Midsummer Challenge

This topic contains 152 replies, has 10 voices, and was last updated by  LynneD 6 years, 9 months ago.

Viewing 50 posts - 1 through 50 (of 154 total)

  • It seems hard to imagine with the grey skies and cool temperatures here but midsummer day falls exactly 14 weeks from today. I’ve just signed up to this website and am doing my second FD today so I have a lot to learn but I hope to have made a decent weight loss by 21st June.
    I remember recent summers and there are a few things I don’t want experience again:
    Sitting on the beach, covered up because I felt too fat.
    Not being able to wear a skirt because my legs rubbed together.
    Summer clothes revealing wobbly flab
    Feeling hot and looking very pink because extra fat is like wearing a padded coat.
    Feeling as if people are judging me as I walked to get in the swimming pool on holiday.

    I’m determined that this year and in the future, things are going to very different. I’m going to do this 100% and can already imagine how much better I’m going to feel and look.

    I would like some supportive, positive people who would also like to make a significant difference over the next 14 weeks. Who would like to join me? It doesn’t matter if you have a little or a lot to lose but let’s see what a difference 14 weeks can make.

    I just stumbled onto your post…it’s great!
    Living in Florida and spending a lot of time in and on the water as my hubby and I do, I totally understand your feelings…and I too want this Summer to be a much better one.

    I started 5:2 on January 1, and I am seeing a weight-loss of about 1 lb per week. So, as of this morning I am down like 13 lbs since the first of the year.

    Today is also my second fasting day this week…good luck to you!

    Hi Floridag1r1. It was very good to hear from you and I’m so pleased not to be the only one who wants to be quite a bit lighter by the summer. Your weight loss of 13lbs since January 1st is excellent. How much more do you want to lose?
    My FD has gone OK today but I’ve been cold tonight. How did your day go?

    Have you increased your exercise as well as following 5:2? I’m trying to do more gardening and cycling.

    Hi! I like your post because I have a similar objective. I’d like to lose most of my extra weight until June when is my 10 years high school anniversary.
    I started on January with a calory restriction diet and later in February with 5:2. After 1 week in I started 4:3 to loose the weight faster.

    Starting weight 201 lbs
    Weight now: 179 lbs after almost 10 weeks
    Objective: 116 lbs I hope by October

    Good luck!

    Hi ChisAlina. It’s really good to find other people with the same objectives. How much weight have you lost already? I’m very interested in the 4:3 diet which I’ll consider if I don’t lose weight on 5:2. How much better are your losses on 4:3 than 5:2?
    For me, today is a NFD but I’m going to be very careful. I love cooking and food in general so portion control is a big thing for me.
    It’s sunny but cold here but the forecast is for 18c later. I’m going to visulaise myself walking down the beach, wearing a swimsuit without everything wobbling!

    firmandfruity, glad to hear that your fasting day went well. I think that I heard somewhere that when you switch over to fat burning, you can feel cold…so maybe that was a good sign.

    I have increased my exercise since January…and I usually do 4:3…I fast Monday and Wednesday (36hr fasts), and do a partial fast on Friday (by that, I mean I don’t eat breakfast or lunch, 20hr fast). To reach my first goal, I have about 20 lbs to lose. I’ll still be overweight, but nothing like last summer. How about you? how much are you looking to lose?

    ChisAlina, Great Job on your weight-loss so far! you and I both started the new year determined to do this! Congratulations!

    This is an eating day for me also, I am with you, I am going to be very careful about my portions today.

    Have a great day!

    Hello ladies. How are your weekends going? Are you keeping on plan? After 2 days fasting this week I seem to have lost some of my appetite. I seem to be feeling full up much sooner than usual which was one of the things I hoped might happen- but not so quickly.

    We have friends coming for lunch tomorrow so I’ll start some food prep tonight. Lots of lovely veg, I think. It’s my weigh-in on Monday so I’m hoping I’ve lost something.

    Good luck.

    Hello…

    It sounds like you are doing great, firmandfruity! I hope that your weigh-in went well.

    I ate a little too much yesterday…but today is my fasting day and I am ready to get back on track.

