Hi Beedoo,

Well it isn’t a numbers game for me! Apart from getting an idea of what 500 calories looked like for fast days, I don’t and never have counted calories. I did however change my eating habits, so I eat considerably less processed carbohydrate and little or no added sugar most days. But I do eat a lot of cheese and nuts 😊 And until this summer I had been eating between 11 and 7 most days (so 16:8 pattern).

I weigh myself every day and use that as a guide as to whether I need to fast, and how strict I need to be on the fast day. If I’m maintaining my weight then I don’t fast, or I do a 24 hour fast with perhaps an 800 calorie meal.

There isn’t one size fits all for maintenance. We’ve all had to find our own way. But I don’t think anyone here is a very strict calorie counter?

Hi, Beedoo, and welcome to our merry band of Maintainers.
I’m from New Hampshire, USA. We are in transit now from our summer house one PEI, Canada to NH. That means a full meal in the car at lunch [driving used to make me so hungry. not so much now] and then a restaurant meal at night. We’ll be home tomorrow for dinner and I hate to think what the damage will be on the scales on Wednesday!! Ugh.

PVE said just about everything I would have said about Maintaining. We will be at our 5.5 year mark on Wednesday. I use the Fitbit app to track my steps/milage and to count calories on Slow Days if I’m over my weight limit. My wiggle room is rather narrow: I have a Target Weight but prefer to be 1 pound lower. sometimes I’m there, but it is not sustainable. That’s why it isn’t my Target Weight.

Anyhow, i just had a big meal [including best mashed squash i ever ate!] and no exercise today. Somehow I need thousands of steps before bedtime… Fasting Breakfast tomorrow at the motel buffet, then no lunch in car for me. We’ll try that. The cat was NOT happy during our 7 hour car trip today. Usually she is OK in the car, after a bit of complaining. She looks comfortable now, having her ‘own’ bed in our motel room.

Happy Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

I’d forgotten how much I enjoy “spaghetti ” (spiralised zucchini/corgette) marinara!
Onion, garlic, chilli, carrot, parsley, tomato passata, seafood mix (fresh) ..mussels, fish, prawns, calamari
Cook the above and serve on uncooked, spiralised zucchini. Sprinkle with parmesan. Good with a cheeky little white, if not a fast day!
Excellent flavour and low carb. P

Hi Beedoo, good to meet you, and apologies for the belated welcome: I’m a few days behind with the forum. I’m also part of the gang, those these days I post less often than some. My H and I started 5:2 in March 2013; I lost 3.5 stone,(49lbs) hitting target weight, in August 2014, and have since lost another 7lbs or so. H got to within 7lbs of his target at the same time, and ha stuck there ever since – mainly us to being in denial about snacking. (Either that, or we have mice in our fridge who can unscrew peanut butt and jam jar lids, cut cheese and slice bread, and aren’t too fussy about leaving the empty jars etc as evidence…). Actually I think he’s a perfectly good weight now – he’s gone from 15 stone to 12stone 8lbs – but he’s still hankering after getting rid of that last half stone.
We still do 2 fast days a week ( though probably not as strict as before) with one ‘feast day’ (anything goes!) and 4 sensible non fasts. We haven’t eaten white carbs for 40+ years, always complex, whole grain ones, but were eating healthily but too generously, so for us it’s been less about changes in what we eat, and more about how much (though puddings and sweet treats are now definitely a once a week thing, and if I bake, I cut any resulting cake into quarters and freeze them, so that I can get them out on treat days or for guests, without our being ‘forced’ to finish them.
I weigh most days, and like most on the forum, allow myself a couple of pounds either way – I prefer to be a pound or two under target, to allow ‘wriggle room’. If the numbers get close to the top, I might do an extra fast day, or be stricter on the existing ones, o go back to recording calories on MFP, which can be salutary! For me, the sabotages are sugar, carbs (of all kinds’) and portion size creep. I have to guard against serving us equal portions of whatever I’ve cooked, and remind myself that I weigh less than 2/3 of what H does – that may sound obvious, but in younger days I could have kept up with him mouthful for mouthful and stayed skinny, and it’s not like that any more!
You sound as if you’re doing absolutely fine. Stay with us, and you’ll get the drift of how much the mutual support – and the laughs! – helps

Well I’m at the end of a fast day. From dropping to a weight that was too low earlier this summer, this week I’m over my trigger weight! How did that happen?! Oh yes, that’s right, I got complacent because I was really light 🐖🐖🐖🐖 😀

Should we institute a group ‘get back in shape for winter’ challenge? I could certainly do with it! Can’t wait to make it an Advent one this year – I have two mini-breaks coming up before then, and since one is in Bruges (beer and chocolate?) I definitely need to be well within wriggle room before then. You’re right, P – that mouse is infectious: is it time for some moral support?

