My Journey – 89kg to ?

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My Journey – 89kg to ?

This topic contains 13 replies, has 7 voices, and was last updated by  fasting_me 6 years, 7 months ago.

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  • Heya, I’m Jey. 26 year old female, 171cm tall. At my heaviest I was 95kg. I saw a photo of me sideways and was appalled, but made no real effort to lose weight except to walk the dog every day. Holidays rolled around and my mother visited for two weeks: cue massive portions of carb-heavy comfort food (rice, pasta, potatoes, bread), three takeaway meals a week (KFC, Red Rooster, Hungry Jacks etc) and little-to-no exercise. By the time they left I was pushing 90kg again and disgusted with myself.

    I immediately started back on walking every day and reasonable portion sizes. A coworker mentioned he was fasting four days a week, lost a lot of weight and had never felt better, fitting into shorts he hadn’t worn for 7 years. While bemused by the idea of 7 year old shorts, his story inspired me to do some research.

    As such, I’ve been fiddling with fasting over the last three weeks, two weeks after the holidays, but have decided to do this properly until I’ve reached my goal weight of 70kg – the last time I was 70kg was in high school, almost 10 years ago. I’ll then fast once a week for maintenance. Or who knows, maybe try for 60kg! By fasting I mean not eating anything at all during the fasting period – I don’t want to have to count calories or even think of food during fasting days.

    WEEK 1 – 17 July – 89.7kg
    My first fasting day was from 3PM Wednesday to 7AM Friday morning and while the first 20ish hours were fine, the rest made me nauseous. I was incredibly surprised that I could survive so long without food. Not eating is actually super easy. I drank a lot of water at work and made myself busy with tasks at home + indulging in some fanfiction reading. I did learn that 40 hours of not eating anything at all was not something I wanted to attempt again, however. I also happened to be overcoming a cold at the time, so actually ended up throwing up twice Thursday night. I joked that fasting is secretly just a gate-way drug to bulimia. I probably shouldn’t joke about such things.

    WEEK 2 – 24 July – 88.2kg
    I fasted from Wednesday dinner (around 5PM) to Friday breakfast (7AM). Second time around of fasting was much easier, as I knew what to expect. I felt like I was missing out when my colleagues were eating a delicious looking chocolate cake at lunch, but didn’t cave. The difference of a few hours not eating is actually huge. 36 hours is much more manageable.

    WEEK 3 – 31 July – 86.7kg
    Now that I was getting the hang of things, I made a decision to fast twice a week. I fasted Sunday (7PM) to Tuesday (7AM). Monday was a little difficult for me, as my partner decided to have pizza that night =.= I fasted again Wednesday dinner to Friday breakfast. This will be my standard fast schedule from now on, so I won’t mention it again. On Friday morning I was actually at my lowest weight, 85.9, that I have been since the last 5 years. Friday’s are my worst days for eating, as my work has a provided lunch and my partner and I go out to dinner. The weekend is also very lazy and with access to the fridge at all times, bad for controlling how many calories I devour.

    I’m keen to see what the end of Week 4 brings, if I actually limit my non-fasting days, as opposed to overeating on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

    Weight loss in 3 weeks: 89.7 – 86.7 = 3kg

    I think about that first week a lot. How much more of my fat would be gone if I had fasted twice that week? I have also thought of fasting on alternative days, but it just doesn’t suit my home or work life. I think a loss of 1kg a week is safe. I do understand that it won’t always be 1kg a week, I’ll take any loss as long as I’m getting closer and closer to my goal of a healthy weight of 70kg.

    Anyway, this is my accountability journal and I’ll be back in a week 🙂

    Cheers,
    Jey

    Good for you! Keep going 🙂

    Hi Jey

    Great to read your post and glad to see you on the forums. There’s lots of support and advice here but looks like you’re doing a great job of working out what works for you. Have you calculated your TDEE to help on your non-fasting days?

    Looking forward to your next progress report!

    DerbyGirl, thanks for the encouragement!

    Penz, I had a brief look when I was investigating 5:2, but after your comment I will put more thought into what I’m eating on non-fast days. According to the calculators on this site:

    Your BMI is: 29.4
    Your BMR is: 6852 kJ / 1638 calories
    Your TDEE is: 8223 kJ / 1965 calories

    My current BMI indicates I am Overweight and at increased risk of various health problems. I want my BMI to be around 23, which is right at healthy.

