Hi all – I just read the book over the weekend and was seriously impressed at the data – definitely gave me a lot to think about.

Last year I lost over 100 pounds doing the Paul McKenna hypnotic gastric band thing – which is based around conscious eating. I reached goal in September (I may have gone a little light, but I felt better to go a little low and leave some wiggle room). All went fairly well until Christmas, when I gained around 10 pounds – and I’m having a seriously hard time shifting it! I am also in training for the Edinburgh Marathon in May (this will be my first marathon) – and am following the Marathon Running for Non-Runners protocol which means I only run 4 days a week – although I do yoga ever day, and Pilates 3 times a week on the days I don’t run – so I’ve put myself down for ‘moderate activity’ level on the calculator. Anyway – long story short: one of my interests is the whole ‘hunger’ thing – I am convinced that most of the time it is a conditioned response rather than the real McCoy, so as today’s my first fasting day, I have decided to simply wait until I get genuinely physically hungry. Funnily enough, this is the foundation of the conscious eating programme, but I still ended up eating 3 meals a day just about every day, and it dawned on me reading the Fast Diet book that really there was no reason whatsoever to suppose that a human being would naturally become hungry with that degree of frequency … quite the reverse, in fact.

So here I am (I was up at 5am as usual) – I have done my yoga, done the short (3 mile) run on my marathon training schedule for the day, drunk 3 mugs of herbal tea – and I’m still not hungry. I had the odd pang around 8am which is when I usually start preparing breakfast, but I was busy anyway with the Monday morning clean-up of the house, so I just carried on with that then we took the dogs out for walk number 1 of the day. That’s 6 and 1/2 hours since rising, and I’m beginning to wonder what real hunger is going to feel like – I have a feeling it might come as something of a surprise! Anyway – this is just to say hello to everyone and I look forward to learning a lot from all of you.

Day 1 fasting yesterday – went well, was amazed how clear-headed I felt and how productive a day it was – had a lovely long hot bath in the early evening, ate (400 cals – didn’t want any more so didn’t eat any more) – and had a fantastic night’s sleep – best part of 10 hours!

And then I got on the scales this morning and my weight had dropped 5 pounds. Consider me well and truly gobsmacked. I mean, I’ve had weight fluctuations of up to 4 pounds (after a very long run the day before) – but never 5. In one day. I think I’m officially converted to this way of eating 🙂 Will keep posting here how I get on – my husband is already getting interested in this, and I’m hoping he’ll read the book soon.

Doing my second fast day today! Was going to do Monday and Thursday, but two things happened: first, it occurred to me that since I do my longest training run of the week each Friday, it might be advisable not to do that on the day immediately following a fast, and also – and this is going to sound ridiculous, I know – I want to do it again! I really, really do … this is very strange indeed 🙂

Thanks, Angie – and yes, definitely a girl 🙂

Okay – second fast yesterday – went absolutely fine – got on the scales this morning and, believe it or not, have dropped another 4 pounds – that’s a total of 9 pounds so far this week! And I can see the difference in the fit of my clothes, too 🙂 And my BMI has dropped below 20 (just – but still below) 🙂

There’s something very, very wonderful about this – I’m sure it must be something to do with the fact that I run, too – but really this level of weight loss is extraordinary. I have never, in 30+ years of yo-yo dieting – dropped this amount of weight so quickly and so painlessly. I have already got a friend thinking about starting it and may become quite a bore on the subject!

Also – I notice my sense of taste is so much sharper, and my skin (after a recent bout of flu) which was looking a bit grey and tired, is positively radiant the morning after a fast. All these benefits … this is just amazing.

Will try to calm down now – thanks for reading 🙂

Thanks, Angie – with the marathon training it’s a case of the lower the better (so long as my lean muscle mass stays constant) – the minimum safe weight for me is about 10 pounds lighter than I am now (and a BMI of 18.5) – but I’m not aiming for that, particularly – just another few pounds will do me fine. I’ll get a full set of readings next Tuesday morning, after the Monday fast, and see how it looks. I appreciate your concern. I really only wanted to drop 10 pounds, and was then thinking about this as a way of life for weight management and maintenance, and it looks like I may be moving to 6:1 rather faster than I’d anticipated. Yay! 🙂

Just a brief update – did my second week last week, and no weight loss at all (entirely to be expected after Week 1) – but weight holding steady, muscle mass improved and – of all things – bone density is up! Now that’s a measurement that hasn’t altered in 9 months, and two weeks into I.F., it improves. Also, noticing my marathon training is going very well – good speeds and fast recovery times – I’m also generally feeling very, very well. It’s entirely subjective, I know, but I feel happier in myself – it’s the only way I can express it. So glad I have found this way of living. Beginning Week 3 with a Fast Day today.

Another update at the end of Week 8 – I have lost in total 20 pounds – the last fortnight the weight just started falling off after a prolonged plateau (mind you, the marathon is getting closer and I’m putting in a lot of distance on the roads) – feeling fantastic, the running is going great guns, I’m continuing to feel that lovely elevation of mood generally – all in all, I’m delighted with this way of eating. Not looking to lose any more weight at all, but simply to maintain – and maintain those health-giving benefits, too!

Thanks so much for the resources this site provides – as well as the support.