The FastDay Forum

Hello buddies,

sorry I haven't been around. Haven't been feeling very keen to focus on weight loss. Just eating what I want and gaining of course. I haven't stepped on the scale for over a week. I may try to fast on Friday again. I didn't fast last Friday.

I finally have my new car!! it is wonderful, small, easy to drive, great brakes and snow tires. The engine is quite loud but I will get used to it. I haven't been very nervous driving it which is a huge deal as I was dreading it would be. The nerve wracking problem is dealing with my friend who has loaned me the money for the car. He made a big deal of writing up a contract and discussing payment plans. I don't think he trusts me and is only doing this at the urging of his wife. He makes me feel small and undeserving and ashamed for having to ask them for money. Why can't it just be simple? $4000 is not a lot of money to them and I will have it paid in less than two years. What is the big deal to him? Anyway, enough on that. I'm just so happy to have a car again!

Ieramul I am impressed with your determination. Keeping a journal will, I'm sure, keep you on the right track. Journaling always helps me if I am honest with myself. I haven't done it in some time. Good luck staying away from sweets! I know you can do it!

Good to see you coffee and glad to hear you are maintaining!

Back to knitting, I'm on my 4rth and I liked the third one I knit so much I am now using it every time I go out. I don't know who I'll give this next one to .

Take care ladies!

Hi Buddies
Sorry to hear you are finding fasting difficult, too at the moment.
I am so happy you have finally got a new car and that you are mobile again. Don't worry about your sister's partner - I don't think he means to belittle you. Some people are just very fearful about money and it doesn't matter if they have lots of it or not. For them it is a comfort blanket, a security which they don't want to lose. This poverty fear/attitude is by and large instilled by our parents as mine did when I was young. Everything revolved around not having any money and how to save money. I confronted this issue when I was in my thirties and now believe that you can't "buy" yourself security. Anyway, Steph, don't take it personally. How other people treat us is a statement of themselves than ourselves.

I tried to fast yesterday and was OK until about 11pm when I pulled out the mixed nuts bag and had a couple of handful of this high calorie food. So I probably ate about 800 calories. If I manage another "low" day of 700-800 calories tomorrow will have done three "low" days and should be not too disappointed. However, next week I want to get into a proper routine of fasting two days a week and stop getting sucked into three medium days.

This weekend we are going to visit my FIL. I have spent time to research self catering flats in our area, but I now get the distinct feeling that he might not want to move into such small senior residence home. They are absolutely minute. I looked at a bedsit which was about 25m² and the one bedroom flat was about 35m². In order to move into such a place you have to basically pack your suitcase with clothes, a box full of sentimentals like photos any paperwork and a couple of cups and plates and that is it. It is like going on holiday and not coming back.
Well we will see if he wants to move or not, if it was me I would rather stay in my own home until I can't look after myself anymore.
Take care BIG HUG

Hello ladies, sorry for the long silence. You must have thought I'd abandoned you! I haven't been doing so well. Eating all junk food for days on end. Sundays are my best days because that is when Adam and I make dinner together. That day I actually eat an evening meal instead of just eating chips and chocolate. Today I've done well, ate a salad, a ham sandwich and some grapes for lunch. I've resisted chocolate while I was out shopping this morning and now I must go out again and I will be passing a store that has the best hazelnut chocolate in town. I MUST resist. If I do it will be the first day in weeks where I haven't eaten any sweets or chips. You'd think it would be easy to do, not so, sadly . I plan on making a tofu and veggie stir fry for supper. Adam is going to buy himself a sub for his dinner so I will just cook for me when usually I just cook for Adam and eat crazy foods myself. And I wonder where Adam gets his junk food habits!! I have been a poor parent in that regard. So, needless to say, I haven't fasted in weeks. My goal right now is to somehow get back to eating two 'real' meals a day and cutting out all the bad stuff.
How goes the "no sugar for lent" trial Ieramul? sticking to it? it must be difficult. Good to hear you are maintaining despite not fasting Coffee! I've gained a couple lbs since I last recorded my weight on the tracker. I am so discouraged again I don't want to record the upward slope.
Ok, I'm off to the post office and the bank! Take care you two!

Hi steph, good to hear from you again. What a shame that you are finding it dificult to fast at the moment.

I have not done very strict fasts recently but three semi fasts last week. However this week I want to achieve two good fast - one tomorrow and one on Friday.

