The FastDay Forum

Hi again, I think the only other thing I was going to add is that if you do have any setbacks, try not to get disillusioned. Use this forum for support, and just keep going. Take heart from the many varied experiences you will read about here, and find successful ones that you can associate with and apply their learnings to your situation.

Cheers!

Continuing Blog...

Yesterday was another fast day and it went fairly well...considering. Took a nasty fall resulting in a 'goose egg' between kneecap and shin. And because I was on my way to the first class of Drawing 101, didn't ice properly. The bright side was that the leg could have been broken but wasn't and it was fun being a freshman in college again. The other students are right out of high school for the most part, and look like LIFE has just smacked them on the side of the head. I am three times the age of any one of them, and feel not older, but experienced and worldly. Poor babies. They have a steep learning curve coming up, and need their fresh faces and high metabolism; they have so few advantages! Enough of that.

So today I missed the cycling class, which would be too arduous on an injured leg. For me being active is a big part of losing wight and feeling good. I was just starting to feel committed to the class and hopeful about getting back in shape. Can't let that go. Need to find an alternate workout so when there are problems, I can still get in at least two good sessions per week. Should be intense and I'm not good at pushing myself so a class or a competition would be best. Will have to think on this.

One of the best things about The Fast Diet is that if one is careful you can have all your favorite foods. I love being able to say on a fast day, "But TOMORROW I can have an ice cream cone!" Tonight, I may just! How cool is that?!!!

What a blow injuring your knee How long will it take to heal well enough to go cycling? Very infuriating when you set your mind to do something when something unexpected stops you.

Drawing 101 - good for you. Is this something you have wanted to do for a long time?

And glad to hear that the fasts are going pretty well - may it continue!

Oh Sassy, you are a faithful friend! How I appreciate that! Going to try cycling tomorrow, and see how it goes. I can always gear down to 1 and no one will know. The leg is bruised from knee to ankle, still a little swollen, but I am tough and consider myself pretty lucky. It was really the leg, not the knee itself, so see, not so bad. I'm posting this on 'Quick Reply' and don't know the difference. Let me know if you receive without glitches. Do you know the difference between this and 'Post Reply'? How is your cycling going. You are edging into spring, right? That would make for some beautiful days. Tomorrow is a fast day for me. It looks like you are on maintenance and maybe fast only one day a week?

Hi @sidney

Both "post reply" and "quick reply" create a post that is accessible to all forum members and visitors to the forum.

As far as I have worked out, the difference is that "post reply" gives you access to the suite of icons and allows you, for example, to "tag" someone's username (and then their name has an @ before it, and is coloured) so that they get a "Personal Message" in their inbox and a link to the post where they have been tagged. I have done this with your name.

This is not so easily done in "quick reply" - if you know the commands for the icons, you can type these, but this has not worked for me as an alternative to using the tag icon. Not sure this is easy to follow - click on "post reply" or "full editor" and have a play!

If you want to send a message just to certain people, you can send a personal message - a bit like an email. The message stays in your outbox until the recipient opens their inbox (and the message?? Not sure on this).

Glad to hear that it's not your knee that is injured. Hope the bruising does not take too long to heal. (I had an ACL replacement last year, and recovery takes ages. My knee is fully functional now, I am very pleased to say, but I am much more aware of it, and it is more easily inflamed. That'll teach me to jump off rocks onto hard ground...!!!)

I have yet to start the cycling again - my excuse is that I am waiting to get over a chesty cold I have had for 2 weeks. I hope to start on Monday

And I WISH I was on 6:1... Since reaching goal, I have struggled not to overeat in the evenings, which has meant I have to do 5:2, even 4:3, to get back to goal. There are lots of ideas in various threads in this forum for how I could deal with this, but I have yet to find a strategy that I will stick to!!!

Spring officially starts on Monday. We are having some lovely weather at the moment, tho the forecast for Monday is wet! I am looking forward to the daylight hours increasing and the weather warming up. It has been a cold winter for us. You of course are heading in the other direction. Do you get four seasons or does your weather change rapidly from cold to hot and back again? Melbourne is known for having 4 seasons in a day!

Hope the fast days and non-fast days are going well for you. If you haven't already, do have a good read around the various threads of interest to you - these can be very informative. Also read the info provided by the site managers/owners; lots of useful stuff.

Cheers!

