Hi Acoster,

Have you had a read through some of the other threads, everyone is always talking about what they eat, how they fast etc. You will pick up lots of tips and ideas reading everything here.

I’ll explain a typical week for me and the bad habits I had before starting this Way of Life (WOL).

I was terribly addicted to carbs and all the hidden sugars in carbs. I lived off bread, crumpets, teacakes and cereals. I also loved Nutella on my crumpets! So a pretty crappy diet, I did try to eat proper meals, veg and fruit but I ate way too many calories which are called (empty calories) because they don’t really fill you up just make you crave more. So that’s what brought me here. I was just getting fatter and fatter and I wanted to attack the health issues that go along with all the weight for a 48 year old apple shaped women with diabetes and heart disease in the family.

So this is my week, and we all have our own take on how we fast and when. I don’t work at the moment and thought it would be hard to fast but I just keep busy.

I fast Monday and Wenesday and the last two weeks also Fridays. I suggest starting with two. I’ve been lucky, both in terms of how I have changed and the weight I have lost, 22lbs in 7 weeks. Lots lose 1lb a week, that may sound slow but they are losing week on week when they stick to their fast days and watch their TDEE. That’s half a stone in 7 wks!

So I eat my last meal around 7.30/8 on Sunday. I get up Monday and I drink soda water, sparkling water and tap water throughout the day. I have the odd Miso soup (buy in a small box from Asda or other big stores for around £2.99 for 8 sachets). I drink it like tea, 18 cals per sachet. I have the odd herbal tea – Lemon & Ginger with a slice of fresh lemon in it. I avoid caffeine and have given up diet drinks (if you read up on them so will you lol) I fast all day. Now you can split your meals into 3 but avoid carbs other than veg carbs as they are high calorie and won’t satiate you. Go for eggs, fish, prawns all low cal some chicken which is higher cal but if you like it go for it. Use veg and salad to bulk out food or a bit of cous cous. As I said I have one meal at 8pm. I can now do that so easily. I tend to buy these fresh garden meals from Asda, I hope you are English lol. It’s a stir fry, has onions, peppers, sweet peas, grated carrot, that sort of stuff in it with a small amount of cooked chicken and some Thai noodles and a bit of sauce in the bottom., there are several flavours to choose from. I stir fry it in a wok and add extra veg like green beans and asparagus. I usually have enough cals left to have some fruit. The pots I buy are about 350/370 cals, I like these because they are fast, easy, tasty and I know the cals and can have them in the fridge for a few days. Being prepared will help you succeed on fast days. Plan them around your social life if you prefer. I like to get them out the way early in the week.

Tuesday is a none FD but I personally avoid carbs as much as poss, the same with sugar, I really have them as an odd treat and don’t want or need them as part of my daily or weekly eating routine. I stay well under my TDEE, I do that to make sure I continue to lose weight. It’s calories in verses calories out. The TDEE is how many calories our bodies need just to sustain themselves if we just sat doing nothing all day. Our bodies would burn that many calories just ticking over. If you move more and or eat less it makes sense you will lose. You can keep eating sugars but they cause insulin spikes and therefore cravings. For me, I don’t want to be ruled by bad cravings. I also don’t worry much about fat, though still careful about my TDEE. Again, read up on sugars and fat. Imo fat is not our enemy, sugar is.

Wednesday it’s the same as Tuesday. The rest of the week is the same. I eat low GI bread (less or no sugar in it and lower in carbs, I stick to no more than 6/8 slices a week) that means it will satiate me and it wont cause a spike in my insulin causing me to want more. This WOL has totally curbed my emotional eating too. The difference between them is: emotional hunger comes on instantly and suddenly. Your mind is thinking about what’s in the fridge and the cupboards i can eat. But it’s not thinking about the lovely fruit you have in there or some nice fresh veg, it wants carbs and sugar, sny old good eont do for this hunger and when you have eaten it… Well you don’t feel full, you want more! Real hunger comes on suddenly, it’s not all consuming and it ccan wait and be distracted even by a glass of water or finishing a chore. It will be satiated by anything, even fruit and veg.

I now eat only when I am hungry, (I often don’t eat breakfast because I’m just not hungry then) not from craving, boredom, emotions etc. It’s a fantastic feeling to lose weight, get control and most of all think… I can actually do this for the rest of my life! Of course you can have times when you eat way more, have a special event, date etc or just fancy it but you know that you can lose it again and you don’t/won’t need to go back to gaining weight. There is nothing you can’t eat, just on fast days keep your 500 cals to healthy food that keeps you going, not empty cals on a biscuit etc. Thsts my view, let’s face it you can those biscuits tomorrow if you still really need it, just say no on your fast day.

I hope all this helps. Come visit us on the ‘Summer Pledge’ we are aiming for 2lb a week loss. Or ‘HELP women of a certain age’, you don’t have to be that age lol. Ginette, Audrey, Franee, Twigglet to name just a few will give you a warm welcome.

Good luck, chat soon

Jaye 🙂