My lenten no-sugar fast is going extremely well so far. I have not had any food containing sugar since last Wednesday and have not found it as difficult as I thought. I have to admit that I ate a bit more savoury food than normal but I hope that will pass.

I hope coffee, you are OK, too and occasionally visiting. Take care BIG HUG

Hello there! How are you ladies? You are doing so well Ieramul with not eating sugar! Keep it up. I have now gone 3 days without eating any candy, chocolates or chips. I have put big check marks on my calendar and highlighted them in green for each day I've been good. It hasn't been as difficult as I thought it would be but this is only day 4. I'm thinking I may fast tomorrow. I will see how it goes. I have some tagine in the freezer and I can make a stir fry as well, that would be enough for me to feel full under 500 calories. The last couple of days I've been semi fasting, eating in a 16/8 pattern. Yesterday was more like 20/4. My clothes felt a little looser this morning so I think I will weigh myself tomorrow and actually record my weight. I need that incentive again.
My new car is fantastic, it feels like I am driving a sports car it is so zippy lol.
Tonight we have heat again. The furnace quit working on Monday night and they just put a new one in today. It sure was cold for a few days! Adam and I sat on the couch on Tuesday night huddled under a duvet watching episodes of Elementary for hours. We laughed and joked and ordered pizza (thin crust, very healthy ). It was a wonderful night. Amazing what a little cold can do .
Time to eat my evening meal of salad and boiled egg. That should keep me going until I eat again tomorrow afternoon at 3. Have a good evening Ieramul and Coffee. Sorry I have been a poor correspondent! I will endeavour to do better! Take care. Hugs

Hi Steph, I was getting a bit lonely in here so I am very happy you popped in again and even happier that you have been sugar free for 4 days. That's phantastic!!! It definitely helps with the fasting.
How lovely that you could snuggle up with your son during the heating crisis, you are right it's the small things that make us happy.

Today is my 10th day without sugar and it is going OK. Sometimes I crave a bit but not so much that I couldn't bear it.
These days my fasts are not as low as they used to be - they are more like 700cals. In order to try to keep the cravings down, reduce the carbs to one meal a day but I feel I eat a bit more good food now.

We had a most wonderful day here today - quite spring like and sunny - it really does lift the spirits. I can't wait for the warmer weather.
Keep up the good work, Steph and take care. BIG HUG

Hello Ieramul, I must confess I haven't gone completely sugar free. I did have a piece of birthday cake on Wednesday. My main goal is to stay away from the corner store and all of it's junk. I don't want to buy unhealthy stuff. If I am offered a sweet treat when I am out I will decide if I want to eat it or not. I'm thinking if I allow myself these treats every once in a while I won't crave the other stuff. So far so good. Today I had no sweets at all. I actually fasted! Yippee! I am back in the groove. I only ate about 250 calories, I am still so stuffed with the all the vegetables in the tagine. Sometimes when I eat lots of vegetables my stomach seems to take a very long time digesting them. If I continue to eat lots of veggies and am so full afterwards perhaps I will lose some weight . My "official" weekly weigh-in is tomorrow. It will be woefully higher than my mini goal of 132 by February 28th. That goal was wishful thinking LOL. I went WAY off the rails this month. 10 days sugar free is terrific Ieramul! I usually crave salty foods when I can't have sugar. Does that happen to you? I ate all the crackers in the cupboard on Wednesday, the ones for Adam's school lunches (I didn't have many veggies, so my stomach happily accepted more food). My friend has also gone sugar free. She is giving it up for Lent although today she confessed she has had toast with jam in the mornings. She has been forgoing the candy and other sweets. We all seem to be heading in the right direction .
I am envious of your weather! it was beautifully sunny but so very cold again today. I walked a couple of blocks to the post office and my legs were burning with cold by the time I got home. Crazy.
Well, I'm off to bed. I have a lot of running around to do tomorrow, getting groceries and going to the health food store to get some probiotics or digestive enzymes to help with my digestion. I haven't decided which to try first. I will ask the clerk. It feels good to be chatting with you again! I think I felt so embarrassed by my eating habits of the past few weeks. I was at one thinking I would have to give up on the fasting life style. It's good to be back. Take care and big hugs back atcha!

