The FastDay Forum

[Tracieknits]

Okay, last night I had an extra 1/2 slice of pizza over what was planned, and boy did I regret it. I felt overstuffed, for a few hours after dinner. Hopefully I learned my lesson.

I woke up this morning 1 pound up from Friday morning, but that's completely normal for this cycle of eating that I'm on. Besides, that pizza was salty

Today's plan - we had another veggie hash this morning, this time with a side of bacon since it's Father's day. We are going out for thai food, which is very light points-wise. I have logged everything I've eaten or plan to eat and I have 4 dailies and 18 weeklies left over. Bruce and I might have a bit more wine again tonight, or not. We'll see how we go.

And I didn't have any chocolate again yesterday. It's been 3 /12 days without any chocolate whatsoever and I kind of have no desire for any. Weird. Last night after dinner, I pulled out a big bowl of cherries and my new zyliss cherry pitter -- which definitely contributed to my feeling overstuffed. And the adults sat around eating cherries and finishing our wine.

[Tracieknits]

Well it's Tuesday morning

I had a very successful day yesterday with my light day, eating only 17 of my 30 points. I had few carbs, but tons of food and I was completely satisfied. Breakfast was 2 espressos with 1/2 tablespoon of half and half cream in each. then midmorning was black tea. Lunch was a high fiber/low carb wrap (2 points), some deli chicken (1 point), a dab of dijon, a lot of salad greens and a teaspoon of light vinaigrette rolled up in it. I also had 2 tablespoons of a veggie hummus (1 point - 50 calories) with baby carrots. For a midafternoon snack I was actually hungry, so I had a light string cheese (1 point).

Dinner was a huge green salad with some grilled chicken and couple of ounces of leftover duck fat potatoes, which made it feel really luxurious. Then for dessert/pudding I had my 1/2 cup of whole milk yogurt with a couple of handfuls of fresh cherries.

I did succumb to a couple of cookies on Sunday night, because I had plenty of points left over -- I left 13 weeklies go uneaten last week! But that was the first chocolate I'd had since Wednesday, so I still call that well done. No chocolate or sweets yesterday

Today's plan: Much like yesterday, although my goal is to eat 25 points instead of 20. Having my second espresso now. My son wants to go out for bagels, so I may indulge in 1/2 of an onion bagel with french butter on it. Lunch will be another low calorie wrap and dinner will be a taco salad. No chocolate today, or at least that's the plan

[Tracieknits]

Forgot to mention the scales update: 59.6lbs down, 9.5 points of BMI down. That's three pounds down from Wednesday of last week 22.8lbs down since April on this new plan.

No need to say "You go girl!" @tracieknits....because you already are!! Congrats on losing another 3lbs last week too - that's brilliant Your hybrid is working really well for you!

Keep at it coz you're doing a great job....

[Tracieknits]

Well today is treat day! Splurge day! Use up the points I didn't eat day! Warning - naughty food described ahead!

I did very well, saving 13 points on Monday and an additional 3 points yesterday. So DH and I went out for Indian buffet lunch. It's an excellent place, run by a Pakistani woman who prides herself on not using cream in her curries, just a bit of yogurt. She uses a lot of wonderful spices and the food is excellent without being heavy. We tracked every bite we ate, and vegetables made up the majority of our plates. We tried to not take much for carbs at the buffet, but we did enjoy the fresh, hot naan bread they brought to our table. For a real treat, we allowed ourselves a tiny bowl of rice pudding each -- I'm guessing about 1/4 cup per person. I also had a lovely spiced iced tea (no sugar or cream!). The best part is that we didn't even go over the points we had budgeted for today's splurge. Dinner tonight is a bit more than we have on our light days (calculating 17 points), but within our budget for splurge day. I even have some points left in the splurge day budget

All of this eating today will just make us that much more ready for our light/fast day tomorrow.

Onwards and downwards!

[Tracieknits]

This morning I was officially 60 pounds down (23.2 since April 20) and I've lost 9.7 points of BMI. and that's on top of having eaten a small bag of light microwave popcorn last night -- with all that salt, I was expecting to be higher than that this morning.

I managed 23 points yesterday - mostly due to the 3 points of popcorn at 10pm last night. But I was really hungry and couldn't keep my eyes off the vote results that were coming in.

So today I plan to eat as lightly as possible until dinner. We're having a bit of a splurge dinner, nothing too crazy. I plan to stick to my allotted 30 points today. I still have 37 weeklies and 7 rolled points left for the weekend. There will be wine.

