Countdown to Easter

[ItRainsItPours]

All welcome!

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

How did your 18h fast go @Clearingaspace ?

I agree @ItRainsItPours - I'm very reluctant to go out in this cold weather and have to really make myself - usually by agreeing to chat to someone at the same time

And I believe - We can all get back on/ stay on track - reflecting on here helps so much!

My goal for this week is to dance for 10 mins every day, and sing for a similar amount. Both bring me great joy and I keep forgetting to do them.... and of course, they'll help nudge me towards better health and fitness.

2025 is my year of getting as healthy as I possibly can! And is the first time in over 2 decades when I feel I have the time to really do this.

@ItRainsItPours if your dh normally has very restricted options in cases i can see why it would be cause for celebration to have a selection he could choose from!

@loveyouradvice i love your goals - very joyful and doable! You are right being on here is so helpful - even if I am not doing perfectly I think it helps me to not lose the plot altogether by reading these messages and posting myself.

my fast was ok, but in general I think I have the January blues as finding it hard to not eat comfort carbs! our house is messy and we have a tradesman coming to fix stuff on Friday but I have little time to get sorted and generally hate cleaning so feeling stressed! Technically fasting should free up time for cleaning though so need to lean in to it more!

So agree @Clearingaspace - when I'm faltering, it helps me not - and if I fall off, I get back on faster...

So understand the January blues... thankfully it's been a bit warmer here for the last two days and this has a huge impact on my mood - as well as making it easy just to pop out for a 15 minute walk late at night and enjoy it!

On Saturday, Im going to do a 5 day Prolon fast - I've got the kit, as I managed to buy some at a big discount, and its so much easier than thinking/working it out for oneself. I'm doing it as much for my health (probably more so) as for weight loss. So I've cut out meat and sugar (apart from very dark choc) and dairy apart from kefir for these 3 days as it makes it so much easier.

oh well done on your preparations for your fast @loveyouradvice - let us know how you are doing.

Hope everyone is getting on well, are we still doing our Friday weigh in?

SW 1/1 13 st 9
CW 17/1 13st 4

I am much happier now the weather is better, I’ve been out walking and getting my vitamin d fix with the sun showing its face. Also managing to fast and eat better than the festive period. I am not fully back on the healthy food wagon with some treat foods still in the house. I think that is why I have been feeling a bit hungry as normally fasting helps with that.

Hi, I bottled out of weighing recently BUT woke up this morning feeling sad and uncomfortable because I'm still overeating and gaining weight.

So I weighed myself this morning, 83kg.

And I want to download the world's simplest fasting timer - press go when I've stopped eating for the day, press stop when I break my fast.

I'm sure I used to use fastic but I downloaded it this morning and it asked about a million questions so I think it's not what I need.

Anyone know of a simple "stop, go" one? Maybe I literally need the stopwatch on my phone?

I just keep a rough idea in my head @HarpQuartet but I try to be in the same window each day.

My days aren't structured enough at the moment to prevent me from eating when I'm hungry. I think I just have to accept that there's a hump I have to get over, of simply delaying eating for half an hour, or an hour, or two hours, until I'm back in my happy groove.

I so agree about the weather @ItRainsItPours - warmer weather makes a happier me who does things like going for a short walk to up my steps for the day. Congrats on eating better too... step by step we will get there.

@HarpQuartet - I so agree, that would be perfect. I've never used an app, I just write it down each morning the day after and find the discipline of taking 3 or 4 minutes to make notes on what I plan to eat for the day and reflecting on the day before very helpful. Let us know if you find one!

Yes re Friday weigh-ins - I love them. A great accountability point in the week. I only missed it yesterday as I had a long and early drive to a funeral so the day was pretty full

So I'm checking in a day late - I'm exactly my pre Christmas weight and seem to be maintaining it, so this feels good. And I've started my five days fasting-mimicking diet Prolon today, which usually takes off 3lbs alongside other health benefits. I'm rather looking forward to being at goal weight while recognising that maintenance if often harder than the losing... and also recognising my GP might want me to lose a bit more, as she's clear this is the year we tackle my cholesterol if I dont want to go on Statins.

SW (last spring): 14.2
GW: 11.2
CW: 11.3

Sorry I missed the Friday weigh in - will weigh in next week.

my aim for this week is just to have no white upf bread and maybe eat more mindfully.

oh - forgot to say easyfast might work for you @HarpQuartet. you are supposed to pick the length of fast, but overall it is a pretty simple start and end counter with some symbols to indicate when autophagy kicks in etc

Sorry it is ‘easy fast’ not easyfast - blue square with a white lowercase e

Thank you, have just downloaded it: fastic showed me an incredibly long and tedious advert just now when I pressed the button to log my fast, so I've ditched it.

