Self-Accountability

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  • Hi to anyone reading,

    I have written a little bit on my profile about my reasons for posting on this forum but to summarise – accountability is something that I have been lacking in all previous efforts to lose weight. By committing to posting on here each day until 30th June, I hope to be able to hold myself accountable for the goal I have set – Even if this post ends up just me talking to myself!
    (Comments, replies, advice, support all welcome and appreciated though!)

    Each day I will summarise my food and calorie deficit for the last 24 hours – and anything else I feel inclined to share. So here it goes….

    Day 1 (21/05/19):

    Day one really began yesterday. On Monday I watched a programme about an obese American man who fasted for 55 days. This is obviously not something that I will be committing to but it got me motivated. If a man with such poor eating habits and potentially an addiction to food can go cold-turkey for two months then surely I can commit to a 24 hour fast a few times a week until I reach my goal.

    SO…. I finished my dinner at 6pm on 20th May and decided that that would be the last thing I ate for the next 24 hours. That began my first 24 hour fast.

    I arrived at work yesterday morning. I was in my office alone (usually there is an admin lady, Sarah, with me). This is ideal on fasting days as Sarah takes an interest in what I eat and usually offers snacks. Saying no when offered food is a problem for me. If I can see it, I will eat it. I found that the day went by easily – not much concern for food.

    My partner had planned to make my favourite dinner last night and I asked him to make it for around 7pm so that I would be out of the 24 hour fasting window. I arrived home around 5pm. I immediately went to take a nap as I felt quite tired and when my partner woke me at around 6, I was quite moody (to put it mildly). He wanted to go swimming before he made dinner which would mean that it would be ready until around 9pm. I was not prepared to wait until then. I was counting down the minutes to 7pm. I decided to go ahead and make myself some food while he was gone.

    Here is what I ate:

    3 Tesco Pork and Leek Sausages: 450kcal
    112.5g haloumi: 285 kcal
    25g chocolate: 125 kcal

    I understand this is a bizarre selection of food – don’t ask for an explanation.

    Anyway… I finished eating around 8.30pm.

    So I successfully went 24 hours without eating. HOWEVER… I don’t feel like I have fasted. I feel like I simply skipped breakfast and lunch. Is this really considered a fast? I’m not convinced. So what I’m not going to do is call this a fast day. I am going to call this a deficit day. Yes I am creating my own terminology.

    So to summarise: Day 1 was a Deficit day. Day 2 (the day I am typing this)will be a proper fast day.

    I know that the overall intention is to lose weight but just to quickly comment on that – I weigh myself every Friday so my first weigh in will be in a couple of days. So here is my Day 1 summary:

    Date as last weigh-in: 142lb

    KCal: 860
    Deficit: 1140
    Total deficit: 1140

    Fingers crossed for tomorrow.

    Well done rhesk93 on your commitment. I would like to join you in this journey.

    I’m doing a relaxing 5:2 in last few weeks – too relaxed that my weight loss has plateau. Only 4 kg or 9 lbs to go & I need to do something different.

    When I was stricter on 5:2, I only ate dinner and managed to achieve around 24 fasting hours window during fast days. It was doable but need quite a lot of determination and distraction from food.

    I fast on Monday & Thursday as I found fasting on working days is much easier.

    So fasting today and will check in tomorrow.

    Thanks for the reply Phoenix!

    Did you eat the 500 kcal allowance during your fast days? I feel that for me being so inactive right now, 500 kcal on a fast day wouldn’t be a significant fast. I’m hoping that after this more radical challenge, I can commit to a relaxed 5:2 diet and improved fitness but I need this challenge to jumpstart the process first.

    I definitely agree about working days! It’s when I’m at home that I eat most. Thursday is a good day for me to fast because I work alone in the office on Thursdays so I’ll be with you on those days (like today). I don’t want the lady I work with to ask me about my eating habits because I don’t think she would understand.

    Good luck with your fast!

    Day 2 (22/05/19) (Fast day)

    At 8.30pm yesterday I made a full 24 hour fast. I had originally intended to break this 24 hour fast with dinner but my partner wasn’t home (he does all the cooking) and so I felt that it would be a good opportunity to continue fasting without the added difficulty of declining dinner and watching him eat. This means that yesterday I didn’t eat anything. I did have herbal tea after work and a black coffee during the day.

    Since I was about to make it around 30 hours (37 by the time I had slept) without much difficulty, I considered extending my fast to make 3 days. This is something my sister had recommended a couple of years ago when she was struggling with her weight and found that it kick-started a weightloss journey. I researched a 3 day fast extensively (partly to distract myself from thoughts of food although I was still feeling very motivated). I decided that although I wont commit to the 3 day fast, I will keep it in mind as I plan the next few days.

    I usually drink most of my water when I’m eating and so I feel that yesterday I was perhaps dehydrated. I know that fasting is a mind-over-matter issue and so some of the feelings I was having were difficult to distinguish whether they were mind or matter. I have decided to believe that they are mind since I started feeling them at only 17 hours into the fast but also all of these symptoms are more likely due to dehydration and/or staring at a computer for 9 hours and none of them were overwhelming or even significant. I experienced a mild headache and slow processing. Later in the night when I tried to sleep, I had some abdominal pains. My sleep was broken but I feel rested. One symptom I know for sure is linked to hunger is my moodiness – luckily my partner wasn’t home to experience this!

    Temptations and thoughts of food were low and mostly non-existent. I feel that yesterday my motivation was high and I kept thinking about the end goal. I will bear this in mind as I continue the challenge!

    Day 2 summary:

    Weight at last weigh-in: 142lb
    ckal:0
    Deficit:2000
    Deficit to date: 3140

    Greetings @rhesk93 – Welcome to the forum. Doing pretty good.

    Keep at it. I found the first couple of fast challenging and then they became easier. So much that now I do water fasting about 3 days a week. My weight won’t budge too n a 5:2. So it’s 4:3 for me.

    Let yourself find what works for your body. You can do it!

    Hi @rhesk93, & welcome to the forum!!

    Have you calculated your TDEE? at 142lbs I doubt it would be 2000cals, so your deficit isn’t actually as much as you anticipate.