Ok, apologies – I’m NH-centric and should learn to think globally – sorry! But you get my point? You’re thinking swimwear and slinky dresses; I’m considering the damage I could do by covering a multitude of ‘poor choices’ in big jumpers, rather than changing them. )though the days here seem to be alternating between June and November, weather wise – an absolute cracker today. ). Whatever our season, we could probably all do with a little help from our friends

Happy birthday – and many more! I wish you a happy, healthy, tasty feast.

And that’s precisely what worries me: being able to cover the extra pounds in jumpers makes it all too easy to deny them – until the revealing moment of taking them off again! So…better do something about them before the jumpers go on!

Oh, belated birthday wishes, PVE! Today, I’m not envy your spring weather, as we have a forecast for a glorious day. Strangely, just one day rather than a spell! 🤔. No wonder we’re obsessed with the weather in Britain.

We are off for a walk – in the zoo! Chester Zoo is enornmous now, we didn’t manage it all with the boys, so we will become members, then it’s a good place to go from regular walks.

Happy, your post echoed my experience this summer, under wriggle room and deliberately eating more became a habit.

Hi Happy. Congratulations – enjoy your sunny day.
I’ve been dressing in thin layers ever since the menopause did apparently permanent damage to my thermostat – easier to take off in public than one big jumper! Every cloud…

Picking up on a conversation we had a while ago about the use of morbidly obese models… I see there is a piece on the BBC today about an advert being banned for using an underweight model.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-45808500

The online fashion retailer is reported as saying that the model is a UK size 8 with BMI 18.8.

The Advertising Standards Authority which banned the ads apparently commented that specific poses “drew attention to her slimness”, such as stretched arms which “emphasised their slimness and length” and a scene in which her rib cage was clearly visible, concluding that in those scenes the model appeared unhealthily underweight and the ads were therefore irresponsible.

As someone who is now UK size 8, I’m not sure how to think about this!

I would have thought that if in the remainder of the ad the model looked merely slim then, in the context of the whole ad, a shot where you can see her ribs/ her arms look a bit scrawny isn’t too worrisome? I can clearly see my rib cage, and if I was more toned then it would be more pronounced!

Moreover,, if you can’t feature a model at the lower end of the BMI scale, then all ads using obese models should similarly be banned since they would always appear “unhealthily overweight” and it would therefore be irresponsible to promote those images as something to aspire to?

Or am I missing something?!

You can’t fat shame but it is OK to thin shame!?

That was exactly my point when we discussed this before. I am not a believer in thinking it is healthy for people to be “happy in the own bodies”, when they are not healthy. There are far too many attacks on people with bones showing…frankly, the way humans were through much of history and certainly when I was young.
I have a few large friends, who dress flamboyantly and are generally accepted as being “gorgeous big girls”, yet they need disability stickers on their cars, cannot wall upstairs and have developed degenerative, lifestyle diseases. They eat and drink large quantities and tell anyone that will listen that they “love food”! Der!!
Thanks for the good wishes, girls. I had a great social day. No breakfast, no snacking, but 2 lovely meals with friends and family. Simple, social joy, without going over the top. P

I was really excited when I dropped back to my normal healthy weight and could see my ribs, hip bones and collarbone sticking out! It reminded me of my younger self!!!

Hi all and thank you Barata for the welcome. Have just been reading the recent posts about the banned ad. It’s fine to use overweight people in all sorts of adverts but if you were to swap every single one of those for a person with an 18.8 BMI there’s be uproar.
I’ve been a bit quiet since my last post as I’ve had a few comments that have made me question whether I’ve lost too much weight. I really do not think I have. For the first time in years I’m actually happy with my weight and body shape. I had myself weighed and measured yesterday on one of those machines that then gives you a print out. I’m 5ft 2 and a half (it all counts at this height!). This morning I weigh 48.7kg (just under maintenance range) and my BMI is 19.3. Yes I’m slim but I still have a muffin top so not exactly sporting the ribcage look. I had a beauty appointments yesterday and the lady who’ve I’ve not seen in a few months told me I’d lost a lot of weight and that I looked better before. Then I went out to reception to pay and the normally lovely receptionist said I’d list a lot of weight and looked like a little girl. I spoke to my husband when I got home and he assured me that I look great. He loves that I’m happy in the WOE (he’s had to deal with how unhappy I’ve been with my weight for years). I wish the comments didn’t bother me but they do. I will have to come up with a comeback. I just don’t understand how it’s ok to comment like that to someone slim or skinny but nothing can be said to someone killing themselves with being overweight? Apologies for any typos.

