Countdown to Christmas

[ItRainsItPours]

All welcome!

Supportive thread for setting goals including self care and fasting, and chat in between!

Glad you are feeling better @ItRainsItPours -.seems horrible that it can be triggered both by eating fat and by dieting.

well done @GameOfJones - so reassuring that what you are doing seems to be working. All this lifestyle stuff can be confusing and contradictory- especially with cholesterol- my dh will only eat a couple of eggs a week even though I have read him several pieces from diet books that say it doesn’t affect cholesterol 🤔the fact your weight and cholesterol are both going down seems a great win.

@EmbraceTheBeans i don’t feel like me either - it doesn’t help that I don’t carry weight well. I can’t describe it but I don’t look curvy and healthy or voluptuous - more flappy 😂 I really look best around 10 stone so need to lose 3 stone still. If you are not in the right zone for long fasts you could try having mini fasts between meals. It’s actually quite hard. I was doing the hbd plan which is 5 hours water fasts between meals. In honesty it’s quite tricky to fit in 3 meals with 5 hour gaps.

I am struggling a bit this evening but haven’t gone too haywire. I am really conflicted because I want to lose weight fast and am considering fast 800 but at the same time I feel like I have zero energy these days and part of me would just love to feel full of beans and 800 calls a day definitely won’t help with that. Sorry for the moan!

Yes very true - the faster it comes off the faster it comes back on! Also paralysis by analysis is spot on for me. I got waylaid on my fasting because of a few articles about fasting not being so good earlier this year. The fact that Peter Attia also seems to have stepped back on it sealed my concerns. However I think I need to be all woo and listen to my body, if I am doing something and feeling good then I will trust it’s beneficial.

I rode the carb craving waves last night and this morning. Nothing resembling a fast last night as I had coffee with milk at 11:00 pm to encourage me to get the kitchen cleared up. However I just had a really nutritious and substantial lunch so I am going to press the button and start a fast for 18 hours hopefully 🤞

I am easing back in, no breakfast but earlier lunch than normal. I had a new number on the scales today so maybe being ill is good for the diet. Not seen that particular number for over 10 years though so I’ll call it a win.
I guess I am the odd one out in the fasting forum, as I haven’t read any books on the subject. It was all the rage about 4 years ago and I just decided to give it a go. I read a lot on here, tried a few different types and worked out what would fit into my life. I did lose lots and then gained some of it back. This time around I am trying to really focus on keeping it off.

@EmbraceTheBeans yeah I remember when I was younger I used to be surprised friends didn’t want an after dinner cappuccino! Also l love coriander which is another genetics thing I think.

Managed to resist milky days yesterday evening and got my 18 hour fast done. happy enough with my weigh in today - still in the re losing zone but the right direction at least!

well done on the new number @ItRainsItPours

how’s everyone doing?

Good luck with your fast today @EmbraceTheBeans .

My evening yesterday was a prime example of what you’re describing. The kids wanted home made pizza which weirdly didn’t tempt me, but the plan was for dh and I to have risotto. I wasn’t remotely hungry so tentatively asked dh if he fancied salad but he was on for risotto, he also was drinking wine and I don’t know why but I have had it programmed into my head that you should drink wine while stirring risotto 😳 so obviously had a glass. That’s not so bad but I then had toast before bed . I know that’s a recipe for weight gain 😩 I think because of the wine induced carb cravings. I would have been fine fasting all evening if I had skipped the wine and risotto. We have extended family round today but I might try to fast this evening depending how things go.

Afternoon :)

My Monday weigh-in was good today, but I'm still early days on IF - day 15. So I think I'm just losing water weight.

In all honesty I'm just trying to balance hormones and retrain my brain as I'm someone that hormonally / emotionally eats all day long.

I'm finding that my brain / behaviour is changing and surprising me. I left food on my plate at dinner twice last week, and managed two trips to the pub with friends and only had soda water. Neither has happened ever before at any point in my life.

I do feel that if I had a glass of wine my carb cravings will come back straight away 🙈 Hopefully I can bounce back when that inevitably happens!

And defo agree that wine while cooking risotto is compulsory!

How're you doing @imperialqueen ? Want to share any goals for the day?

Good things happening under the bonnet, I like that.

That's really interesting @EmbraceTheBeans I never thought about it like that but it's so true!

Today I'm volunteering at a National Tryst place 10-3 doing ground clearing and digging.

I'm very curious how I'll cope as I'll be 16h into a fast. I'm taking food with me and prepared to end the fast early if I don't feel great.

Wish me luck!

Thanks for asking. HarpQuartet. I am aiming not to eat until 12/1pm today. Hoping to finish at 9pm. I have a very busy day and night. I won't be back in the house until late to eat. Too scared to weight today. I got weighed at slimming world on saturday and it wasn't good. I have not had a good weekend foodwise, although did much better yesterday. Trying to stay with that positive for today 😀I am hoping the actual weekly weigh in might keep me on track.

Hello, all. No weight loss this week, I've stayed the same but am feeling so much better so I'm not getting disheartened.

Today was a 17 hour fast. Lunch of chicken salad plus some nuts and yoghurt. Dinner is mixed bean quesadillas.

Hope everyone is doing ok!

Hi everyone, I really have appreciated being tagged every so often on this thread. It is so encouraging, thanks so much everyone.

I have not been doing great, the evenings are just so awfuL.i agree with the keeping busy.. I am exhausted by the evening, menopause and sleeping terribly don't help. So as soon as i sit in the evening that is me, incapable of doing anything. Think the trick is not to sit.

I have had a quick read through some previous posts and so pleased to see some of you are losing weight. Well done.

I face another weigh in on Saturday so hoping to not eat today and tomorrow until dinner time. Trying to make up for my over consumption since last Saturday.

Good luck with your fasting @imperialqueen. I am going to fast tonight and see how I feel about extending it tomorrow. I have had a 2 steps back kind of week unfortunately.

@EmbraceTheBeans I really love to hear about the changes you have made. I need badly to do similar. The thought especially of having more vibrancy rather than just declining into being old before my time. Last night I was doing the scroll of doom until gone 1am. It was like an invisible force was holding me down to the sofa! I really need to grow up to be honest and instil good habits and be a better example to my teens!

hope you had a great break @HarpQuartet

how did you get on with your fasted digging @Amazonmulu

well done on a good week @GameOfJones

Hi @Clearingaspace - I managed 19.5h and felt a bit woozy at the end. It was a very hot morning and we were digging in the sun which probably didn't help! I do feel more clear headed when fasting.

I'm very invested in IF now as listening to various pod casts on health benefits of fasting.

The weight loss is great too 🙈 Just hoping it lasts and I can maintain my dedication through the inevitable plateaus!

When I am in my groove I eat between 2pm and 6pm and then stop. This week has been a maintenance week because I keep cracking just before bed and having a snack. I think I just need to go to bed about 30minutes earlier tbh.

Yesterday was a longer fast because I didn't get a lunch break at work. I tend to take in a tin of soup so I always have something to eat but it doesn't go off if I don't manage to eat it. I just decided I'd rather have a long fast than rush eating at my desk between Zoom calls.

23 hour fast

OMAD of linguine, tomatoes, peas and mascapone with a yoghurt and some nuts for dessert.

That meal sounds delicious ♥️ How did you feel during the last hours of the fast?