The Maintenance Chatbox… come and share your success with us!

This topic contains 11,627 replies, has 174 voices, and was last updated by hermajtomomi 6 months, 4 weeks ago.

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Lichtle

9:35 am
18 Sep 14
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@ssure it did interest me, because I also read the “Johnson up day down day” book but only after the Horizon programme was screened and before Michael’s book was published so I started on 4:3 (ADF was too involved and inflexible for me from the start)
I must say I was too brain washed by the conventional health recommendations that I did not dare to stray too much (although I have for a long time had a very late fruit only breakfast (16:8 unwittingly?) and simple soup dinner during the week in the office) During the day I never found it difficult to eat well in the office it was the evenings, coming home to a big supper (with carbs) and then craving sugar afterwards. After reducing my carbs this craving in the evening has significantly diminished.

I am always surprised how much eating/fasting is in the head. Some days we find it very easy to fast just in order to find the eating days more difficult – not being able to delay that lovely meal another hour because we are “starving??” Permission to eat seems to make us hungry or resolving to fast seems to shut down our hunger to some extend?
Anyway very brave to start out ADF and self experimenting when medical advise was to the contrary.

By the way my sister-in-law has for many years organised week long controlled group fasts (including ahemm clearing of the inners) and only consuming vegetable broth (as much as required) and drinking herbal tea and water) She also instructs how to ease back into eating etc. I didn’t approve of this in years past but now I have changed my mind. Apparently the group situation helps to support each other and they go for walks, have discussions and enjoy entertaining evenings etc together. It’s a bit like a fasting retreat.

SSure

11:21 am
18 Sep 14
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Lichtle, “I just soooo hate throwing food away knowing how many people struggle to feed their families and rely on food banks (and I’m not talking about Africa even here in England. I feel ashamed to be wastefuful. For me it is a constant struggle to not use my body as a waste bin.`”

I share your abhorrence of food waste: witnessing it makes me feel physically sick and on the rare occasions I do have to throw something away, I feel the guilt for days. Yet, I was also brought up to consider gluttony a sin (oh, those were the days, when everything was a venial sin or a mortal one 🙂 ) and gluttony seemed to be a moving definition of wanting to eat more than you were served or ‘eating for the sake of eating’ – which would encompass eating something because you didn’t want to waste it.

These attitudes don’t make it straightforward to fast tho’ because all too often, as you say, you have endless leftovers. Add in the intention to eat until your hunger is satisfied and not beyond that point and the leftovers just pile up. All of these things take a lot of adjustment and I sometimes just need to accept that something needs to give, and that it would be healthier to modify my horror of food waste than to run the risk of creating health problems by sabotaging my WOE through my food waste issues.

SSure

11:43 am
18 Sep 14
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Lichtle,

“I am always surprised how much eating/fasting is in the head. Some days we find it very easy to fast just in order to find the eating days more difficult – not being able to delay that lovely meal another hour because we are “starving??” Permission to eat seems to make us hungry or resolving to fast seems to shut down our hunger to some extend?
Anyway very brave to start out ADF and self experimenting when medical advise was to the contrary.’

tbh, I wish that I’d realised sooner than the conventional approach wasn’t working for me and instead of accepting all the conventional platitudes about, “You must be eating more than you’d think or you’d be losing” I’d accepted the realities of my situation and had an earlier body composition evaluation that would have revealed my low skeletal muscle mass and therefore my lower TDEE and the need for a much more cautious approach to weight loss in order to reduce the risk of losing lean body mass.

I think that when we have chosen to fast, it reduces anxiety-provoking choices for the day, if that makes sense? We already know what we will eat and when – or, at least, approximately. On non-fast days, the freedom and choices can overwhelm us altho’ we mostly have the resources and skills to act appropriately (tho’ every now and then, a small inner voice will react against some stray feeling of restriction by asking for more – particularly at times of transition, such as leaving work/arriving home, while preparing a meal, or after a meal).

