Hi Happy
Definitely won by Bay 😆 Cocky does the fly past every now and then but has given up any serious hope of apricots. I can hear the flock screeching about someone else’s tree. 😉
Cheers, Bay
This topic contains 11,642 replies, has 174 voices, and was last updated by Pollypenny 2 months, 2 weeks ago.
Salutary moment for this Maintainer!
I haven’t been measuring myself lately, as my weight is under control with regular fasting. However, my waist and hips have expanded during the Christmas period, even though no weight has changed. Exactly, the reverse of a plateau experience. 😯 an extra 2 cm on both waist and hips. 😮
And the culprit is most definitely processed carbs. 😥 In my case homemade GF cakes, puddings, mince pies etc etc. Sadly, I have had the last piece of apricot pudding for quite some time. My vanity is sufficient 😉
Bay 🙂
Thought you guys must have been especially busy over Xmas because no one had posted anything but now see I had logged out! Duh!
Well Xmas, new year, 2 weeks at the beach and I am 1.5kg above wiggle weight. Fasting today needless to say. Not disheartened but am surprised how it took only 16 days of wine, cheese, carbs etc to put on effectively 1.5 – 2kg. I overate pretty much constantly in the last week. Oh well, too bad, done it now just need to get back on the wagon. I might add I felt pretty sick at occasions through overeating but still kept going. Crazy!
Back on the straight and narrow everyone, sounds like we’re pretty much in the same boat or just getting out of it lol!
With new resolve I have lasted 21 hours on this fast today. Will now go to dinner with friends, taking care to maximise green veg and protein, and minimise carbs.
The Battle of the Cocky finished with a great crescendo of screeching cockies going in to battle with some beautiful pink and grey galahs, to keep the galahs off the patch. A galah is quite a large bird,but these cockies are far larger and can screech up a flock in no time! The galah hid on a branch in the large elm tree.
In total I picked 20 kgs of beautiful apricots with most of them lightly poached and frozen for future delight. 😆 I have given away 5 kgs. Beautiful soft rain is falling in curtains. After a splendid thunderstorm.
Cheers, all. Bay 😉
Hi Bay,
Hopefully your extra cms will be quickly gone, especially as you don’t weigh more! I don’t measure regularly so don’t have evidence of it, but I definitely notice extra ‘puffiness’/ ‘flabbiness’ after carbs. It’s most noticeable round the hip and belly area, I guess because there’s more of that area to start!
Glad you managed a good apricot harvest. Think we’re going to miss your cocky though! I’m afraid I don’t know what a galah looks like, will have to Google it.
Carol,
Welcome back! Sounds like you had a great holiday period. Hopefully some of your gain will be water, and quickly gone, once you’re back in your normal routine.
I’m sure a little holiday from fasting, and a temporary return to old habits, will have been good for us? For me it’s been a reminder that I do in fact feel healthier for fasting, that overeating isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and that treats are actually better enjoyed occasionally! And I definitely can’t revert to old habits and expect to keep my new figures. And also I are now sufficiently in control that we can allow this relaxation, and then repair the damage, there’s no question that this is the beginning of a yoyo back to former flabbidom.
Happy
I am so impressed that you can type anything other than yep, nope, ok on a phone. I go bonkers! I will miss the cockie when he goes. He was a worthy adversary 🙄 Cockies are white and as big as small Eagles, while galahs are pink and grey, and are the largest “parrot” looking bird. Worth googling. They are all beautiful.
Sorry for mixing up which thread you are on. I think I addressed my post on Jojo’s thread to you. Brain fade with no food for 21 hours. 😉
Cheers, all. With your support, I can do it. Bay 🙂
Well Happy, let me introduce you to the kookaburras too! We can’t hear the tv over their racket tonight. They get noisy when rain stops. Black cockatoos have a weird long cry when rain is coming and the Sulphur Crested Cockatoos (Bay’s mates) move in packs of up to 100, circling above our valley and screeching at each other every evening over who gets the best roost. No pathetic twitter of tiny wrens in our forested suburbs! P
Hi H
Your magpies (we call them maggies) are quite different to ours. They are fiercely protective of their nests and will peck people’s heads. I have lots of large fluffy baby maggies hanging around at present. Not very good at flying yet, so they walk through holes in the gate right in front of my cat. She just ignores them. 🙂 They have the most beautiful warble. Our other big native pests are the noisy mynahs. They live in large flocks and harp at anything, including us, if we come in their territory. …our garden!