    Use the resources tab at the top of the page to calculate your TDEE, I use my Goal weight TDEE for Non Fasting Days (NFD) to speed things along. If you’re doing 5:2 you go from say (normal) Dinner Day 1 to (normal) Breakfast on Day 3 with only 5-800 cals consumed on Day 2, roughly a 36hr window BUT with max 5-800cals. If you prefer OMAD one meal a day, you still have to be vigilant over quality, quantity & calories!!! I hope you find your groove!!!

    For additional support you could try the monthly challenges, there will be a new one starting June 1st!!!

    Happy Fasting

    Thanks Flourbaby, I agree my deficit is likely to be lower than I’m calculating but I am just using 2000 as a basic measurement of my progress and a way to track how I’m doing since TDEE varies each day and isn’t exact.

    As mentioned above, I would prefer to avoid the 5-800 kcal on fast days because I’m not particularly active and, as you said, with my weight and activity level, this could potentially be half of my TDEE.

    That’s a really clear explanation of the fasting window. So a 1 day fast is really a 36 hour window from dinner the evening before the fast day to breakfast the day following the fast day? (with 5-800 kcal in between?)

    Thanks so much for your feedback. I think I will try one of the monthly challenges in July.

    @rabbette how is your progress coming on at 3:4? I expect I will follow a similar pattern for the next 5-6 weeks and then go onto something less restrictive to maintain weight.

    For your fast days do you go from dinner to dinner or do you fast for an entire day until breakfast the following?

    Thanks so much for your feedback, I am finding this forum very encouraging!

    You are amazing rhesk93! I never fasted more than 24 hours and you have done 37.

    When I was fasting for 24 hours, initially I found dehydration (caused by only drinking water without salt and sugar intake, I believe) & the constant bitter taste in my mouth difficult to manage. I changed to drinking black coffee with natural sweetener (it has very low calories but real sugar) & Jasmine tea/hot water during fasting hours. It seems to help.

    I tend to stick to 500c for fast days. At 54 my metabolism is slow however I managed to loose weight without doing too much exercise. I truly believe the only effective way to manage weight is to control food intake. Also how to make it sustainable long term.

    Fast day went well yesterday. One apple at 2pm, one slice of cheese at 4pm, then dinner of grilled steak and vegetables.

    Slow day today. Skipped breakfast but going out for lunch and dinner. So need to ensure not to overeat today.

    @rhesk93 – I am currently -27lbs down in 18weeks. And yes a 36 hour window is more helpful for me. Dinner until Breakfast (the day after) . I started with doing that and just having some be small meal. Then my weight loss stalled.

    So I started just having liquids on my FDs and now I do WFDs because (I’m a bit lazy and don’t like counting calories) and two I find just having water really refreshing. I also finally started to like water once I started water fasting days. I also experience less cravings with water fasting. And as a bonus I’m drinking more water every day. Which has been really helpful.

    It was a progression of trying different fasting days and styles. Soon you will find a rhythm and empowerment. Like you did with the wine. I do the same thing put sparkling water in a fancy glass with a fresh mint sprig and I call it my cocktail 🙂

    @phoenixw It’s encouraging to hear your progress and helpful tips. Fasting feels a little bit isolating at times because I am actively avoiding some socialising where I know food is going to be around!
    Well done on your journey so far!

    @rabbette That is an amazing achievement! I’m the same with counting calories – I find it difficult and hard to stick to so WF is a better option for me. I am thinking next week I will split it up into two separate days rather than two together.
    Might treat myself to a sparkling water cocktail before I finish this fast!

    Day 3 (23/05/19) (FD)

    Yesterday was day 3 of my challenge and, as the second WFD in a row, I did find it a little bit more challenging than day 2. I was working on my own in an office on a different site and the office has no ventilation. I preferred to put my symptoms down to the working environment rather than the fasting. I moved office about half way through the day and that seemed to make me feel better.

    My partner had sausages on a plate when I arrived home and I didn’t feel an overwhelming urge to eat them but I did ask him to move them in case that urge made itself known.

    So far, I wouldn’t describe myself as feeling hungry but I don’t feel 100%. Although much of this can be attributed to my working environment, I feel like I am more susceptible while fasting to the impact of working in a stuffy office with unnatural lighting and staring at a computer screen for up to 9 hours.

    I will be reporting my weight today at my weigh in from last Friday but since I am writing this on a Friday, I have an updated weight which I will post tomorrow. The side-effects of this fast are somewhat made up for by my new weigh in but I am unlikely to do this fast back to back next week to see if I can alleviate some of these.

    Day 3 summary:

    Weight at last weigh in:142

    Kcal: 0

    Deficit: 2000

    Total deficit: 5140

    Day 4 (24/05/19)

    Yesterday was day 4 and I feel a sense of accomplishment in entering the third consecutive day of water fasting. I have to say how surprised I am that hunger really isn’t something that I actively felt during this process. I believe it would be more of a challenge if I were eating the 500kcal allowance as then I would have the flavour of food reminding me that I’m hungry.

    I woke up at around hour 59 into the fast and considered attempting to make it to hour 72 (ie, wait until dinner). Hunger wasnt a barrier anymore to continuing the fast but it was Friday and socialising was going to be. It was the big weigh in day at work so I decided to decide after I was weighed if I wanted to go a little longer. Unfortunately my body took the decision out of my hands.

    All of those symptoms I had been trying to pin on my working environment and dehydration culminated in extreme nausia as soon as I woke up. Since I moved office on day 2 and the symptoms reduced, I ignored this and thought I would be fine when I get out of bed and get some fresh air and a shower. When I stood up though, I had to rush to the loo to vomit. My partner -who has been supportive of this fast within what he would consider to be reason – didn’t agree with 3 consecutive days and used this as evidence to say “I told you so”. Frustrating.

    I felt better after I was sick and drove to work, gradually feeling worse again as I drove. When I arrived, my nausia was somewhat muted by my elation at the success on the scales – I had lost 6.5lb in the last week.

    There are a number of reasons that the majority of this weight loss will be superficial but if at least half of it remains by next week then I will still be happy.

    I was eventually unable to hide from my coworkers that I was feeling ill and they were encouraging me to go home. I couldn’t. This was self-inflicted but I knew the only way I could feel better and remain at work was if I ate food. So I went to the little cafe on site. The smell of the pastries and fried food made me very nauseous again. I didn’t know if I was going to be able to eat.

