I F - 5:2 - 4:3 - Maintaining the healthy weight

[TalkinPeace2]

This thread is for those who have been doing IF for quite a while and are now at or nearing their target healthy weight.

How do we experience fasts and balance a stable food intake while having little or no weight to lose?

How to we ensure that this WOE does keep us at the healthy weight long term rather than revert to yoyo games?

I have now been at the same weight for a month. I'm happy with that. I'm also still enjoying the 24 hour fasts because of the clear mindedness I get during them.

How about you?

I've just managed 55 secs on left and 15 on right - I'm 59

These are pretty impressive (over-worked word on these threads? Discuss!) results, folks.

I'm disqualifying Tip because of previous experience, so the leader, ATM, I declare to be literarygeek!!

Maybe we should be making more of this for fasters who are plateauing for a while? It would also be useful to ask newcomers to IF to check out the balancing bit when they start - and then after a few weeks/months.

What do people think?

I should have done the test in tree pose, can happily do that for minutes ages! I can't remember the science behind the balance test from the film, I always thought it was more of a measure of core strength. Wii fit makes you do balance tests too and judges your fitness age from it. Failed to google an answer as yet.

What position is the other foot/ leg meant to be in? I won't be able to do it for weeks anyway, am still on one leg following the foot surgery, but I will give it a go when I am out of this chair.

Right, I'm shredded, lvl 2 - anyone going to join me?

Do any of you wear trainers while exercising indoors? My trainers are usually a bit muddy thanks to occasional outdoor running and I don't really want to use them inside so I always go barefoot and mainly stay on the mat. Seems to be ok though I do make sure I warm up/stretch my calves well pre/post exercise as I did do something horrible to my calves a couple of years ago, I'm sure due to too much enthusiasm combined with very poor technique.

Blimey, lg! Just trying to imagine Dr M in that pose!

Or myself!

I'll find the point in the film where they try this out and report back. Plus the rationale behind it.

BCL I think the other leg just dangles, iyswim!

Half-hearted fast day for me today - in that I ate at 8 last night and I won't eat until dinner time tonight, but it'll be a normal dinner. I'll do a full

B&W hhmmm not liking the element of adding more rules/suggestions, still think everyone needs to find their own way,and not make it too prescriptive.

Such a lot depends on peoples starting points, if you were gaining weight then you were going over your tdee everyday, so won't lose as much (if that is your aim) but if you were maintaining but just wanted to shift some extra, then you will lose more.

I was in the former category, so after my initial 12 pound loss, it has now levelled out to maintaining while still doing 5:2, although I would like to lose more long term, for me the WOE is about health benefits equally if not more to weight loss/maintenance.

Don't think I will join in the balance thing, I have about the worst balance of anyone I know, the wii fit balance board has me aged about 59 (I'm 40).

fast day today after a full on birthday weekend for my daughter, lots of cake plus a very high cal meal out at a Diner, am going nowhere near the scales for a week or 2! loving the peppermint teas so far!

filly really sorry to hear about your Mum, but glad that at least their is some positive news regarding potential tratability, a tough road for you all ahead, am sending lots of positive stay strong vibes your way.

laska great news about size 8! wow wow wow! very very impressed, am feeling slightly inspired!

Ezzaaa welcome back to UK, are you here now for teh forseeable?

betsy fabulous news on that weightloss, you must be so rightfully proud of yourself!

minty I feel for you, must be so hard to be faced with your OH doing so well, this WOE doesn;t work for all, do you know why it doesn't work for you, I'm trying to remember if you have additional health concerns?

Checking in everyone! It's 6am and I've been up for an hour already so it's tough enough standing on two feet let alone one so will check in with balance thing later.

I think B&W was just reiterating there are lots of different ways of making this WOE work for individuals - though to be honest I've never managed the mini fasts. I'm like Laska and still need to spread my cals over 2 meals so it's a proper fast day or not for me!

So today DH and I are juicing again, we're going to make every Monday a juice (and raw food) day then I'll do two or three most fasts depending on the weeks plans - particularly when I'm training. We went away for the weekend but I didn't go overboard (though def ate when not hungry - need to get that under control)

Huge apologies, everyone! That should, of course, read '...could go like this' instead of 'should'!

Sorry!

It's not in my nature to be prescriptive - with me it's more a case of 'What works for you'.

Hi all just checking in. Just reviewed the last few pages great to see so many people still here and maintaining...or even continuing to lose .

On my part have done 6:1 for the last two weeks, fasting only on the Sundays and have got to admit a few pounds have crept back on....but on the positive side I have no intentions of letting that throw me, when the Spring kicks in for proper I'll probably be able to step the exercise back up, fingers crossed any way.

Have a great day all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi all! Thanks for the warm welcome back! No jetlag. From what I hear it can really wipe you out but I've never really experienced that. The closest I've had is this week as I'm needing to sleep about 9pm and waking up at 6am, which is about 2 hours earlier than normal, but still perfectly ok I reckon. I tried to bring the weather with me: it's sunny today at least, although I got on the plane in China a balmy 19 degrees and got off in Wales a chilly 3. Ah well.

