@tim well good luck with putting the weight on. Even though I like fruit and vegetables, i am one of those people who would too often make the wrong food choices if it was just up to what I feel like. My meal portions were never big just the desert and the treats after supper and sometimes in the afternoon. When on the go i could easily substitute lunch with a snickers bar or two.
Fasting really does re-set my sense of hunger and also food choices. After a day of fasting I want to give my body some nutrients and i feel fuller quicker. Also the awful sugar cravings are reduced.

Interesting article Tim, can relate to it!

Had a fast day yesterday that I didn’t want to do either Purple but I still did and today I’m glad!

Morning All.

Off to the office today, so rushing (as usual!).

Fast yesterday was getting on for 19 hours, and then below TDEE but not 25%, but back to 59.1 (from 60.2 weekend weight). So all good.

Quite amazing to be able to micro manage my weight in this way.

P, Tim will be expecting more than a cooeee if you visit him in bed..!

Had a lovely night-time paddle yesterday – probably the last evening on an open river of the season. Clear skies, good view of the stars – trees and banks mirrored in the water. It’s a beautiful finish to that part of the season.

Yesterday’s FD was a little more generous than usual (but still <450kcals) as I’m experimenting with shifting more of my kcals to earlier in the day, rather than later. It’s based on trying to establish a better circadian rhythm before the clocks go back (I’m a poor sleeper and clock changes mess me around) and the number of research findings that indicate our muscles are more insulin sensitive in the morning. Good discussion, summarised as:
“eat more when the tissue-specific circadian regulation of insulin sensitivity is high in muscle and low in adipose = earlier in the day…

Nutrient timing > CICO. Period… however, all of this is assuming a a plant-based, low net carb, whole foods template. And a protein-rich breakfast; not typical breakfast food [cereal-based undesirables: pastries, cereals etc.].”
There’s considerably more nuance to the issue and much depends on whether you have other essentials in hand, such as sleep but I need to try out every sensible modification that might preserve my muscle mass.
http://caloriesproper.com/afternoon-diabetes-and-nutrient-timing/

@ssure, very interested to hear about your experimentations and I look forward to reports from you – how you are doing with a protein based breakfast.
Please let us know how you fare.
Sorry, I don’t quite understand why it is important to have breakfast in the morning unless you are the type of person who is hungry in the morning when a protein breakfast would be preferable to a carb one.

Hi Ssure, does that mean muscle is more insulin sensitive in the morning and fat more insulin sensitive in the evening? Sorry, I seem to be a bit slow here – not questioning your logic. Are you experimenting with eating in the morning and early afternoon and skip the evening meal? You have mentioned your TDEE is now around 1000cal which really only is enough for two half decent meals, I guess.

SSure,

You are clearly far more knowledgeable and informed than me on nutrition and eating.

Many people report weight gain over winter. Is this due to lowered activity, different food choices (comfort eating) or ‘eating in the dark’?

I could imagine that in evolutionary/physiological terms it might make sense for your body to respond differently at different times of year. So when food is scarcer and your eating window shorter, your body may respond differently? Of course for us food isn’t scarcer or the eating window reduced in winter…

Unfortunately for me, with both of us working full time, eating during daylight in winter won’t be practical. But I might try it when OH is working away and I am working at home. The cats will be confused by ‘tea’ at 4 and bed at 5 though!

Re: insulin sensitivity and muscle/fat stores. Is this to fuel your muscles early when you need to be out chasing mammoths, but to lay down fat/maximize storage later when you’re back at the cave…?

Sorry if I’m being stupid. This is not my area of science!

Ditto happy Happy
This maintenance stuff seems to be second nature now. Don’t read the work emails. Might spoil everything 😉
Off to dinner with friends. Have a good Friday and weekend. P

You’ll appreciate this Happy. ..I was told not to lose any more! Geez..they never say to fatties..”don’t put on any more”!
Hope the clothes are in the shop. I looked today and couldn’t find something for between seasons, party clothes, that weren’t kids or old ladies:( P

Well done Bay. Dr M should be congratulated for the upturn in retail spending. 🙂

Hi Bay, great you had a successful shopping trip. I’m out tomorrow (Saturday morning). Annoyingly, the shop I’m looking at sent me a time limited 20% off voucher on email… And I didn’t check my emails that day. Hmmph. So if it all fits, it’s full price. This being thin thing could get expensive.

