The FastDay Forum

Well done LouLou! i do think the all important TDEE is a vital part of the equation. Glad you are going down again.

Hello August maintainers, I think it is time for me to join you on the great maintaining journey. I set an arbitrary goal as we do. I'm 2.2lbs off goal and recently losing 0.2lb a month on the latest challenge. I have lost almost 23 lbs and believe it's best to learn how to focus on maintaining and relax rather than chase those final small pesky ounces - they will come in time if need be.

So, here I am - buddy @spanner -you too are almost there, and we have spoken about this. I felt rather than fighting those last few pounds I'd put my effort towards experiencing the all important maintaining and take it from there. Oh yes, I'll post weekly to Spring into Fall challenge etc, and the weekly fasting threads - just trying to move gradually to be mindfully maintaining How do you feel about that

In the big picture there is no change ............ fasting on Monday

Hi @Merlin - just read your post again, do you think we would benefit from a weekly maintaining thread, might give us some momentum and a profile for others to join us?

Had a wobble ! ... We had our village Fayre yesterday .... And 3 big slices of yummy cake got to me. And I made some bread which was fresh and I couldn't resist. Then we had unexpected visitors and ended up going out quite late for a 3 course meal with lots of wine. It was lovely but the price ? .... 1.2kg (2.6lb) overnight ! Oh well, I need to do another coach 2 to 5 k today so that should help. I might do a fast tomorrow, but don't feel like it today ! So @wendydarling you're safe today, but watch out, the fit bit leaderboard is addictive ! I want to get back to the top 25 by this time next week, so that's my challenge to myself . I won't make any bread until the end of the week, either ! The treadmill is looking at me, but I think I'll do it later .... Lethargy has set in this morning. I blame the wine and carbs !

I'm also maintaining this month, although my maintenance seems to consist of going away and putting a few pounds on, returning home and fasting to lose it, then going away again - etc, etc, etc in a never-ending cycle! I suppose that is better than just putting on all the time but it makes me feel that I'm not really a bona fide member of the Maintenance Gang - maybe one day!

in a never-ending cycle!

As long as it doesn't turn into an upward spiral you are doing fine. Perhaps you just need a maintenance range of a few pounds more. Being at goal more than a year after reaching it is to me an excellent definition of maintenance.

Hi all. Posting this on the maintaining thread, as although I'm a pound off goal, I think psychologically I'm now in 'maintaining' mode.

Weighed myself for the first time since mid July this morning - and am only half a pound more than then. Have been fasting at least once a week, and sometimes more ... And enjoying my food otherwise while compensating if I do have a bit of a blowout pleased to say it does seem to be working at the mo!

[carorees]

Post holiday maintenance report:

Well I had three weeks holiday in which I continued to do 16:8 fasting but ate plenty of cakes and drank plenty of wine and cocktails. My first weigh in was 600g above pre holiday trend weight and 1kg above my last pre holiday weigh in. So whether I gained 600g or 1kg I can't guess. However after a week back home I'm 1.2kg down on the post holiday weigh in and trend weight is back to what it was before the holiday. And today's weigh in had me at the lowest weight to date (63.8). So in summary, I'm well pleased. Maintenance is going well.

That's great, @carorees, you must feel pleased that 16:8 is working for you and that the holiday "gain" and more has gone. While away, did you feel as if you were keeping your weight in check, despite the cakes and alcohol?

I am still trying to get rid of my holiday gain, although it wasn't much - but I do want to get back to goal weight (haven't added in latest stats to tracker as I like to put in averages, and haven't weighed myself often enough to do that yet). Not much to go but it is a bit stubborn - and not helped by days of overindulging due to circumstances...

Hope fellow maintainers are going ok.

[carorees]

It's so hard to tell, isn't it @sassy1? I measured my waist a few times and it was occasionally up 0.5cm others no change, so I guessed I might have gained a small amount.

I don't think maintenance is really possible without constant monitoring. Even if you don't feel you're reacting to changes you see on the scales, I'll bet that subconsciously you do and are perhaps more mindful of what you eat if you see an increase. On holiday I find it really hard to know if I was overeating (or rather, how much I was overeating).