Well done to you for realising that unsuitable carbs were the fuel for your occasional ‘head rather than hunger’ difficulties.

bayleafoz

11:50 am
18 Sep 14
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Hi Lichtle.

I sympathise, but better out than in. A few ideas came to me. Feel free to ignore them all. 🙂

I was wondering what would happen if the excess food became your OH’s problem rather than your problem. OH can decide if it is frozen or thrown out. OH can empty the freezer.

If the thrown out food becomes too much for you, then total its cash value and tell your OH how much cash is being thrown out each week.

Do you have friends or children who would like to take the excess food parcels from you?

Cheers, Bay 🙂

Lichtle

3:35 pm
18 Sep 14
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@ssure, Oooohhh that is brilliant, never thought that eating food you don’t really want could be seen as gluttony – but you put that very well. I hope this will ease my conscience a bit in the future.
It must have been very frustrating when nobody understands or can help and even say “You must be eating more than you’d think or you’d be losing”. I imagine it feels a bit lonely. I hope you feel understood in this forum.

Lichtle

3:50 pm
18 Sep 14
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@bayleafoz – thank you for the advice and any moral back-up (easing of conscience) is very much appreciated. OH will happily throw everything away and explain that once it has been in the fridge for two days it upsets his stomach. I, on the contrary, have a stomach like a horse, nothing ever upsets me – not that I am complaining but I have no excuse. Never had food poisoning at home (only travelling) even though I only take use-by dates as an indicator to start inspecting and smelling the food not automatically throw it out.

When we visit in-laws, I have to step out of the kitchen after clearing of table as they throw loads in the bin. My parents are the direct opposite and we are the product of our parents.

OH says he works hard to have a good life and can afford the food, and he doesn’t do guilt like I do. 😉
Unfortuantely my children live too far away and no grandchildren yet. I wouldn’t dare offer a friend leftover food though. 😉

— LETTING GO OF FOOD TODAY —

HappyNow

4:10 pm
18 Sep 14
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Hi Lichtle,

My OH is also not so good on using up food, although now we have hens at least some of the left overs can go their way. We also have a large garden, including veg patch and polytunnel/greenhouses, and make our own compost. I feel less guilty about throwing away food that I have grown myself (so long as I’d planted more than we needed to begin with…). Also, knowing it will go back into the soil to feed next year’s crop assuages my guilt somewhat!

I spent some time with one of my brother’s and his family earlier in the year, and his attitude also appears to be well I can afford it, so I can waste it if I want.

For me it isn’t really about whether you personally can afford to waste food if you want, or whether there are starving children in Africa (because me overeating doesn’t benefit them!), it’s about the environmental cost associated with having to produce twice as much food as actually gets eaten. We leave little enough space for wildlife as it is, and biodiversity is in terminal decline. If we don’t need to produce quite as much food, we could perhaps leave a little space for the other animals that inhabit this planet; we probably wouldn’t ‘need’ to be culling badgers if we left sufficient habitat for them, and wouldn’t need to be cutting down the rainforests to produce so much beef, or be supporting appalling welfare standards in other countries, etc etc. And then there’s the impact on water supplies, the use of herbicides/ pesticides, transport costs, etc etc associated with food production.

If we all ate a bit less meat (and a bit less food in general!), and made sure we ate what we bought and didn’t throw it away, the supermarkets wouldn’t make so much profit but the environment (and we) would be a lot healthier.

HappyNow

4:17 pm
18 Sep 14
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Oh, and a lot of areas don’t yet have facilities for recycling/ composting kitchen waste. So a lot of the food that gets wasted just goes to landfill. And there’s a cost associated with that of course, so not only personally are we wasting money buying food that we don’t need or eat, but we are then all paying for it to be collected, transported to landfill and buried in the ground.

Lichtle

4:52 pm
18 Sep 14
Permalink

@happy, thank you for your thoughts, you are of course right – this is the intellectual way of looking at it and definitely needs reminding all the time.

Alas as with all food “isues” there is always an emotional aspect and how we are raised. Whilst I know I won’t be able to alleviate the hunger in this world by not throwing food out, there is always the thougtht at the back of my mind that it is only sheer luck that I am not hungry, and that I should be grateful.