    I texted my sister who has completed a handful of 3 day fasts to ask for her advice. Although she has never vomited, she did say it’s a known side-effect of extended water fasting but she also said that if I want to continue losing weight I should avoid carbs. This was going to make eating even more difficult because it limited my selection to fried meat. I selected two sausages and thought I might need some sugar too so I also bought (I know this has carbs) an Alpen light. I struggled to eat the sausages but by the time I was eating the Alben light, I was feeling better.

    That evening, I met my aunt and had 2x glass prosecco before my partner picked me up to get food. We were going to a Mexican place where I decided to get a burrito bowl (no wrap) and I was in two minds about getting rice in it or getting lettuce instead. When I was standing at the counter I made a hasty decision to get rice. The calories didn’t bother me but it was the carbs that made me question it in the first place. I thought it was unlikely I would finish the whole thing though so if I’m only going to eat half, I might as well enjoy it.

    We got home and I think I ate around 2/3 or 3/4 of my food. I think I’m content with that. The burrito bowl can have up to 1200kcal so finishing it has always been difficult.

    Ultimately, I feel accomplished in meeting my 3 day target but I feel better informed now that 3 consecutive days isn’t going to work for me. I can’t compromise my work by making myself too ill sit at a desk. I made it to 62 hours and that was enough to cause significant weight loss so here is my plan for next week:

    Split the 62 hours in half and begin the first 31 hour fast on Monday after dinner, finishing on Wednesday afternoon. I will then fast from Wednesday evening to Friday afternoon. I KNOW now that this is possible and I also know that feelings of hunger DO go away if I just avoid food all together.

    I do have some concerns about the effects of this bank holiday weekend. I will be eating and drinking today – possibly also tomorrow. Having said that though, last weekend I had Chinese food, alcohol AND pizza and I was also out for dinner one night and yet I still achieved significant weight loss. I’ll stay hopeful.

    Day 4 summary:

    Weight at last weigh in: 135.5 lb
    Kcal consumed: around 1300
    Deficit: 700
    Total deficit: 5840
    Total weight difference: -6.5lb

    Day 5 (25/5/19)

    I’m going to keep this one brief. Because I’m hungover.

    Yesterday, day 5, was a write off. I ate and drank without consideration for calories. I had a brilliant day so I will try not to be hard on myself but I exceeded my recommended daily allowance. I’m going to add a further commitment to my challenge: from now until end of June I will have a deficit (however small) every single day.

    Anyway… I had two boiled eggs with a table spoon of butter around 12pm and then went for dinner at 6.30. We had tacos and guacamole and I had a cocktail. I then proceeded to drink roughly 10 gins with water and lime as a mixer (supposed to fend of hangovers…)

    And just to make sure I completely smashed my calorie intake, we ordered dominos (thin crust lol) when we arrived home.

    It has been difficult to calculate the calories for this day but I have tried and come up with roughly 2750.

    Day 5 summary:

    Weight age last weigh in: 135.5
    Ckal consumed: 2750
    Deficit: -750
    Total deficit:5040

    Back on track from now til 30th June….

    Hi rhesk93,

    Sorry about your nausea and hope you are feeling much better now. I never try water fast or fasting more than 3 days. Good on you to give this a go.

    I managed to loose 16kg last year by just doing 5:2, without any additional work out. Gave out due to plateau. This time I have learned a lot from past experiences. Counting calories was a pain at the beginning but I got used to it quickly. If you nausea continue you may want to try 5:2.

    Me too have colleagues offer me cakes etc at fast days. The beauty of fasting on Monday and Thursday is, I put these cakes/treats into a container so I can see them tomorrow.

    However my biggest challenge is on slow days, especially the weekends. I learned to cook very low calories but big portion meals, and only eat half the meal if I get a takeaway (save half for lunch/dinner tomorrow. But my eating normally is bad at weekends and I need to develop better strategies to manage.

    My Friday (slow day) was successful as I ate half portion of takeaway lunch and dinner. But Saturday was not good – ate too much at dinner out. Still hope my Monday formal weigh in shows some weight loss.

    All the best!

    Day 6 (26/6/19)

    Day 6 was the second consecutive day that I didn’t worry about calories. Again, there was an occassion and I may have over-indulged but reminding myself this can’t be a habit.

    I went for lunch and finished eating around 3pm. I had vegetable soup, bread roll with butter followed by lasagne and chips.I ate around half of the lasagne and a couple of the chips. I also had 2 scoops of ice cream!

    I’m not sure where to start counting the calories on this meal so I am going to estimate 1200, knowing that it was less than this, just so that I have covered all basics.

    To REALLY put the nail in the coffin at the end of my indulgent weekend I had a 99p McDonalds cheeseburger lol! Luckily, these come with calorie information so I know that it was 301kcal – which on a side note is NOT BAD if you are someone who is solely concerned with counting calories. My boyfriend eats two of these while hes driving home from McDonalds as a warm up to his main meal lol. He is in good shape – we don’t go to McDonalds often, maybe once or twice a year but he just finds the food so unfilling that he has to consume so much of it to feel well fed.

    I also wanted to mention that I ordered two bikinis in size small. I was trying to choose between small or medium and just thought I will go small and if they are a little snug I will use them as motivation. They are tie-sided so I also thought they would be adjustable enough to contain a probably medium sized body.

    So. Now back to the nitty gritty. I finished eating altogether at 8pm on Sunday night and I have decided to move Tuesday’s fast to Monday. So I will be water fasting from Sunday night until at least Tuesday morning (more likely to be Tuesday evening as I’m working alone which is a good opportunity to fast through lunch).

    I will eat as normal on Wednesday (with a calorie deficit in mind) and then fast from Wednesday evening to Friday morning.

    Day 6 summary:
    Weight at last weigh in: 135.5lb
    Kcal:1500
    Deficit:500
    Total deficit:5540

    Good luck to everyone else on this new week!

    Day 7 (Fast day)

    Good morning! Yesterday was day 7 and the last day of the first week of this challenge. I had very little trouble making it through this fast day. It was a bank holiday and I was off work and I was a little bored to be honest but that is usually when I start eating but I didn’t feel the urge to yesterday. Hopefully this is a change in my mindset.

