Proud, Happy! less than 93%? Good girl!
Re bariatric surgery….our Australian Treasurer had it earlier this year. Can’t get his budget through and too lazy to fast. I wonder who paid?
Unbelievable that the medical fraternity can convince the pollies to fork out billions to operate on people instead of teaching them to take control themselves….for nothing!
Made it 24 hours today on my fast. Easy. Managed lots of outdoors work…car washing, raking, loading bins, but the garden looks good and I feel great! A smoked salmon salad at the end was just yum. Cheers P

Gosh, I’m doing well, Happy…equivalent to the starving women of Cambodia! Yeah 😉
You HAVE to drink the bottle once it’s open. It won’t keep. (Actually it will keep quite a few days, but don’t tell anyone).
Off to the theatre and luncheon with a friend tomorrow, so intend to enjoy it.

BTW Lichtle, Charlie 2 is coping very well. Managed to survive happily while I was away. My latest loaf went with us to share. P

I’ll second choosing wrinkles over fat anytime!

Just completed my first proper fast day for ages. I do quite a lot of 16 – 18 hour fasts, with some days coming in at maybe half TDEE, but have failed dismally to come in at 500 calories or less. Today was so easy that I wonder why I’ve struggled recently! I guess yesterday’s semi-fast, with no processed carbs, and early evening meal, set me up to succeed today.

If I’ve dropped below 59kg tomorrow I will be most similar to someone from Nepal 🙂

Planning my baking for RNLI fundraisers (a cause dear to the hearts of most watersport enthusiasts).

I had a bit of an uptick on the scales today (108.6lbs) but I managed not to screech. I think it’s because I set a new PB in my strength training session yesterday and I’m more than a little swollen. I hope that it doesn’t take too long to disappear.

That BBC/LSHTM thing is odd.

“You have a lower BMI than 97% of females aged 45-59 in your country.

You have a lower BMI than 87% of females aged 45-59 in the world.

You’re most like someone from Bangladesh.*”

There are striking differences within Europe, aren’t there, judging by the relative positions in the table.

Hi Carol

The body cream is recommended by my sisters dermatologist. Judging by my results, it really works to change your skin. Aveeno colloidal oatmeal skin lotion. After every shower, I rub it in lavishly into my arms and legs and stomach. I buy it in Coles, but no doubt available elsewhere.

Cheers, Bay 🙂

Hi Lichtle,

Yes, when it all goes quiet it seems to be a sign of everyone doing well and nothing to report!

I did a proper low cal fast this week, my first in ages.

I don’t eat until late morning/ lunchtime, and then fairly low cal and low processed carb during the day, and I found when I first started trying to maintain that I couldn’t even do one fast day a week without losing more weight.

Now I’m 5 months into maintenance, I think I’m a little bit more relaxed (I know that one day overeating doesn’t mean I wake up a pumpkin the following day), and I am seeing a bit more variation on the scales (usually maybe 3lbs up after the weekend, which then disappears through the week).

But the change to wintertime here means I am not as active (no gardening or running in the dark! And I get asthma is I try to run when it’s very cold or windy. And I get a bit put off going running by the incessant rain…)
Also, our eating style will change from summery light food to more winter comfort! So I think I may need to start adding in a proper fast day through winter to maintain.

I certainly feel better for a fast, and seem more able to ‘absorb’ occasional over-eating events (my periodic 1000 cals of carob brazil nuts in an afternoon – I actually now find I wake up lighter the next day!).

I think the run up to Christmas, and the holiday itself, will be interesting. How to say no to the seasonal treats, when you know you won’t get another chance for a year?! I guess with intermittent fasting I don’t have to to say no: say yes, but just up the frequency of meal skipping/ fast days 🙂

Hi maintainers.

@happy I don’t dare to stop fasting as I am so resolved not to give up this winter. 16:8 would almost feel like not fasting and I need the fasts to keep me off carbs and reduce sugar craving (which it has) as I really consume most calories with the evening meal but more importantly the treat after the evening meal.

I have not had traditional breakfasts for a long time (maybe brunch at weekends). In the last ten years I broke fast usually around 11am or later with a couple of apples or oranges and then a light lunch at 1pm. My weight only crept up because of sugar. If I can get that under control with fasting then I am happy. Fasting definitely seems to curb sugar cravings.

You are dead right with the seasonal treats. I do love all the spiced biscuits and marzipan etc. and they won’t be there in January. So this year will be interesting for all of us.

Since maintaining, my Monday fasts are the most successful with a 24hr water fast and then a boullion or 300kcal meal in the evening, but Thursdays fasts have become 24 fasts and then a filling meal of half TDEE. However, I think I need a few more months before I can relax like you.