Anyway, despite a day up in London yesterday I didn’t succumb to any temptations plus a successful fasting day today in the office – I almost felt a halo sprouting but OH brought me back down to earth ;-))

HappyNow

5:02 pm
18 Sep 14
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Hi Lichtle,

I too was brought up to clean my plate, and there was always seconds! Not only is it hard to break that habit, but I’ve also always struggled with how many potatoes to cook, since I only ever saw a saucepanful and not an amount sufficient for the number of people eating!

And OHs… What can I say?! I have one of my own….

Lichtle

6:37 pm
18 Sep 14
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@happy, many thanks who wants the burden of a halo anyway…:-)) Must do something naughty tomorrow as long as it is not food related…. :-))

Carolannfud

7:15 pm
18 Sep 14
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I agree with you SSure: “when we have chosen to fast, it reduces anxiety-provoking choices for the day. We already know what we will eat and when – or, at least, approximately. On non-fast days, the freedom and choices can overwhelm us altho’ we mostly have the resources and skills to act appropriately (tho’ every now and then, a small inner voice will react against some stray feeling of restriction by asking for more”.

I agree – it makes choices so much simpler!

Re the subject of not being able to throw out food I struggle all the time with that and will save the tiniest little bit of leftover rather than throw it in the bin. I can still hear my mothers voice “that’s good food going to waste!”. She was brought up in the depression and knew what it was like I think to feel hungry at times.

Thank heavens for the dog although unfortunately she is also starting to show signs of eating too many leftovers and the vet has put her on a diet!

Purple Vegie Eater

10:08 pm
18 Sep 14
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Hi lovely MCs
I read with interest the leftovers discussion. I am the leftovers queen, Lichtle. I used to cook for a family of 6 and also miss having people to eat up everything. When we started 5:2 last year I got quite depressed about the amount of food that sat in the fridge looking at me. I took up cooking and giving my kids dishes or sticking them in the freezer until they popped in and loading them up. With one vegan, I had to be careful to freeze vegan food too.
OH doesn’t know that most meals are made from whatever is about to go “off”. I look in the fridge and pop in whatever. I find google excellent for this….type in the ingredients you have, with “recipe” and see what you get.
My visitor last night brought a yummy dessert. I politely said, “It is a fast day” and took a small amount for today.
Today I hit a new PB of 57.5kg, Whooo! Meeting at a Scottish bar tonight to share the results of the vote, either way! P 🙂

hermajtomomi

10:30 pm
18 Sep 14
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I think of myself as a waste-not, want-not war baby. Annoying though the usual spiel might have been, you know, the stuff about starving refugees who would be only too grateful to finish up my cabbage, semolina pudding, or whatever delicacy I was just pushing around my plate, something must have stuck.

I base entire meals on sometimes a single item that needs to be used up. Naff Vegetable Soup is one of my specialities and as the name suggests it can take care of any number of veggies that are looking a bit sad.

Only this week, after I had made brownies that contained beetroot and made only a third of the recipe (so that we wouldn’t be tempted to stuff our faces with the things) 🙂 I had rather a lot of beetroot left over. So, as Hismaj has lived and worked in the former Soviet Union, I thought he was better qualified to try to make us a borscht while I continued dissertating.

Highly successful, very tasty and provided you use the leanest possible meat (you could also make a veggie version), modest enough for a non-fast day when you want a few cals left for some sort of treat – like lovely beetroot brownies.

NickyF

3:21 am
19 Sep 14
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Hi lovely maintainers.

Yes, … ‘waste not want not’.

Back when there were more than OH and me at home, leftovers never an issue. Sometimes if I had deliberately cooked more of something for another meal I had to specifically label it or it would have evaporated like everything else.

Occasionally I would make ‘clean out the fridge minestrone’ which always satisfied my thrifty soul.

