Hello all from sunny Perth, Australia!
Would anyone like to join me in a Christmas challenge? I want to demonstrate my continued commitment to intermittent fasting while still enjoying everything the silly season has to offer.
This will be my third Christmas since starting 5:2. In 2014, while still losing weight, I didn’t deprive myself of any long-held traditions (mince pies and eggnog included) but continued two strict fasts a week throughout the Christmas period. By January, I was delighted not to have gained my usual 3kgs at this time of year and treated the result as a plateau.
Last Christmas, then at my goal weight, posed the additional challenge of being overseas for seven weeks. By then, I was eating more mindfully and on 6:1. The considerable increase in activity (10km hilly walks & 15km hikes in the Sierra Nevadas) saw me losing too much weight so I stopped fasting for the final 4 weeks while paying a lot of attention to what I ate (and it’s not always easy to say no to pastel del natas in Portugal). I came home at exactly the same weight as when I’d left.
So, this year, having maintained my goal weight for about 17 months, I’m stuck at home and, even worse, I’m the host for Christmas so I’m challenged with having to buy and have in the house a lot of stuff that I no consider food! And I’m already at my ‘trigger’ weight so I need to stop eating rubbish and lose 1-2kgs NOW.
I want to prove that, whether we’re still losing weight on 5:2, or maintaining our goal weight, this way of eating can fit into whatever is happening in our lives – we don’t need to abandon it for Christmas or travel. We can move our FDs to accommodate any invitations to functions and celebrations.
So, who’s with me for a ‘no excuses’ commitment to either maintaining a current weight or losing a kg between now and 1st January?
4:25 am
3 Dec 16