The FastDay Forum

Pinch and a punch for the first of the month maintaineers

1/4 of the way into 2014 - the year I started maintenance for life!

How are my fellow mainteneers going? Any highlights from your maintenance journey so far? Managing life at the summit of Mt Fastonbury without slipping off too often?

Highlight of my first quarter? I had my first holiday while on maintenance -with 5:2 either side of the week of holiday I seem to have maintained quite nicely. I certainly didn't hold back or think about what I should have or shouldn't have at all on my holiday.

Can see a lot of lovely forum members approaching the summit - can't wait to see you all here (more of us to hang on to each other!)

Hi @Otter, fellow mainteneers, those approaching, and anyone else reading

Sounds like you managed your holiday very well, Otter - good for you! great to know that you have a strategy so you can have a holiday without worrying about what you eat.

I am starting the month a little over my goal weight, due to a lot of serious over-indulging in the last 2 weeks. (Haven't put the data into the progress tracker...) All things considered, the weight gain is not too bad given what I have been eating.... A lot of very sugary and high white carb foods.... (What is it about good quality smorgasbords that mean I can't seem to stop myself over-eating???)

So I am well and truly in need of returning to healthy eating, and am fasting today and might even do 4:3 to get myself back into a better routine - will see how I go. Now I am back home, I don't seem to be tempted by the sugary/high carb foods - well, not yet anyway!

As per my Easter goal, I do want to lose that little extra before I indulge in hot cross buns and choccie eggs. Only 2 weeks to do it in tho.

I have really enjoyed reading how fellow mainteneers have been going so far this year - so I look forward to your accounts this month

Best wishes all!

I have a little test coming up: three days in Tokyo. My friend I'm traveling with eats very healthily, though, so I think it will be ok. I'll put ADF on hold while I'm there, but perhaps try to stick to 16:8 if it works out with my friend.

Best wishes for your test @MaryAnn! I think putting ADF on hold is a good idea; 16:8 more doable, tho if your friend eats brekkie, that makes it a bit hard. Maybe you can just avoid those sugary white carbs but otherwise not worry too much??

yeah. I'm guessing if we do brekkie it will either be hotel buffet, which will include eggs, or coffee shop, where i can get a black coffee.

I haven't been in Japan for a very long time, but as I recall, they don't really do "sugary white carbs". True, @Maryann?

I'm doing well so far up here on our maintaining mountain. My neighbor came to the door yesterday with a danish pastry - talk about sugary white carbs. Well, it wasn't a fast day, so I ate 1/3 and brought the rest up to hubs, who appreciated it and can eat such things without a second thought.

maybe not sugary, but white carbs: polished rice. Bread is getting more popular, too, and it tends to be made with white flour and have a lot of sugar in it. It's not very nice (way too squishy for my taste), so it's easy to stay away from. But generally, food is quite healthy and portions are small, so it should be a dieter's dream.

well done with the danish, @wendyjane!

Have a great time in Tokyo @MaryAnn, I'm sure a few days off ADF won't hurt and Japanese food seems to be healthy compared to some other countries. Good luck on getting back back to goal weight @Sassy1
Well done to @Otter and @wendyjane on maintenance and resisting temptation!
I'm starting the month at 57kgs, my goal weight having dropped 2kgs of going over at the start of the year, running lot and eating lots of salad which I love (even in winter). Still doing 6:1:5 to maintain as I want to stay at this weight. Might need some advice from @MaryAnn about what to eat before my half marathon in 10 days time...I don't really eat a lot of pasta or rice!

It's great to see so many succeeding in maintaining their weight. Living in the Southern hemisphere I think the hard months are about to start for me. I love eating porridge in the morning, either with frozen berries and chia or cinnamon, coconut, almonds and chia. For morning tea a hot cross bun. And when the weather really cools down there are the casseroles with dumplings or mashed potato toppings, or bowls of soup with crusty bread. I think I might have to stick to 5:2 or at least 6:1.5 to enjoy all these autumn and winter dishes.

Just popping in to say 'Hi'! Having lost the October to January thirteen and a half pound regain, I have been maintaining within my two-pound 'buffer' for five weeks, including a twelve day trip to Germany.

I am still fasting a couple of days a week, which then means that I can indulge myself, a little, on the other days. It's working, so far, so now I just need to get back into the HIT regime which fell by the wayside when I went away.

Today is my fastiversay and I've been maintaining since the end of August. So happy, staying under goal and doing fine! Love to all!

I'm 1lb under target today and have seen this weight several times over the past few weeks. Very happy still doing 5:2, 16:8 and wey hey weekends when I always have sausage, bacon, poached egg, beans, mushrooms and tomatoes for brunch on both days. I think I will have to always eat this way if I am doing all that and only maintaining but that's ok, I like it

[carorees]

I think I will have to always eat this way if I am doing all that and only maintaining but that's ok, I like it

It will be interesting to see if your body gradually allows you to eat a bit more. Unfortunately, studies have shown that it could be 5 years or more before the body accepts the new weight and stops trying to get you to regain. But those people who keep the weight off for 5 years generally keep it off according to one study I saw.

I think that, as you say, as long as you like the regime you're using it's fine. The problem I can foresee for others is where the measures that have to be taken to get to goal are not sustainable for the person concerned.

I am dithering at the moment as to whether to declare myself in maintenance or not. I was going to do so when my trend weight hit 66.5kg (10 stone 7) which it has done, but then I can see that there is still fat to lose, and when the scales showed 65.9 for two days in a row I decided to try to push on to 65kg (10 stone 4), but I do seem to feel hungry more these days and the weight bounced back up to around 66.5 for the last 4 days and I don't intend to add any extra measures like more calorie restriction or longer fasts to my Way of Eating. I am walking back and forth between this tent and the nearly there tent just now trying to decide where to put down my rucksack and sleeping bag!

@debbiejgb Happy Fastiversary and well done on your maintenance journey so far! Has it taken a while to find your mainenance groove? or all smooth sailing since August?

@carorees - sounds like you're on the summit of Mt Fastonbury, but lurking around the edges plenty of room for your rucksack and sleeping bag here!

I set myself a date for maintenance (1 Jan) whether I was at a certain weight or not. As it worked out, I was just above my 68kg target, but quickly went under that and have maintained a fairly consistent buffer since then... pjk called my progress tracker line a winding river.. quite suiting an otter! Looking forward to you putting your 'stake in the ground' and prounouncing your arrival in maintenance. You'll know when that moment arrives

Thanks @Carorees, I had imagined my body would never adjust and that I would always have to be careful, or like someone on the forum has said before, 'learn to eat like a thin person'.

I foresee I'll be doing at least one fast every week, like @wendy darling, both for long-term benefits and I like my porridge or yoghurt with muesli too much to start the day. For that reason alone I couldn't do 16:8. But the choice we have is what I like.

It's great to see new maintainers on this thread, and others succeeding in maintaining long term. Congratulations @debbiejgb