Third Time Lucky - Fast to goal

[hollyblueivy]

@Bubbles44
@Smartmove
@Everythingaches

This is the new thread to discuss us using fasting to get to our goal weight. Believe it or not but this is the third thread with the first from around 18 months ago!

No I am not at goal yet. I dare not look at what I weighed then as there is a good chance I'm about the same weight now having recently put back on!

Anyway. Now is the time to keep going. To allow for a bit on over Christmas and get a head start for the New Year. 2025 I WILL get to goal!

Anyone else is wearing to join.

My starting weight was probably 12:9 at heaviest. I'm just over 11 stone now and my goal is around 10:3.

Let's go!

Hi girls
@Everythingaches its hard after time off. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Ur here and showing up. I hope u get back in swing.

I’ve managed a good day yest and today . About 1200 cals. I’m hoping to drop another pound or two before I enter maintence in 2 weeks. Have some bdays meals and parties to navigate from next weekend so gonna be tricky.

yest I had
yoghurt berries almond butter
prawn avacado on sourdough toast - this was so tasty
a really good workout (legs hurting today)
Thai curry

today
Puriton shake
orawn salad apple and dark choc
1 lattee
dinner is pasta but will take more of the sauce and protein. No work out today

weigh in Sunday as need that extra day after my pizza binge on last week! Still feeling the bloat!

Hi girls!
Ended on 1500 yest as had some icecream!

today going well. Workout done. Food eaten but a bit snacky which probably not ideal but was out and about. Should end on 1200ish

Fail. Just had a huge slice of cake. 1600 cals. Hoping that’s the end of it!

Morning, how has everyone's week been? Have you tried anything new this week? Had any good workouts or any little wins?

I'm 11:4:1 which is about 1lb off from last week. Chipping away very slowly but going to up the ante and aim for 2lb off next week. I wanted to be back in the 10's by the end of the month so need to get my shit together!

I'm going to spend some time over the weekend putting a meal plan together, getting my food shop done and planning in my workouts. Will also listen to some health and fitness type podcasts to try to get in the zone for a great week.

That does mean I need to stay on track (mostly) this weekend so I don't give myself any more work to do come Monday.

May check in here a little more often see if that helps too.

Hi @hollyblueivy sounds like you mean business! Good plan. I find planning key ow I open the fridge hungry and that leads to problems!

I did my tdee and with this new weight it’s 1561 cals which means to loose I need 1000! Which is pretty depressing. With excercise that obv increases. If I have 2 good days today and tmrw my week cals are 1460 with 3 workouts so should hopefully maintain or have a mini drop. But atm feeling bloated form my cake yest.

plan today
sausages mushrooms
hummus and veg sticks
stir fry
lots of steps on school runs and taking little one to park maybe a quick work out too
1000 cals today and tmrw so maybe I see a drop on Sunday am.

Just found this, can I join, I’m on day 10 of 20/4 fast. Currently managing ok, but hungry in the evening, my usual snacking time!

@Fastingandhungry yes do join! What are ur goals?
i do 16 hours fast …

just closed at 6pm
on about 1400 and ten thousand steps. Was hoping for less but didn’t happen! All good healthy food at least…

Hi @Fastingandhungry And welcome

What 4 hours do you choose to eat and how do you tend to fit your food and calories in that time? How much are you planning to lose?

Hi @Fastingandhungry hope it's going ok. Is this the first time you have tried fasting?

Hope everyone is doing ok. I'm finding January a bit of a slog!! I've had a good week with fasting, exercise and steps. But it makes me hungry. Food has been mainly good. Sugar has slipped in a little. Just having too many calories. Not going to stress and just keep doing what I know.
Away tonight with DH but should mainly be healthy. We will go for a walk and a run tomorrow. Try and avoid pudding tonight!

Hope it's a good weekend for everyone!

