The FastDay Forum

Hello,
Checking in with everyone!
I'm fasting today, I just packed a thermos of broth to bring to work. We'll see how that goes! I've been stressed at work lately which makes me want snacks. I've been good, in terms of snacking on low carb things, but still eating when I'm not hungry so that's a bad habit. A good fast today will straighten me out, back on track!
My weight is headed in the right direction, so thats good. Last weekend I really went wild and the scale showed me up 4. Today I'm back down to 173, which is a total 15 lb loss! Hooray! That is since beginning of July when I came back to fasting and gave up sugar.
Cheers!

Well, today is officially my last day of summer vacation! I plan to splurge a little bit (or maybe a lot) today and then really buckle down starting tomorrow. It should be easier now that I'm going back to work, except for lunch and breakfast being provided a couple of days, but that still shouldn't be too bad. The thing I need to work on once I'm back is weekends. I have to try to stay on track somewhat on the weekends too!

Just checking in and saying hello
Feeling a bit rotund after being invited to an impromptu gathering last night for a few Belgian / Polish / Slovenian beers, but life is too short to say no to these moments. So I'm looking forward to not having to eat so much tomorrow, definitely no beer!

Has anyone found a satisfactory substitute for coffee? I can't take it black anymore and it has become a bit of a crutch....

I don't like coffee, so I drink tea, but I do put stevia in it and a splash of milk!

Well, I've gone the wrong direction in this challenge! I'm almost up 3 lbs! But, I have stayed below the dreaded 170 lbs.! I go back to work today and this week will be a bit of a transition week and by next week I will be fully on track again. Hopefully we will have another challenge then!

How is everyone else doing. One week left! I will check in again, maybe I'll level off a little by next week.

BTW -@siamsa - I also drink a lot of iced tea. I still put Stevia in it, but I don't need any milk then!

You and me both, cblasz, not achieving what we hoped for, so far... I had another week last week where I was unable to manage my evening eating as I would wish. Trying again this week - though more by eating less during the day, rather than in the evening. Hmm.

I have thought about trying the FODMAP "diet", which a dietician suggested I do some while ago but I have never given it a proper go. I do know some foods cause me problems, but they are foods I love (eg apples and cauliflower). And it would mean no milk chocolate. But it may be a way to help change my behavior, and have other benefits. After my birthday (this weekend) perhaps!

Hello,


@siamsa I love coffee and I think it helps me stay compliant with a fast, so I keep drinking it! I am low carb, so I worry more about carbs than calories. So I put a small splash of cream in my coffee. Cream doesn't have carbs, but milk does. So far, this has worked for me, it hasn't made me hungry and I've been losing pretty well. I don't do sweeteners, because I gave up sugar when I went low carb in July and lots of people say fake sweeteners make you keep craving sugar. On fast day I do try to get coffee either at home or at a place where I put my own cream in (like starbucks) because I don't want to get one that's too milky, (like at dunkin donuts where they put the cream in)

Sorry to be rambling! I'm fasting today and maybe a bit obsessed!
Good luck to you!

Thanks @nycnyc2013 and everyone else who has reassured me that coffee is indeed a good thing and i shouldn't worry about my dependency

I think I might have to switch to kg instead of stones, I felt good this morning after fasting yesterday and as I haven't been near the scales since I started I decided to take the plunge. It slowly crept up and up and looked like it was going to be 10 stone nothing... then at the last moment leapt to 10 st 1 and flashed at me just to be extra annoying, So, still the same numbers as when I started in earnest over a WEEK ago And my waist is 0.5cm bigger!

I'll try more water today.

i'm certainly not in time for this challenge, with only 5 days left! But I just found the forums even though I've already been fasting, and a group challenge would be great, and I'm too impatient to wait for the next one. So, my goal will be to simply weigh any amount less than right now, lol. Currently at 167.6lbs. I have my sister's wedding this saturday, and I'll be fasting the day before and the day after, which I'm hoping won't be a big deal since I'll be traveling long-distance both days.

[Tracieknits]

Hello all and welcome @FancyFinch!!

I'm so sorry I"ve been missing -- It's been insanely busy around here getting ready for school and having an impromptu visit to my sister's summer house in New Hampshire.

@NYCNYC2013 -- that is amazing progress!!!

I'm with @Cblasz and @Sassy1 and @Siamsa -- not much movement right now. Of course I was a bit naughty over my vacation and definitely drank way too much. Yesterday my son wanted to go out for breakfast and before I knew it, I had eaten two pieces of toast! Back on the straight an narrow today is my goal. I'm not entirely clear on what my weight is, because the last time I tried my fitbit scale, it said 198. I thought, that couldn't be right, so I got back on and it said 205. Well I didn't like that so I got on again, 203. Well each time I got on, it was a rather different reading - including radical differences in body fat. So I have a new scale arriving today, and it doesn't do anything but weight. My clothes don't feel any different, for better or worse.

