Countdown to OCTOBER

[loveyouradvice]

All are welcome!

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

Gosh - I can't believe we're already into September: where did the summer go?
Hope some of you are more ready than me to plunge into the new academic year. Though I've a spring in my step as my weight is going down again at long last!

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

Some of us find daily posting helpful for accountability - others just pop in every now and then

@IDareSay
@Pinkleopardprint
@Saltedporridge
@2Early4Breakfast
@furrysocks
@conflictednow
@Bottl
@Clearingaspace

Do share your goals for this month... I'm weighing in at 11.9 today and am keen to get back to my previous "new low" of 10.12 from March/April.

So - lots of walking, some Tai Chi and eating in 4-8 hour windows, for me high protein, lots of berries and veggies and relatively low carb seems to work.

My goal this month? 11.5 so a 4lb loss, together with a regular daily exercise programme established... upping the steps, slowly introducing a bit of strength training and making sure I do my 11 mins of Tai Chi every day. I love both doing Tai Chi and how my body feels afterwards - so why do I forget it???

and @@tiredwitless of course!

If I've accidentally missed anyone out - do post, and my apologies

Thank you for the new thread @loveyouradvice .

I'm starting back properly today after 2 courses of antibiotics and a lovely holiday in the Highlands. I'm also trying to get my lesson prep done for the term ahead!

I've lost about 12lbs over the last 7 weeks and I'd like to lose at least another 14lbs by Christmas.

My plan is to continue 16-8 fasting for another 5 weeks. Then I'll need to figure out how to transition to something a little less strict while maintaining a calorie deficit.

Non-food goals - a 'walk' (wheel) every day, keep the food/weight journal going, and try for something meditative (knitting/yoga) for at least a few minutes every day.

I'm looking forward to hearing everyone else's plans :)

Thanks for the new thread @loveyouradvice
Welcome back everyone.

I was 66kg on 1st July, 64.6kg on 1st August and 63.8kg this morning, a 0.8kg loss for August, which I am very happy with.

BMI now 24.9, so considered 'normal' ha ha. Not sure what my long term goal will be, but I would like to be in the low 62's by the end of September.

I’m sticking to my plan which is to fast at least 16 hours, 1300 calories Sunday to Thursday and 1800 calories on Friday and Saturday.
(I’ve averaged 1245/1790 this week and fasted between 16 and 18 hours)

Daily meeting with Jillian and on track to finish the 30 Day Shred (again) by mid September when I will take a break.
Dogs walked every day, rain or shine!

Thanks for the new thread.

I've stopped weighing for now and just concentrating on having decent fast days and being more mindful on NFDs.

Today is a FD for me and doing ok-ish so far. I really need to get out of the house but the weather is rubbish!!

Ooo please could I join? I'm new to this.
I weighed 192lb today.
I would like to see October weighing 180 something. I'm a slow loser
I fast and try to count chemicals not calories . i eat high fat, no upf

Xx

Thanks for the new thread @loveyouradvice !
looking forward to discussing strategies for Christmas ! I like @IDareSay’s no early buying - that’s one I need to adopt for starters!

Welcome @FastingMum43

How is everyone getting on?

I haven't weighed this morning, I'm losing so slowly that I didn't want to feel disheartened, but I have averaged 1244 calories over the last 5 days (so under my 1300 limit) and I am looking forward to having 1800 today and tomorrow

Have shredded every day and I'm over halfway through my second go around, definitely losing inches; can tell by my clothes.

Oh and have just realised that losing 300g, i.e. getting to 63.5kg, will put me under 10 stone for the first time in years!

Onwards and downwards countdowners 💪

@IDareSay Oh please don't feel disheartened .. you are giving your body such a gift, it's so impressive all your shredding ... remember you're building muscle at the same time as losing weight which has got to be the best possible thing for your body. And you've got a clear weekly calorie regime that works for you, so you are all set. And YES!!! Wow - just 300g to the under 10 stones... that is a huge step.

Welcome @FastingMum43 . Great to have you onboard. Do tell us a bit more about your journey and how you're aiming to lose this month. What works for you? I'm intrigued by counting chemicals not calories... do say more

You're on a roll @Saltedporridge Looking forward to cheering you on with those 14lbs by Christmas. A great goal

@bottl that sounds a great approach - how's this week been for you?

How are you doing @tiredwitless ? What are your goals for September... and yes, much looking forward to talking Christmas strategies... though I can't quite believe we are already leaving summer behind

Well this has been a good week for me - just one pound down, but this WOE is feeling easy again after too many weeks when it's felt tough. Really enjoying my daily dark chocolate and nuts, and have had a few days of 4 hour eating windows, which have felt very positive, and consolidated those 4lbs I shed in Edinburgh.

