The FastDay Forum

Oh that's great news @bracken - you're exactly where many of us would like to be! It must feel fantastic? Respect! Huge.....

Many thanks - I'll PM you a bit later - I'd love to see the video. Knowledge is power...as they say! Appreciate that very much.

Must dash, should be gardening but dashed inside to check the forum, tut tut! Xx

[wildmissus]

@Hazelnut20, important thing first.

1. Because they are dark chocolate they are not to sweet.
2. I hate marmalade because it's got bits, there are no bits in the orange jelly bit.
3. You can put a whole one in your mouth with the chocolate side on the roof of your mouth, hold it there for a minute and the spongey bit just melts away, at the same time the chocolate melts away and you are left with the yummy jelly bit.

We had a good works night out last night. I had my main and dessert and a couple of glasses of wine. I felt fine at the time, I was full up but not over stuffed but shortly after I went to bed my stomach felt so heavy and I ended up having to get up to the loo. There was nothing wrong with the food but it was carb rich and perhaps was just too many carbs for me. I didn't feel all that great this morning so today I've had an easy fast.

How has your weekend been with all that baking? I hope your weigh in tomorrow is better than it was the other day, it is amazing the difference a couple of days can make. I'll be watching out for your post.

Hello Buddy!

1) You say "too sweet" as if sweet is a bad thing.....I don't understand that, ha ha!
2) Agree, all marmalade is awful....except Marks and Spencer "No Bits Orange Jelly Marmalade". Therefore accept your point...
3) Anyone who has a little ritual with their favourite cake....can't be all bad. Irrefutable proof that we are well suited as buddies. Lady, I like your style....plus I swear I will never look at a very boring Jaffa Cake in the same way ever again!! Who knew they could be eaten in such a very interesting way? Proud of you.....Or, perhaps, is it that they are so very boring that you have to invent really crazy ways of eating them just to distract yourself from the taste? Just putting it out there.......!

I'm very pleased to hear that your works night out went well and that you enjoyed yourself. Am not at all pleased to hear that you suffered so afterwards though. It's interesting to hear your theory about the food being too carb-rich for you as I think others have said similar things. The timing of today's fast couldn't have been better really then. Hope you are much more comfortable now?

Well, I've survived all the baking OK thanks - haven't licked so much as a teaspoon! I must be turning into a different person, honestly I must! Not sure how long this sort of resolve will last...but am going with the flow for now....Just to pile on the torture though, I've got another afternoon tea to do on Friday...and will be making Brownies for that one...amongst other things....pure torture! Will need all the resolve I can muster.....

Thank you for your good wishes for the weigh in. Am bracing myself for some not-so-brilliant-news...given the way the scales have been against me all week! Refused to get on them yesterday or today...because I'm in a mood with them. That'll show them...!

Promise I'll report back whatever....meanwhile, hope the week ahead is a great one for you! Huge congrats for how well you're doing - it's fantastic!

[wildmissus]

@Hazelnut20, how do you feel about 2lbs the? I'm guessing you are pleased with that after having a sneaky peak on the scales. 21lbs in 5 weeks is something most people dream of , it is absolutely amazing, well done you. Have you planned another non food treat to celebrate a stone and a half?

I've had a fairly good day today. My usual strawberries, yogurt and chopped nuts for breakfast, went to the gym, soup, an olive roll with ham for lunch plus a few sneaky wee chocolate digestives and for dinner tonight I made spag bol served with a small portion of spagetti, one piece of garlic bread and a sprinkle of parmesan and a twin pot yogurt, that is all I'll be eating today. Mmm....when I write it down it looks like quite a lot.

I think we will leave the jaffa cake debate as it is but I would like to say that roast potatoes don't do much for me, they are ok but I am not a potato person. Do you like olives, I love them, they are very good for you and a healthy snack?

Did you get your garden done at the weekend? Mine was all done but I've noticed that the weeds are growing again. Gardening is good exercise as well.

Onwards and downwards for the next week.

Hello buddy!