I totally understand that you don’t want to go running in the dark. 10 years ago I did run for a bit, but had to give up because of knee problems. I hated running in the dark and was not too upset when I couldn’t continue. I am lucky that I have the opportunity to walk briskly for an hour (a bit hilly) in my lunch hour which does not burn too many calories but it is consistent exercise.

@ssure, I think you are doing amazingly – both on the weight maintaining front and the cake baking front. I don’t think there will ever be a time again, when you will be 60lbs heavier. You are too disciplined. When is your surgery scheduled? I hope for you after Christmas.

Hi FastFastSlow,

Well, what a day!

Firstly, congratulations on the trousers and the weight!

I have odd days where I feel like I eat everything in sight but the next day it’s back under control, so yes it’s not the slippery slope back to blubberdom that I first feared!

And I know what you mean about the danger being in the low weight. When I have hit new unintended lows I have deliberately eaten more/ been more relaxed. When my weight is at top end I fast more/ eat less.

I guess this is what maintenance is, yoyoing in a very small window!

I have no intention of letting myself go again. I like new me. I’ve got my upper weight threshold. I’ve got my scales. I know how to lose weight by fasting. No worries!

Hi Lichtle,

I eat pretty much no processed carbs or sugars during the week. This week I had a similar lunch on 2 days, one day with pickled chillies (to
warm me up!), the other with chilli jam. The day of the jam (yep, high sugar content) I was gnawing the fridge door by mid afternoon… I didn’t think a couple of tsps of chilli jam would have such a marked effect! I had to eat a lot of cheese and almonds to suppress the cravings 🙂

Hi Lichtle,

I wouldn’t say I’m carb free, but there’s usually no bread during the week now, pasta and rice occasional. I’ve been using more pulses and beans, and sometimes have sweet potato/swede/celeriac when OH has spuds. I certainly don’t retain water in the same way, and feel less sluggish. Gluten or FODMAPs, who knows?!

I don’t fast at weekends! Been out for coffee (and coffee cake), then went for a run. Guilt free cake!

Five months into maintenance, and I’m surprised and pleased on a daily basis still to wake up slim. Think I may be simple… 🙂

Hi P,

Good news on the eyes, bad news on the back. Fingers crossed the physio can sort you out. I know how debilitating back pain can be.

Your comfort food sounds spot on, and no long-term harm from occasional treats 🙂 My OH has been in the kitchen today also – roast pork, crackling, roast spuds… Ate at 4 though, so I get at least a 20 hour fast til my next meal…

I’m just recovering from 2 days of the MIL. Exhausting!

Interestingly, she’s decided to go on a diet, but not 5:2 despite the evidence that it works (me!). She’s embarked on one of those ‘cut out everything I like to eat until I’ve lost the weight’ diets. Time will tell.

Anyway, bedtime here.
Happy fasting. Take care.

HappyNow – I can’t recall if I told this story recently but back in 2011, I mentioned IF to someone who had been talking for some time about her desire to shed 100lbs or so. She remarked that fasting sounded too slow and that she wanted to find something faster so that she could avoid hip surgery (she was in her late 30s then).

She tried various diets/drugs (I’m not sure what they were) and now needs to lose >200lbs overall but in the interim, sadly, she’s been advised to lose 50-60lbs to be accepted for the hip replacement that she now needs at such a comparatively young age.

I wish it weren’t so difficult for people to know what would suit them. And what might trigger them towards more gain. 🙁

Thanks L. Yes, I made it without sabotaging!
Well done on being at the bottom of your wriggle room. Mine keeps slowly dropping!
Charlie’s latest loaf was a bit heavy, but it keeps well for a week in the fridge and means we eat very little 🙂
Good luck fasting today girls. P

Happy, you brighten my day! Spent yesterday with my (93 yr old, 5ft 0, 17 (?) stone) Ma, and got the usual ‘you’re too skinny’ treatment – had to bite my lip really hard not to retort that after years around people her own weight she’s lost her eye for what normal and healthy look like. DH attempted to smooth things by pointing out that I always was this weight when younger, had gained under influence of hormones (tactfully forgetting excess food, purchase of car, etc) and now post-menopausal, have lost it. Her response, a bit like your MIL, was ‘well I wish mine would just drop off like that’ – while tucking into largest pub lunch I’ve seen in a while, and stealing DH’s roasties! She has been ‘dieting’ like your MIL for as long as I can remember.