    I had a packet of ramen noodles last night – 1630 kJ! I wasn’t aware such a small packet could devour so much of my daily allowance! ^^ So yes, I’ll be paying much more attention to how much energy seemingly small meals provide.

    WEEK 4 – Starting Monday 7 July, Ending Sunday 13 July – 85.8kg

    This week was full of poor choices in eating. Chicken burger + chips and gravy, buttered bread for soaking up soup, garlic bread, too many coffees and mochas and teas, pancakes with golden syrup, energy drinks + little exercise. However, I still managed to lose weight (even if it wasn’t a full kilogram). My fasting days were fine; it gets easier and easier to just get through the day without eating. So much so that I’m thinking of adding another fasting day on Saturdays. I haven’t researched into 4:3, so I’m going to that now, see if the benefits are still the same, or if 5:2 is the best option. It’ll be tough making a weekend day as a fasting day, but if the benefits are there, then I have no excuse, really. This is my body and my mistakes are causing it grief – I want to live a long and happy life. I’m always conscious of the fact that I’ve lived probably a quarter of my life and I’ve got 3/4s left to go – but only if I live that long! Basically I’m pretty happy with how this lifestyle change is going and I’m even more eager for that healthier goal weight of 70 kg. Only 15.8 kg to go!

    Weight lost since last week: 0.9 kg
    Total weight loss (4 weeks): 3.9 kg

    Catcha next week!
    Jey

    WEEK 5 – Starting Monday 14 July, Ending Sunday 20 July – 84.5kg

    So I did some research into 4:3. There aren’t that many comprehensive posts out there that I could find, but the ones I did read just said it was just as good/if not better than 5:2. With that in mind I did try to add a 3rd water fasting day this week. Sort of didn’t go too well. I tried to fast on Saturday and was doing fine until about 1PM. I had been watching recipe videos most of the day (self-torture) and just felt the need to eat something. I wasn’t even necessarily hungry, I just felt as if I was denying myself food – which isn’t something I had felt on any of my other fast days. I ate an English muffin with butter and jam/marmalade with grated cheese. After eating this I actually felt unwell, like my body was confused as to why I ate when I had psyched myself into not eating.

    I think this first week of 4:3 I’ll stick to the 500 calories/2000 kj fast on my 3rd day to make the transition easier. Perhaps next week I won’t need to eat at all, but for some reason the psychological fear of not eating has returned for this extra day. I’ll get over it, I’m sure.

    DINNER MEALS FOR THE WEEK
    Monday – Water fast
    Tuesday – Pork mince and chicken sausage Singapore noodles
    Wednesday – All you can eat buffet (lol). After doing this we agreed we’d never go again. It was nice, but too much – too expensive, too much food, too many people, too tempting to fill yourself to stuffed just to get your money’s worth. It just wasn’t necessary. To make up for it, we’re not going to have take-away food for the next two weeks.
    Thursday – Water fast
    Friday – Beef stew with dumplings
    Saturday – Sweet chicken and corn soup
    Sunday – 500 calorie fast. I’m unsure yet what I’m going to eat. Possibly just a few cups of tea and a cup of chicken and corn soup (which is apparently around 300 calories, yikes!).

    Starting Weight: 89.7 kg
    Current Weight: 84.5kg
    Weight lost since last week: 1.3 kg
    Total weight loss (5 weeks): 5.2 kg

    So despite (again) not so great eating habits this week, I’ve still managed to lose weight. I did go for an extensive walk Friday afternoon, so maybe that contributed to some of the energy consumed. It does make me think about my life prior to this change: had I really been eating so much that I was maintaining and even gaining weight? How is it possible for this to occur? I’m not going to say it’s “easy” to not eat an entire day, but if only someone had told me after I left high school that I didn’t need to eat a full breakfast, big lunch and huge dinner EVERY SINGLE DAY. Of course in the back of my mind I knew that I didn’t need to eat so much, just eat when you’re hungry. But now I’m not even eating when I’m hungry and it’s working so well.

    I don’t know the answer, but fasting at least once a week should be something any overweight or obese person should consider. It is a life changer. If there’s anyone reading this, still sitting on the fence about whether to make this lifestyle change – just try it! You don’t have to go full water fast. Just try the calorie restriction. I think you’ll be honestly amazed at your own resilience.

    Something I’ve noticed in general is that I’m more satisfied after smaller portions of food. I still have a tendency to overeat and go for seconds, but I don’t need to anymore. My resolution this coming week is to stop eating when I’m full. It’ll be hard, because I was raised to finish everything on my plate, but it’ll be worth it.

