My 16 week countdown

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MrsH

2:48 pm
22 Nov 15
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Hello Ladies, none of us have been on here for ages so I hope this doesn’t mean we have given up!!

I haven’t but just can’t seem to get back into the swing of things. I have been losing and re-gaining the same 2lbs for weeks now and after a few days in York (lovely Cath but wet and windy) have put another 2lb on which puts me back at 10 stone 12lb – – the heaviest I have been all year!!

On top of that I am finishing work at the end of the month (they offered a release package which was a no-brainer after the year I have had at work) and I am worried about how I will manage diet-wise when I am home all the time. I haven’t decided what to do about getting another job and don’t need to rush into anything but must get motivated as I have come too far to slip back now. I think more exercise and walking might do it.

How are you doing with finding another project Cath? I hope the Sciatica is better.

Are you still logging what you are eating Annette?

Linda xx

Cathyork

10:58 pm
22 Nov 15
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Hi Linda,

Lovely to hear from you. Yes it has been ages since I logged on – but I was just thinking about you and wondering how you were doing. How you are you m’dear? You’ve had a bloody awful time of it lately – so I think you shouldn’t beat yourself up about gaining a few pounds!

Things are OK with me. After 4.5 months kicking my heels, I eventually got a new job in October – out of the blue with an ex-colleague. It is a 6 month contract and I’ve now done 6 weeks, but it is mainly based in Luton so there’s a fair bit of travelling, though I am doing it mainly by train. The rest of the time I can work from home. It is going OK and not too stressful so far!

I am trying really hard on the fasting front but I am STILL trying to shed the extra weight I gained on holiday in September. It is coming down very slowly but I am still almost half a stone heavier than this time last year. Also, I have done no exercise at all since I started work as I never seem to have time. But I am determined to re-start this week as this definitely helps. And I am pleased to say the sciatica has gone away – thanks for asking – so now I really have no excuse!

Ooh big news on the work front for you then. I know you were thinking about it after your job changed so much – I hope it works out to be the best move. I must say I had no regrets about taking redundancy (even in the midst of thinking I’d never find another job this summer!). But I agree it is really important to stay motivated and not slip back 😉

Annette are you still running and training? How are things going for you?

Now things have calmed down a bit with work and I am in a routine I’ll try to get on here a bit more so we can continue to support each other.

Cath xx

annette52

7:43 pm
24 Nov 15
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Hi Girls,
I rather thought that you had all given up, but great to hear about your jobs. Wish I could resign, but I am going to be working for many years to come with a zimmer frame! I have read a book that has completely changed my attitude/habits/view of food and is called Fat Chance the hidden truth about sugar, obesity and disease by Robert Lustig. He is of the opinion that we are victims of our biochemistry, that drive for sweet things that we crave. He argues that by avoiding sugar in the food that we eat we will lose weight and be more healthy. No weird food avoiding, just eating unprocessed meat, eggs, cheese, cream, wholemeal bread, wholewheat pasta and brown rice, whole fruit and vegetables, legumes and nuts. With this in mind, I have been hiding lentils in meals, using brown rice and pasta, adding beans where I can and not feeling guilty about what I eat. I am not giving up sugar, merely avoiding it and it is working. I am on day 2 of no sugar in my tea and although it isn’t great, I am getting used to it and having ditched the jar tomato sauces, we are all a little slimmer, less moody and no longer craving the sweet stuff. I can have a piece of cake and not want more or some chocolate and not hide bars around the house. I not fasted for around 3 weeks as I wanted to see what happened by focusing on eating real food, avoiding sugar and improving out diet. I have put the scales away along with the tape measure and use my clothes as mu guide. I have a pink pair of linen shorts(never worn but just £5 in M and S sale) that I could’t get on in January, I can now do up. My goal is to be able to wear them in comfort on Christmas Day( even just for 5 minutes). The notion that people are overweight not because they are weak or have no self control is dismantled by science by Lustig. I ran a half in September and not much running at all since. I plan to start when school breaks up next month when I can run in daylight, I have signed up for a 10K in February, so I need to pull my finger out if I am going to be fit enough to run the whole thing faster than I can currently walk! I have had to buy smaller bras and now have a pile of jumpers that are just too big and look silly. I am also a size smaller in jeans which is lovely. Ladies, get the book, forget the scales and change/improve what you eat. The results are amazing.

