The FastDay Forum

Ooh la la Tracie...gorgeous pics..loved seeing you both,loved the scenery,food and drink,loved the VanGoghs!
Really good pics very well taken.. Thanks for sharing! And you looked like you were having a lovely time! X

[Tracieknits]

Thanks @CandiceMarie! We really had such a great time. I felt a wee bit guilty that I didn't miss our son more, but oh well!

Hi Tracie, lovely memories of Paris looking at your photos, especially the Eifel tower, so pretty when it's sparkling with light. Well done only gaining 4lb considering the immense temptation! I really love French food,.....I went through the menopause a few years ago and didn't find it too bad - nothing like the horror stories I'd heard. I realise I have been very fortunate, some poor women go through such a lot. All I have had is hot flushes, nothing else. I still get them after about 5 years but not often. I am sure that being lighter will help you

[Tracieknits]

Thank you @JLmid My gynecologist said that she estimates 50% of her patients don't have too much trouble with menopause. So I'm hoping that will be the case with me. The hot flashes aren't severe -- I actually didn't realize what they were for probably two weeks. They only last about 3 minutes and i just get a bit warm. I can take off a sweater or push the blanket to the side and I"m fine. Knock wood that it doesn't get worse, because this is not a problem But it's definitely incentive to keep losing weight and fat, and to keep exercising.

Great news, i'm down below 200 lbs again, barely. I weighed in at 199.9, so I'm only 2.3 pounds above my low weight, the day before I left for Paris. So I'm not changing my signature line as I strongly believe I'll be back that low within 2 weeks. Besides, that 12 points of BMI I lost looks awfully nice there

Today we are going to an outdoor concert at 6:30 - Heart, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and Cheap Trick. We will bring a picnic dinner (being naughty and bringing baguette sandwiches, but being virtuous with our beverage choice -- a few litre bottles of Evian). We will have salads for lunch to compensate for dinner. Hopefully it won't rain -- there's a 50% chance in the forecast

What great concert bands @Tracieknits, I love eating in the open air with live music, hope it went well. 12 points of BMI down - that's fantastic. My brother came for a visit last week .....still way overweight. ...taking lots of medication (high BP, high cholesterol, gout)....still talking about weight a lot of the time. I live in hope that he will see the light. On the plus side a very good friend has had her first fast yesterday and I think she will do it. She got down to a very healthy weight a few years ago with Slimming World but then went just below her target (still in healthy BMI band) so was penalised - outrageous! If she struggles at all with 5:2 will show her your posts!

[Tracieknits]

What a shame about your brother. But having been heavy for years, I can understand how insurmountable the obstacle seems.

Yikes on her having to pay at below goal! I have heard that's the official rule at WW, but my leader says that they don't necessarily follow it. I hope your friend has great success with the fasting. It's always easiest to do this sort of thing with a friend.


Side note to you and anyone else: I just made this for lunch and it was fabulous! http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/ca ... ecipe.html
I only used 2 teaspoons of brown sugar (3 tablespoons is crazy!) and I added a few shakes of chinese five-spice powder. It was fantastic and I'm hoping that more tofu/soy products will help with the hot flashes.

How was the concert, @tracieknits? I used to listen to Heart quite a lot, back in the day. Lovely voices. Only know "I love rock and roll" by JJ and am going to take a stab at a Cheap Trick song: did they do "I want you to want me" or am I getting all confused? How I miss having a working memory!

[Tracieknits]

Well, I'll be honest, meh. Of course we only saw cheap trick, (yes, that's their song). First off it was an outdoor concert and I had bought cheap tickets so we couldn't be under the pavillion. And there were no upgrades to be had -- and it was pouring rain. Secondly, the concert started about 45 minutes late. So really, Aidan was quite anxious to leave by the time Cheap Trick was done. I was a little sad that we didn't get to see Heart, but oh well. we were all ready to go home -- and drenched. I've seen Joan Jett before and she's fabulous!!

[Tracieknits]

Yesterday was my first successful fast day in almost a month! And I was duly rewarded with a 1.4lb drop. I'm back under 200 and quite pleased with that

next fast day scheduled for Thursday. Today is a "normal" day where I eat up to the 30 points WW prescribes. Tomorrow, after a successful weigh in, is a "feast" day where I get to eat Wednesday's points and the rest of Monday's -- I have 15 banked! woot!

