The FastDay Forum

@peebles What a wonderful thread. I have feeling that diet fatigue sets in and all through this way of eating is far better than most to stick at I have also found that it very easy to cheat.
I started 5:2 after watching the MM program in 2012 and over about 7 or 8 weeks went from 9st 6lb to 8st 10lb. OK its not a huge loss but it was what I needed to loose. I then found that even if I ate on holiday I could soon use 5:2 to get rid of any gained weight. However after about a year I got complacent, I had managed to get to 8st 7lbs for my son's wedding last October but since then I have not been motivated enough to keep my weight there.

I keep thinking that I wouldn't take long to shift those extra lbs but I always end up eating that bit extra on fast days thinking that on the next one I'll be good. For example I always do a 2K swim early on a Thursday morning then have a coffee before doing a conditioning class I cant eat before I swim so that gave me a good fasting window, however the coffee comes with a biscuit and while I used to not eat it now I do. I also find myself in the nut jar during the day thinking "well they are good for me" but its still sabotage. Some how getting those two to three lbs off seems to elude me.

I agree @garnet25Also,think big part of the prob is we HAVE to eat,we are ALWAYS surrounded by food...so it isn't easy ..with cigarettes or alcohol,you can go cold turkey coz you can avoid places and situations where there's likely to be cigs/ booze
With food,it's always waving and whispering to us tantalizingly,practically everywhere we go..no wonder we succumb to temptation at times.

There are probably some additional issues that crop up for those of us who are post-menopausal, too.

When I was younger, I could maintain at my chosen weight quite easily just by going for a few weeks without bread, potatoes, and dessert. But as I approached my 50s, it got much, much harder. Some of this is the natural decrease in metabolic rate that occurs with aging.

But some of it seems to have to do with the fact that female bodies store estrogen in subcutaneous body fat (which is mostly what I have) and as natural estrogen production diminishes, the body starts to hold on to that subcutaneous fat (a.k.a. tummy fat).

This 5:2 diet seems to get rid of some of that tummy fat (not a lot, as I'm still wearing the same pants 13 lbs later). But I have noticed that a) I am getting a lot more zits than I used to and b) over the past two months, I have been hot flashing.

So it looks like losing that subcutaneous fat is dropping my estrogen and that will change my mental status. When I tried going without any estrogen supplement in the past the results were dire. I became the classic menopausal witch (and I am usually pretty easy going), and worst of all, my facility with words decreased to where I started feeling as if I was in early dementia. Since I earn my living with words, this was not trivial. Fortunately, estrogen supplementation at very low levels reversed both conditions. The dose I takes is much lower than the levels that were used in the research where estrogen supplementation led to bad outcomes.)

This tells me that if the fasting diets make us older ladies drop our estrogen level after 4 or 5 months, it probably will make some significant but possibly very subtle changes in our mood due to the lowered estrogen . Estrogen plays a huge part in brain metabolism. Loss of subcutaneous body fat may even do the same for premenopausal women, but probably in a much less noticeable manner.

I hope this does not happen to you @peebles. I find that my outlook is far more positive since losing the 29 lbs and I am nearly a year into IF and unless I am having the odd very tired day due to overdoing things I feel intellectually sharper. There must be quite a variation amongst us post-menopausal women. As for getting a bit grumpy, it happens to men too and as one ages deference decreases and one becomes more aware how much greed and stupidity rule the world!

I still have the kind of grumpiness that derives from becoming aware how much greed and stupidity rule the world, but fortunately NOT the kind that results in my snarling at the Worlds Best Husband on a regular basis. That was the really scary part of the menopause-induced mood change and had it continued, my marriage might not have.

I'm at the stage where I don't aspire to "intellectually sharper." Just maintaining what I have going now would be a huge triumph. I am doing a bit more writing of late, which is a very good sign, so perhaps I am getting some benefit there. In the past, I did my best work in January and February when I always did a month to six week-long diet to recover from the holidays.

Well just thought I'd check back in. Been 5 weeks since I started back fasting this time around and I have lost around 3kg. I am in the groove and whilst I sometimes go over my 500 cals (milk in coffees usually), I keep losing and I'm not far off my goal weight. Once I have lost the 1.8kg to get to my new goal weight, I shall start doing 1 fast @ 1000 and 2 @ 500 cals. Then I will gradually get to 3x1000 cals. I am most interested in a successful transition to maintenance, so I can no longer be one of the regainers. I am also flirting with lunch as a main meal.

