If your clothes are looser but the scales are the same, read on

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annette52

6:51 am
18 Jul 16
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Poor little chap, cinderella. So glad that he is feeling better. Food can be self-soothing when life is stressful and is something that I am trying to change.

This week I have tried not to snack on anything between meals. I have aimed to eat either meat or fish with vegetables or salad, followed by fruit. For breakfast, I have eaten either homemade meusli and full fat yoghurt or added some of the nut/seed mix as well. Apart from the FD (when I had lunch and dinner), I haven’t counted any calories at all. I did go out one day with my friend and we had cake and then a toasted sandwich for lunch as well as an evening meal. Yesterday was almost 24 hours without food and the results are that there is 3 lb less of me in a week and around half an inch on my waist. Very pleased.

I may have visitors for a couple of days this week, so may or may not get a couple of FD in this week. I will have another go at fasting from after my evening meal until the evening meal on the next day(I was asleep for much of it). It was fine and much easier than I thought that it was going to be.

NearlySlimJim

9:51 am
19 Jul 16
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There is something wrong with this thread, I keep leaving a huge post and it disappears but when I do a test it sticks. I’m not writing it all again, sorry.

annette52

12:07 pm
19 Jul 16
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Oh dear Jim.
How are you getting on?

NearlySlimJim

11:06 pm
19 Jul 16
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Hi Annette, hopefully this one will not disappear when I click submit.

I weighed myself on Sunday, the first time for two weeks because I was away the Sunday before and didn’t have access to my own scales, and found I had lost 5lbs in the last two weeks, bringing the total to 1st 2lbs over the last five weeks.

I am still wearing the size XXXL windproof cycling top, but after I have weighed myself on a Sunday morning I try on the XXL size to see how I am going and the two sides of the zips are getting nearer all the time.

According to the height weight thing I should be either 12st 6lbs or nine feet tall. My goal weight is 14st which I would be happy with, haven’t seen that since I was about 17, but if I can lose more that will be a bonus. Only 7st to go to the 14st mark.

Might try another 24 hour fast tomorrow and see how I go with three a week. Only do from the previous day’s tea to the next day’s tea and end my fast with the breakfast porridge (500 cals) I missed that morning, so it’s not too big a deal.

annette52

1:26 pm
21 Jul 16
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Wow! That is am amazing achievement Jim. You must be thrilled.You will see the zip getting closer and closer…and then it will be too big!Keep going, Jim, you are doing so well.

I did roar at the comment of you needing to be feet tall!I need to be taller too.

My sister has just been down to stay for a few days, which has included a meal, tea and cake and lunch out, as well as ice cream several times as it has been so very hot for the past couple of days. We both bought a big bag of chocolate( I jut fancied some) and my plan was to give her mine(minus a few) to take back with here, but she has left and we both forgot the chocolate. Now I have 2 large bags in the fridge…

I have a pack of smoked salmon that has to be eaten today, so that is lunch and dinner for me sorted. Perhaps I will try another 24 hour fast from dinner this evening until dinner tomorrow evening to see if I can limit some of the inevitable damage that has been done over the past few days. You have inspired me, I might try 3 next week and see how I feel.

Onwards and downwards, Jim.

NearlySlimJim

8:46 pm
21 Jul 16
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Hi Annette. I did a favour for my neighbour and he promised to buy me a mixed grill sometime to say thank you. The pub we go to for Sunday lunch every week does the biggest mixed grill I have ever seen, I had it once when we first went there about 6 months ago and I couldn’t finish it (and I have a hearty appetite); in fact, my friend had to take half of it home for his dog. As it costs about £16.00 and he doesn’t have much money, I suggested we went to another local pub on Saturday and he can treat me to a steak & ale pie with mashed potatoes and vegetables instead (it’s only about £8.00 and the pies are so big we don’t need to have a starter or a pudding). I’m pretty glad it’s another fast day on Friday as I can have a light tea and no breakfast on Saturday.

I don’t buy chocolate now because if I knew it was in the fridge it would be taunting me and I’d have to eat it all. You must have really good willpower Annette, I’d have to throw it away. Before I started the Fast Diet I had about five packs of four Cadbury’s Double Deckers in the Fridge, so I threw them in the bin outside. The next day, because they were still inside the wrappers I got a pack out of the bin and ate them, so the next day I had to take them all out of the bin, open them and put them back in so I wouldn’t be tempted to eat them.

Well done you for resisting, keep up the good work.

annette52

8:48 am
22 Jul 16
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Hi Jim,
Sounds like a plan. How about having the pie and vegetables and leaving the potatoes? You will already have carbohydrates in both the vegetables and the pastry, before you even get to the potatoes.

I had planned to buy a small bar of chocolate but got swept away and my sister is one of those people who can have a little of something and then leave it alone for ages. Clearly I thought that I had become like her. I haven’t!

I have had some of the chocolate and I am wondering whether I will simply remove it and add it to the Christmas stash that is sealed, put it away somewhere difficult to reach or throw it away. I did laugh about the Double Decker incident, I have been there too.

I find that keeping a log of what I eat is really helpful. If I know that I am going to write it down then I think twice about whatever it is that is currently calling me plus I can look back over the week and see what I can improve/change. The damage this week has not been as bad as I thought it was going to be, just a lb back. I suspect that the chocolate will be very safe while i work on shifting that and some more this week. I am planning to have my evening meal tonight and then nothing until tomorrow evening which should be fine, as I have done it once.

Keep going Jim. You are doing so very well.

annette52

12:02 pm
22 Jul 16
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Chocolate update.
The bags total 700gms, each 100gm=500 calories!!!!! I have eaten the 50g of the ones that I like and the rest are in the bin. I know that they are soft centres and I really don’t enjoy them. Never thrown food away before and certainly not chocolate. Feels good.