Hi P, I must admit there were several larger people (who struggle with their weight) that witnessed my carob brazil nut binge. I might as well have been talking a different language… To start with I’m thin, so what do I know about weight issues?! And nuts (with or without carob) are not their weakness (cakes and sweets are). And none of them seemed at all appalled by the prospect of a 1000 calorie ‘snack’! One lady actually said that it was important to keep eating to avoid feeling hungry…

Is this how people who have always been thin feel socially? I suspect not, as they are not recovering fatties!

Anyway, there’s something to be said for overeating (particularly carob brazil nuts..) as this evening i weighed in at 58.5! I know I know, obsessive weighing, but maintenance is a whole different ballpark…

Hi P and Happy,

I’m up a bit earlier so I’ve time to chat before I get back to the almost-there dissertation.

Isn’t it amazing what b—ocks people burble about weight, diet, etc? How come everyone feels qualified to pontificate, including the lucky b–gers who’ve never had a problem and wouldn’t know a calorie from a hole in the ground, and the others who do have a problem and consider their way is the only way?

I suspect ‘don’t lose any more’ is code for ‘if you get even more gorgeous you are going to make me look like the Michelin man’.

Not having a particularly sweet tooth, it wouldn’t have been Brazil nuts for me. My 1000-cal snack would consist either of a bucketful of smoked salmon taramasalata or a great big tube of Pringles sour cream and vinegar flavour, or even both. 🙂

Whatever our little fall from grace is, being accustomed to 5:2 makes it easy enough to compensate for any sweet or savoury binge whether, like you guys, one is maintaining, or like me (who strictly speaking shouldn’t really be on this thread) with 6 or so kilos to go.

P, I can’t remember whether you are a cat person like Happy, but I’d love to know about any moggies either of you own. I’m beginning to get serious moggy-withdrawal symptoms. It’s getting on for two years since the feline Hermaj went off to the big cattery in the sky at the ripe old age of 21 – her twin went six years earlier – and it’s getting to be time we got another pair of puss-cats.

Morning All!

Hermaj, for the last 20 years we have mostly had 3 cats, not the same ones!

Currently we have an 8 year old long haired tabby. He’s very handsome, a proper boy and a bit of an oaf.

We also have a little fluffy cat, adopted 6 years ago when he was found as a stray, emaciated and malnourished with badly infected ears. He was terrified of everything and didn’t go outside for a couple of years, and spent a lot of time hiding from visitors in a box under the bed. Six years of patience and TLC has worked wonders, and he’s now quite sociable and brave. He’s a real sweetie and very playful. He loves his toys, and regularly juggles his catnip mouse (he throws it in the air and then chases it). Sadly he has terminal cancer, and we suspect we will lose him in the next couple of weeks.

We also have an old lady (17), adopted earlier this year when her owners went into a home. She’s very sweet and affectionate, but a real glutton! She’s also old and wise enough not to fall into the traps the oaf sets for her (he adopts an ambush position, she says that’s fine I didn’t want to pass anyway I’ll just stretch out here, suddenly he finds he’s the one who’s trapped…).

I grew up with dogs, but the psychology of cats is endlessly fascinating.

Success gang! We both wowed them all. Great pr for 5:2. P 😉

Purple and Happy,

I did enjoy reading about you feline friends. They all sound lovely in their different ways. Your pretty, fluffy one sounds a bit of a madam, P, but aren’t they all? I have no illusions about cats, they are largely motivated by self-interest, but I still think they are great and miss not having any.

So sad about your rescue moggie, Happy. Hermaj’s twin had the same problem – hers was in her mouth – and we still feel bad for not taking her to be put to sleep a few weeks earlier as she was very unhappy. Your little old lady must be doing something right to still be around and having fun at 17 – 90-something in human years.

Thank you both again for your good wishes re the dissertation. Tomorrow will still be busy. I’ve still got a conclusion and a synopsis to write and various other boring loose ends like bibliography, getting it comb-bound etc etc. But I will get it in hours before the deadline on Monday.

Yes L. People often think fat is fun and comfortable. I’m every bit as funny when I’m thinner.
Interesting,ly most of the crowd last night were young and have known me a long time. They were incredibly supportive and complimentary. I wonder if giving complements freely is something the younger generation are better at?
After 2 nights partying I am still only 58.1 this morning. ..better go and have a slap up brunch 😉 Cheers MC mates. P

Sorry Tim…probably too late. My message to you didn’t go.
Try to behave while you are offline. We’ll miss you mate. P 🙂

Yes, I’ve noticed the “don’t get too thin” comments are always from people who actually need to lose weight themselves!