    In the afternoon I began to crave sugar a little bit and so I had a black coffee with one teaspoon of chocolate powder. I also put some desiccated coconut into the filter (this was an experiment – I’ve never done this before) and discovered that it wasn’t worth the effort.

    later that night my partner came home and cooked himself dinner. Again, I had no inclination to eat with him but I began to feel a little bit sick at around 8pm. My sister had told me that I might be low in sodium so I crunched on some seasalt (not a challenge for me – I love salt) and these symptoms went away as quickly as they came. They did come back on and off though.

    I really do not like to acknowledge any symptoms because I feel if I give them attention they may intensify or if they are in my head that they may become more real if I acknowledge them. This didn’t work in my favour last week when I ended up being sick so I may need to rethink my approach this week.

    The plan is to have a small dinner on day 8 and day 9, fast on day 10 (Thursday) and then eat as normal at the weekend.

    So at the close of day 7 I had accumulated 28 hours fasting, soon to be 35 when I woke up. Fingers crossed the rest of the week goes as easy.

    Day 7 summary:
    Weight at last weigh in: 135.5
    kcal: 0
    Deficit: 2000
    Total deficit: 7540

    Day 8

    Yesterday was day 8 and I continued day 7’s fast up to 5pm, accruing a total of 45 hours water fasting. This wasn’t particularly difficult although I do feel that yesterday was the first time during fasting where I really had cravings for specific foods and considered breaking the fast. I need to keep thinking of the end goal because I feel like my resolve has slipped a little bit.

    At 5pm I had a ceasar salad from Lidl which is 404 kcal including the croutons. Without croutons I am going to guess around 350kcal although there were quite a lot of them so probably less. I took my time eating this because I knew that I would be fasting again for another 24 hours.

    LOTS of pictures of food on social media last night. My partner and I LOVE food and eating out so I was sending him pictures of food from bed while he was downstairs (does anyone else do this???). This made him hungry enough to suggest ordering Chinese food. I can normally talk him out of this because he wouldn’t order it to eat on his own so it took all of my will power to tell him no. I need to keep thinking of the end goal.

    My bikinis arrived and they fit fine – I actually ordered one of the tops in a medium because the back wasn’t adjustable like the others. The back was fine but the cups were too big. Not sure whether to return it for a small – actually now that I think about it I wont return it because I hate returning things.

    Nothing else really to note – basically just struggling the last couple of days because I WANT to eat whereas last week I didn’t really feel like eating. I really don’t have any of the symptoms I had last week and I think this might be why I am thinking more often about eating.

    Day 8 summary:
    Weight at last weigh in: 135.5lb
    kcal: 350
    Deficit:1650
    Total Deficit:9190

    @rhesk93 – the nausea sounds terrible. I do 3-5 day water fast and some things to note. Pink salt or sea salt is your friend. The first time I did an extended fast of 4 days the third day I woke with nausea. (I had already had a pep talk with myself about being ok if I needed to eat) do have that chat with yourself.

    Nonetheless on the third day I woke went downstairs and felt nauseous standing in a daze I remembered that someone said do a tiny bit of salt under the tongue (like 1/8 tsp) and then drink down 8-10oz of water … I did it and wow the symptoms completely vanished. I was just dandy after the salt AND the chugging of water.

    Since then I can feel when I need the tiny dash of salt and glass of water. I have also found it important to have a transition meal and/or meals depending on if I have been fasting for 3 or 5 days.

    My transition meals happen usually at the dinner of the 3rd day. I have a bowl of broth and light veggies. Like maybe just some cut up onions and carrots or celery. I never knew I could LOVE a bowl of soup so simple. I have found transition meals essential so that I also don’t end up all day in the loo from my NFDs

    As a side note – I’m a Gin and Soda water kind of gal too. And if I indulge in enough to get a bit tipsy I am more hungry on my upcoming WFDs. I find that having the bowl of broth at night w/veggies helpful if I’m struggling with my 1st WFD.

    Hope this helps and don’t fret about trying to do an extended water fast anytime soon. But I did want to give you some tips if the nausea came back.

    @rabette , thanks so much, those are some really practical and helpful tips. I also couldn’t believe how quickly salt relieved my symptoms. It is good to have these tricks up my sleeve going forward, I learned the hard way last week! Is broth ok on a WFD?

    I know 10 gins sounds like a lot of alcohol (and it is) but it happens so easily when I go out for dinner early and I go home 6 hours later. Plus, I’m Irish so it is a way of life really lol!

    I have felt much more hungry this week than last but maybe you are right about the drinking making hunger worse? Although I did drink the previous weekend and hunger wasn’t really my main concern – I suppose I will find my own rhythm.

    Thanks again for your advice, its good to hear from someone water fasting in the same way that I am attempting.

    Day 9

    Wednesday was day 9 and, although not a fast day, I was restricting calories. I had bought a salad from lidl to eat for dinner so that I could sit with my partner while he was eating. The salad was the chicken and mango 99cal salad from lidl. I added around 70cal of ham and a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar. I was surprised how filling this was for around 200cal. I make sure to eat very slowly and I think this helps.

    During the day, I wanted to fast but I was working with Sarah and I haven’t told her I’m fasting – she wouldn’t understand. I was going to avoid lunch all together by telling her I had to go out to Asda over lunch but she said she would wait for me to do that so that we could eat together. I ended up eating half a tin of vegetable soup (93cal per half tin). I enjoyed eating it and it wasn’t a massive dent in my deficit so I was happy enough. I need to find away to avoid lunch times.

    Yesterdays low calorie lunch and dinner kept ALL hunger at bay for the full day. I’m not glutton for punishment, but if I don’t feel any hunger I’m reluctant to believe I’m making a difference to my weight. Time will tell when I weigh myself this Friday.

    so Thursday will be a WFD until Friday at early dinner time – roughly a 48 hour fast. This will mean that this week I have completed two full WFD (of 36 hr +) and two further days with less than 500 kcal – this week has been more psychologically difficult than physically. This is despite last week fasting for only 62 hours, eating around 1000 calories on two separate days and eating at will the remainder at the weekend. If I do the maths – I should lose similar or more weight this week but I don’t feel like I have lost any!

