh but I guess there maybe something in it.

How's everyone doing today?

I'm finding the summer weather and clothes is making it all SO much easier...

And yes I'm really enjoying my self-care for the week - lots of time reading outside int he garden, and doing a bit of gardening too

@loveyouradvice i used to love reading in the garden but we are mid terrace and very overlooked so don’t really do it anymore.

glad people are doing well. I hit some of my targets such as relaxing baths, 24 hour fast, got the book read finally that I have been stuck on, trying to be more positive with my kids. BUT I am up 6lbs 😱😭 I haven’t had a period in the last month or two and think it is maybe connected (maybe also the wine, crisp sandwich and toast too though!)

hopefully I will brave the Friday weigh in

Mixed bag here, having work stress that's spilling over (losing sleep over it) and am over eating at times (whole tube of pringles yesterday) but doing long fasts other times and finding that easy and natural. It'll resolve itself by the end of July but the weeks until then might be a bit uncomfortable. My self care around that will be if I can maintain a compassionate attitude rather than adding another layer of stress by being self critical.

I am going to be away from home for a few days but will be able to weigh in Saturday or Sunday.

Always good to hear how others here are doing.

Sending love @HarpQuartet

That inner critic is the worst isn't it. I sometimes think we reserve the worst of our disdain and dislike for ourselves - and we would never talk or think of anyone else like that (well other than in exceptional circumstances). I read somewhere something about trying to respond to ourselves as if we were a neutral observer. It's likely in this context we would be saying oh for gods sake Desikated what a stupid woman eating all the crisps/whatever.

Anyway, I've been a bit absent because had quite a crisis with my cat who was about to be put down last week (with suspected end stage cancer) but the diagnosis changed and he has had some eye watering expensive treatment for a weird infection and he's home if still quite poorly. He's been in my life for 14 years so it's been all the emotions.

And my weight has gone bananas with a period / emotional eating. So. Trying to gently re mount the horse 😂

@desikated thank you, nail on the head. My inner critic has calmed down a lot over the years, principally since hearing the "second arrow" analogy.

I'm a hopeless wreck if our cat has anything wrong with him, so you have my sympathy in buckets and I hope he's going to be back to his normal self soon.

Good lord

I've been weighing everyday
Yesterday - 63.1kg
Today - 63.5kg

Ate less yesterday than normal and fasted. HOW?!?!

SW 1st January 17 stone 5
CW 28th June 14 stone 10

A single pound lost this week. I haven’t been sleeping well though as our house is all windows and hard to cool down. I have also been mega busy with boring life stuff so actually pleased to have lost at all.
How is everyone getting on?

Well done @ItRainsItPours a 1lb is still a 1lb!

Don't know what's happening here. Scales stubborn at 63.5kg and no change in 2 weeks (well is fluctuated day to day but this is the baseline and reading today). Bit gutted as I don't think I can restrict much more to lose more and it worries me that was working is now not.,..

I'm not due on so no other reason I can think of. Boo. How about everyone else?

well done @ItRainsItPours and also @desikated as maintaining is still really good progress. I have literally been gaining a pound a day on ‘normal’ eating. Today was the first day my weight hadn’t gone up. I was reading a comment somewhere that your body needs time to create a new set point because if the fat cells are recently emptied they are waiting to fill up super quickly! So even a maintenance week is a step closer to lasting weightloss from that perspective.

sw 204lbs (sep 23)
loweset (January 24) 176
cw 188

i am reading the humans being diet (99p on kindle this week) I really don’t like the sound of 5 hour gaps between meals but maybe that’s all the more reason to try it! I have a night out tonight and need to figure it out a bit more first though before starting

hope you are ok @harpquartet
have a lovely weekend all

Thank you @Clearingaspace that's actually helpful to hear. Staying the same is no bad thing. M
I've seen threads on MN about the human being diet - what's the premise?

I'm also out tonight so hoping I can quiet the inner critic and just enjoy some good food and wine as a relatively rare treat!

I don’t drink much but am tempted to join you both in a couple of glasses tonight. I do think lots of people forget that the hard work starts after the diet as it is so easy to put weight back on.

@desikated totally get your disappointment... hopefuly just water retention and a blip...it sounds like your body is struggling not to let go (which is darn annoying of it, when you are coping with all the emotions around your beloved cat). When that’s happened with me, I often get a 2-3lb loss after a few weeks as if its suddenly given up the first... Hang on in there and fingesr crossed!

Big hugs @HarpQuartet at a challenign time – hope u can be gentle to yourself, self-compassion does indeed take practice and is something I am working on. Loving the second arrow – I hadn’t heard of that before, thank you

@ItRainsItPours – a pound is a pound and in the right direction!!

@Clearingaspace – beautifully put, look forward to hearing your plan when you decide

Agreee agree agree @ItRainsItPours the hard work starts after the diet as it is so easy to put weight back on.

Great that fasting Is getting easier @Bunnie007 and @Misstabithabean

How oh how did I do that??? I lost 3lbs easily with Prolon fasting mimicking diet (which I am doing for other health reasons) and just 2 days later, very tired having done too much/slept too little and I ATE AND ATE and put 2lbs back on in just one day: all wonderfully healthy stuff but 3 bowls of overnight oat chia kefir? Really....

SW: 14.2
CW: 11.10 ... 1lb loss, came down 3lb then overate....
GW: 11.2

Declaration of intent for this coming week:

To get those pesky 2lbs off again ... after my overeating yesterday to undereat today and then really focus each day so that hopefully I am back down to 11.8 next Friday and remain there for the rest of the summer.....

Yes, then I'll be doing the hard work of maintenance through July/August.... recognising that it IS hard... but let's get to 11.8 again first!!!

@loveyouradvice as everyone has said to me, it may only be a 1 pound loss but it is one pound in the right direction which is all that matters.
I am happy with how June has gone, though no high days and holidays to knock me off.
I will set goals for July on the new thread, keeping in mind that it includes the start of the long summer break. I enjoy this now my dc are at high school but it can be quite full on.

I've managed two fasts again this week. One was 20 hours which I felt quite pleased about! This morning my son was at home and I managed to fast until lunchtime which gives me hope for not going totally off the rails in the school hols!

I don't have any scales to weigh myself at the moment but my main goal has been to re-introduce fasting for the health benefits and try to keep my weight under control with peri and eventually the menopause. Maybe on the week's you don't see a change in weight, it's worth bearing in mind that you are still giving your body many health benefits by fasting. 😊

@loveyouradvice be gentle with yourself!

There's no way you put on 2lbs overnight - it'll be water weight / stomach suddenly having more food in it. Your good work / losses won't have been overridden!!!

I'll set up a new thread in the next day or so where we can set our goals for July and thinking about how holidays etc are negotiated through!

Yesterday /today I'm having a day or two off. Feeling a bit meh about fasting and all the exercising and the scales not shifting so maybe just a change up and having a bit of what I fancy will be a good thing.