Hi all from 'sunny' Manchester!!

This topic contains 10 replies, has 5 voices, and was last updated by Nika 11 years ago.

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ruthmel1

5:44 pm
25 Nov 13
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Hi all,
I’ll introduce myself. I am 51, happily married 26 yrs. we have 3 grown up children aged 24, 21 and 17 and 3 cats. I suffer from Fibromyalgia and M.E (CFS). It has severely affected my life and that of my family. I am inactive because of the conditions which cause extreme exhaustion and 24 hr pain. I take Morphine for the pain. At the beginning of my illness’s, 10 yrs ago I put on 3 stone. I eventually lost it through eating the PAleo way but in the last 3 years things have been a bit ‘poo’. I had breast cancer, my mum and dad passed away within 2 years of each other and my daughter had to leave uni as she has M.E too. With all the stress I put a stone back on. I cant loose it as my body has got used to the amount of Paleo food I eat. I also am apple shaped and have visceral fat around my middle. As my dad had heart disease, type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s and in the end renal failure I do not want to go down that route. When I first saw Michael Mosley’s programme on I.F I wanted to do it then and there and wondered how to go about it so I was thrilled when the book came out.
I have been at it 9 weeks now and have shed 6lb. I still want to loose 11lb to get down to 9stone. I’ve stalled a bit recently as I think I’ve eaten too much on my non fasting days. I love the flexability of it. I chose Monday and Thursday as my fast days before I read the recommendations but its great, I can swapa round. often if we’ve eaten a big meal out at a weekend I’ll swap my fast day for the day after. I still get starving and still sometimes struggle, but I’m pretty well sorted out with a regime now. looking forward to getting to know you all

dumpling

7:53 pm
25 Nov 13
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Oh my goodness Ruth, you poor thing!! What a nightmare.
Some people seem to fly through life and others, have everything chucked at them.

9 stone…man, to be that. I don’t think I have seen 9 stone since I was 18!
( I’m 5 FT 8)

I am sure with your great attitude, you will succeed in getting to where you want and need to be ..for health.
All the best
And welcome xxx

mitches66

8:18 pm
25 Nov 13
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Gosh Ruth you have been through such a lot 🙁
You must be a very positive person.
Glad you are doing well on the diet, hopefully it will help some of your health problems too.
This forum is full of inspirational stories.
All the best.
Elaine

Nika

1:59 am
26 Nov 13
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Hey Ruth / Mel! I commend you on what you’ve lived through and are battling with! I can’t imagine what a struggle it has been, so I won’t pretend to.. I just wish you the very best of luck, with this new way of eating but also with the rest of your life!

Keep strong!

happylc

8:48 pm
27 Nov 13
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Well done you for not rolling over and giving up! What an inspiration! Please keep us posted – especially as to the impact on your health issues? What’s struck me most about this way of life is the positive and long term effects on our health – weight loss is almost just a bonus!

Read a story online about a lady who pretty much reversed a diagnosis of MS just by not having diet soft drinks (the artificial sweetener was poisoning her). How great it would be if your symptoms were somehow reduced because at a cellular level your body was somehow more efficient and healthy? I don’t know much about all the science but really keen to hear how you go and if the reduction of some of the bad stuff talked about in the book gives you a boon!

ruthmel1

1:08 pm
28 Nov 13
Permalink

Hi all,
Thanks so much for your lovely welcomes.
happylc, I’ve heard about aspartame and its side effects. I rarely have it these days. I’ve been Paleo for 3 years and havnt found any difference in my Fibromyalgia and M.E but I do feel better internally. If I have Gluten now I know about it and I suffer. I had Indian starters a couple of weeks ago and the next day I was on fire internally, plus other unpleasant symptoms.

I’m struggling at the mo with 500 cals. really for my little activity I should have 4oocals on a fast day. I was wondering about doing 4:3 but eating 600cals, which is more doable I think

Nika

2:33 am
29 Nov 13
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Hey Ruth!

I think going 4:3 with 600 cals should be fine, like you said. How are your fasting days? Do you keep munching through the day or do you have one meal (giving your body time to cleanse without having to digest)?

ruthmel1

2:05 pm
29 Nov 13
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Hi Nika,
Glad you think 600 cals 3x a week would be o.k My routine on a fast day so far has been, breakfast about 10am-chia porridge with almond milk -180 cals, as almond milk is very low cal I allow 100cals for milk in coffee and tea (all decaf or redbush), so I get 700mls milk which is great. I have a milky coffee in the late afternoon and a 200 cal meal at night. I do struggle as i’m very hungry so an extra 100 cals will help I think

Nika

3:41 pm
29 Nov 13
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An idea that’s been buzzing around a lot is to start skipping meals and calories, until you’re so used to complete fasting that you can just save up your allowed calorie amount until the evening.
Now I’m not sure what complete fasting does in combination with your condition(s), but it’s something to consider. A lot of people (including me) find they are simply less hungry (or not hungry at all!) as long as they don’t eat! Especially carbs can create ravenous cravings.

It may sound a bit scary, not eating anything for that long, but you really dó get used to it. I’ve been fasting for a little while and I know that if I wanted to, I could fast for 48+ hours. I don’t do it, because I think that’s stretching it too far, but I could do it. And just knowing that, knowing that food doesn’t dictate my life if I don’t want it to, is great. I used to always pack a lunch whenever I had a long train ride ahead of me or got a bit panicky if I didn’t eat every so many hours, but now I can just do what I need to do and go where I need to go and when I have time just have a nice healthy meal and don’t stress about it.

Having so many small meals sounds like hell to me 🙁 But, everyone has their own methods, so I can just tell you what works for me and then you can use all our tips and pointers to work out the way that works for you ^^ Just don’t dismiss anything just because it’s scary without trying it 😉

ruthmel1

11:57 am
30 Nov 13
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Hi Nikka,
so do you literally fast for 24 hours? I have done this in the past as I’m Jewish and we have a major 25 hr fast once a year, but on that one you cant drink either. I must say I hate fasting but I was wondering about just having a meal a t night and skipping breakfast so that I had more calories and felt fuller at night as I cant sleep if I’m starving!

I have another huge problem. My sleep patterns are dreadful and if I’m awake in the middle of the night on a fast day its murder as I just want to eat!! I’m much happier if I’ve slept all night as the time goes

Nika

2:43 pm
30 Nov 13
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Hey Ruth,
Yeah I fast for 23-24 hours a day. I just eat dinner every day and nothing before that. I do drink a load of water though 😉
And yeah it also could help with the sleeplessness, as a lot of people have reported sleeping better when they have a larger meal at night.

I wake up in the middle of the night a lot as well, mostly to use the bathroom. I usually get back to sleep quite easily, but that may be because I never feel hungry any more these days (and nights). Well I do on Monday, that’s because I only eat carbs on Sunday 😉

I hope your sleeping improves and you tweak the program to your liking! ^^