This topic contains 11,627 replies, has 174 voices, and was last updated by hermajtomomi 7 months, 1 week ago.
Hi Lichtle,
I’m sure my successful weight loss is also down to fasting and reducing processed carbs and sugars.
I do eat bread at weekends, and pasta/ rice perhaps once a week now, and the odd biscuit/ treat, but until I reached my goal and then stabilized (4-5 months, 30lbs) I had very little processed food and felt much better for it.
I am also not into counting calories, never have, never will. And didn’t need to to lose my blubber!
Good luck. I look forward to hearing how you get on.
Hi Lichtle
I am sure that my weight loss is due to restricting my intake of sugar and wheat and processed foods. Once I am off those foods, I am ok and don’t miss them. However, if I have a taste of them, I want more. I describe them to myself as addictive foods. And like you, I find it hard to give up these foods, once I try them again.
So the Best plan for me is to omit them completely when I want to lose weight. When I am maintaining, I allow myself to have a piece of GF cake or similar food, once a week, if I want it. Any more and I risk falling off the wagon. 🙂
On fast days I have no simple carbohydrates, so the 5:2 keeps me on the low carb normal fat routine. I continue fasting for the health benefits, and because my body asks me to fast.
I support you in your low carb normal fat trial and will be very interested to hear how you go. Cheers, Bay 🙂
Hi Lichtle, I don’t really count calories, but my appetite is much reduced from before I began fasting. I have learned true portion size. For me, after maybe two weeks of IF, I realised that the fasting plus low carbs had a greater impact than worrying about counting exact calories. Everyone is different and we all have our own ways of managing our food intake. Bay 🙂
Thank you Bayleafoz and Happy for your great encouragement. Will also read Dr Briffa’s book and see if there are any surprises. For example before fasting I used to eat lots of fruit in fact I used to have it for breakfast late morning work and then again for snack in the afternoon. since fasting I have drastically reduced my fruit intake as they still have some calories especially the volume I ate.
Hi Bay, Happy, Hermaj and the rest of our happy MCs
I am back in the world of fairly good phone service. We made it to the end of our across Aust journey today. Will spend a few days recuperating with family before we fly home. It is a truly amazing country with such contrasts! Every time I do one of these mammoth trips, I am staggered by the variety of scenery and the interesting little insights you get talking to locals.
We have managed to either fast or partially fast and can usually find sensible choices, although today I was so tired and cranky I actually went into a bakery at the first big town we have been in for a while, and bought an apple and walnut scroll. I would never normally do that! I’m making up for it by cooking everyone a veg and kangaroo stew for dinner tonight.
The truth will out when I hit the scales at home. I hope you have enjoyed hearing about our little adventure. Cheers, P 🙂
Hi Purple,
Glad to hear all is well and you are now relaxing before flying the last leg home. Your adventures have kept me highly entertained and intrigued. I wonder, just wonder, if one day we could make it Down Under before we are too old and doddery – i.e. in the next ten or fifteen years. One potential problem might be for Him Indoors to get a licence to drive over there. Some countries start to turn weird as soon as drivers reach a certain age. No problem for me, I don’t drive. I tried but I was rubbish. At least I admitted I was rubbish. There are nutters out there who are far worse than I ever was and they are still driving.
Enjoy making and eating the kangaroo stew. Can you compare kangaroo meat to any other? I imagine it being sort of beefy. And as roos do a lot of leaping about, I’m guessing the meat is quite lean.
You’ll be pleased to know I’m now getting stuck into the dissertation. I’d already started writing as well as doing a lot of the research and written it up. It’s now a matter of cutting and pasting it into the main text and then tweaking it. Still a long way to go though, with quite a bit of reading to do.
Hi there all Maintenance buddies,
I have been pondering a while on the following, and would like your comments. Has the following happened to you? Will I get used to it in time? Am I nuts? Hehe!
While my weight loss and size loss were rapid, and they have not regressed, my mental image of my body size has not changed as much. I never thought of myself as fat. I felt I was overweight and needed to lose some flab off my middle.