All written in a rush as taxi for airport arriving shortly.

Going to see husbands family for a few days. They are a lovely bunch and I just hope I don’t hear any more comments.

Beedoo,

I’m afraid you probably do need to steel yourself for further comments. As you say, when you’re thin people quite happily give you their opinion but very few people would say you’ve gained a lot of weight/ let yourself go, etc!

Don’t let people get you down. In terms of responding, you could fire off some statistics about the weight of the nation/ the obesity crisis, tell them you’re just doing your bit to reduce overconsumption for the sake of the planet, or challenge them directly as to why they think it’s acceptable to make such very personal comments/ criticize your choices (perhaps wait til they are shovelling cake down 😁) or why they think you’re too slim (is it just because overweight and obese have been normalised now?). Or just smile serenely and let comments wash over you!

P,

I was delighted to see the outline of my hip bones and ribcage reappear from under my blubber too!

Happy birthday Purple!

Carol, what a lovely story, and a beautiful memory of your mum. I’m sorry she’s gone, but you’re also a very blessed woman to have such warm memories.
I was indeed the person who recommended the book: it was ‘First Bite: how we learn to eat’ by Bee Wilson – and I’m appreciating it afresh as I watch my 15 month old great granddaughter exploring food (her absolute favourites are blueberries, strawberries, broccoli (!) and avocado, all shoved in in handfuls, and she doesn’t yet know what sugar is!). Bee has just written a second volume: ‘The way we eat now’, which is on my ‘beg, borrow or buy’ list.
Enjoy your porridge!

Mmmmm, seems I’ve started the creep also 😕. For the past 4 weeks I’ve been sitting 500g above where I usually am. Always over first trigger point at weigh-in on FD and sometimes over second trigger. All week I’m just hovering around first trigger point. I thought maybe I was having a bit more calories for my FD meal than I should and so was very strict with that this week but hasn’t made a difference. The only change I have noticed is I’m quite hungry the day after FD whereas in the past I wasn’t.

I can’t log on to myfitnesspal anymore, haven’t been on there for a while and my password isn’t working, blah blah blah, so means I’ve lost all my data which is a bummer, as I would like to check if I am creeping unintentionally calorie wise.

Do you think that five year failure mark has credibility, seeing as a few of us at that point are reporting similar changes?

That makes sense Purple. I would def say my passion/motivation has waned.

Carol,

Re: passion and motivation. I’ve found mine has ebbed and flowed over time. But never so much that I’ve allowed myself to gain the weight back. I’ve got a new wardrobe in smaller sizes to begin with…!

I’m back at my upper trigger weight again. No magic involved, just food! I had a period of several weeks where stress and being too busy to overeat kept my weight low. My overall calorie intake was down, which meant that poor food choices could be accommodated/ absorbed without showing on the scales. Now I’m less stressed and less busy, and eating more overall, and finding that the food choices and portion sizes matter again!

Maintenance is yoyoing in a narrow range, constantly gaining and losing the same couple of kilos.

Me too, but staying in that narrow range is the trick, isn’t it? 😉

Some days I just seem to have the munchies [and no, I’m not smoking pot!]. And then the scales show an increase so I redouble the effort. And some days I think my weight will have gone up but it hasn’t! Currently where I want to be and hoping to keep it there.

The colorful leaves are falling and we are going for a walk.

Polly (little bum!),

I love being slim too 😊, although I was told recently that I’m just skin and bone!!

Fasting_me,

You aren’t in Canada are you?! 🌬

I’ve fasted today, although I had to have a handful of nuts at 4pm to see me through. Hopefully I can get away from my trigger weight and back into a wriggle room place!

Fasting_me,

Yes, I knew you were in the states! It was a reference to Canada’s stance on marijuana 😁

I got the Clever Guts book on Kindle last year, interesting reading. I should probably revisit it for food ideas, but like you my diet is pretty good already. And I have by and large dropped refined cwrbs (occasional and then reduced consumption only), very little to no added sugar most weeks, and I can’t remember when I last ate ice-cream 😇