Enjoy your night away @Bubbles44 dounds like your doing well. Your very active so u prob do need to eat a fair bit.

my plan today is to have a very low carb and cal day and workout so tmrw I don’t see a gain on scales - my pizza choc and cake eaten this week I suspect will see me having gained this week.

boiled eggs and raspberry
hummus and cucumber
sausages and veg

Right off to gym. If I stick to plan today (which I will) the week will be ending on 1500 which is my maintence cals really. So am hoping I’ve STS tmrw
i hope it’s not a gain!
next week is my last week i could try loose i really would love to loose one last pound before i go into maintence!

Hello - found this thread and interested because I have been having great success with fasting as an adjunct to low carb diet since last year. I’m 61 and have lost over 5 stone in the last year, reducing my BMI from 41.5 to just under 30. I’ve also got off 2 diabetes medications (having been diagnosed nearly 27 years ago) and all but normalised my blood glucose. A little way further to go. My main source of information/inspiration is Dr Jason Fung and his organisation The Fasting Method, but I watch several others as well, notably Dr Ben Bikman.

I notice people on this thread talking about how many calories they eat, or need to eat, to lose weight. We are taught in The Fasting Method not to count calories. Not that they don’t matter, cos in the end you do have to taking in less energy than you are using to use up your fat stores. It’s more that when you are eating whole foods, and lowering your insulin levels through fasting and/or low carb, that your appetite starts to work properly. Hormones are much more important than calories in determining whether we store or use what we’ve consumed, and the type of food, and frequency of eating, control our hormones.

So I’m interested if any of you guys are getting information about fasting from places which also tell you to count calories? I’ve never come across an advocate of either fasting or low carb who encouraged people to count calories.

@PuzzledObserver im a great believer that whatever works for someone is the best diet/weight loss. Not one plan/method fits all.

MMosley was an advocate for fast 800 who was pro calorie counting and fasting and a lot of people follow him so absolutely people who advocate this.

For me i struggle to do more than 16/18 hour fasts and so I can eat a fair bit in 6-8 hours and so also calorie count…I also sometimes don’t fast at weekends / nights out etc. I’m not a die hard faster! I also don’t fully low carb - pizza and cake consumed this week.

im down 2 stone in total and at bmi 22 now
the others on here only fast I think….my bloods are all normal (cholestrol /hba1c) as is my BP and I work out. So feel pretty healthy. It’s taken a long time and I’ve had some ups and downs in my weight loss journey

for me the combination works. I also have young kids and don’t want them seeing my skip meals so I eat all my meals with them (personal descion nothing wrong in doing that)

ive just taken what suits me and my lifestyle and made it work for me. Your method works for u! Fab on ur weight loss journey!

Hi, I have done fasting before with access but many years ago now. It’s taken several years for my weight to go up 3 stone again, so I’ve hit my worst, I’ve lost 7 pounds in just under two weeks.

I don’t count calories so no idea! I just eat healthier. Don’t snack and eat more protein type foods, fish, oats etc also don’t low carb so eat air fryer homemade chips with sweet potato etc but do eat bread as normal.

In my four hours I eat a large meal but inc lots of greens etc and an overnight oats type dessert with yogurt and fruit. My struggle is the evenings when I used to snack, I’d easily eat a whole packet of biscuits, large bar of share chocolate, large share bag of crisps etc, crisps are my downfall 😣 so I have none in the house, otherwise I have no self control.

@Smartmove - oh, thank you - I had forgotten about the Fast 800! In fact, that was the first type of fasting I did back in the day. I agree - whatever works for each person, we all have our own journey to make.

@Fastingandhungry - I get you about evenings - that’s the piece of this puzzle which is still the most challenging for me, and where I am most prone to lapse. I do meals rather than eating windows for this very reason. Once I’ve finished my coffee, the meal is over and I don’t eat until the next one. Which could be later that day, or two days hence.

Morning all !

@PuzzledObserver and @Fastingandhungry . Habits are so hard to break. Sounds like you both aware of your danger zone abs doing fab! I have a nice herbal tea in evening to keep my mouth busy!!!

im 9.12.5 :) entering maintence now. Good day today then away next weekend so be tricky weekend next one
gym today

Amazing @Smartmove especially the fact you've had some treats this week too. I think you'll do great with maintenance!