Ah nature! Love it!
Happy day/evening MCs. 🙂 P
Hello MCs,
Good to see that you’re all keeping well and I appreciate your tips and support as I start the maintenance journey. At 137 lbs I’m now firmly in the middle of the 4 lb maintenance range I set for myself although when I convert to kgs and see 62 kgs I’m thinking ‘doesn’t under 60 kgs sound good?’ – I said the same when moving downwards to 140 lbs but I don’t feel I’ve reached my natural weight yet – will keep you posted.
I had my second monthly session with a fitness trainer the other day – it was gruelling but I can feel myself toning up since following the exercises she gave me for the first month. They were easy enough but I’m dreading the email with the new ones, still, getting fit and toned is part of the plan so I’ll persevere knowing that it can only get easier (here’s hoping!).
I was lucky over the Christmas holiday period in that I managed to maintain my weight while on vacation and without access to my scales for my daily morning weigh in. So, I’ve proved to myself by continuing 5:2 and tracking calories on MyFitnessPal works and I’ll apply it again for the next two weeks as I’m travelling for work and will again be without scales. Keep your fingers crossed.
All the best for now.
Ellie
Well done Ellie
If you are anything like the rest of us you will gradually drop below 60kg without trying. It takes time, but I believe your body finds an easy equilibrium eventually.
I think mine is about 57. I go up and down, but over many months the average seems to be here. I still do 2 fasts a week, but usually one of closer to 500 cals, not the strict 350 I used to do. I’m a much happier bunny eating at 2-3 and again at 6-7 these days when fasting.
Building to a thunderstorm here. Looking dark and threatening. 27deg and 85% humidity.
Keep up the good work and keep us posted. Cheers P 🙂
Ellie, great to have you here with us. You have done incredibly well indeed and you definitely seem to know what you are doing. For me maintaining is pretty similar to when I was losing weight just without the pressure or weekly expectations of weight loss.
As purple said, you will probably lose a few more pounds over the next months. Do not worry about getting too thin. You will eventually fall into your “natural weight” and know when to stop because many of us seem to have a weight in our mind when we were younger to which we want to return.
Hi Ellie,
Well done on reaching your goal.
My original goal was 140lbs (10 stone, 63kg ish), but I went below that without trying and then similarly thought 60 (kg) was a nice number! And the right side of 9 st 7… So that’s now my upper limit.
Re: exercise. If it’s easy you aren’t working hard enough! I hoped running would get easier, but you just run faster and further the fitter you get…
Thanks MCs for your responses,
Key takeaways (not the fast food variety!) from your feedback are as follows:
– Stick with 5:2 – I doubt that I could manage 1/4 of TDEE so will stick with 500 cals for now;
– Keep tracking to watch out for where ‘natural weight’ will lie – I’ve never been thin so don’t think it’s going to happen at this stage in my life!
– Work harder at the exercise – clearly, I can push myself further (with the fear of the personal trainer as a motivator or stick might be a better term!)
I’ll do my best to post over the coming weeks during my travels and look forward to keeping in touch.
Take care,
Ellie
Hi Ellie,
Sounds familiar!
140lbs was the thinnest I’d ever been as an adult, and I knew I wasn’t unhappy with that weight, so that was my goal. Having never been ‘thin’, I never thought that I could weigh less than that, and thought I’d look too thin, etc. But it took me 6 weeks after reaching goal to work out how to stop losing! And then I’m afraid I was too vain to ‘eat up’ again 🙂
And I think that most of us have found our shape keeps changing for a while anyway, even if not losing more weight.
So who knows where you’ll end up!
BTW I’m 45 so not very different in age to you?
Happy, I just turned 50 last month and was delighted to reach my initial goal in 4 months. This is the new slimmer, fitter me. Long may it continue. It’s a WOL that I plan to continue so no ‘eating up’ for sure!
Carol, I agree with the feeling of empowerment. For the first time in my life I feel I have control over my weight and it’s an amazing feeling.