I am now very happy to leap around with enthusiasm about my new size, and I have bought lots of new clothes, and gave the old clothes to charity. However, some part of my brain doesn’t quite accept that it has happened and has not incorporated that I am now indeed a SLIM person. I get a big surprise when I look in a mirror and see my slim shoulders and waist and hips.
I understand that people with eating issues have this image problem. However, I don’t think of myself as having an eating problem. I have never been a yoyo dieter, nor have I ever been on a commercial diet plan.
Is this just a case of time catching up with the new me ? I was a slim and very fit person from 20 to 50 years of age. And then not slim and not so fit, gradually for 15 years. And now I am slim again. Will I get used to the idea one day that I am a slim person?
I am very interested in hearing from you all about your own experience. If it is necessary to give me a kick up the backside, just tell me I’m a narcissist with an over active imagination. Cheers, Bay 🙂
Hi Bay, that is in fact extremely interesting. I am sure someone must have done a survey on women’s (and let’s face it, it is mainly women!) perception of themselves.On a similar note – and to make you all laugh – we have a comedian here in the UK called Jo Brand. she’s generously proportioned (a polite way of saying she’s probably quite overweight) and one of her observations was as follows: “I am told that the definition of an anorexic is someone who looks in the mirror and sees a fat person. I must be anorexic then because when I look in the mirror….” Puts it all into perspective. Lol, as they say (or text). Anyway, I quite understand what you are saying Bay, it is crazy how we are so led by not only how we FEEL we appear, but how we THINK WE MAY APPEAR to others. Walk into a room feeling like the Queen of Sheba – hey, everyone treats you like the Q of S. Walk into a room feeling like a dead mouse that the cat dragged in – guess what? Now is this purely a female thing? I suspect it is, largely because there is so much pressure put on us to appear PHYSICALLY ‘normal’. I would say Bay, look in the mirror as often as you want and CELEBRATE your new body. If it means you have to keep looking a million times a day, then do it. Because really, only you can celebrate your own success, anyone else’s opinion is worth squat. I think you are probably looking amazing, you just feel a bit defensive about it because somehow, someone, somewhere. sometime has made you, all of us, feel that we don’t deserve to feel good about our bodies. Is this a rant? Yes, it damn well is. You have changed your body shape Bay, you are happy with your body shape. Party on!!!!!
It’s quite a common experience that weight reduced people sometimes don’t recognise their own reflection. I’ve seen a few people remark on that – or that it’s almost as if they sense their fat in the same way that phantom limb is a phenomenon for others – they feel it and still see it.
I’ve seen some odd suggestions that it takes a while for the body to remap its sense of itself – and even to adapt to an altered centre of gravity. So, all in all, I think it’s not an uncommon phenomenon – tho’ I don’t think I’ve ever read a validated assessment of how long it takes to adjust to a new reduced reality. (I don’t know if that’s complicated by the relatively small number of those who manage to sustain radical weight loss over the long term.)
Hi Bay,
Let’s see if I can help. My experience is not to do with weight. By rights, I don’t qualify for this thread, but I’m slowly succeeding and am two-thirds of the way there, and you lovely guys on here have made me feel very welcome.
My experience is about intellectual capacity, but I think you might see a connection. I dropped out of school at the age of 16. A large proportion of my classmates were heading for uni, as I would have been had I been able to put up with situation at home that was far from rosy.
I won’t go into a long rigmarole, but suffice to say that for the following 10 or more years I was over-qualified for jobs I was allowed to do, under-qualified for those I would have liked to do.
Then, in my early 30s, I managed to get into a good uni but felt I was there under false pretences. I was “a thick typist with delusions of grandeur”. Within a couple of weeks I was starting to get good grades. I was convinced the profs were just being kind, merely trying to encourage a rather dim-witted mature student. But the good grades kept on coming, I made some great buddies, all on the brighter end of the spectrum, and in the end I got a very good degree. I also starred in several drama productions. And I can’t believe that the references I was given were about me and my academic and other achievements (quote: an actress of great personality and power)and not some other much cleverer person.
