Countdown to JUNE

[loveyouradvice]

All are welcome!

We’re a friendly group that uses Fasting in one form or another to help or maintain our weight loss. We all have our ups and downs, and welcome insights from others and laughter along the way.

Summer's round the corner so let's enjoy getting our bodies ready for June, whatever that means to each of us!

Fridays are our informal day for weighing-in (optional) and reflecting on the week – often with ideas for self-care and new goals in the coming week.

We cheer each other on, and commiserate when things don't go to plan.

If you’re new to this group, do introduce yourself and share your hopes and plans.

And welcoming regulars to our new thread...

Hello to our regulars
@ItRainsItPours
@Clearingaspace
@Fouramclub
@HarpQuartet
@IDareSay
@StealthilyEmbraceTheSilkyBeans

@loveyouradvice that all sounds very reassuring and great that the surgeon was so clear. You can access so much info on the internet etc now that a clear discussion with an expert is invaluable 👍

@loveyouradvice glad to hear it went well yesterday.
Ive fasted 18 hours the last few days so very happy with that. I notice I feel a bit frantic when I start eating and sometimes towards the end of the eating window, it’s a sort of panic to eat nice food. I haven’t been going too over board just eating fairly normally trying to ensure protein and veg but also having some chocolate etc.

Im feeling tired early most nights and really wanting to go to bed early which is fine as I usually can, but different for me. Is this something others experience when doing 18 hour fasts?

Happy Tuesday everyone, have a good day fasting or otherwise!

Sounds like the appointment went well @loveyouradvice and great to be under the care of someone you can put your trust in.

@tiredwitless I definitely feel more tired when fasting, if I eat late at night I am much more likely to stay up late and get a second burst of energy which isn’t good as I then don’t get enough sleep.

I think I will fast tonight but not sure yet if I will eat dinner or just try to be done after an early dinner.

@loveyouradviceglad the appt went well!
I am doing a 500 day today but am SO hungry. Have eaten crap the last few days (the meno sugar monster has been winning) so I need to do more of these as a reset but it’s so hard sometimes. I defintely eat out of boredom/procrastination a lot too so trying to work out ways to avoid that too.

Happy today is sunny at least which always makes me feel better!

I have swallowed a number of (calorie free) frogs this morning trying to keep busy until lunch, including 2 hours on the phone to HMRC...!
Also ironed some clothing ready to go on Vinted (though most don't seem to bother but I think it looks better for the photos).

Lunch was pancakes, strawberries and yoghurt at 11.30 so as I finished my ham salad last night before 6.30pm that's a 17 hour fast.

Dinner tonight will be quiche and salad. In fact this will be the menu for the next two days too if they have strawberries on the market tomorrow, as the quiche will do three meals for me. I quite enjoy not having to think about food too much.

Evening all. Daily log from me:

Lunch (13.15): left over roast chicken and cheese salad with new potatoes. It was a bit later than I had planned when I got home so had definitely fasted over 18hrs

Snack: 1 x tea

Dinner (18.00): Sausage and veg pasta with red pesto. A quick dinner due to DC activities but all fine. In fact, I didn’t eat all the pasta

I SO want to see 13.13 at my Thurs weigh in. It’s certainly pre Covid since I last saw that on the scales 😬

@IDareSaywhat are calorie free frogs?!?

I’ve done my best today but came in at around 900 I reckon. Still better than a ‘normal’ day but not as good as I’d intended. Anyway. Onwards.

See picture (when it loads) for an explanation 😁

When I wake up with the energy to swallow frogs (not often) I go with it! I just got fed up with seeing these jobs lurking on my to do list and finally got on and did them; useful to stop me thinking about food too.

900 is great @Queendodo, @IDareSay lovr the calorie free frogs! Good luck for 13.13 @Mull

i haven’t fasted this week. I need to weigh myself tomorrow and see where I am.

Quiche and salad last night, finished by 6pm.
Woke up to heavy rain this morning and my first thought was ‘oh no, no strawberries!’ Quite often vendors don’t turn up at the market on rainy days but I went into town anyway as I had a parcel to post, and yes! The fruit and veg stall was one of only three stalls there.

So pancakes and strawberries as planned at noon. 18 hour fast.

Dinner was later than normal this evening (7pm finish) due to aforementioned rain; it didn’t stop until 4pm so a late dog walk took until 6pm. We just got back to the car as the heavens opened again. At least the garden is happy

Evening! Daily log from me:

Broke my fast at 11.30 with a hot chocolate as bumped into my ILs in M&S and joined them in the cafe.

Lunch (12.00): Chicken and smoked cheese salad with new potatoes.

Snack: 2 x tea

Dinner (6.30): Met a friend, went to a Vietnamese place and had char sui pork and noodles. The noodle portion was massive but I restricted myself to two bowls!

Im pleased with today as plans changed but I dealt well with them which has to be the long term goal for maintaining a normal weight, rather than yo-yoing as per the last 20+ years!

Nice to read your updates - I want your rain, @IDareSay , and your strawberries!

@Clearingaspace you've made me realise I haven't been fasting either, so am saying here that I won't break my fast until at least 11.30 today

@Mull agree, dealing with changing plans in a way that you were happy with is great!