Thanks for your support.
Ellie
Hi Carol and Ellie,
I totally agree, empowering is the right word!
My graph of weight shows a pretty steady line since early June, except for a dip pre-Xmas when I created a bit more wriggle room for Xmas, and a spike post-Xmas, and now back to the weight I’ve been since June.
I would never have believed that I could exert such precise control over my weight. And no calorie counting (or food weighing etc) involved. It must be magic!
Question for the MC experts 🙂 – – Do any of you get carb cravings after fasting? I feel like I am eating way less veggies overall when compared to pre 5:2. I mean, I can’t complain too much because I am at my lowest adult weight ever (127 lbs., yeah!!), but I do need to get these carb binges under control… I thought 5:2 helps to push you towards healthy eating… Haven’t experienced that yet :(.
Still loving this way of life, just need to tweak things a little??
Yes Ellie, it’s hard to know what weight I’m going for now too. I am very happy with this weight, but it’s easy to get greedy and want to see what a few pounds lighter feels like…
Thanks everyone! I’m jealous of your wild bird encounters, only deer in my backyard ;).
Deer Emily? Cool!
I found we increased our leafy and colourful veg intake massively with 5:2. Not starchy veg. We virtually don’t eat potatoes, rice or pasta any more. We have limited amounts of homemade sourdough and some flour, usually in homemade things (pizza, pancakes, biscuits).
The day after a fast I find I eat mostly vegetarian. If I am “forced” to eat sugary carb based food (eg the last of the Xmas pud) is when I develop a craving for more.
I often forget it is an eating day on the day after a good fast. That’s why I like to spread fast days out (Mon/Thurs) as the spin off is lower cal days on the next day too.
Does this make sense? 🙂 P
Youre right Purple and the whole issue fascinates me! I always thought the culprit was sugar, and if so its more addictive than speed! I was discussing this with a GP friend and he thinks it’s more to do with fat burning and ketosis on FD followed by a non FD which stimulates the hunger hormone again. I’m not sure though becuase my hunger is always for starchy, sweet carbs. I do feel hungrier but I don’t lust after a steak and veg etc. All very interesting.
Emily, rather than have veggies for breakfast have some protein such as an egg. I found I needed to do this on the day after a fast when I first started because the next day I seemed to be starving! I gradually got used to it but if I didn’t have the egg I would be constantly eating more and more carbs. Once I got myself sorted and was able to have some carbs for breakfast I started adding yoghurt to my porridge to make sure there was some protein in there. I didn’t have the egg anymore. I still favour a carb breakfast when I’m at home – just habit I guess but I love my breakfast ritual.
Poor Purple, yum Cha sounds good to me! Keep working with on him!
@bayleafoz re the measurements v weight I kind of feel vindicated by your post stating you’d gained inches but not pounds .. as I have always felt that measurements were a more reliable approach than weight…
As long as I’m comfortable in my size 12 skinny jeans I will be happy…
@emily I really do get carb cravings now I’ve downsized.. I didn’t whilst I was loosing.. not sure whether it’s because my fasting routine is less restrictive than when I was actively trying to loose fat.. there is something about being more ketogenic which I certainly was then and probably less so now.. it is better to be ketogenic than carbogenic (that’s my term for burning carbs instead of fat for energy).. something to think about for the new year.. get back into ketogenisis.. more protein and fat less carbs..
Hi gang
You are so right zuzan. The hard thing about maintaining is that there is not the need for the fervor. It is difficult to slosh atound in the in between isn’t it? I find it much harder, in a lot of ways, especially with cravings, than when I was driven with zeal to get down to a healthy weight. As Happy commented recently, it is almost easier to go to the top of your wriggle room and then set yourself the challenge to go back down again. 😉 Funny little mind games to control unrestricted eating!
My OH and I realise now how little food (even low cal) we need to sustain ourselves. It would be very easy to slip back into bad eating choices and gain weight again. Thank goodness for twice weekly resets!
Fast day/ reset day for me, post weekend. Cheers P
Hi all
Zuzan is right. Carbs and sugars are my downfall. If I start on them, I want more. I am having a complete reset of eating after the Christmas social planned indulgences.
