The FastDay Forum

Well done @kentishlass - it's very helpful to read of your experiences

Month 11 plus two weeks: 8 stone 13 today, yay!!! I suspect I was 9 stone plus on the monthiversary, but amazingly find I'm back to goal today. Crazy life continued, with lots of travelling for holidays and work and sadly a family funeral. No access to scales or internet, lots of eating out, decided not to even think about attempting lean days.

5:2 routine: Abandoned for the month (see above). Not yet reinstated (see below).

Motivation: I think still strong, but 5:2 just has to be on hold for now. 5 more days of travelling coming up, plus tooth situation, see below! One year maintenance anniversary coming up soon, so I will be focussed on that once travels done.

Health record: Major b*mmer: broke off my front tooth - fortunately on the way home, not on the way out to my holiday and other travels. Extraction of root done and temporary denture now in place - feels horrible, but looks perfect (ie matching the imperfections of the rest of the teeth), I'm grateful for small mercies after a long weekend of doing my toothless hag impression. I can't eat normally yet, so not even trying for lean days, just sucking in what I can manage. But I think the difficulty of eating has had a similar effect to lean days, as my weight has dipped sharply in the few days between first weigh-in on return and today. No sign of the dizzy spells, so maybe all the indulgence has a good effect in that regard. Lots of aches in joints - arthritis setting in? Effect of intermittent bouts of more walking than normal when sightseeing and more sitting than normal in transit? Looking forward to getting back to a normal routine in October and hoping everything will settle down.

Cheers to all
kl

@kentishlass, laughing at the saggy skin, reinflating the balloon! Too funny. I needed that. I am looking wrinkled from brow to ankles. People are looking at me and saying Don't lose more weight now. This, I'm sure isn't because my thighs look thin, rather that my face has fallen. Well done on yr maintenance!

@Kentishlass just ignore the comments. When I reached target 18 months ago I got all sorts of comments about looking too thin but I put it down to people not being used to the new look me. 18 months on and I never get comments unless I meet someone that I haven't seen for a couple of years and I am always surprised to hear a comment about my weight as I, and everyone who knows me, have now adjusted how they see and perceive me and believe me I am not TOO thin, just not as fat

Ballerina x

[carorees]

@Kentishlass just ignore the comments. When I reached target 18 months ago I got all sorts of comments about looking too thin but I put it down to people not being used to the new look me. 18 months on and I never get comments unless I meet someone that I haven't seen for a couple of years and I am always surprised to hear a comment about my weight as I, and everyone who knows me, have now adjusted how they see and perceive me and believe me I am not TOO thin, just not as fat

Ballerina x

I'm sure that's right about people not being used to the new you.

A friend said the other day that she thought my face used to look drawn a few months back but now it doesn't. I think that my face hasn't changed but her perceptions have. But if my face has changed for the better, I'm not complaining!

Hi @Ballerina, it was actually @GMHwho mentioned comments about "don't lose any more", but I got them too and I agree with you that they are best ignored and stop when people get used to the new slim look. But I am sure in GMH's case they are prompted by jealousy and certainly not due to a fallen face!

Hi @Ballerina, it was actually @GMHwho mentioned comments about "don't lose any more", but I got them too and I agree with you that they are best ignored and stop when people get used to the new slim look. But I am sure in GMH's case they are prompted by jealousy and certainly not due to a fallen face!

Oops, you are quite right but I know a lot of people get those remarks and they are never from slim people, funny that?

Ballerina x

Actually ladies, there is some truth in it all. When I first got to goal, 2kg less than now, I thought it was some sort of envy, as in 'now u r slimmer than me!' However I got it again yesterday from a couple of fasters, who are really lovely, never say a bad word types. Also a friend of mine lost a lot of weight and I thought it was enough as her face looked unlike her and gaunt. So whilst all of the comments made are true to a degree, when I look at my face and arms, I do look like I've aged 10 years...well maybe 5 anyway as you say no point listening to others, I not fattening up for them. It was partly these comments that did make me gain after reaching goal. My skinny cloths fit now and my focus us to stay here in a way that I don't feel is obsessive or feels like a diet. The reality is I'd like to be like those (seemingly few) naturally thin people who don't need to watch their weight. Never going to happen, so best get on with it.

Year 1: 9 stone 0 lbs. One pound over goal. Really disappointed with myself. I vowed to stay at goal and I haven't. I've been here so many times before, lose the weight, let it creep back on.

5:2 routine: As before. It worked before, it will work again. Problem has been I haven't been doing it, so what did I expect? Also I have gone part-time at work now, so lots more time to be tempted.