SW 14.2
TW 10.12
CW 11.8

@IDareSay i was also feeling disheartened by the numbers on the scales and mine are high so should be moving a bit more rapidly at this stage but like you, I am noticing my clothes aren't as snug and also I've noticed my usual brain fog is considerably reduced which is definitely motivating me to keep going and to get my life a bit more organised.

I probably wasn't very clear yesterday.
I had weighed on Monday, so given the slow rate I am losing, weighing only 4 days later would probably have shown a STS rather than any decent loss, and that wouldn't have made me feel great, so I am only weighing after a decent gap, usually 7 days. I'll weigh next Friday.

I'm happy with the speed of loss, as like some of you said I know I am building muscle and actually getting smaller, even if the weekly loss is not as dramatic as it was at first.

There is evidence that there can be a bit of a whoosh down after finishing the 30 day shred so I'm going to see if that happens to me (I only had a short gap between this round and the previous one and I was on holiday and ate whatever I wanted).

ETA that I wasn't feeling disheartened, I just wanted to avoid feeling disheartened IYKWIM 😁

Wow october - have these threads been going 2 years now?

I haven’t been doing that well! Am doing exercise though and apparently exercising also causes autophagy like fasting does. Will try to log something positive fasting related next Friday!

have a lovely weekend all

Please may I have a moan? I was raring to go after finishing two courses of antibiotics and having been on holiday (when I managed not to gain any weight). Then, last Monday, I tipped backwards out of my wheelchair and landed on a laminate floor hitting everything down my left side! I assumed that the pain in my hip and pelvic region was just deep bruising and would pass, but I'm still in significant pain. I might even have to consider getting some medical advice!

It has been a week of eating whatever I fancied and I'm frightened to stand on the scales... both for what it might say and because my hip is not stable. I honestly normally lead a quiet life with very little drama, but I realise you guys will think I am constantly on medication or injured. Nothing could be further from the truth. I'm so grumpy. I hope you all have a great week and I can begin to get back to fasting and eating healthily. By mid-week, I might be brave enough to stand on the scales (if my hip lets me).

Ok posting to help me commit to my plans for September. Basically, time restricted eating - 16 or 22 fasts on alternate days, but swapping around when I know I’ll have a work lunch or something similar where I know it will be easier to eat at midday. But the change is I intend to plan ahead each week. I’ve done so for this week so I know which days im doing a 16 or a 22.
I’m gradually working on what I eat. I’ve stopped eating sweets etc although might have something occasionally after a meal. Im making sure there are lots of green leafy vegetables with every meal and little or no carbs - doing well with no bread the last week or so. Trying to introduce a bit more plant based protein occasionally esp tofu and beans. I have a problem especially when eating at home with having second helpings - I’m usually cooking for 5 or 6 people three of them teenagers who may or may not eat so there’s usually extra - thinking about how to tackle this.
I’m trying to stick to meals with no snacks or eating in between during my eating window. Hoping this will help with my nuts addiction!
I’m trying to go for a walk or do something else active after my evening meal as that helps me to firmly close my eating window. Harder now it’s getting dark earlier - may have to go to the gym a bit more or use my exercise bike.
Thats the plan!
Looking back to March I’m down from 13 5 at my highest to 11 12 yesterday. Clothes generally fitting better. some I couldn’t wear I now can again! My rings are not so tight! My knees not so sore!
My goal is to drop another 2-3 pounds by October.
When I have a bad day or week I get back to 16/8 as the basic fasting day that I know I can do and start from there.

@Saltedporridge I hope you’re feeling a bit better soon. @Clearingaspace I didn’t know exercise causes autophagy too good to know! @Bottl great to have less brain fog that’s something I notice too and very motivational @loveyouradvice great that you’ve had a good week.

Love to hear how others doing too. How’s the week going? Goals by end of this month?

Glad you're not disheartened @IDareSay makes total sense

And looking forward to hearing from you on friday @Clearingaspace

That sounds so rough @Saltedporridge Yes come and have a moan on here anytime. It's fine to nurture yourself through tough times, knowing you can get straight back to fasting as soon as you are up to it. How's the pain now??

That's so strong @tiredwitless - especially doing so many 2 hour eating windows. Dead impressed. I start feeling deprived if I do them more than a couple of times a week. Congrats on cutting down on snacks and sweet stuff. And 1.5 stone since March - that is fab news!

I so get the temptation of seconds, especially if it is delicious. What helped me was announcing to all my family that I wasn't having seconds - except once a week (my joker!)) when I could have just one small spoonful more, getting the pleasure of taste but not lots more calories. What do you think might work for you around seconds?

