Want to be my target weight by the time I hit 40! – in 6 months and 22 days

This topic contains 10 replies, has 4 voices, and was last updated by Pissupoosa 8 years, 6 months ago.

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Pissupoosa

4:52 pm
31 May 16
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So the count down to 60kg begins! 🙂
I’m not new to the diet – managed to achieve 69kg 3 years ago just before my wedding and felt better for it (much bigger change in size than weight). But I lapsed back into the snacking and constant grazing. Haven’t really managed to get back on it properly. I’m hoping the lovely 5:2’ers out there would like to give me some tips and motivation. I had a 5:2 buddy at work the last time I did it. So no digressions. This time I’m alone.
Being 5’3 and 74kg, I’m in the overweight category. This is starting to bother me now that I’m getting close to 40, specially with a family history of type 2 diabetes!

My target healthy weight is 64.7kg. So I’m aiming for a safe 60kg. I feel it’s a long way to go. I don’t want to yo-yo, but get into a fasting habit and be able to maintain my weight comfortably.
I’m generally active – gym 3-4 times a week, walking ~12000 steps/day. I’ve just got into running (try and do a 5k run/week)

My downfall is FOOD! I LOVE MY FOOD 🙂 and to top it I LOVE COOKING!
I try to eat healthy most of the time, but my portion control is pretty poor. Still, I’m more conscious of what I put in my mouth since I started the 5:2 diet for the first time. I keep a food diary (On MFP app) and an exercise diary (On Fitbit app)
This time I want to sustain it.

So here goes – My first fast day today.
Plain yoghurt, fruit with 2tbsp honey for breakfast (247 calories)
I’ve been feeling those hunger pangs! They’re hard to get used to. Found my self yawning and losing concentration (didn’t help that fact that it’s a relatively slow day)
Since breakfast I’ve had 2 mugs of roobush tea, lots of water, a diet coke for lunch and now sipping a peppermint tea.
****I have digressed with 6 raw almonds (34 calories!) though :0( ****

Plans for dinner – Steamed whole sea bream with a bean/fresh leafy salad.

Hopefully I could ditch the almonds on my second FD (thursday 2nd June).
Any tips on how to avoid this temptation – apart from drinking throughout the day?!

Anyone who want to join me with a 6 month goal for weight loss/fitness? Would love to share ideas and inspiration 🙂

HappyNow

5:59 pm
31 May 16
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You’d be better off keeping the almonds and ditching the sugar (honey) and artificial sweetener (Diet Coke). No wonder you’re hungry, spiking your blood sugar/ insulin at breakfast! Almonds are healthy, not sure why you think they are a digression but sugar isn’t?

My advice would be to avoid refined carbohydrates and added sugar the evening before and on the fast day. Concentrate on protein, healthy fats and vegetables. Make it easy, not hard!

Many fasters also avoid eating for as long as possible on a fast day. It’s easier not to uncork the hunger bottle than to have a small something then try and get the cork back in. If you need something at ‘lunchtime’, try bovril or miso.

Good luck. I won’t be joining you. I’ve been maintaining my loss (72.4kg down to 59ish) for two years now. It is doable!

K- Lo

6:51 pm
31 May 16
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Pissupoosa, HappyNow is right about the almonds v. honey. In addition, the Diet Coke and any artificial sweetener is thought to add to weight gain because your taste buds recognize “sweet” and send the same message to the brain as if you were drinking a full sugared Coke. Consider switching to Club soda/seltzer.

Check out what Dr. Jason Fung, a nephrologist specalizing in diabetes, has to say about diet sweeteners. I haven’t touched a Diet Coke since.

Today is a fast day. I’ve had miso soup and a handful of pistachio nuts so far. It’s 2 pm. I’ll have some tea and then dinner later on.

bigbooty

11:07 pm
31 May 16
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Pissup,

Have to agree with Happy and klo. Ditch the honey, its making your job REAL hard. Honey is just sugar. Keep the almonds they are your friend. I throw a handful into my yogurt for my breakfast. Read the label on the yogurt. You want high fat low sugar variety which is real hard to find on the supermarket shelves. Try and shoot for less than 5% sugar content, less the better. Diet “sweetened” drinks send the message to the brain that calories are on their way. When they don’t arrive your body goes hunting for calories. Have a good look around at people that drink diet drinks, are they thin?? There’s a good reason they’re not thin.

Avoid sugar at all costs. Avoid simple carbs like bread, pasta, pizza, potatoes they cause huge insulin spikes which means everything you eat goes to fat storage. Try and get your carbs from veggies. I have a big bowl of veggies raw. Just chop them up or grate them, throw in anything you like, the green ones are better (less sugar content). Add some apple cider vinegar and a splash of olive oil. Add some tuna or tofu and cheese. Will keep you full for hours.

Don’t be scared of good fats like cheese, butter, avocados. Avoid any grains like bread and stay away from “health” cereals they can have up to 35% sugar, they are absolute rubbish. Read food labels real close. More than 5% sugar content put it back on the shelf.

Pissupoosa

12:17 am
1 Jun 16
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Honey Vs Almonds – indeed I was losing my concentration through that argument :-p
Thank you all for the reality check, much appreciated.
Honey and diet coke were satisfying the sugar craving – hence the mid morning crash, I see that now!

So dinner was – baked whole sea bream (with a splash of soy sauce, shaoxing wine and lime juice + garlic, ginger, chilli flakes), had with borlotti bean salad (+onion, peppers, tomato, few pickled chillies, S+P to taste).

