Welcome to the Mindful May ☯️ 2024 Challenge! I’m David – aka funshipfreddie – and I’ve volunteered to host this month. Everyone is welcome to join the monthly Challenges. So whether you’re a fasting veteran, just trying it for the first time, or if you fell off the wagon & are coming back to the fold, you’re invited to spend the next 31 days with us – to create or reinforce some healthy habits, & to maybe discover just how easy it is to reach your goal weight without facing months or years of daily deprivation. Fasting is tried & tested, it’s free (in fact it saves money) & for many of us it’s the only thing that works. We eat what we like – most of the time – & still lose or maintain weight & stay healthy.
“According to researchers at Brown University School of Public Health, the reason many of us are overweight has more to do with our mind than our body. We make choices on what to eat based on deeply ingrained habits, habits about how food makes us feel, instead of what it does to our body. So the mistake most people make when it comes to weight loss is to simply approach the problem from the perspective of the body, and ignore the role of the mind. A growing body of research has found that mindfulness helps people lose weight and keep it off.” ~ Charles A Francis
So by combining mindfulness & intermittent fasting we can only increase our chance of successfully losing &/or maintaining weight & having a healthier lifestyle. Mindfulness is a word that’s thrown around a lot lately, especially on social media, & can mean different things to different people. The word is synonymous with meditation, & the formal version refers to sitting & concentrating on an object or sound, or repeating a mantra, with the aim of calming or focusing the mind. Informal mindfulness complements the formal & can be incorporated into any area of daily life. There’s nothing ‘woo-woo’ or mystical about it; it is simply PAYING ATTENTION. So the challenge this month – in addition to committing to a fast day or two per week – is to attempt to incorporate some MINDFUL EATING into our daily lives.
What is mindful eating? Mindful eating is about using mindfulness to reach a state of full attention to your experiences, cravings and physical cues when eating. It involves:-
– eating slowly and without distraction.
– listening to physical hunger cues and eating only until you’re full.
– distinguishing between true hunger and non-hunger cues for eating.
From – https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/mindful-eating-guide#what-it-is
***************************************************************************************************************
These monthly challenges were started by @coda in May 2016 and have been going strong ever since. Goals can be overwhelming when viewed as a whole. But by breaking them down into small achievable pieces (monthly challenges), we are able to stay focused and motivated to accomplish our goals one step at a time in bite-sized monthly challenges.
There are no rules, but as a general guide, here are some tips for any new people:
1. Posting – Please start each post with the day of the month, where you are, and if you’re on a fast day (FD), non-fast day (NFD) or controlled day (CD). We’re all over the world and in different time zones so it helps us keep track of which day we’re talking about, who else is fasting with us on a particular day etc. Look at the various posts, and you’ll soon see the pattern, and will learn how useful it is for reading.
2. In your first post, please introduce yourself to the group – this helps us to get to know each other, which is especially helpful for newbies. Perhaps say something about where you started, your journey so far, what you’re aiming for or how you are benefiting from fasting. You might like to include your starting weight or your goals for the month. But you don’t have to – share only what you are comfortable sharing online.
3. Spreadsheet – we will have a spreadsheet available and we will post the link on a separate post when we have it. It will be in alphabetical order by username. If you find it helpful, you can use it to record and track your progress as well as keeping track of how others are doing. It can help with perspective, accountability or planning. And if you need help just ask – there’s always someone happy to help. But you don’t have to use it if you don’t want to. It’s just another tool you can use if you choose.
4. Frequency – Some people post daily, others check in every few days. Some are brief, others are long and chatty. If you’re posting for a second time in the same day please head your post e.g. Day 1 – 2nd Post. Past history shows that posting every day truly does help with motivation for staying on track with your goals, so please don’t feel shy about suddenly posting daily; we love new members!
5. Content of your post– Comments or questions, complaints or celebration – anything you’d like to share with the forum. Recipes, tips, tricks and bright ideas are always welcome. Remember: we all have good days and bad days, days we fall off the wagon or days when we are hanging on by our fingernails, days when our mojo deserts us and days where we feel completely in control. So DON’T GIVE UP – whatever it is, you are not alone!
6. Community – This is a worldwide forum so there’s usually someone online. We all do our best to offer advice, support and solidarity
7. Pocket lists –A ‘pocket list’ is a list of the names of people who are sharing the same goal on a particular day. It’s great psychological support in mentally keeping that list in our back pocket, knowing we’re not alone. Anyone can join a pocket list or start a pocket list. Typical pocket lists are for FD but in the past they’ve been used for people doing daily exercise or planks, or DTF (dry till Friday).
8. 5:2 basics – answers to many FAQs plus top tips:
https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/the-basics-for-newbies-your-questions-answered/
9. The “rule”. The F word is not allowed!! (This is the only time I will use it – but here, the F word is FAIL.). We all stumble in our journey – it happens. But acknowledge it, think about what you can do next time, and continue. We’re all here to help!
We tend to use a LOT of abbreviations in these posts. Here’s a guide to some of the more frequently used ones:
5:2 – 5 days NFD – 2 days FD
16:8 – 16 hours fast – 8 hours non fast
IF – Intermittent Fasting
ADF – Alternate Day Fasting (FD – NFD – FD – etc)
AF – Alcohol-free
B2B – Back to Back (consecutive FDs)
BMR – Basal metabolic Rate
CFD – Controlled Food Day (a day’s eating comfortably below your TDEE)
DH, DD, DS – Darling Husband, Daughter, Son
DTF – Dry ’til Fri (no wine, beer, etc.)
EE – Emotional Eating (reflex grazing out of a need for instant comfort instead of satisfying hunger)
EFS – Epic Face Stuffing (Definitely due to a faulty OFF button!)
FD – Fast Day (500 cals)
FD800 – Fast Day 800 calories
Hunger Dragon – that dreadful psychological beast that sometimes cannot be satisfied. Some people even name theirs (e.g. @i-hate-lettuce had an inner warthog!)
IF – Intermittent Fasting
Keto – way of eating that generates Ketones
KISS – Keep It Simple Stupid!!!
LC – Low Carb way of eating
LCHF – Low Carb High Fat way of eating
LFD – Liquid Fast Day (incl. tea, coffee, miso, bone broth & water)
LOL – Laughing Out Loud
M/WOAM – Man/Woman on a Mission (courtesy of @i-hate-lettuce)
MFD – Modified Fast Day (800 cals) on the new Fast800, it’s a FD
MFP – MyFitnessPal – a smartphone app & website that tracks diet & exercise.
NFD – Non Fast Day
OH – Other Half (eg spouse/partner)
OMAD – One Meal A Day
PFDS – Post FD Smugness (courtesy of moi!)
Pocket List – Names to “keep in your pocket” for a common goal for the day
TDEE – Total Daily Energy Expenditure (see the ‘how it works’ link on the home page to work out yours)
TRE – Time Restricted Eating
WFD – Water Fast Day (Water only)
WFH – Working From Home
WOL – Way of Life
WOCA – Woman Of a Certain Age
ZBC – Zero Breakfast Club
Wishing everyone a successful Mindful May Challenge!
“Greater in battle than the man who would conquer a thousand-thousand men, is he who would conquer just one – himself.” ~ Buddha
7:32 pm
29 Apr 24