I'm mightily relieved to have lost anything...given that the scales were not playing ball for most of the week! It's really funny (but not ha ha) how some weeks we get rewarded with weight loss and some we don't - despite not doing anything different. I know I need to be more philosophical and appreciate that I am playing the long game, but to be honest, I am really wondering what will happen at the end of this week, given that the weightloss stats are going steadily downwards week on week. Still, focus is needed - I've come a long way in a short time, so I need to be very grateful for that. Plus, there have been other benefits in addition to losing weight - I like myself a little better than I did back on May 9th when I started back and even feel a small amount of what must be pride in what I've managed to achieve so far. I know these feelings will build and build - and that's quite exciting. The biggest difference is that I no longer feel apologetic for existing..or quite so second-class. That's huge.

I haven't planned any non-food treats to celebrate a stone and a half to be honest, because I am not good at such things. The recent pedicure I went to with my mother has a back story:- I bought pedicure vouchers for mother and mother-in-law about 2 years ago as a Mothers' Day present. Wouldn't dream of having one myself, but mother-in-law was really rather scathing about the prospect & despite pointing out that she could have a facial or any other treatment if she preferred....she never bothered using the voucher. My mother suggested I used it instead...so I did, but it was very unusual for me to do anything in the self-care category! It was nice to have my feet done, but honestly, I was so tense whilst it was being done, the therapist had to keep telling me to relax my legs!!!

So glad to hear you are doing well. I'm thinking you must be working full time this week? Hope that's proving good.

I'm not grown up enough to like olives yet....even though I'm old! Hoping to get there in the next few years...but I'm really not sure about them. Some people (inc my mother!) would say I'm fussy, but I prefer to exercise my right to like what I like! Yep, you can add olives to the list, along with eggs and Jaffa Cakes, rice pudding, any other similar milk pudding (not coz of the milk) and cucumber (unless it's in a duck pancake, in which case it is acceptable....but only then!). It was one of my friends' birthday yesterday and we invited her & her family round for tea last night. I made a huge dish of roast potatoes....and started to serve myself three before I remembered that they were carbs and therefore off limits! Old habits die hard, eh? Had to sit and watch them being endlessly devoured - but as I'd not managed any lunch that day I found myself concentrating on enjoying what I was eating - carrot salad, cherry toms, chicken & a smidge of coleslaw and not thinking too much of what I was missing out on. That included a chocolate birthday cake I'd made late afternoon whilst being starving.....What is happening to me? I'd normally be first in there, but have acquired quite a sense of perspective these days along the lines of is it worth it & be happy with what you are eating...and do it mindfully so you enjoy every mouthful. Radical.

We had huge amounts to do in the garden, but Saturday was largely taken up with yet more catering. On Sunday, the heavens kept opening so we didn't get as much as hoped done, but then we had set quite an ambitious target TBH! Tomorrow is another day, as they say... We specialise in weeds here....but some can be quite pretty I reckon!

Must sign off now and get into the day as there's tons to do! Hope you have a good one and I'll check back with you later xx

[wildmissus]

It is so good to hear that there is a hint of you starting to like yourself. I've had moments of that in the past but not many . You need to work on doing pleasurable things for yourself. It doesn't have to be spending money on yourself it could be something a simple as reading a book on a Sunday morning when you really ought be getting on with the housework!

I have three foods that I can't stand, unfortunately they are all useful things to like - coffee, carrots and bananas. My granny used to give us coffee made with condensed milk, that was ok but in the past if I have ever felt unwell I would smell coffee and I would vomit. When I was young my father would make us sit at the dinner table until we had finished our food even if that took all night. I was forced to eat banana angel delight when I was about 8, I reproduced it all over the swirly purple nylon carpet in the lounge. I have tried to like bananas, I even had it incorporated into hypnotherapy but I just can't eat them. My mother wasn't a good cook and we always are meat and two veg, of course in those days potatoes were a veg. The veg she served up were pea, cabbage or soggy boiled carrots, yuk! I can eat raw carrots no problem. It is funny that we all have different food likes and dislikes. My youngest daughter is very fussy but could easily eat a whole cucumber, my oldest will eat anything.

