The FastDay Forum

I've lost 1" in height over the years which must explain the fat bunching round my waist, not fair, just off to collect my toys and go home in a huff..........

Ballerina x

Many thanks @Izzy @Silverdarling @Azureblue and @Ballerina, it is actually a fairly dramatic change, it has perplexed me quite a bit.

I do yoga and that should have helped, my back is straight and my bones seem robust, I also mountain bike and do very physically demanding work sometimes, not feeling any ill effects or stiffness at all and still seem very supple.

The doctors records only run back a few years to when I came back to the UK, so they have only a loss of about an inch, which I suppose is why they did not mention it. Anyway my own GP is back from her training course soon so I will speak to her about it, I'm sure she will want to check me for osteoporosis too.

I have not actually measured myself for a few years possibly thirty but it is still a big difference and more than normal.

I suspect or rather I'm hoping, time of life and perhaps long sedentary hours on computer may have contributed to it. I'm also wondering about vitamin D. I will no doubt find out in due course...

Meantime I shall ponder the wonders of vertical weight loss...

caitlin Xx

Inadvertently Maintaining

No major changes in my weight this week the scales showed a loss of a few ounces but that's fine, no rush to get anywhere. I'm happy to let it take its own course, it will give my skin the chance to tighten a bit. I have some life modeling jobs coming up soon so was a little self-conscious about it. I have been massaging with various oils and lotions for the last two weeks, apply the calories to the outside kind of thing. More on this human marination process to follow...

My weekly calorie intake was likely up a bit as I have eaten frittata almost every feed day for lunch and and there has been lots of (bargain) tofu frying in the evenings. Actually add the fallafels, pakoras along with some `fine wines` and it has been a bit of a party. Philosophical as ever I look at these things as little rays of valuable information about how my body reacts to food. When the maintenance time arrives they will be useful.

Been busy with contract searching this week but have managed to spend some time making menu plans for Spring and Summer foods, I like tapas / thali style eating so I have made ones for Indian, Mediterranean and salads...

I now have recipes for all the little bowls of food listed under their respective categories. Now I need to make myself an app that will bring up a shopping list when I click on the recipes I want to make. Actually an app that just wires my requirements to Waitrose home delivery and pays them out of its own pocket would be better.


caitlin Xx

Ah Waitrose, my guilty pleasure hall of fabulous food, so expensive I have to drool and walk away. Except we keep wandering in for the free coffee/tea quite often now and then gorgeous little wonders seem to get bought on the way through ...
I'm having their lovely Goan fish curry with veg korma tonight. Wicked sinful person I am.
Sunday I will be A Very Good Girl and eat properly.

Yeah @Azureblue, gold standard in supermarket shopping IMHO, miso, sea veg, avocado oil, cheaper than my health food store, good quality healthy-ish ready things for the odd occasion I'm not cooking... I do seem to gravitate towards the free coffee too.

And let's not forget very good coconut oil for £6 a jar

I think they should sponsor me for bigging them up so much WORLD WIDE!





Please. Thank you kindly :0)

I could certainly do the sponsorship thing too... Perhaps some free cycling lycra and a very nice bike. In return I could sport the slogan `This machine runs on Duchy Originals`? Just a thought

Coming In To Land
Weigh in this week shows a slight loss, again several ounces rather than a full pound, I am however now only 2 lb off my (revised) target weight of 9 stone 1lb and this is as expected, it also means that I am now at the top end of my maintenance margin. I am coming in to land nice and slowly. My eating levels seem to be just about perfect, I will perhaps need a few more calories for maintenance but this will be provided through a little more of the same.

I want to keep the fast days going not as a weight management tool but because of the health advantages (not sure if this is just perceived but I feel healthier than I ever have in my whole life), at the moment I distribute the saved calories from my fast days over my feed days and I will try to keep this going, likely just factoring in more calories.

Took a serious hard critical look at my body size and shape this weekend. All is fine, I need a little bit of toning on my thighs and torso so will get some hill work in on my bicycle this month and do some leg press work with my weights.

I tend to put on a little bit more muscle during the Summer so will give myself a bit of leeway here and say 9st 2lb is fine for summer target weight.

My health and body is now feeling consistently good and my hypoglycemia is the best it has been in years, I am always going to have to be a bit mindful of my carb use but I now have a great set of tools to manage this with.

My menu is one that I enjoy greatly and it brings in elements of things I have always wanted to do, like the high raw content, wok cooking, med food, and so on. I don't think I can go back to my old style of eating, I see it as a bit impoverished. I started off trying to fix a health issue, I have ended up creating my own custom lifestyle. The tag line for this is `eat well live well`.