NearlySlimJim

8:23 pm
23 Jul 16
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Well done for throwing the chocolate away. Did you stand at the bin debating whether to throw it all away or keep some? I would have taken it out to the bin, then brought them back in again, then repeated same a couple of times before finally deciding to get rid of it. I have an internal struggle where sugar is concerned which is why I don’t go down the chocolate, the cake or the ice cream aisles at the supermarket and I definitely can’t keep any in the house.

I haven’t had any chocolate, cake, biscuits, ice cream, sweets, toffee, indeed anything sugary since I started the Fast Diet six weeks ago I am finding now it’s not as hard as it was. I’ve just remembered that I have about 10 tins of rice pudding with nutmeg hidden away in a cupboard I never go into. I had offered these to my neighbour when I started the Fast Diet, but he refused them because he had gone to his doctor for a check up and was told his cholesterol is too high. I keep meaning the throw them out but whenever I decide to do it I get to the kitchen and find I’ve forgotten what I went in there for. Because of my propensity to get them out of the bin again when tempted, I think I might open all the tins, pour the rice pudding into a sieve, wash the milk away, put the rice in the bin and pop the tins in the recycle bin.

My friend and myself ended up going to the pub that serves the mixed grill because he prefers that to the pie pub, so I ended up having the mixed grill after all. I quite surprised myself by actually finishing it this time. It’s the Cumberland Sausage that gets us both every time, it’s so big and filling. They also didn’t have any steak left so I had a portion of scampi instead. I was expecting the chef to put the chips (more sort of small wedges) in a separate bowl as my friend said he would eat them but they put them on the plate, so I had a couple of them too with some tartar sauce on and my friend had some too, but I left most of them on the plate untouched.

I’d got a bag if beef steak mince out of the freezer last night to have with some fusilli for my tea this evening but it’s 8.30pm and I’m still not hungry enough to eat it, so I think I shall leave it until tomorrow evening instead. Though on saying that it’s Sunday tomorrow and we go to the mixed grill pub for Sunday Lunch and they are very large portions too. I believe may end up throwing the mince away because Monday will be a fast day when I have porridge for tea, so I wouldn’t be able to have the mince until Tuesday and I don’t think it will last that long. I think with all this cutting down on food my stomach is shrinking (apparently it does that over time) and I’m finding that my appetite is lessening and I can’t eat as much as I used to do, which can only be a good thing.

annette52

7:39 am
24 Jul 16
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I ate the ones that I liked-about 6, checked that there were no more in each bag and the threw them both in the bin and walked away with your words ringing in my ears. I did think about taking them out but having looked at the amount of sugar in them I kne that it was madness as there is only me and one son(who is overweight) who would eat them. It wasn’t going to help either him or me.He was very disappointed when he came home from work to find that they had been thrown away, but when I explained about the calories/sugar he just shrugged his shoulders and we had dinner together.

My son is on the autistic spectrum.He is not very good with change or some food tastes/textures, so I find it easiest to meal plan with him. He has refused point blank to try the 5:2, but is happy to have meals with less rice/pasta/potatoes/bread less often. He doesn’t like fish, so one way that I get round this is that I have fish and he has steak and then we both have either salad and veg without any potatoes etc several times a week.He is shrinking and is pleased that he is less hot and people have noticed that he is too.

I don’t go down any of those aisles anymore either, Jim. I have got the ice cream out of the freezer and then looked at the sugar content and put it back. I know that if it comes home with me, I will eat it all. So, I don’t but it.

Why not go through the cupboards and get rid of the rice pudding and anything else that would lead you astray? There is nothing in my house that I would scoff, apart from nuts and there is only so many of them that you can eat at one time!

If the mixed grill is so big, why don’t you make that your one and only meal that day and take the Cumberland sausage home in a doggy bag for another day? Eating less should mean that you can’t eat as much as you could which is the idea as you want to not only lose the weight, but also keep it off. There have to be changes in what and how much you eat to do that.

Do you cook at all?

The Hairy Bikers have a tasty recipe for Bolognaise for 4 which is easy to make and is on the internet. You could share a meal with your neighbour and then freeze the other 2 portions for another day.Or, eat one portion and then freeze the other 3. I use ‘take away boxes with lids from Poundland. Quite delicious with 75g wholewheat pasta.

As there is just the 2 of us, I am no longer cooking a roast on a Sunday. We might have a stir fry instead.

NearlySlimJim

11:30 am
24 Jul 16
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I’ve had a look at the Hairy Bikers’ Spagbol and it does look easy. I’ve also had a look in their ‘Meat Feasts’ book which I bought some months ago and there is a similar recipe with a couple more ingredients and about twice as much of everything which serves 10 portions, so I may have a go at that too when I’ve got round to buying myself a stockpot (unless I could possibly do it in the slow cooker, I shall have to experiment).

I did not eat the mince last night. I was still full from lunch and I did’t think about it till about 11pm but it would be too late by then (I suffer from acid reflux if I eat anything after 8pm. Like you suggest, I could cook it this afternoon in the bolognese recipe, let it cool down and then freeze it. I would not have thought of that, I’d have just thrown it away. Thanks. This is the reason I tend not to do these recipes that serve upwards of four people, because I forget I can freeze them and think I’ll be eating the same thing for my tea everyday for a week.

And of course, by the time I had finished the post and gone to make myself another cup of coffee I had forgotten about throwing away the rice pudding. It is still there in the cupboard taunting me but I can’t do anything about it now as I am just about to set off for Sunday lunch. I’ll have to get a tin out of the cupboard and put it onto the counter to remind me for when I get back.

annette52

1:52 pm
24 Jul 16
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The Hairy Bikers do a rather good chilli recipe too, which my boys like very much. Cook it, eat 1 portion and then cool/portion/freeze the rest for another day. Have a look at Nigella Lawson who does a recipe for Carbonade of beef a la flammande,which is the most gorgeous meat stew from an inexpensive cut of meat that is cooked for 3 hours on a low heat in the oven. I think that it is for 8, but it is even better when it has been reheated anyway and can be reheated from frozen in the oven as well.

