This topic contains 157 replies, has 48 voices, and was last updated by Pattience 9 years, 7 months ago.
Ok protein is stored as muscle and tissue but that’s not what is meant by storage. Being turned into muscle is not storage. I don’t mind being corrected but blanket refutations are not helpful. Tell me what i don’t know or why bother?
This aussie site for one says its not stored in the body. That’s why we have to eat it every day.
http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Protein
Apologies for ruining your thread Ensitu. I’ll buzz off now.
from wikipedia.Excess consumption[edit]
When a high dietary protein intake is consumed, there is an increase in urea excretion, which suggests that amino acid oxidation is increased.[20] High levels of protein intake increase the activity of branched-chain ketoacid dehydrogenase.[20] As a result, oxidation is facilitated, and the amino group of the amino acid is excreted to the liver.[20] This process suggests that excess protein consumption results in protein oxidation and that the protein is excreted.[20] The body is unable to store excess protein.[20][25] Protein is digested into amino acids, which enter the bloodstream. Excess amino acids are converted to other usable molecules by the liver in a process called deamination. Deamination converts nitrogen from the amino acid into ammonia, which is converted by the liver into urea in the urea cycle. Excretion of urea is performed by the kidneys. These organs can normally cope with any extra workload, but, if kidney disease occurs, a decrease in protein will often be prescribed.[26] When there is excess protein intake, amino acids can be converted to glucose or ketones, in addition to being oxidized for fuel.[27] When food protein intake is periodically high or low, the body tries to keep protein levels at an equilibrium by using the “labile protein reserve”, which serves as a short-term protein store to be used for emergencies or daily variations in protein intake.[6] However, that reserve is not utilized as longer-term storage for future needs.[6]
Many researchers have also found that excessive intake of protein increases calcium excretion in urine.[6] It has been thought that this occurs to maintain the pH imbalance from the oxidation of sulfur amino acids.[6] Also, it is inconclusive whether bone resorption contributes to bone loss and osteoporosis.[6] However, it is also found that a regular intake of calcium would be able to stabilize this loss.[6]
Another issue arising from over-consumption of protein is a higher risk of kidney stone formation from calcium in the renal circulatory system.[6] It has been found that high animal protein intake in healthy individuals increases the probability of forming kidney stones by 250 percent.[citation needed]
An epidemiological study from 2006 has found no relationship between total protein intake and blood pressure; it did, however, find an inverse relationship between vegetable protein intake and blood pressure.[28]
Pattience information is always useful and thank you for giving us so much. This doesn’t mean I’ll take it all in or even use it but at least I have it there ready to use if I want to. Not all of us are at the same point in our journeys … some will take everything on board but not use it others will use parts of it depending on what suits their lifestyles. From all that I’ve read so far there is no real right or wrong as it is an individual journey and what’s right for you may not be right for me but that doesn’t negate the information (factual) given. I hope I have not given offence with this post.
Yes Aussie om, i don’t expect people to follow my advice to the letter or even all of it. MOst of the time i give it to people as ideas to check out. But there are times someone is crying out for help, clearly heading in a wrong direction and yet they don’t want to hear anything that contradicts what they are doing even though what they are doing is failing.
I’m all about making dieting as easy as possible, healthy and successful. I love my food now more than ever in my life and its certainly hundreds of times better – more enjoyable, more delicious, more fun , than what i was eating prior to starting. I have absolutely no trouble sticking to my diet and i am committed to it forever. I do not want to ever be fat again and if that means, that i spend a month at the same weight that is not going to bother me enough me to make me think about giving up. Because i weigh less than at the beginning, i am in a better position than when i started. And i just have to tinker with things in a sensible way until i find how to restart the downward momentum.
This morning I was tired and so for breakfast i had a flaky white flour paratha which are so yummy but i will not buy them again when the package is finished because i realised belatedly they are made with palm oil. I rolled it up with a one egg duck omelette. and followed it with a cup of expresso and half a cup of milk. This is not one of my healthiest meals – primarily due to the paratha, but by the end of the day, I will have eaten my healthy vegies and got plenty of essential nutrients and not suffered for over cutting my calories. I do not believe in deprivation. I’ve quit sugar but i do not feel deprived because there are situations when i get to eat it that are low risk.
