The FastDay Forum

Great post @Wildmissus

Hello buddy - how are you feeling today? Do hope you are much better than yesterday...and on the mend. Or failing that, hope you are feeling a little better today?

Have just lost the post I was writing - so this is my second go. I have a wireless keyboard for my iPad...and I think I inadvertently touched a mysterious button on it...whereupon the screen froze as if I'd magically taken a screenshot! Couldn't save the draft or do anything...so off its gone into nanospace....

Anyways, here were my thoughts on your post:- I do hope Chris comes down with it hard. Recommend if so, you bang about relentlessly whilst he's trying to rest. It's all very childish...not to mention unkind...and an apology afterwards wouldn't really cut it with me....as I suspect it doesn't with you. Not that I'm familiar with apologies anyway...Nick doesn't communicate much...so rarely has occasion to bother apologising...

Moving swiftly on...coz I'm not in the mood to get morose right now...I really smiled about the incident with your sister in law. How funny....and brilliant....and flattering! Please hold that close...and remember it whenever you need a little pick-me-up. That really says it all...

In answer to your question, my sis has lived in Mauritius for about 26 years. She moved there after meeting a Mauritian and set up a picture framing business there. She comes back every few years, sometimes even every year and was once in the UK 3 times in one year - which was nice. I've visited once - back in 1998 when Emily was just 6 years old. The desire to see my sister outweighed my fear of flying on that particular occasion..but I haven't repeated it since...didn't want to push my luck!

Now then buddy - you weren't supposed to apply my comments to your eating patterns. You were supposed to grudgingly give in to the possibility that you are more like others see you than you see yourself...resourceful and very capable and certainly a long way away from "not good enough". That you and I and many others use food in a probably unhelpful way...is really not all that surprising. That we are trying every day to make better choices...is utterly brilliant! So what if we stuff up on occasion? Rome wasn't built in a day...as the saying goes.
We are doing our level best to make great strides towards finally gaining control. It's all over your posts these days...and I hope you can see what we're seeing!

Re the Week 7 weigh-in this morning......I lost 2.8lbs - a minor miracle given that I was taking on water like a forsaken old barge! The grand total is 28.8lbs in 7 weeks then! Can I have a whoop whoop? Or maybe a chocolate eclair??!!! Wash your mouth out, Pernelle...and stop thinking of such things, tee hee! Needless to say, am riding quite high on the mood front right now....

Time to stop blathering on, methinks! Hoping to hear back from you soon xx

@Hazelnut20, wow, woohoo, hip hip hooray. Blimey woman, over 2st in 7 weeks, that is amazing. I don't think you realise what you are doing for the rest of us readers. My last two or three eating days have been pants but after catching up with the bsd thread I have immediately gathered my thoughts and know what I'm going to do for the next couple of days. I does, however involve those ovally, round things I'm not allowed to mention. The 'chat' on the thread is detailed and inspirational. I know exactly what you mean about your maxi skirt. I walked to work to day and on the way home I could feel my belly fat wobbling, that is good because my trousers were so tight nothing could move before.

I'm still full of the cold, Sarah and Jennifer now have it but not Chris, mores the pity. The weather is not very inspiring here and I've gone back to my usual hours at work which is making eating harder. I have yogurt and strawberries at about 9am, I come home from work at about 3.20pm really hungry (or am I just thirsty) and I usually go for oatcakes and hummous which is fine but then I start mooching in the 'carb cupboard' and I've been giving in. For dinner we had pizza tonight , last night was burgers in a bun with salad...not so good! It was so much easier when I was working, I'd just buy a salad bowl and have it with tuna or feta and olives. Don't worry it's just a blip, I've still got four weeks on Friday until my hols so that is still a decent amount of weight that could come off and on a plus note, I have just tidied up the back room where I do my crafting so that I can put holiday clothes on the sofa bed. Jen has given me her evening clothes so I can get them aired and ironed and the pile is started.