Remember to reduce the liquid by 1 third for any recipes that you try in a slow cooker.I cook the bolognaise and the chilli in a large pan that has a lid on top of the cooker to simmer.

How did lunch go?

Iona72

7:29 pm
24 Jul 16
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Good work Annette and Jim ~ I have NEVER put chocolate in the bin! Such willpower.
I feel last week went well without any snacking and cutting out a couple of meals here and there. The weekend wasn’t so good, but I’m not too worried, I know I can get back on track. I really need to get back to a couple of FD this week, daughter is away so just other half and me, it’s a good opportunity.
Good to hear from you, have a great week!

annette52

8:21 pm
24 Jul 16
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It is still in the bin, Iona. Up until the other day, I had never put chocolate in the bin either!

Good to hear your week went well even if the weekend wasn’t so good. I am trying to fit in FD around my son who is working shifts, so that I can have another bash at a 24 hour fast. Now that i have painted a door and some cupboards brilliant white, everything else is looking very yellow. I can feel a FD full of painting ahead of me, which is no bad thing either.

My plan is to get out for 3 short runs this week as well. I have new light weight shorts and some new shirts to test that were a complete bargain in a sale and ideal for the warmer weather…which I hope will come back.

NearlySlimJim

11:28 pm
24 Jul 16
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Because Sunday lunch is normally a prawn cocktail with a very sweet sauce and the main meal would be half a chicken, loads of new potatoes and a roast potato with carrots and other veggies, I decided during the week that I would have the calamari with salad but no sauce and one of the specials. Unfortunately for some reason they were not doing the calamari or the specials, so I had to have the usual. I gave my friend my new and roast potatoes and the Yorkshire pudding, so I only had the chicken and the other vegetables, which will have lowered the calorie count a bit after I had the prawn cocktail with the, I assume, very high calorie sauce.

I was looking at cast iron oven proof casserole pots but then decided to buy a larger pressure cooker instead. I have a 2.5L one which I mainly use to cook pasta and occasionally a vegetable & lentil style soup, but I found some recipes online for stews and casseroles which can be made in a pressure cooker in about 40 minutes instead of the usual couple of hours. This is especially useful as my oven is electric (fan) and the hob is gas, so will be cheaper.

Didn’t get round to making the spagbol sauce this afternoon, which also means I haven’t used the mince. I felt a bit sleepy after my lunch, so laid on the bed for a 30 minute nap and slept for three hours. Apparently, according to Bill Bryson, after a large meal the body can’t keep you awake and digest the meal at the same time, so it puts you to sleep so it can digest the food easier. That’s my excuse anyway.

I have bought a turbo trainer. It’s a thing that you attach your bicycle to and the rear wheel turns a small spindle which has tensioners on which can make pedalling easy or hard. I got it because of all the miserable weather we have been having which makes it difficult to find the enthusiasm to go out cycling when it’s raining. I can now go cycling in my lounge.

I wonder if I could do the spagbol sauce recipe it in a 26cm straight sided frying pan, which is the largest frying pan I have at the moment, with the exception of a wok. What size pan do you use for it Annette?

How long do Kiwi Fruit last in the fridge? I bought some a couple of weeks ago but because I only go in the fridge a couple of times a day I forget they are there. Bit late tonight, I’ll try to remember tomorrow after my first fast of the week.

annette52

6:46 am
25 Jul 16
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Hi Bill,
For years I have used a large non stick frying pan which is approx 13 inches/33 cms wide which didn’t have a lid, so anything simmering dries out more quickly. My best buy was a saute pan(base is 18cms in diameter) which looks like a small wok and has a lid(they were on sale in Sainsburys) and I think I paid £8. In fact, I don’t see why you couldn’t use a small wok(get a non stick one and some plastic utensils) which has a lid as it would do the same thing. I don’t see the point of anything cast iron as I can’t pick it up when it is empty, never mind full! My mother had a pressure cooker and the horrific noise that it made has always put me off owning one, but maybe I should look into it and see if there would be any benefits to me.

I have never put a kiwi fruit in the fridge. Mine are taking ages to ripen in a bowl, so take it out of the fridge to let it warm up and give it a gentle squeeze to see if it is ripe. If not, leave it on the side to let it ripen and then you will also see it!

Prawn cocktail sauce(Marie Rose) in usually mayonnaise with ketchup to make it pink. You did well to off load the potatoes and yorkshire pudding and what you ended up eating was rather good. However, as your friend is supposed to be losing weight too, I suspect didn’t help him. I appreciate that your food plans went out the window, but could you try somewhere else that has smaller portion sizes?

I hate feeling so full that I can’t keep my eyes open, and I haven’t felt like that for a very long time now. Thinking about how full you feel as you eat is key to putting the cutlery down while there is food on the plate. But there can also be the pressure to eat everything when you have paid to have a meal out. Have you thought about just having the main meal?

NearlySlimJim

11:44 am
25 Jul 16
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The trouble with most of the pubs in Cumbria is that they have a lot of walkers coming for meals after they have been up the fells and therefore they serve huge portions of pies and potatoes to fill the walkers up and to also get good reviews. We would try somewhere else except that my friend only ever wants to go this particular pub for Sunday lunch because it’s two courses for £10 and it’s the cheapest we have found for such a large meal, all the other pubs being tourist pubs and therefore more expensive.

It was only because my friend had been to the doctors for a check up and was told that his cholesterol and blood pressure were too high that he agreed to not having a pudding. He is unfortunately the sort of person who, if I did not have a starter, would be punctuating each mouthful with “oh, this is so delicious, mmmm it’s gorgeous, your really missing a treat” etc just to wind me up. I may ask the chef if he can do a prawn cocktail without the sauce next time.

