Day 3 – 16:8 CD

Feeling blah (allergies and stomach upset) and my kitty is in the animal hospital.

@at have a good day – happy birthday

Gonna lay down some more. Won’t be eating much today cause I feel lousy.

Day 3 Ohio, US — NFD

Stayed on track today and the beautiful late Spring weather has helped a lot. Got my regular 50 minutes of exercise in and so far have stayed with my regular eating plan.

@at Happy Birthday! Raspberry brownies sound perfect!

@mariaelena Hope your kitty is on the mend!

@songbirdme and @stitchincarol and other gardeners — A friend gave me a little poinsettia plant for last Christmas and I’ve nursed it through the winter and spring and now it’s thriving. But gardening isn’t really my thing. What’s a good way of parting company with it? It’s a nice plant, so I don’t want to put it in the garage and kill it off. Any ideas would be helpful.

@stitchincarol Unfortunately I’m not a big golf fan. Fortunately the festival has come to my neighborhood — Every night while the tournament’s on, down the hill there is a big fair — sort of like a farmer’s market on steroids. This is party central for the people in town for the tournament. Right now I can listen to the live music without even opening my windows. The whole area is what’s called a DORA around here, so there are lots of people having a great time and will do so until late in the evening. By the way DORA stands for “Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area”. To get back to your questions — I did play golf while I was in college, but afterwards there just wasn’t time for it.

Day 4 UK
Oxford
89.60- coming down – feeling better
Will avoid all cakes today!
Thanks for the great energy and positive vibes

Day 4 – South Africa 🇿🇦 – NFD

@northgeorgia – congrats on getting back down to 209! I may join you in a FD tomorrow. And @at – down 2 kgs already! 🎯 Happy Birthday! 🥳️ 🎁 🎉 🥂

@michelinme – I won! I only played for 15 minutes & won R1000. Not a fortune, but it covered lunch & a tank of petrol 🙂

@mariaelena – I hope you & the kitty are better soon! Boo Boo isn’t herself either; I may need to take her to the vet on Monday. Hardly eating & sleeping more than usual – which I didn’t think was possible. I noticed a red mark on her nose yesterday. Not sure if she’s just been fighting or if it’s a symptom of something more serious. I Googled it, & it could be one of a number of things.

Have a good weekend everyone ⛅️ 🌈

Day 4 – Rural Nebraska, USA – 19/5

146.8

That’s only 0.2 up from yesterday, despite having eaten a “normal” amount of food. This business of eating earlier in the day seems to be having benefits, although it’s certainly too soon to say for certain. It’s a struggle, however, to shift our routines to accommodate an early large meal; I may have to switch to having “supper” at noon instead of a nibble at noon and “supper” at 3 or 4.

I spent six or seven hours outside yesterday, sometimes working, sometimes sitting and enjoying the day. After the awful winds we’ve had all spring, to have two days in a row of lovely sunshine, lovely temperatures, and NO WIND, it was a huge treat. And I got lots done, besides!

@mariaelena I hope you’re all better today!

@matpi If you plant your poinsettia outside–as we always do to ours–it grows into a lush green “bush.” We always plant ours in partial shade, because nearly every spot in our yard is partial shade, but since they’re native to Mexico (right?) I would think full sun would also be fine. And the DORA close to you sounds delightful! (Well…as long as it doesn’t go TOO late in the evening!)

@jaifaim Thought of you and your mum yesterday as I was gardening, and hoped you’d give us an update; so glad it’s a good report!

@funshipfreddie Congratulations on your roulette win…and then stopping, LOL! 🤣🤣

@michelinme I cannot express how deeply I wish your long-term covid would simply go away…or at least dramatically decrease. 🥰🤗

Pocket List Day 4
@michelinme

My personal themes for June (the first quote compliments of @funshipfreddie):

“We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons.” ~ Jim Rohn

“You are far too smart to be the only thing standing in your way.”

Day 4 USA (Illinois) NFD

Did a good OMAD yesterday at about 1000 calories. Today, though, we are back to the movies for “Top Gun: Maverick” that everyone says is outstanding. Will try not to overdo on buttered popcorn today!

Clouds, cool weather, and rain predicted so I need to get right out to the plants.

@matpi – I know some put poinsettia plants into a partially shaded area to “summer” there then bring inside before first frost. Here’s what looks like good advice: https://extension.usu.edu/archive/could-you-should-you-keep-your-poinsettia-year-round

@funshipfreddie & @mariaelena – hope your fur babies are better very soon! 😺

@jaifaim – prayers for continued healing for your mum. 🙏

Onward and downward.