I did realise that your comments about head down and getting on with things wasn't about eating but I did have a bit of a light bulb moment relating it to my eating. I am the kind of person who will battle on regardless. The store manager at work made a comment to me about being organised last week and I said that one of my colleagues says that I have ocd, he replied by saying that I have high standards which I liked. You have always said to me that if you set your mind to things you will blinking well do it as we can all see with bsd. As I type this I can see that I don't set my sights high so when it comes to losing weight perhaps I just see it as too much of a challenge therefore I'm destined to fail...mmm, yes, thinking about it I don't do things I don't think I can do. Something for me to think about, or I was going to say food for thought!

On non food matters, I had a little incident at home this morning. I'd had a shower and was in my big fluffy dressing gown taking my breakfast into the lounge when I realised the cat was up to mischief in the hall. She had a mouse. We have a tall wooden cat which sits in a corner in the hall and the mouse was behind it and she was 'batting' it from one side to the other behind the wooden cat. I went and got an old pair of leather gloves, pulled the wooden cat forward in the hope that the next time the cat went for the mouse at one side I'd be able to catch it coming out at the other. It took a couple of goes until I got it but it decided to run up my lovely cosy fluffy sleeve. Thankfully I caught it before it got too far and out in the garden it went. Poor wee mousey.

I'm heading for bed now because I want to read more of the bsd book.

wow @Hazelnut20 - 28.8 pounds in 7 weeks is amazing! You must be so pleased. If your TOTM is anything like mine, this weeks loss will be even better. How long does the good doctor say you can stay on the BSD without compromising your metabolism? Is the 8 weeks a strong guideline or do you think you can keep going?

I'm sorry you're still feeling poorly, @Wildmissus. But yay for saving poor wee mousie! They're so cute you almost forget how incredibly destructive and rude they can be if they get into your kitchen >.<

I had a boss once who said I had a bit of OCD, which made me an excellent employee LOL I knew her well enough to know she meant it as a compliment.

There have been a couple of times where Aidan has wanted a burger, so I've made large salads for me and Bruce. I prepared three burgers, but only Aidan got a bun. The adults got burgers (cheese, sauteed onions and all) placed on top of their salads. Really, it works, especially if you throw a *small* handful of croutons on top. We still order pizza, but I make a large salad to go with it. Bruce and I take a generous serving of salad and eat that before we start eating pizza, and it helps us eat less pizza. Hope that helps!

Lots of good things going on for you @wildmissus - but I'm sorry to hear you are still under the weather - hurry up and get well soon!

Now, who'd have thought we'd ever be pleased to notice belly fat wobbling! Hearty congratulations! You did make me smile...

I have more than a touch of OCD about me - so can relate to what you say...and I like the fact that your store manager recognises the very positive traits you have! That's completely brilliant and I'd always much rather have those qualities (and be seen to have them!) than be sloppy.

Ooh, I'm going to need to pick back up on this tomorrow. I've not nearly finished....but I keep falling asleep as its 1.15am! Night night all xxx

I can't believe what I've just read: You lost 28.8 pounds in 7 weeks? That's over 2 stone! Amazing xx

Why, thank you Beany! It is rather amazing, I agree..but true. Never thought I could make such progress in so small a time. Obviously, it's not something I would want to do for too long as I've been feeling a little deprived this week...so maybe fatigue has started to set in. But, it's been a flying start for me and has hopefully broken the cycle of overeating that I was in...

Hello @wildmissus - can I get a health report on my buddy? Has that bad cold gone yet? And how are you doing?

Friday is usually your weigh in day I believe? Hope those pesky scales are going down for you...

I've been a bit flat this week so haven't been on the forum as much as usual. Will try harder over the weekend, I promise...

Ooh...and thought you might like to know that nowadays, whenever I pass Jaffa Cakes in the biscuit aisle....I have a little smile to myself and think of how much my buddy loves them!

Take care sweetie xx

@Hazelnut20, still hanging on to my cold, what a nuisance. My weight stayed the same last week which I'm ok with but I've got some emotional eating going on at the moment!