[Tracieknits]

And I just went through my closet. All of the jeans I've been wearing are officially too large. I can pull them on and off while they are still buttoned and zipped. So I set aside everything that no longer fits. The food pantry I volunteer at has a spot for donated clothes and I know size 16 jeans will go quickly.

I tried on a pair of size 14 jeans - a wee bit tight, but they zipped no problem, no fat spilling over the waist and I can wear them just fine with a shirt that doesn't tuck in. Same with two 16 pants that had been a bit too small to wear before. I also tried three other 14s - yoga pants fit just fine, two others were zippable, but too tight to wear out, yet, with fat spilling over the waist. I'm guessing I have maybe five pounds to go before they are wearable in public. Note: almost every pair of pants was new, with tags on them, and had been sitting in my closet waiting for almost a year for me to lose weight. They were also all bargains, and had generally cost about $10 or less, purchased on clearance. So now I'll be checking out the summer sales for some size 12, and maybe one more pair of 14 jeans - a boot cut to complement the skinny I already have. My "new" wardrobe consists of a pair of black pants (16 and about 5 pounds away from being too large), and a pair of purple jeans (size 16 that had been too small for me before, even when the rest of my wardrobe was a 16), size 14 skinny jeans, size 14 black velvet jeans, size 14 yoga pants and size 14 black capris.

[wildmissus]

@Tracieknits, what a result with the jeans and trousers, you must feel fantastic. For me losing weight is more about what clothes look like on me than the weight/weight loss. I am still resisting trying on the plastic box of holiday clothes under the bed. I am pretty sure most of them will 'fit' but I want them not to be too tight especially as it will be so hot in Corfu. I think I'll start getting the girls clothes organised and in a couple of weeks I'll bite the bullet and get the box out. I have a long maxi dress that I bought in the sale for £11, which is much nicer than I anticipated but I still look pregnant in it. I also bought a pair of jeans from work for £1, they are a size 12(uk). I tried them on few months ago and it was very depressing as the belly fat just wouldn't go in but I loved the fit on the leg, they are the jeans I aspire to wear.

I just wanted to mention that you, @Hazelnut20, @justdee and @johns are my support group at the moment. Whenever my demons appear I come onto the forum to see what you guys are up to and my demons can't get far enough away. Thanks everyone.

[Tracieknits]

Yay! I'm so glad to hear our posts are helping yes, it does feel good to be part of a group, huh? And it's a circle, because you all have been inspiring me for sure!

I am sure you will be able to fit into your holiday clothes for Corfu. You're right about tight clothes and heat not going well together. Sounds like you're going to have a lovely time

Your plan sure is working for you @Tracieknits. You're doing so well,keep up the great work

[Tracieknits]

Quick update: Friday I went 6 points over my dailies, which is fine.

Today I did well on my splurge day. We skipped breakfast and went out for thai food. I ordered a modest lunch and then couldn't finish it. So yay. It's that TOTM and I was feeling sorry for my crampy self, so I had a very small chocolate (2 points) and an espresso with my motrin this afternoon. Then tonight we ordered pizza and a made a huge salad to go with it. We shared a bottle of inexpensive French bubbles. I used my rolled points from Thursday. I still have 28 weekly points I can use today or tomorrow, but I'm pretty full, so I'm not sure I'll want anything else tonight.

I went through my bras and removed all the 40Ds from my drawer as they were getting a bit loose. Luckily I had several new 38Ds from a clearance sale almost 2 years ago, all new with tags on and about $7 or less - and they all fit now. It's so nice having all of these new clothes. I'll have to bargain hunt the clearance racks for my next size down now

[Tracieknits]

Update: Sunday went well. I stayed on track, and had 2 small glasses of wine. I left 11 points uneaten for the week, in addition to my fitpoints. I was quite pleased

Monday morning scales are always fairly high due to salt and alcohol, but they were 2.2 pounds less than last Monday, which is good. I've done very well on my light day today. I held off eating until 1:30/13:30. I had only 4 points - a low carb wrap with a small smear of low calorie hummus, some chicken and lots of salad greens, and some cherries for dessert. Dinner was small and I was surprisingly not able to finish it - I think I had about four ounces of chicken, some greens, carrots, radish, and cucumber with a bit of low calorie vinaigrette and a small handful of croutons. I counted 7 points but I think it might have been less than that because I left about 1/3 of my salad uneaten. I just splurged now and ate a banana while I was cleaning up the kitchen. 0 points on weight watchers, but we know that's an indulgence I shouldn't have often. I think it's been 3 weeks since I had a banana.