Regarding the garden, a weed is just a plant you don't want growing in the garden. I have a small area in my garden I leave to let whatever seed and grow, it's good for insects and it's interesting to see what comes up, I've currently got poppies there that I didn't plant.

I caught up on the posts on the bsd thread and wanted to tell you about my weighing. I weigh daily and report weekly. Weighing daily is interesting, eg. when I did zero cal fasts I would normally lose 2-3lbs the following morning. When I first started traditional 5:2 all those years ago I would normally lose 2lbs. At the moment I only lose 1lb at best. TOTM used to cause me to put weight on but I would lose it again quickly but these days I put it on but have to fight to lose it again. I believe that hormones have got a lot to answer for. You need to be careful, whilst is interesting to observe the ups and downs, when there are a few ups in a row, especially without reason, it is all too easy to say stuff it 'what's the point'.

I've done my second day of 10 days of overtime. I found myself getting a bit stressed about it, silly really. I know I'm going to be tired so I'm preparing myself to be tired (if you see what I mean) instead of just taking one day at a time. I'm going to go and clean the en suite now so that I can keep on top of things and if I'm good I might even manage to get to bed at 10pm but I doubt that.

Thanks for your helpful post @wildmissus - it's great to have your insight because very often, I can't see the wood for the trees.

You'll be pleased to hear that neither coffee, bananas or boiled carrots are essential to life! You will do very nicely without any of them. It's no wonder you have issues with them and I totally sympathise. When I was about 6, I went to a Roman Catholic school that was run by nuns. They had a rule that you absolutely had to eat whatever lunch was provided, including pudding. You weren't allowed to pass on anything & had to sit there until you had finished. This is where my issue with rice pudding, semolina, tapioca and the like has stemmed from. I used to absolutely gag on the stuff and it was a source of great anguish. To this day, I can't understand why I wasn't allowed to just go without pudding....I'm transported right back to those days if I so much as look at a rice pudding & my throat starts to constrict.....It's so good to be a grown-up now - if I don't like it, I just don't eat it...so there!! Conversely, eating what I like rather got me into this pickle...but that's another story...! Ooh, I've just remembered - if I am ever invited to someone's house for dinner for the first time, if they ask me what I won't eat, I always say eggs and rice pudding! My idea of food hell....Friends who know me well will invite me to dinner and say "We're having omelettes and rice pudding - your favourite!" I think I've made such a big deal of it over the years that it is a source of great amusement to them....

Totally agree about the hormones. Am dreading the menopause as I am so prone to the ups and downs when certain hormones kick in...or disappear. I worry that once it takes hold, I will slip into a great big pit of despair...and eating. Actually trying not to think of it too much - but I know I should be arming myself with coping strategies well in advance. I also need to read lots of books, or the same book many times over, that tells you that, as you age, your body needs less food! I know that's true...but I haven't bought into the hype yet, ha ha!!

I'm liking reading about your forward thinking re the next 2 weeks of full-time work. Yes, you're bound to become more tired - so you're very sensible to plan round it and expect it too. So long as you don't expect too much of yourself at the same time - if things have to slightly slide, or the kids and your husband have to help a little more...then so be it...and it's not forever anyway. I too, would like to know that you are being kind to yourself whenever possible!

I can't remember the last time I read a book. Years ago, before children, it used to give me so much pleasure to read. There's lots of things I don't do anymore. Most of the time it just doesn't occur to me to give myself permission to relax or enjoy anything. Sounds ridiculous when you write it down...but it's the truth. I have a huge flaw in my personality whereby I start something, but never finish it. Either that, or I acknowledge how sensible a particular action is...only to fail to undertake that very action! Even when it is the most sensible and logical thing in the world...

Re the daily weighing debate - you are right, there is such a threat of wanting to throw the towel in if the scales don't reflect the effort. I've decided though, that I have a responsibility to my buddy to discuss any thoughts of quitting well before I actually do. Feel free to talk me out of it....please!!

BTW...did you get to bed at 10pm? It's just gone 11.20pm now and my eyelids are drooping - so I'm going to have to leave this & go to bed! That would be what I'd call an early night..whoop whoop!

