The Maintenance Chatbox… come and share your success with us!

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The Maintenance Chatbox… come and share your success with us!

This topic contains 11,627 replies, has 174 voices, and was last updated by  hermajtomomi 6 months ago.

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  • I’ve just written a huge long post which has disappeared into the ether for no apparent reason. Cannot face rewriting it all, but the important stuff was: hooray and congrats, Carolann, and welcome back and lots of encouragement, Jujum. Will try again later with the rest!

    …as I was saying, before the Internet betrayed me….

    I hope you’ve all had a good weekend. I spent a great deal of mine, plus some of this morning, clearing out the attic. (Took my mind off fasting, which my body doesn’t want to do today, for some reason it’s not telling me. ) We’ve never had an accessible attic before, but this one is walk-in from the bedroom; combined with a major house downsize, followed by a major body downsize I hadn’t entirely learned to trust, it was becoming a bit of a fire risk.. Friends, I have just taken to the charity shop all shoes with heels over 2″ (feet will no longer co-operate) and everything above a size 10 (several bags full)!!! I have kept 8s and 10s, but there were fewer of them, and half a dozen large plastic boxes of clothes (in, M, L, XL and XXL) are now just two – all M, and the S ones are in my wardrobe or on my back

    I hope I shan’t regret it – please reassure me! But I do feel very much lighter, in every sense! I unfolded one or two of the much bigger items before packing them: on reflection I should have kept just one pair of trousers for wobbly days – they’d definitely be enough to keep me vigilant!

    If this comes across as a boast,- sorry! It’s actually a whoop of joy that I finally trust the new body to stick around. I guess it is a bit of a boast, as well – it’s been hard work to get to this stage! – but it’s also intended as encouragement for anyone feeling down this morning (which may be me next week, so you can return the compliment then.). This is what IF can do, and we all know we can do it – and make it last! At last I really believe it (I think!)

    You are not boasting at all – you are just celebrating your new body and the fact that you have a choice.

    You did the ABSOLUTELY RIGHT THING. A good clear out makes me feel so much lighter and better. It is almost a spiritual exercise. Only a few times have I regretted throwing things out and they were mainly sentimental teddy bears (children and ex husbands). (My son still goes on and on about it.) I think I suffer from clutter or wardrobe claustrophobia ;-).

    You have proven that you can maintain and enjoy your new you. As you said last week, the reason you got overweight was because you were too busy, stopped weighing and didn’t do enough exercise. I think you have changed your whole life style and you also now know that you are powerless. A couple of fast days and a bit of mindful eating will set you right again. I really don’t think you will go back to your old ways.

    You said you were giving it to charity, so should you regret your enthusiasm, then I am sure the charity shop will be happy to see you buying their items too. WELL DONE

    Oh and I forgot to say, what a motivation not to put on any weight. After all you would have no clothes to go out… 🙂

    That would empty the town centre, Lichtle – ‘don’t go out: there’s a giant burst balloon blowing round town…’

    Not probing or anything, but you didn’t make it clear which you (and you son) regretted throwing out: husband, or teddy? I’m guessing it was the teddy! If it was the right thing to do, congratulations on your courage, on both counts!

    Lichtle – just re-read, and think I’ve got it: teddy bears belonged to children and ex, not ex being thrown out. Sorry! But I hope that however painful it was at the time, it was ultimately a good decision. X

    FFS, congratulations on the clear out. No going back now… in case you were tempted to 🙂

    Not tempted to go back, Happy. But severely tempted to a large cheese sandwich / lump of heavy fruit cake today – fasting has been really hard. Fortunately I do know giving in to that sort of temptation and ‘not going back’ are mutually exclusive, so here I sit – still fantasising but properly fasted, and not about to mess up and have to do it all again tomorrow ( or go to the MS shop and beg for my stuff back!)

    Are you ok?