Nowadays easier to manage and like Purple and others have mentioned, I allocate portions in freezer bags (labelled and dated – have learned my lesson!) ready to grab as needed. Those flat packs are easy to store and quick to thaw too.

Keep up the good work all.

HappyNow

6:46 am
19 Sep 14
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I like PVEs point about googling what you’ve got left to see what you can do with it. I started doing this when the garden/ polytunnel started producing (what can I do with the random assortment of things ripe/ ready today?).

And a few years ago my Mum bought me a use it all cookbook which has recipes and suggestions for what do with odds and ends of things.

One of the other areas of wastage though is my larder cupboard, where dried beans and pulses, oddments of dried fruit and candied peel (Xmas cake ingredients, so only used once per year), and random other things bought for recipes that we didn’t like and didn’t get incorporated into the repertoire, lurk…

HappyNow

7:06 am
19 Sep 14
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Well this morning I am again comfortably back under my upper limit of 60kg (59), with no obvious effort on my part other than a 6:1 on Monday, not eating until 11.30am ish, and no processed carbohydrate this week.

It makes me wonder about the idea of a ‘set point’. Having been consistently in the low 59s for 3 months with very little variation, is that long enough to reprogram my body to recognise this as my weight?

Purple Vegie Eater

7:10 am
19 Sep 14
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I’m in a Scottish bar with all the expats and blood relatives. Mixed emotions. P

HappyNow

7:37 am
19 Sep 14
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Hi PVE, as a Welsh person living in England, I’m happy that Scotland has stayed. I must admit I got heartily sick of it all in the build up, but was surprised at how emotional I felt when I saw the result…

Carolannfud

8:13 am
19 Sep 14
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Hi HappyNow, I’m not sure about a set point once we age. Theoretically the weight you are at 21/22 years is meant to be your ideal weight and your set point I guess. my goal has been to get back towards that weight. I think it’s still possible for you to lose more weight if you want to. Years ago I followed the Pritikin diet and got down below that set point weight, so think it’s possible to go lower.

When you say you don’t eat til 11.30 – do you have 2 meals a day? Skipping breakfast?

PVE I’m glad Scotland stayed but would still love the place wether they were part of UK or not . Enjoy!

Purple Vegie Eater

8:41 am
19 Sep 14
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Actually if the vote was held here it would have been Yes! Lots of singing Flower of Scotland etc P

HappyNow

9:22 am
19 Sep 14
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Hi Carol,

I was a chubby 21 year old so that’s not what I aim for! I am in fact the lowest weight I have ever been as an adult. Yeay for me!

And yes, I could lose more weight if I wanted. I have in fact struggled to maintain my weight since I reached my initial goal in April and as a result am 10lbs under that goal! I tend to find, as this week demonstrates, that I lose at least 1lb each fast day (and keep it off) so I’ve actually done very few calorie restricted days since June as a result (although I do have regular fasting Windows of 16 hours plus).

At 59kg, 5ft 7 (I always thought I was 5ft6, I was wrong…) and size 8, I’m more than happy.

I just wondered whether having been at this weight for a few months was long enough for my body to work with it, or whether I’m subconsciously managing my weight to stay here.

Re: eating.
I often have full fat yoghurt and fruit for ‘break fast’ (but not earlier than 11), and then have a light lunch at 2ish (no processed carb) and normal evening meal (again generally processed carb light). I don’t tend to drink alcohol in the week now (benefits the liver, weight, work performance and bank balance!). Weekends I relax, drink wine, eat bacon and white bread sarnies, and bake and eat biscuits/cake if I want (which I don’t always). Although again I don’t tend to eat before brunch/lunchtime at weekends either.

SSure

9:48 am
19 Sep 14
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“One of the other areas of wastage though is my larder cupboard, where dried beans and pulses, oddments of dried fruit and candied peeL”

Random suggestion – I make small amounts of mincemeat if I have dried fruit and peel that I’d like to use up. If I have dried dates to use up and some suitable spices, then I make brown sauce or a pickle that contains the fruit – those sorts of condiments keep for an age.

