The FastDay Forum

Looks like I'm up first.
It is bright sunny day here and I weigh the same as yesterday! 131 lbs.

Mini celebration. I am at my goal weight for the first time since 21 December 2014. Must be doing something right, would that I knew exactly what

Barely maintaining for my first weigh in this month. However, who knows what I really weigh, as the scales this morning showed a 2 pound difference between the lowest and highest readings in the span of 15 minutes... I would buy new ones, but the consensus seems to be that they are all like that!
(I decided to go with the average, which puts me at the top of my 5 pound range. Perhaps a 5:2 week instead of my normal 6:1 would be in order)

So… given that I've finally decided to have 63-65kg as a maintenance window, I'm doing ok in March so far. My first weigh in after my trip had me at 65.5 (still in Feb) but I've been at 64.9 for the last two. I'd like to be closer to the other end of the window, so I'll keep working on that...

I've returned from my week away at two and a half pounds over target, which is what I was when I left. This is a big improvement on my usual pattern of gaining at least five pounds when away from home!
I now need to summon up the enthusiasm to do a few fast to shift this couple of pounds, which has been hanging around for too long! Unfortunately, my husband came in an hour ago with a big sticky Belgian bun, which I have every intention of eating!
Maybe I'll fast tomorrow?

I am starting the month 1.5kg over goal and 2.5kg over the weight where I feel more comfortable
Fasting is not the issue for me however; as mentioned last month, what I have to do is reduce my non-fast day calories. With the help of my maintenance buddy (thanks @Lizbean ), I am really hoping I can do it, as my attempts last month on the whole failed...

However, I am off to Adelaide (again) in the morning for a week, and I find that sticking to an optimal eating regime is more difficult when away from home. And I am mainly away from home this month - and next month - as a week after I get back we head off for a month in the caravan...

So not sure how things will go...

I'm always nervous about going on vacation, I'm afraid I'll go out of control and really struggle to get back to goal. But I'm getting a little more confident that if I just strive for some balance of the food groups while on vacation I'll be ok. And last week I went to Florida for almost a week and although I did come back around 5 lbs heavier a lot of it must have been water weight as I have already lost the 5 lbs after 1 fast day and 2 normal days. That's the great thing about 5:2, gives you the tools to handle ups and downs.

107.0lbs which is within the maintenance range of 105-110lbs so

Watchful waiting it is Like most people, I'm happiest when I see particular sequences and I prefer to see at least 3 105.x - 106.x lbs in a week but that hasn't happened since mid-February. The bright side is, I've stopped hanging out at the top of my maintenance range which was very much disturbing my maintenance calm.

[carorees]

Similar story to SSure this week. Have moved down to a trend weight that I feel happier with. So current trend is 64.1, max this week 64.6; min 63.5; maintenance range 63-65. Summary

Not so good this week. My low of 135.5 lbs was half a pound over goal; high of 138. I fasted on Monday, but should have on Thursday, too. However, going out to eat with OH after a play was too much fun--especially since the play wasn't so great

OTOH, even at 138 I still feel comfortable in my size smaller clothes

I'll do better next week

Keep up all the good work, mainteneers, we can do it!

After another couple weeks of fasting regularly, my weight continues to climb. I got up over 143 this past week and I'm having a harder and harder time controlling my eating on post-fast days.

So I am trying to decide what to do. I am going to stop the twice a week fasting. It worked brilliantly for me for 7 months and then it stopped working and finally reversed. I've gained five real pounds since September and if I keep on at this rate I'll be back where I started by the end of another six months.

The choices are either"

a) stop any fasting and concentrate on eating reasonably from day to day. I maintained between 142 and 145 for many years just being reasonable. If the physiological stress of fasting is screwing up my brain, maybe I need to try to get back to what always worked well for me in the past.

or
b) Fast at 800 calories a day twice a week.

For now I'm thinking I will go two weeks not fasting at all but trying to stay at a reasonable intake daily. If I can eliminate the pressure to overeat I will then seque into doing 800 calorie fasts once or twice a week.

I can't do that window approach. It feels too limiting and because I have a long history of successful maintenance with aware eating I'd rather try to get back to doing that.

The real issue is to extinguish the hormonal forces that are pushing me to eat all the time. Much of that pressure is from eating too much carb, so that is what I have to concentrate on. For some reason, after a fast day I get overcome with a huge need to eat carbs. I assume it is because I am messing with my liver's glycogen levels too much.

I hope I can get back to a saner relationship with food because these last couple months the urge to overeat after fasting has become stronger and stronger. The scale tells the story here and it is one I'm tired of reading.

I can't do that window approach. It feels too limiting and because I have a long history of successful maintenance with aware eating I'd rather try to get back to doing that.

It seems that everyone except us, @peebles, likes the window method. I feel I can do almost anything - and I can - I've managed about a week on "windows" but I felt like I was fasting for an entire week - I just don't like it -
I want to eat something if and when I want it, even if its just a romaine lettuce leaf (and it often is !) - but that's just me - I envy those that stop eating at 6:30 p.m. every day and don't have anything again til 1:00 the next day (and actually LOVE doing that) !!!!!

It is me as well, @lovemyparrot and @peebles! For exactly the reasons you outline, lovemyparrot, I also can't manage the windows approach - though wish I could because I really want to find a strategy that I can sustain/tolerate that means I don't exceed my TDEE on a non-fast day.

Peebles, I am facing similar issues to you. I have been trying your a) method, but almost always go over my TDEE by a few hundred calories. I am not bingeing, nor eating til I feel overfull, which is something, but I am eating when I am not overly hungry either - I just really fancy the food that I end up eating. It is likely that eating sugary carbs doesn't help, but as I have said many times, I don't want to have to give these up completely - but fear that I might have to in order to get this overeating under control.

Lizbean has offered to be my maintenance buddy, which I really appreciate, but I think those of us who share similar challenges could "work" together to see if we can find realistic solutions.

Good luck to us all!

It is me as well, @lovemyparrot and @peebles! For exactly the reasons you outline, lovemyparrot, I also can't manage the windows approach - though wish I could because I really want to find a strategy that I can sustain/tolerate that means I don't exceed my TDEE on a non-fast day.

So, there ARE more of us. Yes, @Sassy1 - let's see if we can get a support group together !!!!!!

I'm definitely up for some support in countering the overeating issues.

I am assuming that short term, eating without fasting probably will add another couple pounds, but I'm hoping that it will calm the hormonal push to regain which has become so strong. I'm also going to be much, much more careful about carbs, because I know that too much carb will make me hungry all the time.

And frankly, if I can't get a hold of things doing something that doesn't feel like a rigid diet every day, I'm going to have to come to terms with being a bit heavier. I watched my parents lose their ability to enjoy food as they reached their 80s, and since I can see my 70s looming on the horizon, I'd hate to deny myself all the pleasures that in another decade I might not be able to enjoy even if the weight wasn't an issue.

It's rather like when OH and I reminisce about all the wonderful restaurants that used to be in our region that are now gone, replaced by places nowhere as good. We didn't have the money to eat out very often when they were here, but in retrospect, we should have splurged more. Now we have the money, but nowhere near as good to spend it.