So the verdict on my first challenge -- oops! LOL maybe someone else would be a better leader? rofl


Oh and @Siamsa - I don't like regular coffee, but I do love espresso with a little bit (maybe 7ml/half tablespoon) real cream in it. I also like high quality black tea plain with nothing added.

I think you've done a great job @Tracieknits! I think it just helps to have somewhere to check in every week with how one is progressing. Even if that isn't the right direction!! Checking in, I think, helps to stay on track or try to get back on track! I hope that we will have a next challenge. I'm happy to run it, if need be, but won't be able to be quite as thorough as I was during the summer!

First day with the students today! It will be a busy, crazy day, so I'm going to try to fast! Then a salad tonight, while I work on my college class which starts Saturday!!

Have a great day everyone!

Well, it is almost the end of the challenge and although I don't like to use the term, it has been a dismal failure for me...

I have only managed a handful of days when I was happy with how I managed my evening eating, and only occasionally had a light day in compensation. I have been trying to think of what I am prepared to do to break the habit - although I know lots of strategies, obviously I am not applying them. The commitment is not there...

I can understand why people try new diets - the novelty factor can be motivating. I would love to find a new approach to try to help with evening overeating. I have mentioned elsewhere perhaps if I follow the FODMAP diet, which may have other benefits for me, and has been recommended for me by a dietician, then that may help me stop eating too much in the evening. Certainly the milk chocolate will be a no-no!! But there are so many foods that are restricted or banned initially. Hmm.

Perhaps I can think of something in time for the next challenge. Is anyone thinking of running one?

I am looking forward to hearing how everyone else has gone.

I did pretty okay - didn't set any big goals, just to exercise twice a week at the gym (have recently been going there 3 days thanks to my hubby agreeing to accompany me!!). Mostly have fasted 2 days a week but not the original 5:2 - a Brad Pilon-type 20-24 hour fast - much easier for me.
I think most people here have done very well. We still have til Monday to finish off - and I am actually planning to fast on Monday until our barbecue on Monday evening. Happy Labor Day to all the U.S. folks!!!
I don't think we have any members from Texas but the whole State of Texas is in our thoughts and prayers.

Well, I just weighed myself and I a up to 169! So I think I GAINED 3 lbs. in this challenge!! But, I did go to a party yesterday and ate poorly and had a few drinks. I also had decided that I wasn't going to be really strict for the last few weeks of summer and start of the school year. But, tomorrow I start my first full week and today is Labor Day in the U.S. which is our unofficial end to summer. I'm going to have some ice cream today and then tomorrow I officially get on track!!

@Sassy1 - I would hardly say it's been a dismal failure! The fact that you had some light days and some days where you were happy with your evening eating is better than none! I definitely think finding new diet plans are helpful, because they are new and exciting. Maybe they also shake things up. I do think part of the problem is that maybe you are not really sure what you want to accomplish? In other words, you don't have a SMART goal - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time bound. And maybe you don't need to give up chocolate. Maybe you just need to only eat really good quality chocolate and only allow yourself so much. Life is short and if you enjoy it and it's not that big a problem, then why give it up? (Of course I still encourage you to try to shift to dark chocolate, since it is healthier and much harder to eat in large quantities, but I know how you feel about that!)

Anyway, I'm willing to start a new challenge, if @Tracieknits doesn't want to do it. Perhaps a Halloween challenge. It will be harder to post as much with both jobs, but as I said above, I think it's just helpful for people to have a place to check in with their weekly results/obstacles, etc.

Well, I'm off to enjoy my last day of summer. Have a great day everyone!

Hi @cblasz

Not sure I can find all the SMART conditions, but my goal remains (as you know) to eat a wide range of mainly nutritious foods for hunger - and only occasionally, and with conscious choice, eat for other reasons (such as going out to dinner - NOT emotional eating, eating for reward etc). No foods are banned (no plans to give up milk chocolate, despite despairing at times that maybe I have to - and I do only eat good quality chocolate). And my main problem, as you also know, is mindless eating in the evening. Which I have been doing a lot during this challenge - more so than I have for ages. So the few okay days were less than I would normally have. Thus the "dismal failure"...!!!!!!

I recently found some notes from a "Compulsive eating" course I did in 1992. It was interesting to read my responses to questions that were posed by the tutor - my issues then were the same as now.... The material supplied was very similar to the Amanda Sainsbury-Salis / Kate Horwood approach. It all resonated with me at the time, and made lots of sense. I just have trouble applying it........... I do think the commitment concept you raised is fundamental to my inability to put into practice all the ideas I agree with - as well as probably all the usual reasons people eat when they are not hungry.