Well, it’s raining again so I’ll have to go cycling in the lounge again. I did 30 minutes the other day which apparently burnt approximately 350 calories. I worked out that if I cycled for 45 minutes I will burn over 500 calories which will be the equivalent of the porridge that I will have for my tea today, so I’ll see if I can do that instead. I’ve also had delivered some road cycling shoes and pedals which will make it easier to pedal fast.

K- Lo

1:06 pm
25 Jul 16
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NearlySlim, does your pub do what we in the US call “doggy bags”…taking home leftovers? Even if the pub portions are huge, can you decide ahead of time how much you’re going to eat and pack up the rest to reheat another day?

Iona72

1:46 pm
25 Jul 16
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Just a quick flying visit to say I am 18 hours into an attempt at a 24 hour fast. So far I’m feeling great, not really thought about food much, kept busy and drinking green tea or water. After the excesses of the weekend I’m sure I have enough on board to keep me going 😕
Just need to make sure I don’t go overboard when I start to eat again this evening. Just planning on a light risotto followed by some raspberries.
Keep up the good work team, have a great week, onwards and downwards!!

NearlySlimJim

10:03 pm
25 Jul 16
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I wouldn’t be able to take home leftovers because anything I leave on my plate my friend will hoover up – I dropped a new potato on the floor a couple of weeks ago at the pub and he picked that up and ate it!

There is a choice of a small plate and a large plate, the small has a quarter chicken and the large has half a chicken and they both have the same amount of vegetables but less potatoes and unfortunately it’s the chicken I like so I always go for the large plate (same price too). I’d rather just order the meal and then when it comes give my friend the stuff I don’t want, like the potatoes and the Yorkshire pudding.

I think I’ll stick to asking the chef for the prawn cocktail without the Marie Rose sauce, although hopefully next week there will be a choice of specials.

I’m doing three 24 hours fasts every week which I follow with a 500 calorie bowl of porridge and nothing else until breakfast the next day, plus I’m burning around 500 calories every day (seven days a week) by cycling, turbo training or doing an aerobics DVD, so I think I’m allowed an extra few calories on a Sunday ;=)

annette52

8:10 am
26 Jul 16
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Morning All,
Ordering the larger plate for the chicken makes complete sense and I imagine that the prawn cocktail is mostly lettuce with prawns anyway, so hardly horrendous with the sauce and if you love it as your weekly treat…then why not?. As your friend appears to be a human dustbin, then that is something that he will need to address himself. Very impressive to do 3 24 hour fasts a week, I have managed one and am about to try another one today with the aim of breaking my fast this evening with some salmon and vegetables.

How did it go Lori? Did you manage the 24 hours?

I had my second Krav Maga lesson last night and I really enjoy it. Never done anything like it at all. It is solid activity from 8-9.30pm, a complete body workout. My fitness can only improve and my first goal is to be able to complete the warm up!

NearlySlimJim

9:47 am
31 Jul 16
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Good morning everybody. My first milestone has been reached.

I did my three 24 hours fasts on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I also did three 45 minute sessions on the turbo trainer on those three days, which burnt 500 calories each time and had a 500 calorie meal afterwards. I kept my calorie count at around 1400 per day averaged over the full seven days. Then I thought I’d ruined it by having two huge pizzas on Friday evening at the end of my fast.

I weighed myself this morning and found that in the last week, despite the pizzas, I have lost 8lbs and have gone below my first goal of 20st; I am now 19st 13lbs, which is a total loss of 1st 10lbs over the last seven weeks since I started the fast diet.

Woohoo!

annette52

10:01 am
31 Jul 16
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I was just wondering how you were getting on, Jim. I am amazed at your commitment to complete 3 24 hour fasts when I would be thrilled to manage 1 in a week.You must be a new man with the added exercise into your routine, but I am slightly puzzled. Do you mean that you ate 500 calories at the end of each fast?
Why the 2 huge pizzas?

Very impressive loss to date. You must be thrilled, well done!!!
Just be aware that your losses will slow down as you lose weight, so don’t be disappointed when that happens. Just keep going.

I am just deciding whether to garden in the sun or go out for a run. Tough choice.

NearlySlimJim

10:24 am
31 Jul 16
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Hi Annette. My 24 hour fasts are between 6pm on the first day to 6pm the second day and I break my fast by having a 500 calorie bowl of porridge for my tea. I then don’t eat anything else until my breakfast on the third day which is another 500 calorie bowl of porridge. I then eat normally for the rest of that day, sometimes having a bowl of soup for lunch and sometimes nothing, with a normal 1000 calorie maximum meal for tea, and then I start the 24 hour fast again. On a Sunday I have the lunch in the pub and a light meal for tea before starting the first fast, usually a gammon steak and a couple of fried eggs.

I can’t just have one pizza! I’ve only ever had one pizza and that was when I was about 18 and would get one on the way home from the pub, eating it as I walked the couple of miles home. I was going to have a home made chinese vegetable meal (bamboo shoots, water chestnuts and bean sprouts) with a sweet & sour sauce but then found that I had run out of sweet chilli sauce. I then decided that I would buy a takeaway but picked up the pizza menu too and because I was hungry (always a bad mistake when looking at takeaway menus) I decided to have a pizza instead. Because the hunger was upon me, I ordered a large garlic bread with cheese (which comes in a round pizza shape) and a large basic pizza with ham, pepperoni, peppers, mushrooms, pineapple and black olives. So although I call it two pizzas it is really a round cheesy garlic bread and a pizza. I haven’t had any breakfast as it’s Sunday lunch day and I really fancy a pizza now after writing all that down!