Hopefully tomorrow and Wednesday will show a nice loss, if I manage to drink the water I know I'm supposed to drink to flush out the salt and alcohol from the weekend

[Tracieknits]

Well it's Wednesday morning, and my weight watchers weigh in is in about an hour. The scales say I'm now down 61.5 pounds -- 24.7 pounds since April, when I started weight watchers, so it's been 10 weeks exactly. that's an average of 2.47 pounds per week and I'm thrilled with that. It's not as good as the BSD results, but I'm also not as restricted. There are 8 more weeks until my trip to Paris. If we stay on course, that will mean another 19.76 lbs down, which would put me at a BMI of 30.7. That would be lovely!!

Monday I did very well on my light day - it was almost a proper fast day! I ate only 15 points, which is about 750 calories. Tuesday I did very well as well, eating 21 of my 30 points. This means today I have treats planned. After my official weigh in, I have to kill some time before an eye exam, so I will have a croissant and espresso at a lovely French bakery in town - that will be the 9 points I rolled over from yesterday. Then Bruce and I plan to hit up the Indian buffet for either lunch or dinner -- hopefully lunch, if I'm done with my eye exam and another errand in time. I will use my 15 points from Monday as well as up to 15 points from today at the Indian buffet and it will be so worth it! Since today is a big splurge day by design, I'll allow myself up to 6 weekly points. I think we're having tacos or taco salads for dinner. We'll see how well I behave at Indian buffet, but I may let myself have a tortilla tonight.

I think the best part of all this is that I feel so balanced and so in control of it all. And I don't feel deprived because I'm having lovely treats on weekends and on Wednesdays. I hope I can keep this momentum going until my BMI is 25 or 26!

Tracie,
First of all, congratulations on your weight loss. I also have thyroid issues so I know how hard it is to lose. That said, I cringe at the discussion of WW. I have been to them several times in the past but never did the points. That looks so cumbersome. My husband and I heard Dr David Ludwig interviewed by Ira Flatow on Science Friday this winter. We bought his book, "Always Hungry". We started the program late Feb. It is not a fast loss for most people, but it is steady and without the record keeping and deprivation. (You can record keep if you want with the tracking sheets, but we don't.) Most lose inches. My husband was addicted to sugar but hasn't craved it in 18 weeks. He has lost 25-30 lbs. I'm down 10-12 and 3" off my waist. But, I don't have to count anything. I'm never hungry. You can have chocolate 70% or higher right away and alcohol in moderation after the first two weeks. I believe it has changed my body in more ways than just weight loss. I had blood work done 10 weeks in. My thyroid meds needed a boost. My LDL, triglycerides and cholesterol were down and my HDL up. It can be combined with 5:2 fasting but as of yet I haven't gotten back into the fasting. I may in the future. Here is a link to some info. Lots of stuff in the resources at the bottom of the page. It is more similar to the Mediterranean diet or South Beach rather than a ketogenic diet like Atkins. There is also a really good Facebook group with some additional cheat sheets. We don't stick strictly to the menus, although the recipes are very good. His wife is a chef and made the recipes. We go by the general guidelines. It's all about eliminating processed foods and sugars and keeping to the correct ratios of fat, carb, and protein. You phase some back in after the weight you want is attained.
Check it out. You will love it.
http://drdavidludwig.com/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/AlwaysHungryBook/
You only have to request to be added to the closed Facebook group. Then check the file tab for the cheat sheet and other links.

[Tracieknits]

Thank you for sharing. This is working for me right now and I am not going to change anything that's working! I've never actually had this much success with a plan in my life, and I'm completely thrilled with it. Although I understand your hesitance with regard to WW -- the older plan was terrible, in my opinion. But they reworked the plan this year and nutritionally it's much more sound than the old one

I think some people need to not have to track. And that's ok. I think I do better when I track what I'm eating -- and there's nothing wrong with that either. I think we need such a huge variety of great plans out there because people are so different with what they want and what they need. I have tried the mediterranean diet and south beach diet and I don't do well on them because I backslide rather rapidly into old habits. I've actually got a small group of real-life friends who are doing WW together, and so that little network my husband and I have helps a lot too.

BTW, my bloods were done in April, just before I started WW actually, and my total cholesterol was 172, with excellent ratios. My blood sugar, blood pressure and other factors were all well within the normal range as well. So that's not really an issue for me. My thyroid was ablated last year and basically shook it off. I'll be seeing the endocrinologist tomorrow actually, to see if he has anything to say. Right now, my thyroid is actually holding steady at a healthy level -- for now. Fingers crossed it stays that way!