I have had a few tricky periods along the way this, only one or two due to diet the others due to life stresses. The biggest threat to my diet was probably when i came off low carb and needed to readjust my fat intake. That’s when i started 5:2 fasting. But i had no intention ever of throwing in the towel. Forum friends helped me work this transition out and i am forever grateful.
OOH dear… its all got rather heated in here!!
I think we all need to remember that this is a place for support and perhaps its not helpful to vent frustrations in here unless you are venting your own frustrations at yourself! If people want to give share a thought, that’s great! I personally find it very helpful but there is no obligation to.
I posted on this thread to ask for support and to talk about what I was personally struggling with. I’m not asking anyone to make it better for me because that is my responsibility, but what I have found is really helpful on here (and is the reason I keep posting) is hearing about the shared experiences we are having.
Its not a matter of right or wrong, its a matter of perspective and we are all here/ doing this thing as a way to learn more about ourselves our bodies and ultimately weight loss. Everyone is different so everyone will approach or do things a different way at a different pace, but we all have do to it the way we feel comfortable. Sometimes that means making mistakes and trying again.
We can only show each other the doors- We are the ones that have to walk through them!
I hope this has not caused anyone offence but I just want to share my thoughts.
N4 🙂
Hi N4 well put, I also am here for support (to give and receive between us) you are correct, it’s the old adage of you can lead a horse to water but can’t make it drink.
Well it’s #2 FD for me today … so far 3 glasses water, 2 cups coffee (black, unsweetened … which by the way is how I always drink coffee unless having a cappuccino – not having those too often now). Lunch will be a one-egg omelette with mushroom and a little bacon and cheese (total 188 calories) and dinner tonight is a small steak with steamed veggies including 1/4 potato (aiming for total calories 310 for this meal). I don’t generally snack so that will be sufficient for me for the day.
I”m fasting this weekend too.
I had an expresso with 1/2 cup milk at about 10am.
Lunch is now at 12.20 with spanish version of ratatouille (stewed vegetables).
1 onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic
1tbsp oil – cook till transparent
1/2 red caps, sliced
1/2 green caps – add and cook 5 minutes with lid on
1 zucchini thick rings – and cook 5 more minutes with lid on
1 tomato quarters – add all this and cook 15 minutes with lid on.
2tsp red wine vinegar
pinch sugar
Dinner will be more of these and a 100g piece of barramundi grilled and lemon juice.
And for other drinks i’m doing black tea such as Twinings earl grey or water.
Hello all – I haven’t been on the thread for a while as I was travelling in Tasmania with my husband (very little WiFi) and having a wonderful time, and it looks like it was probably a good thing too 😉
I didn’t fast this week and we ate SO well (there are some wonderful places to try the local produce) and also did some hiking around Lake St Clair and generally enjoyed the beauty that is the Apple Isle.
Anyways, I’ll be fasting again next week and hoping some of the newbies from the earlier thread are still around. N4M11S – hang in there – and I loved your thread on the 20th (and your response Aussie Oma) because I also didn’t join some of the other big threads because I just wanted to share experiences with others new to fasting and give general support while we all worked it out for ourselves.
Please let me know where you’ve all gone!
~Ensitu~
Ensitu!! Welcome back!
Sounds like you had a wonderful time, wish I was in Tasmania, I’d love to go.
Thanks for your kind words, I just wanted to calm things down a bit. 🙂
Still feel this week like my body is in stalemate but I’m going to keep going. Done one fast day this week and I’m eating much less on my non fast days. Had a big meal out last night but didn’t drink which was positive. Was going to fast today but work up feeling really poorly so decided to eat today and fast tomorrow instead.
I’m still feeling massively impatient with myself and after a heavy weekend in Bristol last weekend I think I gained what I had lost during that week- Which seems to be how its going generally at the moment! I’ve started training to run a 10K in November this year so running about 3-4 times a week and doing bits of yoga and meditation in between. I just realise that I’m a super impatient person and I feel like its impossible for me to get under 11 stone and stay there!! Feeling frustrated but I’m gonna keep going! 🙂
N4
Hello everyone – I’ve started the 5:2 this week. Today is my second fast day. Not feeling hungry yet, but am looking forward to tonight when I can have some food!
