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an interesting 2 years

PostPosted: 06 Mar 2015, 23:01
by GMH
Well I just realised that 2 years have passed since I joined this website. I was one of the non obese but just into the overweight range. The trouble was 5 years earlier I was slim and each year another kg was going on. I knew the pattern well enough, having been there many times before. So for most of those 5 years I had tried to arrest the flow of weight and had failed. I was never a big eater, my problem was I liked carbs...well sweet things and liquid red carbs :oops: so whilst most of my eating was pretty healthy (I mean 1kg a year?! I can put that on in a week now), I was still slowly gaining. So my story is a bit different than a lot of people here, I didn't learn to eat better, I learnt I could eat worse and still lose weight but it HAD to be 3 fasts a week. I lost the 9kg (2 more than planned) pretty easily and wss suddenly the lightest in my adult life. Also unlike others I found if I skipped breakfast I was so hungry I'd eat any crap in sight, breakfast is really important for me because I make it at home = healthy and it keeps me going for hours. But when I was fasting I knew it had to be filling and low calorie. Because I don!t care about tradition, I ate home made vegie soup for breakfast, huge great bowl, about 70 cals. In fact I should go back to that. Anyway there I was below goal, people saying OMG you are SO skinny, 1 even told me it didn't suit me?? So I started to go up again, got fed up with deprivation and stopped fasting. Put 7kg of the 9kg back on! So then I got the wet fish out (I have 1 on hand at all times :grin: ) and went back to 3 days fasting. Didn't take long to drop the 7kg. So then it was time for a better shot at maintenance. I decided to try Krista Varady's version of maintenance 3 days of 1000 cals. This has been better for me, tho my weight bobs about, I'm not there yet mentally. I know that whilst I am finding my solution, I just need to ensure the weight stays low whilst I am experimenting. The wet fish is kept handy.

In conclusion I would say fasting gave me a big woohoo in the beginning, eat cakes, eat bread with butter!, drink wine, lose weight! I was in heaven, unfortunately it unleashed a beast and that beast needs to be restrained a bit...er a lot :razz: so whilst I AM slim, I have some way to go to taming the beast. I am exceedingly mindful of what needs doing and what keeps me from doing it. If I was rich I would have my personal vegetarian chef...I LOVE eating healthy food, just can't be bothered cooking it. With my changed circumstances (commuting 4 hours a day) in the last 2 years, I've been slack in that dept. There are other things that need reigning in, most of them due to feeling knackered and grabbing easy wrong food. But I will keep striving, I will watch and learn, I'll make changes until I've got things right. The bottom line is, if you are one of the unlucky ones that runs to fat, if you aren't vigilant, if you turn a blind eye, when you take the blinkers off, you've gained weight. It!s a pain, but I think when you don't stress, don't beat yourself up about it, approach it from a problem solving rather than emotional perspective, you CAN achieve your goals. I also think if you struggle to lose doing 2 fasts, bite the bullet and do 3. In many ways it is easier, you get into the rythm of fasts rather than the rythm of feeding. Personally I don't like slow, cos you feel like it's all effort and no result, but 3 days of 500 cals, you do lose quite quickly, I went nowhere with 2 fasts a week, so for anyone who thinks they need a boost I suggest 3 x 500 Cals.

Re: an interesting 2 years

PostPosted: 06 Mar 2015, 23:12
by julianna
Thank you for your post GMH and well done! You give us all a lot to think about. I especially love the vege soup for breakfast idea - why not? Much healthier than starch and additives in a box.
Xxx julianna

Re: an interesting 2 years

PostPosted: 07 Mar 2015, 04:29
by Tracieknits
Thanks so much for sharing your story :-) I guess what I need is to keep a wet fish on hand ;-)

Re: an interesting 2 years

PostPosted: 07 Mar 2015, 06:28
by barbarita
A very interesting post, GMH. It is fascinating how diverse the fasting regimes and the diets of longer term members turn out to be. All the best for your third year of fasting, and Carry On Tweaking.

Re: an interesting 2 years

PostPosted: 07 Mar 2015, 09:01
by nursebean
Thanks @GMH that makes for a great read. Fasting is so helpful isn't it. I do wish sometimes, though, that the weight would fall off a little quicker but I'm really trying to learn the signs of hunger and then, and only then, eat something I like. The moment we treat a food as "naughty" well then we just obsess about said food and, guess what, we eat too much of it! If we eat whatever we want but only when we're hungry, then we'll be surprised at how quickly we grab for healthy food anyway...if thats what our body needs!
Good luck with your third year of fasting...and thanks for being such a great forum friend. :heart:

Re: an interesting 2 years

PostPosted: 07 Mar 2015, 09:59
by SSure
Interesting to read everyone's personal experience of fasting because the stories highlight how much we need to find something that suits us and our lives if it is to be sustainable.