    We’re going to have a successful week! Summer is coming 😉

    Heya I have similar goals as you, as I get thigh chafing terribly.

    I restarted 1st of March 2017 after nearly two year break as could not get back on the wagon.

    My 28th birthday will be on april 26th.

    Start weight was 14.4
    last weigh in which was the Friday gone read 13.5 and half.
    This week is my week 4 and fasting today.

    At the moment I am a size 16-18 and not lost sizes as of yet but staying strong.

    Can I please join the 14 weeks till summer challenge too if you do not mind as this would help me stay on track 🙂

    Thank you.

    Priya

    Hi Priya,

    Good job getting back on the wagon and it sounds like you are doing great. And good luck with you fasting!

    Hi @firmandfruity!
    I’ve lost 22lbs since January, but only 11lbs since February when I started 5:2.
    I was on 5:2 only one week so I can’t tell you very well the difference.

    I have FD on Mo, We and Fr but I often exceed the 500 cal because of calories counting.
    I also experience cold on FDs.

    Hi @floridag1rl!
    I hope we have a good 2017 🙂
    I’m staying home with my 5 months daughter and it is easier to stick with the FDs. I’m curious to see how I’ll manage it after.

    Starting weight 201 lbs
    Midsummer challenge
    * Start weigh: 179 lbs
    * 1 week: 181 lbs (there were too many carbs in the weekend and water retention, will see next week 🙁 🙂

    Objective: 116 lbs I hope by October

    Welcome Priya and hello to Floridag1r1 and ChrisAlina. How are you all doing? Who is fasting today?

    I weighed in today, sadly only 0.5kg down but at least the scale moved in the right direction. We had friends over for lunch yesterday and I was greedy with the lemon meringue pie (and cream!) so I expect that’s part of it. However, I really enjoyed spending time with the friends and eating the pie so it was worth it but today I’m back fasting 100%. That’s the joy of 5:2.

    I ate 1 weetabix with milk for breakfast and tonight it’s going to be a vegetable steam fry (like stir fry but with no fat) with a little lean beef or if I continue to feel cold, I might have some butternut squash and chickpea curry.

    Good luck everyone and keep up the great work.

    Heya Firm and Fruity,

    Started a diary so hoping that will keep me on track.

    My fast day today is going ok not too bad, looking forward to my walk home today after work…praying that it stays dry and warm…

    nearly four litres water down and soo looking forward to my shake of one banana, ice cubes and water and one and half scoop of protein powder as well as a few mugs of pukka licourice and spearmint tea to end the night with.

    Aiming for 10k and more steps today, have done 5k so far.

    Priya x

    Great work Priya

    All the walking should really help and the licquorice tea sounds like a great idea. I have some Pukka fennel tea which is good for getting rid of hunger pangs and it tastes nice. Have you tried the Pukka 3 ginger tea?

    I’ve just done an hours ironing which although not great exercise, it’s better than sitting down. Your food diary is a fantastic idea. Keep up the good work.

    I ironed a summer skirt (which shows how infrequently I do ironing) and imagined that time in about a month when I get my summer clothes out. Instead of feeling fat and fed-up about nothing nice fitting, I’m going to be able to wear some stuff that hasn’t fitted for a few years and later on in summer, some clothes I’ve never worn. For me, this kind of visualisation works and stops me from eating rubbish.

    Hey Firm and Fruity,

    No I have not tried the 3 ginger but have had the ginger, lemomn and honey pukka tea. The licoursie one is really nice and usually I stay away from flavoured teas.

    I am rambling in my diary as it helps me keep on track.

    Wishing for inch loss to come across and for me to see the 12s on the scales as a mini milestone lol….

    x

    ChisAlina,

    It sounds like you are doing great! How nice for you to have a new baby…and so nice that you can spend this time with her. Good luck with your fasting days this week.

    @priya121 you’re doing a good job with the water. I can’t have more than 1.5 liters a day no matter how much I try

    @firmandfruity that’s the secret of this diet/WOL, you can have favorite meals once in a while without giving up. This is my longest diet so far.

    The FD was good today. I hope next will be too!