Cathyork

10:18 am
27 Nov 15
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Morning Linda and Annette,

Good week for me- I lost another 1lb so now 11 stone 3.5lb. That is still heavier than before my September holiday but definitely on a downward path. I managed 2 gym sessions and I did 3 fast days (though I think/know that I exceeded 500 cals in 2 of them – maybe not by much!). So I am feeling positive and will continue for the next 2 weeks in this pattern, work permitting.

Annette – it is great to hear you are so enthusiastic for your new approach. I know you’ve struggled with the sweet stuff in the past so it sounds like a great strategy – and how lovely to see positive results. I bet it is even better when you get back to your running.

Linda – how are things with you this week?

Cath xx

annette52

12:23 pm
28 Nov 15
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Hi Cath and Linda,
My big news is that i have reached a 2 year goal on weight and waist measurement!My waist is half an inch smaller which I am thrilled about along with my hips and thighs. I am sure that less sugar is responsible as my waist has not altered since January. I haven’t fasted/weighed/measured for the past 3 weeks, but I have avoided sugar and eaten more wholemeal food. This is day 6 of no sugar in my tea and although I am not loving it, I am getting used to it and each day it tastes a bit better. Quite an achievement after 40 + years!

I have had the odd piece of cake or some chocolate(never in my life have I just had a few squares) but I have now! I have another 2 weeks until the end of term, and have 2 Christmas Dinners in the last week, so that will be interesting to see how I cope.

Well done Cath. Great to see a downward trend. How are you Linda?

MrsH

11:05 am
16 Dec 15
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Hi Ladies, just checking in to see if either of you are doing any better than me!

I’ve no motivation at all at the moment and am being very half-hearted in my efforts to lose any weight – the scales showed an increase of just over a pound which means I am creeping towards 11 stone!

Strangely I am still getting people commenting on my weight loss so perhaps I’m developing more muscle as I am carrying on with the exercising. At least Mum would be happy as she wanted me to put some back on. Linda

annette52

7:47 am
22 Dec 15
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Hi Linda,
Exercise certainly whittles off the inches, but doesn’t seem to make much difference to weight loss I have found. I am not surprised that you have little motivation at the moment. Take the pressure off and perhaps the New Year will feel more inspiring.

I have been making sweets as gifts this year as I am completely skint, bought a sugar thermometer months ago which I had never used and have almost all of the ingredients in my kitchen cupboard. I have had a little taste of them all, but that is it as I will wrap them soon.

Before all of the Christmas meals/drinks/parties I was 10st 2lb, which means a 23 lb loss since I started this in January 2013(including all of the ups and downs/putting on 10lb each Christmas etc). What I am most excited about is that I have lost 4 inches off my waist/4 inches off my hips/3 inches off bust/ 2 inches off each thigh). I weighed myself last week(rookie error) and according to the scales I have put on 4 lb and I was very disappointed until I thought about the inches lost, particularly that around my middle and how much less visceral fat there is now.

I have given up sugar in my tea, don’t buy jar tomato sauce, read labels and just look for sugar content-much easier. I have been given chocolates which I am going to re-gift as I don’t need the temptation or the sugar.

After the big day I am back to the 5:2 along with brown rice/pasta and more wholefoods generally. Looking forward to improving in 2016.

Cathyork

3:34 pm
5 Jan 16
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Happy New Year fast friends and especially to Linda and Annette. Not posted for AGES as I was so busy with work and then hosting Christmas in my new kitchen (knackering!!) and then a short holiday to Portugal. Now I am back to normal and of course my thoughts have turned to trying to redress the damage done over the festive season!

I wasn’t doing very well in the lead up tbh – exercising stopped early in December (just as the eating & drinking got underway) – a recipe for disaster. So I thought it would be pretty bad by now, and actually at one point I started to get a bit panicky when my size 12 jeans started to feel too tight.

Anyway – now that the dust has settled I weighed in at 11 stone 5.5lb, which is not as bad as I feared, though I feel horribly flabby and unfit.

On the positive side – according to my chart which I’ve dug out and updated – I’ve now been following 5:2 (with a few breaks) for 125 weeks and I have lost 31 lb in total and I’ve had my new hip (which is why I started weight loss in the first place) for almost 2 years. Blimey!! I just want to lose that final stone or so that will take me to the ‘normal’ BMI.