I qualified as a teacher but the first job I got was in a fairly rough school and the headmaster was constantly on my case, accusing me of all sorts of stuff – allowing kids to draw on the desks (a capital offence!)in a room I NEVER used, accusing me of failing to attend a staff meeting (another capital offence!) when I had been sitting right undr his nose. Once again, I was the thick typist who thought she was clever enough to be a teacher.
Then I moved to an academic private-sector school – not very comfortable for a left-leaning lady like me – but I was at last able to do the job I’d trained for. And there was no problems with senior staff, who were great, especially the head. I only left because I wanted to do the job I’ve been doing for the last 24 years. Even now, when I know I have the reputation of being a damned good translator who is a pleasure to work with, still I’m waiting for the day I screw up totally and I lose my colleagues’ friendship and my clients’ trust.
And when I went to the first meeting of the MA course which I’m now completing, I was sure the reception staff would tell me that the interviews for the cleaning job were being held in the other building. Being short and unprepossessing, I frequently imagine people will think I’m a charlady.
Finally, when I had to give a presentation, as we all did, of work in progress on our MA dissertations I got the most amazing round of applause and classmates telling me I had such presence, such style, what a fascinating subject etc.
It’s all down to my early perception of myself. The kid who disappointed her parents, whose school refused her a reference predicting she would come to a bad end, who went on to be a “waster” – father’s words, not mine – who could only get crap jobs because she was underqualified. I still can’t believe I am who I am.
Do you see the parallels, bay? I don’t think yours is a case of body dysmorphia. It’s simply that you can’t quite believe in your own success. Maybe in the past you were OK, you didn’t have any weird issues with food, but your weren’t quite the beautiful, slender lady you wanted to be. But now you ARE? And that’s BRILLIANT!
Great big hugh from hermaj!
Hi Bay
I was the same – but I was even reluctant to buy clothes in a snaller size when I needed to, just in case…..
Once I had reached MY ideal weight it took me the best part of six months to start buying new clothes.
Yes I enjoy trying on my new clothes and my new look and I don’t even mind being photographed any more!
I think it will take a while to feel secure and know I am in control of my body now – better late than never huh?
😀
Hi bayleaf. excellent comments from hermaj, ssure, lindyw and love rant from honje. I also think it is normal, I don’t feel very different now from when I was younger – in my head I am still 25. 15 years is not very long to have had a bit of a weight issue and You said yourself that you didn’t feel that overweight just a bit flabby. Self perception is also dependent dependent on current mood.
@hwemaj. I can so very much identify with that notion of not being good enough.
When I am asked to do something I haven’t done before, the first thought that springs into my mind is “I can’t do this”. In my family the women “just can’t do things” Especially my mother. My father did everything – she has never used a cashpoint or held a hammer. Yet she is the one who directs my dad and organises everything through him. She is intelligent but only had a job for a few years in her life before her children were born. So all through my life I was frightened and worried that I could not do things. My mantra I have to constantly say in my head is: “I will try and I can do this” But it is hard work to have to talk yourself into confidence all the time.
The messages we receive in our childhood and youth get ingrained into our subconscious and become thought patterns that very hard to override in later life.
I find it amazing that you had the courage and confidence to go to uni in your thirties and become a teacher and later translater. Whilst I can’t compare to your (academic) achievements I am surprised at what I have managed in my life. If someone had told this to my 18 year old self I would have laughed and it seems you would also not have believed you achievements. Well done for going through all those negative thought barriers.
