The FastDay Forum

I've been romping along in March, steady slow weekly loss, all good - and then..... Went out for lunch and dinner yesterday, didn't think I over did it really, and today I'm way back up again I know its all water retention etc etc, especially as it was carby, but I'm still cross.

Doing a 20:4 today, as I'm out again tonight.

I like your thinking @carorees

ahhhhh ive been eating way too much of last and normally friday is my repair day but invited to dinner tonight at one of those big smorgasboard affairs at a club. no way that i will miss the opportunity to eat good seafood and other food and desserts

saturday is gourmet day and its sacrilege to fast.. so looks like Sunday i better go on my first ever liquid only diet lol

[carorees]

I've had quite a week with 2 new lows on the scale reaching my lowest weight today at 66.3kg, which is 200g below target. Libra trend weight says 66.8kg, so that's 300g until I can start "mindful maintenance". No change in my waist measurement for quite some time now so I'm not sure where it's coming from. I did notice that my new bras which I was doing up on the loosest hooks now need to be on the tightest but I'm not sure if that's because of the tendency of the chest band to stretch.

How's everyone else in this tent doing?

Hi All

Thought I should report in. So last week I was playing about with maintenance.

Monday I didn't eat until dinner as usual, but had the same as OH, just a smaller portion. Tuesday I had rather a large lunch but a small dinner. Wednesday I missed lunch but was out at night with a 3 course meal and lots of red wine. Thursday I munched all day but had a light meal at night. Friday I missed lunch again and had smaller dinner, but also some snacks. Saturday was another kind of munchy day but again with a small dinner.

The result? I lost 300g (66.0kg to 65.7kg Libra trend) at my official weigh in on Sunday morning. So I'm quite chuffed and surprised I didn't gain. I'll try and do similar this week (without the big night out)and see what happens.

I've decided my maintenance parameters are a tight 66kg at the top and a loose 65kg at the bottom end. I agree that there can be no complacency in maintenance. There will have to be constant balancing and monitoring. But over the last 10 months I really think I've learnt to do this. I feel quite confident about going into maintenance now, but I'll report back at the end of this week. It could still all end in tears

Good Luck fellow campers

[carorees]

Good going there @alf!

You say "a tight 66kg at the top and a loose 65kg at the bottom end" but I'm not quite sure what you mean! Are you saying you're going to really avoid going over 66kg but not worry so much if you drop below 65kg?

Do you think a 1kg range is OK to manage? According to FatDog's signature, the low carb gurus Volek and Phinney say that a 4lb variation in weight is normal due to body water changes. So that might make a 1kg target range quite stressful. I am thinking of having a range of 67kg at the top to 65kg at the bottom (but like you not panic if I drop below 65kg). Just wondering...

@carorees

Not quite sure what I mean myself now

I think what I mean is: From my present trend weight I'll allow a drop to 65kg but I won't allow it to go over 66Kg without resuming stricter 5:2. Although my daily weight can vary enormously my weekly weigh in trend doesn't vary in general by more than 200-300g.

I'll give it a while to see how it goes. If keeping such a tight weight band gets to feel too much like hard work I can always add a bit more leeway. But I really don't want to ease up too much, Excuse the pun but if you give me an inch I'll take a mile I feel like I'm my own experiment at the moment

[carorees]

Ah yes, I think you're right about trend weight...no excuse for a big range if looking at trends. I'm thinking maybe I should revise my plan now! My trend is 300g over target at the moment so I'm trying to work out my plan for MM (mindful maintenance), hence I'm watching you with interest!

Hi! I guess I'm "almost there." I changed my status to maintenance so I wouldn't screw up the forum stats. I'm about 4 lbs lighter than my original goal--I'm at 133 now. I would really like to be at around 128 or 129. I don't really have a good reason, just like the sound of it. So, what I decided to do was just circle around this weight doing a somewhat loose 5:2 and see what happens.
So, if there's room in the tent for a "Lazy River" (one of those waterpark things where you float around in a circular river for as long as you want, stepping out and getting back in whenever you want), count me in!

Hi! I guess I'm "almost there." I changed my status to maintenance so I wouldn't screw up the forum stats. I'm about 4 lbs lighter than my original goal--I'm at 133 now. I would really like to be at around 128 or 129. I don't really have a good reason, just like the sound of it. So, what I decided to do was just circle around this weight doing a somewhat loose 5:2 and see what happens.
So, if there's room in the tent for a "Lazy River" (one of those waterpark things where you float around in a circular river for as long as you want, stepping out and getting back in whenever you want), count me in!

ive added you in the post 1 bordergirl!