Hello Ieramul, and coffee if you're around . I didn't eat very well today. Adam made blueberry muffins as a thank you gift for our neighbour who has been driving him to work every Saturday morning so I can sleep in a bit Some of them stuck to the muffin tin when I was taking them out so I kept those and ate 3 out of 4 of them. The last is in Adam's lunch for tomorrow. I've been craving sweets tonight, probably because I ate the muffins and didn't have any real supper. I haven't listened to my gut very well, eating even though I am full. I aim to fast tomorrow again. I will be visiting my German friend and will take some fresh melon, strawberries and some walnuts to share and hopefully resist her cake. I'll remember to go easy on the walnuts as they are so high in calories but I feel I should have at least a little protein. I'll eat tagine for my supper meal. I'm so glad I have some in the freezer.

It was a beautiful day yesterday and I actually went out for a walk. I didn't go out today although I should have. It was mild again with the snow starting to melt. I did manage to get some chores done, I did everything on my list. It felt so good to see everything crossed off for once! I even scrubbed the stairs which were covered in road salt that we've tracked in. That was a big job. I left it too long again and should really do it every Sunday. That will be something I will remember to put on next Sunday's list.

My landlord now has the heat turned up way too high. I've been having hot flashes again and get soaked in sweat! I can't tell if it is because of my hormones, the high heat or a combination. Either freezing cold or boiling hot in here . I may sleep with my window open a crack tonight.

Ok, time to get ready for bed. Looking forward to a nice cold shower in the morning and will be putting "wash bedding" on my list for tomorrow's chores just in case I soak the sheets with these hot flashes .
Take care ladies!

Hi buddies, I hope you are both well. Steph, keep up the good work. You have proven so many times that you can fast very well. You can do it. I am pleased you are cutting down on sugar, too.

For a while now I have been finding it difficult to do really low cal fasts. They were more in the region of 800 cals so sometimes I tried to do three fasts to compensate. At the beginning of lent I gave up sugar but I ended up eating more savory food in the first two weeks. Then on Saturday I had such massive sugar cravings for the first time, that nothing satisfied me and I stuffed myself with nuts and more (no sweets though). I must have had about 3000 cals. Then on Sunday, I gave in to the sugar cravings ate sweets and went completely overboard. I really regretted it but interestingly on Monday I had the first really good fast without any difficulties and I don't know why this was so. Today was the first eating day when I didn't stuff myself to compensate my lack of sugar. I would like to say I am OK now but experience tells me that that can change from one day to the other.

Steph, we can do it. Sometimes we fall off the wagon but as long as we manage to get back onto sensible eating all is well.

Take Care

Hello Ieramul, glad to hear your fast went well yesterday! I think I ate a little over 500 calories worth but I still count it as successful. Isn't it awful when we overeat? Are you allowing yourself dried fruit like raisins, prunes or cranberries? Mixing them up with the nuts is a good snack and can satisfy the sugar cravings, although I always eat tons of the stuff and I think I negate pretty much any benefits with all the calories eaten. Nuts add up quickly as do those darn crackers. 6 little things are 100 calories! For my sweet tooth today I had about a tsp of black currant jelly in tiny little nibbles. Seemed to work
Today was a good day, eating-wise. I went a little overboard at lunch, eating about 900 calories, gosh it was so easy to do! and I just ate a bit of chicken and rice now so I came in under my TDEE. First time in ages! I resisted Adam's chocolates tonight. He even offered me one and I declined. Then he offered me half a large bag of Doritos which I also said no to. I was strong! I get to put another big check mark on my calendar.
Sounds like you may be back on track now that you've got that sugar binge out of your system Perhaps tomorrow we can both write what we've eaten to stay under our TDEEs. Have you checked out the new thread on the forum "not fasting today CHAT to help staying at TDEE"? I like it and I may pop in there again tomorrow.
My bed is calling me Have a good day tomorrow Ieramul!

Hi Steph, well done for staying under or around 500cals on Monday - I regard it indeed a very successful fast day. But even more importantly I am very impressed that you could say no to all those temptations Adam offered to you. We all know it is the non fast days that are the real challenges.

Yes, I have been in that tent last week and think it is an excellent idea. I might pop in today too.

I am feeling a lot better this week - I don't know if this is due physical or mental change. After my first good and easy fast in ages, I seem to have a new optimism. For a while I thought that if I can't do very low cal fasts, then I should compensate by doing three fasts a week, but I have changed my mind and want to do two very good fasts a week rather than three half hearted ones. The thing is, when I eat only 800 cals I am still hungry so I might as well be hungry on 300 cals but only for two days.
With regards to sugar, I only allow myself fresh fruit to satisfy my cravings. I have about two pieces of fruit per day. I know nuts are veeery calorific but they also are very healthy (untreated/uncoated) especially on low cal diets. Despite eating all those nuts (and my binge weekend) I lost 1 1/2lb since the start of lent. I am not cutting out carbs but I have reduced them somewhat. The problem is that for most of my life breakfast consisted of two pieces of toast with jam or honey, so this is what I miss the most at the moment. I think until the challenge is over I will need to have protein breakfasts like egg, ham, bacon because it is so different from toast that I don't feel so disappointed.