So 2016 is definitely going to be the year I get to my goal – starting with getting my arse back to the gym 🙂

Linda and Annette – you are my inspirations as you have got under and stayed under that pesky 11 stone barrier. I need to do likewise 🙂

Linda – I hope you had a good Christmas. I know you said in your last post that you’d lost motivation but that is understandable after everything that has happened, and at least you are still exercising. Hopefully you can make a NY Resolution to restart? Sending hugs your way! Annette – how is your new regime progressing? It sounded very positive – I hope all is still well.

Let’s be determined to help each other continue & progress in 2016!

Cath xx

shambala

5:25 pm
5 Jan 16
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Hey Cath, thank you to take the time to write, I received your post automaticaly today and took the time to read it. First sorry for me, not so good, English, I am French.

Reading you today wake up something in me. I watched the tv show in regards to the fast diet and then applied it immediatly with great results. It was 2 years ago… Then I read you today and I decided to begin the 16 weeks challenge. My goal is to loose 15 pounds. Today I am at 191.8 and my goal in 16 weeks is to be at 175lbs. I planned to do it 2 times a week associated with cross contry ski and snow showing… In resume move everyday. So my plan is to loose one pound a week. And obviously to devellop good habit to keep my wait. I live right beside a parc where I can use 200 km of cross contry ski road. I feel gratefull about it. Also I will rebegging to meditate twice a day.

I planned to shared my journal every week in this post. I will surely need you advice Cath. I read somewhere I you want to succeed follow a person that did it.

I wish you all on this post to reach you goal. And the most important, I think, is the voyage and what we will experience.

annette52

8:38 pm
5 Jan 16
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Great to hear from you Cath. I had wondered if you had given up and I was all on my lonesome! The gruesome truth is that extra 4 lb is making my clothes tight and some trousers are impossible. I am doing 2 things, I am logging all that scoff with an aim to stick to my TDEE and combining that with avoiding sugar/eating wholefoods/running(went once on Sunday and very sore legs since) x3 times a week-just for half an hour before it gets dark. I will do this for a week or maybe 2 and then do 1 FD.

It isn’t rocket science to discover that I can eat x3 lovely meals a day and still be within the TDEE provided that I don’t waste any of the calories on the sweet stuff. Who knew?

Hi shambala and welcome.

MrsH

11:44 am
8 Jan 16
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Hi Ladies, Happy New Year and welcome Shambala.

I am dismayed to say that the scales this week showed I am up to 11 stone 3 lbs – shock /horror! Well I suppose I should change that to horror but not a shock – I knew it was going back on and let Christmas excess do it’s worst. Not sure where I am going to get the motivation from (apart from the tight waistband on my skirt!) although I am determined to “stop the rot” – I just can’t put it all back on.

I think I may need to follow you Annette and start recording all that I eat – I seem to be OK until I have something and then I can’t stop!!

I’m with you Cath, let’s hope we can all motivate each other this year.

Linda x

Cathyork

4:37 pm
8 Jan 16
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Hi Annette, Linda and welcome Shambala,

It is so horrible seeing the weight creep up! After feeling OK about being 11 stone 5.5lb (considering) I did 3 fast days this week and gained 1.5lb! No idea how – unless the excesses of New Year just took a while to show up. So I am feeling a bit annoyed today. Weirdly I actually feel thinner and better than I did at the start of the week!

Ooh Linda, back over 11 stone! Well join the club – my dip under 11 stone was all too brief (and far too long ago)- but you know you can do it again, you just need to get back in the routine. Recording what we eat is probably a good start. I also need to get back to the gym but I’m away in Luton a lot with work at the moment – I have to be there all next week so I think it will be a slow start on the exercise front. But I definitely need to start going in the right direction!

Annette you have got is sussed now I reckon with avoiding sugar. I read ‘That Sugar Book’ that you recommended a while ago and it is pretty shocking. For me not so much the obviously sweet stuff but the hidden sugars.

Shambala – you sound like you have a great plan for exercise (sounds quite exciting compared to the gym). How are you doing so far?

I was just thinking this week how depressing it is that almost everyone you speak to is dieting or having a dry January. I was surrounded at work by people nibbling crispbreads and carrots and drinking those appalling looking green liquidised drinks. Hilariously most of them never stopped eating all day and I was doing 2 back to back fast days. It does make me feel pleased though that I know a way of losing the weight whilst continuing to enjoy my social life (eating & drinking)and not getting involved in all that crap. Despite my shock on the scales I know I’ve tried really hard this week so I intend to have a good weekend (albeit mindful of consumption) and fast again next week.

We can do it!! Positive thinking coming at you.