Day 4 – USA/GA – NFD

Weigh-in: 214 lbs. Not too well behaved yesterday with the sugars and carbs, but today is mostly a post B2B WFD bloat. I did ZBC this morning (by accident), and welcome @funshipfreddie to join me for another FD tomorrow 🙂

My mean and median averages went up a pound this week while my mode average went up 3 lbs (and I am up 3 lbs over last weekend), and yet I hit my lowest weight in nearly two months. My explanation for this is the unplanned NFD streak of 7 days which can be a nightmare to recover from, but I went into quick strategy mode, converting three of those into OMADs or at least 16:8s. That helped stabilize the weight. What I found was a lot less “bounce” than having two WFDs in a row. In order to get my 2 FDs in this week, I had to go back to that method, which isn’t hard — but the post-day NFD tends to end up in a bad way.

After looking at the data (which is only my body, of course!), although B2B WFDs yield big quick results, there is typically a big bounce-back because of the psychological effect of the severe restrictions of two days, an effect that is hard to overcome! This limits weight loss and even invites weight gain on some weeks. The data also shows that Alternative WFDs yield a slightly smaller drop, but the bounce-back effect is the least noticeable. However, having three or four WFDs in a week are still psychologically challenging, and go well beyond 5:2. OMADs were slightly less effective than WFDs, but data-wise, the outcomes match up with the outcomes of the B2B WFDs. But the difference is that you do get to eat a nice lunch out with friends!

What all this really means is that eventually I’ll return to 5:2 FD500 again. I just need this little adjustment to get off the plateau. My plan for the next few weeks is to do two WFDs a week, not B2B, and an OMAD following one of the WFDs.

The vegetables are coming in from the garden, so I’ll make a nice zucchini/onion/tomato concoction fried in butter, season with a bit of tumeric and cilantro, and add in some shredded roast chicken. Sounds like a good first meal today.

third post

The day’s eating again went in the opposite direction of the plan, but for the reasonable reason that I just didn’t feel all that good–thought of you, @mariaelena. So for the day, I ate just under 1000 calories, and am feeling complete satiated with those calories.

@northgeorgia I too experience a huge bounce with WFDs, and continue to do them because I remember reading several places how beneficial that is to the health of your body. You’re right, however, that they’re not so beneficial where weight loss is concerned. Probably maintenance? Also like you, I’m doing all sorts of screwy things because I need to find the discipline to have “reasonable” come back into my life in a serious way. We all have to find our own path, don’t we?

@michelinme Well, I didn’t realize you were making progress at regaining your previous energy, so that at least is good news…every little bit helps, right? And now may the other health issues go away!! 😁

I’m feeling far better now than this morning, and spent an hour or so outside after I finished eating for the day, planting more things: monarda, something called, string vine, Stargazer lilies, and my 2-in-a-pot Easter lilies from this year. If I’d just quit buying more plants I’d be done, LOL!

I doubt I’ll have time to post tomorrow, and possibly not Monday morning: Vacation Bible School starts then, and it’s another thing I’m in charge of. But this is my last year. I swear it. I’ve been telling people that at church for several years, but no one steps up; they’re going to have to now! 🤣🤣🤣🤣 (Do I sound tough and as if I mean it? I’m practicing.)

Now for a long bubble bath and then early bed to ensure I stay out of the kitchen!

Day 5 – South Africa 🇿🇦 – FD

@mariaelena & @songbirdme – I think Boo Boo just has a cold, maybe even flu. She hardly moved yesterday; but at least she’s eating this morning. She had a couple of odd sneezing fits too, more high-pitched than her usual sneezes. But if she’s eating, whatever it is can’t be too serious. Fingers 🤞 for Kidd Kirby!

@stitchincarol & @michelinme – thanks! 😅 The stopping is the tricky part. I won the first 4 spins, & that kind of luck makes you feel invincible. Which is partly how people get hooked, I guess.

A lovely jubilee sketch of the Queen & Padding Bear: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABniDx7xoFw

Happy S🌞nday!

Pocket List – Day 5 🍌
@funshipfreddie
@northgeorgia

Day 5
UK
90.10
Jubilee cakes and full English! Oh well

Day 5 – USA/GA – FD

Weigh-in: 216 lbs. Well, here we go! My plan: WFD today, OMAD tomorrow, regular NFD Tuesday, WFD Wednesday, possible OMAD Thursday or Friday, and NFD Saturday.

