Countdown to NOVEMBER and beginning to think about Christmas goals

[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 approaching November: Christmas feels rather close. I've added up the weeks - it's just over 11 to Christmas itself, and 10 to "party season". So come and share your hopes and goals for this month - and for Christmas.

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

I’m gearing up to start tomorrow, I have the week off so hopefully that’s a week to get myself sorted. I am in this horrible cycle at the moment of just eating way way too much so I think I’ll really notice when I drop. I’m sure I used to do 2 meals a day when I did it before, so I’m going to try that again.

annoyingly, I have given up gluten recently and since doing that I have noticed a lot of palpitations when I eat dairy, so I think I am going to have to limit my dairy intake as well, maybe stick to one portion a day and see if that helps, but may need to cut it out entirely. 😢

Congrats @thenewaveragebear1983 sounds like a plan... I definitely find I feel better off gluten.... and darn re the dairy, having one portion a day sounds good.

And cold water swimming - Im sure it's doing wonderful things for me and I'm wondering if Im brave enough to go to one of the open pools/ponds when I return to London...tempting.... I used to do it long ago and even had one extraordinary January day where 8 of us swam through the ice on Hampstead Heath - the first one breaking the path as they went (thin, but had to be broken...!!)

I have done my first day of fast800, I must admit I was quite hungry earlier. I had cold chicken and a pear for breakfast and then nothing until dinner, which dh cooked and I had a small roast dinner with lots of veg and only 1 roastie. I went for a run in the freezing rain and spent the day decorating Ds’s bedroom.

Thanks for the Christmas planning questions @loveyouradvice I’ve found it really helpful to think about these.

What weight do you want to be before Christmas? What are you going to do - and by when??

I want to be below 11.7 - ideally 11.5 by early December. I’m 11.9 at the moment. I’m going to do that by continuing alternate day 16 or 22 hour fasts with eating window starting at either 12pm or 6pm and finishing at 8pm, planning the week ahead as I go. Food focus will be on making sure green leafy things are a big part of main meal plus some good protein and avoiding large portions of carby things but no absolutes, so if I want I can eat a bit of rice or potatoes. For other meals my usual nuts and yogurt and seeds plus some fruit. Good fats like avocado, olive oil included where possible. For me it’s important to eat until I’m full, when I do eat. Get a daily walk in the daylight hours to fit with circadian rhythm - is my new goal as not doing well with evening walks. And getting out in daylight each day means better sleep which also helps weight loss. I’ll keep posting here too for accountability and community and regular pirate talk!

What do you want your weight to do between 10 Dec (or whenever Christmas starts for you!!) and 6 Jan?

I really don’t want to undo any progress so my goal over Christmas which is most of December is to stay the same. There are a few social things from early December but I will keep to TRE, 16s and 22s while I am still working as I find it easy to fast while away from my house and kitchen. I’ll be off work from the 25th to 4th Jan and I may well go a bit mad some of those days but I’ll still stick to 16:8 most days.

What are your Christmas and pre-Christmas strategies
Pre Christmas - I’m going to not buy mince pies, cream, Christmas cakes or large quantities of chocolate ahead of Christmas. I’ll ask DH not to buy them either. If they’re not in the house I won’t eat them - and actually no one but me likes mince pies or fruit cake. I will continue to buy and cook healthy filling foods and have plenty of same in fridge. I like the idea of satsumas, olives, cherry tomatoes in bowls for snacking..

Christmas- closer to Christmas- the week of - I will buy all the nice things above but will focus too on the savoury things - eg nice cheeses meats etc so as to not get too much back in the habit of lots of sugar.
I plan to stick with 16:8 and will move the eating window to fit around events or meals. If / when I deviate from that I’ll go back to 16:8 the next day. Get outside in daylight every day for a walk, short or long- there will be more time for long walks. And it will help with not spending entire days on eating and tv.
I’ll still plan fasting and eating windows each week ahead as I’m doing at the moment so that I know what I’m doing each day rather than leaving it to how I feel in the moment.

That’s the plan.. I’ll review in January with full report including lessons learned😊

I’m on day 5 of my fast800 today, although technically yesterday I was off plan as it was my DD’s birthday. I had no alcohol or puddings or anything, but we did go to Nando’s so I was not anywhere near 800 cals! Today I have felt much hungrier and I feel like the cravings were nagging me a bit more. I have now prepped some meals for the freezer- I did 3 portions of spicy mince with lots of peppers, mushrooms and brocolli, and 4 portions of cauliflower cheese (made with soft cheese and Parmesan) and turkey meat. So I now have easy grab portions for lunches this coming week. I am finding it hard to hit 800 cals although I figure even if I have 1000 but keep the carbs low, that’s a big deficit for me.

when I used to do this plan, it was recommended to daily weigh, do any of you still do that? I have not weighed in yet, I would like to see a 3lb loss this week so I’m holding out til my normal weigh day on Monday.

