The FastDay Forum

I thought we could all share what our goal is for this year and how we plan to achieve it, i.e. which fasting method we use!

I would like to lose approximately 20-25 lbs. It'd be nice if I could do it in 6 months, but if it takes me the whole year, I'm ok with that. I'm going to continue doing eating windows and try to get my window down to 7 hours maybe. I might consider one regular fast day as well. I also plan to continue to reduce my carbs. I need to work on drinking more water and getting my exercise in too!

[Tracieknits]

Thanks for starting this!!

I would like to lose another 25 or so. I don't want to stress about speed. I want to take the holidays off again - maybe maintain in September, October and November. That's such a hard time to lose weight, for me at least. As long as I hit December 31 still at least 20 pounds less than January 1, I will be pleased. Of course I'll take more, if that happens.

I plant to continue my modified fasting/ww hybrid. Personally, I need to track what I eat, or I overdo it. Maybe someday I can be mature enough to not have to track what I eat, but right now, I'm not.

So I have "light days" on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. I aim to have 15 points on Monday and Thursday (roughly 750 calories) and 20 on Tuesday (roughly 1000). Official weigh ins are on wednesday, and if I lost that week, I get to go out to lunch - usually Indian buffet - where I can indulge in some or all of the points I didn't eat on Monday and Tuesday. Then I aim for 30 points (normal ww day) on Friday and on the weekend, I may use some of the weeklies -- but I try not to use them, or not use many of them.

By necessity, I've reduced carbs and it sounds like I'm eating along the lines of the blood sugar diet. I just ordered the BSD cookbook and should have that in a week or two. Right now grapefruit are in season and they are great - I just had one that I peeled like an orange. I slowly ripped off the membrane and ate the segments. Yum!

[carorees]

Having started on HRT around 8 months ago to see if I could improve my sleep (only partly effective), I've been gaining weight (about 4kg [8.8lb]). I decided last week to reduce the HRT and to boost my omega-3 fats. I am now only 2.5kg (5.5lb) above goal, so my plan for 2017 is to get back to goal weight and try to find non weight-gain promoting ways of improving my sleep! I'm sticking to 16:8 low carb for now at least.

[carieoates]

I have a goal
In August I go away in a Mediterranean family holiday and would like to not feel self conscious in my bikini and shorts. I suppose I am lucky that I have the confidence to wear them in the first place but I aim to lose 14 lb by August. (31 weeks to go)
I'm low carbing, no snacking, back to no wine on a school night and 16.8
I am also going to run with my doggy in the mornings before work when it is lighter again.... need to get him up to 5km before Easter that another mini goal.
Good luck all and let's do this......

My goal is to get back within my maintenance range and stay there. I want to switch to eating window style fasting at some point, so that my eating patterns are more even from day to day, but I'll throw in fasts if/when I need to to maintain.

Also, another goal is to exercise more consistently. It sort of falls by the way side when I get busy at work. But I'm in my second year on the job now, so it's getting easier. I just joined a gym near my new place, so that's a good start. Also I'm running again, though not so much in 20sF weather. brrrr

[Debs]

All sounds like smart goals to me, I'm impressed at how thoughtful they are.
This year I want to see 55kg. When I started the BSD I wanted to see under 60kg, and I've done that successfully, and got to 57kg before the December month of madness. I'm back to 58.8kg which I am dead pleased about as it could all have gone so wrong.
So I really believe I can do it this time, a combo of BSD, the odd prolonged fast, which works for me, and occasionally fasting for a day. Oh, and the occasional blow out involving fish and chips or a clandestine jar of organic crunchy peanut butter!!

Today I weigh 80.4kgs, which is 27.8 BMI, and apparently the NHS thinks I should be no more than 72.5kgs.
As an older women, prime of life you understand, a bit extra isn't so earth-shattering as it would have been. Studies have shown it can also be deemed healthy at this stage (nice of them ).
As a goal, and I'm fairly hopeless at those as you know, 76kgs sounds a good split-the-difference to aim for this year.
Good luck to us all

I don't have a weight goal as I find scales a source of misery. Mine are:
Drink more water
Aim to fit into another third of my clothes in the wardrobe (two thirds don't fit).
Improve muscle ratio (and hopefully reduce fat mass).

The last time I lost a lot of weight, clothes were the biggest motivator for me. The joy of being able to get into a smaller pair of jeans is fabulous. And I have them in five different sizes!

Oh my goodness....where do I start??!!!

My biggest goal this year needs to be to finally get to grips with the psychology of why I use food as a comforter...and why do I continue eating that box of Maltesers/packet of hazelnut torrone until it's all gone...even though I've stopped enjoying it halfway through???

That really would be the best gift I could give myself this year.

Of course, I could set actual weight goals as well...and assuming I fully commit to it and don't fall off the wagon yet again...I would achieve them - because for me, that's the easy part. Keeping the weight off/not throwing in the towel is my problem...or at least, one of my many problems...