Attempting a 500 cal FD again today and am so hungry. Read an article in the Times yesterday about 2 of their journalists who’d been on weight loss meds and am so tempted. One was for Food Noise as she wasn’t classed as obese and reading her account made me realise that’s a huge part of my problem. I spend a ridiculous amount of time thinking about what to eat, when to eat, what I’m avoiding eating, how many calories etc etc etc
And especially at the moment as I’ve got that panic feeling that I’m not seeing any movement on the scales and feel so puffy and heavy. Anyway. Just putting it here to get it out of my head and in black and white.
Hope everyone else is doing ok today. Cooler here today. Need to distract myself so going to go and declutter something..

I read that too @Queendodo and can empathise. I would love to not have to think about food...

Good luck to all you powerful fasters today!

I can SO identify with the strawberry anxiety @IDareSay - my favourite treat from the weekly market, wow are they good now, alongside asparagus.

And @Mull - this is so my challenge too. A yoyo dieter since forever, I am now trying to learn to eat consciously. i realised that all my overeating situations which ranged from hugely enjoyable (with mates, celebrating) to sad ones, like eating my emotions or "caring for myself" through grief with icecream and sausages... All of them had this in common, I was eating either semi-consciously or unconsciously.

I'm not there yet but my goal is that by `Christmas I will be "eating consciously for health and pleasure" almost all the time. I so love this new WOE, being able to manage my weight through fasting and having discovered the joys of eating healthily... as well as the ongoing joys of just loving food!!!

Well @loveyouradvice I am luck enough to live 200m from the local farm that sells asparagus at the gate with an honesty box for payment! It is quite expensive though but it's such a short season that it's worth it.

Maybe next time I move house I should consider the location of a strawberry farm...although mine are coming along nicely in the garden this year. There might be enough for one portion in a week or so.

@loveyouradvice eating consciously is ABSOLUTELY what I’m striving for. I seem OK with savoury (eat it, enjoy it, don’t need to eat more of it) but sweet is a different matter. I’m almost scared of eating anything sweet now (hence the over reliance on cups of tea!) as I know ‘sugar attracts sugar’ and I just can’t stop. Consciously eating and enjoying a sweet treat and then just moving on with my day is definitely a work in progress.

So I’ve had a weird weigh in as the scales say I’ve lost five pounds this week! I was 14.0 and am now 13.9. So smashed seeing 13.13 and have gone below 13.10 which is 3st lost in total. I’m a bit in shock and hopped on and off the scales a lot but they didn’t change. I’ve no idea why such a big loss, I have been ‘good’ but not that good!

It would be amazing to be 13.7 next week for the last May weigh in (started May at 14.3 I think) but I must have low expectations after such a massive loss this week. I am treating me and DD to McDs tonight (in between school meeting and activity) but will just keep on keeping on and see what happens.

Wow @Mull - that's HUGE!!!!! You've been looking for the 13s for so long to have it come in one glorious emphatic chunk of weight off like that is fabulous

On the sweet front, have u tried weaning your self onto less addictive sweet stuff? I now find I love 90pc choc and a few nuts.... took me a while to get here but genuinely satisfies my sweet tooth, and usually easy to limit how much I eat

Long walk this morning before it got too hot so pancakes and strawberries at 12.30pm (enough strawberries left for one more lunch tomorrow), so that was a 17 1/2 hour fast. Dinner of quiche and salad finished by 5.30pm so a very short eating window today.
Waistband on my shorts feeling a little more comfortable today.

Evening everyone
I have been going slightly off the rails since my weekend of 18:6s - continued 18:6 on Monday but was so tired almost felt unwell Monday night, went back to 16:8 Tuesday and Wednesday, and today woke feeling lightheaded, broke my fast at 11.30 ( about 15 hours) and closed eating window after 10 hours.. also went up a pound on scales..
oh well. Back to it tomorrow. Good to come back here and read about people keeping it going either the fasting
Good to hear @Mull great loss - and @IDareSaynice fast. I need to work up slowly to longer fasts

Friday check in

sw14 stone 10
cw 14 stone 4

i don’t know how but I have gained 5lbs! I thought I was eating healthily! Genuinely it’s crazy to me. I haven’t really fasted this week, I haven’t counted calories or restricted carbs as much. But on the flip side I haven’t drank alcohol, eaten white bread (part from one chicken wrap!) or a whole host of my usuals upf a that make me gain 5lbs in a week! I will have to count and log again, and fasting seems to be a key for me too.

@mull well done on your loss and you are giving me hope my gain might come off quickly!

@Clearingaspace that is so annoying for you. Sometime there is no reason (good or bad) for the gains and losses. I’m sure I’ll gain next week after the loss this week. The aim is to carry on regardless of the scales but, easier said than done.

I was hungry this morning which is unusual, I’m usually surprised how unhungry I am with this WOE. It probably means the McDs last night was empty calories!

I was delayed getting home so lunch (left over goulash and half a jacket) wasn’t until 1.45 so a 18.5hr fast. Dinner will be a ham and cheese salad with new potatoes at about 5.30 as I have an appointment after so, unintentionally, a small eating window today.

Have a good weekend all!

@mull - I always find when Ive lost a chunk of weight my body tells me it's hungry - I think it's its way of putting those pounds back on

@Clearingaspace I so get the shock of putting on a lot fast despite not eating too much - that happens to me - but luckily it always seems to come off fast if I have a few very focussed days... Fingers crossed this happens for you!