Cath xx

annette52

8:37 am
9 Jan 16
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My week of sticking to my TDEE for the weight that I am was at times difficult as I had underestimated the portion or calorie ‘cost’ of some food, so that for each day I have been a little bit over. Yesterday, that idea went to wall, as I had been hungry all day, lunch was very small and not filling, I had to stop at the supermarket on the way home etc. The result was that by the time I had walked home, i had scoffed x2 Pain Chocolat which come in at 411 calories each!!!! I was still hungry and ate my now very ripe avocado on toast, with a ‘I have well and truly blown it now view.’ If I had just eaten everything without the croissants then I would have been on track. Lesson learned. Never go to a shop when you are hungry.

Imagine my surprise this morning then to find that not only am I 1 lb less, but that I have also lost an inch off my waist! I am thrilled and very surprised. Must do better next week.

annette52

9:09 am
9 Jan 16
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New book for you and my guru is by Robert Lustig Fat Chance the hidden truth about sugar, obesity and disease. The premise is that we are victims of our biochemistry and that by changing that we will be healthier and slimmer. He dispels the usual diet myths and why they don’t work, but also offers solid do advice to food-simply having brown rice/pasta etc and why it helps etc. Once I made those changes I lost another inch off my waist!

MrsH

12:32 pm
15 Jan 16
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Hello Ladies, weigh in this morning after 10 days and I’ve lost just over one pound – not much but it’s a start.

I need to get motivated and get moving more. I think having no job is making me lazy and I need to do something about it now – not saying to myself that I have plenty of time to sort myself out.

You made me laugh Cath with your account of people at work – I certainly don’t miss the smell of the disgusting soups people seemed to be having all year round when I was working. The smell lingered all over the office for the rest of the day and really made me feel sick.

The book sounds interesting Annette, I’ll see about getting it.

Hope you are both getting on ok – we will be back on track soon x

annette52

6:11 pm
23 Jan 16
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Hello Ladies,
I had my first FD in months and it went well, no drama. However, I have had biscuits every day, which isn’t great and all adds up to another meal! So, my plan is to have 2 FD next week and no biscuits, it’s silly as I feel so much better with less sugar in my life.
I am not weighing/measuring until the end of February just to see if I can, and will use clothes as a mark of change. Those pink shorts take no prisoners!

I was 55 last week and have spotted swim wear in the shops. I remembered a long held ambition to look good in a bikini, so I am going to aim for this summer, or the time will have passed.

I hope that you are both well.

Cathyork

8:34 pm
3 Mar 16
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Hello my lovely fast friends – a very long time no speak.:-(

I have been so busy travelling with work and other things- including my mam being ill again with a (thankfully mild) heart attack that I just never seem to have time to fit everything in. I am on a train home from London at 8:30pm as I type this – and I am knackered!

Long story short – nothing much has changed and I’ve been to the gym once – yes ONCE – this year. So I am shockingly bad. I am still doing 2-3 fast days per week but definitely straying off the programme a bit. Result – weight is static at around 11 st 5-7lb. But I am MUCH flabbier. Something needs to change.

How are you all doing? Need some encouragement to get going on a downward track again!!

Cath xx

MrsH

2:09 pm
4 Mar 16
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Hi Cath, it’s so good to hear from you. I have been wanting to post on here before but it’s been so long I couldn’t go back and find the link!

I’m the opposite of you I think, nothing to do but eat! No, it’s not that bad – after giving myself a good talking to I am, slowly seeing a drop in weight again. Not that much but I was just under 11 stone 1 lb this morning so almost under 11 again. Still not good enough. I’m finding it hard to stick to 500 calories on fast days so am trying to eat less than my TDE on non-fast days to compensate. It’s not really that I am eating more during the day; it seems to be night time when I get the “munchies”. Although it seems obvious that if I don’t have snack type stuff in I can’t eat it there is always something I can find!

I am keeping up with the exercise and don’t really feel like I have put on a stone (except that the waistband of my size 12 skirt is tight!) and my sister says she can’t see it either. Strange isn’t it that people couldn’t see when I had lost weight and now can’t see that I have put it on. That said, I must not get complacent or it will all creep back on and I can’t have that.

Sorry to hear about your mam Cath, I hope she is recovering well. Are you enjoying your job despite all the travelling?

Linda xx

Cathyork

11:38 am
8 Apr 16
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Hi fast friends,

I hope everyone is doing well.

I haven’t been good about posting for a while – still busy travelling for work and the weight’s not really shifting despite 2-3 rather half hearted fast days every week.

