Countdown to EASTER!

[tiredwitless]

We’re almost half way through February so marching on through to Easter (5th of April) as we help each other to stay focused on our fasting goals.

Come and join us!! 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.... pirates and dachshunds will pop their heads up, we're in awe of those shredding with Jillian and lifting significant weights (beyond our own!) and impressed when we get our steps in.
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.
So - how do you want the rest of February and March to look for you? Goals for Easter? And 2026? We'll look forward to hearing

I may well have missed someone so please @ people in to the thread but gathered up most I think/hope!

@loveyouradvice
@ProfessorIDareSay
@jadeVS72
@2barbieOrNot2Barbie
@NewYearNewYu
@BonBonDong
@Potterwatch89
@clearingaspace
@Diplop
@Talkinpeace
@2Early4Breakfast
@5humpedcamel

Good morning all and happy April!

Easter is almost upon us and once all that feasting and chocolate is out of the way I am sure we are all ready to crack on towards our goals.

I am easing in very slowly by building up to 16:8 again; no restrictions on calories as yet, just want to get back into a fasting groove. I’m starting with a simple 12:12 today and have already been clock watching!

I’m 2 weeks post-op now and the only thing I am struggling with is sleep; it isn’t pain keeping me awake, I just can’t seem to get into a comfortable position for more than a couple of hours without a twinge or a cramp and then it is taking me ages to drop off again.
Doesn’t help that my preferred sleeping position is on my operated side and I’m not supposed to lie on that side yet!

Lack of sleep has always been a bit of a trigger for me when it comes to eating a little too much of the wrong things, so I think until I have cracked the sleep issue I’ll just pootle along eating what I fancy (with plenty of protein for recovery of course).

We have a lovely leg of lamb coming tomorrow for our Easter roast, and of course there will be hot cross buns and easter eggs this weekend 😋

Hope everyone is keeping on keeping on.

How's everyone doing? How will Easter be for you?? @tiredwitless @BonBonDong @2Early4Breakfast @5humpedcamel @2BarbieOrNot2Barbie

@DameProfessorIDareSay This is such good news, loving that you are up and about without sticks and into your garden - glorious! Lack of sleep and feeling tired generally is always a huge trigger for me, so your plan to eat 12.12 with lots of protein sounds great.

Friday check-in: Celebrations, there WAS more fluff @DameProfessorIDareSay ...With lower calories (but not massively) 3lbs came off in 3 days, and then another 1lb in the rest of the week... Feeling VERY chuffed that I can now enjoy my praline eggs from Sunday!! Without guilt...

I'm adopting my Christmas strategy of having some lovely healthy treats around too - kumquats which I adore, and physallis, and olives. And yes, eating the most gorgeous tuna tartare my husband makes, daily for the next 3 days. I am so aware that not having delicous food can mean I feel deprived, especially at times when everyone else is indulging, so this strategy really helps me.

SW: 14.2
CW: 11.0 - down 4lbs
GW: 10.12 by end of April or May, I'm relaxed, and what is important to me is to maintain my 11.0: seeing that figure on the scales daily will feel like a triumph

Oh that’s brilliant news @loveyouradvice !

I hope you thoroughly enjoy your praline eggs 😍

Hello, just popping on to say happy Easter! I am on track for my first 12 hour fast in a while 🫣 hopefully i will make it onto the next thread!

Congrats and welcome back @Clearingaspace . That sounds like good news and its good to have you on here. xx

Happy Easter all!
I haven’t weighed this week at all. Was feeling despondent as scales not moving despite good fasting windows each day.
I’m still fasting though and thinking about what I can do differently to deal with hunger/ increase satiety after meals.
more good fats may be one thing.. low carb I find so hard. I don’t think I’ve put on any weight judging by clothes but I’m not where I want to be. Im eating healthily in the main.. but would love to start losing weight again.
I’ve lots of stress right now which will reduce by summer so I will hopefully have more energy to put into planning my meals better.
Great to see you @Clearingaspace, it’s interesting how the fasting muscle needs to build up slowly when we haven’t done it for a while. Best of luck with getting back to it.
Well done @loveyouradvicesounds like you’re back on track and I love the sound of your Easter food! @DameProfessorIDareSay my sympathy with the sleep issue it has such an effect on everything else - I hope it improves soon as you keep healing.

Enjoy the day everyone ..

HAPPY EASTER ALL!

And how very frustrating for you @tiredwitless ... deeply sympathising here.

And wonder if it's worth a look at this guy? I only heard about him yesterday on a thread on Mumsnet, and these are the notes I wrote myself after having a happy browse - Such a great approach and echoes my own: No point in being hungry when losing weight... I suspect his calorie estimates are rather higher than menopausal women want, but having two 500 calorie meals a day and a couple of small snacks feels wonderfully IF compatible.

Filling Meals by Lindsay Wilson
100 recipes – simple healthy
4.8 stars from 240

Jan 26 Sun times bestseller
Extracts here
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Filling-Meals-hunger-busting-sustainable-Bestseller/dp/1529982286/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8&asin=B0FQB1L4F9&revisionId=b9a19271&format=3&depth=1

Also Instagram
And Facebook

10ys with weight loss clients – focus on satiety for 4h+

Oats a superfood – people love them, don’t get bored... includes some
good recipes

Thanks @loveyouradvice looks really interesting.. I need to get into managing hunger/satiety so going to follow this guy - and see what I can learn - looks quite practical and might suit family also .. will report back!!