    The best I can do between now and tomorrow’s weigh in is a water fast and so I will wait it out and hope for the best!

    This weekend I have no plans to drink – my partner has training tomorrow night and will be home late so I think I will have an omelet (have been craving one with cheese in it all week!) and maybe a treat of chocolate or something – hoping to maintain a significant deficit as opposed to last Friday’s blowout!
    On Saturday I have a meeting for marking GCSEs and they will have free lunch – my partner is away that night again so I might have a sandwich at lunch time and something small at dinner.
    On Sunday I suppose it will be a cheat day (but with a deficit)!

    Anyway, I should be thinking one day at a time.
    Here is day 9’s summary:
    Weight at last weigh in: 135.5lb
    kcal:300
    Deficit: 1700
    Total deficit: 10890 (I have broke into 5 digits!!)

    Day 11 (WFD)

    Yesterday wasn’t too difficult – I felt unwell in the morning but that seems to be a regular thing now. My colleagues think I am pregnant because of this. I wasn’t tempted to eat at any stage although while my partner was eating dinner, I was thinking about how good it smells but no temptation to eat.

    I took a bath and tried to make it kind of luke-warm as I usually feel sick if the bath is too hot – especially after standing up quickly out of the water. I really struggled after the bath to regulate my temperature and felt quite nauseous.

    Not much else to report about yesterday so my summary is below:

    Weight at last weigh in:135.5lb
    kcal:0
    deficit:2000
    Total deficit:12890

    Day 12

    Yesterday was a successful day on the scales! Not so successful in terms of food though.

    I woke up feeling awful, around 38 hours into a water fast. Really needed to get to work so I could get weighed and break the fast. I bought some cheese and nuts to snack on at my desk then spent most of the day thinking about what I was going to eat when I got home.

    I ended up having Salas and an omlette for dinner followed by a small meringue desert which was only 111 calories.

    All was going well so far until my mum and sister called over to celebrate some good news we had…. drinks ensued and I ate some of my sisters food. I wont go into too much detail but I dont have much of a deficit for day 12.

    I lost 2lb on the scales which I am happy with and hope to continue in this way until end of June.

    Day 12 summary
    Weight at last weigh in: 133.5lb
    Kcal:1500
    Deficit:500
    Total deficit:13390

    Day 12 (2nd – I just realised I have no day 10!)

    Yesterday I had a ham and cheese sandwich for lunch. I genuinely cant remember the last time I ate a sandwich. I forgot to check the calories on it and I know sandwiches are typically 350-450 kcal so I’m going to call this one 500 just to make sure I’m not over counting.

    I had an omlette for dinner again: chicken, cheese, mushroom. I was up to about 900 kcal by then and I had a small 110 kcal desert followed by 60g brie. Just brie. No crackers. Can you tell I like cheese?

    It’s amazing how quickly my body falls back into normal eating habit from the extremes of extended water fasting. Also how easy calories add up! Essentially yesterday I just had an omlette and a sandwich but without being careful, racked up to what I’m estimating to be 1250. I havnt been using my TDEE for a few reasons during this challenge but realistically, when I am trying to maintain my weight I will need to be extremely careful because 1250 wouldn’t be very far from my TDEE.

    Anyway, I do have a deficit and I had always intended to relax a little at the weekends- this is much less than I ate last Saturday so I am still on track.

    I have been concerned for next week how I am going to avoid lunch times. I am going to work on a different site for fast days. On non-fast days I am only eating dinner so I could maybe do some errands one lunchtime and walk the other? (Friday I will eat lunch).

    (2nd) Day 12 summary:

    Weight at last weigh in: 133.5lb
    Kcal: 1250
    Deficit: 750
    Total deficit: 14140

    Day 13

    I had been looking forward to this day all week because my boyfriend and I were planning to go to the carvery. I know that I committed to a deficit every single day of June and I thought I could enjoy the carvery, not worry about calories, and then fast for the rest of the day so that I don’t exceed 2000kcal.

    The carvery started with soup, then there were starters, then the actual carvery then desert and then tea/coffee/cheese/fruit. So. Much. Food. I had the soup and then I chose a scotch egg for starters. I gave half of the egg to my partner but to be honest, soup and a scotch egg was enough for me. It was already more food than I had consumed last Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday combined and I hadn’t even got to the carvery yet. I was COMMITTED to enjoying desert and so I thought I will just have a small plate from the carvery. The chef dished up a large plate. I didn’t know whether to eat it or climb it. I gave it a good shot and left half of the meat, all of the cauliflower cheese. Really what I ended up eating was two cocktail sausages, a spoonful of mash, two roasties and a slice of ham. Of course I still had room for desert. I had a lemon meringue pie with a spoonful of smarties icecream. Polished it all off. I had to go home for a nap.

    I finished eating at around 2pm and so I will be fasting from 2pm Sunday until at least 2pm on Tuesday. I did have around 40kcal worth of watermelon and white tea juice in the evening but I am choosing to ignore this. Really I kind of only had one meal on day 13 and so I was thinking I would have a bit of a deficit. I started trying to count the calories as best I could and I think it would be safe for me to say around 1600. Of course, based on my TDEE, this wouldn’t be much of a deficit but for consistency, I am continuing to use 2000 calories because TDEE changes from day to day.

    One other thing I wanted to mention – I have a wedding to go to early next month and I tried on my dress yesterday and it fit around my bum perfectly but it is doesn’t fit around my waist or boobs, it looks baggy. So I have had to order a smaller size – I don’t know if my bum will fit in the smaller size but here’s hoping after another week or so it will be the larger size that I return and not the smaller.

    Day 13 summary:

    Weight at last weigh-in: 133.5lb
    Kcal: 1600
    Deficit: 400
    Total Deficit: 14540

    Day 14 (fast day)

    Day 14 was the final day of week 2 of this challenge. I have found these first two weeks to have gone more easily than I anticipated. My mood though the last few days has been quite low. I feel very irritable but there is more than one reason this might be so I don’t feel that it is a direct result of fasting/dieting.

