This forum has been so helpful to me. I love reading other peoples personal stories, and seeing the support and encouragement they receive from others who are on the same path to weight loss and/or maintenance. Particularly inspiring are the threads where people have been on the journey long term, with falls on and off the wagon, but who come back to share. The honesty and humour is so refreshing.

As persistence and patience seem to be key, I’ve decided to record my own journey. I hope that by recording slow and steady progress (although speedy would be great), I can keep myself motivated to continue this WOL long term.

The scales are not my friend – I’ve allowed them to derail me so often over the years. OK, they’re crappy scales and can veer up or down 6 or 7 lbs without apparent reason. I considered replacing them, but from reading other threads I’ve come to the conclusion that the swings they show are a common problem, and maybe aren’t down to the scales at all. In which case it’s better I use them as a general indicator, but not my main motivator.

General summary
– Started mid-Feb 2019 with weight roughly 180lbs, BMI 32.9 – aaarrrgh, how did I let that happen?
– Goal is to get to 160 lbs which would put me at a BMI of 27.3 – mid-range in the overweight graph
– Targets are FD counts, with scales a general indicator of progress. Target 1 is 40 FDs.
– FDs for now are zero calorie 36 hour fasts. I’m counting each FD as a loss of half a lb, regardless of what the scales show. I’ll check in with the scales when I feel like it (quite often at the moment) to see if they’re in general agreement with my FD count. So far so good.
– Non FDs are not calorie counted, I eat what I want, when I want. I can cope with denial in short bursts but normal ‘diets’ make me obsess about food and get demotivated.
– On reaching target, I’ll take some time to decide next target, and whether to change FD approach to something less stringent.

Check in
– Feb 17 2019 – 180 lbs, BMI 32.9
– Mar 26 2019 – 14 FDs complete. 173 lbs, BMI 31.6

Delighted with progress so far. I’ve a number of family events coming up this year and really need to be able to get into my “good clothes” again.

Still plodding along.
On day 25 FD today.
Had family wedding over the weekend and was delighted with how my outfit fitted.
A trawl though my wardrobe also resulted in a number of nice finds which fit well again.
Still a way to go to reach my goal of 40 fds but feeling so pleased to have discovered this way of life.
I do my fast days when I can, and as long as I keep them up I can forget dieting the rest of the time and still see results.

FD 30 today.
The 2 planned next week should bring my BMI to exactly 30.
Fast days are not easy, but am focusing on my target of 40.
The milestones along the way, 1 stone lost, BMI to 30, BMI less than 30, etc, help to keep me motivated.
Not sure what I’ll do when 40 completed by mid-June hopefully. Still lots of time to decide that I suppose.
Best wishes to all, especially those also fasting today.

Thanks for the kind words Penguinchick. Yes, gentle friendly encouragement is what we all need.
I like to think we’re all part of a community here, which we are I suppose.
There are some real heroes on this forum that have gone from very high BMIs to a healthy weight, and shared their stories as they went along. I take inspiration from them. I look forward to following your progress, and hopefully cheering you on too.
I normally fast Mondays and Wednesdays, but move to Tuesdays and Thursdays if Monday is a holiday. I find it easier to fast on work days. I’m doing office work, so sitting most of the time. Concentration is fine even when hungry, and the work is a good distraction from temptation. I tend to be ‘all or nothing’ with things, so FDs are zero calorie days for now. I’m afraid I’ll lose control if I try to just restrict.
Yes, today’s a FD for me. Good luck to you and all the other fasters today.

Check in
– Feb 17 2019 – 180 lbs, BMI 32.9
– Mar 26 2019 – 14 FDs complete. 173 lbs, BMI 31.6
– May 16 2019 – 30 FDs complete. 165 lbs, BMI 30.18
– Jun 26 2019 – 40 FDs complete. 160 lbs, BMI 29.26

Initial target of 40 zero FDs complete and weight loss averages at half pound per FD.
New target is another 10 zero FDs.
I’m currently 11 stone 7 at my lightest. Want to move that to 11 stone 3 or 4 lbs over the summer. Getting consistently under 11 stone would be my final target I think. That would be 150 lbs.
Slow and steady seems to be working for me.
Best to all fasters and non fasters today.

A quick check-in, after neglecting my posts for some weeks.
I’m still doing my two zero fast days a week, where possible.
Next Monday will be my 60th FD since mid Feb.
Weight loss has slowed down a lot, still dipping slowly, but not much. Evening tipples have a lot to answer for here I think!
Good luck to all fasters and non fasters today.

Hope all keeping well, wherever you are in the world.
It’s been a while since I posted. Continued my 2 fast days a week up to late March, when the workplace closed. Routine is different for now and fasting has taken a back seat.
Kids have been busy baking all sorts of goodies, and my willpower isn’t up to the challenge. Afraid to check the scales.
Going to restart with a partial approach to my fast days for now, eating dinner with the family and nothing else for the day.