My focus is now on protein and green vegetables, including fish, lean meat and lots of soups. My waist band is already looser. Plus more walking and golf. I am not going to measure for a week. 😉
Cheers, all. Bay
Interesting thoughts on the journey (losing weight) being easier than being at destination.
On another thread, someone explained their maintenance regime – 6:1 for a few months with gradual weight gain until clothes were a bit tight and then 5:2 to lose the weight again. And repeat.
It got me thinking that there are more variations of maintenance than I have considered!
I don’t think I could do that particular version because I would hate myself for gaining weight again… But perhaps my focus is wrong! I have a daily 16+ hour fast, with daily calorie restriction (low cal lunch), Monday through Friday, but with only very occasional quarter TDEE fasts.
This works to maintain my weight, but perhaps I am not getting fasting benefits from my maintenance regime.
However, I would have to fundamentally change my diet to switch to maintenance by 6:1, and I’m not sure how much fasting benefit there is in 6:1? I think you have said P that your OH only gets the benefit from two fast days?
So in conclusion, I am shallow and vain, and being slim is more important to me than the health benefits of fasting! Oh, and don’t forget lazy, because I am not exerting myself to devise a diet which delivers maximum benefits of fasting…
On that note maybe I should have a midnight snack so I can fast tomorrow…
So MCers, what is your incentive now? Is it the health benefits of the fast or the skinny jeans/ swimmers?!
Both, I hope, Happy.
Yes my boy finds he has to do 2 fasts a week to keep his bloodsugar in control. I often think it is about weight for me, then I remember the cancers, blood pressure and demetia in the family and why I am doing this. A combo of vanity and health.
I try to do one 1/4 fast a week (or close to it) and another long fast that might end up at 500 cals…not 1/4…should be 350 🙁
I guess time will tell whether our experimenting pays off.
Today is the 350 cal day. Had better get stuck into the ironing or writing a book! P
Hi P,
Just realized I lied in my last post. If I snack it’s cheese or nuts, so not low cal!
Anyway, I would not have started 5:2 if it had been just another weight loss diet, it was the health benefits and wol that appealed.
But now I’m at maintenance, I might have lost my way on the health side (if those that say the only benefit is from calorie restriction, and a daily 16+ hour fast isn’t long enough to do anything, are to be believed).
Along the way, my eating preferences, appetite and patterns have changed. And now I am in the position that my ‘natural’ way of eating is incompatible with quarter TDEE days (I lose another 0.5kg).
As you say, it’s an experiment and time will tell. Maybe I’m overthinking it! But I guess I should take comfort that if I do die early at least I’ll be a beautiful corpse 🙂
Good words Happy and Purple. My intentions at the beginning of 5:2 were altruistic – health and weight. Now that I’m in maintenance vanity has taken over and it’s weight loss that motivTes me. I suspect if your husband needs 2 FD to maintain his blood sugar levels Purple, we probably all need that for health benefits. however, I, and possibly many of the people on this forum don’t have health issues – yet. Being overweight is one of the main predictors for morbidity and mortality so my argument is, if we keep the weight off we are already receiving health benefits. Quite possibly the benefits will be we don’t get high blood sugar or high blood pressure. So we’re in prevention mode rather than cure mode. Possibly we would be even less at risk of developing lifestyle diseases if we fasted 2 days a week, but we’d be so damm skinny there would probably be risks associated with that!
What a great topic.
I have never been in danger of shrinking past my desired weight. I fast two days a week when I can. Didn’t over Christmas New Year.
In August 2014 I reached my desired size (vanity 😉 )
To maintain that size, I need to minimise processed carbs and sugars, to do 5:2 each week, and to get regular exercise. I have to focus on protein and green vegetables, and soups.
Cheers, Bay 🙂
Hi Carol,
That was exactly my reasoning on 5:2 vs 6:1 (yep P, thinking about your OH again…:) )
And you’re right Carol, I don’t have a current health issue for the health benefits of fasting to remain uppermost in my mind. Whereas P of course has a daily reminder of why she and OH are fasting.
Perhaps I should post a note on the fridge? Remember it’s not all about the weight!
Sorry for the joke in poor taste P… 🙁
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