    Well done for a successful FD, ChisAlina :)That’s another FD done for me, too. Apart from feeling cold, it was OK and it’s a really nice feeling going to bed without feeling ‘full up’.

    Fanatstic water consumption, Priya. I don’t know how you manage it. I suppose I should drink more water but I’d been going to the loo even more than I am now!

    Thank you I literally spend my day at work drinking sipping away on the water and trying not to think about food haha….

    I need to buy some ingredients for some overnight oats to have on my non fast days lol to try and up my calories as I tend to do 16:8 on my non fast days so thinking oats for lunch hehe and then a semi healthy dinner for most of my non fast days hehe will see how I feel like…payday cannot come quick enough this month xx

    Hi girls…

    My fasting day went well yesterday. I was drinking lots of water like Priya.

    NFD today…3 healthy meals planned and some exercise after work.

    Hope all is well for all of you.

    Hi girls. How are you getting on? Is anyone fasting today? I’m doing a 750 calorie day today. This week I did a 500 day (Monday), a 750 day (Tuesday), a 1900 day (yesterday) another 750 day (today) and I’ll probably do 1900 ish Fri, sat, Sun. Is that cheating? I don’t think so; it’s still fewer calories over the week than 5:2. I suppose it’s more like 4:3.
    Why? To be honest, i was a bit disappointed with only losing 0.5kg my first week and also I’m so cold when I only eat 500.

    This morning, I ate 40g fruit and fibre with 2 mugs of tea and then I did a 25km bike ride which used 947 calories (according to my garmin) and had loads more energy than usual. I’ll have an apple and coffee for lunch and then a chickpea and butternut squash curry with some lean meat and veg tonight. I hope Monday’s losses will be better than last week’s. Oh, and thanks to Priya’s wonderful example, I’m trying to drink a lot more water. I’d love to hear how you’re all doing.

    Hey there, all….

    firmandfruity…I changed things around my first couple weeks, ’til I found what worked for me…and what I could live with in the longterm. I’ll be curious to hear how this works for you. lots of luck.

    I fasted Monday and Wednesday…and they went really well. Today is my eat day…then I will fast again tomorrow…so, yeah, I do a variation of a 4:3, it works for me.

    How are things going Priya and ChisAlina?

    Hi all! My FDs were ok, one more for Saturday as tomorrow I have my kangoo jumps class. I’m curious to see my weight on Monday. I’m aiming to eliminate sugar from my diet, so I hope to see a significant loss.
    Good luck to everyone!

    Hello….

    ChisAlina…glad to hear that your FDs are going well. Good luck with you weigh-in on Monday. kangaroo jumps class sounds fun.

    Have a great weekend everyone.

    Hello. I hope you’ve all had a good weekend and best of luck for weigh ins this coming week.

    I’m looking forward to hearing how you’re all doing.

    Hello…Thank you F&F

    Today is my FD…who else is fasting today…good luck!

    We’ve got to stay strong this week…it’s weigh-in week for the month…and Summer is right around the corner. Have a great day!

    Hello. I’ve weighed in and have lost 1.2kg this week! Feeling very pleased. This week might be difficult as we have family staying. I need to find a way round this as we have a lot of guests to stay and a busy social life. I’ve found not drinking any alcohol Monday to Friday helps as it keeps my resistance higher.

    How are the rest of you doing?

    Congratulations, f&f! that is great!
    My fasting day went well and today I get to eat. 🙂
    Good luck with keeping things within moderation this week f&f.
    I’ll check back tomorrow.

    Hello Priya, Floridag1r1 and ChrisAlina. I hope you’re all well and sticking with the plan. If you’ve fallen off then you need to get back on! This week has been difficult for me because we’ve had our daughter and 3 year old grandson staying with us. I’ve not gone wild but I haven’t been fasting properly. I’ve managed a couple of hard bike rides and went rowing and I’ve been chasing round the garden a lot so hopefully I won’t have put on weight. However on Monday, I’ll be back 100%

    How about you?

    Happy Friday! everyone!

    f&f, what fun, to get a visit with your daughter and grandson. It must have been so much fun…and it sounds like you did fairly well considering. You are right…you have to come back 100% on Monday. I’ll be waiting to hear from you. 🙂 I’ll be fasting on Monday.