Congratulations on your 2 years and best wishes for Year 3.

Re: an interesting 2 years

PostPosted: 07 Mar 2015, 10:46
by Azureblue
Thanks for that and well done on two years working through it to a better place.
:0)

Re: an interesting 2 years

PostPosted: 07 Mar 2015, 11:00
by Ballerina
Well done you and what an honest and insightful post. I am now entering my third year of maintenance, ( 4 days in to be exact! ) and I can relate to a lot of what you say. Losing weight is not easy and keeping it off is even more difficult, vigilance is the word. Even now I don't really trust myself completely to not lose the plot and pile everything back on again but add I no longer have clothes in bigger sizes that can never happen, I hope!

Ballerina x :heart:

Re: an interesting 2 years

PostPosted: 07 Mar 2015, 13:04
by Sassy1
Thanks @GMH, your post IS very interesting!! :) I associate with a lot of your experience, and like Tracieknits, I also need to find that wet fish... And when you find a sustainable way of taming that beast, please let us know!! Best wishes and good luck. :clover:

Re: an interesting 2 years

PostPosted: 07 Mar 2015, 13:47
by carieoates
Thanks for you post GMH. It's a minefield of info here isn't it. There are so many ways of losing and maintaining above all we learn how our bodies react/cope with the fuel we give it and turn that knowledge into power.
5.2 is not enough for me to lose either, so 4.3 will continue to be my route.

Re: an interesting 2 years

PostPosted: 07 Mar 2015, 21:57
by GMH
@sassy1 if I learn how to tame the beast, I'll write a book about it LOL. Thanks to everyone for their comments, it IS a minefield, especially the gourmet world of food, it is dotted with 'treats' everywhere. In fact that just gave me another insight...I was teasing Humbug last night by asking if he wanted a treat, his eyes were trained on my empty bowl, every time I said the word treat, his ears went up, EVERY time! I think MY ears go up at the thought of a treat :-) my belief as a lot of you know, is rather than the body reacting, I think it's the mind. Hence the wet fish (tho it is sometimes left slithering beside me, rather than giving a slap :oops: ). On taming the beast, I found years ago that Dr Phil's (no matter what u think of him) book Ultimate Weight Solutions, was invaluable. Not only did it have classics like, 'her tracksuit was crying at the seams' and 'Feeling like chewed twine' but there are quizzes to determine your personality in relation to things like internal or external locus of control. In other words do you say things like 'all the women in our family are big boned' or do you say 'I'm a failure, I've let myself get fat'. The answer to such questions will determine how you can place yourself for best success within your framework. The chapter on food, yes just 1 chapter, is simple eat quality food that is not energy dense. If food was consumed on the way the body reacted, we would all no doubt be slim, but we eat because we WANT a particular thing or because we are celebrating or because we are bored, or happy, or lonely, or at the movies (what IS that?? Huge buckets of popcorn that no one EVER eats anywhere else. Talk about Pavlovs dogs ding ding!). There's nothing simple about eating.

Re: an interesting 2 years

PostPosted: 08 Mar 2015, 00:26
by Sarahg
Thanks GMH for an interesting post. I decided to lurk around again as I too have put back the weight I lost last year...fasting . I have tried but can't seem to get back into it.i fast a few times a weeks for a couple of weeks but don't loose much,get despondant and give up. Like you I only have a few kilos to loose.
I know that I need to stick to it for at least 6 weeks to notice any real loss and I like your idea of 3 fasts a week.
At the moment all I am doing is looking for different ways to lose a few kilos.
I need some motivation.so thanks again for the post.

Re: an interesting 2 years

PostPosted: 08 Mar 2015, 01:55
by MaryAnn
Congrats on your two years, GMH. Your journey seems a lot different from most people here. It's a bit worrying if fasting made your diet less healthy, but it sounds like you've sorted it.

Re: an interesting 2 years

PostPosted: 08 Mar 2015, 03:44
by rawkaren
I think you are my fasting sister. I shall report when I reach two years!

Re: an interesting 2 years

PostPosted: 04 Apr 2015, 08:22
by Jazzbird
Hi everyone,
I was also one of the very early 5:2 fasters two years ago. I still do 2 fasts a week and I am pretty happy with my weight as it is still well under the horrible start weight. Of course the weight goes on at Christmas and holidays, but 5:2 gives me the means of getting rid of those pesky pounds. I find I rarely count calories on fast days as I know what meals work. Eating far more vegetables, lentils, less meat. Substitute sparkling water with lime slices for wine twice a week.
5:2 works. It is not a fad diet.
And yes, I still eat cake!