Hi Lichtle,

“Many people report weight gain over winter. Is this due to lowered activity, different food choices (comfort eating) or ‘eating in the dark’?” It may well be a combination of those and the emotions that we associate with Winter(?). E.g., there’s no more scheduled open water night-time paddling for me because of the loss of light and the temperature drops. Until my surgeries, I have the option of a session in a swimming pool but that’s nowhere near as physically intense as open water – better than nothing and I enjoy it but less activity.

“I could imagine that in evolutionary/physiological terms it might make sense for your body to respond differently at different times of year. So when food is scarcer and your eating window shorter, your body may respond differently? Of course for us food isn’t scarcer or the eating window reduced in winter…” Agreed with this – we’ve been shifted from seasonal scarcities and limitations to dealing with the new issue of permanent abundance when some of us are still oriented to Eat All the Things While They’re Available and Before They Disappear (which they don’t).

“Unfortunately for me, with both of us working full time, eating during daylight in winter won’t be practical. But I might try it when OH is working away and I am working at home. The cats will be confused by ‘tea’ at 4 and bed at 5 though!” We work FT and away from home but DH will eat his breakfast before leaving for work and I tend to eat mine after I arrive (I leave enough time for this because I’m readily travel sick). Your cats will eat at 4 and go to bed at 5? Or you? I’m not bringing bed time forward, just the bulk of my food intake.

“Re: insulin sensitivity and muscle/fat stores. Is this to fuel your muscles early when you need to be out chasing mammoths, but to lay down fat/maximize storage later when you’re back at the cave…?” Who knows, tho’ that’s a charming/lovely way to think about it. I think it’s possibly a response to the autophagy and general clean-up that’s been taking place while we’re asleep (with luck).

Morning MCs
Another week. Another fast. It seems an age since my Thursday fast. I’ve done so much!
(Just editing as we were typing together Happy!) I guess compliments are easier between people who are less emotionally connected? It is sad how we are less polite to those closest to us. I just told OH how ‘spiffy’ he looked as he headed off to work (poor darling). He puts a lot of effort into dressing and was raised by his family to accept compliments graciously. I wasnt so usually don’t believe people. Crazy!

While in my pool yesterday (first of the season) I recalled early last year when all this started. I had had surgery and then two really dramatic falls that had left me very immobile. My early rehab was pool exercise. It was SO effective as I could build the muscles without damaging the joints. Now, 27kg lighter, I can run up stairs and not even puff!
Thanks Dr M. P 🙂

Oooo…not so happy, Happy? 😉

Our home is 40 minutes from the beaches, and gets quite hot in summer. I believe I’m actually part dolphin, so I dehydrate without a pool! It was built for my 60th birthday present. Our holiday place, north of here, is right opposite the beach, so I have access to swimming both places now.

When we were kids, we dug up the back garden one summer holidays(mum and dad were at work and didn’t notice). Dad was REALLY impressed when he saw the mess….we had to fill it in again! Since then, I have had a pool in every home I’ve lived in. It is a great excuse to wander around all day in swimmers, too! BTW my new cossie is really comfortable and the body looks pretty good in it…if I don’t say so myself!

Your dad will have to get new belts to hold his daks up, won’t he? Good on him. Sleep well Happy, from your mate in the sunshine (btw, “down under” is a Eurocentric construct!) P x

Interesting L.
I’m the opposite. First hot day here. Too hot to go for a walk and making me too lazy to anything much 🙁
Gee, a cold wine by the pool would be good, but I’m fasting so will keep vegging with my book 😉 P

Hi PVE,

I absolutely love love love swimming. I used to swim regularly, but don’t have easy access to a pool anymore. Many Yeats ago, after uni and while job hunting, I had a 3 month period where I swam once or even twice a day. The local pool did an early morning session, but all the workers were out by 8 and I’d have it to myself for an hour and a half. Happy days. I never got out because I was tired, only because time was up! On days when I went back in the afternoon with Mum, I could rack up a couple of miles in total (a bit over 3k). I wondered if I should try and swim the channel….! I was carrying a bit of whale blubber then!

And I can’t believe you don’t think you’re ‘down under’

@PVE enjoy and take some clothes off 🙂