Just looking forward to making this a life change that I can stick to. Do you all reduce your calories on a non-fast day too? Or just eat normally?
Great to hear back from you N4!! I’m impressed with the 10K run plans – that is possibly going to make fast days harder as you’re likely to be hungrier? If so, go easy on yourself. I’ll have to get on the scales in the morning and see what the damage might be, having not fasted this week and rather indulged in Tassie 😉 but you know what? I’m NOT going to stress over it, I’m NOT going to beat myself up, I’m just going to register the increase and then go back to fasting next week. So there!!
Let me know how the next fast days go for you.
~Ensitu~
Welcome Nixxy – I think our posts crossed. So far I haven’t counted calories on non-fast days but then I know the calorie value of just about everything, and I do find myself being more careful on most non-fast days (okay, except when I’m on holiday!). It will probably take time to work out what suits you/allows you to manage some weight loss, if that’s your goal. All the best, and keep us posted with progress.
Ensitu
Hi Nixxy, I only started this week too, along with my husband Nic – I did wonder if you were he, posting – and you’re even in our area! I’m on 2nd fast day too, and feeling quite weak and jittery. Have drunk a lot of water to see if that helps, and it has, so will keep that up. Am enjoying the diet so far – feel it will be the easiest eating routine for Nic and I so am really hoping that it works for us. Can’t wait to weigh on Monday to see if there are some first results…that will keep my going. How much you trying to lose Nixxy? I am trying for 2 stone.
Hi all.
Just had 2nd baby 7 months ago and ready to get back into my old clothes! First day today and I didn’t really prepare – just jumped in after getting the book last night. It’s nearly 3pm in Australia and Ive had 2 eggs today – now the afternoon is going to be tricky and I should have prepped something for dinner as worried ill cave…. Glad to find this forum to keep me busy. Will prep much more for next fast day. Loving hearing everyones experience, we are all so different, yet so alike 🙂
Welcome to the thread pincie44 and well done on getting through the first few days and welcome Mothergoosey – I hope the rest of your fast day has gone well? You’re so right about the preparation in getting through and I had to laugh about the eggs – eggs are the mainstay of my fast days too (thanks to two wonderful layers in my backyard). I really admire you for fasting with small children who are hungry so often though. Pincie44 – I’m curious about what it’s like fasting with your husband? That may sound like an odd question but it would probably become a competition for me and I’d be doing the wrong kind of losing 🙂 Sending out strength to others fasting today/night.
~Ensitu~
Hey ensitu, fasting with hubby is great. He often derails me ordinarily, so to have him doing it too is great for me. And boy, is he enthusiastic. But we’re both feeling great. Looking forward to it not being a big deal (all new and exciting so far) but want it to just flow in to our normal life. Will try eggs, hadn’t thought of those, but nice and easy.
Countdown to bikini body…
LOL!! Bikini body indeed pincie44 🙂 good for you! My bikini days are definitely over no matter what weight I might get down to (I have a LOT of weight to lose). And interesting what you say about your husband fasting with you, I can see it would be good to have that also-doing-it kind of support. My husband is immensely supportive, but he’s also very slim and healthy and takes great care of himself. He’s happy to cook for himself though, and always chooses options so I can also share a (much smaller) meal with him if I wish – can’t ask for much more than that! Happy fasting, ~Ensitu~
No, Lisa, don’t use those generally, although they would be good as they are protein based. Was a bit woozy the other day without any carbs but was fine once I had my beans on toast for dinner. Well done on starting though – and you Cap. It’s only my first week and feel great. Went out for dinner last night but don’t feel guilty as I’m not ‘breaking’ any diet – so that feels good!
I wouldn’t bother with shakes myself. I prefer food. Why not make something up and take it to work with you?
Cap, it sounds like you are not eating on your fast days. You can eat 500 calories for women. Check out the faq.
For me lunch today was grilled seafood (instead of grilled fish) with a garlic dressing and some vegetables which i steamed, then sautéed. All would be fine cold. In my opinion.
for dinner i had a very large quantity of lettuce, rocket and parsley coated with a tbsp of low fat dress i made. I have had two cups of coffee.
Over my limit now and i’ve had a cup of miso soup and now its late and i should really go to bed but i’m going to have a cup of tea with milk.
Anyway fish, vegetables and salad are good to eat. I find them the most sustaining-nutritious-best.
