The FastDay Forum

Another month has flown by so it's now four months since I reached my target of 10st 7lbs. I have been posting monthly on my experience of maintenance, partly to help others but I have found that it helps me when I know I am going to have to confess if things have gone wrong...

It has been another busy month - second month in my new job which I am really enjoying.

I have not fasted at all for some time now but continue to be aware of real hunger when deciding when/what to eat as opposed to succumbing to greed or simply habit. This WOE has definitely reset my appetite and this is the key to maintenance for me. As I have noted before I think it also helps that I set a target weight at a higher BMI than many others. I feel that this weight suits me as I have an hourglass figure and carry weight all over, and I'm a comfortable UK size 12. I'm 5'5" tall

I am no angel though and have found carb cravings creeping back as the weather gets colder. I will keep an eye on this and will fast again if I need to.

I still weigh myself daily and post weekly on the forum tracker as this is an important discipline for me. My weight has bobbed up and down by a pound or two but I am still 1lb below target. I can't quite believe that I have been able to maintain for four months while not feeling restricted in what I am eating.

December is a very social month for me and I love Christmas so this month will be a challenge for me weight wise! Fingers crossed for my next update in the New Year

Thanks for sharing Windsinger. You are going really well. I'm happy to hear that the appetite resetting that most of us have experienced hasn't gone away for you. You are now eating like a slim person and you ARE a slim person. How cool is that!

Xxx julianna

It's great to hear your progress. I'm sure that being aware of weight and what you're eating is the way to avoid slipping back into weight gain

Great news windsinger very inspiring thanks for your post

Thanks for keeping us updated. I agree with gillymary: it is inspiring.

Thank you so much for posting, I'm planning to start maintenance next week and find it so reassuring to read wonderful positive posts like yours.

Dee

Brilliant and well done! Thank you for posting.... it reassures and inspires me that I'll be able to stick to my maintaining too...

Well done for maintaining so well. It's really an inspiring story so thank you!

Great that you have found a sustainable way of managing your weight and still enjoying your food. Congratulations!

Thank you for keeping us updated on your progress Windsinger. It's good to hear that you're doing so well. Look forward to hearing how you fare through the festive season, good luck!

Thanks for posting windsinger, it's wonderful to hear some folks can maintain just by watching calories without the need to fast

- I do have a question

I'm also in maintenance and like you, I'm finding my carb/sweet craving coming back. When I was in "weight loss mode" it was easy to not give into these cravings, I was on a mission, I had a task and a goal and that was to lose weight

I haven't been able to figure out the psychology of maintenance and how this can work for me; I find its easier for me to continue to restrict calories, fast and lose than just maintain

How do you deal with cravings? When you know it won't "really" damage anything if you have one chocolate hob nob or a muffin? may be the way to deal with it is to eat it so you don't feel "deprived", but how do you stop yourself having another? this is what I've been battling with so I'm continuing to aim to lose, ever so slowly

Any words of advice from your experience are more than welcome

Thanks and keep up the good work and providing us with the inspiration

Jen

Hi there..Thanks for the update x
I always like seeing you on here as i love yr name!
Its great youre maintaining so well and think its only human nature we crave carbs this time of year,but i agree with jen,once i start on carbs,its hard to stop..some things are just too more - ish!

Thanks for posting windsinger, it's wonderful to hear some folks can maintain just by watching calories without the need to fast

- I do have a question

I'm also in maintenance and like you, I'm finding my carb/sweet craving coming back. When I was in "weight loss mode" it was easy to not give into these cravings, I was on a mission, I had a task and a goal and that was to lose weight

I haven't been able to figure out the psychology of maintenance and how this can work for me; I find its easier for me to continue to restrict calories, fast and lose than just maintain

How do you deal with cravings? When you know it won't "really" damage anything if you have one chocolate hob nob or a muffin? may be the way to deal with it is to eat it so you don't feel "deprived", but how do you stop yourself having another? this is what I've been battling with so I'm continuing to aim to lose, ever so slowly

Any words of advice from your experience are more than welcome

Thanks and keep up the good work and providing us with the inspiration

Jen

Hi Jen

I did continue to fast in the first month after reaching target, mainly because I was worried that I would slip back into bad habits - for me that would be grazing on carbs. However I later found that I was able to do without the fasting and so don't do so now.

Although my carb cravings are coming back with the colder weather I really don't think that they are as bad as they were before I started 5:2, when I would often have a big muffin for breakfast, sandwich for lunch, pasta for dinner and lots of grazing in between on biscuits and chocolate. I often miss breakfast or lunch now because I only eat when I'm hungry.

My main problem is in the evenings after dinner when I like to have something sweet and like you I find it hard to have just a small amount of chocolate or one biscuit etc. The way I try to deal with this is to make it inconvenient to eat too much so for example I would take two biscuits into the living room and leave the packet in a cupboard in the kitchen. Previously I would have taken the packet with me and often ate the lot without even noticing. My daughter goes a step further - in her flat she freezes cakes and biscuits in individual portions so has to plan ahead to have a treat!

There are also some things that I just don't buy now as I know I couldn't eat just one, but as I said I am no angel - I failed on this and bought a packet of Thorntons caramel squares earlier this week and ate all of them one evening.

I don't know if this helps but good luck.

Thank you to everyone for your kind messages. I should have said that another important reason for my success in maintenance is this forum and the wonderful supportive members

Thank you windsinger - it helps a lot! I think I'm being too hard on myself. Before I changed my eating habits, I would graze on dried fruits like apricots and raisins all day - working from home doesn't help! and we know they are full of sugar, carbs and laden with calories so I am doing a lot better, I don't have them at home so I'm not tempted

I need to find that balance though, but I guess I should accept i will likely go off the rails now and then and simply accept and correct.

Well done again