The FastDay Forum

I thought that someone should kick this topic off for September and so here we go!

My weight seems to be bouncing around a few pounds above my target weight but I have been more focused in the last couple of weeks and there seems to be signs of a downward trend. Tomorrow will be my first weigh-in day of September so I will have to see what that brings! The last time I was at target was in June, according to my Tracker so it has now got to the point where 'something must be done!'

I am off on a cruise in seven weeks time and certainly don't want to go away over my target because I know that I will definitely finish it in that position - and by more than one or two pounds!

I know I've only myself to blame but I just love to eat (and drink)!

Looking forward to catching up with some of you lovely fellow-maintainers in the coming month! See you soon!

I'm a bit fraudulent posting in the Maintaining thread! I need to lose 2 or 3kg which is not a huge amount but enough to not be maintaining at the moment. So back to fasting x2 per week and trying to make sure that I run x3 per week. I'm fasting Mondays and Wednesdays again as those are my long work days and it is easier to fast if I'm busy.

Hi All, just looked back through some of my posts, accidentally put my highest BMI at 23 which it wasn't, at 10st 10lb 5'6" it was 24.2, which I realise doesn't sound too bad except that after an adult lifetime of being slim all this extra weight was right round my middle, my waist was exactly half my hight. I am now 9st 4-8lb so BMI around 22 waist 29" so I can now say I'm maintaining. To help me keep track I weigh every day, but I don't pay a lot of attention unless it creeps up over a week as I know there can be water related fluctuations. If I am going out and plan to eat -and drink! - a lot I will cut back beforehand, maybe have breakfast but then nothing but water, veg stock and raw low carb veg until the outing. On a normal week I will usually have one proper fast day starting the evening before with masses of low carb veg plus fish or quorn coconut oil and various herbs and spices, nothing except water broth and raw low carb veg until the next night when I go back to normal. I am so grateful, on a daily basis, to have discovered something which actually works, almost painlessly. ...Thanks so much to everyone who uses the forum giving advice and encouragement.....a friend asked me how I do it just yesterday - here's hoping she joins us!

@Loulou51, of course you're still a maintainer! I regularly pile on 7-10 pounds if I am away on holiday or have visitors to stay but as long as I am working towards losing it, as soon as the 'event' is over, then I still consider myself as a maintainer, albeit a rather shamefaced one sometimes!

@JLmid, congratulations on the maintaining! I too am a daily weigher and it is so lovely for the tyranny of the scales to be over. I no longer fret about the gain of a a few pounds, secure in the knowledge that they will go as fast as they came! My weight (without visits/visitors) maintains at about 147 pounds without too much fasting. I am 5' 7", only an inch taller than you and it's interesting that you started your weight-loss campaign only three pounds heavier than the target that I have settled on. I did manage to get down to 140 pounds earlier in the year but it proved impossible to stay there without fearsome and rigorous dieting, so I have decided that, at 67 and with a BMI of around 23, I will happily accept 147 as my target for life.

I wonder where our other maintainers are this month? Come and check in folks it's rather lonely in here! Has anyone heard from @ballerina recently? Her stories were always such fun and I'd love to know how she is doing up there in bonny Scotland.

Well I'm in maintenance mode, just as ever. Nowadays I really need one fastday a week to keep on track (used to fast only occasionally, when needed). Wonder if there comes a time when two days will be needed, so let's wait and see... One more month to go until 3 years on maintenance
Keep up the good work folks

Thank you @StowgateResident for your kind words. I guess I haven't let it all get too out of control but like you the weight I originally got down too was too difficult to keep up without being very very strict. Anyway back at work this week and I have had two fast days, two runs (another tomorrow at parkrun) and one swim. Although the fast days were not perfect they were a good start and will I am sure improve as I get back into the swing of things. Let's hope September continues as well as it has begun

Hi all, I agree with you there @Stowgateresident, I think we all have a"set weight" within the healthy band which is unique to each individual. In theory at BMI 24.2 I should have looked and felt fine, but I really didn't. Having been a size 10-12 (the way clothes have been cut since the late 1980s anyway)all my adult life I was looking at replacing my entire wardrobe and all the weight was in a horrible blob round my middle. There was no saying whether my weight-gain would stop there either, so something had to be done! Some people manage to get down to a BMI of 18.5 and they look and feel great - with my size 8 feet I suspect I am not one of this group and would only make myself miserable trying.
This WOL is great because every individual can sort out their own level, and do it their own way.