Weighed in Saturday, as I have been every Saturday since beginning the Fast, and only lost 2/10's of a pound...a little bummed until I remembered that the day before was a 5 day and NOT a 2 day as it had been the week before. Not sure if it's best to weigh after second fast day or always on the same day of the week. ???? Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

If the loss is slow maybe my skin will have more opportunity to shrink instead of just wrinkle! After a certain age the elasticity just up and leaves... Dang!

Great workout today. I love coming home hot and sweaty. Feeling almost virtuous. Leg and knee still creaky. Hope that's ok.

Sassy, the forum is educational and fun and generally encouraging. I have paid special attention to the places where you have posted. It sounds like you were discouraged about your weight fluctuation since you have reached your goal. But isn't that kind of normal for being at goal? Your loss and BMI are so awesome! I think you are being hard on yourself. Your numbers look really good.

So excited! Lost two whole entire pounds since last week. Of course that just puts me on the average loss of half pound per week. Still, for me that is good. And I can not expect that to happen again. Spent yesterday pm and evening with people who were not aware of my fasting and actually said previously that it was a bad idea. It worked in part because I'd saved all the calories for our one meal together.

Still haven't read about HIT and will save that for a day when I need motivation. Meanwhile, the cycling class varies between high and low intensity and speed, which I suspect is the gist of HIT.

Hi Sidney--I've been catching up with your journal today--you've made very good progress. So did you tell your dinnermates about your experience with 5:2? If so, what did they say? I'm nosy

Love your comments about 17-18 year olds! Even though I'm experiencing all the aches and pains of old age (73), I wouldn't want to be that age again.

Best, Marybeth

Hi @Sidney

I was away for the weekend and didn't get a chance to post...

Congrats on your recent loss, you do sound pleased. And it may happen again - who knows!! Your cycling does sound as if it meets the HIIT criteria, and more. Those cycling classes are very intensive.

You are certainly right that my loss on 5:2 has been wonderful and I do feel rather self-indulgent?? to carry on about my "issues" when so many are battling to lose the weight that they want. The only thing I can think of in my defence is that there may be learnings for others in what I am going thru???? And writing about it may increase my self-awareness too... I am frustrated with myself that I don't stop myself overeating, particularly in the situations when I am not even hungry... If I could understand the reasons for this, then there may be something useful for me and others. It may be partly famine reaction but it may be something else. I am also disappointed that I have not been able to reeducate my brain to crave certain foods less, to not eat after a certain time in the evening, to not eat and read/watch TV, to eat while concentrating on and enjoying each mouthful, etc etc. I know I should concentrate on what I have achieved, and I do when I look in the mirror, but I haven't worked out how to use the positives to get me thru my current challenges!!

Hope you are going ok! Cheers.

Thank goodness! Could not get onsite for the last few days and once got on but could not post a reply. Just so you know, I'm not playing hard-to-get! On the other hand, I don't try every day. So there you have it.

Sassy, I did not mean to insinuate that you were being self-indulgent. You have been so encouraging to me. In this battle, anything we/you/I can do to win, is fair. Weight has been an ongoing issue for me since high school. More of a war than a battle. And your thinking aloud IS helpful. I wanted to be encouraging instead of just taking from you. Does that make sense?

Hi Marybeth! I like that you joined in. How fun! Trying to imagine NY at this time of year. Fall setting in with those gorgeous colors. I imagine you beneath a red-gold tree breathing in the beauty before winter hits.

Today is a fast day, or a 2 day as I prefer to think of it. The logic is that if there is a fast/famine day then there must be a feast day (this may be the Catholic in me). Anyway a 'feast' day is a short path to hell. Tried that just once. So thinking of a 5 or 2 day works better for me. Odd, what a difference that small adjustment in perception makes!

I don't mind being in the middle of a fast day; they are less of a problem than the 5 day. Too many choices on a 5 day. And then last night, it felt like I needed to store up (like a squirrel in the fall?) for today. Is this the sort of thing you were talking about, Sassy? So late last night I got up(!) not even hungry, and had half of an avocado (love those) and the rest of an appetizer I had brought back from a restaurant. And predictably , it didn't even taste that good. So what's up with that?

Hi sidney

Glad to hear that things seem to be going well overall, despite a little late night snacking!! Your snack at least sounded healthy. Maybe it didn't taste as nice as you expected cos you weren't really hungry, or you felt guilty, or maybe it wasn't that good anyway??! Try to use it as a warning for next time you want to snack (says the person who should be listening to her own advice!).

