Annette, well done on running almost 5 miles!! that’s impressive for your first non-rainy post holiday run!!! I’ll just bet you make that goal!

Jean, sure hope you and hubby get past that viral thing soon. it’s no fun at all especially when you think it’s getting better and have a relapse. good luck with the kitchen remodel, we will be attempting that next summer, if all goes well. good luck with the fast.

I had a pleasant surprise when I got on the scales. I lost 1.2 lbs which puts me a 139.2 lbs. been a really long time since I saw those numbers. measurements not bad either. I’ve been sticking to 16:8 on most days and I think that limited my holiday gain. plus, I’ve been really limiting my breads, and I think I’m sensitive to gluten,and it makes me gain.

happy fasting, onward to our goals in 2014. 🙂 Phyllis

Hi Phyllis,

Very well done on the weight loss, amazing after the holiday you must have been very strong not to pick to much. Hope we have not gained too much tomorrow….not fasted today properly, missed lunch and we had a light dinner.

Hi Annette,
Well done on your 5 mile run, you are always positive, we will feel it with the swimming, missed 3 weeks due to maintenance work and school holidays, it will be hard going on Monday…….

Cheers

Hi
Just wanted to share I found pair of linen trousers I had kept for repair. I held them up and thought they looked big, my daughter said try them on and I did over the pair of cords I am wearing and they were still baggy! I love this way of life and have been doing it since August and this forum has helped throughout. I read it regularily but have only contributed a few times – am putting that right whilst still on holiday! The change in my body is incredible.

Elaine

Hi all, thanks for the congrats. I couldn’t believe it when I found I had actually lost. 🙂 But, I had a slight advantage on you all. no holiday parties, no travel, no one bringing in food except for us. that made it easier to control what was available for munching. 🙂 AND I have found that eating this way makes me less able to eat very much at a time.

Angie, I hope you will be able to read the thread. lots of good ideas and really funny and encouraging posts. glad you posted!

Hi Symba, how did your weight in go? I’ll bet you will enjoy fasting and swimming next week. nothing wrong with taking a bit of a break, but sometimes I do look forward to fasting again. 🙂 you have done so well, I know you will do great in 2014!

Hi Elaine, whoohoo, baggy trousers!!! good for you. thanks so much for sharing! gotta love this way of life 🙂

wow, Annette, 2 lbs gone!! I knew it would melt away. those snug clothes will be baggy before you know it! every thing will settle back into routine next week.

so glad to have found this way of life and all you wonderful folks. here’s to a great year for us all. Phyllis

Thanks for the welcome – the support on this site is amazing. I have managed to loose 1lb over the Christmas fortnight which I am really pleased about. I did fast as normal but ate really well in between! Back to work Monday – I work on the sixth floor and use the stairs as my exercise but I really must do something else to tone up. have just bought a size14 skirt in the sales. it is tight but will be fine by next year. I have gone from obese to overweight and just can’t get over the delight of it all.

Need to get new bras as well – someone on this site once likened hers to parachutes and I did relate to that!

Elaine

Hi Everyone!
You are all so inspirational, I just love reading through your posts.

In 2012 I developed an internet shopping addiction and bought many clothes that were too small when they arrived. This week I have discovered that they fit and I have a whole new wardrobe to select from. Its so exciting!

I have exercised my whole life, my mum dragged me out of bed early morning from a small child till I left home to walk 6km everyday. I moved on to gym workouts and aerobics as an adult. BUT, you can’t out train a bad diet. I am now a member of a smaller gym and have started crossfit style workouts. They do almost kill me every time, but I enjoy finishing the workout and feel a sense of achievement.

Any way, I’m rambling! So pleased to read your posts, here’s to not stepping on the scales on a daily basis!

Dayna

@annette52
” the tyranny of the scales to control you and your mood.”

Hmmm.

Suggest a different scale that you can control.

I have one and it’s very obedient. If not, I pull the batteries until it behaves.

Works for me.

➰

Hi Annette, the Bath half was the last one I ever did in 1993 and my best ever time. It’s always a warm up for the London Marathon which I also did that April. My son-in-law is doing it this year. Good luck!

Having lost weight since July hubby and I were determined to start running again and replaced a couple of gym sessions with a run. Then the bad weather hit and Christmas came,but we WILL start again soon. I did my first half in just under 2hrs and my last 4 years later in 1-35 BUT I was 36 when I started and 40 when I ran that pb so I think you’re doing great-keep at it .
My SIL will be lucky to make it round if he doesn’t pull his finger out and do some more training! They’ve just had a new baby so he has had a little excuse!

Always nice to hear someone interested to follow you on board. Our daughter followed us a month after we started, although not always very good at sticking faithfully she has lost 21 lbs. Again she is like a lot of people with hubby ( who says diets are fads, and could do with at least 60 lb off) and two teenage boys, too many things about to eat. Still she says best diet ever.

Bad week for me, no swimming, helping hubby to lay wooden kitchen floor, hit my finger really hard with the hammer!! Stupid ….nearly last piece…bleeding for two days very bruised, nail purple and two inch of finger blue! So big bandage on for protection, couldn’t trust water to be clean enough. We have Fasted Monday. Hopefully we can swim next Monday.

Hope weather improves for the runners, I think it is calm for a few days….good luck.