@carorees

Not quite sure what I mean myself now

I think what I mean is: From my present trend weight I'll allow a drop to 65kg but I won't allow it to go over 66Kg without resuming stricter 5:2. Although my daily weight can vary enormously my weekly weigh in trend doesn't vary in general by more than 200-300g.

I'll give it a while to see how it goes. If keeping such a tight weight band gets to feel too much like hard work I can always add a bit more leeway. But I really don't want to ease up too much, Excuse the pun but if you give me an inch I'll take a mile I feel like I'm my own experiment at the moment

Libra trend weight is a great tool for keeping an eye on things. normal fluctuations are too wild to know if something is wrong and you are heading in the wrong direction.

my libra trend went up by 500g in last 2 weeks so yes i better do something or ill never get out of here lol

[carorees]

Libra trend dropped another notch today! Just 2 notches to go! Getting excited about leaving this tent! (Don't be offended though, it's not that I don't love you all, , but am looking forward to stepping out onto the heights of Mount Fastonbury and enjoying the fantastic view )

Libra trend dropped another notch today! Just 2 notches to go! Getting excited about leaving this tent! (Don't be offended though, it's not that I don't love you all, , but am looking forward to stepping out onto the heights of Mount Fastonbury and enjoying the fantastic view )

good going carorees.. your doing better than me thats for sure. libra was moving in wrong direction of late. thought i had a good day today then found myself munching on food when i wasnt even hungry.

met a client today who looks particularly slimmer. thinking he might be on 5:2 i asked is he following a new health regime and he just said, he eats only when he is hungry and mentioned how as cave men we arent programmed to eat all the time. happened to have the 5:2 book in my bag (yes i carry it around like a bible to evangelise) and showed him. he hadnt heard but it was surprising he said that he likes to stay hungry most of time now (apart from weekends).. so nothing to do with 5:2 and MM or even anything learned on net.. just evolved it himself.

anyway his words encouraged me to think i shouldnt eat unless hungry but i did opposite

i will try again tomorrow

[carorees]

@carorees

Not quite sure what I mean myself now

I think what I mean is: From my present trend weight I'll allow a drop to 65kg but I won't allow it to go over 66Kg without resuming stricter 5:2. Although my daily weight can vary enormously my weekly weigh in trend doesn't vary in general by more than 200-300g.

I'll give it a while to see how it goes. If keeping such a tight weight band gets to feel too much like hard work I can always add a bit more leeway. But I really don't want to ease up too much, Excuse the pun but if you give me an inch I'll take a mile I feel like I'm my own experiment at the moment

I've been thinking a lot about this @Alf and think that your idea of an absolute maximum of, in my case, 66.5kg but allowing a further loss to some lower level if the maintenance eating pattern should result in more loss is a good idea. But what should my lower level be?

I've been researching about loose skin following weight loss as I do have a bit of loose skin, not too much but I don't want it to get worse, which I why I decided to enter maintenance at 66.5kg. However, I read one theory that the loose skin is not so much loose skin as the skin plus subcutaneous fat which is not so tightly packed in as it was making it floppy and that losing more weight might reduce the subcutaneous fat more and so bring in the apparently loose skin. I also read that in people who were very very overweight and undergo bariatric surgery (gastric bands and the like) the fat expansion during the weight gain actually damages the skin and structures so that it cannot completely tighten up after weight loss. I'm not sure where I'm at in that regard, so I'm thinking to allow a further decrease to 65kg in the first instance and if I get there I can re-assess.

Interesting point about the loose skin thing - I've nowhere near finished yet (so not sure I should be even peeking in this tent) but I've got LOADS of it - thing is, it does feel like there's fat under there too, though my 'bingo wings' are just flabby (ooh I'm sounding SO gorgeous, non?). I don't do any exercise other than walking but I might need to start. I have seen pics of people who have apparently lost masses of weight and they don't appear to have much loose skin....I can only hope for what carorees suggests after her reading!!

[carorees]

@loversghost
I also read that toning exercises such as pilates can help tighten up the fibres that tie the skin to the underlying muscles and so stop the skin from drooping. I can't find out whether this is just one of those many weightloss myths that circulate the internet or if it is actually true. The problem with my research into the loose skin issue is that most of the scientific studies are about surgery to remove loose skin following bariatric surgery and there seems to be no research on loose skin for those who lose weight through diet and exercise.