The FastDay Forum

It is still New Year's Eve here in the U.S., but I've started thinking about the New Year already. I have definitely indulged way too much the past month or so and am quite ready to get back on track. I really have to get serious this time and stick to my plan!

How is everyone else doing and have you started thinking about what you want to do for the New Year?

Happy New Year @cblasz and everyone!

It is the New Year here, and we are having a rather late start after a very late night (for us!). We celebrated the end of the year/ beginning of the new one with neighbours with a (sort of) progressive dinner - great just being able to walk between venues!

I too have indulged over the Christmas period, and we still have plenty of festive food in the house - I had hoped to "get rid of" some of it with last night celebrations, but almost the opposite happened and I have ended up with more food... Although I know that just because it is here I don't have to eat it, I can't bring myself to throw it away...

I have given serious thought to going back to 5:2 for a while - despite all I have said in the (recent) past about the challenges of fasting for me...

As for other plans / resolutions for the New Year - nothing particularly new at this stage...

Best wishes to all for a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year.

Good luck if you do 5:2 again @Sassy1 - it certainly seems to work for a lot of people! I am contemplating fasting just one day, but I'm not even sure about that.

Here is my plan. It is similar to what I've been doing, but I need to stick to it more strictly, especially on weekends!! I've even decided to give up my chocolate croissant before my Saturday class, but I will still have my chai.

1) Eating windows - between 12-8, M-F.
2) NO SWEETS - 7 days a week. There are a few exceptions - chai latte on Saturday mornings and maybe one night during the week (when preparing for my class), small portion of dark chocolate, the occasional Yasso frozen yogurt bar if I need something.
3) Carbs under 100g.
4) Drink lots of water/tea.
5) Exercise - try for 10,000 steps a day and then an hour of "real" exercise on the weekends and at least one night during the week.

I am going to ease back into it a bit this week and next week I'm planning to go really low on carbs, just to see if I can lose some of this holiday weight! After that I will try to keep my carbs a bit lower (maybe around 75).

I need to really stick to all of these things to see if they will actually work. And if not, then I can make some changes! My goal is to lose about 25 lbs. this year. That should be pretty doable over the course of the year, but of course sooner would be better!!

Would love to hear other people's plans or any input on mine!

Happy and Healthy 2018!

[carieoates]

Happy new year. Let’s hope we get an influx of new IF’ers real soon

Hi all

It’s been a while since I was at goal weight but the past couple of years has seen me gain 2.5 stone, which I’m trying to lose gradually in 2018.

I followed 16:8 many years ago (although I didn’t know that’s what it was back then!). I can take or leave breakfast in the morning so thought it would be worth a bash. I have a 12-8 eating window.

Like most dieters I’ve been on lots of different diets with some success when I stick to the plan. However I find them too restrictive or boring and fall off the wagon. A few weeks or months later I try again. This plan has worked well before and I can eat pretty well on lunches and dinners with a snack thrown in before 8 pm so fingers crossed.

Good luck to everyone with their goals.

I have given serious thought to going back to 5:2 for a while - despite all I have said in the (recent) past about the challenges of fasting for me...

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I'm the same. I find proper fasting quite difficult but I know it works for me. I realised once I started to avoid filling in the progress tracker that I was on a slippery slope. I had also difficulties getting onto the website but no more excuses. I used to say if weight gain is quite recent it shouldn't take long to go but I've turned 50 last year so my hormones are probably not helping.

Dear Wendy @wmr309

We do seem to have a few things in common when it comes to weight management! I recall this from our various exchanges over the years.

Have you thought about why you "let" yourself eat more than you needed over the last year? And what you could do to not let this happen in future? (Assuming you don't want to use 5:2 as a permanent antidote to overeating...)

I am hoping that if I can stick with 5:2 for a while I can shift a bit of the regain around my tummy, hips and thighs, so that I feel more comfortable and maybe can fit into the smaller clothes that I bought (though I don't expect I will be able to reach the low weight I had somehow managed to achieve first time round, neither do I need to).

But this doesn't directly help me with my main eating challenge, which as regular forum readers would know is snacking in the evening. Of course, I hope that if I can manage fast days, then I will feel motivated to not overeat on other days - that I won't want to undo the benefits, especially after enduring such discomfort But that psychology does not always work...

As you may know, I don't and won't weigh myself anymore, but I have to admit that keeping track of one's weight does help many people. Intuitive eating is difficult. And using clothes as a guide does not generally work so well...

Anyway... Very best wishes for your return to 5:2.

Btw Wednesdays and Saturdays will be my usual fast days.

Have you thought about why you "let" yourself eat more than you needed over the last year? And what you could do to not let this happen in future? (Assuming you don't want to use 5:2 as a permanent antidote to overeating...)

It's an interesting question. I was quite good at maintaining by doing one fast a week but over the last 12-18 months these fasting days were not like the fasting days I did during the first two years, so a few extra calories here and there, and the light days were not as light as they were in 2014-15.

I've always liked snacks in between meals; a piece of fruit, some almonds, muesli bar, pieces of dark chocolate, crackers with dips, cheese, etc. By themselves not too much in calories but over the last month I would pack several of them in my bag to take to work and they'd all be gone by the end of the day. Early on in my 5:2 days I would decline any cake or biscuits at work but not these last 12-18 months. Snacking in the evening has not been a problem for me but even that became more of a habit.

I need daily weighing and the tracker to keep me in line but I even stopped filling in the latter. @Sassy1, do you think weighing would help you with shifting some weight, just as an extra/temporary incentive? If I had to rely on my clothes alone I wouldn't have picked the initial extra 2kg I gained (the extra 4kg I definitely notice).

Here is my 2018 plan: I'll be fasting the first day of the working week (usually Monday, except for public holidays) and my regular day off (Thursday). I'll continue with weight training at the gym on Tuesday and Thursday, and have a personal training session on Saturdays. I already walk the dog most mornings for about 3km and I cycle to work. Although that sounds sufficient I think I need to add some more cardio to my gym sessions. I'd been running with the dog about twice a week but one of my knees had started to swell after each run so I gave that up but I will slowly re-introduce that on a thread mill at the gym.

One trick that works for me in not snacking at night is to brush my teeth after dinner as wine and cheese don't mix with toothpaste. I only need a small disincentive not to pour another glass so this tends to work for me.

A pity that you're not fasting on the same days as I always find the forum to be of great help. Thankfully, a few of my colleagues want to get back to 5:2 again so it helps when you're not the only one 'trying to be good'.

It's good to be back

Hi again @wmr309, thanks for your thoughts and suggestions.

Apologies for taking a little while to reply...

My comment about our situations being similar doesn't apply to snacking! I can go all day most days without snacking, but come the evening... And sweet things are more my downfall. I do clean my teeth after dinner, but that doesn't stop me enjoying cheese, fruit or chocolates...

Although I could try to brace myself for the shock of what the scales are going to say, I am worried that seeing the number might be a disincentive. I perhaps need scales that don't show the weight but just show the change from the previous weigh in!! But even with scales, changes of up to 2kg may not mean fat gain or loss.

Whatever, I have been convinced by the arguments presented by Kate Horwood for not weighing and so don't want to start again. I know the issues I have to address, I just have to keep searching for ways to help that I can stick to most of the time!!

There is a bit more activity in the forum over the last couple of days, so hopefully we might all have company on whatever days we choose to fast. I won't be fasting on Saturdays for a while due to having visitors and also being away from home, so will see about finding another day in the week... Maybe!!

Good luck and best wishes with your strategies! (And it is good to have you back too, although I know you would rather the reason was different!!)