By the way, I forgot to mention that I tried on my XXL wind proof cycling top (the second largest) after I had weighed myself and I can do the zip up, so I must be losing inches around my stomach too.

annette52

6:21 am
1 Aug 16
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Hi Jim,
Thanks for the explanation. Are you eating fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, cheese, eggs, butter, yoghurt, nuts, seeds etc no your non fast days?

The key here is to be organized with food. Are you aware that sweet chilli sauce is extremely high in sugar? I made a chicken stir fry for me an my son last week which uses a freshly squeezed lemon for the sauce and it was delicious and tasted clean-not artificial and claggy. That was a Ken Hom recipe in an old cook book but I am sure that you could find it or something similar online.

Try and avoid takeaways, they are often highly calorific with low nutritional value and expensive. The take out pizza may have ‘cost’ you all 3 of your 45 minute sessions on the turbo trainer if we made the assumptions that all calories are the same.How did you feel after eating all of that?

Try and make a pizza a once a month treat maximum and ditch the garlic bread. Have a look at your food on non fast days and see if you can improve the quality and variety of what you eat…while reducing the bread/pasta/rice/potatoes in amount and frequency. I now have one meal a day without any of the above. I like scrambled eggs with some smoked salmon, baked salmon fillet with vegetables, avocado with salad etc.

I no longer have a FD on a Monday as I will need all my energy as well as somebody else’s to keep me going through 90 minutes of Krav Maga tonight. That will now be Tuesday instead.

Iona72

1:13 pm
1 Aug 16
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Good plan Annette, don’t want you passing out mid move!! I’ve been to the gym this morning and enjoyed making my body move again, I’ve been far too lay of late😕
I’m finding easier now to cut out snacks and quite often miss breakfast which is a surprise to me as I love my weetabix first thing. Often have it for lunch instead now.
Jim, well done so far, some good advice for you from Annette, keep going and keep us up to date, motivation is the key for us all and is contagious. We have just booked a trip to New York so something to aim for!
Hope all is well with Lori? Where are you???

cinderella

10:12 am
2 Aug 16
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Well done Jim, you can be really proud of your loss so far! With three 24 hour fasts a week you’ll have to make sure you get all your nutrition in between. You’ll probably find your stomach capacity starts to shrink soon and two pizzas will be a thing of the past. I’ve given up full fast days as it makes me too grumpy! I have been doing my two 500 fast days a week but have not been careful enough in between so still treading water. Unlike Annette I find it much harder when I’m off work as being busy makes the FD day speed by. I haven’t weighed for weeks as I feel I know the score! We’re off to the Isle of Wight in a couple of weeks so I should knuckle down really. Yesterday we went to a pick your own place so too much fruit and lunch plus farm shop cakes. I’ve been doing some gardening and sanding down a table and benches and painted them pale blue to remind us of our Bermuda holiday. Not Bermuda weather today though! Take care all.

annette52

3:20 pm
3 Aug 16
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My problem with FD when I am at work is that lunch is provided and I have no idea what might be on offer on a FD and also that sometimes I do not have enough to do when I am at work plus there are always piles of biscuits available. I am not sure quite how to deal with that when I am back to work.

I am struggling to see any difference on either the scales or the tape measure around my waist despite my reduction in sugar as well as now having one meal a day without rice/pasta/potatoes and often both meals. One one level it is very disappointing that having made such big changes, there is little apparent reward.

I eat a lot of fish with salad or vegetables, fruit/nuts/seeds. I no longer bake or have a cake, biscuit, ice cream in the house..because I am unable to have just one. The sugar turns me into a lunatic looking for my next fix, so I don’t have the temptation.

However, I have to remind myself that 90 minutes of Krav Maga is a full body workout and that I have just completed week 3 and that I am probably increasing my muscle mass-hopefully.It is said that after 16 weeks that there will be a big increase in physical fitness, which is also my aim. I am also sure that I have more obvious muscles in my abdomen, which I hope will also increase!

In conclusion, I am just going to keep with 2 FD a week and continue with my much healthier diet and keep the faith that it is a much better way to live and that there will be some shrinkage to my waist over the coming months.

Iona72

3:46 pm
3 Aug 16
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Good attitude Annette, stick with it and await results!
Good to hear from you Cinderella – I am familiar with the “treading water” feeling, some days more like hanging on by the very tips of my fingers!! My husband came home with a dozen cupcakes the other day, 🙄 luckily after sampling one I found they actually weren’t as good as they looked so wasn’t bothered after that. Previously I would have just eaten them anyway so feel that is progress at least👍🏼
Onwards and downwards.

annette52

7:58 pm
3 Aug 16
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Wow Iona! It feels powerful when that happens, doesn’t it?

I am back to counting calories for the next week or so, to see if that makes any difference at all. I am conflicted by those who say that all calories are not the same and that it is pointless to count them, but to concentrate on eating unprocessed meat/fish and wholefoods. However, I am ‘stuck’ and have been for a while now, so I feel that there is nothing else to do.

annette52

7:36 am
7 Aug 16
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The culprit, as suspected, is the amount of nuts that I was scoffing. So I am trying to be mindful of those and simply continue with one meal a day without rice/pasta/bread/potatoes, although I often do two.

Yesterday in the hot evening sunshine, I took myself out and had fish and chips in the park, followed by an ice cream as I walked home. No guilt or despair about it either, I had planned that what I was going to do and thoroughly enjoyed it too. Today, back in the groove.

Almost forgot, tried on a couple of skirts that were rather tight..and no they are not. Thrilled.

NearlySlimJim

10:11 am
7 Aug 16
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Hi Annette, I’m another 5lbs down since last week and that’s without doing any cycling on the turbo trainer as one of the cranks on my bike developed a fault and I couldn’t use it. I still look fat in the mirror though I expect I would at just over 19st (perhaps there is something wrong with the mirror!). I’ve decided to stop looking in it until I’m around the 15st mark so I have covered it up with a dressing gown.