Cap, If it works for you great. I don’t know how you can do it. Well i can do it on rare occasions but i find it really tough after a certain point in the day. My brain seems to dry up and i’m fatigued and just a mess all around. It’s a fairly unpleasant experience and not one i can relish doing every week . I think that perhaps one of the reasons MM came up with 5:2 was because of the sustainability factor. I just think that most people who start this type of dieting would not be able to sustain two days a week with no calories.
In addition, I must say when i read posts from people saying how they need to plan etc for fast days, I can’t understand what that’s all about. To my mind, its a case of eating eat less than usual so its got to be easier to prepare food than usual, surely. Or perhaps these people normally eat frozen dinners, takeaway or maybe go to a restaurant and on a fast day they realise they need to eat vegetables and real food for a change (not that restaurant and some takeaway isn’t real food).
I do b2b. So this morning, being hungry i had an omelette with 1 duck egg, 1/4 cup canned peas, 100g potato, 1tsp kraft parmesan and then because i was craving it before i started eating anything, a big coffee milk. Now i guess i will try to wait until evening for another big dose of lettuce or something like that.
Welcome to the thread 3104lisa – I also find it much easier to fast on work days when I’m busy and distracted – I don’t use meal replacements though. Welcome Cap Island and you’ve hit the nail on the head about fasting for me – the beauty is that it’s a day only, rather than the desert of deprivation stretching to the horizon that kills me on regular diets, and I can eat again tomorrow. So relate to your comment pincie44 about going out for dinner “but don’t feel guilty as I’m not ‘breaking’ any diet – so that feels good!”- that’s spot on for me too. Happy fasting everyone! ~Ensitu~
Pattience wrote: Cap, If it works for you great. I don’t know how you can do it.
I listened recently to some audio books called The Power of Habit, which explained (if I recall correctly) that we have a reptilian brain wrapped by a mammalian brain, wrapped by a neanderthal brain, wrapped by a human brain. The habit of eating comes from the smaller brains, but the urge can be overridden by the higher brain. When hunger occurs (the cue), a base habit wants to take over (eating) leading to the reward (sense of fullness). You have to catch the cue and create a new habit that leads to its own reward. I see the occasional hunger pangs as rewards in themselves, a kind of physical sensation that accompanies my working day that assures me that I am losing weight and getting other benefits.
Mind you, I drink tea a lot on my fasting days, and diet drinks, and water. Maybe I’m just strange.
Is it black tea? How many no calorie fast days have you done so far?
I get the business about the habit. It works for me on 500 cal fast days but so far i’ve just found water fasting really hard.
I blew my fast on Sunday by having that omelette for breakfast and things went down hill from there, and so had another go today. I’ve done well but to make sure i didn’t bugger it up, i stuck with fish. I didn’t even have my usual sautéed vegetables. I also had several (maybe 5) cups of nescafe with milk which is probably a bit much, and a carrot because i was feeling a bit hungry on my drive home from work.
I don’t think it matters what you eat from the point of view of it working but from the sustainability point of view it matters. I want to make it as painless as possible – i don’t want to be hungry. Once i get seriously hungry i need to eat.
Low carb foods (i.e. protein fat and vegetables and some fruits seem to keep hunger at bay best. Avoid bread, pasta, rice and anything with sugar in it. Its about Low GI. If you are not familiar with it, its a concept worth understanding.
Yes i think when push comes to shove, if you want lose weight, at least after a certain short period of time, you have to start eating better.
Welcome to the thread t.rexxie & Trimat and all the very best with fasting. Yes, I do have to watch what I eat on non-fast days but I don’t go too nuts about it. My goals are about reducing my high blood pressure so that has to involve some weight reduction in addition to improving my fitness but if I go at it too hard (i.e. conventional dieting) my experience has been good initial weight loss and then gain over time with a few bonus kilograms. This feels much more sustainable at the moment, but it is a week by week thing. I had a successful fast day yesterday and I just take it a day at a time. Like Patt. I use protein on fast days and avoid carbs and that seems to work for me. I am always hungry on fast days but it only for one day – after 10 weeks it seems to be working for me (7 kg down so far) 🙂 ~Ensitu~
Thanks Pattience & Ensitu and congratulation on your weight lost to date. It’s great to hear the success stories. I’m getting through the day ok, my kids after running around in the park for a couple of hours with their cousins had fish and chips for lunch then an ice-cream which I was able to start away from with some help from a lot of water.