    So…I weighed in this morning…I have lost another 5 lbs in March…so that puts my total loss since Jan. 1 at 15 lbs! It’s been slow, but steady…I hope that it stays that way.

    Hello. Well done for your 5lbs loss in March Floridag1r1. That’s a really sustainable loss- you must be able to feel a difference. We had a great time with our daughter and grandson but it was impossible for me to fast. Anyway, they’ve gone back home, it’s Monday again so I’m on a FD. I’m going to focus on drinking lots of water and working in the garden to keep my mind off food. I did a 26km bike ride yesterday and might go out today for a shorter but much hillier ride to try and burn some more calories.
    Let me know how you’re doing. I hope Priya and ChisAlina come back soon. It’s only 11 weeks and 2 days til midsummer and hot weather so we need to keep on with this. I hope your FD goes well.

    Hi all! I’m still here and happy as in the last 2 weeks I lost 2.3 kgs. I hope to continue the same way and be able to incorporate more exercises.
    My FDs are not perfect as I often always excede 500 cal, but at least are there and are helping me so much to control the apetit.
    Congrats @floridag1rl! A loss is a loss in the end!
    @firmandfruity 25km it’s quite a lot, there are years I didn’t ride a bike 🙁 🙂

    Good morning ladies. I’ve just weighed in and surprisingly, I’ve lost 0.8kg! This week I’m doing 4:3 again as it seems to work very well and 750 to 800 calories seems like luxury compared to 500.

    ChrisAlina, I’m very impressed with your 2.3kg loss in 2 weeks. Well done!

    It’s warmed up quite a lot the last couple of weeks and I’ve even been outside without a coat so summer is beckoning. I’m actually looking forward to trying on last year’s shorts; hopefully they’ll be looser.

    I’d love to hear what you’ve all got planned for the week.

    Good morning…and congrats on your losses, ChisAlina and f&f!
    NFD

    My FD yesterday went well. This week is a little messy because I am working the weekend and we will be eating out a lot. I am doing FDs Monday and Wednesday for sure…Saturday and Sunday, I may do like a 16:8 thing…only eating dinner on those two days. and next Monday I am off work, it is really hard for me to fast when I am home.

    You girls are doing great! Let’s keep it going!

    Hi girls. How are you doing this week? Floridag1r1, your week sounds interesting but it seems you have good strategies for dealing with problem days. I’ve done 4:3 again this week and I need to make sure I don’t go wild at the weekend.

    I’ve been out on my bike again today; 35km so that will burn off a bit more fat. I hope you all have a good weekend and stick to your plans.

    Happy Friday!

    F&F…it sounds like you are doing great! and WTG! with the exercise! Stay strong over the weekend…that’s the toughest for me as well…lots of luck to you.

    My fasting days went well this week…and I tried something new…when I came out of the fasting day, I ate an extremely low carb, high protein, high fat, breakfast…when I got on the scale this morning (Fridays are me weigh-in days) it looked like I had lost 5 lbs this week…I am only recording a 2 lb loss, in case it was a fluke…plus I don’t know how I will do over the weekend, with eating out and all.

    Have a great weekend girls…we are succeeding! We are gonna look great this Summer! 🙂

    Happy weekend to All. How’s it going ladies? I think a lot of us find weekends difficult from a diet perspective. I know I do; I can be really really good during the weekend but let everything relax way too much from Friday night til Monday morning. I get very annoyed with myself because it’s sabotaging what would otherwise be good weight losses. So, this weekend I’ve been much more in charge of myself. We went out last night and ate steak and chips and I drank 3 small glasses of red wine so in preparation, I ate a very tiny lunch and no snacks. Today, I’ve been on a 26km bike ride and am trying to do high protein, low carbs. Basically, I’m trying to not eat bread, rice and pasta today. So far, so good. I’d love to hear any strategies you’ve tried which have worked. It’s been warm here today (25c) so that’s a great incentive to stick to it. We can do this!

    Hello, all…
    Yes the weekends are the toughest…and like you, I try to prepare for it ahead of time…on Friday evenings we always have pizza and beer (been doing it every Friday for 30+ years) so on Friday…I don’t eat breakfast or lunch…so that I can enjoy…so far it is working.