I have a shopping bag full of nuts in a cupboard which I bought before I started the fast diet and I keep getting them out, having a look through and then putting them back again. It’s quite amazing how 100g of any nut will give you approximately 600 calories and I can’t just have a few. The authorities recommend a hand full of almonds a day to lower your cholesterol (apparently 50g almonds lowers your cholesterol by two points over a course of a couple of weeks), but how big is a hand full and are you allowed to keep them in the bag at the time? So I don’t eat them now either.

Well done on the skirts, I’m hoping to get into that XL cycling top in a few weeks. If you are just having one meal a day, aren’t you giving yourself a 24 hour fast every day. I generally have a hot bowl of porridge for breakfast on my NFD (100g Quaker Oats, 300ml almond milk [14 cals per 100ml vs 50 cals for semi skimmed] and a good squeeze of organic honey = 500 calories), no lunch and a sub 1000 calorie evening meal, but no snacks of any kind (keep them in a cupboard you never go in and either on a very high shelf or a very low one so you don’t see them when you open the cupboard, or put something in front). It’s important to have a breakfast however small, even if it’s just a couple of water biscuits and a hot cup of lemon & water (which would come to about 40 calories).

Apparently it’s good to treat yourself occasionally. My friend and myself always have fish & chips when we go down to Morecambe for a cycle along the promanade (it says in the official blurb that it is 7 miles long but it is nearer 4 miles from where we park the car before Morecambe to Heysham where we have a coffee) and it is completely flat, though we do get a bit of a workout cycling towards Heysham against the wind but it’s great coming back.

I still have rice and pasta though. They have a lot less calories than potato and there always looks to be more on the plate. I can still have other stuff with them like mince or chicken and a sauce and still have less than 1000 calories for the full meal. Potato I generally mash with butter and milk so that makes it over 1000 calories just for the potatoes, never mind the rest of the meal.

Keep on Keeping on.

annette52

12:31 pm
7 Aug 16
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Hi Jim,
Sorry for any confusion, but I meant that I usually have 3 meals a day. Breakfast, might be the seed/nut mixture mixed with some homemade meusli in varying combinations. I should try scrambled eggs with bacon for a change. I am trying having less carbohydrates(rice/bread/pasta/potatoes) less often, which means that lunch might be fish or avocado with salad or scrambled eggs and smoked salmon, followed by fruit and 25g almond. My evening meal might be fish or meat with vegetables and some fruit. I can’t remember the last time that I had any pasta but I do know that it makes me feel sleepy which is the insulin response.

I love nuts, but I weight out 25 g in a small bowl now, which is my daily allowance.I have to say that I don’t miss rice, pasta, bread or potatoes. It is just getting used to what a meal looks like in a different but healthier way. I use smaller plates/bowls as well and always sit down at the table to eat.

It isn’t important to have breakfast or to break the fast in the morning. Have a look at Jason Fung on You Tube on the merits of fasting. I miss breakfast on a FD and try to push back my lunch as far as I can or miss it altogether and have a larger evening meal.

Well done on the 5 lb. It all comes down to what you put in your mouth as i once heard on here ‘you can’t outrun your fork!’ which is so very true. Exercise has many virtues but losing weight isn’t one of them.

Why not try one meal of meat/fish with salad or vegetables? This way of life has to something that can be maintained, so what’s one more change? I didn’t think that it was possible to feel full on this either, but I do and it is much better quality food too.

I found that it took a 14lb loss before others noticed and commented. I also noticed that my body shape also began to change with the exercise that I had started to do and that was very pleasing. My son who is overweight and has Asperger’s(rigid food likes and doesn’t find change easy) has been willing to have meals without rice/potatoes/pasta/bread several times a week and he is certainly shrinking despite working in a restaurant and eating several meals there.

Term starts in 4 weeks and I am hoping that I will be able to wear some of the clothes that are languishing in my cupboard which would be lovely. Whether the elusive pink shorts will be wearable might be a step too far!

Iona72

12:56 pm
7 Aug 16
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Surely you are not meaning to wear the shorts for work Annette
😂😂😂

annette52

1:37 pm
7 Aug 16
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They are smart, linen just on the knee smart shorts Lori. Whether I will ever be able to wear them without folk screaming No! is quite another matter!!!!!!!!!!

NearlySlimJim

1:16 pm
10 Aug 16
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Hi Annette. I don’t have a breakfast on fast days but I do have one on none fast days and I think it is an important meal. Just because Jason Fung says you should never have a breakfast doesn’t mean that that’s the right thing to do. I’m sure I could find many websites headed by doctors that say the opposite is true, so I shall continue to have a breakfast on my non fast days whatever anybody says, doctor or not.

People have started to notice my weight loss too. One of my neighbours has mentioned that my face looks thinner and one of the waitresses at the place we go for Sunday Lunch has commented on how my belly doesn’t hang over my belt as much as it used to, so a good result so far.

I have come to the conclusion that although it is called ‘The Fast Diet’ it is, as you keep saying, a way of life and not a diet. If it was a diet I wouldn’t be touching bread, pasta, rice, potatoes etc., but as it’s a way of life I cannot envisage the rest of my life not being able to eat any of them, so I shall keep eating them in moderation such as potatoes with Sunday Lunch once a week and pasta with mince once a week etc.. I think as long as I continue to calorie count, stay below the TDEE of 2100 calories for my ideal weight & 525 calories on a fast day and pedal like mad on the turbo trainer for 30 minutes every day I can still eat the so called forbidden foods. Works for me anyway.

annette52

7:14 pm
10 Aug 16
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Hi Jim,
I am struggling to fit in a FD this week, so I decided to miss breakfast today and eaten the rest of the day.I am away this weekend, so will go with the flow and see where I am next week.