Motivation: Low-ish. I really had to force myself to have the two lean days last week. However, I did.

Health record: Temporary denture is driving me mad. But joints are much better - the problem must have been all the travelling.

Cheers to all
kl

[carorees]

Why so disappointed @kentishlass? How do you know that 1lb is real? Do you weigh daily and plot a trendline? This month my weight has varied by over 2lb but the trend is showing no real change in weight. And, you've lost a substantial amount of weight and kept it off. You should celebrate and consider yourself a success! I suggest you weigh daily for a month and see if there is any real change in your weight or just a lot of variation.

Congratulations on your fastiversary!

Month 13 of maintenance: 9 stone 1 lbs. Two pounds over goal, up a pound on the month.

5:2 routine: Not re-established yet, with changed life routine. Every day seems to have a reason not to be a lean day. I think I fitted in 3 in the month. Which is not enough.

Motivation: Was rock-bottom. Didn't want to fast, didn't want to post... There is some sort of on/off switch in my brain. When it's on,getting/being slim is easy, I think I've found the answer, then suddenly it goes off and I'm back on the slippery slope to fat despair. I thought 5:2 was really going to be different, and suddenly the switch was firmly off and 5:2 began to look like just another tried and failed slimming technique. However, I'm writing this a week after the monthly weigh in, and I managed to force myself to a lean day yesterday, and recorded a slightly lower weight today, which together have given me back a bit of my willpower. How I get through the next few months is going to be a test of whether 5:2 really is different. Can something as simple as going a few extra hours without food flip that switch back on?

Health record: Temporary denture getting slightly less annoying, but still annoying. Back/left leg pain when standing for periods of time (required by my hobby) is getting to be a real problem. I may have to consult an osteopath or something.

Cheers to all
kl

Hi @kentishlass, perhaps you can look for a maintenance strategy that is less similar to the on/off switch? Mine is very simple: if on Monday I am above my limit, the next day is a fast day. If not, no fast this week. This way you just throw in a fast if needed and do not have to feel like starting the entire 5:2 routine again. Sure that with your current results in the progress tracker no more than one fast a week is needed

Hi P-J
Thanks for your support. Your suggestion sounds wise. I will try it and let you know how it goes.
Well done on your continued success, you provide inspiration as well as ideas!
best wishes, kl

Hi, @kentishlass, sorry that you are feeling down over a 2 pound gain. I have been maintaining for a few months and, for the last month, I haven't fasted at all. I do something similar to PJ-K and weigh myself a couple of times a week. If I have gone over the two pound 'wiggle room' that I allow myself, then I fast that day and, as often as not, the next time I weigh I am back to target. When I started 5:2 back in January 2013, I was looking for a Way of Life which didn't need constant vigilance and calorie counting and which meant that I could eat 'normal' foods. With 5:2, I have found it and, although I pile on weight every time I go away from home, I can always deal with it, before the fat sticks, by reverting to fasting for as long as is needed!
Stick with it! You know it makes sense!

Month 14 of maintenance: 8 stone 13 lbs. Back at goal, Hooray!

5:2 routine: I took P-J's advice and I am doing 6:1. (And I will do the thing about weighing myself to see if a fastday is necessary, but since I still need to retrieve my 2 pound buffer I don't expect to be skipping a fastday for a while yet). I wasn't sure that 6:1 would be enough, as I had stabilised on 5:2, but I figured aiming to do one lean day a week and actually doing it was better than aiming for two and not doing any. And so far it looks like it might be enough.

Motivation: Well, I'm not finding it automatic by any means. Every lean day requires a severe talking to self, but so far self is obeying, with a bit of whingeing. I asked last month "Can something as simple as going a few extra hours without food flip that switch [the slim person switch] back on?" and I really think the answer is yes. Sometimes when the lean day rolls around, I really really really don't want to do it, but I stiffen my resolve and get through breakfast with no food, push lunch as late as I can and eat my strict portion, and then it isn't after all impossible to struggle on to a light dinner. And no matter how hungry I might be at bedtime, when I wake up I'm not hungry. Which I think shows that the "hunger" a well-fed, well-covered person feels is not real hunger at all. It's just psychological yearning, or maybe the body needing time to put its ample reserves to use.

Health: I've had the base for my tooth implant inserted, which all went fine, but have to wait now for some months for it to bond to bone before I can get rid of the denture. My sympathy to all denture wearers, I had no idea how unpleasant it was. I still need to sort out an exercise routine. In the new year!

Cheers to all
kl