Odds and end of dried beans and pulses are rehydrated and then made into salads/soups/patties (as suits the beans/pulses).

Almost completely off tangent, some neighbours recently grew fresh chickpeas and they were such a revelation. Who knew you could eat fresh chickpeas? (Not me, until then, after which I googled furiously.)

As you were 🙂

HappyNow

10:07 am
19 Sep 14
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Hi SSure,

All good ideas…

The problem here is the OH who is a fussy eater. He doesn’t like fruit with savoury or mincemeat, so anything with dried fruit is a no no for him. And he doesn’t really like veg / bean soups either!

I work full time so don’t really want to cook separately for us and end up preparing stuff I know he’ll eat. And I just eat less during the day than I used to, so there’s a limit to how much I can get through alone! I like it when he travels with work best!!

Carolannfud

10:50 am
19 Sep 14
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That’s fantastic results HappyNow and I agree you don’t want to go back to teenage weight if it means being chubby!

I’m pleased with my progress. I started in May. I’m 170cm and now weigh 61.5kg. My goal was 63kg. I’d like to keep going just a bit more to have some ‘spare’ to play around with. I’m intrigued by the concept of not eating til later in the morning. Breakfast is my favourite meal! I have rolled oats with fruit on top. I haven’t lost as much as you on fast days. I don’t weigh every fast day but usually weigh weekly after both fast days. I was losing between 250 and 500g per week.

Seems like you’ve found a winning formula! Wonderful, congratulations!

HappyNow

3:03 pm
19 Sep 14
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Hi Carol, sounds like we’re similar height. My goal was also 63kg (10 stone ish), because I had been that weight in the past, and happy there. I got there on my birthday in April and eased back but carried on shedding for a while until I sussed out maintenance.

The only downside of my new lower weight is my slightly deflated chest…! But I look good in tight trousers…. Can’t have it all!

And it does give me that wriggle room/comfort zone.

Re: breakfast. I’m not often hungry first thing, but could eat at 10ish. I hold off for a bit then really enjoy it! Where I went wrong before I think was being brainwashed into thinking breakfast is the most important meal of the day and having a bread or cereal based breakfast every day which just spikes insulin and sets me up hungry for the rest of the day.

Congrats on your results. It’s great to be a healthy weight isn’t it?

Goldiesmum

8:41 pm
19 Sep 14
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Looking forwards to joining you….in a few months time…. Still a way to go. I am however very interested in maintenance as it has been my downfall when I have lost the same 25lbs over and over again (with other types of diets). Anyway only a couple of weeks in, but already enjoying the lift in energy. Posting again on this thread one day soon!

HappyNow

9:23 pm
19 Sep 14
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Hi Goldiesmum,

I don’t think you need to wait several months before you join us. As long as you aren’t actually gaining, then you must be at least maintaining! And only you know what your target weight is.

It does seem to be the case that most diets work for weight loss, but keeping it off is the really hard part. So don’t beat yourself up for yoyoing in the past. That doesn’t have to be your future!

You don’t say how old you are, or whether you have any health issues. But intermittent fasting seems pretty flexible and forgiving, and for many of us has resulted in much better portion size control and food preferences/ choices.

As long as you can commit to some form of intermittent fasting/ calorie restriction in the longer term there’s no reason why you can’t get rid of your pesky extra lbs for good!

Don’t feel you can’t join in just because you’re not yet at goal. This isn’t a members only club!

HappyNow

10:39 pm
19 Sep 14
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Well MCs, it’s the end of Friday for me. I ate light today, ran a bit over 5k (hilly), then chicken green curry and rice, red wine, and Welsh cakes (found in freezer while extricating green curry!). But hey, nicely at 59kg after last week’s ‘ballooning’ (!) to over 60..

And guess what? Yep! I’m happy now… Hmm, is that the fasting, the lovely slim and fit body, the exercise or the alcohol?!