This morning, Bruce and I had another brisk 2 mile walk, then I had 1/2 cup whole milk yogurt and a small box of raspberries for lunch. Off to the endocrinologist to get some praise for the weight I've lost since I saw him at the end of June

Well done for getting back on track so soon after your trip, hope you had a fab time in Paris. Love the pics, you look great @Tracieknits. Good luck as you continue. It's great that so many of us have had a break for one reason or another and are back to carry on. Living a healthy life and still managing real life without any real damage. I love it

[Tracieknits]

Thanks @Justdee!! I have to admit, it was harder getting back on track than I thought it would be. But here, two weeks later, I'm firmly back on track. Phew!

I'm pleased to report that with yesterday being a modest/normal day (I ate 22 of my allotted 30 points), I'm showing a 0.2lb drop from yesterday. I'm quite pleased with that because we all know fast days can cause blips of temporary loss rather than real loss.

Today is a splurge day. This means I get all of my 30 points and I can also eat the points I didn't eat in the past two days -- that's a total of 23 more points I can have to make a 53 point day, if I want! So after my weigh in at WW I'm planning on going to the boulangerie in town that is actually as good as any in Paris, and I'll get myself a croissant and a cappuccino for breakfast Tonight we are going out for Thai food, or if the offspring gets cranky and doesn't want to go, we'll get Indian buffet instead. We might even share a bottle of wine tonight.

Plan is for a fast day tomorrow - 15 points is the goal. Friday's goal is up to 45 points (30 for Friday plus what I didn't eat Thursday). This weekend, I get to use my weekly points - that's up to 42 points to share, but I plan to not use them all. And I never eat my fitpoints - last week that was 61 points I didn't eat.

Side note: saw the endocrinologist yesterday. He was *very* pleased with my results. My thyroid labs are great, but my A1C is still a bit higher than it should be at 6.0 (it was 6.2 last year). So he prescribed Metformin. He is thinking that I only need it until I lose a few more points of BMI. He also said that it may help me lose a bit of weight, because in most people it suppresses cravings for sweets. I said I would gladly take any help offered in that regard, especially if we are only looking at taking it for a few months My BP was 128/80, which is not terrible, especially for me. It was more like 140/82 last year, consistently.

[Tracieknits]

Official ww weigh in says I'm 2 pounds down from last week! Definitely feeling back on track

Oh, that's all brilliant news, Tracie! You must have been so pleased. I've said it before...and I'll say it again - you are doing soooooooo well!

I think you will have struck quite a chord with many of us when you say that it was hard to get back on track. Know that one! But then, nothing worthwhile is ever easy...

Your results speak for themselves and we all know that there is no "magic" fix - it takes hard work and dedication to the cause to get anywhere....so well done you! It's great to follow your progress.

[Tracieknits]

So my plan has hit the skids hard this week. My mom is in the hospital - one of her heart valves stopped working and she couldn't breathe - her lungs were filled with fluid. She needs cardiac surgery (a new valve and to unblock one artery). She has to get a bit of dental surgery she had planned completed before they can do the cardiac surgery. She has been in the hospital since Friday.

I'm stressed. At the hospital, of all places, I eat quite poorly as the choices are terrible. I'm constantly hungry, no doubt due to stress. I'm trying to keep the damage to a minimum, but I did just see a box of hobnobs at the supermarket and said "life's too short" and bought them. I see why WildMissus is addicted to them.

I'm making my dad a pot of his favorite beef vegetable soup right now. I'll package that up into single servings and bring it to their house to put in the freezer so he can help himself to a nice meal easily.

Today is my son's 16th birthday and he has asked that I be home with him today. Of course he wants spaghetti carbonara for his birthday, as well as an apple cake.

I am exhausted, but I need to look on the bright side: my mom is in generally excellent shape, other than her cardiac issues so they think she is very low risk for surgery and will come out of it just fine. And I get to see my sister this week (she lives in Florida).

But since mom lives 2.5 hours away, I'm putting a lot of miles on the car.

Goodness me - you are truly Superwoman, Supermom and Superdaughter all rolled into one right now...keeping it all together and cooking for (nurturing) your son and Dad.

I'm glad to hear you'll get to see your sister - you'll be in need of a spot of bonding and it will help to share the strain.

Look after yourself xx