Some incredibly moving and pertinent comments here. We – as women – are not generally encouraged to make our own decisions about how we feel about our bodies; this has all been taken out of our hands by Madison Ave, Hollywood and many many others. One thing is in our favour though: we are ‘of a certain age’ – or LOACA as I very recently learned, thanks to this website! We are not teenagers, we have no need to fear peer pressure; we can praise ourselves for our achievements and the rest of the world can either agree or not. It’s what we feel about ourselves that is important. I am incredibly heartened by the strength that the bloggers here have shown, despite the adversities they have overcome. There is both humour and determination here. Let me ask you all one thing: if you were a man, do you think you would feel as defensive/ambivalent about your achievements? Don’t get me wrong, I am not a man-hater! I love men and I care very deeply about my male friends. I am talking about the accepted order of things, historically a testosterone-informed ideal that does not treat the female of our species kindly. Sadly this view has also been adopted by many women, a sort of ‘male condemnation by proxy’ that makes them feel safe (rather in the same way that working class people thought that voting conservative or supporting monarchy would put them in the same camp). My friend and I were talking about this this evening; even in the workplace where women are in the majority, we dread walking in wearing something different or showing off our new ‘body’ as it is likely to draw comment. These other women may be merely parroting the male view of the world because it keeps them ‘in the loop’. In the final analysis, though, it is down to YOU. How YOU feel. Feel good about your body and YOUR efforts to make it that way? I say: flaunt it!
Wow! Very powerful discussion ladies! So many talented, smart people on this thread! I can relate to your story Bay although my reaction is slightly different. I have lost 7kg and am now according to others and the scales ‘very slim’. But, sadly that is not how I see myself. When I first started to lose the weight I was really happy with myself. But it seems now I have reached my goal weight I have become very critical of the way I look and in my eyes do not look slim enough. I keep thinking I can lose another kilo or two and then I will look ok. All tied up with my self-esteem I think. Doesn’t matter how good I look, for me it’s never good enough. 🙁
Thank you, Bay. That’s a lovely thing to say.
Lichtle, for you, me and anyone else who may still hear in their heads the voices of parents saying negative things, this is a great poem by one of our finest 20th-century poets.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rjRYSfCJvM
It sums up my feelings to perfection.
PS As often happens among mature students, especially if the student is female, marriages go on the rocks as the “little woman” gets too much for the man to handle. That’s what happened to me. But at 46 I met the love of my life – not always the easiest of men, in fact he can be a right pain in the arse, but as you may imagine I give as good as I get. However, many of the great things that have happened in my life, including succeeding in my career, returning to uni post-grad and some wonderful travels have been on his watch.
Carolann – that’s someone else’s view. It isn’t yours. You’ve just borrowed it – from the wrong place! Borrow from the people who have endured the same as you, who have made the same journey as you. We don’t have a photograph of you, but we can look at our own bodies, feel our own achievements, and they are yours too. How you look IS good enough – because you are taking control. That is all the reassurance you need. Just look around next time you are on public transport; how many women do you think are taking a pro-active view of their health and well-being? YOU ARE DOING SOMETHING ABOUT IT. They probably aren’t.
Hermaj – that is one of my favourite poems of all time. My folks admittedly didn’t set out to *%@^ me up, they honestly believed they were doing the right thing, bless ’em. Still *%@^ed me up a fair bit though! You deal with it though, don’t you? And you make sure you don’t pass on the same virus to your own kids. So perhaps it’s a lesson in itself.
Honjie, I went so far as not having kids. I couldn’t guarantee I wouldn’t %$*@ up the poor little blighters. I have no regrets at all. I would have been a rubbish mum, but I’m a very good great-auntie. I have two great-nephews who I love to bits and I think they think I’m OK.
The elder one, aged 15, refers to me as Hermaj, the cool aunt who’s gone back to uni and is the best cook on the planet. And the little one, when his mum told him the story of the Great Fire of London prior to a visit to the Monument, looked very concerned and asked if His and Her maj were OK in the Great Fire. At five, your perception of time is a little odd. I don’t think he was suggesting that we are nearly 400 years old. 🙂
@hermaj love your link – short poem but absolutely spot on.
@honje I always maintain that there is only one advantage to getting older and that is that we can be the person we always were and didn’t dare to be because we had to fit in. We can become the person we didn’t dare to be in our youth. We can say what we like.
Can anybody come up with another advantage of getting older? I have been wrecking my brain. :))
Well at 5ft6ish and 59-60kg, and now comfortably in UK size 8, the rational part of me says I am clearly no longer overweight. But I also struggle to reconcile what I know to be true with some warped and long held and ingrained view/ belief about who I am.