    Last thing: Saturday morning I was at my lowest weight in years. I think it had been 3-4 years since I was anywhere NEAR 83 kg, and being 83.7 kg shocked me. I made the mistake of buying a pair of pants two weeks ago to wear to work and they already are way too lose around my waist. I’ll keep wearing them and get a belt, but wow. I’m just happy how this is all going.

    Sorry for the novel!

    Seeya next week!
    Jey

    Wow – you’re doing really well!
    I’ve just joined here, but a few months ago I did a 40 hour water-only fast (just out of curiosity really) and I found it a lot easier than I thought I would. Not sure I could do that every week, mind – and CERTAINLY not if my husband was tucking into pizza while I was trying to fast, you must have superhero levels of willpower!

    @seemingly – Amazing start and progress!!

    Fasting get easier as your body gets used to it. I normally keep my calories under 20 per day while fasting. (There are a few calories in things like black coffee and straight tea.) I find eating is generally disruptive to my fasting.

    I had been using calorie restriction for years and I was at a point where I was gaining fat on less food. When I cut most foods with added refined sugar, the fat started melting away for a while. After that I started fasting.

    My first fasts were just skipping supper. That turned out to be okay except sometimes it was hard to sleep. Then to help with jetlag on trip I did a 30 hour fast. That was very hard. However I didn’t suffer from jet lag.

    After that I kept at it and started 5:2 fasting last September. Typically I fast from 7pm Sunday to 8am Tuesday and 7pm Thursday to 8pm Saturday. It took a few months before I didn’t have problems sleeping on the second night. Slowly the fasts because easy, sometimes sort of pleasant.

    I have done a few longer fasts, a couple at 60+ hours, 80+ hours and I just did a week long fast. However I’m not going to do longer fasts very often.

    All through this process I’ve been trying to improve my diet. I believe diet is key. For me, what I eat seems much more important than the calories and in general I have some very calorie dense foods in my diet. (nuts & cheese) I try to shoot for 10 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. I tend to be heavy on the fruits and frankly that doesn’t work for everyone, sometimes it doesn’t work well for me either if I get too crazy.

    Long post, but keep at it, it gets easier. It isn’t really a diet it is a way of life. Anyway I’m humbled by your progress so far!

    @io Thanks for the grats! I didn’t have much willpower this week though…

    @dykask I’m okay with fasting the one day, but I find I can’t fast two days in a row. And your times seem pretty reasonable! I guess I just have to work at it for a few months, seeing as I’m still only a month in. Diet is definitely the key, as I’ve found this week… :/ I’m humbled by your ability to cut sugar from your diet. I detest coffee and tea without sugar. And I enjoy tea and coffee way too much to eliminate them from my days…

    WEEK 6 – Starting Monday 21 July, Ending Sunday 27 July – 83.7kg

    I feel terrible about this week. Clearly my relationship with food is quite negative. It doesn’t really help fasting twice a week if I eat way over my calorie intake on the non-fasting days. Basically I failed this week. I am super disappointed with myself for getting set back so much. I guess the previous weeks had been so easy, still eating a whole lot of food, I figured I could do the same this week. But it’s not that simple.

    DINNER MEALS FOR THE WEEK
    Monday – Water fast
    Tuesday – Cob loaf (way too much delicious cob loaf). First time making it and it was just amazing. Spinach, ricotta, cheddar, mayonnaise, sour cream, red onion. Too yummy.
    Wednesday – McDonald’s large frozen Coke spider, chips, half a burger (couldn’t finish it and don’t know why I got it). Enjoyed the spider though.
    Thursday – Water fast
    Friday – Grilled pork chop with zucchini, eggplant and asparagus. The healthy good meal I ate the entire week.
    Saturday – First, breakfast was beans with veggies on toast. But dinner was what broke me. Huge mistake chicken burger, chips and gravy. Felt so sick I wanted to throw up. Just wanted to expel it all. Had to sleep it off. Don’t know why I did it to myself, so disappointed.
    Sunday – Red curry with lots of veg and rice.

    Starting Weight: 89.7 kg
    Current Weight: 83.7 kg
    Weight lost since last week: 0.8 kg
    Total weight loss (6 weeks): 6 kg

    Things I’ve learned this week: Take-away is truly horrendous. Why eat it when you can have healthier and nicer things at home? It must be the ease of buying something premade. It definitely wasn’t, “This is delicious, I want it again!” I keep swearing off take-away but having it again and again. I don’t know what will make me stop, but it’s truly terrible and not worth buying. I just don’t get why I keep doing it, against my better judgement. Pure laziness, I suppose.