Catch up with you tomorrow xx

[wildmissus]

Hi @Hazelnut20, I've not been able to get on the forum so hopefully this message won't get lost.

I thought I'd show you my daily weight for the last week and how they have made me feel.

Fri 175.6 - Lost 2lbs was hoping for more.
Sat 175.6 - That's good I usually put on the day after a fast and I've been food shopping.
Sun 176.6 - To be expected as I was out last night.
Mon 175.6 - Bummer only a pound off after a fast day.
Tue 176.0 - Mmm, not fair I've been so good today.
Wed 175.8 - Well at leas it is off but if I'm really good today I could lose a pound tomorrow.
Thur 175.6 - You've got to be kidding, it this really worth the effort? I'm eating so much less and better than I was before and I'm not being rewarded. In the past when I start a 'diet' I could easily lose 5/6lb the first week and 3/4lb the next week and expect to lose 2lb a week. I'm not just 5:2ing I'm really being careful of what I eat on a daily basis. I'll be lucky if I lose anything tomorrow after today's fast. I suppose though this week I have been eating high carb even though my calorie intake is probably much the same a last week . I'll need to see what low carb quick meals I can plan for next week.

Well there you have it. Thankfully I am in a good place at the moment and I am really focused on losing as much as I can before my holidays but it may not be as much as I had hoped. If you were on a downer daily weighing could just be something else to get depressed about. I'm not saying don't weight daily just be aware or your mindset. I tried to weight in kilos for a while but that was a disaster. I know it sounds silly but the numbers just didn't make sense and I allowed myself to put on weight. I supposed the numbers are lower in kilos than lbs so it is as if each movement in kilos isn't much.

I'm working 1pm-9pm today. I'm planning to take a tuna salad and a couple of oatcakes in with me and have it about 5pm and that will be a good fast. No I didn't get to bed at 10pm on Tuesday but it wasn't too bad at 10:55pm but then I woke up at 2pm to get up for a wee and then at 5pm with a dreadful noise. The fridge freezer was making a terrible racket which has happened before, ice builds up around the fan so when the fan comes on it is scraping on the ice. It woke all 4 for us up and of course the noise was worse as we live in a bungalow. Thanks to the powers of youtube Chris has fixed it but I was tired yesterday a work. I had a bit of a lay in this morning so feeling a lot better.

Must leave you with that at the moment as I need to go and clean the bathroom before I go to work. I'll let you know how I get on with my official weigh in tomorrow.

Are you still as focused as ever now that the weeks are moving on?

[Tracieknits]

as much as I hate to say it, I think the kind of calories matter. I've reduced the carbs I'm eating and my weight is coming off more quickly now.

Plateaus suck. I hope yours ends soon Wildmissus!

Hi @wildmissus and a big thank you for your piece on daily weighing. Am sorry to read that you are right back where you were last Friday...and naturally I will have all things crossed for you tomorrow for your official weigh in day.

I am having a go at weighing in every day this week - until my official weigh day of next Monday. Will publish the results then and try to analyse what is going on. Will probably do the same for the next week too - to give me something to compare it with/learn from.

I agree with @tracieknits when she says that it is probably the type of calorie that makes a difference as opposed to the numbers. Which is a flaming nuisance I know, but honestly, there is plenty of science behind it. As soon as I realised that carbs get turned straight into glucose and are used by the body for energy before it even considers burning any of our stored fat...that was it. If I don't give my body much in the way of carbs, there's less glucose floating around...so it'll be literally forced to seek out fat for energy. Huge apologies to any of the scientists out there if I've got it wrong...but though I'm not very technical and was always awful at science...I can see the logic to it.

Currently, I am weighing myself in pounds too. I've switched from stones and pounds which is what I usually do...mainly because I was finding the maths a little tricky!! Your comment about kg made perfect sense to me - them there numbers are so much smaller...we wouldn't want to get complacent about things!!

Am so pleased to hear that you are so focused though - despite not getting the reward from the fickle scales. In view of this, I would wholeheartedly agree with you and indeed recommend you give some thought to planning low carb meals for the week ahead. Would you consider a one week experiment of ditching as many carbs as possible....just to see what it might do for you?? I'm not saying go hardcore - merely think through your meals and see if you can replace certain foods with others.