@PuzzledObserver i've never really calorie counted whilst fasting. But when I've wanted to up my weight loss I've cut things out to ramp it up. I like the fasting method podcast and got loads of useful tips from it!

I've had such a lovely night away. The most delicious 3 course meal. Also big walk and a big run this morning and skipped breakfast will try and fast until dinner time, still full from last night!

Not sure about weighing. Will think of a plan today. Finally got a few quiet weekends ahead so my main plan is to be in the 9's by the end of January!

Glad you had a guilt free and enjoyable trip @Bubbles44 ! These treats are not all the time so we should enjoy it :)
good luck fasting

ive had to really keep up with my gym and be mindful and I’m focussing on small things like parking away from work : taking stairs / walking around the house and garden so it’s still requiring brain space . I won’t how skinny people who don’t fast calorie count or think about it do it?? I swear I’m planning food / my work outs / calories etc every hour of the day!

I know, I totally agree. The amount I have to move and restrict eating times and food to see the scales move is crazy! All these habits are good for us though as we get older!
Are you sticking with Friday weigh in @Smartmove now in maintenance?

Yes every Friday
I think once a week works for me ow I get scale obsessed and the ups irritate me. I also “relax” when I’m lower. Then overeat and get stressed. But this way if I eat more I get nervous near weigh in I start reigning in.

today I’ve not been very good and had icecream and a small 125 ml of wine. I did gym.

tmrw will be totally on plan

@Bubbles44 Your night away sounds lovely. It's times like those that special meals should be enjoyed. Hope you've worked out a plan to be in the 9's by next Friday. Can't believe that's the end of the month nearly upon us. It's gone so much quicker than usual January's.

@Smartmove Excellent weigh for Sunday, well done! That's you in maintenance now and Friday weigh. What a fab way to start the year. How many pounds either side are you allowing?

Welcome again to new people on this thread. I also do not count calories and tend to try to stick to healthier option and restrict treats. My issue is it all goes to pot on the weekend.

I had a cheeky weigh this morning and I'm 11:3 - I said I wanted 2lb off last Friday. That's one down but don't think I'll be able to get another pound off by this Friday. Moving in the right direction though and I'll just keep going, as usual.

Hope all are having a good week.

@hollyblueivy keep going ! Have u got a busy weekend so u don’t undo all ur hard work?!?

i basically want to keep below ten stone ideally. Which isn’t much wriggle room! 2.5 pounds! I’ll weigh every Friday or sat. I must continue to excercise and not loose that as it’s really been key for me to get last pounds off.

had a good day today and yest. Trying another week of 1500 and see what happens - I’m away now for work so will weigh tmrw on new scales and then use them on sat to check I’ve not gained whilst having lunch and dinner out with collegues.

Hello, hope it's been a good week for everyone. Did your work trip go ok @Smartmove and to plan good wise? Hope another good day @hollyblueivy.

Are you both weighing tomorrow?

I've had a good week mainly. Averaged about 25k steps a day. Quiet weekend so will be nice and healthy!
I've found January hard! I think when I'm eating Yule log and chocolates throughout December I think it's ok because I'll be so strict in January it'll fall off. But reality is so different! Hopefully ending stronger than I started.

@Bubbles44 That's a great amount of steps. Really good consistency. Is that mostly running or a mix of walking too? I probably average about 8k per day so have some room for improvement there!

Agree that January hasn't clicked in as much as I had hoped but I think I was still in Christmas mode for the first week or so.

I've weighed today and 11:3:2 which is nearly one pound off from last week. I wanted two and wanted to be in the 10's by the end of January. That's clearly not going to happen. This weekend is quiet but have 3 busy weekends out of the next 5 so going to say I want to be in the 10's by the end of February. I'd love it to happen in the next couple of weeks but I do lose slowly and I seem to fail when I put too much pressure on myself.

I'll say that I want to be 11:1 by next Friday.

@Smartmove I think that's a good buffer and if you did put a few on it would only be a day or two of restriction for you to get back into the 9's.

Hope the work trip went well. What's your weekend looking like?