Steph, keep up the good work, say yes to tagine, say no to crackers and keep posting.
Take care BIG HUG

Hi Ieramul, you've lost a pound and a half? good for you! On Saturday's weigh in I was a lb lighter than the week before. I have a long way to go to get rid of the weight I put on since October and then to my goal. It seems like a long way because it is so hard to lose. I did not get a big check mark on my calendar today I treated myself to three cookies when I visited Marion in the senior's residence. I had decided that it would be my one treat each week, either cake or cookies or ice cream at the socials I take her to. Today, though, I got into that mindset that says, "You've already messed up so you might as well have some chocolate, and some chips and then more cookies and more chocolates and caramels." Nutty, nutty, nutty! I did add everything up, though, and it came close to my TDEE for the day. I don't know how much that matters when it is all the wrong foods being eaten. I did have chicken and rice and salad in that mix. Tomorrow I will jump back into the "no junk food" mindset and put this day in the past. I am still determined not to gain any weight come Saturday. That is my goal for this week and if I lose some weight that will be a bonus. I have been up and down by a lb or two for weeks now and will be happy if I don't go up again!
Tomorrow I WILL be strong These glitches are bound to happen. Just so long as I don't fall back into that awful habit of eating all the awful foods I will be ok. I'm glad to hear you are being so positive despite your binge and that your fast was easier. I am looking forward to a small sandwich form work tomorrow afternoon. I am also looking forward to Friday's fast. Funny how I can look forward to "depriving" myself of food It just feels so good to not eat constantly and to be able to recognize when I am full. Anyway, I must get to bed! Take care, have a lovely day

Hi Steph, I am just popping in to say "hello" and hope your fast on Friday went OK. You were so optimistic.

The weather today was absolutely phantastic, 16 degrees and sunshine. I managed to clear up some of the winter damage in the garden, and swept the back yard and also went for a good walk this afternoon. I am just relaxing a bit now and and then I will get up and clean the kitchen shortly.

I have to admit that on Friday, I had a pain au chocolat which my boss had brought in for breakfast and later (having broken my no sugar rule) I had a some honey on my toast. This is the second time I have broken my no sugar rule since the start of lent, but it seems to happen about once a week. It's a shame I couldn't wait for Sunday.

Take care. BIG HUG

Hello Ieramul. Good to hear from you. Your day sounds wonderful. Don't be hard on yourself for giving in to sugar yesterday. Once a week is not going to cause huge problems. And you didn't go overboard like I did when I cheated and had sugar. You only had honey on toast and I ate every sweet in the house- and that was a lot since Adam has so much. You practiced great restraint!

You are so active compared to me. I told myself this morning that I would do some errands and walk to each store. I already gave in and drove to the grocery store for a bun and some ham for my lunch. But, it is absolutely beautiful out, above freezing with the sun shining. I am doing laundry now - a big job and then, I am telling myself , I WILL go for that walk! I'm going to start making sloppy joe sauce while the laundry is washing and drying. I don't know what I will eat for my supper tonight. I dislike ground beef and that is the main ingredient in sloppy joes. I am cooking it for Adam. I've already eaten a one egg omelette, actually had breakfast!, and a large ham sandwich. I am trying to incorporate more vegetables in my diet. There have been days this week when I ate not a one. So, to that end I had a carrot, some grape tomatoes and an avocado smeared one my sandwich. Perhaps I will have a big salad for supper tonight with radishes, cukes, celery and tomatoes. Yesterday I sat down and wrote out all the "meals" I could think of and I've picked 5 of them for the coming week, we'll eat leftovers a couple of days. Tomorrow we make chicken pot pie, Adam's choice. He is getting lots of practice chopping vegetables!
Well, on to cooking!
Be well, Steph

Forgot to say: my fast went well yesterday. I think I went over the 500 by about 40 or 50 calories but I'm pleased. I went to bed a bit hungry but not ravenously. It was actually comfortable to sleep without being stuffed to the brim like on feast days. Ok, ok, I must start cooking