    FFS, ha ha you made me laugh so much re your confusion what/who it was that I decluttered. But I am not in the habit of throwing out husbands. I never owned up to the terrible deed thogh, claiming that his bear was probably stored in a box in the attic due to lack of space.

    Said teddy bears were in terrible conditions. One was so thread bare that every time I tried to mend it another hole opened up. The stuffing just popped out everywhere and the fabric had no strength at all.

    TBH I can’t really remember throwing out son’s teddy. I know that I was thinking about it as it’s living conditions in teenager bedroom were decidedly uncaring. My life seems to be a constant sorting of belongings in order to make room for living and the attic is a good test if things are missed. If the “stored” items are not missed after a year or two they get thrown out. I actually put dates on boxes to tell me when time of grace is over. 🙂

    Well I didn’t fast today in the end, for a number of reasons I won’t bore you with. Although interminable winter isn’t helping! It’s poured with rain and blown a gale today, not conducive to outdoor exercise. And so cold again, I got hot aches this afternoon while cleaning the hens out 🙁

    I have to pull my finger out and commit to a fast though, possibly Wednesday this week as I have a busy day at work so won’t have a chance to think about food!

    I have a teddy (wartime, suspect black market) just like that. He is still in the attic!

    So glad it wasn’t your husband – sorry about misunderstanding!

    Hope the hot aches don’t last, H – horrible feeling for a horrible day. Hot bath whisky and hot water bottle? Hope the hens were grateful.

    Well FFS, I thought ‘sentimental teddy bears’ might be Lichtle’s pet name for son and ex… So you weren’t alone!

    I have two bears in the corner of the bedroom. I have a problem with putting them in a wardrobe or attic…they look at me accusingly…I’ve seen those horror films with frightening dolls, I’m not taking any chances!

    Were the hens grateful…? Hmmm, no. You would think the rain was my fault from the amount of chuntering and moaning!

    And I’m nice and toasty again now thanks, sat by the wood burner listening to the wind howling.

    Rupert bear was shedding stuffing everywhere, H. He is wearing a very fetching babygrow to keep his insides in, and wrapped in a swaddling blanket in a very cosy box. I owe him that: I have a very clear memory of staggering from one parent to the other as they threw him back and forth between them in my early walking days – and then he did duty being squeezed through a plastic pelvis when I started a/n teaching, until I got a more appropriate doll (who is now lucked up with him. ) I don’t go in there too often – they deserve some privacy in their old age…

    Wind is howling here, too (just north of Bristol). Sounds like a wolf pack! Ditto wood burner – aren’t they a blessing?! Mourning lack of hens, though. Glad you’re feeling better.

    Hi Fast

    CONGRATULATIONS 🙄 well done, fantastico, and every other cyber HUGS you need. You have done a fabulous thing in de cluttering your wardrobe. Believe in yourself. If you cannot cheer and boast on the Maintenance thread, where can you?

    How wonderful for you to reach a lightness of being. All of us have a certain pinch ourselves mentality. Look at how Happy thinks her body is flab etc. I look at my body and see some fat and some little flab. However the clothes size and the tape measure do not lie. I have shrunk through the sugar free challenge, even though my weight hovers on the 60kg maintenance weight. 😉

    I began this WOL on 25 January 2014. I gave away the size 16 clothes within 3 months. Then I gave away the Summer size 14 clothes after six months. And last week I gave away the last of the size 14 Winter clothes. I tried them on and they look like another person could wear them with me. I held on to them for lots of reasons, but really I now have the belief that I won’t need them this coming Winter.

    Go, Fast, go. You won’t regret it.
    Cheers, Bay 🙂

    Thanks, Bay. You’re clearly much braver, much sooner, than I am. But it’s done now. And yes, isn’t it wonderful to realise that you could now fit 2 people in what you used to have to wear?! Many congratulations on the sugar-free success, and the maintenance weight. X

    Squeezed through a plastic pelvis! He has certainly earned some privacy and dignity in his old age!

