The FastDay Forum

Thought I'd start this off to celebrate the fact that I am still in single figures9st 9lbs. Usually I see the number and up it goes. The sun is shining too!

Well done, @Merlin, Nine stone anything was last seen on my scales about thirty years ago when fearsome dieting got me there - only for the weight to go back on over the following months!
This month I am happily maintaining just below my target weight of 147 pounds, with the occasional temporary gain when I have a particularly carb-heavy day. I can live with that, as I am used to my weight varying by three or four pounds on a daily basis. Although I weigh daily, it is such a welcome relief to have learned that fluctuations are normal and don't mean that the end of the world has arrived! If a higher number than I like stays around for more than a few days, I just have a fast day and that sorts it out.
I love this WOL!

Any other maintainers around or are you all doing so well that you don't need to visit here as much any more?

Sure we are still around, and yes, things are running smoothly. No need to fast this week, so it will be next week. Some really nice weather the last weeks, so feels like summer alright.

Hope the problems with access are solved now so we can all contribute again. Doing fine, but really need one fast a week to keep on track, so, for the moment that's the strategy. Everyone ready for the summer to really take off?

And then there were four
It's great to see you are all cruising along very nicely. During my extended absence, low was 121 (much too low for me ) and high was 128 - today 126 - just right. I am very pleased to have replaced two fasts for one, with a light lunch and delicious dinner on the other days.

Hi, @Lizbean, it's good to hear from you again!
After a week away, childminding in Belgium, I returned on Tuesday weighing four pounds over my target of 147 pounds. However, I also brought back a horrible chest infection, cold and flu-like systems, so have spent the last three days sleeping at very odd times, eating only what I really fancied (not much) and generally feeling very sorry for myself!
I am still not feeling brilliant but am definitely on the mend and yesterday (and today) the scales tell me that I am back right on target, so not all bad news!
I hope all our fellow maintainers are doing well? If ever summer definitely arrives, and stays around for longer than a couple of days, that would be greatly appreciated! I am now officially very bored with rain, especially as the weeds in the garden are now completely out of control!
Good luck, maintainers! June is almost over, so keep in touch!

Still where I was at the start of the month- miracles do happen!

Well done to you guys,wish I was at the stage of maintaining,sorry to hear stowgateresident you have not been well after child minding,it's hard work looking after children,are they your grandkids?

I'm doing badly at the moment. Almost 3kg above my upper limit And I only weighed myself after quite a few post-holiday fasts. Never mind. I'll get it together eventually

Sorry to hear you were unwell, @StowgateResident. Well done getting back on track so quickly

[carorees]

Well, I've recently started HRT after humming and haaing about it for years. I finally felt that the lack of sleep was probably hurting my health way more than HRT might. However, since starting nearly 3 weeks ago, I have put on 2kg and 1 cm on my waist . I *hope* this is just water retention and it will calm down as my body adapts Still waiting to see if I sleep better. Certainly the hot flushes have reduced and I hope better sleep will follow.
Anyone any experience of this to share?

@carorees I hope it works for you, I put weight on and didn't really get on with it very well. Just didn't feel right. In the end I decided the hot flushes were easier to live with. I had much the same reaction to 'the pill' and gave up on that too. Hopefully drugs have improved in the last 18 years.

Hi Carorees, please be vary careful with HRT,I took it for about 2 years,but have also gone through breast cancer,is there a connection?? The answer is,there could be,I took it because the symptoms were so bad day and night,if you take it,don't think you need to take it for a long time,after 6 months you need to come off it to see how your body copes. Can I ask what made you decide to go on HRT in the first place,you also said you have put it off for a while.

[carorees]

Hi Carorees, please be vary careful with HRT,I took it for about 2 years,but have also gone through breast cancer,is there a connection?? The answer is,there could be,I took it because the symptoms were so bad day and night,if you take it,don't think you need to take it for a long time,after 6 months you need to come off it to see how your body copes. Can I ask what made you decide to go on HRT in the first place,you also said you have put it off for a while.

Hi @Newgirl
There is a link between a high carb diet/high blood glucose/high insulin (insulin resistance) and breast cancer. Also stress and cancer. As some breast cancers are hormone sensitive, then there is an increased risk with oestrogen replacement (and if you start periods young and are exposed to more oestrogen than later starters).

So, my rationale for starting HRT was that I've significantly lowered my BC risk by losing 40kg and eating low carb and fasting. The biggest risk to my health now, I believe, is that I have not had more than 3-4 hours of uninterrupted sleep in the last 7+ years since I entered menopause. The links between poor sleep and ill health are very strong. Getting less than 6 hours sleep a night has been shown to affect gene expression detrimentally, to increase insulin resistance, may contribute to early aging (due to shortening telomere lengths) is associated with higher weight, increased risk of Alzheimers, . I believe that the lack of sleep is raising cortisol which means my waking blood glucose is higher than I'd like (usually between 5 and 5.5 mmol/litre) and prolonged periods of high blood glucose is damaging to the blood vessels, makes cholesterol more atherogenic and in turn raises cortisol and insulin. So, I believe that the risks from HRT are outweighed by the poor sleep. My plan is to see if HRT will sort out my sleep and correct the chronic high cortisol. I would then aim to start to wean myself off as you have suggested. I have optimised everything else I can do to promote a better night's sleep with attention to vitamins and minerals (e.g., vitamin D, vitamin B, magnesium), having a blue-light filter on my phone, getting outdoors in the mornings etc etc. After 7 years of bad sleep, waking up every 2 hours with a hot flush, and then waking up for good at around 5am, I had just had enough! Incidentally, the pattern of cortisol release overnight is for mini peaks every couple of hours rising to a big peak at around 5am.

Here's a great review of how poor quality sleep worsens so many health outcomes: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4340787/

Did you experience the same weight gain issues that I've noticed? I am presuming it is mostly water as my waist is only slightly increased but my boobs have grown a couple of inches!

Last day of the month and still in single figures-just. If you weigh in stones and pounds 9:9 is the first time you hit single figures!
I have been lower but this seems to be where my body has settled to and , I am not going to argue with it- for now anyway. I am remembering that ages ago I did a Duken diet quiz that told me that 9:10 would be where my weight would settle. I've never done their diet but that prediction would seem to be about right. hope everyone else has had a good month.

Hi Carorees,have you considered taking serotonin in tablet form,I believe with a script from the doctor you can get,I am thinking of asking my doctor about it as my sleep is very poor and waking constantly to check time I feel I am not getting quality sleep.
I don't want to change your way of thinking regarding your risk of breast cancer,but at the time I was diagnosed I was my fittest and healthiest,I was running a few times a week going to the gym for different classes I had a personal trainer once a week,I was at the gym every day because I didn't work and enjoyed the challenge with my gym buddies. I was never over weight,my weight was around 68 kg
I was shocked to find out I had breast cancer,with chemo I put on 8 kg,but my body shape changed as well I don't have the strength I had. I hope you don't mind me telling my story and everyone else of coarse.