3kg is a lot in 5 weeks - well persevered, @GMH. It looks like you have a good plan for handling you maintenance when you get there.

@peebles

I am interested in your mention of having problems with words - I have noticed this in myself over the last year or so, so it could be associated with my weight loss/ loss of oestrogen?? Bit of a concern. I don't want to take any supplements. I have not noticed any other change in my mental or physical well being since starting the fasting. I went thru menopause 7 years ago with only the very occasional hot flush as a symptom. I have lost a lot of weight from my hips - have lost weight everywhere in fact (no boobs left!) - the only places I have (relatively) more fat are my thighs (always had fattish legs), bottom, and some on the tummy.

Cheers!

I think the ability to instantly recall words diminishes naturally with age. Almost everyone I know has found this and when we are all trying to have an in depth, serious discussion in the pub about the issues of the day it gets rather hilarious as we lose that all important word only for it to pop into the conversation later when it makes no sense then at all as we have long since moved onto another, totally unrelated topic. I once remember being beside myself with frustration trying to remember a word and in the end I had to ask, 'what do you call those white things which you put letters into?'............'Do you mean an envelope?'....see what I mean? I no longer worry about these things but just accept that it means I am still alive and functioning...... sort of

I was going to write something else but as per usual, I've forgotten what it was I intended to say, doh! Another later life symptom ....no....I've remembered now!!!!!!....I once read a report that said that the percentage of menopausal women who consulted their G.P.s with wories about developing dementia was staggeringly high, can't remember the figure, well I wouldn't would I?, but it was all down to forgetting words etc. So, don't worry about, it just means that you are normal

Ballerina x

I once read a report that said that the percentage of menopausal women who consulted their G.P.s with wories about developing dementia was staggeringly high

There is a simple diagnosis: If you still know that you consulted your G.P., you don't have it. You would only have to worry in case you went but do not know anymore.

What a great thread, reading through this this morning motivated me to get straight back into fasting after my holiday!!

I have been kind of maintaining since last July, but my weight does bounce around quite a lot, partly because I'm self sabotaging by eating far too much sweet stuff (must try to go sugar free soon!) and partly because within about 3/4 kilos either way I don't feel super motivated to do anything about weight gain/loss as it doesn't show that much.

As someone who lost 25 kg 10 years ago I can say that for me the reason my weight goes up is that once I reach goal and am happy with myself I start allowing myself more and more treats, not conciously but somehow I seem to have this perverse need to see how much liberty I can take before I start gaining again. The reason I have never regained that much weight back and it always goes back down is constant monitoring, I have come to the conclusion that I will never be able to eat without thinking about it, that I will probably always make silly choices from time to time, that I do think of food as a reward and that probably isn't going to change, but that if I keep an eye on things I can stay roughly at the weight I want to be by being honest with myself about what I am doing.

At the beginning of weight loss I had fixed fast days, I planned my meals, I never missed fasts, but now there is always a reson why I should break a fast, and the flexible nature of fasting means that I think OK, I'll just fast tomorrow instead, but tomorrow never comes. I think for me it's about losing motivation once I don't 'need' to lose any more weight, and slowly slipping back into old habits until I manage to claw my way back.

Bal..@ballerina the lost word thing can make you look totally batty..
I got lots of strange looks in M & S recently when i barked, " photosynthesis" very loudly..earlier in the day i cdnt recall the word but obvs as i was going about my business,some part of my brain was rifling thru the files and finally located it! X

@Nicky_94, I can associate with everything you said! Sugar (chocolate) is also my downfall but I don't want to give it up, just learn how to manage its intake as all the naturally slim people I know manage to. Would write more but have to get ready to go out for a lovely 3-course lunch at a winery!!!!

@Ballerina it's not old age make you forget your words at the pub, it's that 3Rd drink @CandiceMarie the thought of all that waving, whispering food is making me check the pantry to make sure my food is behaving itself!

[quote="GMH"]@Ballerina it's not old age make you forget your words at the pub, it's that 3Rd drink

Never thought of that one

Ballerina x