I was all set to get back to the gym in March and then I had a really bad fall – no idea how – whilst walking along on a weekend away in York. I was so determined not to fall on my replaced hip that I twisted as I fell and landed really heavily on my ribs on my right side (on cobbles and in a really muddy puddle – classy!) and I’ve been suffering ever since. Most of the lower ribs feel OK now but I still have a lot of pain in the upper ribs so I think I must have cracked them. So I’ve been moving very gingerly for a while. I understand they can take up to 2 months to heal so I will just have to be patient!

Anyway summer is coming so I have redoubled my efforts on 5:2 and I have really started being strict again. I am still 11 stone 7lb so my aim is to do 3 fast days a week for the next 8 weeks prior to a much anticipated week in Spain. I would really like to get down under 11 stone again by then but we’ll see.

How are you getting on Linda – are you succeeding at all? Thanks for asking about my mum. She’s OK after the heart scare but still not well with kidney issues and terrible arthritis. But she’s soldiering on!

Any more running Annette? How are you getting on with lack of sugar?

Take care

Cath xx

MrsH

12:40 pm
14 Apr 16
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Hi Kath, ouch! I bet that hurt. It’s really strange though because I fell when I was in York in November!! I put my hand out save myself and hurt my hand – it’s my little finger and knuckle mostly but it’s still not better.

I’m not getting on well at all and can’t make any excuses. It’s just less than 4 weeks to my first holiday and I’m just losing and gaining the same couple of pounds. I’m still 11stone 2lbs which is a stone heavier than I was in August!! I don’t know how to motivate myself. I don’t think being at home all day is helping but my willpower seems to have disappeared.

I’m glad your Mum is getting on ok – I’m sure she is as determined as mine was to get on with her life as best she can. I hope you’re fit again soon too and that we can both see some movement in the right direction on the scales. Linda xx

Cathyork

2:06 pm
15 Apr 16
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Hi Linda,

Yes it did – but my own clumsy fault – it’s still improving gradually but hurts to sleep on! Hope your hand is improving.

Well 11st 2lb isn’t that bad – though I know when you look at it as whole stone heavier than last year it is a bit depressing. But you’ve had a year of turmoil – and those are not the best conditions for being organised or focussed! I’m sure you can get back into it! Maybe just have a new start when you get back from holiday? – where are you off to this time?

I’ve not done too well this week – I’ve been home all week as the people I work with in Luton went to India – so no point travelling. It is so much harder to stay on track when you are less busy! I did really try with 3 fast days (though not 100% strict) and I’ve lost half a pound! That takes me to 11 stone 6.5 pounds. I really want to get under 11 stone by the time I go on holiday to Spain in 7 weeks time – and I might still do it @ 1 lb a week but it seems a very long haul! I didn’t manage the gym but I do need to get going soon as I’m sure this will speed up the rate of loss.

Take care

Cath xx

MrsH

3:45 pm
15 Apr 16
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Hi Cath, Unfortunately I have a couple of pair of summer trousers that are a bit too snug so I need to so something before I get on the slippery slope to not being able to get into them at all!!

I’m off to Gran Canaria for a week on 14th May and would love to be under 11 stone too. I will try to be good but there seems to be chocolate everywhere at the moment, chocs for Mother’s Day, chocs for my Birthday, an Easter Egg at Easter and now my sister has won a 17 kilo (yes, 17 kilo) Belgian chocolate egg which I am going to have to help her with!!! I am still aiming to get out walking – need to break in the sandals for Vegas in June!

How’s the job going? I hope you’re still enjoying it. Good luck with your fast days – I’m sure we will get back on track soon (I do hope so anyway!!) Linda x

annette52

9:58 am
24 Apr 16
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Hello Ladies,
I am enjoying a life with less sugar in my daily diet. I am sugar free in tea and now don’t even think about it anymore. I no longer have puddings at work as they make me feel rubbish about an hour later when the sugar crash hits. Now I have the occasional cake or chocolate but could do with reducing that further as the sugar makes me want more…
I completed a 10K a week ago which was tough. Another one planned in 6 weeks time for the Race for Life, which I hope to complete in a faster time(I am slow). There is also a 5K planned for 2 weeks, which will be fun and hopefully get me out to train when it is cold/wet!
My weight has been up and down-gaining and losing the same 7 lb for ages. The plan is for 2 FD and a gimlet eye on the 5 NFD with a goal of finally losing some more inches of the waist to achieve that elusive waist that is half my height.