I can tell you that before starting the BSD...I thought the world began and ended with carbs. Indeed, I would say I was totally addicted. Never did I think I could go without a jacket potato...or bread...let alone cakes, biscuits and chocolate! Nobody could be any more piggy than me...You're almost talking to a different person now - she who would have scoffed at the idea of a plate of roast vegetables and a piece of salmon for dinner...now can't wait! I enjoy every single mouthful of it...from start to finish...which these days, takes quite some time for me to eat. Unusually for me, I can't say I've experienced a sense of deprivation either. That for me, is absolutely unheard of.....and is certainly a big reason why I am able to stick to my plan. Last night, I watched my husband put away a huge bowl of white pasta for dinner. All I could think of was "bet he'll feel totally stuffed and uncomfortable after!"...whereupon I suddenly realised that I haven't had that uncomfortably full feeling since starting the BSD. Used to feel it on a daily basis before...which added to my disgust at myself. I'm free of that feeling right now....

It's true - I haven't tried very hard to have variety - other than varying which veg to roast! My lunch has been the same thing for the past 6 weeks - namely strawberries and natural bio yoghurt. Ooh, no, I did once have some tuna & sweetcorn mixed with mayo....but only once...and because it needed eating, ha ha! I now look forward to my main meal of the day so much that I don't ever get bored with it. But then, I do have some variety - as in do I have my veg with fish, chicken, turkey or pork!! This wouldn't work for everyone...but it only needs to work for me! Eggs don't work for me - but maybe they do for you? It makes sense to surround yourself with foods that make you smile - and my choices do just that..for me.

I have to say that I am every bit as focused this week as I was five and a half weeks ago. Why? Because the weight is falling away at a speed I have never known. Yes, the price I am paying is quite high..in the sense that there are no "feed" days currently....and I've chosen to 16:8 every day too....but I am seeing and feeling the results every day. I walked around Honiton today...with trousers that weren't cutting me in half at the waist and some thigh space too. Tried on some clothes in a charity shop....and wasn't repulsed and disgusted at the person looking back at me....plus sneakily admitted to myself that a couple of tops looked OK (steady on Pernelle, don't get too carried away!). You and I both know, buddy, that it will take a long time to get anywhere close to saying we actually like what we see....but just not feeling so very bad about myself is huge progress.

This afternoon, I've been baking as I have an afternoon tea to do tomorrow. I've made some shortbread pinwheels (chocolate & vanilla) and I can honestly say that in the past, I'd have scoffed at least 6 of them by now. Instead, I look at them, think "mmm, they smell very nice" and then leave them alone..because I know they are off-limits. Hmmm, off-limits eh? I've never applied that concept with such force (or even any force!) as I am at the moment. Long may it last....

Sorry for going on a bit and thanks for asking so I could write all this. I need to go and roast my veg now - but I'll be back later. Hope work has gone well today & that you're not too tired by the time you get back. I'm a great fan of tuna myself - so hope you enjoyed your salad...unless you put boiled eggs with it....in which case...bleugh....!

[wildmissus]

@Hazelnut20, I've not been able to get onto to forum for the last couple of days so I'll try and make it a short one.

I weighed in on Friday with a 1lb loss which means I've lost 6lbs in 3 weeks of getting back into things which I suppose is ok but I would normally have lost 6lbs in the first week! Can you guess that my demons are back and I'm having a bit of trouble kicking them into touch. On Friday I was working 12noon - 8pm, I did my food shopping before I went to work and bought quite a bit of rubbish. I ate well during the day but when I got back from work out came the cheese and digestive, a big bag of crisps, the American Mega Marshmallows and a 350g bar of Galaxy and I had some of everything. Saturday, my day off, stared fine, I wasn't hungry so I didn't have breakfast but after lunch the chocolate and marshmallows found there way into the lounge, there is none left now - I didn't eat them all by myself. This morning I've put on 2lbs since Friday but even worse, I feel rotten. Why have I done this to myself? I think it is probably because of the small weight loss but I have dusted myself down, had a wee shake and can't wait to fast today. I have also planned low carb meals for the week as well. I just don't want to feel like that.