    Yesterday was an easy fast day – I was very busy with work and I was in the office alone. I was very grumpy when I got home from work and my partner is noticing this. I don’t know if this is maybe a combination of hormones and fasting. By 2pm yesterday I had reached 24 hours fasting and I didn’t find it difficult to extend that into day 15. As I write this, on day 15, it is nearly 48 hours and I am considering extending this fast to day 16 as I’m not currently having any issues. If my partner is busy tonight then I might keep fasting. Will check in tomorrow to update.

    Day 14 summary:

    Weight at last weigh-in: 133.5lb
    Kcal:0
    Deficit: 2000
    Total deficit: 16540

    Day 15

    By 2pm yesterday I had completed 48 hours of water fasting and I was considering extending the fast into today. I got to around 6pm and I ended up eating – only because I was bored! I made it to 52 hours fasting.

    Weirdly, when I started eating my mouth felt really painful. The soft areas on the roof of my mouth felt like maybe they were swollen. I was eating tomato, jalapenos, a little bit of chopped shallot and 30g brie (another weird food combo). Maybe it was the sharp flavours in the shallot or the jalapenos. It passed when I finished eating anyway.

    I feel that water fasting is much more effective for me than the modified fast that is typical of the 5:2 diet because once I start eating I can’t stop. For example last night, I saw a snickers in the fridge. It was a small (41g) bar and I read the calories on it which were 210 per portion but then underneath it read: typical values per 100g. I got confused and thought the that the calories for the bar would be less than half of the 210 but I was wrong and it was too late, I had already eaten it! In total I ate 450 calories which is considered a modified fast I suppose.

    Because I had ate more calories than I really bargained for on day 15, I was thinking that I would try eating less today (day 16) but my partner was complaining that we haven’t been eating dinner together. On weekdays (and weekends too really), eating is maybe the only time we spend together so I have agreed to have dinner with him tonight. I will check in tomorrow with detail.

    I do feel lighter at the minute but my stomach was a little bloated on day 15 and seems to still be today. I want to try on the new smaller-sized dress that I ordered for the wedding but I want to do it when I’m less bloated.

    Day 15 summary:
    Weight at last weigh-in: 133.5
    Kcal:450
    Deficit:1550
    Total deficit: 18090

    Day 16

    Yesterday I couldn’t help myself from eating sugar. I really hope this is hormonal. I did manage to make the 24 hour mark of fasting by 6pm but only by the skin of my teeth – all I could think about was driving to the nearby shop where they sell these little meringues but I managed to get through it.

    I had a fillet of marinated pollock (around 200kcal) with a prepackaged salad from lidl (93kcal)…. so far so good. BUT I stilllll needed sugar and there was one more of 210kcal snicker bars in the fridge and I ate it before I could allow myself to think about it. I also had a few mini rice crackers (about 60kcal) and I was thinking at that point, “OK, that’s enough now.”. It was all ruined later that night though when my boyfriends sister turned up with cupcakes. I had a lemon flavoured one with icing heaped on the top. I’m going to estimate this to be around 400 kcal.

    I really feel like I won’t have lost any weight this week but time will tell. I have one more fast day before weigh in.

    Day 16 summary:
    Weight at last weigh-in 133.5kcal
    Calories: 870 (I’ll round this up to 900 just to be sure I’ve covered everything)
    Deficit: 1100
    Total Deficit: 19090

    Hi rhesk93

    It looks like you are coming along quite well. I haven’t read all of your posts but I think I’ve got the general trend of them.

    Four years ago I started on the 5:2. Over a period of 10 months I dropped 20 kgs (44 lbs or 3 stone 2 lbs). I generally found it to be super easy. Unfortunately, over the years I became very lax gaining back 15 kgs over 3 years. So my journey starts again.

    This is how I started way back then.

    I did my TDEE so that I would know how many calories I could consume on the “fast” day; took all of my body measurements; kept a food diary (this was incredibly useful)

    I decided on a Monday & Thursday fast as I didn’t fancy doing the fast days back to back and these days suited my social life.

    Here is the schedule:

    Sunday, 8:00 PM – Normal evening meal
    24 hour fast just having water, coffee, tea
    Monday, 8:00 PM – Healthy 500 kCal meal usually with a lot of salad & vegetables plus a good piece of low calorie protein (say fillet steak or fish). If I didn’t have the protein I would get hungry in the night.
    Tuesday morning to Wednesday, 8:00 PM – normal meals
    24 hour fast just having water, coffee, tea
    Thursday, 8:00 PM – Healthy 500 kCal meal
    Friday morning to Sunday 8:00 PM – normal meals.

    That was my interpretation of “5:2 fasting” and it most definitely worked.
    I was getting quite a lot of exercise too which obviously helped. I found exercise particularly good on fast days because it took my mind off food and burned calories.

    When you think the diet isn’t cutting it just look at your body measurements! That really kept me motivated. Use the diet tracker to do this, it will also give the team some useful data I suppose.

    My plan is to get that weight back off and then commit to a 5:1 fast plan to my dying day.

    And remember, having a social life is totally possible when following this pattern. A meal with your favourite tipple followed by a dessert is perfectly fine within reason. Don’t down the entire bottle of wine and eat the entire contents of the tub of Hagen Dazs 🙂

    Hang in there, the results are worth it. Beware the creep back!

    @canadiangoddess Thanks so much for your advice, it’s so encouraging to hear of people having such huge success with this diet. Congratulations on your amazing weight loss and good luck with reintroducing the diet.

    I think Mondays and Thursdays are good days for me too – particularly because I get weighed on Friday (tomorrow!). It sounds like those are popular days for others on here too.

    I choose to water fast on my fast days and go from my last meal on the day before the fast day until my first meal on the day after my fast day (usually around 36 hours) because I am extremely sedentary at the minute! I don’t feel that 500ckal would give me much of a deficit. I intend for my diet to be more in line with what you have described (500 cal meals on fast days) after I reach my goal weight but I just need a lot of self control and motivation to get myself through a strict June and onto a more relaxed July!

    Day 16

    Yesterday was another successful fast day. I didn’t have any negative symptoms of fasting and didn’t overly crave food. I was getting concerned that if I couldn’t FEEL myself fasting that I wasn’t losing weight.

