Morning, all.

Today was to be a fast day, but having just gotten a dinner invitation, plans have changed. Lori, what a nice morning surprise. And your ravioli does sound to die for. Salma, Croatia is lovely. I taught in neighboring Bosnia on a Fulbright a few years back and very much enjoyed trips to Zagreb and Dubrovnik. Make sure to try the stuffed calamari, the specialty on the coast. You’ll also see the Italian influence in the lovely pastas. And the Viennese influence in the pastries. Eat a slice of Krempita in my honor.

Jeesh, good thing this isn’t a fast day. You ladies have me thinking about food. And I can now see where those recalcitrant ten pounds came from!

MM

Salma, Mostar is a lovely city, if you don’t get too far away from the city center and into areas that remain in ruins from the war. There are wonderful restaurants on the north side of the river with tables jutting practically over the water. If you are going to Mostar be sure not to miss a stop at the Sufi Tekkia in Blagaj, just south of Mostar. It’s an old Sufi monastery that’s recently been refurbished. A spring pours the most beautiful blue-green water from the base of a red rock cliff–gorgeous! And of course there are restaurants right on the river. They cool their beer by floating the crates in the cold spring water. One of my favorite places in all the world.

The Medugorgian wine is good but strong. Most Bosnians put water in their wine–sparkling in white and still in red. I picked up the habit while living there.
Glad to hear you’ll be setting the diet wagon aside. Oddly enough, I didn’t really gain that much weight there. Lots of walking, for one thing. And not much processed food, just good local fish, produce, etc. It makes a difference.

MM

Good evening ladies,

Was planning a NFD today but with it being the first day back to school (and all the festivities that went with it) for my kids, the day got away from me and after just having a Skinny Frap. late morning, I realized by 1:30, I hadn’t eaten anything else. Sooo, decided to just go with it and make it another FD. These are the easiest FD’s because they’re almost effortless since you just kind of accidentally slide into them! I will probably go with a third FD before the week is out to shake off last weekend’s eating.

Happy mid-week everyone!

Sherry

Morning all. Like you, Sherry, I had an unplanned “almost fast day” yesterday. Slept soundly and feel lighter, but my nemesis the scale says “don’t fool yourself, lady. An almost fast day is maintenance for you. I’m not budging.” Sigh. OK, at least it’s not going up, right?

No more fast days now till the weekend is past. But I will try to lower the feedbag, as they say.

Good luck to all fasters today.

MM

Ok, I will be the first to admit it…I am officially jealous of all the wonderful, exotic vacations coming up for some of you lucky ladies! Milena, when are you going to figure out how to post pictures on behalf of those, like me, who are tech/instruction reading challenged? I want to see some of those beautiful vacation photos posted by Salma and Beldy! 🙂 Plus Milena, we need to share cat photos (since we are, after all the weird cat ladies;).

Well, on to a hopefully healthy-ish NFD for me! Have a good day all, fasting or not!

Sherry

Hi
I am a newbie, 57 and about 2 stone overweight 🙁
I have dieted on and off for many years, since my teens and each time I get to goal, I gradually regain the weight.
I have read the whole of this thread now- its taken over a week but you all sound realistic about trying to make this ‘diet’ fit in with your lives to make you thinner and healthier.
I did 2 FD this week, Mon and Wed and did the not much till dinner approach- I had 2 portions of sugar free jelly in the day plus a tsp bovril made into a drink on the 2nd day and actually didn’t find it too bad. However, now the w/e with wine and other treats , will try to limit damage and see how it goes. A colleague has lost 2 stone in about 6 months eating this way and is my inspiration and proof that it is doable.
Sue

Oh, Milena, for giggles, check out “8 cat person stereotypes that are totally true” on Livestrong.com !

Sherry

Hi all.

Great loss, Lori! I’m impressed. And welcome, Sue. I’m still fairly new to this thread myself. What I find most encouraging is knowing we’re all having our ups and downs together and the reminders that this is a long-term thing, not an overnight fix. I’ve found that about a fast day and a half (one really good one and one where I cheat a little) is maintenance for me. The scale resolutely stays put. But . . . it’s not going up. So that’s good to know for the long haul.