As I was brushing my teeth last night I was wondering if there were any parts of your bodies that you would change? I was thinking that I would have liked my hair to be thicker (I mean seriously luxuriously thick, but in a straight way!). And then I remembered my pancakes.. how could I forget?! I hadn’t even been drinking! But no, I’d still rather have a mane of hair rather than bigger boobs…! Funny, because bigger boobs are naturally within my power, it only requires me to gain a stone to be a 34C which would be ample for me…. But I don’t want that extra stone so is that why I’m happy with the pancakes?

I know what your thinking, these mysteries of the universe are just too deep and complicated for a Friday night…..

And while I’m here…
Tim, how are you?
And Ken, it’s been a while, how are you?

Purple Vegie Eater

11:18 pm
19 Sep 14
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Hi MCs
Required a good long sleep to get over the Scottish night (mmmm the haggis sliders were lovely!) No weght gain though. But Sat morning calls.
Happy, you convinced me a while back that life is possible without breakfast. I find it incredibly freeing not having to eat first thing. So much more time! I’m sure it is the major change that guides my maintenence.
Like you, the pancakes are a disappointment. I tried a summer frock on the other day. Lovely. Size small, but nothing but toast racks showing at the front. Urrrggghhh! Have to forget cleavage reveal when there isn’t one 🙁
Have a good weekend. P

Carolannfud

3:51 am
20 Sep 14
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Too funny! Better pancakes and no bum!

Tarkeeth

8:51 am
20 Sep 14
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Hi PVE and Happy and all new and old friends. Turn my back for a moment and theres over a hundred posts to catch upon.
Had a dash by Ambo to Coffs Base last Sunday due left side stroke. Allowed home today and seems it was a very nasty dose of Mastoiditis which caused the Bells Palsy/ stroke. For you two Na-Sayers the MRI showed that my brain cavity is full of brilliant Male Matter.
Having fun learning not to dribble and bite lips etc. Have no taste but can feel texture, any way long term looks good. Actually drove very carefully to get my kids from the kennels this PM and that has given me a great boost.
Would love a drink but dare not. No wine for the last 3 weeks now.

Wondering if the loss of taste is a help or hinderance?

Now to tackle the 250 posts on Southern hem and post full story there tomorrow.

Even though I was offline I still felt very much of our family and missed all the news and ideas.

Cheers
Tim.

PVE, your dig on the 15 at 9 am has been noted. 🙂

Purple Vegie Eater

10:39 am
20 Sep 14
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Dear Tim, so sorry to hear about your latest problem. I guess the nurses at Coffs loved having you to cheer them up. What do the locals at Bellingen think of you pottering around in the car when you should be at home recuperating?
Thinking of you, mate. OH sends his regards too.
Hope you have someone to mop your brow. P 😉

Tarkeeth

8:58 am
21 Sep 14
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Evening all you may have guessed that I have a warped sense of humour and whist waiting for the ambos had the thought of dashing off a post along the lines of:

“Its 3.40am and have just rung 000 to take me to Coffs Hospital as I believe I have had a stroke.If this post is not updated in 3 days assume the worst! 🙂 Tim. ………….. I behaved.

The lass at 000 oh so very reassuring and calming. Right on the ball to the 20 min arrival time.

Thought the food was ok. Most of it cooked in Casino and trucked down and assembled here. Sandos only done locally. Fish only Fri/Sat in sandos and no lettuce all week but salads available, very large portions of whole cBrests or lean beef with lots of overcooked veg.
Dreadful desserts from supermarkets shelves. As I couldn’t eat properly had fun dunking biscuits.

Best bit about the whole episode was I was admitted by the most gorgeous emergency surgical specialist, she was very petite and I fell for her at once and spent the rest of the time unashamedly chatting her up as she saw me every day. We had a nice bit of nonsense between us. She was old enough to be my granddaughter. Did I tell you she was gorgeous.

Pve thanks for your thoughts and your OHs, Bgls through roof with the Preds etc.

Its not my brow that needs mopping, talking of which the beds where new and very comfortable
in all positions. 🙂

Best of maintaining to you all.

Cheers,
Tim.

