Hi Sonunda,

We started the 1st July and like you had great weight loss. We still have wine at the weekend but not as much as we used to. We also went to Nero and had a skinny latte and a caramel slice but it was the weekend, I didn’t feel guilty.

I am now getting ready for Xmas and as we are going away just the two of us, I am getting the chocolates, nuts, biscuits and things we normally eat at the holiday together. I am looking at these things and thinking are we really going to eat these…….. Even 2 weeks off the plan which we both decided for Xmas. Only time will tell.

This a ongoing life change and Xmas happens and has to be included in life, just like summer holidays, ( husbands words) so enjoy, move into the New Year and straight back on to the 5.2……and loose anything gained!

Sometimes. Certainly, not everyday. After a fast day, it is hard to overeat the next day–it’s like the stomach can’t hold that much and tends to make me uncomfortable. I was already eating fruit and veggies, so I cut high starch and slightly upped protein, and got rid of most junk food. I’ve added back some bread and root vegetables and the occasional sweet. A couple of bites is usually enough. Without the added back part, it was hard to eat enough to keep calories up on a non-fast day.

Sonunda,

Me to……..two pairs of jeggings and a pair skinny jeans! I cannot believe I would ever buy any thing like them……but have had 4 compliments already, they say I look 10 years younger…..and I feel it. I am 5.7 and back to a 14 after 20 odd years..

I was getting so matronly and old, mumsy looking….. 3 lb to go then another 3 lb for the up and down of weight gain!

Good luck to everybody.

Hey Sonunda!

I understand what you mean, sometimes it feels weird to treat yourself to stuff that’s bad for you. Sometimes it just makes me feel better walking past those treats with a slight smirk on my face, like “you’re not the boss of me”.
However if I keep doing it all the time, it starts feeling like “one of those” diets again and I actually start craving them more and more… so I have adopted a different strategy. All through the week, whenever I get cravings, I write them down on a piece of paper. Then come Sunday, I get to pick one or two items off the list to have as a treat. It makes it easier to cope through the week, and sometimes come Sunday I don’t even want them anymore…

Anyway.

Whoohoo grats symba!

I haven’t changed really. If someone offers me cake and it looks/smells/has form for being amazing I will eat it. I am picky to a certain extent though. I am not as polite as I used to be about food. If someone offers me something that I know will be OK but not necessarily “worth the calories” then I wont eat it, no matter how much I like the person. I also don’t waste my calories on Costa or any type of fast food etc. unless I KNOW for a fact that it’ll be “Worth the calories”.

My dad insisted that I have a cup of tea at his house a few weeks ago (despite it being a fastday – he doesn’t really ‘get’ it). I take 2 sugars and milk in my tea and on a fast day I have to account for that in my 500 obviously so this cup of tea was fine but would mean that I couldn’t have my normal fastday tea with my meal later. That’s fine but then he got all weird about my 2 sugars and basically (in a misguided attempt to encourage me to wean myself off sugar I guess) he only put 2 tiny tiny bits of sugar in the tea. So I basically sat there without touching it and just let it go cold. What a waste of calories that would have been.

I find I have no patience for things that I’m not going to really enjoy. If it’s not worth the calories I can easily go without it these days.

Cathyork – you’re a better woman than I. I’ve never been able to leave stuff on my plate (those starving kids in Africa and the thought of having it for breakfast tomorrow – you know the score – Mother’s who’d have em?). I am pretty good at portioning though and I live on my own, so when I’m home I’m very good at limiting what I put on my plate in the first place.

I can just continue to eat though, even if I am full, so I really still need to work on that and be more careful when I’m away from a ‘controlled environment’. It’s a process isn’t it – there’s always something that could be improved ;D

@cathyork. I also prefer not to tell anyone I’m fasting….not even my husband! Like you I just prefer not to have to explain that fasting is NOT ‘dangerous or ‘bad for me’ or that my body will NOT go into ‘starvation mode’. From my husband it would be ‘are you sure you’ll feel OK doing this? It won’t make you ill?’ Bless him, he knows I’m on a weight loss journey and is really very supportive and encouraging.

It’s very easy to do this as I’m home alone all day so the fact that my evening meal is not the same as his is not an issue. If I’m eating out with friends I eat some then just say something like ‘gosh that was really filling, I can’t eat any more’ or I have two starters so the portions are small.

On ‘normal’ days I use a teaplate instead of a dinner plate so my portions are just the amount I can eat. Although to be honest a huge plateful of food puts me off eating anyway!!

@tracyj – well the idea of leaving anything is completely new to me too. I recognise your “starving kids in Africa” comment as that is what my mum always told us.

The crazy part is that I have been cooking my own meals for the last 33 years and I am usually the one ignoring any kind of portion control – and believe me I can just eat and eat – but I do hate it when I get that (entirely self inflicted) feeling of bloating when I have gone too far!

Like you I try to figure out portions at home – and it is amazing when eating out if you compare what is served how MASSIVE some of the portions are! I suppose logically that is what we need to learn long term to prevent the weight creeping back!

@sylvestra – I like your strategies and it is great that your husband is so supportive. Mine is too – he lost 3 stones, almost effortlessly when I was away for 6 months running a project in Asia and he couldn’t be bothered to cook! as a result he had to replace practcally everything in his wardrobe. I can see a few pounds creeping back now, and whilst he can’t really do the fasting as he is an insulin-dependent diabetic, we mostly eat together so his portions are reducing too.

Cath x