I am not aware that Jason Fung advocates never having breakfast, but I do know that he does advocate fasting. It is up to you what you choose to do what suits you. I was very resistant to reducing the amount of carbohydrates that I eat, but find that it works for me. I don’t believe in so called forbidden foods, I ban nothing, merely avoid having too much and too often.

Great to hear that people have started to notice your weight loss. It is a good incentive to keep going with this way of life as it is a marathon and not a sprint.

My son, who is overweight is shrinking too. We meal plan together and despite working in a restaurant, there is definitely less of him.He came home from work with cake after an event, which he refused, I had 1 piece and then the rest went into the food recycling. It simply wasn’t that great or I might have had another piece!

It sounds as if you are doing very well, Jim. You have achieved so much in such a short time. Well done and I will look forward to your next update.

NearlySlimJim

7:05 pm
11 Aug 16
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Hi Annette. One thing I have noticed about losing weight is that the less I weigh the more energy I have to put in to exercise to burn the same amount of calories. Last week I was able to do 35 minutes on the turbo trainer at 15mph and burn 500 calories, yet this week I have to cycle for 36 minutes at 16mph to burn the same. It also seems that if I lose an average of 4lbs a week, which I have been doing for the last couple of months, I will need to increase the time by 30 seconds a week from now on until I get to my ‘happy with’ weight of 14st, by which time I shall be pedalling for about 46 minutes.

I have also found that I can pedal faster on a day when I’m not fasting. I read somewhere that I would burn more fat by exercising on a FD when I’m in the ketosis zone (though heaven knows when I would know when I was in the zone), so I tried it but I don’t seem to have much energy and struggle to get above 14mph. If I do it on a none fast day when I’ve had porridge for breakfast and a bowl of soup for lunch, I can often get up to and stay at 16mph+, so I think I’ll do that from now on.

I’m getting a bit bored with having porridge for tea after the 24hr fasts and then having it again for breakfast next day, so I think I’ll be having soup and a couple of slices of home made bread instead, which works out at only 450 calories.

I’m cooling down at the moment after my latest exercise session, so my evening meal is going to be late and I’ll be starting my third 24hr fast of the week straight after.

annette52

8:11 pm
11 Aug 16
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Hi Jim,
What about trying an omlette for a change? We had that for tea last night and I had forgotten how delicious it was. I had a plain cheese one made from 3 eggs with some mushrooms cooked it butter-scrumptious. My son had one with cheese and ham and then baked beans(he now prefers low sugar ones). Or how about some fish and vegetables? Take a salmon fillet-sprinkle with some chilli flakes and then wrap in a loose foil parcel(edges sealed but not toughing the top/sides of the fish)and bake for 20-25 minutes and then serve. Delicious and not much washing up! Have you tried bacon and eggs with a couple of slices of toast? I had this for breakfast today and it kept me full until lunch time.

I have heard about people having more energy on a FD, but I am not one of them. I can run 3 miles, but I feel better when I do it on a day when I eat. Do what suits you.

If you enjoy the exercise that you do, then continue. Look at increasing your walking distance and pace, which is also great especially if you live somewhere with lovely surroundings.I have clocked up 16000 steps today, just from doing what I need to do as I don’t own a car and live near a city.

bigbooty

11:14 pm
11 Aug 16
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Jim,

Id be getting rid of the porridge or any grain based food really. Its not doing you any favours. In fact its making your job real hard!! Try protein or fat instead of simple carbs. An omelette, eggs, low sugar high fat yogurt. If youre having porridge I doubt youre anywhere near ketosis. I measure my blood glucose and ketones with a meter. Freestyle Optium Neo. They are cheap to buy, about $30-40. I water fast and it takes me 24 hours to get into ketosis.

Your doing really well to get so close to you non fast bike speed!! If you can get to 80-90% of what you can normally do while fasting that’s really good.

NearlySlimJim

9:06 am
12 Aug 16
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Thanks Annette, you’ve just reminded me I have some tuna in the freezer so I’ll have that tonight with some lemon.

annette52

8:18 am
13 Aug 16
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Morning All,
I am surprised at how little food that I actually need not to feel hungry, but what is clear to me that simple quality food is far better than some of the rubbish that I used to eat. The sugar high and then crash are now a thing of the past and an even mood is a lovely thing. I can have a piece of cake and enjoy it, but the lure and desire for more is certainly waning, it never tastes as good as I imagine. I feel so much better without it on a daily basis.

I am a nut addict and could easily scoff them by the handful, so I am going to have to restrict how many days I eat them and weigh them out. But it will be worth it, as the scales now show a new lower number for the lbs and my tops fit better too. I just wish that it would shimmy down to my tummy!

I might have rice/pasta/potatoes just one portion of each, now once a week. I am having a meal without any of them every day and that has been far far easier than I ever imagined. No idea how I am going to manage that when i am back at work with what is on offer, but I will try.

Lori_PA

10:38 am
13 Aug 16
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Hi Annette!

Just popping in to check on you and it sounds like you’re doing great! A new low number and tops that are fitting better…win, win!!

I saw a new low number on the scale recently too. Slow, slow loss, but at least it drifts in the right direction! I’ll no doubt go up and down a few lbs for the next few weeks, as is my normal routine. I’m not stressing over it as I’m quite happy where I am now. I would like another 10-15 lbs off, but all in good time.

Keep up the great work Annette and hope you have a fabulous weekend!

LouiseJM

11:04 am
13 Aug 16
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Very disappointed today as I have put on 3/4pound since I last weighed myself. I have lost 3 1/4 pounds in ten days but this morning all my measurements have gone up. I can’t believe it was from one restaurant meal where I ate a little more fat than advised. My clothes though are a tad looser and my husband says my muffin top looks smaller.
Maybe weighing and measuring every two days is a bad idea. What do you guys think? Any advice would be much appreciated.