    I have weighed in today an lost 0.5 lb, I knew I hadn’t lost much – if any- this week so I guess this is better than putting on but a little bit demotivating. I suppose a total loss of 9lb in 3 weeks is still good and if I continue doing what I’m doing then I will eventually get where I want to be. I would like to lost 5-7lb more and so I will have to be more strict at the weekend and on non-fast days. I am currently at a healthy weight for my height(5ft4) so I think these extra few pounds will take some serious work to lose.

    Day 16 summary:
    Weight at last weigh in: 133lb
    kcal:0
    Deficit:2000
    Total deficit:21090

    Day 16 (part 2)

    I have been thinking today that this accountibility log has really helped me to stay committed and so I have a plan for next week and I’d like to write it down before tomorrow so that it becomes a black and white plan. I will fast next week on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. I will relax with eating today and tomorrow, eat brunch on Sunday and then get straight into the fasting. I’m hoping this will give my weight loss another wee boost.

    One thing I wanted to mention (this might be TMI for the men-folk. Sorry), I have an extremely irregular period and I find it very hard to know when it is due. I haven’t had one in two months (this isn’t unusual for me and no, I’m not pregnant) but this week I have had all of the symptoms I usually get before my period arrives (moodiness, craving sugar, sore chest) so I’m hoping this week my relatively poor weight loss might be due to my hormones. Does anybody else find a pattern in their weight loss due to their monthly cycle? Let me know

    Day 17

    Quick update because I am currently at the bar and just remembered that I forgot to write on here today. Yesterday was day 17 and by 3pm I had calculated that I ate 1000 calories. I had chips for dinner and 2 glasses of wine so I’m going to call this day 2000 kcal

    Over and out

    Weight at last weigh in:133lb
    Kcal2000
    Deficit0
    Total deficit 29090

    Day 18

    Yesterday I don’t think I had any deficit. I was out for lunch and drinks so probably around 2000 calories. I had an omlette for breakfast and then at lunch I had half a veg tart. I went to a show and ate some Maltese and then the rest of the calories are made up of gin lol…

    Weight at last weigh in: 133lb
    Calories 2000
    Deficit 0
    Total deficit 29090

    Day 19

    I was quite well behaved yesterday but I still feel, for some reason, like I wasn’t.

    I had 3 slices of bacon and an egg in the morning, half a kinder Bueno and then homemade lasagne for dinner. I would guess breakfast was around 300kcal, kinder Bueno is 110kcal. Lasagne will be hard to estimate but I didn’t eat very much of it because I had been eating the sauce while I was cooking so I wasn’t hungry by the time it was served. I will guess I ate about 800 kcal. I know guessing isn’t good but the weekend is my time to relax with the diet and so it will have to be good enough.

    Back on strict calorie counting and 3 fast days this week. Feeling bloated and heavy at the minute. Hopefully this will clear during the week. I am half way through this challenge, feeling a little bit demotivated but will keep ploughing on. I hope that my period is on the horizon because that would explain the recent lack of weight loss and bloating.

    Weight at last weigh in – 133lb
    Calories: 1200
    Deficit: 800
    Total decifit: 21890***** please ignore the 29090 from the last two check ins… these are not correct!

    Day 20

    Yesterday was a fast day and went by without too much difficulty. I am still craving sugar and bloated and hoping this is all hormonal. I don’t feel like I have fasted at all and I really hope my weight loss isn’t plateauing so soon. This week I will have three fast days and so I hope it gives my weight loss another wee boost.

    Weight at last weigh in 133lb
    Calories 0
    Deficit 2000
    Total Deficit 23890

    Day 21

    Tuesday was the last day of the third week of this challenge. I allowed myself to eat a little bit more than on other non-fast(week)days. I had some biscuits with my coffee (black) and a salad during the day. By the time I got home I had already eaten 800 kcal.
    When I arrived home I had some rice crackers with cheese on them totalling roughly 200kcal.
    Really not feeling like I will have lost weight this week but I have two fast days left before weigh in so I hope they help.

    Summary

    Weight at last weigh in: 133lb
    Calories:1000
    Deficit: 1000
    Total Deficit: 24890

    It sounds to me like it has gone quite well so far. You are definitely doing this in a different way to how I did, but as long as you are feeling healthy and have good energy levels that is great.

    Have you done your TDEE yet? I can’t see it when I peruse the postings.

    The FAST Diet book by Mimi Spencer was useful to me because it offered up some interesting food ideas.

    Good luck.

    Thanks @canadiangoddess, I have done it but it is something I want to focus on more for maintaining weight so in a few weeks I will use it.

    I will definitely need to check that book out!

    Day 23 (not 22 – I have just realised that I had two day 16s!)

    Yesterday was a fast day although I ate 4x sweets @ 9kcal each and ate some pickled gerkins as well as having sugar in my coffee. I would say I ate a max of 100kcal.

    Still not feeling very motivated and as I write this, I am on my third fast day of the week and I have had 6 more of those 9kcal sweets, sugar in my coffee and a biscuit (78kcal). In total for today I have already eaten 150 kcal. I have really been craving sugar this week so although I’m disappointed that I haven’t had more restraint, I know that I have had a deficit this week so I hope that shows on the scales tomorrow.

    Day 22 summary:
    Weight at last weigh-in: 133lb
    Calories 100
    deficit 1900
    Total deficit 26790

    Day 24

    Two more weigh-ins before the end of June. For all the complaining I do about lack of motivation, I am actually happy with my progress. Yesterday was a fast day and I couldn’t seem to avoid sweet treats so I was feeling disappointed with myself. I ate around 150kcal.

    Today I weighed in at 131lb. That’s a total of 11lb off in 4 weeks. I can’t complain about that. I hope to make that up to a stone by the end of June. I need to keep in mind the progress I have made so far any time I consider eating a big carbonara on a week day. Only two more torturous weeks left before I can relax into the more sustainable and comfortable 5:2 as we know it.

    Summary
    Weight at last weigh in: 131lb
    Calories:150
    Deficit: 1850
    Total Deficit:28640

    @rhesk93 ★·.·´¯·.·★ Great Job! ★·.·´¯·.·★ so far -11lbs in 4 weeks is good.

    Checking in with the water fasting – looks like from what I read you have found a pretty good rhythm.