    What I’m really angry about is that I pushed myself to walk the dogs every single day during the week. I wanted to lose weight this week and be happy with my progress. And I was down to 82.5 kg Friday morning. Can you believe gaining a kilo on the weekend? That’s how disgusting I was this weekend. I’m so ashamed and just plain sad about it. When I saw those scales on 82 kg, I was so excited. And last night I thought I’d step on the scales and see 83 kg, but seeing 84 kg, it was incredibly demoralising. I know 83.7 is very close to 84, but 82 is a symbol to me. 82 meant 2 kg closer to 80 kg. But I’m still almost 4 kg to 80. It’s sad.

    I thought to myself, well, I can always fast on Sunday. But I knew I couldn’t. So I just threw the whole weekend away and the whole week. I can’t believe I put in the effort of fasting but then made bad choices on what to eat. It’s so bad.

    I’ve already broken one resolution (to stop eating when I’m full), as I did eat more than necessary a few times. But I guess I’m proud I didn’t eat that entire McDonald’s burger. That’s some progress. I am not one to waste food, so previously I would have eaten it, even when I didn’t want it. I have stopped doing that maybe 50% of the time now. Just got to work on not eating when I don’t want it/when I’m full 100% of the time.

    Filled with regret, but optimistic for next week.
    Jey

    WEEK 7 – Starting Monday 28 August, Ending Sunday 03 September – 82.7kg

    I just want to clarify my meals… I tend to only really eat large dinners and small breakfasts/lunches. So I’m going to start including the significant extra things I eat every day, instead of just my dinners – just assume I have one or two teas or coffees on my non-fasting days. That way this becomes a sort of food diary too – I won’t include the small boring things (think crackers, a mouthful of canned peaches etc). I think you may be interested in what I eat, and how much I eat, but still manage to lose weight. I’m very humbled by fasting.

    MEALS FOR THE WEEK
    Monday – Water fast
    Tuesday – Caesar salad with chicken, bacon, feta and croutons (so yummy)
    Wednesday – Mashed potato with savoury mince (pretty much Shepherd’s pie without the pastry). I admit to eating way too much of this. Had a great taste and so easy to eat.
    Thursday – Water fast
    Friday – Delicious chicken, egg, salad sandwich on grain bread. Cheese and bacon pie with wedges with sour cream and sweet chili sauce.
    Saturday – Red Rooster chips and gravy, buttered toast, glass of Moscato, large chocolate Mars bar, Gingernut biscuits – just a day of random things, no real meals
    Sunday – Satay chicken with rice

    Starting Weight: 89.7 kg
    Current Weight: 82.7 kg
    Weight lost since last week: 1 kg
    Total weight loss (7 weeks): 7 kg

    I think I’m two weeks away from 80 kg. I’m so excited! I mean, still 13 kg from my ideal weight of 70 kg, but getting there!

    I also figured out why I’ve been throwing up pretty much every fasting day. It was never consistent, but it always followed or was directly in the morning of a fasting day. It’s because I have been taking the Pill on an empty stomach. Pretty much whether it was in the morning of a fasting day, in the evening of a fasting day or very early the next morning after a fasting day, I’d throw up just water and bile. I’d immediately feel better. I had been attributing it to the cold nights and mornings here and my running nose. Crazy to think I had let it happen for 7 weeks without really questioning WHY I was throwing up so much.

    So my question is – to those of you also on the Pill, how do you take one on fasting days when all you “consume” is water?

    Signing off ’til next week!
    Jey

    WEEK 8 – Starting Monday 4 September, Ending Sunday 10 September – 82.7kg

    MEALS FOR THE WEEK
    Monday – Work had a luncheon planned, so didn’t water fast, also BBQ’d pork chops
    Tuesday – Water fast
    Wednesday – Tacos (pork mince, cheese, avacado, tomato)
    Thursday – Sausages on bread, pesto pasta salad
    Friday – 500 calorie fast of roasted tomato soup and fresh bread
    Saturday – Nachos (leftover tacos on Doritos, baked), roast chicken and leftover pesto pasta
    Sunday – egg and beans on toast, chocolates, honey soy chicken nibbles with rice

    Starting Weight: 89.7 kg
    Current Weight: 82.7 kg
    Weight lost since last week: 0 kg
    Total weight loss (8 weeks): 7 kg

    I didn’t lose any weight this week. I was at 81 kg on the Friday, due to a lot of extra exercise that I normally don’t partake in (heavy gardening, think hoeing up the ground, raking, pulling out stubborn plants etc). Walked the dogs every day. What obviously set me back this week was a lack of actual fasting. Tuesday was my only fasting day and it did not offset all the food I ate during the week (including the indulgent chocolates, coffees and teas that I’ve had!).