There are lots of possible reasons for me snacking I guess - storing up before a fast, as you suggest; food tastes nice; a reward for getting thru the day; an easy way of having something that seems pleasurable; habit; availability; choice; and so on. Maybe trying to sort out my motivation may help me find a non-food alternative??

Ooh, I did not mean that YOU inferred I was self-indulgent! It is ME who thinks I am self-indulgent. I lost weight relatively easily on 5:2, and so many struggle, so I really have no cause for complaint. Any problems I am having are my "fault", whereas so many are dealing with health and other issues that can make losing weight quite a challenge.

I had 2 almost only liquid fasts this week, that went really well and I felt great the next day. Will see if I can replicate these in the coming week. I was planning a low cal day today, but that has not eventuated, tho I think I have managed to stay within my TDEE. But I am feeling very full, so maybe not??

Anyway, enough of me. I will just say that you have been very encouraging and I enjoy our "chats".

You still sound very positive about this way of eating, so keep up the good work. And keep us posted on your progress.

Cheers!

Screwed up last week. Not horribly but enough to set the scales in the 'gain weight' mode. Did not stay in parameters on two days and skipped a workout. Weighing in should have been a wake up call. But no. Went out to Bravo's where the atmosphere is celebratory and alluring. Tried to balance cost with calories. Per usual, it satisfied neither criteria.

To back up. Talked to Carol yesterday who has had 3 trips to emergency in the last 2 weeks. She is active, healthy 75(?) year old. Who neither looks nor acts like it. Pretty much full time nanny to her twin grandbabies (about 2 years old) and cares for other babies in between times. Suddenly, she is having heart palpitations, fluid around heart and lungs, blood clots, and ... one other thing. Scary. Gave her my scales to measure grams of salt which she should be limiting. And promised a bottle of muscato (sp?) During our talk my point of view kind of shifted. Apparently, she had gone out with a friend for tacos and in a fit of what-the-hell to Braum's for ice cream. There must be balance.

How DOES one find that?

Saturday morning weigh in; worked out 3x this week and fasted 2x but yesterday at the birthday party I had a big (for me) piece of cake and TWO margarita's. And it was worth it! Fun cycle group and they party as hard as they work. That is a refreshing balance.

After meeting them yesterday, Jim (husband) likes them and that is a plus as well. So good things are happening, but because of the party on Friday and fasting on Thursday, I could not be too disappointed about what the scales said. It was 133. Still three pounds from first goal. No gain. And having a group to work out/cycle with is big. Having a set time and day eliminates the inner (ongoing) argument of when is the best day and time. Self-discipline would handle that problem...not my strong point however. So the working out is an important piece of the puzzle. I can push myself for an hour, or 45 minutes and be proud of that, and build on it. That was hard, but if I did that, I can certainly fast till 4:30. And if I fasted that long, then fasting till tomorrow morning is a piece of cake. (Note food comparison....) Memo to self: Do not give up!

Recap: Only fasted one day last week. Monday, of course. Went fine. Tuesday am left cycle class at midway point because .... not sure. Realized mid-morning on Wednesday that that needed to be the second fasting day due to dinner plans on Thursday and having kids for 3 days over weekend. So Wednesday ended up a fail as far as fasting went. Too soon after first fast day? Head set not there? Then skipped Thursday workout; seeing a snowball effect here... Thursday dinner plans were cancelled, so I could have at least fasted... damn. Enjoyed having grandkids, although it always messes with my eating program. Leaving for MO Wednesday, which means no fasting, working out or cycling for 11 days. Maybe just consider it a vacation and pick up again on the 20th...what to do? Unwilling to give up.

Life keeps getting in the way. Had staved it off there for a while.

Oh my gosh!...so good to be back. It's not just the vacation but playing catch up afterwards and getting back in the routine. Especially difficult trip. Two intense days of kids and party prep, the day/night of the party and then after a late start doing the drive back in one day. Then a week of catching up on meetings and classes. Helping Vanessa with cleaning, food prep and shopping for two Halloween parties. Over now but it took the better part of three weeks.

Excuses. Shame on me. This should not have happened. I need to plan better and then keep nose to grindstone.
So I fasted on Friday of last week, and cycling class on Sat. Weighed in at 139. Ugh! Back to my starting point. Though it should come off faster this time around.

If all goes well, the next major bump in my routine should not happen until Christmas Actually looking forward to today and the fasting!