Sherry, guilty as charged. Just too many end of the summer events to fit in more than one fast day a week these last few weeks. Weight is holding steady, but no progress towards that magical 2. And Tuesday I leave for Vienna. I’ve decided to make both travel days fast days–who wants airline food anyway? But I know the Konditoreis will be seductive while there. Last time I was in Vienna I was 13,skinny as a rail, and could eat all the cream cakes my heart desired. This time I’ll see if I can limit it to one. Okay, maybe two. 🙂

Then it’s back to work, which will make fasting much easier, since I teach twice a week at the noon hour. Still hoping to see that magic 2 for my birthday, but it may be later in the month, depending on how good I am in Vienna.

As for the TDEE, mine comes out to about 1500, give or take a few. I calculated at light activity, though I have weeks that are clearly moderate. If you calculated at moderate activity that’s where you got the higher number. Does seem high, but if I add in the wine, the occasional snack of nuts, and the occasional cookie or two I do get up to that or over on some days.

Greetings to everyone else and safe travels to all the travelers!

MM

Oh my gosh! Sue, how did you hear about Milena? I hope she is Ok…I heard that surgery/recovery can be painful. My prayers go out to her!

MM, yes, the important thing here I think is to stay honest (and not hide like I want to!) with each other when our weight isn’t where we want it to be so we can receive and offer some support when needed! Lord knows I need it this week. Thanks for the input on the TDEE! With regard to your beloved Konditoreis, try finding out the average calories for the pastry and figure it in to your day’s allotment rather than doing what we might have done in the past and saying, “the heck with it, I ate the taboo item and now I’m going to eat whatever else I want the rest of the day/week!” Have a wonderful time in Vienna (again, I’m jealous!) 😉

Salma, happy to hear at least the muscle mass is growing/fat declining! See, we told you that the gym could affect the numbers on the scale. Your clothes should be feeling better on you though, right?

Sherry

Sherry

Hi Sherry- it was on a thread called Aussie determination, I was just bipping around for inspiration- assuming there isn’t more than one Milena? It’s an unusual name.

Hi all

I’m off for hols tonight, and very excited at the prospect, of no fitbit, no Zumba classes to plan, no running and no work 🙂 Luckily it won’t be an overly “gastronomic” affair, mainly simple food, but there will be some decent wines, swimming and lots of sunshine. Wishing you all a great week. Salma, have a good time:) let’s compare notes on how we do.
Sherry hope your FD went ok
Hi Suzie, hope it’s going well for you..

BB

Hi those of you who aren’t away on holiday!

Ok, get ready for the whining! Well, still no movement on the scale despite fast day yesterday. I did bite a few things beyond my 500 cal (as in one slice of dried pineapple and 3 crackers) but not more than 100 cal, that’s for sure. Crazy! As I have said, it has been extremely humid here though and when I’ve been in tropical, humid climates like Hawaii, I have retained water/been bloated. At least that’s the story I’m sticking to for now! ;).

I’d love to say that I think the plain vanilla approach will work for me(and I really want it to), but it’s not working well and discouragement is setting in. I may, like some others out there combine fasts with another eating plan like the Fast Metabolism Diet. Food combining seems to work fairly well with my body, though I’d much rather eat what I want within a calorie limit, hence the reason I went with this eating plan/WOL. I don’t know, so confusing! Any advice out there?

Heading out for a walk with a friend that I haven’t walked with since school let out for the summer. It will be nice to start that routine again!

Have a good day everyone!

Sherry

Thanks Salma, I know what you are saying. I have some thinking to do. Thanks for the two cents worth :). Btw, aren’t you leaving for your holiday soon?