Really, if I just get one extra OMAD in the week, I’m good. But there’s lot of travel on Tuesday, so that might be my OMAD day. Anyway, as I said before, having an OMAD or two thrown in will probably help me with psychological withdrawals on NFDs. Going to try it for a few weeks, because honestly, the refeeding is killing me after the WFDs. I think the WFDs are effective for me, but I think normally I need no more than two, spread out during the week when possible, or I get a negative effect on NFDs.

I really want to get into the 100s this year (and it’s nearly half over, what happened?)

Pocket List – Day 5 🍌
@funshipfreddie
@northgeorgia

Day 6, FD, Aus

Somehow I feel my mojo is with me today. (Must have been you sharing @michelinme.)

The news reader on the radio this morning said “it’s 4 degrees, but feels like minus 4”. Very hard to get going with news like that! (That’s 24.5F for you folks who don’t use Celcius.)

Yes, @matpi, doona = quilt! They are usually either feather filled or wool. (Wool is best in winter!)

@linda-b – you’re so right about the leaves here at this time of year. We have a native garden, but we have three deciduous street trees down one side of our block. I shuffled 5 bin-fulls of leaves on the weekend and I estimate there’s still another 2-3 to go (but I ran out of space to put them!)

@5413.5 – I think at some point all of us have fallen prey to ‘catastrophic eating’! On this forum you may see reference to EFS (Epic Face Stuffing) which is really the same thing. The trick is to acknowledge you’re only human, and then jump straight back on the 5:2 wagon.

Lots of other happy news in the forum: @at’s birthday, @funshipfreddie’s roulette win, @northgeorgia’s goose egg and that both Boo Boo and Kidd Kirby seem to be on the mend. But bad news about your toe, @mariaelena! Hope it was only a painful stub, and not a break.

Day 06 – Monday– Gold Coast Queensland Australia – FUN DAY (FD)🥑🥦🥬🍅🥦🥦

Good morning all

It’s my second FUN DAY of Jump In June! The weekend was busy and under control excepting for receiving a lovely home baked GLUTEN FREE gift of 2 x blueberry muffins & 2 x choc chip biscuits from a friend….. Uh Oh! 😲😲😲
Well obviously, I did what every dedicated faster would do…. ate them! Ate them all and enjoyed every morsel😋😋😊. No time for a guilt trip about this, life is too short! So, happily skipped a meal or two to offset and now here we are on Monday and no lasting damage to the scale.
Nevertheless it clearly tells me that the INNER WARTHOG is still hiding inside, watching 👀👀👅👅 and just waiting to rear itself on occasions!

As winter is now starting to drop the temps, Sunday was my annual foray into the kitchen for soup-making. So now have an ample supply of roasted pumpkin soup in the fridge and freezer. Next on the list will be pea and ham soup and then maybe a lovely french onion soup.
Looking for your suggestions on how to eat a hot, steamy bowl of soup without the requisite bread roll or toast? What I can substitute for that? Gluten Free of course.

@penz I see your temps dropping a lot, lot further with the wind coming straight off the Antarctic. Makes me shiver just to think of it! Stay warm!❄❄❄

Lovely to watch the Jubilee concert and events over the weekend. The Paddington Bear and Queen skit was so much fun. We love her here too! In 1963 when HRH visited Canberra, our (then) Prime Minister Robert Menzies was to quote the 17th century words of Thomas Ford: “I did but see her passing by, and yet I love her till I die.” 💖💗… fond memories indeed.

Hope you all had a lovely weekend too, now must get back to work.

cheerie dearies

Pocket List – Day 6
@linda.b

Day 6 FD
UK
Going the wrong way 91.35
Combo of Jubilee visits to family and cakes has meant a gain!
Oh no!! New resolve for this week is needed

😬

Day 6 – Rural Nebraska, USA – 19/5

147.6

Eating has gone well thus far today; all morning, I avoided the snacks area at VBS like the plague and then DH and I ordered a wrap to share for lunch and I am stuffed now…it’s been a long time since half an entre was enough to satiate me to the uncomfortable point, so I’m making good progress with reducing how much food is the norm. AND Vacation Bible School went well, with happy kids and wonderful teachers and helpers, so the rest of the week should be easy!