The main issue for me is self esteem. I've been told in the past that I get a kick out of people noticing and commenting about my weight loss (true) and that in some weird way, when the compliments stop flowing (which they inevitably do) then bizarrely and to some extent unconsciously, I put the weight back on in order to lose it again...so as to get some positive strokes in the form of compliments once more. I hasten to add that the person telling me this was a therapist....and I don't disagree with her assessment. I'm sad about it though. Sad that I need approval so badly and don't value myself enough to not put myself through it year in year out. Sad that my self-worth seems to be tied up in whether I am thin enough to be admired.

Perhaps this isn't the place to go into all my issues...but you lot are all so wise that I suppose I'm hoping someone will have some insight for me...so I can have a lightbulb moment! I really don't know how to be kind to myself. Overeating is just one way this manifests.

If I were to suddenly see the light...these would be my 2017 goals:-

1)Drop at least 3 stone by December 16th (my niece's wedding!) - it would be nice to not feel frumpy!
2)Start going to bed at night
3)Get back to reading books
4)Clear out the clutter & start being more efficient
5)Set some clear life goals & make some serious changes

Not many then...and these are just the edited highlights!

[Debs]

It sounds as though you've hit the nail on the Hazelnut. It's not weight but the thinking behind it. When you are told you are useless when you are young, you'll never amount to anything, and any number of cruel things people get told in an unguarded, or deliberate moment, you oscillate between proving them wrong and proving them right.
Did someone ever do that you I wonder? You also said that you were unhappy with where you were in your life currently. Is it any wonder you're struggling? Should your goal number 5 actually be goal number one? Without number 5 you may not be able to achieve the others.

Apologies for the amateur psychology but I'm coming from years of experience of trying to sort out my own head and a messed up childhood and coming to the realisation that the only person responsible for me is me. Maybe that's why I'm having more success now than I did, although thanks to you I did land in a large bag of Maltesers before Xmas. Just checking if they still tasted the same you understand?

I wonder for some people, including a friend of mine, whether you get to a certain age and ask yourself if this is all there is? The same drudge of work, children if you have them, relationship, if you have one. Is there anything else out there? That's probably why I broke out and started doing daft things like work abroad. I know not everyone has that luxury though.

Anyway, that's enough existential musings from me for one day. Tell me to sod off if I'm wrong!

[Tracieknits]

Pernelle @Hazelnut20 - you're completely NORMAL. I could go on some punk rant about how society made us this way, and I wouldn't be wrong. You look at pop culture and women get much of their approval for being thin, young and beautiful. When you aren't these things, you're overlooked, even when you're extremely talented and clever, in which case they might be willing to overlook your age, sometimes. You've been told all your life that these three things are extremely important to everyone else and you simply heard the message. The problem is, the message sucks.

And I can get all high and mighty about it, but I succumb too. I feel wonderful when I get compliments on my weight loss, or when someone who hasn't seen me in 4 or 5 years freaks out at seeing ~70lb smaller Tracie (happened a few weeks ago and was marvelous for my ego). I have to catch myself and remind myself what is important. My intelligence, kindness and generosity are far more important than my weight, the number of grey hairs or wrinkles that I have (or don't have). Yet I find myself getting overly proud of my skin or when someone thinks I'm 40 etc. I have to stop and remind myself what's important and what's temporary.

We all have found ourselves mindlessly eating (I saw malteasers in the store yesterday and thought of you!). We may have different poisons, but we all do it. You don't get heavy enough to join a weight loss forum without completely understanding mindless eating. We all get it. We've all done it way too much.

So the resolution I made quite a while ago that I need to work on nearly every day is to remember what's important and what isn't important. Yes, losing weight *is* important. Why am I losing weight? Well I love being able to fit in airplane seats better. I love that my world seems to have opened up and gotten larger as I have gotten smaller. I love that when we had our photo session, I was climbing stairs and hills and more stairs in Montmartre with a 25 year old photographer and I was having no trouble at all keeping up. I love that I'm going to be around a lot longer for my son. Sure, looking good is nice, but these things are far more important. I would love to be Carmen Dell'Orofice, but let's be real: very few women age *that* well.

But do I freakin love it when someone calls me skinny? You bet I do.

Ooh no, @debs - I would never say that to you! I really appreciate your input and wisdom on the subject. All insights gratefully received!!

I honestly think that the key to all of this weight business is for me to know myself better. I've wasted many years believing that I am useless and un-worthy...and have fitted the evidence to my "script" and used food as a weapon against myself. I'm 54 now and it high time I turned things around...so please don't hesitate to contribute further if you have any spare time to do so as I would be really grateful.

It appears I learn best through discussion...somehow I just can't do the thinking for myself/on my own.

Whilst here, I must say how much I enjoyed reading about your adventures! Also, aren't mountain weasels cute? Bet you were totally thrilled to actually see snow leopards....