Happy Halloween! I was away for half term for a few nights with friends, socialising and expending energy 😆 then spent a couple of days at my parents and then in the office so couldn't fit in a proper fast. Although I have tried my best despite the obstacles, red wine and nibbles in my path and seem to be down 1.2kg to 72.9 this morning (although was wearing absolutely minimal pyjamas so may be a few hundred g from clothes)

SW 77.4kg
TW 63kg
Christmas TW 70kg
Cw 72.9kg

I will try my best over Christmas not to overindulge and if there's an opportunity for a 500kcal day I will take it. Hoping to not slip up too much. We have a work Christmas party where both DH and I work so I might drive to that and not drink. Then treats like mince pies and stollen will be in moderation!

Yes @thenewaveragebear1983 I do weigh daily - but subscribe to the concept that you need to decide if it is "good for your psyche". I now look at it as just data and find it helpful. I know others find it emotionally challenging - or just prefer a weekly number. Decide what's best for you!! And yes, I also went for 1000 when I could not do 800... 800 is really hard core, and I do still occasionally still do it, but 1000 is much easier for family living. So long as it is working for you, that's fab. Loving all those freezer meals - agree with @StealthSightHound a serious ninja in the kitchen!!

@JadeVS72 so impressed by your weight losses! And I agree with the concept of a few 500 calorie days over Christmas/New Year - I think I managed 3 last year and it does make a difference

And @StealthSightHound How's your week been? And thoughts for the next?

yes all - I know tomorrow is 1 Nov...wow, so close to Christmas... I'll start a new thread!!

Here goes - Friday check-in.

So pleased to be back at 11.0. It feels so good!! And I even had the strange and rather destabilising experience of being at 10.13 on a couple of days...the 10s feel like alien territory: Im definitely a traveller in strange lands as I venture into them.

SW 14.2
TW 10.12
CW 11.0...one pound down on last week, and aiming for this to be my new consistent weight until mid November!!

Checking in - weight today is 11. 7 - down 2lb since last week. I’ve been quite strict about fasting this past week and also with no snacking between meals. I had been grazing quite a bit during my 8 hour eating widows but made a decision to stop. So now between lunch and 6pm is a mini fast which is a helpful way to think about it as I know I can fast. Very happy with progress.
SW 13.5 March
CW 11.7
TW 11.0
TW for beginning of December / Xmas 11.5

@thenewaveragebear1983I weigh myself most days, I find it helpful for staying on track and get a small buzz when there’s a loss. It can be a downer if it’s going the wrong way, but for me, at the moment, that spurs me on to correct my course a bit.

Well done @loveyouradvice. I can imagine how it feels to see the 10s appearing! Hoping to get there too, it’s been a long time!
Happy Friday/Halloween everyone. Well done on progress and learning as we go along the fasting journey. House full of candy here ready for handing out later to trick or treaters.. not feeling tempted yet .. that may change.

Well, I was hoping to be in the low 62's by the end of this month, and at 62.4kg today I suppose I could say I scraped in!

Another small loss though (0.8kg, from 63.2kg at the end of September).
I think that does track with my input/output for this month, but I'll crunch the numbers tomorrow. Really finding Nutracheck useful, I think my calorie counting is now much more accurate.

That's 3.6kg (almost 8lbs) in 4 months, slow but sustainable so far.

I really want to buckle down a bit in November, so looking forward to the new thread @loveyouradvice

That's an impressive week @tiredwitless - I hope you're feeling really proud of yourself. It's great when the scales respond to our determination.

Hey hey @IDareSay - that sounds good, and congrats on low 62s... come and post on the new link, which is now up....

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/fasting_diet/5436775-countdown-to-december-approaching-christmas-powerfully-and-compassionately-together

@2Early4Breakfast
@Bottl
@Herewegoagaintake3
@IDareSay
@JadeVS72
@StealthSightHound
@thenewaveragebear1983
@tiredwitless
@Rockfordpeach

Come on over and join us!!!!

When things do not go according to plan for me, i focus on improving and trying another door with the same opportunities.