Have you heard whether there are some people who have headaches on their fast day? I seem to be getting a couple of them.
Yes lots of people get them when they start out. It comes from dehydration. When you eat less you tend consume less water because there’s a lot of water in food. People don’t realise they need to compensate.
I also think its because there’s a loss of body salts as well. Hence why when you do a pure water fast you must drink a salty broth and why i think its not a bad thing to do on 5:2 fasting as well at least until you get stabilised with the process. With the extra salt, it keeps your electrolytes in balance which keeps your water retention at about the right level.
You get these headaches when you start the induction phase of a low carb atkins diet as well. That’s when i first experienced it and as i had read about it, i didn’t suffer much.
Night cramps in your legs are another sign of dehydration and electrolyte imbalance. I get them quite often – but only milady. I just get lazy about drinking water and tend to drink mostly coffee or tea which is not the best thing.
Hi guys,
Great to see N4 and Ensitu you are still at it so to speak! Readiing through the posts I can see a pattern of behaviour amongst people that are around the same number of weeks on the diet. I am having similar issues as you N4 and Ensitu whereby I think once the honeymoon period is over- the initial 4-5 weeks say when you have significant weight loss. You begin to slip back to habits of old, that being emotional and physical.
I’ve noticed I’m getting a bit slack with the calorie counting and if I miss one of my fast days. I tend to indulge like a naughty girl and eat too much even though I know I’m going back to square one. This can make you spiral into negative thinking-what’s the point etc etc I put 2 pounds on last week but it’s my own fault As i only managed 1 fast day and I overate by about 200 calories on the day I did fast.
One issue I have is that some weeks I have lost pounds but not inches. I think you said this n4 I’m concerned I’m losing muscle not fat. This got me down a bit but I have also read in someone else’s blog that some weeks she lost inches in places she hadn’t measured before-so maybe.
LLx
Hello little. Great to see someone making observations in this way. Although i really like doing 5:2 and think its a great addition to the worlds stock of dieting strategies, i don’t think its any more of a miracle diet than any other to be frank. I suppose the main distinction to make would be that calorie restriction over the course of a week may be less severe than in many other diets and allows people to make their own food preferences and hopefully figure out for themselves that some foods just don’t belong in a diet and some foods are much more useful on a diet.
Anyway, i think the only way to lose weight ultimately is to tailor any diet you get a kick start off with to suit your preferences and lifestyle. But all diets or weightloss attempts take a great deal of psychological commitment and energy. There is no foolproof easy way. (That said, i’ve generally found all year pretty easy but I use the word differently to the ways others seem to use it. Easy for means steady losses, no struggling with hunger, no mental angst although plenty of focus and dedication.)
Those first few weeks on 5:2 may give people attracted to it – because they think they only have to diet 2 days a week and so is therefore very easy – a grace period during which they may realise they have to start improving the rest of their regular diet. If they can’t or won’t figure this out, they will probably be off the diet in no time and putting this down to another diet that doesn’t work. Alas i’m afraid that the majority of the people who dropped by just after the Sunday tv show aired will fall into this category. They are probably simply diet burnt out from too many stupid (highly restrictive) diets.
As to counting calories. I know its a drag for a lot of people. There’s another good way that works. I did it for the first 5 months this year before i started counting calories.
Keep a detailed food log – weight/s measurements/quantities of every food and drink you consume.
I ultimately found doing it on a spreadsheet helpful. I still do it even though i’m using MFP as well to count calories (which i started doing when i went low carb and i haven’t stopped really though i am getting sick of it now too).
When you keep a food log, it helps keep you focused as well as gives you a record of where you may need to adjust your food choices and quantities. I think it might be more helpful in some ways than calorie counting because rather than try to let the numbers mess with your eating (if you are scrambling to come under your daily calorie, scratching around to find more low calorie foods that will work) you can just gradually nip away at the types of foods you know are making it harder for you to lose weight.
I know another useful system too – Dr Amanda Sainsbury Salis hunger and satiety ratings. Though the weight loss with this system will be very slow and may not take you as far as you want to go if you follow it to the letter. I have used it to learn the helpful aspects of her strategy
#1. Stop eating before you are full.
