The FastDay Forum

So yesterday I fasted and today I fasted up until dinner time. I had quite a lot of sushi with rice and 2 glasses of wine but i wouldnt have gone over my TDEE.
Ive just measured my waist again and I'm an inch bigger since this morning?! How?! Feeling really rubbish
Lil

Everytime you eat your waist will get bigger due to food, water and gas throughout your entire GI tract. It's sensible to only measure your waist in the morning after a full fast day so you are empty!

On a more general note Lil I have noticed that you seem to be a bit anxious and even a teeny bit fixated on your progress (I don't mean that to sound harsh at all- just sympathetic- we all have periods where our bodies and weight are all we can think about). Stress and anxiety never help with weight loss- especially if you are a stress over-eater like me! Perhaps you need to relax a little bit more and take a step back from the constant weighing and measuring. Try doing it once every fortnight and be strict about this. It sounds also like you could do with a confidence boost and something to help with your self esteem.

I don't know what the answer to the above is- maybe a new club or sport? I just know that there seems to be more to this post than just a waist measurement!

Sending positivity and support from rainy England!

Yeah, it might be helpful to be a bit more Zen about this as when and if the inevitable plateau arrives, you'll be in a mindset not to derail the progress you have made.

Instead of thinking of yourself as solid with definite edges, think of yourself as a balloon filled mostly with water and gas. Not the greatest thought but a PT told me this over the weekend and once you start to think about it, it makes sense.

You are roughly 42% water, if you eat salt and sugar, the water goes up until the body eliminates the salts to the natural level. The food you eat isn't weightless, a litre of water is a kilo in weight, etc...

So really, please do give yourself a break. The diet works but works better when not watched as the hormones released by worrying do cause the body to retain fat. It thinks disaster planning when you've just stressed about an inch off your tummy.

Google "effects of cortisol", if you don't believe me.

Although I have already lost over 3 stones I have nearly given up measuring my waist as I find it too unreliable and my waist size has hardly gone down.
Eihter way I found that measuring or weighing too often do a lot more harm than good.
I only ever weigh myself when I am in a good mindset which means if I could cope with having put on weight as well.

Ah, never weigh or measure yourself later in the day, especially if you have done an early morning weigh as it is almost guaranteed that you will be heavier, bigger, etc. Too demoralising so try not to do that as it will NEVER be in your favour, sorry but that is a hard fact, good luck and keep going, you will get there, honest,

Ballerina x

[Moogie]

It can be a difficult lesson to learn, but you need to remember that you don't really 'gain' in a day - you 'vary' So, you didn't gain an inch in a single day, your waist size just varied naturally. Learn to accept these variations and when to expect them and you won't be so upset by them. I know when I weigh in most mornings my weight may vary by 2-3lbs, but is usually down a bit after my 2nd fast, heading slowly downwards. I just have to remind myself that no I didn't eat 3500+ extra calories and therefore haven't gained a lb, just varied a bit!

I often see advice on the forum to use waist measurements over weight to ascertain progress, but I always thought that would never work for me. My waist varies a lot more than my weight and I only weigh in the morning. Besides the body as a balloon factor, I find it hard to place the tape in the same way day to day. I try to measure at my belly-button, but there can be a large difference depending on how the tape sits on the body's curves. The tapes are also flexible and the tension exerted to pull it together could be unintentionally different. Like with weight, the longer term trend is the important thing.

Thanks everyone.
You're right spanner I have been a bit obsessed over my weight and calories I will try to chill out. But will still keep posting regularly here if y'all don't mind?!
Lil

That's why I've decided not to weigh myself or tape measure myself anymore (and really, when you use the tape measure - the experts don't tell you this - but unless you measure in the exact same spot, even your measurements will vary). So now I go by my clothes. I can tell I'm slowly losing because my clothes are getting looser! If I weight myself it will be maybe once a month or even longer. I drove myself crazy with all the daily fluctuations. You got some good advice. You just can't help the normal fluctuations.

Unless you over ate 3500 calories more than what you burned, you didn't gained fat. Relax, trust the process

This really cannot be over-emphasised:

Instead of thinking of yourself as solid with definite edges, think of yourself as a balloon filled mostly with water and gas...

<<snip>>

You are roughly 42% water, if you eat salt and sugar, the water goes up until the body eliminates the salts to the natural level. The food you eat isn't weightless, a litre of water is a kilo in weight, etc...

Could we please bung this with flashing stars somewhere? Along with the Volek and Phinney quote in my trailer, it answers one heck of a lot of worries / questions.

xxx FatDog