I meant to tell you that as you suggested a wee while ago when I went to work I walked up to the butter and counted out 12 packed of butter in my head and imaged picking them up then walked off, I had a bit of a grin to myself whilst doing it.

Looking forward to hearing about your last bsd weigh in. I am a little concerned about what you are going to do next. Is the slow down of weigh loss going to be acceptable to you? I am still here cheering you on however you decide to proceed.

Hello buddy!
It's high time that cold went somewhere & bothered someone else! I know I'm showing my age, but honestly, years ago you'd have a cold...and then it would be gone - whereas nowadays they really seem to linger on...then disappear...then come back. It really won't do.....

Well, I've posted on the BSD thread that I've lost 31.2lbs....coz I have. You and I are both worried about what comes next! I've heard so much about how awful it can be if you overload on carbs having cut them right down...so I was very wary yesterday and in fact, I hardly ate anything. This "take it or leave it" attitude towards eating..or the need to eat...was so alien to me before starting the BSD. As you know, I put myself on it because I couldn't trust myself to behave on any other plan. Food has been such a comfort to me all my life...and I would be the first to say what an unhealthy relationship I have with it. Now that I truly know that I can eat low carb and low calorie each day without expiring (!) and more to the point, without really hankering after the sweet stuff...it would be crazy to turn around and go back to the madness of the pre-BSD days.

As I said on the other thread, I was surrounded by what I class as nice food yesterday. I can't say "used to class" - because I don't yet trust myself! I fully expected to launch myself into all the goodies...having publicly said I was taking a break this week. Didn't happen. I stood and admired all the yummy food and then a voice in my head said "you don't need any of that"...and the other voice in my head (!) for once agreed...
Maybe I won't go as mad as I thought I would! Maybe just the knowledge that I can take my foot off the pedal is enough to take away the deprived feeling. I've joined the summer challenge which ends on August 19th & is about 7 weeks long...so I can't turn my back on trying to lose weight even if I wanted to...which I don't!

So...I'll take each day as it comes, I suppose, but will continue to follow the BSD principles. I'd miss the yoghurt and strawberries plus the roasted vegetables too much I suspect...and maybe just knowing I am making the choices freely, will be enough. As far as your question about the slowing down of weightloss is concerned, the least I've lost over the past 8 weeks is 2.2lbs (4 packs of butter!) and I've recorded a loss every week - which for me and my hormones, is unheard of - so I need to get a serious bit of perspective on the issue. I've been weighing myself just in pounds while doing the BSD because it made the maths easier for me. As a result, I had absolutely no idea what that equated to in stones and pounds (just don't understand kilos, so no point in going there at my age!). Imagine my surprise when I found that I was teetering at the 13-stone mark (13st 0.4lbs) yesterday and would soon be headed into the 12-somethings....whoop whoop! My lowest weight when I successfully did 5:2 back in 2014 was 11 stone 11lbs - which now doesn't seem so very far away really...so if that doesn't give me a boost, I don't know what will.

If you're comfort eating at the moment, I would say standing still weight wise last week is a total victory. I am the last person on earth equipped to counsel you on the subject of comfort eating...and a moment ago I was about to say carry on eating if you're having a tough time - totally what I always do. But, how helpful would that be really? Absolutely not at all. So I didn't put that. All I can realistically say is "see it for what it is". Something is upsetting you emotionally....and you're responding to it by reaching for food - which is unhelpful. Oh, how easy it is to identify it in others!! Whether or not you eat a packet of Jaffa Cakes in one go....will not change how you are feeling about something. What it will change is your weight....something you have been working hard on reducing. The single biggest favour we could do ourselves is to ditch the reliance we have on food as an emotional response to issues. Eaten to excess, food can only harm us. End of. The crux of the matter is dealing properly with our feelings - but it's so hard to do when we've been used to scoffing, isn't it? Wish I had some answers for you...but let's keep talking about it and maybe the answers will come.

Loved the image of you walking up to the butter chiller! I really find thinking in terms of packs of butter very useful - plus it's a nicer substance than lard! I have, amongst other things, chubby arms and I like the idea of losing a pack of butter from each one...