I have never been obese, and was only just in overweight BMI when I started 5:2, but my experience of being a fat child has apparently shaped my entire life and how I react to stressful situations and how I perceive myself.
Interestingly, most of my work is not face to face (I review information and advise decision-makers in writing) and my appearance is thus largely irrelevant. However, on occasion I need to attend meetings or public hearings/ inquiries. At which point, my whole confidence in my professional abilities apparently pivots upon me looking slim and young (and sexually attractive?!). And that’s also when I realise I really need a haircut!
I don’t think this is solely a women’s issue now though, our society is so shallow now that external appearance (man or woman) seems to be valued above all else. I had exactly the same opportunities as my elder brothers. My Dad worried about me (and tried to protect me) more than my brothers, but I was never made to feel that I was in any way different intellectually or less capable. And interestingly, one of my brothers has the same weight management issues as me, and is similarly sensitive about his weight.
I had started to wonder whether I was suffering from some sort of body dismorphia. But I see a slim person when I look in the mirror. It is when I am not looking in a mirror, or when I have an emotional response to perceived hurts, that I revert to fat/ugly/stupid.
My weight has gone up and down. My hair only gets more grey. My face and body get more lined. Does this define who I am?
I would say I don’t feel any different to how I felt at 20. But that would be a lie. I wish I’d known at 20 what I know now, but that’s a different matter! I would have terrrorised mankind if I’d had the confidence that age and experience bring (and the realisation that the body you’ve got at 20 is really pretty hot! Men being fairly simple creatures….!)
Lichtle,
I started pondering your question about the advantages of aging, but then realised it was irrelevant (sorry!).
Aging is not optional so it doesn’t matter whether it’s better to be young or old. Comparing states of being (different ages) that you have no control over is likely only to lead to unhappiness.
At this moment in time, I cannot be older or younger than I am now. All I can do is make the most of this moment, with the knowledge I have gained from my youth, but also the increasing understanding of my short-lived and unimportant place in the universe that only aging brings.
Good morning lovely maintainers.
Such a deep insightful discussion for a Sunday morning (here in the SH of course).
Like many of you I was slim until about 50 when things went haywire. I used to look in the mirror and get such a shock because the slim person I was used to seeing had been replaced by a fat flabby miserable creature. It took something like 10 years to get used to that woman. Now I’m on the ‘downward slide’ I hope it won’t take so long to get used to the slimmer woman looking back from the mirror. Pleased to report that finally cracked the overweight/obese BMI boundary, only by 0.2kg but happy to take it.
Intellectually, there is a well known phenomenon called the ‘imposter syndrome’ – many of you will have heard of it I’m sure. I’m also sure you won’t be surprised that most sufferers are women. I have had it all my life, from when I initially went to uni and expected at any moment that someone would say that I’d no right to be there to even years later when, having made some moderately significant discoveries during my PhD research and afterwards that I would be ‘found out’ and labelled a fraud. Entirely irrational but shades of Hermaj and her charlady fears.
We’ve all achieved so much in every department of our lives. We have to learn to acknowledge and celebrate.
Keep up the good work everyone.
It was so heart-warming to wake up this morning to all your beautiful, tender, thoughtful responses to our dear Bay’s question. Very little more that I can add, except to totally reinforce all that was said. Remember the discussion a week or so ago about not needing to see how we all look as the characters come through loud and clear from the words? Well, you have done it in spades again today! Wonderful observations of human nature. I particularly liked your analogy, hermaj. It IS all about self perception. This WOL empowers us to take control of our self image.
I questioned OH about his image of himself now. Remember, he is a scientist, not a humanities person, and not famous for self reflection. He considered for a minute and stated he sees himself now as both skinny and fat. He, too, is disappointed in the remaining tum. Both of us are frequently surprised to feel skinny elbows and shoulders and wonder who’s they are! We have both been pleased with images in photos from this trip. No longer the embarrassing chubby couple from our last overseas holiday.