Sherry

Hi Lori,

Do you mind telling me more about your weight loss journey? How long have you been doing this WOL, how much have you lost and how much more do you have to lose? It seems like you’ve lost fairly regularly (with a few blips) from what I’ve seen? Just trying to see how this works for people in general. I appreciate it! 🙂

Thanks,

Sherry

Hi Ladies

sorry to have gone awol, but I understand you heard I had been ill.

Did a cat sit in Argyle, over a week of lovely weather so not much work but a lovely holiday, put on 5 lbs, was actually looking forward to a few fasts.

On the last night has local amazing seafood, began to feel ill within a couple of hours of eating, long story short about 20 hours later going to A&E. Wasn’t food poisoning.

The four day fast, medically supervised would have cost me about £4000 in a posh clinic in Germany, in the Royal in Edinburgh probably cost £100,000, amazed with the standard of care,the professionalism of our NHS and the high percentage of cute doctors. Especially pleased about being in a side room for most of the stay, and for the liberal use of morphine!

Upside is gallbladder removed, though not sure what it weighed, I think it is wee, but lost 8 lbs, so holiday weight taken care of!!!!

Back home and feeling ok, will watch you all from the sidelines for a couple of weeks, only thing that tastes nice is hagen das strawberry ice cream.

I am touched to find that I was missed, this forum is very special!

Milena! So happy to hear you are Ok! We were worried! How is the recovery in general? Are you feeling sore? Sorry for the whole experience but happy for your weight loss! Enjoy your ice cream! 😉

Thanks Lori for the insight. So far, this has been more of a maintenance plan for me too, which is, as you said, better than gaining. It seems like Beldy (or was it DJ?) and Jayney who have all lost a good amount of weight in a short amount of time have combined this WOE with something else like lower carb eating or the olive oil regime…interesting. I too, like Salma am tired of doing all the weird, exhausting diets out there so this is appealing. I DO love this way of eating as a maintenance plan, but need to get some weight off soon since I’m not fitting in most of my clothes and refuse to buy new, bigger sizes! Will keep pondering what do to and plugging away in the meantime…

Have a good night all!

Sherry

Salma, do have a wonderful, carefree trip, if you haven’t left already! I see you, like me, experienced the inexplicable weight gain/no loss after a fast day…very irritating! I am down today after a NFD…go figure! Sometimes I guess it just shows up later (plus I’m sure all that whining burned a ton of calories!) 😉

Lori (see above!), you will be fine by Friday I am sure! You always have a good attitude about it!

Susie, I weigh daily, mostly by habit. The exception for me is, as Salma stated, when I’ve pigged out…then I might wait anywhere from a few days to a week to weigh so as not to get too depressed ;)! It works for me because then I can see sooner rather than later if I need to make some changes in my eating to accomplish my goals. BUT, as you can see from my previous whining, it can make one anxious. So, whatever works best for you I say!

Milena, hope you’re feeling better with each passing day and getting lots of comforting cuddles from your kitties!

As I say, onward and downward!

Sherry

Sounds like a plan Milena! Although I will have a 2 week break in September, but will be right back here when I return! I’m sure I’ll be checking in on you all as I’ll have access to WiFi almost everywhere we stay.

16 weeks until Christmas!! ACK!! I’m not ready for that! That means cold & snow for us and I want to get lots more golf in before then! Hoping for a mild winter this year as last year was just brutal. I thought I’d never be warm again!

Having quite a boring day at work today. Last week of the month is usually very slow and that is certainly the case this week. Of course, the last 1/2 hr, I’ll be the only 1 here, so that means the phone will not stop! I don’t typically answer the phone, but have to when the office girls leave for the day.

Feeling sleepy, so I must get up and move around a bit. I think I’ll have a lemon Greek yogurt that I have in the fridge since it’s not a fast day.

Hope you’ve all had a good day!

Ps happy hols to Salma 🙂

Hi all, I was trying to add a photo and just chose a random fruit salad to see if it would work but can’t delete it now, this might seem a bit random but others have asked how to post photos so I thought I’d try and find out.
Hope everyone’s ok and loosing or maintaining.
Milena hope your feeling better soon.
Xx