Well, I really ought to start the day now, being as how it's nearly half past nine! This afternoon, I'm off to Bideford with my ex-husband for a meeting at my son's residential home. We want to start up a fundraising group to provide some extras for all the residents, plus hopefully make contact with other parents. This is our first meeting with the manager of the home to get some plans in place. Should be good...

I hope your day goes well and I'll be in touch again later xx

@Hazelnut20, I've just caught up with this thread and the bsd thread. You are a hero in my eyes. You have set out to do something major, you have succeeded and the results have been phenomenal. You have done this for yourself, you have been kind to yourself and you have mostly enjoyed it. You have come a long way.

I realise that you probably want to loss another couple of stone but have you considered maintaining this weight loss for say 4 weeks and then going for it again, that way you should hopefully avoid diet fatigue/famine reaction. For most people losing the weight although it feels hard at the time is actually easier than keeping it off. It is unfortunate that most of the forum people who have successfully lost weight have disappeared. It would be interesting to see how they feel about their eating habits now. Is it something they don't think about or do they still constantly think about food but have to make the decision not to eat things so that they can maintain their weight?

You are right about emotional eating, it doesn't change the situation which causes us to eat emotionally. Eating actually confirms everything that is being said to me and is thrown at me, ie. essentially that I am a waste of space and I am the one causing the situation. I know that is not true but from someone like me who isn't super strong it is easier to let the other person win which is just the same as letting the bad eating win. As you have said before if it was easy to kick the emotional eating then we would all be slim and happy with ourselves. Like you I am work in progress, I am certainly thinking seriously about what I can do about my situation. I have always been a great believer in we make our own choices in our lives, I just need to apply it to all aspects of my life and start making better long term health choices. Oh how easy it is to type that but not so easy to do it.

I hope you've had a good day, speak soon.x

Well just sticking my nose in to say that I think that was an incredibly insightful post, all around, @Wildmissus I think the idea of taking a break from the BSD, or at least sticking to the low carb med style eating but not the 800 calories might be really smart. You're absolutely right, losing is way easier than maintaining. That's where so many of us mess up. If you're interested, there's a lot of information out there about about people who have kept weight off. There's a university here that actually mainains the National Weight Control Registry. They regularly survey people in their registry, who are people that have lost at least 30 pounds and kept it off for at least a year, and they find out how the people manage to maintain. It's not necessarily what we wanted to hear, but it does continue to be work.
http://nwcr.ws/research/default.htm
Basically, they keep watching what they eat. They weigh frequently, even daily. They don't watch much TV. They exercise (something like 90% exercise regularly). They don't allow their weight to start creeping back up. This is actually where I got the thing about weighing daily, and I have found that so long as I continue to weigh daily, I don't lose control of the weight I have lost so far. I had a rough time last year with that medication and feeling so awful, and I was dramatically overeating, and I stopped daily weighing. I think I went a week without weighing and gained back 5 pounds, and it started a doom spiral because I was in a bad place.

And I absolutely agree with what you say about emotional eating. Thankfully, I'm in a really happy place right now, so the weight loss seems so much easier. So I'm going to keep at it while I emotionally have smooth sailing. Oh I hope I didn't just jinx anything >.<

@Wildmissus my local grocery store just started carrying Hobnobs in the British food section. Sigh. I think I will wait until September to buy some.

@Tracieknits, that made me laugh. I don't know why but it never occurred to me that you would have a British section in your supermarkets but it is ok for us to have an American section. It's funny though, the American stuff is so expensive, we also have a Polish section but that food is really cheap. The only thing is I can't read Polish, however I have taken a chance on a few Polish items and they are very good. What else do you have in your British section.

I will have to take a photo for you. I know there are wine gummies, scottish oats, three kinds of Tyrell's chips/crisps, some beans. I'll make it easy and post a photo. I'm sure I'll be there Friday or Saturday.

We have a German section too, a Jewish/kosher section, a Mexican section, an Asian section, and a Middle Eastern section that inexplicably has Indian food in it, with the Turkish stuff.