#2. Never allow yourself to get ravenous. Actually i worked that one out for myself and even do that on 5:2.
#3. Learn how to eat to satiety.
#4 Learn how not to eat when you are not hungry.
But ultimately, i think a lot of success in dieting comes down to food choices. More whole foods especially vegetables and fruit and less processed and refined foods.
Lovely to see you LittleL!!! I was getting a little lonely on the thread without some of the ‘old newbies’ as it were 🙂 I hope all is going well with your little one? I too am finding fasting to be a challenge after the first 6 weeks. I started 10 weeks ago and I’ve fasted for 6 of those (due to 3 weeks working in Asia and a weeks holiday) so today is the second F/D for this official week 6. It’s certainly becoming harder to face the fast days at the moment and while I haven’t yet derailed a fast day (touch wood!) it’s the anticipation now that feels very heavy. For me, past diet success/failure has always been about the psychology of deprivation i.e. emotional comfort/the power of external circumstances/rebellion etc. etc. so right now I’m responding by not ‘repressing’ or ‘acting out’ those feelings, but trying to feel them and accept them as legitimate, and part of who I am – I’ll let you know how that goes!! 😉 Because it’s all psyche-based for me, I do find it so valuable to be able to just share my experience without judgement or advice and to support others as they work it out for themselves so I hope you stay on the thread for a bit longer 🙂 All the best with the next fast day or with whatever you decide is best for you. ~Ensitu~
In buddhist meditation they talk about sitting with your feelings and not reacting to them. I have to admit, i’ve never mastered that skill. I always need to go where that feeling takes me if i am unable to switch it off or shut it down. They never tell you too clearly what you are supposed to do but i think the idea is to keep returning to the breath, and or investigate the source which will bring you to greed, hatred or ignorance which is buddhist-speak for desire, aversion and lack of buddhist knowledge.
For instance if i am really upset, I need to find someone to talk it through with or go to sleep to get away from or make it go away. Because if i don’t, the thoughts go crazy and i just feel worse and worse. Sometimes, not so often or it depends what the issue are, i can find a better set of thoughts to replace the problematic ones. But sometimes i just can’t stop the negative/painful thoughts.
If i am really hungry, i just have to eat. and i think it is the right thing to do.
If i am hungry through boredom, then i can make myself go and do something else to distract myself. If i don’t, i will end up eating and probably regret it.
If i want to eat because of the bad food i’ve just been eating and hit an insulin spike type of experience, then i usually just need to keep feeding the monster. I haven’t found a way to switch out of that until the food runs out/i’m tired and can sleep or some other external factor. So that’s why i try to avoid those types of foods in the first place. Its been one of the key solutions to making this diet work and i’ve been doing it all year. i.e. eating fewer high GI carb foods, more vegies and more protein.
Hello Ensitu and Pat lovely to talk to both of you.
It definately becomes more of a mental journey doesn’t it, once you are a few weeks in. I like this challenge actually even though it brings quite a lot of anguish sometimes. It’s interesting Pattience that you have mentioned Buddhist philosophy as I have been practising Buddhism for 10 years now and throughout one of the main philosophies that come up time and time again is that when we are going through our our hardest and sometimes darkest times is exactly the point at which we have our greatest growth. So much of Buddhism is common sense I wonder why I didn’t think of it before!!!
Like you Pat I think I can see myself keeping to 5.2 for quite a while as it really is a WAY of life and a great opportunity to change. Ensitu I must congratulate to for continuing again after such a long break. It’s always the starting again I find so difficult even when I have only missed 1 day. You should give yourself a pat on the back.
Hi everyone. I started the 5:2 way of life a few weeks ago and I was doing really well for the first two weeks until I hit a few milestones like a car crash and my eating went out of control. I turned 50, my only child turned 18 and then he left for university (which hit me REALLY hard unexpectedly). But I am starting again today with a fast and I intend to continue this time with the support and inspiration from all of you wonderful people on this forum. Wish me luck!
Little, i’m not practicing at the moment. But the principles i followed i use sometimes. But i’m planning to go to Japan next year and i’m going to try really hard to get to a zendo for a night or two. Zen is so far from what my personality is like that i think it would be useful for me to practice it for a while. (more than two days of course).