Remember that loaner organ we had at church for awhile? It went home today, and I said a tearful goodbye to it…’twas fun to have while it lasted! So now we’re home, and I’m gonna rest just a bit longer, then I’m going out in the lovely sunshine and see what else I can accomplish in my yard…planting some of those plants I bought last week, weeding the hosta bed, planting my carrot seeds that have been soaking for 40 hours: there’s always SOMETHING. 🥰

Have a grand one, everyone.

Day 07 – Tuesday– Gold Coast Queensland Australia – ACCOUNTABIITY DAY (NFD)🙃🙄🙃

So, even though I hop on the scales every morning (it’s a girl thing!!), Tuesday is my (to me at least) ACCOUNTABILITY DAY. Happy to report that the scales, in fact, went down last Thursday by 400gm and have continued to maintain that new low since, so today it’s official…. that 400gm has gone for good!😁😂😀 I like to think that a new low must continue for at least 4-5 days for me to count it. AND IT HAS! So where does that put me? Only 300gm to go… that’s 10.85oz in northern hemisphere speak. So very close now. Had a chat to my hairdresser (who is also my very good friend too) about getting close to my new hairstyle now. I’m so excited as I’d resolved NO HAIRCUT (and NO ALCOHOL!) until I reach my goal. Believe me, being a WOCA, my longer locks atop in a scrunchie ponytail do not rock at all!😮😝😜 So, not wanting to pre-empt, it will still be another week or so as we all know the last VESTIGES OF FAT are the hardest to budge! So close, but not getting ahead of myself just yet.

And then, new haircut and join all the maintenance brigade to maintain the equilibrium. I’m trying so hard not to get over-ambitious as we all know a plateau could appear out of nowhere! And of course that INNER WARTHOG is lurking, watching for an opportunity to sabotage! But, with all your support, I have my trusty weapon… RESOLVE… at the ready!

@mariaelena — ouch that broken toe! 😖😬 I had one last winter, hobbling around. I remember the technicolour well… a sight to behold! My doctor advised to xray to make sure the bones were lined up correctly lest they healed crookedly which could be a problem later with shoes or hiking. Doctor’s advice was to keep walking on it as much as possible. We put a box in the bottom of the bed so the weight of the bedding didn’t hurt the toe. I could put a big, loose sock on it during the day but couldn’t put the foot in a shoe or even a slipper. Luckily it healed straight and no problems at all now. Even wore high(ish) heels (not too high), to an event last week, for the first time.

Must get to work. Hope you all have happiness and sunshine in your day today😍🥰

cheerie dearies

Many of life’s failures are experienced by people who did not realise how close they were to success when they gave up – Edison

Day 7 – South Africa 🇿🇦 – FD

@northgeorgia – I saw this recently & wondered if this is what you were referring to after your swim? https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-10879781/How-water-ears-going-swim.html

I woke up way too early, so haven’t had much sleep but I’m RESOLVING to fast today.

Busy drowning in paperwork & trying to make the place look presentable because I’m preparing to put my apartment on the market.

Have a good day everyone 🌤

Pocket List – Day 7 🍓
@funshipfreddie

Hi all,

I feel terrible for just being a lurker. I have been so busy, between my day job (schooling my kids) and studying (for a master’s degree). I have no life at the moment, but I have been reading the posts.

I am (hopefully was) the heaviest I have ever been, I am 1.5m and currently weigh 67 kgs. I do hope to go back to my pre-baby weight of 50kgs. With my first, I did manage to lose the weight on an Atkins diet, but I was miserable, Atkins was not for me. With my second I lost baby weight down to 58 using 16/8. I think my body adapted so I was not losing as much, but because of lack of knowledge, I continued to restrict my calories more and more during my eating window, till I began binging on weekends, I was starving. Then I gave up on 16/8 altogether and started intuitive eating. Needless to say, the weight crept on, and I gained 9kg in about 2 years. Technically speaking it may not be much, I still wear the same dress size, except it’s super tight. However, for a petite frame like mine, the fat has begun to deposit in a not-so-nice way. Secondly, I felt like if I carried on with IE, I was going to keep gaining weight and my appetite naturally gravitates to 16/8 anyway. Oh, by the way, I was also super lazy and not exercising consistently, which probably added to the weight gain.

So I decided I wanted to give the fasted life another try, I did feel like I was eating too much and too often. I was constantly eating, just because it was mealtime. I am so glad to be back on the fast wagon. I feel so good and full of energy over the past 2 weeks. I am doing a 5:2, mixed with some 16:8 for some days, I am just not as hungry at the moment. Yesterday was a FD, I had dinner of some rice, french beans, and a beef stew about 500cal (not strictly counting though). I proceeded to a 16 fast window this morning. Will also try to do some kettlebell HIIT this evening.