Iona72

1:46 pm
13 Aug 16
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Hi guys, hope everyone is having a good weekend?
I had a shock this week when I went for a healthy heart check. My waist measurement is just to say less than half my height BUT I’m told I should not measure it at the narrowest point, as I have been doing, but around the navel. Well, its considerably more inches at that point. Then it was time to step on the scale, I could not believe I was 10 pounds heavier on the professional scale compared to my own at home. I went straight home to double check, yep 10 pounds difference. On the plus side BP and cholesterol both ok so at least something is good! I now have considerably more weight to lose so I’m looking at how best I can achieve that.

NearlySlimJim

2:51 pm
13 Aug 16
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Louise, apparently everyone’s weight fluctuates daily so you could weigh yourself on Wednesday and find you weigh more than you did on Monday, but if you weighed yourself on the following Monday instead you will probably find you weighed less.

When I started the Fast Diet I weighed myself every day but soon became dispirited because sometimes I would do a 24 hour fast yet weigh more the next day. I then decided to just weigh myself one day a week, the same day and time every week.

I get up at 9am on a Sunday morning, go to the toilet (to get rid of as much weight as possible), put the scales in exactly the same position as I do every week, strip off completely and then stand on the scales. I usually find the I have lost a few pounds. The scales I use have a memory function which tell me what I weighed the previous week so I can easily work out how much I have lost.

I would say that unless you are doing say three 24 hour fasts a week or a very intensive exercise programme, then don’t weigh yourself every day or every couple of days unless you can handle disappointment easily. Once a week should be fine.

I got a sheet of graph paper, marked on it my start weight at the top left hand side with a red line all the way across and my goal weight bottom left with a green line all the way across and then wrote the dates along the bottom so I can see how I am progressing. I stuck to to the fridge door with blutac so I can add a little line down each week when I weigh myself and it also serves to remind me of why I am doing the Fast Diet every time I go to the fridge. If it was a company it would be very quickly heading into receivership, it’s very impressive.

Good luck anyway, whatever you decide.

LouiseJM

4:55 pm
13 Aug 16
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Thank you NearlySlimJim for your sage advice (some of it made me giggle) and encouragement. I will now only weigh myself on a Saturday morning in the same manner as I did today – pretty much exactly what you do except my scales do not have a memory😉.
I presume you only measure yourself once a week. I must start doing the same as according to my tape measure, despite losing nearly four pounds, I haven’t lost even half an inch anywhere.

I am doing 5:2, don’t go to the gym but I do wear a Fitbit.

NearlySlimJim

10:11 am
14 Aug 16
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Hi Louise, I don’t actually measure myself with a tape measure. I bought some non stretch windproof cycling tops in size XXXL, XXL and XL and at the beginning of every month I try them on to see which fits. When I started two months ago I could just get into the XXXL if I held my stomach in, whereas now I can comfortably get into the XXL and do the zip up. Hopefully in a month or two I shall be able to get into the XL size and maybe in a couple of months after that perhaps buy the L size to try that.

Hi Annette, not only did I not lose any weight last week but I actually gained a pound! Heaven knows how that happened as I’ve averaged about 1500 calories a day and spent about two hours of the turbo trainer. Made me laugh anyway, I’ll just have to try harder next week.

I’ve been doing about 30 minutes at a time on the turbo trainer because my legs hurt too much if I do more. I then read on a cycling forum where someone said that if you do an hour on the turbo trainer but break it into four 15 minute sections, then we would be still doing an hour. I know I can do 20 minutes so I tried that yesterday with a five minute break between each section to drink some water and have a stretch and my legs didn’t hurt at all. One hour at 15mph burns 900 calories at my current weight, so I’ll do that on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday with my fast days being Monday, Wednesday & Friday. Hopefully I’ll not gain any more weight by next Sunday.

LouiseJM

1:20 pm
14 Aug 16
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NearlySlimJim, you have a wicked sense of humour 😈

annette52

9:51 pm
15 Aug 16
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Hello Everyone,
I am back home and relieved to be able to feed myself again. I had a lovely time but ate all of those things that I avoid as well as some alcohol too. I am away again in a couple of days so more challenges of meals out for another few days. I am taking the view that I am not going to stress about it, but enjoy myself and get back to fasting next week.

To measure the waist correctly it is around the belly button and for a man should be less than 37 inches and a woman 34 inches. I measure my ‘natural’ waist as well as my actual waist and they differ by 3 inches.

Have you thought Jim, that the weight gain might be a muscle increase from all of that cycling? Is your body changing shape? Are your legs becoming more defined?

There is a view from the scientific community, that to correctly weigh yourself you should weigh every day and then take a mean figure once a month.I decided that I didn’t want the scales to rule my life or mood so I decided that every Saturday morning I would weigh/measure/try clothes on.

There have been many times when the scales haven’t moved and neither the tape measure, but it has been clear from how my clothes fit/hang that my shape has changed. There was also the month when I was a paragon of virtue and relied on the scales for any change and was very very disappointed as there was no change at all. Then I measured all over and found that I had lost a grand total of 7 inches all over!

The fat that we can see over our bodies is essential to keep us alive. The real concern is the visceral fat that is around our internal organs which is why waist measurement is such an important indicator of health. So, rather than focus on a lb more or less, shift it to the bigger picture of an overall decreasing waistline.

When I started this way of life, I never believed that it would work. It does and I feel so much better eating the food that is my normal now. My body shape has changed beyond all recognition, my fitness has increased hugely and I am so much happier.

Keep the faith and bear in mind that what we eat and how much has to change if you want to maintain any loss. This is from a woman that has put on 5 lb last Christmas and 10lb for the previous two. This year, my plan is to make it a zero increase.