Just enjoy the clothes, and bask in the knowledge that your success is down to hard work and superior understanding! Does she at least pass on colours and styles which are right for you?

Thanks H and other MCs
My back loves just lying around! Slept like a log last night…swapped sides of the bed as it is easier to roll out the other side! The pain is reducing so the physio knows what she’s doing. She said it was a disc bulge.
My left eye is still very sore so I’ll go back to the optometrist. Honestly. … just as well we pay a fortune for private health insurance. 🙁
57.7 this morning despite no exercise for days and days. At least I know how not to overeat.
Did you read the article Rogue Trader refers to on Jojo’s thread? It explains why we don’t crave sugar as a result of fasting. Very interesting. Cheers P

Purple, so sorry about your back – and eyes. Hope you’ll be feeling better soon. Backs are a pain – literally. Glad your physio knows what she’s doing – that’s worth a lot.

Displaying my ignorance now: 16:8? Hours? Days? Weeks, even? Somebody enlighten, please?

Hi FastFastSlow,

16:8 refers to a 16 hour fast and 8 hour eating window, so evening meal at 7pm, break fast at 11am, finish eating by 7pm.

It doesn’t necessarily involve calorie restriction although it can be harder to eat as much in a shorter time. The idea is that the longer period without food lowers insulin and will get you into fat burning mode (depending on what your last meal was this could be shorter or longer).

I combined it with 5:2 and low carb/ sugar, as I’ve never really been an early morning breakfast eater and I find it easier to eat less if I don’t start eating! Since June I’ve been maintaining on 16:8 and low processed carb, with occasional low cal days (if I need to drop a lb).

Thanks Happy, that makes sense: I’ve normally finished eating by 7 anyway and like you am not a huge breakfast fan , but usually have a roaring appetite by about mid- morning. It would work well for me on mornings I don’t need to get up and out. Will give it a try.
Just off to bed after fast day – I want to try to do an extra one this week, to compensate for pub pud yesterday – and sweeties in the car. Don’t eat them any other time, but on a long journey I go a bit daft with them – despite a glove box full of healthy nuts and a good resolution. Obviously something Freudian going on there!. Bit of a grumbly tum at the moment, so off to sleep before it turns up the volume. Night all!

Ok, no need to mock the slow to catch up! I did wonder, but glad to catch up! Now zzzzz…..

Hi there, I thought you guys had been quiet! But seems somehow I wasn’t getting the emails until just now. I had a bit of reading to catch up on! You all sound so busy and doing marvellous things like Christmas baking!

So, I’ll try again!

Bay, thanks for name of cream, will look for it tomorrow at Coles.

PVE hope you are starting to feel better. A bad back can only be coped with if you can read!

HappyNow, think I might try your carob Brazil nuts. I still crave a sweet thing after tea (thanks Mum!) and usually have a couple of strawberries but don’t think they cause me to lose weight the way your Brazil nuts do LOL!

I had a fairly decadent day Saturday so restricted calories to 400 on Sunday. Then couldn’t face the fast day Monday so decided I would stick to less than 400 calls but have some at breakfast. The day was easy to cope with but when I got on the scales this morning I hadn’t lost as much as I thought I would have with 2 fast days. All ok but today I am struggling and have eaten quite a bit more than I usually do. Seems like the fasting aspect could be as I portent as the cLorie restriction even though MM says he has some of his FD calories at breakfast. Think I’ll give the 16:8 a try on non fast days and see what happens. Happy maintaining!

Carol, I forgot to add…my OH likes something after a fish meal on fast days so we have a few blueberries and a strawberry with a teaspoon of Greek yoghurt dusted with cinnamon and a sprinkle of almond flakes. I serve them in miniscule ramekins eaten with a teaspoon. Luxury! (Said with a Yorkshire accent) P

Indeed Carol. Presentation is everything! We have soda water in wine glasses on fast nights…often with a candle on the table. I even bought cheap wooden serving platters and served up my salmon, orange and fennel salad for guests one fast night. They didn’t realise it was a fast meal. They had wine and bread rolls. 🙂 P

Have a good day at the office dear 😉 P

Thanks P! Just on the train…

Have my day’s food with me.. almond milk for my coffee, yoghurt for 11ish, cottage cheese and crudites for a late lunch. I’m hoping to be too busy to go to the carob brazil shop (there is only one that I know of!)…

Hope the back and gammy eye are still improving.

Carol, sorry you haven’t seen the results you wanted from the effort expended. I sometimes find that a fast on Monday results in small incremental losses on subsequent days. Hopefully you’ll be more efficiently using fat as a result of your fasting, and it won’t be wasted effort!