Funny I woke up with a dreadful headache yesterday. My brain resolved it by making me dream that I had hit my head and had a concussion. For about an hour after waking I sort of almost believed that I had a concussion – well weird!
I went off to do some voluntary office admin work for a charity – they was a fire alarm – worst siren I’ve ever heard and it totally ruined my ability to ignore the headache and I had to come home.
Anyway, weightwise – I’ve gone back to my odd fixed weight of 13st 0.5lb, which has been the case since Jan 2013. Before xmas, with maximum effort, I got down to 12st 10lb, but there must be something about the 13st 0.5lb being constant.
I’m really forcing myself to try and walk 10 miles/18000 steps every day – if I miss that more difficult target, then I’m very likely to always be over my previous 6 mile/10800 step target – not gone under 120000 so far this year – legs are a bit achy though 🙂

Sorry to hear you are ill Annette, wish I could rush you around some soul nourishing chicken soup–best pick me up in the world. How sensible to give yourself time out, hope you have a good book and can shut out the world and put your feet up. Being kind to ourselves is the best gift, how long it takes to learn that lesson !!!
I wish you well, you are so encouraging and kind to others

Hi Annette,
Hope you soon feel better. Dare I say it…..I have had this viral infection now nearly 5 weeks..sore throat, ear ache, head ache and the first two weeks a hacking chesty cough as well, and very tired. I am a lot better but the sore throat and ear ache are still taking it in turns through the night, one one night and then changes to the other, I felt so tired yesterday but had a good nights sleep so feel a lot better again today, sore throat there today!

We are going to try maintain this month, we are both back to pre Xmas weight of two stone off. I hit my finger really bad with a hammer while laying the kitchen floor, stupid me, I think I might have broken it, although my bandage is now off it is still very sore and I have to be careful not to knock it. Also I am going back to Dubai, our daughter is delivering our new Grandaughter sometime tomorrow…so I am needed! Too busy for the 5.2…..joking…….it bit difficult at someone else’s house but I will try not to over eat.

So I think we will write this month off and get on board February, hopefully I shall be fit by then and swimming can start again.

Good luck to everybody, it’s been a bit quiet over the holiday…..hope you feel better soon Annette.

Jean

Hi Annette
Hope you feel better soon – I had some virus before Christmas and it took over a month to shift the cough so look after yourself. I am really impressed by your running I did try running once before but preferred organised classes. I have been doing Pilates at home and if I can fast 2 days a week I can easily keep up the Pilates – I hope ! I had a lovely afternoon yesterday trying on clothes that I previously could not fit in and sorting loads out for the charity shop, some for altering and a lovely silk dress that I might convert to a skirt or use the material to make something else. I don’t think we can bang on too much on this forum at how great we all feel. Elaine

Thanks Elaine, It now makes six but it is still exciting….I think she will be the last one. Off to Dubai to see her Wednesday morning really looking forward to it but I know it will be very stressful, always is! Leaving Hubby behind.

Good news Annette, I think I should of taken your advice earlier, come off the 5.2 until totally well.

Hope you have enough energy when you start running again, you will have to take it steady.

Good Luck.
Jean

hello Fast Friends, first of all, welcome to our new friends! so glad you joined us.

I’ve been in a slump health wise and when that happens, I can’t think clearly enough to post. so, I haven’t been ignoring you all, just short on brain power. 🙂

hope everyone is feeling better soon. there has been a nasty viral illness going round here too. not getting out much does have the advantage of not being exposed to such things much ( gotta look on the bright side,:)) it’s taking people a long time to fully recover, so be good to yourselves and do what you need to feel better.

congratulations Symba on that new granddaughter! hope you enjoy your visit.

today is a fast day for me, I’m looking forward to it. had too much bread for me yesterday, and feel heavy and stodgy today. good luck all and take care Phyllis

Hi fast friends! Sorry to hear some of you have been ill – not the best start to the New Year. Sorry if you have to pull out of the Bath Half, Annette, but I’m sure you are right to look after yourself and not push your body too soon after having such a nasty virus. Not great training weather either – even the dog walking is a challenge round here with all the mud about!

Probably the biggest downside to the Christmas festivies is not the 2lbs which I put on (and am now trying to get rid of again) but that I’ve rediscovered a taste for stuff like chocolate and have gone back to some old eating habits which I thought I’d ditched some weeks ago! So I hope a few weeks of doing the 5:2 again will re-establish a better attitude as well as get rid of a bit more weight. I’d like to lose another 6-7 lbs and then go down to a one day a week fast. That’s the aim for 2104!

I count up my calories on MyFitnessPal on fast days – just because it is all too easy to underestimate what you eat – and I havent managed to stick to 500 calories the last couple of times – more like 600. Maybe it is harder to cut back in the winter! I have found my last few fast days far more taxing than when I started. Mind you, I was much more cavalier about estimating my calories back then so perhaps I’ve often eaten more than 500 a day! My only saving grace is that I do a gym session and a long dog walk on my fast days.

Anyone read the Fast Exercise book? Wondered if someone had tried the exercise programme on a daily basis? I have tried to do some intensive bursts on the spin bike at the gym but not regularly enough to know whether it has done more good than my usual routine.

Finally congrats to Symba on the birth of your grandchild! Lovely news and I hope you enjoy your time with her in Dubai.