Hope you find some nice recipes to try @loveyouradvice and @tiredwitless - my kindle fire keeps suggesting that book to me - now I feel tempted to try it! Definitely let us know how you get on!

if you are maintaining during stress thst is amazing @tiredwitless ⭐️⭐️

managed a 15 hour fast - not too bad. Lost 3lb this week by calorie logging but really that was just day 1 and have bobbed up and down by a 1lb the last 5 or 6 days. Not amazing when u have so much to lose!

Yes, I've already seen some recipes I like... Im resisting buying it as I already have far too many cookbooks (although can one ever?)... but am going to be disciplined and cook a few from instagram and maybe even order from the library

3lbs is great @Clearingaspace ... celebrate that and keeping it off... to do that over Easter is seriously good news

I buy cook books in secret when they are on offer for 99p on Amazon kindle- my dc once counted all my physical cookbooks, and I had an embarrassing number considering I cook the same basic food all the time!

I love that @Clearingaspace ... a secret cookbook habit!! My viewpoint changed when I realised I get so much pleasure and relaxation from reading cookbooks, that buying one at the cost of a novel or two was giving me as much, if not more pleasure. So I started measuring their worth to me in terms of my enjoyment, rather than the number of recipes I cooked from them. They feed my fantasy life... as do novels!! That said I am trying to use the library more....and yes, I've cooked at least one recipe from each of my cookbooks, probably more typically 2 or 3, and far more from a few favourites... and like you I have my go-tos for everyday living.

How's the week been for you, @DameProfessorIDareSay and @tiredwitless ?

Well, my temporary-post-infection IBS has not yet settled, which is puzzling my GP... so I went back to a superclean, very very simple diet ... little more than poached fish/chicken, porridge, yogourt, a little honey and green beans... and it seems to be working. After 3 days of that, I'm beginning to be able to expand back towards my more normal diet, slowly adding things each day... as well as taking a couple of supplements that Claude (my new best friend, I vastly prefer him to Chat GPT) advises.

So the silver lining is that my weight's dropped further, down to my end April/May goal - and back to where it was before Christmas and this bizarre gastic thing.

SW: 14.2
CW: 10.12 - down 2lbs
GW: 10.12 by end of April or May, so I'm now just going to aim to stay here until the end of May, letting my stomach recover, eating in an 8 hour window almost every day and eating for health. Then come June, I'd like to start to lose another 4 or 5 lbs, to take me down to 10.7.... which will be my lowest for over 20 years!!

Good morning all!

Well I am still not back to anywhere near normal when it comes to fasting and eating but I’m trying!

Have settled back into 14:10 pretty easily but 16:8 is still the goal. I’m feeling like I might be able to achieve it now that I am allowed to exercise ‘properly’ again; as much walking as I feel comfortable with, and a 40 to 50 minute programme of rehab exercises every morning.

Getting into my exercise clothes first thing every day really helps me feel things are returning to normal, and I have been allocated an excellent physio who is happy for me to push myself and shares my enthusiasm for returning to fitness.

As to calorie intake, a veil is best drawn over that, but I am still counting, and consoling myself with the thought that my body has a lot of healing to do so I must not deprive it 😜

I am beginning to ease off the treats now and contemplating gradually reducing my intake. Easter chocolate almost gone and we are down to the last packet of biscuits so just need to not buy any more goodies crap.

Your self care of your IBS is impressive @loveyouradvice and I am glad it has had the added bonus of some weight loss. I generally don’t subscribe to these ideas of ‘cleansing’ that seem to regularly do the rounds, but I do think we sometimes need to give our digestive system a bit of a rest with fasting or a simple diet for a few days.

I may brave the scales this weekend...

just realised its time for another thread... I'll set one up in the next couple of days if no one else fancies doing so??

That sounds like real progress @DameProfessorIDareSay - huge steps forward as your body recovers

I am glad you are recovering well from your op @DameProfessorIDareSay

@loveyouradvice a new thread would be great. I think an interesting idea for me might be to try and do one recipe a week from my cookbooks and try to work my way through some of them!

I have to be honest I have lost my fasting skill - I used to be able to regularly fast water only into the 40 hours range. Now even no sna king at me get seems impossible! Do you mind if I still pop in for moral support occasionally though? I am strongly leaning towards mounjaro or something being needed for me. To be honest I am only successful with weightloss when I buy into something new and I think I have tried all the natural approaches 😫

Sorry my typing glitched- no snacking in the evening

Mmmm ... I'm coming to your house for dinner @Clearingaspace! One new recipe a week is a gorgeous goal. I'm aiming for that too... especially having just got a Ninja Creami and delighting in the healthy low-calorie icecreams it makes. Lemon curd (yogourt) and chocolate (cottage cheese/Greek yogt) tonight!!

I've set up a new thread here... so hope you'll join! I'll link people too where I can... and do feel free to call out to otheres

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/fasting_diet/5517029-countdown-to-june-creating-bodies-we-will-enjoy-this-summer-all-welcome

Hey all. Just a quick note to say I’m still here, still fasting. Still the same weight…
12st1lb
Waiting for some dental treatment for an issue which is causing low grade pain and also affecting general energy levels .. hoping things will improve once it’s sorted. Stress levels still not good but does that ever change?!
I’m hoping that I'm getting some of the other fasting benefits even if not losing weight..
Wishing you all a great week!

Hi @tiredwitless i hope you get the dental stuff sorted soon. It’s really horrible having that kind of pain. We have a new thread now so hopefully see you on there!