So items for my next shopping list: miso, sparkling water, almonds, avocado (love these with cottage cheese, spring-onion and tomato, with splash of soy sauce).
I already buy the high fat, low sugar yoghurt for its comparatively low sugar content.
Breakfast, tends to be yoghurt and fruit (minus honey, from now on).
I buy plain porridge oats and make it in skimmed milk – have it with fruit usually at the weekend. I used to buy Dorset cereals, but realised that most of their dried fruits are rolled in sugar, so not any more!
I use small amounts of coconut oil for cooking, while keeping EV olive oil for salads etc.

Few more questions:
– What are peoples’ experiences with smoothies? I’m thinking veg-based ones are better compared to fruit (high sugar content)?
– HappyNow (and everyone), how long did it take you to achieve your weight loss since starting the diet? I know it’s probably different for every person, but just to get an idea…

Thanks again. I shall keep posting updates as often as I can.
Over and out (for now) feeling happy about a (relatively) good start and many lessons learnt. 🙂

K- Lo

12:23 am
1 Jun 16
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I do not do smoothies. I like whole food.

Pissupoosa

12:42 am
1 Jun 16
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Fair enough K-Lo. I’m reading Jason Fung’s work – very interesting. Thanks for the info.

bigbooty

3:11 am
1 Jun 16
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I wanted one of those fancy nutri bullet blenders for our family Christmas present before Christmas. Had to be healthy right? The adds said it was. We ended up getting it and after doing some research I have NEVER used it. Any food processing that makes it easier for you to digest your food is not good. Whole food that is locked up in fibre (veggies, fruit etc) will keep you satiated for longer and will keep your insulin spikes lower which means the extracted carbs will not be going to fat storage. I just chop up my veggies and fruit and have them raw. Not for everyone I know but for me I like the crunch feel in my mouth.

I did an experiment and measured my blood glucose over a 3 hour period after eating a bowl of veggie salad and one slice of pizza. Before eating it was 4.5mmol/L (normal fasting range is 3.9 to 5.9). Bowl of veggie salad and it peaked at 6.5 thirty minutes later and took 2 hours to get back to 4.5. Later that day a slice of pizza and it peaked at 8.5 and took 3 hours to get back to 4.5.

My wife has episodes of hypoglycaemia (we don’t know why??). She was feeling faint recently and I measured her BG, it was 1.9mmol/L (very dangerous). I gave her a glass of OJ and remeasured her BG three minutes later. It had risen to 3.9mmol/L. Three minutes to get a huge blood glucose spike!! Thats how fast it enters the blood stream and spikes BG. The insulin spike will also accordingly be huge. So any carb intake will be going to fat storage.

HappyNow

7:46 am
1 Jun 16
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I’m with BB on the fruit smoothies I’m afraid. If the fruits broken down you’re just getting a sugar hit, and it doesn’t matter how many different fruits went in, it Will still only count as one portion because of the processing.

Re: my loss. I started in January 2014 (after a particularly greeedy Xmas/NY) weighing in at 72.4kg. I dropped to my goal weight (10st, 63kg) by mid April, then carried on losing while I figured out how to start maintaining. I’ve been under 60 now for two years 🙂

I must admit I totally cut out added sugar (no cake, chocolates, biscuits, etc) and pretty much stopped eating bread, pasta and rice while I was losing weight. I realised these were the things that had caused my weight gain, and I wanted a whole change of lifestyle and eating habits. I didn’t do 5:2 in order to carry on eating the cr*p that had made me fat. When I got to goal I reintroduced some of these. So I do have bread at weekends now, rice occasionally, and sometimes cake or chocolate (although my food preferences have changed as a result of giving up sugar, and I’m never tempted by shop bought mass produced confectionary or cake now – just sickly sweet and not worth the calories or insulin spike). I think I’m generally more discerning, if I’m going to have a ‘treat’ I make sure it’s a quality one!

Pissupoosa

8:35 am
1 Jun 16
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Thanks for the tips on smoothies – I have been reading about the Nutribullet etc but nothing has still fully convinced me to buy one. So I’ll save that £100 for something else 😊
BB – great experiment with the BG measurements. I’ve only checked my fasting levels and they’ve held around 4.5/4.8. Never checked post meals. As a part of my job I see oral-glucose-tolerance-test results – they paint a scary picture when you look at a person’s long term insulin sensitivity, specially if they start with mildly high fasting BG.

Reducing my sugar intake (refined or not) is the key. I crave sweet things. Though I don’t buy cakes or biscuits when I go food shopping, I take it in other ways. Thanks for the tips about cutting out processed carbs. It’s going to be tough, but I’m determined to do it.

I just figured out the whole profile thing – and have see yours HappyNow about the weight loss time line 😊 Thanks for that.
Second fast day tomorrow. Planning ahead and going to make coq-au-vin tonight from Mimi Spencer’s Fast Cooking book. Got my veg, chicken etc. Need the vino – might stick with just broth. Rarely use alcohol in cooking and neither i nor my husband drink, apart from the ritual glass of Scotch when I visit my sister in Edinburgh 😋

Pissupoosa

11:32 am
2 Jun 16
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Fast day 2

45min gym class this morning, now at work.
Blown 400 cals on breakfast already – small apple, porridge with chia seed topped with blueberries. It’ll be chicken broth with raw veg and a poached egg for dinner.

First time I’m combining my usual morning gym class with a FD – not easy, but determined to get through it.