    Well,done FFS, a brave move throwing everything away but am sure you will NEVER need those clothes again! Lichtle is right, throwing away unwanted, unused items is leaning. Love the idea of dating the boxes Lichtle. I have the same rule – not used for 12 months, throw it out. There were a few items of clothes I couldn’t part with be use I loved and now I’m so pleased because I can fit into them again!
    And tomorrow is another day for fasting Happy, when you feel better able to cope with it. There’s always the down days and ungrateful hens lol! Can’t really imagine your weather as we are having perfect autumnal mid twenties days here. My favourite months of the year, March and April. Happy fasting everyone!

    ‘Cleansing’ not ‘learning’ agh!

    Hi Bay,

    I was looking at clothes again this weekend. I checked size guides. I measured myself. I checked size guides. Yep, size 8! Funny how long it takes to believe it though!

    I do have a frustration/annoyance. The catalogue that I used to buy a lot of staples from has changed it’s sizing. Most clothes are now 6-8 10-12 14-16 etc. Great. Thanks. Perfect. I want 8 or 8-10! Gain weight, lose weight? Shop elsewhere!

    Think I use that one, too, H. I’ve been through that gripe but am now back in synch with their sizes. My current gripe is that they don’t do a longer length in my current size – just because I’ve lost weight doesn’t mean my legs have grown shorter! (And no, I’m not built like Barbie – just short-waisted, so my legs are long in proportion. I’m tall when standing, diddy when sitting!)

    I agree with Happy and FFS, fasting today was unusually difficult for a Monday. I had a banana and an apple at three o’clock and then some left over chicken pieces and a huge plate of vegetables. But alas I am hungry now and need to go to bed quickly.

    A few years ago I cycled to work the long way, 15 miles instead of the more direct 3 miles, and lost so much weight I had to buy a new set of clothes, mainly trousers, shirts and coats. Unfortunately I then changed job, drove to work and put all the weight back on. So now I’m hopefully going to lose enough weight to be able to put them on again. They have been in the wardrobe for the last 9 years, though whether they will still be in fashion I don’t know.

    Hi Graham,

    ‘Hopefully’? No, think ‘definitely’ going to get back into them, fashionable or not!

    I had a few years of commuting to work, like you 3 miles, and I used to do a circuitous route home to clock up at least 10 miles a day. Serious cyclists told me it wasn’t far enough to do any good. Perhaps not, if you’re training for the Tour of Britain! But it definitely all helps. Sadly my office base is about 35 miles now and, while I can cycle that far, it’s not really practical!

    Don’t throw those clothes out Graham, you’ll get back into them on 5:2!

    Hi Carol,

    I’m definitely fasting today, no excuses! The trouble is is it’s a work day so there’s the, not boredom factor precisely, but perhaps more the urge to eat to break up the day/ avoid doing things that make my head hurt.

    Re: March and April. I’m not particularly impressed with March this year, fingers crossed for April!

    It’s not raining today…yet. But really windy and only 4 degrees 🙁 Not running weather, and not tempting for a walk (unless you like being buffeted by the wind and dodging flying things!)

    Hi Happy

    Size 8 WOW. 🙄 what an achievement.

    Cheers, Bay 🙂

    Understand completely about work Happy. I often used food also to help break up the day, relieve the monotony a bit! But size 8, you have nothing to worry about!

    Think of it this way, Happy: at least on a work day you don’t have instant access to the fridge. But beware the dreaded biscuit tin…

    Hi Carol,

    Only nothing to worry about so long as I don’t take my eye off the ball! Maintenance is definitely easier when the weather’s good and the days are long, trouble is it’s still winter here…

    Anyway, after yesterday’s frankly pathetic and half-hearted attempt to restrict calories, I can report that today I am successfully fasting 🙂

    FFS, I work at home! I’m better off going to an office, because the biscuit tin holds few temptations… 🙂

    Oh dear, Happy – worst of all worlds! I’ve been there; worst stage was when DH retired (the first time) 10 years before me, and took to making coffee every hour, on the hour. Every cup came with a biscuit, and the unspoken subtext:’now that I’ve been so kind, please stop whatever you’re doing and talk to me while you drink it ‘ negotiations ensued!

