The FastDay Forum

@GMH granny smiths are a lot more tart than bramleys. Think sauvignon blanc to semillion ...

@GMH, No! No! No! Granny Smiths are nothing like a Bramley! Granny Smiths are dual purpose apples and can be used for both eating and cooking but, if you cook with them, they retain their shape and are therefore good for things such as Tarte Tatin'. Bramleys will go fluffy and the individual pieces will disappear.

I am not a lover of Granny Smiths, finding them too tart to eat raw, so can't comment on @Silverdarling's comment about them being more tart than Bramleys. However, I have never seen a Bramley promoted as an eating apple, so would have expected them to be more, not less, tart. It doesn't really matter but it is the consistency of the cooked apple which is the main difference and they each have a place in our maintenance programme. (That's just a sop to those who may think that this discussion would fit better in another thread! )

I hope that this clears up any lingering confusion. Isn't it fascinating how this forum can bring together people from the other side of the world to find out more about each others lives and discuss such important questions!

@Silverdarling that analogy is no good to me any white wine is tart to me lol @StowgateResident I'm getting the picture. I loathe Granny Smiths,I can see the problem with Bramleys is u MUST cook them into something wicked

Hello everyone, I want to report of the amazing results of skipping lunch yesterday. I thought I had a very small lunch anyway every day, just yogurt.... Anyways, skipping lunch and just having one cup of coffee with milk was easy. And all night and this morning I've felt absolutely wonderful. Fasting sometimes gives me this euphoric feeling: I am at peace with the world and with myself and life is wonderful. On top of that I lost 1 kg weight!!!! I cannot understand it, but its great. Yea, I pee a lot more... I am definitely continuing, only coffee for lunch today.
On apples. I LOVE Bramleys , but cannot get them here in Finland. So I use a Granny Smith in my morning muesli, along side the blueberries. When visiting England I was very happy to use a Bramley apple in my muesli. I been low carbing and avoiding sugar for years, so those apples don't seem too tart to me, eaten raw.

First of all - congratulation to all the many long term maintainers here. One year anniversary for @P-JK. Well done. I have been in maintenance since September - so the jury is still out for me. Initially thought it must be heaven when you don't have to lose any weight and just maintain, but I suspect I might be surprised. At the moment though, i am still on GW so I am pleased.
This week my fasting is being helped by me being ill - not very hungry naturally but after a fast day yesterday made myself some scrambled eggs with tomatoes today mid morning. Trying to low carb today to take advantage of the illness situation. From a fasting point of view only I feel

Hi all,

I've been maintaining almost a year now and will talk more in detail about that when the anniversary arrives.

Today I'm starting something new with my Tracker. I'm entering (have to use the edit function to do this all in one day) my weekly high and my weekly low. I decided to do this when I read a few posts from people who get so downcast every time the scale shows a gain. Maybe my new thing will be a help to some if they can see how weight just naturally fluctuates up and down while maintaining. It's the trend that counts.

mb

106.2lbs which is maintaining nicely within my range of 105-110lbs so I'm pleased.

Sunday is my 'official' weigh-in day and this morning I weighed in at 146.25 pounds, which is three-quarters of a pound under my target and well within my two pound buffer.
I am trying very hard not to find myself in the situation I was in last year when, having reached target on July 7th, I gradually gained weight until, by New year, I had regained thirteen and a half pounds of the twenty two I had lost! Since then I have lost the re-gain but I want to learn from last year's mistake, so I have not abandoned fasting or this forum (which is what happened then) and am hoping to stay on the straight and narrow until going on a cruise at the beginning of December. When I return from that (knowing that I will have gained weight) I am hoping to lose some, if not all, of it before Christmas.
I don't know if I can really call myself a maintaineer when I gain six or seven pounds when I go away for a couple of weeks but I comfort myself with the thought that, as long as I get back to my 147 pound target as soon as possible, then it is maintaining - of a sort!

Hi @StowgateResident, I would say going on a cruise is no excuse for gaining weight. Let's say that within six pounds gain is acceptable to be called a mainteneer. Seven: out of the question!

Hi @StowgateResident, I would say going on a cruise is no excuse for gaining weight. Let's say that within six pounds gain is acceptable to be called a mainteneer. Seven: out of the question!

Well, @P-JK, using your criteria, I have lost my maintaineer status on several occasions and always when on holiday! I always start with the very best of intentions but the unaccustomed alcohol and the freely available food combine to exert an irresistible attraction for me and the pounds pile on. I shall try to do better next time and see if I can retain my title of 'maintaineer'!

[carorees]

Hi all,

I've been maintaining almost a year now and will talk more in detail about that when the anniversary arrives.

Today I'm starting something new with my Tracker. I'm entering (have to use the edit function to do this all in one day) my weekly high and my weekly low. I decided to do this when I read a few posts from people who get so downcast every time the scale shows a gain. Maybe my new thing will be a help to some if they can see how weight just naturally fluctuates up and down while maintaining. It's the trend that counts.

mb

What a great idea!
I might do that too.

@StowgateResident as log as you keep returning to your maintenance weight you are still maintaining I have been as much as 7 lb up but as long as I return to goal weight within a few weeks I still consider myself a maintaineer . I hope that as the years go by I will have less and less hiccoughs and stay moe balanced.

Had my official weight today and I seem to be losing some weight even without fasting Back to the lower limit of my maintenance range (62 kg). Last fast was in the beginning of September. Now what has changed? Speedskating season has started 4 weeks ago. That is 2 hours of low to medium intensity training (can be compared to cycling). Always thought that skating would not account for too many calories, so I checked a website and discovered one hour skating equals 450 calories. So two hours per week is 900. Given that I might eat in the order of 100 above TDEE per day (700 per week), it does make some sense that I don't need to fast.
Could also explain why I did not need to fast last year between November and April (speedskating season runs until end of March)
So the lesson seems to be:
If you want to do well in your Xmas challenge: start skating

P.s.1 If your're living down under, cycling might be a nice substitute, burns the same amount per hour.
P.s.2 The next category on the website after 'skating', in Dutch 'schaatsen', is 'sex' and you need 4 hours and 30 minutes of that to get the same result

I wasn't going to worry about my weight increase but it was creeping up until I had put on half a stone, then I decided I really must do something about. I didn't put it on my tracker as I was ashamed of myself but it is gradually coming down again now.
This morning I came across the notebook where I wrote down the foods and calories I ate every fast day when I began 5:2, I was quite impressed when I read through it. I've started a new page today and I'm going to keep it on my desk where I can see it every day and continue writing it all down. I've been finding it very hard to fast recently but today I'm more focused, perhaps that's the reason I found it so easy at first. Just guessing and purposely forgetting to include the chocolate biscuits is cheating myself.
The blinkers are off!

@Coffeetime I am impressed by observation. well done!!! You are right, when we cheat, we only cheat ourselves. it's not so easy to be objective with ourselves. I also like your slogan in your signature. Great!!!
I have only been maintaining for two months, so not yet too many problems with motivation. but I can see that this could become an issue. However there is a part of me that vows never to go through the whole "losing weight" malarky which is so much harder at my age and size because of the low TDEE. When I have to lose weight I have to cut out 3000 kcals (4:3) per week out of 9800. If I am carefully maintaining, I only have to fast 2 days and eat about 400kcal more on non fast days . I hope I will still be reasoning like that around Christmas time.