Purple Vegie Eater

9:10 am
21 Sep 14
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Can’t they cook in Coffs, Tim? I can’t imagine Casino being better.
I’m glad you were still with it enough to chat up the staff. Well done!
Keep us posted on your progress mate. P:)

SSure

10:31 am
21 Sep 14
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I’ve just caught a comment somewhere where somebody remarked that she was looking forward to maintenance because she’d be able to eat all of the foods she’s currently ‘denying’ herself.

I’m not sure about this in so many ways that I don’t know where to start but I suppose that’s because there’s probably a lot of context and nuance that I don’t have and is taken as implicitly understood but would be bone-achingly tedious to detail in a forum post.

I eat whatever food I want but I eat it in appropriate amounts. ‘Appropriate’ for me encompasses my activity levels and my likely endocrine and physiological response to the food and whether it will affect me, physically or otherwise (positively or negatively). tbh, appropriate also varies with the day because if it’s a FD then that influences my choices and my portion size but that’s a decision I’ve already taken, it’s not something that has to be re-negotiated and determined every day or several times a day, IYSWIM.

Maintenance is pretty much that you carry on eating the way that you were when you reached your maintenance goal. Until those choices don’t suit you any more and then you replace them with something that does suit you and meet your needs. Being at my pre-chosen body composition (clunky way of saying what other people might express as ‘goal weight’) wasn’t a point at which I could then choose to revert back to something that I desired more because I already like the food that I eat.

Purple Vegie Eater

10:45 am
21 Sep 14
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Totally second your comments ssure! P

bayleafoz

11:12 am
21 Sep 14
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Agree completely, SSure.

For example, if I choose to eat a half slice of a flaky pastry vanilla slice (yesterday) then I eat lovely vegetable soup today. In other words I gave myself a small treat of sugar and very light pastry, because I had worked so hard. Today my body gets what it wants and needs, by way of yummy vegetables and fish or chicken and nuts.

The indulgence was bookmarked with very strenuous exercise. I have been lifting the Capeweed daisies with a pitchfork and trowel for 3 hours a day all week. In addition, we played golf today. The daisies are now all done. Tomorrow we get the new topsoil for dressing (OHs job) then OH seeds and waters the nature strip (aka the verge).

So I eat what I want, but in small portions, and with lots of water.
Cheers, Bay 🙂

bayleafoz

11:18 am
21 Sep 14
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Hi Purple and Happy,

Speaking of toast racks and pancakes. Early on in maintenance I reported no change in the upper storey. However, I have begun to lose cup size. 🙁

Do you think it is because I keep slipping in a little sugar treat while also fasting, that I am staying the same weight yet losing from the toast racks? Aaarggh!! The weight seems to settle on the tum with sugar foods. I know it’s a First World problem, yet it is sad for me.

Off to bed. Cheers, Bay 🙂

Purple Vegie Eater

11:22 am
21 Sep 14
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Well done beating the daisies Bay!
Absolutely vital to balance energy input and output, isn’t it?
Crazy imaging throwing away all that is learnt through this wol when one reaches goal.
We ate out Friday night and today, yummy food but not over the top and fast tomorrow. No going back to the old overindulgence! P 🙂

Purple Vegie Eater

11:29 am
21 Sep 14
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As Happy says, better toast racks and no bum. 😉
G’night Bay, Morning Happy and others up there.

bayleafoz

11:32 am
21 Sep 14
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Hehe. Forgot to say that the new shorts I bought in May are falling off me. So be happy! B 🙂

HappyNow

11:45 am
21 Sep 14
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Well said SSure.

As you note, you don’t get the full context for comments. Taken at face value though…

You would wonder why someone would choose 5:2 in the first place, as opposed to other diets that offer quicker weight loss, if the goal is just to lose weight and then revert to old eating habits.

Personally I do not want to revert to old eating habits.

I am delighted that I now naturally eat appropriate portion sizes. I enjoy my food, but how would I gain any more enjoyment by overeating?