    This is usually my fasting day…but I am home, it is hard for me to be good when I am home alone…the last time I failed…but I am going to try…I’ve got to try to keep myself busy. wish me luck! I’ll let you know tomorrow.

    Have a great day!

    Hello. I’ve just weighed in am disappointed to have stayed the same weight despite a very restrained weekend. Strangely, I actually feel a bit less fat around my middle even though I’ve lost no weight. Not really sure what’s going on but will keep at it, probably 4:3 as we have friends with us until Saturday and I can manage 3 days of 700 calories better than 2 days of 500. I’ll do a big bike ride as well, today.
    Please let me know how you’ve done- hopefully better than me!

    🙁 I failed again…was doing ok til around noon…then lost it! I did exercise though…and so, I am fasting today.

    Don’t give up f&f…I think sometimes we lose inches…not necessarily translate to the scale….I bet next time you weigh you will see a drop.

    Thanks for your optimistic words and sorry you went off-piste at the weekend. Sadly, it’s easily done.

    I am definitely not giving up. I need to lose weight for lots of reasons and I’ve really had enough of being overweight. Technicially, I’m only a fraction of a kilogram of not being obese any more. I was hoping I might get below that weight today but it didn’t happen. Maybe next week? Wishing you good luck for today with your fast and the rest of the week.

    Ooops! I’ve just realised I’ve made a big mistake with my weigh-in. I misread the number and have actually lost 0.9kg this week. This is what happens when you have terrible eyesight. I’m obviously happy about this and feeling tired after a mega 48km bike ride. Mystery solved. I was really surprised to have not lost anything after being a saint at the weekend compared to normal.

    Good luck to everyone this week.

    That’s awesome, f&f! You are doing great with the exercise…inspiring me to do more!

    So I did have a successful fasting day yesterday. Sticking to low carb today and will fast again tomorrow…hoping to undo the damage from last weekend and get back on track.

    be back soon.

    Well done with the FD yesterday and good luck for tomorrow. I think low carb is good, too. I’ve tried almost cutting out bread completely, as it seems to bloat me up and also no bread = no butter!

    I hope that everyone had a nice holiday weekend!

    Monday – FD

    Going to make this a good week!

    Thank you, Floridag1r1. I had a great weekend and hope you did, too. I’ve not really been sticking to 4:3 but will be back on it this week. However, I did a big bike ride on Sunday (32km) and a bigger one today (62km in 2.5 hours). My weight has stayed the same. I met some friends yesterday who I hadn’t seen for a while and they all commented that I looked as if I’d lost weight! Today’s ride apparently used about 2000 calories so that’s got to do some good.

    Good morning.
    FD#2

    It sounds like you are doing great F&F! I’m sure that the exercise is helping a lot. It is so nice to hear people are starting to notice…it really helps with the motivation.

    ChisAlina…are you still hanging in there? we would love to hear from you.

    I hope that you are having a great week!

    How are the Midsummer Challenge girls doing today?

    I really over-indulged yesterday….and I am feeling it today. 🙁
    Hopefully, a good fasting day will get things back on track.

    Good luck to you all.

    Hi girls. Like you, Floridag1r1, I overindulged yesterday. It was an annual lunch for our village and we ate (and drank!) too much. Very nice indeed but I’m back on plan today with a FD and will go for a bike ride later on when it’s cooled off a bit.

    I’ve been a bit lazy about weighing and logging food the last 2 weeks so I’m going to be really strict and hopefully see a good loss over the next month.

    I’m going away at the end of May and would like to be a good few kilos less by then.

    Good luck and keep going!

    It sounds like you had lots of fun at your annual lunch. 🙂
    I hope that your fasting day went well.

    Yes! I am with you…I am trying to be really good this week…next Monday is the weigh-in for the month. Then I have 3 months before my vacation…I would like to take off another 10-15 lbs before then.

    3 months from now, we will be so happy that we stuck with it! 🙂

Viewing 50 posts - 1 through 50 (of 154 total)

You must be logged in to reply.