If its any consolation modelB, this week has been a real mess for me even though i haven’t had any emotional issues to deal with. Turning 50 wasn’t an issue when it happened, although of course i was not looking forward to it for months beforehand, but by the time it arrived, i guess i was ready to be 50.
Did you have a big celebration? Do anything special.
I had intended to do something special (a bungee jump or similar to conquer my fear of heights and speed) but i didn’t have the money free to do it so one year later, now i’m planning to do it as a reward for reaching my goal which should be soon. As its a two-in-one, i am going to make sure i find the money this year. I won’t do just one jump but buy a season ticket. Jumps after the first only cost $10 so the whole thing becomes more affordable the more i do and this should well and truly resolve my fears if i have a few jumps. Last week i was 1kg away from goal and this morning i was 3kg a way.
I wonder if i’m trying to sabotage my bungee jump …. not really.
I never had any kids to leave home. But as a result of all my past dieting experiences and how i got to goal and then life would cause a me to regain it all, i now try to anticipate all those kinds of events that can stuff me up and have a some rough strategies worked out to prevent things going wrong. I am generally hopeless at bouncing straight back on the wagon once i’ve fallen off, so i try very hard not to fall off in the first place. Two days ago i had my first binge of the year. I thought i could make sugar free desserts and practice restraint. Not this time. I ate all of it in one evening. So now, no more sugarfree desserts at least of that kind (dates, mixed fruit, nuts, butter, flour) and not for quite a while.
A Bungee jump!? Wow! Where are you planning to do that? Somewhere in Japan maybe?
I didn’t have a big celebration at all but my parents, husband and son took me out for a lovely lunch at one of my favourite restaurants and when my pudding was served with a huge sparkler stuck in the top of it, everybody in the place sang happy birthday which was really nice. Then as a little treat for me and my son (who turned 18 a couple of days later), we went to Warsaw for a few days and drank in some culture.
I don’t know why 50 was such a big issue for me but there’s no denying it was. I’ve battled with my weight since puberty and have always had an unhealthy relationship with food and eating. I was a professional fashion model between the ages of 16 and 25 and managed to keep reed-thin for all of that time. Since then I’ve been up and down a lot. My wardrobe holds a range of sizes from 10 to 18 (British which is about 6- 14 USA). I’d love to be in my 10’s again and I WILL, I’m determined. I have a strong suspicion that had I reached my goal weight before my 50th birthday, hitting my half century would have been a whole lot easier. For me, happiness comes when I’m slim. I don’t think that will ever change.
Emotional eating is just the worst but you managed to have cracked it and that’s inspiring. I need to break the habit of turning to the bread bin every time I’m having a crisis.
Someone on this thread mentioned that the hunger pangs we experience were regarded as a reward and I totally relate to that. All through my dieting experiences over the years (and there have been many and many have been successful), that hungry feeling became my friend. I felt empowered when I was hungry. I need to remember that and I also need to remember that old mantra of KAte Moss “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels”. In my opinion, she’s right.
The bungee jump is in Australia. Going to Warsaw seems a pretty big deal though i don’t know where you would have travelled from.
When i was studying, one of my friends had been an international model. She looked a lot like Helena Christensen. Truly stunning woman and super skinny even in her 30s when i knew her. One day she told me she’d become bulimic through her modelling and i think it was yoga that helped her cure herself of that. She was a dedicated yoga practitioner.
I know that although i love being skinny too, I can be just as unhappy when i’m skinny as when i’m fat though not so unhappy with my appearance of course. I am determined this time to never regain the weight. I’ve had it with fatness so i am doing everything i can to avoid succumbing to past failures. There are days when i feel i might not make it but i still resist giving in. If i was a bread addict, i’d give it up and replace it with something less problematic. But i am more of a sugar addict.
Of course weight has always been an issue for me but when i was a smoker, it wasn’t really much of a problem. When i quit i put on weight and that’s really when i started eating lots of junk food. I was 33 then. Since then i’ve gone up and down a few times. Mostly up. But i think i’ve learned a lot from past experiences and now i just hope its enough to enable me to stay slim forever.
I don’t feel hunger pangs as a reward at all. I don’t even understand what is meant by it. I am happy when i’m not hungry. I try to avoid being hungry.