    I hope that at least you don’t work in your Jim jams!

    Hi FFS,

    I do get dressed, but not office smart! I must admit I don’t always remember to brush my hair…until there’s a knock at the door. Poor postman, he’s probably seen worse though!

    Well done Happy, for a succesful fast. Some days just seem to work better than others. I find it easier to fast at work, no cookie jar where I work 🙂 I guess we have different mental association with home/work. When I am at home my mind thinks relaxation and reward for a day’s or week’s work. . Not sure how my fasting routine will pan out when I retire.

    It’s a funny thing Lichtle, because in some ways I would find it easier to fast at the weekend when I’m on the go and busy rather than in the week when I’m sat around busy working. The only problem being it’s the weekend! And I do like a glass of wine…and a bacon virtue (this is what my phone corrects ‘buttie’ to would you believe 🙂 ) So I’m thinking when I retire (in 21 years time 🙁 ) fitting in fasts shouldn’t be any harder than it is now, as I can do my weekend virtue and wine any day and fast any day.

    Ha ha ha bacon virtue… any day of the week… Be careful not to become too virtuous 🙂

    I suppose I need not fret – the busiest people on this planet are retired people. Ask any retired friend for supper and the earliest date they can give you is in a few weeks’ time.

    So I imagine I will be too busy to stop and eat. 🙂 once I am in the full swing of retirement in 13 years time. May I just add that this is not a statement of my younger years but how much the pension age has been raised. We probabbly have to work until 90 in which case I won’t have to deal with this problem for another 36 years if at all.

    Indeed Lichtle, I’m not wishing my life away or bragging about being young either! But with pensionable age these days, it does start to feel a little like approaching the edge of the universe – likely to just keep expanding away from you.

    Unlike weight, with IF! Yesterday’s fast has dropped me nicely off my upper limit. I will continue today with at least a semi-fast. Although I’m unlikely to have an Easter egg at the weekend, I may be tempted by (a) hot cross bun(s)…

    Hi All,

    Simcoeluv posted a link on another thread to a very interesting article about fasting. My phone is letting me copy the link but only paste it as text….

    http://charleycropley.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/FASTING-ART-Harpers.pdf

    Worth copying and pasting into your browser though. Or perhaps if Simco is reading (thank you for posting this!), he might be kind enough to post the hyperlink here…

    Oh very funny phone! I see what you’ve done to spite me… 🙂

    Thank you for copying the link of which I have only read the first few case studies. I love to read personal experiences, which is what we share here on the forum.

    It reminds me of the kindle book “The No Breakfast Plan” http://www.amazon.co.uk/No-Breakfast-Plan-Fasting-Cure-ebook/dp/B004TQM0Y0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1427887052&sr=8-1&keywords=the+no+breakfast+plan.

    The small book is around 200 years old and whilst written in an antiquated style (obviously), it is written by a medical doctor who observed that VERY sick people, who didn’t want to eat but were forced to, because the knowledge at the time was that food was necessary for healing and for whom the conventional method’s at the time were exhausted, would get better on an extended fast. He maintained that the body needs time to rest and use all it’s energy to healing and not digesting and that eating would only be resumed once the patient becomes hungry or attains an appetite and asks for food.

    The doctor thought fasting was only for the sick but as he himself had a lifelong gastric problem he experimented on leaving out breakfast and start eating at lunch time and then another meal in the evening and his problems disappeared and he lost weight. He even experimented with farm labourers who also felt better in the morning whilst doing their physically demanding work.

    I stumbled across this little gem after the Horizon programme, when starting 5:2 and looking for some literature to encourage me. Michael Moseley’s and subsequent books on intermittent fasting had not yet been published. If you have an e-reader, it is definitely worth downloading.