    AND I have to check in with my buddy who also like Gin, I feel a Gin weekend may be about to happen here, I mean the weather is SOOOOO freaking nice. I have switched to Gin and seltzer ( lime or other flavored seltzer water) a slice of lime or other citrus to compliment the seltzer flavor. This means 1oz of gin is 60 calories! and usually I have 2oz. So cheers to that!

    I’ll say doing my TDEE was eye opening!!!! Since I’m only about 63 inches tall (little bit short but not too short) and my weight *𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝* be about 117-125, I used the low end since I would like to maintain my weight once I reach that goal of about 117ish my TDEE was…
    ¸„.-•~¹°”ˆ˜¨ 1,392 ¨˜ˆ”°¹~•-.„¸
    I was like woah, I need to eat a lot less on my NFDs.

    I’m still getting there, hoping I can stay within range tonight (officially a FD, I’m doing less than Hopefully 500 cal) so far just water today and black coffee earlier. That means tonight I will prob forgo the Gin. but we’ll see how I do.

    @rhesk93 seems like you are really doing well!

    I agree that water fasting is much easier than the typical 500+ calorie allowance many here do. I’m fine until I start eating.

    I no longer count calories for many reasons, the primary one being that it is extremely inaccurate so largely a waste of time. Anyway the vast majority of diets depend of calorie restriction and they simply don’t work long-term for most people.

    What I do count is grams of added refined sugars. I try to keep it under 20 grams a day which isn’t much. That is an average value but it still isn’t much. However I often have a day under 10 grams and I’m fine with it. I rarely now have any sugar cravings. I do eat a lot of fruit, but I don’t count natural sugars in things like fruit. Anyway the impact has been dramatic and basically reshaped my entire body. The downside is I really don’t get to enjoy processed foods anymore, not that I really miss them. I do eat a little, but it doesn’t have the same hold on me it used too. For me, cutting way back on the foods with added sugar was vastly more effective than calorie counting.

    @rabbette

    I am 64 inches so I know my TDEE will be roughly the same as yours! Not great news. I will be checking in and using it after June. Counting calories as I am at the minute seems to be working for me so I’m going to keep going for two more weeks then change my approach based on all the generous tips and feedback I have been given on this forum. Gin and seltzer maybe being one of them!

    @dykask

    You are right, counting calories is so difficult to do accurately! I actually find myself eating more pre-packaged food so that I can be sure of the calories which is a problem in itself. It’s good to know about an alternative to calorie counting and also something that discourages processed foods. For now, I am a great believer in energy in v energy out and so calorie counting is my main mode of weight loss. I dont have far to go to get to my target so as soon as I hit it I will change my approach so that I can maintain.

    Day 25

    Day 25 started well, I was hoping the hormonal-typw symptoms I have been having for the last week were just that. I did mention earlier that I rarely have periods so I never know when to put my symptoms (low mood, bloating, craving sugar) down to hormones but mother nature let it be known yesterday morning that it was in fact PMS so I am relieved that they will go away in the next few days. Also, usually I carry abit 2lb more weight around this time of month so potentially I could be lighter than I weighed in yesterday.

    Anyway, pleased with my weigh in and also yesterday was the last weigh in for the sexy slimmers in work. As a percentage body weight loss, I came joint second and won 27£! I have some new-found motivation.

    I wont go into detail but I overate/drank after work yesterday so I actually went over 2000 kcal. Trying not to let that demotivate me. I am having pizza tonight so will try not to go overboard for a second day in a row.

    Summary
    Weight 131lb
    Calories 2400
    Deficit -400
    Total deficit 28240

    Day 26

    Yesterday was another relaxed day of eating. For breakfast I had half an avocado (200), 2 eggs (160) and one sausage (150) at around 11.30. I had a handful of berries (50), two caramel macaroons things from Tesco (220) and then later in the night I had 3 glasses of prosecco (240), 2 chicken wings (200), and then 2 thirds of a thin base 10 inch pizza (900)

    I am feeling positive and motivated this week and wouldn’t normally like to fast at the weekends but I am going to fast today and tomorrow then maybe also on Thursday. Two weeks left and one last push toward my target weight by the end of June.

    Summary

    Weight 131
    Calories 2120
    Deficit -120
    Total deficit 28120

    Day 27

    Yesterday didn’t go to plan. My friend visited and we ate and drank…… I’m not sure how much hut I’m going to assume I didn’t have a deficit.
    The less said about yesterday the better!

    New plan: fast today(mon) and Tues and then also Thursday.

    Day 28

    Ok time to pull my socks up because day 28 was the second day in a row where I had intended to fast and didn’t end up fasting. I wasn’t TOOOOO bad with food but I could have been better.

    I had an icecream at 250kcal but apart from that I had a cheese omelette (2 eggs, one slice gouda) (240kcal) and also while I was cooking I ate another slice of gouda (80kcal). I then had a pre-packages salad at 350kcal.

    I will be fasting today and I feel better prepared for it since yesterday I was a bit hungover. I do feel that I have overeaten quite a bit at the weekend so I need to offset that so I am aiming for three fast days this week before Friday. I might have something small to eat tomorrow night but I will avoid it if I can. I know this fasting is more extreme than many people on the 5:2 are used to but please remember that a) the 500kcal recommended on the fast day was only recommended to make the day easier for those who struggle and b) I will only be doing this for another 10 days.

    Summary
    Calories: 930
    Deficit 1070
    Total deficit: 29190

    Day 29

    Can’t believe I have been at this for nearly a full month. Happy with my progress but know that I could be more disciplined. One final push to the end of June and I hope to make it to a stone in loss. Only 3lb left to get there so if I can just avoid the sweets and cheese!

    Yesterday wasn’t too difficult although the lady I share an office with has noticed that I didn’t have lunch so I’ve packed some chopped vegetables for today even though its a fast day. I will be able to avoid lunch easier tomorrow. When I got home I wasn’t able to avoid a slice of cheese and two slices of ham while my partner was making his lunch for work for today. the cheese was 70kcal and the ham was 25 kcal each so I did eat 120 kcal yesterday. I’m going to round this up to 150 to include the sugar I had in my coffee (black).

    Weight at last weigh in: 131lb
    calories 150
    deficit 1850
    total deficit 30140

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