Bay, I am sure you look absolutely divine in your new clothes and I’ll bet your OH is as pleased as punch with what you have achieved. Remember, you have always been that thin young woman, you have now revealed her again. Enjoy your success possum.
Love to you all, you wonderful, passionate group of MCs. Your little mate from Aus, P xx
I don’t know if this is an age thing but over the years I have learnt to trust my instincts as far as people are concerned. What matters to me is their integrity. I don’t give stuff what a person looks like. Its the inner person that is so compelling to discover, and know more about.
Look at our list, there isn’t one of us who hasn’t been through the school of hard knocks and recently we had the discussions on accepting compliments. Shouldn’t we also accept our positive thoughts about our own bodies?
Just had a wonderful image of all you fems, with all your shapes and sizes, standing in front of a wall of mirrors, muttering to your self!
I’m not game to stand in front of the mirror as I look very moth eaten after ECGs/IVEs etc.
HappyNow you do realise of course that us simple creatures act that way to capture our pray?
Cheers.
Tim.
Whoops! Sorry Tim…. No offence meant, only that most men wouldn’t have seen the same body ‘issues’ that I saw when I loook at myself at age 20? Simple, as in uncomplicated rather than not very bright. Am I just digging a deeper hole here…?!
PVE. Your trip was entertaining and educational. My Australian geography/ social history/cultural knowledge is now somewhat improved!
HappyNow. No offence taken what so ever and your certainly not digging a deeper hole. I just thought it was a great dig at the males of the species. Loved it.
I have a warped sense of humour and a great sense of the ridiculous. Humour has lined my way through life.
My fault for not adding a grin…… when actually all it needed was for me to think like a fem …….. which is impossible I know.
Perhaps I should explain that when I use the term ” fem ” it is with love and affection for all things feminine.
Take care.
Tim.
Thank you to all the lovely Maintainers who responded to my post. Congrats to Nicky for breaking the next barrier.
Purple, I wrote a post about cars that got swallowed, so will try again. Oops! I meant that the post got swallowed, not the cars!
In Rome the small car of choice was a Smart car, and we saw very few FIATs at all. In London the small car du jour is the FIAT 500. Is your FIAT made in the UK?
Cheers, Bay 🙂 Keeping it brief, don’t want to lose another long post. Grrrr!
Have to fess up MCers! I have been mega socialising = over doing the food and drink with all sorts of lovely relatives over the last week. I reckon I have added on about 2 kg. not really worried, as 2-3 fast days at home will fix that.
And it’s all gone onto the stomach! Last on, first off! Am starting Pilates when I get home.
Cheers, Bay 🙂
Hi to all maintainers!
I’m hoping to join you but there’s a snag. It’s perhaps an enviable snag but I just don’t want to get too skinny! I’m trying to get into maintaining but it’s a bit hit and miss right now. I started with 4:3 and was lucky to lose weight quickly and steadily so, nearing my goal of a stone off, I cut down to 5:2. More weight off! Now I’m cutting down to 6:1, Monday fasting only, and hoping things will stabilise.
I’m wondering though if 6:1 still offers the health benefits of 5:2 because of my family history of all kinds of nasty, age-related conditions. Does anyone on this thread know about that?
Lizzypb
Hi Lizzypopbottle – although I don’t know the answer to your question I just want to say hello to you and say what a great problem to have.
If you want to keep doing 5:2 for health reasons, I would suggest you up the calorie intake on the non-fasting days. that should be quite easy – see how that goes. A very warm welcome – there are lots of maintainers here who can add/correct what I just recommended.
Hi Lichtle
Thanks for the welcome and the sensible suggestion about sticking to 5:2 but eating a little more on non-fasting days. I suppose I’ve fallen into the trap experienced by many ‘dieters’ who are relatively successful. I’m now ‘into’ weight loss and part of me doesn’t want to stop. I know that I’ll look scrawny and thin if I go much further and that’s not a good look for me at my age (62) but it’s actually quite hard to convince myself to eat more rather than less! I shall try though…
I know that I’m really lucky to have lost weight so easily when some find it slow going and full of pitfalls and frustration but I have a horror of going too far with it even though I like what I’ve achieved! What a paradox! Mind you, at 5’6″ and 10st 3lb I’m not exactly underweight! My BMI has come down from 25.2 to 23. I read somewhere that 23 is a good BMI for someone my age and that lower than that isn’t necessarily better.