Hello!

I am back and posting, at long last!

I have read with interest that some mainteneers have put on a small amount of weight, above their original goal, which they are having trouble shifting. I share this issue, though I think my weight gain is more than a few pounds. However, I have still decided to call myself a mainteneer, as I have kept off most of my initial weight loss.

My food management challenges continue to be eating when not hungry, especially in the evening, and eating far too much when on holiday.

After my overseas holiday last year, I put on quite a bit of weight and could not face standing on the scales on my return. Since then, I have not weighed myself on the "good scales", though I have had my OH record my weight from time to time. I do admire those of you, such as Stowgateresident, who are able to be quite "philosophical" after holiday gains and just get back into whatever fasting strategy they use. I used to be more like that, but have had much more difficulty of late.

Although I do think that regular weighing can be a good maintenance strategy, and it worked for me for ages, it started to not be effective. Also, I felt that I should be judging my weight management success by when and what I ate, rather than what was happening with the scales. However, that has not proved effective in stopping me overeating.

I decided to begin posting again to see if my activity here might help me be more accountable to myself and provide me with some extra motivation to at least shift some of those extra kilos. Though the main goal is to try to find more strategies to help with my eating challenges.

I am always very interested to hear about what others are doing to successfully maintain, and what their challenges are.

Please share your issues and solutions, if you haven't already!

So far so good on a 6:1 schedule. Seems like after a few weeks at the top of my maintenance range, some 'wiggle room' is in sight (down 0.5 kg on my last official weigh last Tuesday). In a bit more than a week my 'winter schedule' will start with speedskating saison on Oktober 4. Had some experience that that might make weight maintenance even a bit more easy, so looking forward to that

Welcome back @sassy1!

I have been writing an article about how insulin resistance worsens with age due to falling hormone levels and because of that and my terrible sleep due to hot flushes decided to experiment with HRT. Unfortunately, the progesterone component appeared to cause an immediate weight gain of around 2kg. But the hot flushes are a lot better and sleep a bit better. I'm still working on it all! I am still thinking that it is my poor sleep that is a big cause of the problem but also am aware (reluctantly) my bad habit of eating nuts and having a glass of wine instead of preparing dinner when I am hungry after finishing work is probably not helping. (But nuts are healthy, right? This is called the "permissive eating effect" where the perception that a food is healthy allows one to over-eat)

There could be many reasons why you are still struggling with over-eating. As you know, it is important to look beyond simply calorie (or even carb) intake to issues such as quality of food (as you point out), timing of food, sleep patterns, stress, hormone levels, micronutrient balances, inflammation.

If you have the Ways of Eating app, you could try using the wellness trackers (a recent feature you might not have seen yet...you might have to update the app) to see if you can spot any link between sleep, energy, mood, etc patterns and your eating habits?

Well, September is nearing its end, and I thought I'd report here my maintaining. It is interesting what Carorees is saying about weight gain with increased age and also the damn hot flushes at night. I was again soaked last night. I thought this Menopausal thing was going to be letting up, as I reached 60 years. But the night sweats are getting WORSE!!! So, I've recently struggled with some weight gain. Clothes became too tight so I started an extra time of window fasting in August. I have now lost 4 kg on that, and I feel so much better. I also now sleep better. so things are looking up .

Hi @carorees, I seem to have the latest WoE App, but can't find the wellness tracker...

Maintenance Month 027

Goal weight 120 lbs, maintenance range 118 - 122 lbs, method 19/5 every day.

Entry weight 127 lbs, exit weight 125 lbs, average 126.27 lbs
Lowest 123 lbs (1 day), highest 128 lbs (2 days)

Marginally better than last month, but the best days were towards the end.

By Jove, I think I am getting it.

Adequate protein (no more than 30g to 40g animal protein with extra from nuts, beans and seeds), lots of non-starchy veg, mostly raw, top up with coconut oil, olive oil, avocado, nuts, seeds and sometimes cheese, cream, greek yoghurt.