How are you getting on. Have your demons appeared over the last few weeks. If they have I know you have successfully dealt with them.

Oh dear, my dear buddy...

Sorry to hear things have been rather tough for you lately. Do you have any insight as to why you have felt bad? Has anything happened? I know you've been working full time - do you think that has thrown things out of whack somehow?

My therapist tells me I crave sweet goodies because I lack sweetness in my life. Chocolate, cakes & biscuits give me comfort...there's no doubt about that, but they're not my friends! When we reach for such things, I'm sure there's an element of truth in the needing them for comfort theory. How I know that is that I can eat things when I'm totally stuffed after dinner (talking about the past here - not the last 6 weeks) - family bars of chocolate, entire boxes of Maltesers and so on) and even though I had no room for them and halfway through would stop getting any pleasure from them....I would still carry on to the bitter end. What's that all about if not about psychological comfort?

Anyway, the issue is not that you've eaten things you maybe shouldn't, but that you have faced up to it, seen it for what it is....and strong-mindedly resolved to put it behind you and plan for next week. If it had happened to me, that would've been the green light to jack it all in, I can tell you, because it always has been. But we are looking for new coping mechanisms these days! I hope to goodness you enjoyed what you ate at the time? That it brought you some comfort...if only fleeting. Great. Look how you are dealing with things these days though @wildmissus - I did this....but next week I'm going to do that instead. That is HUGE I tell you!

The next time you go into work, I would like you to bypass the clothes department and pop into dairy first. Pull out 12 packs of butter & imagine sticking them on yourself...wherever you consider your "problem" areas to be. I'm a classic pear, so would stick them to my chunky thighs & hips. 12 packs....that's a lot of butter in my book. Yes, it may not be as speedy a loss as you would like - but there they are, those 12 packs of butter......gone! Honestly, that's great.

I think "why do we sabotage ourselves?" is the 64 million dollar question! And not one I have the answer to. What I do know though is that it's not the falling down that matters....it's the getting up. No one promised us an easy ride...so why do we expect one? Hope is a marvellous thing, but reality is tough, really tough. If losing weight were so simple, no one would be overweight, would they? It takes guts and determination - things you've got in abundance, my dear buddy...

If the forum continues to be a bit hit and miss, feel free to email me (will send you an email shortly coz I can't remember if you know it) anytime. It's important we keep in touch & ride the storm.....because Corfu approaches....!

Look after yourself xxx

Oops, forgot to say...no demons so far, thankfully. In fact I'm close to saintly at the moment in all honesty. Success breeds success....so at the moment I'm riding high. The weight is dropping steadily..so why would I risk anything to change that? It's really strange, but I seem to have plumbed the depths of my willpower store...& emerged with shed loads of the stuff - most unusual for me...but I'm not complaining right now - long may it continue.

I've never been so satisfied with my lot - I know what I can eat...so I eat it. End of. No extras. That's just the way it has to be for me.....no matter what the rest of the family are doing. They're not me. I'm doing this just for me.....

[Tracieknits]

Well @Wildmissus we have all been there. but still, I know a lot of people who would be happy for a six pound loss in three weeks. It's really nothing to sniff at or feel bad about.

I haven't had any chocolate since Wednesday. I hadn't even realized I was starting a challenge, but I've let three evenings go by with no chocolate. And I've survived!! It's kind of amazing. If I can do it, you can do it.

What I've been reaching for when I've decided I really need a snack is either cherries or pineapple (both are cheap in the stores right now) and/or a piece of light string cheese - it's a mozzarella stick made with part skim milk, and its only 50 calories. These have been very helpful for me in getting over a craving for some naughty carbs. Perhaps they can help you too?

Well done @wildmissus on your loss. We all know an average of 2lbs a week is great on this WOL. Go easy on yourself, you really are doing well. Concentrate on your fastdays and stick with it. You can do this. Wishing you an easy week.