16 hour fast, really happy with that. Just need to do the same again today, and tomorrow, and I'll feel I'm getting back into the groove.

It definitely gets easier when you have done a few days.

How is everyone getting on? I just broke an unintentionally 20 hour fast as I forgot Wednesday is an early finish for my dd. I was just about to get lunch and realised I needed to run out the door and do the after school activity drive before I could eat.

My intermittent fasting is going well @ItRainsItPours , I have settled into a comfortable rhythm of 16:8 and as always once I get into the groove it goes pretty smoothly. In fact sometimes I look at the clock and realise I'm well over the 16 hours and haven't been counting down the minutes!

Pleased with my fluid intake too, 2l per day minimum.

So far so good in January apart from a couple of snackcidents and I am having the odd glass of wine if DH opens a bottle. I'll report weight loss at the end of the month but it's certainly going in the right direction. Hope everyone else is getting on well; January always seems so long!

Congrats @IDareSay ... sounding good

Going well for me, I've just finished my seventh round of Prolon and surprisingly lost 5lbs... some of those will come back on of course but at 10.12 it feels amazing to be under my target weight (11.2) and it's the first time I've been in the 10's since my DD was born so over 20 years.

Wearing gorgeous new fitted trousers yesterday - instead of my usual big and baggy ones.

So I'm enjoying but know that the maintaining is possibly more challenging than losing it in the first place so I'm looking forward to using this group to keep me accountable - and to cheering you all on too!

ps Im doing Prolon for other health issues, but weight loss is a nice side effect

Well done @loveyouradvice 5lb loss is epic. Have to admit I don’t know anything about Prolon, is it meal replacements or very loc calorie like fast 500?
I am plodding along with my daily fasts and very slowly losing the odd lb so am happy.
@IDareSay I also find with 16:8 I can forget to feel hungry, I think I am better with a daily routine as my body just seems to get used to it. This January in particular feels long as with all the bad weather. We are bracing for the storm, must secure the bins behind the shed.

Morning all, I'm very glad to report that I've finally joined in with the New Year spirit. The easy fast app was just the ticket to get me fasting again, psychology is a strange thing!

Minimum 16h, max 20, only one "I'm hungry but staying strong" incident, the rest was effortless.

Last Friday: 83kg
Today: 82kg

Onwards and downwards.

Welcome back @StealthilyEmbraceTheSilkyBeans – I am so glad you are recovering, and horrendous as those 4 weeks sound, there was at least a wee silver lining of weight loss. Hoping you can nurture yourself and complete your recovery. I’m still utterly in awe of your cycling to work in all weathers! And wow that vault!! Epic!

Congrats @HarpQuartet – great news that you are back on 16-20h fasts and that it’s feeling easy again (mostly) Easy fast app sounds great

@ItRainsItPours – I so love 16:8. I feel less hungry and my body loves it. Prolon is basically eating packets of soup and nut bars and olives to “mimick” fasting for 5 days – massive amount of research backing it, and for most people (but not all) it reduces biological age and improves health. Its american and I was lucky enough to buy some at a huge discount, so am giving it a go

Me a day late for reporting in – here goes

SW 14.2
TW 11.2
CW 10.13

It feels utterly extraordinary to be back in the 10s for the first time in over 20 years: I still can't quite believe it. I didn’t think I’d ever see them again and was quite happy with that, able to wear all my favourite clothes again at 11.2 and feeling good, tall with an hourglass figure, albeit gently padded!

So this is uncharted water – my first aim is to stay at 10.12/10.13 and get fitter, and build a bit of muscle. (Though not sure I'll ever be up to vaulting again @StealthilyEmbraceTheSilkyBeans ) And then decide what’s next.

I’m relying on this gorgeous group to keep my on track so I’ll be be with you all for chat and cheering each other on through our 2025 successes, and weighing in each Friday.

Big hugs to all.

Wow inspiring updates from everyone and amazing to reach target @loveyouradvice

hope you are feeling better @StealthilyEmbraceTheSilkyBeans love the image of you vaulting into work 😂 and also love your new name.

my update would suck, so I am not gonna give it 🤣 hopefully next week I will have managed to get myself into healthier habits again.

Great to hear from you @Clearingaspace - Which two healthy habits are you keen to adopt first?? Do share with us - and then come back and tell us how its gone.

How's everyone's week looking?

This is my week of trying a bit more "brisk walking". I keep reading about its benefits, and although I walk a fair amount it's definitely not brisk so I'm going to start moving in that direction. And I'm going to follow the advice to up it slowly, and as I'm a bit of an all or nothing woman introducing it slowly will be a challenge - but hopefully a lot more successful!