I’m rambling now! I’ve had a glass of something!
Lizzypb
@Lizzypb. Totally normal what you are going through right now Mixed emotions about when to stop – the brain says one thing…. I believe it is not easy to decide on the “right” weight. We all have target weights that are arbitrary really. Once you are within the healthy BMI range it is a matter of choice and emotion. A lot of us have put on weight after 40 and we want to get back to the weight we once were but that weight might not be right any more.
However with regard to looking scrawny I think the easiest way to go is to “see what happens”. I might look scrawny with an BMI of 24 and someone else at a BMI of 19. It is always easy to put a few pounds back on if you feel this is the case.
I am sure you find the right way and time to stop. It just happens. All the best. Lichtle
Hi lizzy
We find we have to continue with two fasts a week to maintain. Otherwise OH’s blood sugars rise slightly. We also found it is a nice twice weekly reminder to have restraint. We have been at goal since April and found it allows us to indulge on other days. It is the feast and famine that does the trick, healthwise, so is a lifetime commitment for us. All the best, P 🙂
For your info….just to show how big Australia is….we have driven 6430km in just over 2 weeks and that was only along the bottom edge! Mind blowing distances. And, Hermaj, your OH can drive here with his UK licence, so no excuses! 😉 And it rains most days here in the south of WA…it is known as Rainbow Country as the clouds blow in daily from the Antarctic. Very green, good wine country. We are doing our bit for this local economy now. P
Hi again Lichtle and PVE and thanks for the input.
I’m hovering between dropping to 6:1 and carrying on with 5:2 but being kinder to myself on the non-fasting days. I’m fasting today so will see what the scales say first thing tomorrow. If I’ve gone down, I’ll just have to make a decision!
PVE – I’ve never had a Fiat 500 but I did have an even smaller, red Fiat 126 for several years. My mechanic wasn’t fond of it though! He hated the starter mechanism..
Hi Lizzypb,
I’ve had a similar dilemma about when to stop losing, and then how to maintain my new weight but still get the health benefits of fasting.
I’m 5ft6, 59-60kg, BMI 21ish, and now size 8-10. It’s lighter than I’ve ever been, but feels right.
I mostly fast for about 16 hours each day (I don’t eat in the morning til at least 11am) and found I couldn’t carry on with 5:2 or even 6:1 without losing more weight (I don’t tend to eat much processed carb or sugar, so probably quite easily stay at or below TDEE). I think (hope!) a 16 hour fast provides health benefits though, with or without calorie restriction.
I also add in the odd day when I extend the fast to maybe 20 hours (but don’t aim for quarter TDEE).
And if I overindulge and reach my upper maintenance limit I do a proper 6:1 and that drops me back.
I don’t really want to ‘overeat’ on 5 days just so I can fast for 2, and I don’t have health issues at the moment such as diabetes which require 2 fast days. So I’m weighing daily and being quite flexible about how I eat to maintain my weight (and hopefully benefit my health).
Good luck with your decisions!
Hi gang
I tend to be guided by OH’s daily bs results for both of us as it is quick feedback on our health. He cannot get away with less than one proper fast a week. This trip has definitely proved it. He has had a couple of higher readings (still under 8) while away.
Looking realistically, the healthy factors seem to be:
1. Two fasts a week
2. At least 10000 steps a day
3. Minimal processed food and lots of veg
4. Limited snacking on normal days and never 3 full meals a day
Happy’s system may work for a young thing, like her, but we tried it and the blood sugars rose. So many variables though. Not terribly scientific.
PVE Guinea pig Research. Company 🙂
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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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6:48 pm
4 Sep 14