Yep, I'm planning to be here for the foreseeable future and looking forward to putting my Chinese language into practice with the Chinese group I'm part of here. Now looking for work, any work just so long as it pays the bills really, but I saw one pretty good job advertised that I'm actually qualified for and I knew I'd kick myself for months if I missed the application deadline (I've been caught out before by job adverts closing early) so I spent the weekend frantically trying to complete the application. That and the annoying internet problems I had in China have meant I haven't had much of a chance to post on MN for a while. I'm still trying to catch up on the main thread but still only up to the end of Friday's posts so far.

I had a great NSV on Sunday when I saw most of my friends for the first time in 6 months: even though I was wearing my long (and rather shapeless) wool coat, loads of people noticed I'd lost weight, but not only that I'd lost weight but also that I was looking a lot better, healthier. That's actually true, my skin is better, my eyes are brighter and I'm generally feeling more cheerful. That's a good sign that this WoE is good for your health and not a dangerous fad diet isn't it?

Great stuff, Ezzza! Nice to have you back! Look forward to you posting regularly. If you get homesick for China, you can always go and huddle on the town hall steps for an hour or two!

I've rather fallen from my very high standards this evening. Today is a 'half-hearted' fast day, so I fasted for 22.5 hours up until 6.30 this evening when I had an experimental broccoli bake (not great - it was too watery!) with some bubble and squeak for dinner. Then later on I made a vegan carrot cake, which I'd been promising to make for several days, now.

I made the mistake of making a coffee, then tasting the cake straight away (instead of setting the alarm for 15-20 minutes and then having my first taste) as soon as it came out of the microwave, while it was still in its silicon cake form.

Before I knew it, a third of the (quite large!) cake was gone! Later this evening I ate the other half of the broccoli bake I was saving until Wednesday, with a glass of red. I've now eaten a leftover third of a mince and potato pasty which was in the freezer; and I've just hacked a frozen pasty in half, which I've defrosted and demolished - with a further glass of wine!

Now I've written this, the other half of the pasty is safe (I think!) - but if I hadn't come on here, I reckon I'd have kept going!

This 6:1 and a half regime lacks the discipline of 5:2, I'm finding...

Great interview with Dr M on ABC radio Sydney:

www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2013/02/28/3700802.htm?site=sydney

Dr M updates us on the various human trials that are now taking place - as well as going through the basics. Well worth 20 minutes of your time!

Ezzza - welcome home and hope this WOL gets easier for you now!

Wowee B&W I can't believe that you've had an evening like I often have at least once a week

Vegan carrot cake reminds me of a recipe I've been given which has eggs do isn't vegan but I wonder if you'd be able to adapt it? It's ridiculously healthy for cake and I bake into mini muffin trays so portions are much smaller - it doesn't use any sugar (substitutes dates and bananas) or butter (coconut oil) or wheat (almond flour) - and they are AMAZING!

Today became a fast day instead of juice day in the end, apparently we're juicing on weds instead! All fine. DH working late and I'm tired so think I'll try to avoid night time munchies with an early night, feeling pretty full after two hefty portions of miso and veg soup

ATB can we have the recipe please? Can they be made in a cup cake maker?

b&w sorry but couldn't help laughing at your post, reminds me of myself last Friday.

I've been much better since then apart from having breakfast this morning when I wasn't hungry as docs have changed meds (again) & while happy for me to have 2 days of having dose at 'incorrect' time of the day not happy to have it like that 7days a week. So have been told I must have breakfast 5 days a week grrr! It's all because of meds spacing to make sure the balance is right so I suppose I shouldn't winge too much but it is annoying as its definitely set off my hunger pangs. Oh well.

Welcome back ezzza & well done on your NSV. It's a great feeling.

literary wish your dad well & hope he's on the mend.

Just weighed what's left of the carrot cake - 468g - when the full cake should weigh over 700g. Ah well, what's 230 odd grams of cake between friends!

I've just cut the cake into 9 x 50g pieces and it's safely in the freezer.

B&W thanks for posting that link to the Australian interview with Dr MM it was really interesting. Yes, we already know most of what was said but I learnt two very interesting facts: 1) when we do IF we lose fat quickly but the percentage of the loss is 85-90% fat!!! Wow that's amazing but maybe also explains why I've not only lost external fat but visceral too.

2. They are doing humal trials, one specifically with regards to Altzheimers and all things to do with the brain, and have taken spinal fluid so they will be able to assesss the neurotropic factor which gives the indication of these brain diseases. They are specifically testing people who they believe may have a tendency towards dementia etc.

Well done B&W - you must spend forever trawling the net for these gems

That's recently interesting about the Alzheimer's link - I know that's one thing that interests my mum about doing IF after both her parents had it.

Cake is never safe til it's gone B&W, I bloody love a slice of banana cake straight out the freezer and defrosted by frying it in butter til the outsides are crisp!

Thank you B&W - that's a very useful link and serves as remotivation!

Just checking in to say I'm working lots at the moment so doing reports in the evening rather than pootling around on here.

DH weighed himself today and his weight loss since late last year is only 1kg, but his waist is still shrinking.