    And it’s free!! Thanks, Lichtle – that takes care of this evening…2 books I should be reading for book groups, but they’ll wait…oh, and just noticed ‘The Truth about Fat’ (follow up to ‘The Truth about Sugar’ on BBC1 at 9. Looks like a sofa evening – better get to the gym this afternoon, then. What was that someone was saying about retirement and busyness?

    Thanks FFS for the info on the programme tonight. I will try and watch it with entertainment rather than education in mind. 🙂

    In my customary lunch time walk, I walked to a bookshop in town and almost bought a book on sugar detox because it said that sugar ages our skin and causes wrinkles. It didn’t cite any studies so I don’t know how accurate this is. Since this seemed to be the only information in the book new to me (whilst skimming through) I left it and thought I might research on the internet if I can find any studies.

    3 1/2 days left until Easter. Whilst I look forward to it, it is definitely my aim to keep doing what we have done in the last six/seven weeks – maybe allowing the occasional second day of sugar.

    Lichtle – this stupid old woman is a day ahead of herself – the TV prog is tomorrow, not tonight. Sorry!

    I have read that sugar ages the skin – but I can’t quote research studies etc. apparently it breaks down the collagen structures which support skin and keep it plump and youthful. Another reason to avoid it – beside obesity, diabetes and dementia!

    You’ve achieved so much in the last 6 weeks! Yes, a little relaxation will be welcome, but no return to our old ways…

    Hi Lichtle,

    Thanks for the link, looks interesting. I’ve downloaded it, but low on charge so it will have to wait until tomorrow now. Probably just as well as it’s too easy to stay awake far too late reading in bed with a kindle!

    Hi Happy

    Thanks for the Simco link. I have forwarded the info to my relatives. It’s a wonderful way to read the story of research into fasting in the Western World. 😉

    Hope everyone has an enjoyable Easter.

    Cheers, Bay 🙂

    My goodness, Happy, what a fascinating article. I particularly liked the part where the Guinness Book of Records removed the longest faster, but retains the heaviest weight dangled from a swallowed sword! We are all part of the latest experiment, and let’s hope that the results and evidence don’t get silenced, especially by the pharmaceutical and weight-loss industries.

    I will look at the other book link at home with my e-reader over the weekend, thanks Lichtle.

    Hi
    Too busy being granny to read or post, but thinking about the sugar free girls…3 more sleeps!!!! P 🙂

    Having read the link from Happy/Simcoluv it is extraordinary how we seem to fight and deny the studies/proofs/benefits of fasting. I have to hang my head in shame that for years I was one of them until I watched the Horizon programme and I started 5:2.

    My SIL has been a qualified (whatever that means) fasting instructor for many years, who leads a few one week fasting retreats per year in Germany (where it is much more popular) and guides groups of up to 10 people mentally and physically (yes enemas are part of it 🙁 ) with vegetable broths etc. They go for walks spend their evenings with creative work etc.

    I honestly thought she was endangering people’s lives. especially when she gifted a week’s fasting to my then 70+ parents, both slim and mother always of delicate and frail health. I was livid at the time especially as my mother always “needed” 6 (small) meals a day but felt she couldn’t decline “the birthday present” of her DIL. They reported afterwards of sneaking out to the nearest village and enjoy a naughty treat.

    What always puzzled me was that she has been overweight for many years. She is a real foodie and organises healthy vegetarian cooking courses and always comments on her own weight. I have asked her in the past if she participates in her fasting retreats and she admitted that she doesn’t always. I can only surmise that as she only leads these retreats approximately three to four times a year that she re-gains the weight within a few weeks again. I was surprised how quickly some of the people in the report re-gained their weight again.

    Whilst I view fasting differently now, I still think 5:2 is the only way that is sustainable. I don’t think we would have the guts and strength to keep doing extended fasts (several a year) for the rest of our lives.

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