Hi @carorees, I agree that constant monitoring is the key to successful maintenance, for me at least. Standing on the scales (even given all the vagaries of scales that you warn us about!) does help me keep on track, or get back on track. So it is hard when away from them to be quite as aware. The tape measure is a good idea as a substitute. And I do make use of how my clothes feel too (tho as my tummy bloats very easily, whatever I eat, it can be hard to be sure what is bloat and what is fat!!!). I did try to eat mindfully (the lettuce leaves instead of bread for sandwiches that others suggested worked marvellously), but couldn't stop indulging in the evening choccies.....

Cheers!

Been up and down this month when weighing myself, still doing 2 fasts per week. Went away last weekend eaten a lot of carbs, didn't I know about it in bloating and 4lbs up, after 2 fasts it came back down. I am 4/5 months now in maintaining, this seem the trend. Am aware if eating too much on non fast days and know to cut back when needed.
Anyway got rid of all my big clothes, so have to keep this weight off. Feeling more confident as time goes by.

I don't think maintenance is really possible without constant monitoring. Even if you don't feel you're reacting to changes you see on the scales,

Dr Barbara Berkeley's recent post on White Knuckle Maintainers was good on this. She recommends that people spend the early months/year in maintenance gathering data about themselves and observing the impact of various foodstuffs/events. So, daily weighing, keeping a food log etc.

Thereafter, when maintainers understand their body and responses, she advocates a more relaxed practice with regular audits (so to speak).

http://www.refusetoregain.com/2014/06/a ... ng-go.html

Virtually every successful maintainer I know, including those who respond to this blog, are highly controlled in their eating habits. This is a necessity when we live in a world which surrounds us with opportunities to eat badly. ...

But it is my observation that those who succeed in maintenance long term are the ones who have learned to relax into the practice. Most of us start out with the "white knuckle", teeth gritting approach. We try so hard, feel so challenged, and often have the sense that we are continually dodging a bullet. White knuckling through something can get you over the hump in the short term (like public speaking, or running the last half mile in a race), but it is unlikely to provide a long term success. And when you do let yourself slip, all that built up tension is likely to lead to a monumental fall.

The best outcome is one in which your maintenance behaviors become second nature and preferable, not forced. How to get there?

Maintenance Month 002

Goal weight 120 lbs

04/08 119 lbs
11/08 119 lbs
18/08 121 lbs
25/08. 120 lbs

Fasting regime. 7 x 19/5

This month any fantasies I may have entertained that I would "have" to switch up to 18/6 lest I fade away were dashed. I am taking the advice of Barbara Berkeley and observing, and I have observed a tendency to overeat to the border of discomfort on the odd day. This balancing of activity levels, carb intake and consumption patterns is tricky!

I am now mulling over strategies not to gain if it looks as if I go over 122 lbs.

Ideas are: a week of 20/4; taking a break in my 5 hour window by going shopping or for a 2 hour walk after an initial snack; rationing my favourite foods by only buying limited quantities once a week, ie the tried and tested don't have it in the house!

Welcome nearlythere @silverdarling Good to see you in here.

I went on holiday for 2 weeks - my fabulous fortnight! I partook reasonablyish mindfully of a wide variety of delicious fare, did a lot of walking and put on 2lb. Not too shabby. After a few days back, we got the holiday blues and booked another for a few days later, so we returned one weekend and went away again the next. This was a complete unplanned surprise and was entirely different to the first one. No walking at all, in fact I only moved from the sunbed in order to eat or drink, it was too hot to do much. I Put 3lb on over the last week, making a grand total of 5lb over 4 weeks. When I put my trousers on to come home I could feel that the waistband was tighter than it had been the week before. Hardly surprising, wine nearly every evening and a cocktail or two. Full board buffet included several desserts twice a day and an icecream each afternoon. Oh and then there was the food!!!
I will get back tuit and treat this as a maintainance experiment. I have now got a fitbit and have joined the fitbit group on here. This is helping me to keep moving which I hope will do the trick. I am also counting calories on MFP and weighing daily as usual.

I have just weighed and another 1lb has gone on since yesterday, making a grand total of 6lb gain. Nothing to worry about, I expect this is a combination of water and food in transit as yesterday's calorie count was under target. I would like to lose a bit more and go under target so that I have some wiggle room so I have set MFP to lose rather than maintain as it was before.