    I’m okay with not losing any weight this week. I’ll do better next week. It’s hard to believe I’ve been doing this for 8 weeks now 🙂 I’m in a pretty good mood, overall. I think I’m learning that it’s okay. I’m in this for the long-haul and I don’t need to get upset over the scales not moving up or down, especially when I know I didn’t meet my 5:2 quota properly.

    Catcha next week!
    Jey

    WEEK 9 – Starting Monday 11 September, Ending Sunday 17 September – 81.7kg

    MEALS FOR THE WEEK
    Monday – Bacon and lentil soup with crusty bread
    Tuesday – Water fast
    Wednesday – Leftover soup
    Thursday – Water fast
    Friday – Chicken, bacon, feta, capsicum, red onion, lettuce and crouton salad
    Saturday – Leftovers, sausage on bread with onion, carrot and cream cheese muffin
    Sunday – Pork roast with potatoes, pumpkin, beetroot and onion, rosemary and red wine gravy, homemade apple sauce

    Starting Weight: 89.7 kg
    Current Weight: 81.7 kg
    Weight lost since last week: 1 kg
    Total weight loss (9 weeks): 8 kg

    Catcha next week!
    Jey

    Well, I think I fell off the bandwagon as soon as Christmas holidays rolled around. And then I was lost for a long time after too. I gained a bit of weight and wasn’t happy with it, so started fasting again this week. Posting in this forum kept me accountable, and as soon as I stopped posting, I started eating, I guess.

    Prior to reinstating my fasting, for the past two weeks I’ve attempted to incorporate an eating window to restrict opportunities to graze. I’m allowing myself only ever a coffee or tea in the mornings. For the past 8 weeks I stopped eating anything at work until I got home from dinner. Essentially, besides the coffee, I’m restricting my eating time from midday to 6PM. Some nights a later dinner is unavoidable (work commitments), so I adjust the window the next day.

    I’m committing to low calorie fasting on Mondays and Thursdays. I could do just water fasting, but as to not deprive myself, as I really enjoy morning coffees at work and evening coffees/tea to unwind.

    MEALS THIS WEEK
    Monday – Low calorie fast (two coffees)
    Tuesday – 2 tacos and 1 tuna sushi roll, two coffees
    Wednesday – Butter chicken and rice
    Thursday (today) – Low calorie fast (two coffees)
    Friday – Indian curries, rice and naan bread
    Saturday – Leftover tacos as nachos / leftover Indian takeaway
    Sunday – Beef stew with dumplings

    Starting Weight: ? kg
    Current Weight: 82.3 kg
    Weight lost since last week: _ kg
    Total weight loss: _ kg

    I’ll update at a proper interval – probably next Sunday, and then keep to Sunday afternoon updates.

    If you’ve got any suggestions or concerns about my plans, please do say, I’m interesting in hearing them. Cheers, Jey

    Hi Jey,

    I started 5:2 less than 3 weeks ago, so I am still learning how to adapt to this. I completely agree that posting regularly is a great motivator! I do that too to stay committed!
    You did a great job last time so, I trust that you will do well this around too! I have no comment really about your plan, as I think that we get to know our bodies and what works for us when doing this 5:2 or low cal diet. If what you eat and the way you eat works for you and makes you happy, then go for it!
    Xxx

    You are doing a good joy, Jey, and learning some food lessons along the way. One of the benefits of the slow weight loss of the Fast Diet is that it gives you time to re-adjust your views of food and your menus.
    You can do this!
    Writing your posts here is indeed a good way to keep yourself honest, as well as giving guidance to others who want to use this Lifestyle. Some days I gain a little weight and can’t seem to get rid of it again. Then I enter what I ate onto my FitBit app and that keeps me on track: “Hmm… guess a few handfuls of snack crackers wouldn’t be a good idea….”

    Fasting today: Cornmeal stars with yogurt and fruit for breakfast. For dinner, chicken and chickpeas in puttanesca sauce with asparagus.

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