I do not know if I have lost weight, haven’t weighed myself, got rid of my scale but feel my clothes are not as tight.

I hope to be consistent this time around and get more active. Add in some walking and kettlebell stuff. I do not intend to join a gym as yet.

This time around, I hope to keep my feeding window within reasonable calories.

Michtobesmall (Zimbabwean living in Kenya)

P.S. I may go into lurking mode again, but I do read all the posts

Day 7 – 16:8 CD

@matpi and @northgeorgia – it is so nice to see other swimmers! I’m on the slow side, but have endurance and will often swim laps for up to two hours. Why so long? Because of my ear! I had extensive ear surgery in my late teens and have to keep close to 100% water out of that ear. A wax earplug, with Vaseline to keep it water tight, a water absorbing pad ( I use cut up women’s thin menstrual pads) over it and a very tight fitting swim cap are required and it is time consuming to set up correctly. I have a waterproof MP3 player clipped to my goggles and the ear piece in the other ear keeps swimmers ear at bay in that ear.

Extensive rigamarole setting up so I can keep my ear safe when swimming accompanied with hair protection (I have long fine hair that gets dried out by chlorine) takes some time, so I make it worthwhile by swimming for a long time! I miss it – have not been swimming since the pandemic quarantine because they never reopened the pool 😢 But I always feel so good after a nice long swim, I swear I must have a ton of retrograde aquatic genes or something.

Lol, I woke up to my phones health app scolding me for my steps going down. I grumpily told it to shut up, it has never tried walking with a broken toe! Truly, I do appreciate the reminder/notifications usually but this today did irritate.

@linda.b thanks for sharing your toe experience! I expect you have a more thorough Dr than I, mine just shrugged and said ‘we really can’t do anything for you except manage swelling and pain’. I am using the foot, but with caution – can’t wear even a sock and have my foot sticking out of the covers at night. But, I have a pair of slide in sandals – flats – that don’t come near the toe and can use those, thankfully.

@penz, I have to second that rhetorical question- why indeed are some fast days so much more difficult 🤔? What type of dog is your big boofhead? 😀

@michelinme I bet your very glad to have the trades work done with! Glad you could use their disruptions to your fasting advantage- way to go!

@mitchtobesmall – A big welcome! This is quite a supportive place! Like you, I don’t strictly count calories on the fast day, I just pay close attention to getting nutrients and serving size right. I would say looser clothes are a sure sign you are doing something right!

Ok, I’m off. Slow but steady. Sending good thoughts to all!

Day 7 – Ireland 🇮🇪 – NFD

Hi @michelinme, I am one of the regulars who had gone quiet, sorry about that! I spent last week starting work early and finishing late as we had a huge backlog of work (hoping overtime will be worth it).

Then it was the bank holiday weekend and DH and headed south in our camper for the long weekend. Yesterday was my birthday and I had a lovely relaxing day. I was delighted to reach the age of 55, as that was an honour not afforded to my mother who died of a heart attack at 54….so this was quite a significant milestone for me.

Started work early again today, so finding time to post is hard. I haven’t done an FD since last week, and haven’t weighed but all seems ok.

Going to have to knuckle down soon

Day 7 Ohio, US — NFD

A good NFD — I’ve stayed on plan with eating. My GI system was a little nervous, so I skipped my yoga practice, since it works the core so much. But I did get my half hour walk in.

@penz I think there was a procedural crime show called “Blue Heelers”. Did they get the name of the show from nickname of the dogs?

@daffodil2010 Happy Belated Birthday! And many, many more!

@michtobesmall Welcome! Yeah — I didn’t have much luck with Intuitive Eating either. But it was fun!

@funshipfreddie Good luck with putting the apartment on the market! When it sells, where will you move to?

Day 8 – Ireland 🇮🇪 – FD

Super quick post, as I start an hour earlier in work this week and finish an hour later…overtime to cheat that darn backlog before my colleague goes on leave, so lots of rushing about.

Thanks@matpi, @penz and @linda.b……I really was anxious to reach this birthday milestone, especially after last year and the scary health worries…but now I feel fit, healthy, and happy…..and despite being 30lbs more than I want, I still feel fit, healthy and happy 😄

Today it’s ZBC, mackerel and chickpeas for lunch, not sure for dinner, and will drink tons of water etc.

Have a great day.

Pocket list day 8
@daffodil2010