My goal this month is to lose 4lbs, so 11stone 4 and to up my exercise. I'm doing a Prolon Fasting Mimicking Diet this week (for health purposes) with nice side effect that I usually lose 3-4lbs, though have to focus to keep them off.

How's this week looking for everyone else??

@Saltedporridge sounds awful - definitely have a Moab here. Hope you are better soon

@loveyouradvice i hope prolon goes well - great if you can do that and then eat at maintenance the rest of the month.

@tiredwitless i could really do with adopting your strategies for eating window - I keep planning to do similar but not seeing it through.

I ate sooooo badly yesterday, but it has kind of made me want to clean up my diet. Let’s see if I can avoid sugary processed stuff for the rest of the week. Tonight I really want to hit fast on my app as I conveniently forget to stop drinking milky coffee. A pre midnight bed time would also be beneficial.

good luck this week everyone

@Clearingaspace I so agree! When I have eaten really unhealthily it usually makes it much easier the next day to decide to focus on the healthy stuff

Hello all - Im here for my Friday check-in

I'm 2lbs down with Prolon and hoping another pound off by tomorrow, and that I can then maintain 11.5 for the rest of the month or even get down to 11.4.... which would feel wonderful, and so much closer to the 10.12-11.2 I hovered around in March and April. 11.4 somehow feels very symbolic and I also know I feel good at that weight, which given we are about to go to Provence and hopefully have a couple of weeks of sun and swimming, I vainly want to look good in a bikini again as I did in May. (It's a fairly substantial bikini, but still feels fab wearing a bikini confidently!!)

SW 14.2
TW 10.12
CW 11.6... 2lbs down from last week

How's everyone else's week been??

My week has been 'interesting'...

Here's why:

I discovered my Apple watch showed my daily energy expenditure (TDEE), expressed as calories, and shows how much was exercise.
Working out some averages from the 1st September until the 10th, it shows my TDEE averaged around 1825 calories, and around 400+ of that was exercise (daily shred and slow, gentle dogwalk)

Now, during the same time period, I have been rather more hungry than usual, something I put down to two things; the change in the weather (we have gone from very sunny, warm, and dry to wet, windy, and quite gloomy) and the fact I have increased my weights for the 30 day shred.

So I cut myself some slack after the first 3 or 4 days of feeling like this and increased my calorie intake for a few days, making my average intake for the 1st to the 10th around 1700, which gave me a deficit of about 125 calories per day, or 1250 over the ten days.

Now, according to calorie maths, we are told we need a deficit of 7700 to lose a kg. So, if my maths is correct, I should still have lost around 160g since my weigh in on the 1st September, despite only having a very small daily deficit.
I weighed in this morning at 63.7kg, a loss of 100g. The scales wavered between 63.6 and 63.7 but settled on 63.7. Scarily accurate.

So, if you got this far, the simple calories in/calories out theory of weight loss does appear to work 😁
It has also really highlighted to me how my weight crept up so easily in the past!

I have 19 days to the end of the month, I'm planning on 6 days at 1800 (Fridays and Saturdays) and 13 days on 1300, for a total intake of 27700 calories.
19 days of my TDEE is 34200, so a deficit of 6500 should give me a loss of 800g, so I should weigh 62.9kg on 1st October! We shall see...

Watch this space for more mind-numbing mathematical weight loss news!

Hello All

Hope you don’t mind me joining in… I’ve just had baby no 3 and really want to lose 2 stone. I’ve previously done 16:8 fasting and 52 diet few years ago which worked well. I am currently struggling with motivation though and normally give in to cravings by the afternoon, so hoping by joining this thread it will help me be consistent and committed.

current weight 12 stone 8
goal weight 10 stone 8

My TDEE is 1930 cals
Im thinking of trying to fast 14-16 hours every day and doing 1700 calories 5 days a week with 2 x 800 calorie days.
what does everyone else do? Any advise /encouragement welcome 🤗

Thank you x

@Herewegoagaintake3 Congrats on Baby no 3!!

That sounds like a great plan ... for me having 2 very low calorie days alongside higher calorie ones each week has really helped weightloss. Im rather older than you, so often need to eat in a 2-6 hour window to lose weight - Im a big Gin Stephens fan.

Anyway, your approach sounds great! And it's worked for you before - it will work for you again.

What sort of food do you eat? Many of us find that upping protein and reducing carbs also helps

Ooof I am getting there - made it to 8pm yesterday before almost passing out in a church service. It was really hot to be fair and I managed to source a breadstick to keep me going.

I’m giving personal training a go as well to try and build some strength. Apparently that’s good for weight loss too? Probably have a way to go on that front as I am pretty unfit.