Hope your day is going well. You wouldn't like it here in Somerset right now! Incessant rain today...and the possibility of snow perhaps - depending on who you listen to...

Just had to nip off and Wiki Carmen @tracieknits...so I knew who you were talking about! Of course, her face was familiar...but I didn't know the name.

Thanks so much for your post. Not only was it a very helpful perspective but it also helped to put things into perspective too. As I said in my reply to Debs above...all insights gratefully received.

Just re-read your post...and I have a question for you. What method do you use to remind yourself each day about what's truly important? Are we talking mindfulness here? That's something I've dabbled in before. I can see the wisdom of it...but I don't remotely prioritise it. It's the same as meaning to practice gratitude on a daily basis...count the old blessings if you will. A great principle...but not one I currently subscribe or commit to...

[Tracieknits]

Yes Pernelle @Hazelnut20 - all of the above, actually. And it's quite a practice, as in practice, practice practice and practice some more. Like music, or medicine, you can practice for years until you are comfortable with it, and then you need to keep practicing daily. It's been four years now that I've been working on it and am just starting to feel, in the past 12 months, a bit more confident about it all.

The books by Dr. Amanda Sainsbury-Salis helped a lot with working on mindfulness toward eating, as have the French Women Don't Get Fat books. It's important to be mindful about your appetite, mindful about what you eat and mindful about when you're full. But it's equally important to enjoy treats mindfully. Don't allow yourself to scarf things down without tasting them. When you take the time to savor a treat, you really enjoy it and are satisfied with less. For example, Bruce and I have a habit of making decaf espresso and getting a cookie (or two small macarons, or a small piece of chocolate) - something around 150 calories/3 weight watchers points. We sit at the table, put the treat on a plate and mindfully enjoy it. And it's enough. In the past, we'd mindlessless scarf down 1000 calories of cheesecake and look around for chocolate five minutes later.

Now it also helps to have symbols and reminders. I decided to choose the Eiffel Tower as my reminder "hey, slow down, you move too fast! you've got to make the morning last" (sorry, Simon & Garfunkel popped into my head there). I decided to use it as a reminder symbol for two reasons: 1 it's super easy to get Eiffel Tower crap everywhere. I have a 2ft tall Eiffel Tower on a shelf in my kitchen. I'm drinking hot black tea with no sugar or cream out of an ET mug. I have an ET keychain on my wallet and an ET imprinted on my purse (Longchamps with the huge ET on it). 2) it's a symbol that has a strong emotional impact for me because I can remember clearly how I felt when I saw it in person for the first time. I had just lost 35 pounds due to my thyroid being way too fast, so I felt great physically (sadly I gained much of it back as soon as the medicine calmed my thyroid down). I had a new sense of freedom, being able to travel with my family and do things that had previously been frankly, too much to even dream for.

So pick a symbol and infuse it with intention. Make it mean to you what your ideal you will be, what your ideal life will be like. Make it something that makes you feel happy. For Moogie, that might be her cats. For Debs, it might be a bird. Something generic enough that you can find and place around you for reminders. For me, I see the ET as symbolizing being free and energetic and healthy enough to pick up and travel to a faraway place and explore with no worries about fitting into luggage, fitting into tight spaces, fitting into clothes at the new place if the airline loses my luggage (that happened to Bruce in China - they lost his luggage and he couldn't find any fat men's clothes in stores. He was stuck for about 36 hours with just the clothes on his back.) I practiced infusing the ET with my memory of how happy I was that now seeing it anywhere just makes me so happy.

You could also get a fitbit or other wristband pedometer. In addition to helping remind you to just get up and move a little more each day, you could use it to try to remember "ah yes, mindfulness".

Finally, I know this is not a popular suggestion on this board, but I have been finding my weight watchers meetings to be incredibly helpful in this area. I have a wonderful leader for meetings and that meeting every wednesday is super helpful for me. Mindfulness is a frequent topic. And I truly believe that combining 5:2 or BSD/5:2 with weight watchers is helping me have far more success than most of the people at my ww meeting. And I am enjoying tracking the points and I think it helps me be more mindful and make more appropriate decisions. I don't 100% agree with how WW values fat, so I sometimes don't track my points quite correctly in their eyes when it comes to something fat. But I really like how they value carbs and sugar -- those are quite expensive, pointswise, making them pretty strongly discouraged.

Hope this helps!!!! And it does help me too, writing this all out. I'll probably be much better behaved during my day today and my weekend this weekend because I spent a few minutes typing this out. So thank you for the wonderful reminder in mindfulness. Even after working on this since 2013 (OMG This forum has been here since 2013!!) it's still a work in progress. I'm much better at it than I used to be, but as I noticed in November and December, it's soooooooo easy to just slip back into old bad habits. After all, I did practice those for a lot longer than I practiced mindfulness.

Ok...wth is a malteaser???