I am also thrilled that I no longer crave processed carbs and sugars, and can go weeks or months without eating biscuits, cakes, sweets, etc, without any conscious avoidance or ‘deprivation’. Empty calories which spike insulin… Mmm, what a treat!

If you have been overweight because you eat too much and/or the ‘wrong’ food, then I think you need to accept that maintaining a lower weight will have to involve making long term changes. You can have your cake and eat it, just a smaller slice and not every day!

HappyNow

11:54 am
21 Sep 14
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Hi Bay,

Interesting that you are ‘harvesting’ fat from different parts of your body. I’ve noticed since my weight’s been stable that my hip and saddlebag area has continued to change (now every time I see a post from IHAW, I think ‘I have hip bones’!).

HappyNow

8:44 pm
21 Sep 14
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Tim,

Sorry, I only just found your post. So sorry you’ve not been well, although it sounds like it hasn’t been all bad….!

Starting to think you’re going to lie in bed now until you finally get your fevered ‘brow’ mopped!

Take care of yourself.

Lichtle

9:45 pm
21 Sep 14
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Hello everybody – especially Tim – sorry to read about your emergency admission – I hope your recovery will be fast.
I have been working in London for the last three days which was quite exhausting and unfortunately (after initial good food choices) caved in today and had way too much of the wrong food. I am a bit disappointed because I had been so good for most of the week and I wanted to maintain my recent target weight and now I feel I have set myself back by a week or two. This coming week I have family visiting for 5 days which means fasting is virtually out of the window.

Must be particularly good until they arrive. Yep, I am a newbie at maintaining which requires me to just do what I did when I wanted to lose weight. I need to go under goal in order to have some flexibility. But hey ho its a journey

SSure

10:03 pm
21 Sep 14
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Have a lovely visit with your family and enjoy each other. 🙂

“This coming week I have family visiting for 5 days which means fasting is virtually out of the window.

Must be particularly good until they arrive. Yep, I am a newbie at maintaining which requires me to just do what I did when I wanted to lose weight.”

This is the heart of maintenance tho’ isn’t it, and the skill to which maintainers aspire 🙂 Calm maintainers recognise how to be flexible about life and are confident that they can work around this either by preparing beforehand or deciding to be relaxed about it, observe what happens, and take appropriate action as soon as practical. The rest of us, rather more trepidatious maintainers, grit our teeth, gird our loins, and then realise it will probably be OK as it’s just life and only a few days. 🙂

Good luck 🙂

Lichtle

10:19 pm
21 Sep 14
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Thanks @ssure for your encouraging, kind words. I will try and keep calm and think of veggies :-))
Long hours, eating out (company expense) with colleagues in trendy bars and restaurants, surrounded by lovely smells, I buckled – I am only human. ;-)).

Wishing you all a successful week ahead.

Purple Vegie Eater

10:31 pm
21 Sep 14
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Hi Lichtle
Keep the end goal..good health. .in sight. As ssure says, you are in control. Keep the feast and famine idea in mind. Humans always had periods of overeating (eg when they caught a lion or kangaroo) but then had very lean periods. That’s what we are replicating on the wol.
You are probably doing this but I used this system every day with others around:always skipping breakfast when the visitors are there…they won’t notice, avoid the carbs at lunch and eat a small portion of dinner. ..”I’m not very hungry”. You might not be officially fasting below 400/500 but you are maintaining by your total cal count.
Surprisingly, I find I can get away with the social scene by having an extra glass of wine and several waters. Nobody notices you aren’t eating. Not a good long term solution but allows me to join in socially. Then I have the wriggle room to enjoy a really good meal when it comes up. Flexibility is the key, isn’t it? Remember. ..maintenance is for life 🙂 Good luck P

Lichtle

10:46 pm
21 Sep 14
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@purple, thank you. Agreed, have been thinking of the “under the radar fasting” too where you join in the meals (breakfast) and just have the coffee and divert people’s attention through conversation from the fact that you are not eating the toast or at lunch only a bit of meat and veggies.

Yes we can develop strategies to not spoil the social aspect of getting together.