And now i’ve gone and stayed up too late again. Staying up late is when i start to feel hungry. I should go to bed.
I’m in the UK so travelling to Warsaw is only a couple of hours on a plane.
I gave up smoking 3 months ago. Totally relate.
Where was your friend based? I worked internationally too. Maybe our paths crossed 🙂
You should be sleeping soundly by now. Do you find you get up a lot in the night to use the bathroom when you’re dieting? About 3 times a night for me.
No i don’t get up in the night and as usual i had a great night’s sleep. You are probably drinking too much or anxious. I would discuss it with your doctor next time if you are still not sure.
I don’t know too much about my friend’s career. I think it might have been New York. She’s Australian. Her name is Esther – but i hardly expect you to know her.
Hi All, It’s so good to hear what everyone is up to and about the wide variety of things going on in all your lives. Following on from my second fast day of the week yesterday (which, if I’m honest, was hellishly hard but I prevailed!) today I met up with one of my daughters for a yummy breakfast and ate just what I felt like, which happened to be eggs and french toast with maple syrup and orange juice and great coffee. Sorry if your fasting today 😉
MB – I find that I get up to the toilet more often on a fast night, and wondered if it was due to the water loss that goes with fasting (possibly linked to the synthesis of glycogen). I’ve noticed it at the start of any weight loss regime though, not just fasting. I also wondered if it was because I don’t sleep well on fast nights (I know, some people sleep better) but I may just be more aware more often when I’m not deeply asleep. All I do know is that I’m very close to being 8 kg down after 10 weeks, so I’m pretty happy 🙂
LittleL I’ve also been practicing Buddhism for many years and have been studying it more seriously in the last 2 years. I find it to be a wonderful way to gain/maintain perspective on life and to find the space I need to move beyond the limits of my mind and my thinking. It has a great psychological base that’s proven to be really spot on for me. Happy fasting everyone! ~Ensitu~
Well i’m still not doing very well, despite all my bravado talk of a few days ago. Yes i was in form all day long until this evening. I don’t even want to count the extra calories.
I doubt anyone wants to hear about all these difficulties, especially not when you are starting out. On the other hand, i haven’t ever found hearing about other peoples difficulties a problem.
Anyway all i can say is 1400 calories a day isn’t enough at the moment. I wonder if its because i’ve started exercising (although i know that sounds quite ridiculous), I wonder if i’ve hit my set point and am having Dr Amanda’s classic “famine reaction”. I noted somewhere else around here that my average calories are now under 1200 and have been under for some time. I wonder if this part of the explanation. Or I wonder if its a hormonal thing? They all seem to play a part and when they get out of whack, they mess you around.
Anyway Dr Amanda’s advice when this happens is to eat until your appetite settles down again. When i read this advice some months ago, it made perfect sense. But being so close to goal, of course one does not want to regain any weight whatsoever. She calls it the “fat break” She says you don’t put on that much and not as fast as you’d think. Of course rapid increase on my scale is significantly water. (When your are quite low on carbs you lose lots of water and it comes straight back when you increase carbs). I don’t suppose this is making any sense to anyone here.
Tonight i ate lots of lovely dried figs (too much sugar) and a few mixed nuts (fat), an extra piece of cheese (more fat and salt) and an extra bowl of very nice roast vegetable soup (vitamins). Well at least it wasn’t chocolate or ice-cream or some other garbage. I’m also losing motivation in other parts of my life. I didn’t feel like going to pottery on Tuesday. I’m a bit fed up with my volunteer job since my boss quit. And so on and so forth. This is typical of what Dr Amanda describes too. I can live with being around 63kg instead of 60kg but i really don’t want to end up any higher than 65kg. After 9 months, I think i’m diet fatigued.
So i guess ‘I’m just going to have to take this a day at a time. Tomorrow is my fast day. I hope i can find the strength to do it properly.
Maybe i should increase my daily calories to 1500 for a while.
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Michael is touring Australia this September! Here's a link to dates and tickets. Hope to see you there.
Michael Mosley gives an update for 2019, current research in the field and announces a tour starting in February.
Michael looks at the Horizon special, "What's the Right Diet for You" and tells us which diet they say is best for him.
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10:56 pm
18 Sep 14