Target Maintenance weight: 127lb (9st 1lb) BMI 19.3 (summer 128lb)
Target Maintenance margin: 125 lb (8 stone 13) BMI 19 => 129 (9st 3lb) BMI 19.5

Any news on the osteoporosis check up honey?

Thanks for asking @Azureblue I'm still waiting on my own doctor returning from her course, she is very competent and discusses things properly with me so I really want to get her take on this. I'm also really looking forward getting new blood tests, I will put the before and after results from these up here too, although my previous ones have been good anyway...

Xx

Weight
Well after a month I am still siting at 9st 3lb (129lb), my body seems to like this weight so I have decided to make this my maintenance weight and I will just stick right here thank you...

My skin is also tightening up and not looking so hagged out. Waist measurement is now stable at 27" this is actually the important bit, as I was quite concerned about visceral fat.

I thought maintenance would be difficult to organise but all I have done is to introduce a carb blowout day, usually a Saturday, so now I have 2 fast days, 4 low carb feed days, 1 feast day. I can mix the days about according to what is happening socially.

On my feast day I am keeping within my low GL plan so had some things like sourdough bread and wholegrain rice, things I actually had a craving for this week, chewyness, there is something about sourdough toast with Normandy butter, mmm...

Food
Serious itchy feet so this weeks meal plan will consist of things that remind me of sunny climes...

Spinach pie
Continental casserole
A mezze menu with lots of crisp veggies to dip
Gazpacho
Tagine with tahini sauce
Montepulciano D'abruzzo - To wash it all down!

Thats that sorted then, feel better already

caitlin Xx

Like your plan @Caitlin as that one day a week carb blow out I think is a great concept while low carb is a healthy good feeling it is hard to sustain so 1 day off is a nice balance.

Tagine with tahini sauce is a surprise can you elaborate. Also nIce to see you back

Hi Caitlin,

Don't you just love a plan, especially one that is working? Hope the osteoporosis tests are O.K. Are you having a Dexa scan?

Like you I have a sort of weekly routine, Mondays are no food or if I get hungry then I have low/no carb, as the week progresses I generally add more carbs and calories and Sundays are blow out days which makes Mondays an absolute doddle, in fact I love Mondays when I can have a rest from eating. Never thought I'd ever want a day off from eating, how good is that? Of course everything has gone to pot now that we are in Scotland for a whole month but at least 16/8 is standing me in good stead, goodness the morning rolls here are fabulous even if I don't have any in the mornings. Can't remember the last time I are so much bread, yum, yum

Ballerina x

Thanks @gillymary, Looking back I realise I was always going to have to learn to manage my carbs, I came to this point and took the action, worked it all out, now I have something that can go with me, ..it just all seems to hang together really well. I feel there has been such a marked improvement in how my body handles carb, I'm going to lay most of the credit for this with six months of 5:2.


Here is my Tagine And Tahini Recipe

**On low carb days I have spinach and chard and other small salads instead of bulgar**


# Tagine with Tahini Sauce and Bulgar

## Ingredients

Groceries
---------
2 tbsp olive oil
2 x 425g/150z cans chick peas (or equivalent of cooked)
1 can tomatoes (or equivalent of roasted/fried ones)
1/2 tbsp tomato puree
1 generous tbsp tahini

275g bulgar wheat
25g butter

Veg
---
½ inch root ginger, peeled and grated
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 aubergine, cubed
1 onion, chopped
100g mushrooms, sliced
2 courgettes, chopped
1 small cauliflower florets
200g baby Sweetcorn

Spices
------
1 tsp wholegrain mustard
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
150ml/1/4pt vegetable stock
1/2 tbsp soy sauce
salt and black pepper

## Method
In a Tagine or Dutch Oven or heavy pot with tight fitting lid or in a slow cooker if you're out all day...

1. Heat the oil and lightly fry the ginger, garlic, aubergine, onion, mushrooms, courgettes, cauliflower and Sweetcorn. Cover the pot and leave the vegetables to sweat for five minutes on a low heat.

2. Add the mustard, cayenne, turmeric, cumin, coriander, tomatoes, stock, soy sauce, tomato puree and pepper. Stir well, bring to the boil, cover and simmer on low heat for thirty minutes, until the vegetables are soft.

3. Meanwhile, put the bulgar into a large pan and cover with 2 x pints water. Bring to the boil, lower the heat and cover. Simmer for ten to 15 minutes until all the water is absorbed and the bulgar is fluffy.

4. Mix the butter into the bulgar to coat the grains and add salt and pepper to taste.
Add the chick peas and tahini to the stew, stir well and cook for five minutes. Serve over the cooked bulgar wheat.

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