The FastDay Forum

Hi, I want to maintain over this Christmas and New Year holiday. Last year, I gained and I do not want this to happen again. So my Xmas goal is to maintain - one fast each week, maybe 2 if need be - - that's what I'm aiming for, especially here in the U.S. when holiday eating and temptations start around the last week of November and keep going 'til the Superbowl (first week of February I think) !!!

So, I will be joining the maintaining informal Xmas non-challenge/challenge.

I'm still not back to goal (that will take awhile), but my weight is going down again after a few restrained non-fast days. The key for me is to keep up the mindfulness even when I'm feeling down. I definitely eat when I'm not happy. It helps that it's cooling off and I have some races coming up. Running burns calories AND gets me out of the kitchen, and for a bonus: it counteracts depression.

I did my best at getting back to goal weight when I did ADF with 16:8 on non-fast days. I don't want to ADF again, but I'm doing 4:3. I think I will do a modified 16:8 again on non-fast days (by modified, I mean I have a soft-boiled egg outside of the window to keep from feeling really depleted after a fast day.) I find my hunger monster is really a morning monster--he goes really crazy if I let him. He also goes a bit mad if I give him any alcohol, so having a closed window in the pm will also help!

Until then, I'm trying to keep the small gains in perspective--either looking at my 2y chart or changing the scale of the y axis on my 6 month chart so it's not making blips look like mountains!

My challenge is going to be continuing my new running regime into the cold months. Or at least continuing to exercise seriously, even when the snow and cold keep me off the running trail.
As far as maintenance goes, I'm doing fine. I bounce around one to two pounds below my goal, which was 98 pounds/7 stone. At yesterday's weekly weighing I was 96 pounds. Those of you who are bigger than me (that would be ALL of you, actually) may imagine that I'm really skinny, but I'm not - I do still have obvious hips and thighs and all. Definitely happy with current weight, and don't want to lose or gain past that 2 pound variation.
Happy October!

I am maintaining this month as I have been for the past 4 months. But nothing like many of you specially @carorees who is a source of insparation and envy. I still keep my two fast days but find that I am not going below my target unless I am sick. I am recently finding it difficult to go even on the target after my second fast. One night out and I am one kilo up. It scares me to death to think of going on a holiday. I have joined a hot yoga class hoping to go a bit lower so I can relax more even though I think I can not reduce my fast days.
Summer is near for us in Oz as well as Christmas. Good luck to us all. .

Maybe this should be the 'Not-a-challenge Challenge' - like 'Not the Nine o'clock News' all those years ago!

Oh yes, I'm in favor! Who is volunteering for the role of 'Gerald the gorilla'?
For those who missed this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beCYGm1vMJ0
At least he was eating a banana for maintenance!

I am not back in maintenance mode, unfortunately. Having the last 2 weeks away from home meant there were too many opportunities to eat more than I needed, and I succumbed...

I am doing the Christmas challenge as I have to lose 2 kg to get back to goal and ideally would like to lose another 1.5 which would get me to the lowest weight I have been with this WOL, with room to move for the Christmas period and also so that the jeans I bought when I was at goal are comfortable...!!

I certainly associate with @Pariah's comments. Tho re the 1kg up after a night out - that is likely to be mainly water and waste food - presumably you do lose it fairly quickly? The problem really arises when every night is like a night out - then the fat starts to deposit again.... That's what can happen to me on hols...

Re @Scubachick's question, I don't really feel any different either - perhaps a little lighter when I run (and the fact that I can run!). I have to admit that I do always look when I pass mirrors or windows for reassurance that I am now slim!

Very best wishes to all maintaineers - it is always useful to read how you are going. Hopefully I will be back in this tent soon.

I don't feel particularly slim, but I've one or two items of clothing that I feel slim in when I wear them.

[carorees]

I have a question for you maintainers: Do you feel slim now that you are at goal? I still feel the same size I was 33lbs ago. Does it take a while for the head to catch up with the new reality of the body?

I do now feel slim, at 90lbs lighter but it did take a while and I was constantly being surprised by my reflection in shop windows and the like. So, yes it does take a while for the head to catch up. It also took quite a while for me to believe that I should take size 10 clothes into the changing room to try on because they looked ridiculously small. I still have trouble assessing which clothes are likely to fit.

Well yes I'm maintaining too. Pants seemed very loose today, weigh day tomorrow, so I'll see if my 3x under 1000 working. My new experimentation is to have the same breakfast every day (well week days at least, when I am time poor), in a bid to feel like I am neither dieting or restricting my intake if food (even tho I am). Then I have an Aussie Bodies low carb mini protein bar, dark chocolate/orange is the flavour of the month, pretty much Monday to Friday...easy for time poor, know exact calories, sugar/cake substitute. Then 'fast' days a late lunch, non fast week days spinach, mushroom, feta Lebanese pocket, because I can and they are delicious. Sometimes I substitute said pocket for Lebanese Cinnamon Scroll. Then dinner with wine. So essentially I just cut out 1 meal and sweet thing and alcohol on fast days. I'll report in after weighing tomorrow.

I'm back to my lowest weight today after Monday's fast and being careful yesterday-I though it might take longer so I am hopeful that daily weighing and being sensible most days(plus skipping breakfast) will be my solution.

71.8kgs today :0(
Too high!
Also feeling very tired and listless, oddly.
Is my body 'famine mode' ing?

Thank you P-JK for this 'challenge' for maintainers. I was feeling a bit left out about the Christmas Challenge. I am still learning how this maintaining works. My body seems to like to maintain a couple of kilos higher than my goal weight( 51.7KG). I have decided not to worry about this now. I will fast again both before and after Christmas, ie. Advent and Lent. My BMI is just over 20, but I suffer from stomach fat. So I am thinking of trying a feeding window approach in Advent - hoping it will tackle fat. Something like 20/4. It is so nice that we have our own page!!! Azureblue: at times I too feel tired and listless, but I try not to let it bother me. Life is still there to be lived... Good luck to you and everyone else

@Azureblue - I do sympathise with you, interesting you should mention 'famine mode'ing'.

I also sometimes had the feeling that I was trying too hard and being too strict on myself. Then I decided to give myself a little rest and be more forgiving. I don't mean I went out bingeing I just relaxed a bit by dropping a fast day or giving myself permission to go over the 400cals on a fast day (say 700) or so. To my surprise the weight did not jump up and just plateaued for a while. Then I gave it another push and added reducing processed carbs like bread, pasta, rice (not potatoes so much) and being a bit stricter (3 fasting days at 400cals) and suddenly the weight moved again. I also have this strange theory that my body needed a week or so of relaxing - and it almost felt as if my body started working at a higher pace again. Maybe mixing it up (to a degree) keeps the body guessing?

I am a great believer that if we make a "plan" to relax our WOE rather than "give up" we are more likely to stick with it long term. Anything that will keep you motivated and makes this WOL sustainable.

I don't think that I need a formal 'Not-a-challenge, challenge', so don't panic P-JK - you don't have to organise anything! But our 'Not-a-challenge, challenge' could be just keeping each other informed on how we're going as we head towards Christmas - which is what we're already doing, really. We're a small enough group not to need numbers and charts etc, aren't we? What does anyone else think and if you want numbers etc, who would like to organise it? Not me, I don't have enough time!

No numbers please! We're done with that! This format works great.