Popping in to say "hi." I've IFed on and off for a while now. Unfortunately, for the last year it's been more "off" than "on," and the result has been an ever expanding waistline.
I'm starting a combo of 5:2 and ESE. Basically I eat at dinner, water/coffee fast until dinner the next day, and then only eat 500 calories at that meal. ( plan to do this twice a week. I've got one fast day under my belt and I felt thinner for a day after, but now I feel bloated again. It's possible that I may have overeaten the past few days. It's also possible that the incredibly large amount of bread I've eaten may have something to do with it, since I typically restrict carbs (especially wheat). It's just we've had a lot of playdates/guests, and I've been serving meals, and those meals are generally sandwiches/burgers because they're easy.
Anyhoo, breaking off until Monday, which is my next planned fast day. And then--hopefully--will keep my fasts to Mondays and Wednesdays.
Today was a fast day for me. It's only my second one in a week's time. I haven't eaten yet today (I like to save my 500 fast day calories for one big meal in the evening), but my plan is to eat one egg (scrambled with no fat), one 270 calorie frozen dinner, 35 calories of steamed veggies, and 100 calories of boiled potatoes. I strongly suspect I will feel stuffed afterwards. Still am not 100% sure if maybe I shouldn't have 100 calories earlier in the day and then only eat 400 at night. It's just that I want to score the benefits of the 24-hour no-food fast, too. I will try this for a few more fasts and see if it gets easier (I was a tad light-headed today).
I'm back again, still doing IF when I can. Pretty much doing a window of about 2-8, give or take some. I might need to begin counting calories, or at least being more "calorie-aware" than I have been lately.
Noname--Congrats on your move--are you moving to CO like you'd planned? If so, I'm so jealous!! That's great that you can maintain so well. That seems to be my downfall--maintaining under stress!
Hey guys. The move is complete! Well, aside from all the boxes yet to be unpacked.
Lighten up, yes, to denver! I am up a tiny bit but I am impressed that after three weeks of no exercise, tons of going away parties, and 1800 miles of driving, I'm still in a comfortable range. I've mostly kept to skipping breakfast Or eating dinner only.
Might try to do a 500 calorie fast on Monday, my boyfriends first day of work. I'll have to keep myself busy though Which shouldn't be an issue here. I'll be interested to see how my diet works with this new lifestyle. We will definitely be getting home much later, which might make 500 calorie fasts difficult for me. But there's always IF. I will definitely be playing around with different methods to get back to losing.
Hope everyone has been well. Sorry for the ramble!
Finally catching up from being back from vacation. The first few days were so, so easy to stick to my IF plan. The last couple days, not so much as we were staying with family and well, I didn't want to be rude when breakfast was waiting for us upon waking!
The first day back from the trip was rough, but now I'm on day 3 and it's already back to normal/easy. I just need for this birthday cake to be gone and then I won't even have that temptation in the house (yesterday was my Mother in law's 80th birthday).
So, yes, IF works on vacation too - when it doesn't involve relatives! :-)
I simply don't know how some of you do these plans of not eating much for an entire day. I suppose you get used to it as the body is great at adapting, but I had my main meal yesterday at 1 pm instead of my usual 6:30 pm and today around 1 pm I was STARVING and at first I couldn't figure out why!
Looking forward to dinner tonight and ate a tomato to stave off the hunger.
Finally catching up from being back from vacation. The first few days were so, so easy to stick to my IF plan. The last couple days, not so much as we were staying with family and well, I didn't want to be rude when breakfast was waiting for us upon waking!
The first day back from the trip was rough, but now I'm on day 3 and it's already back to normal/easy. I just need for this birthday cake to be gone and then I won't even have that temptation in the house (yesterday was my Mother in law's 80th birthday).
So, yes, IF works on vacation too - when it doesn't involve relatives! :-)
Congrats on making the best on your vacation situation! I can relate to the cake bit, but I don't have a good excuse. Just that I found a chocolate boxed cake - hey, it was organic! - on the clearance rack last week, bought it, made cupcakes and a layer cake with ganache frosting, froze it, and am partaking of same on my "cheat day." Not making excuses - it is just good!
Quote:
Originally Posted by berryblondeboys
I simply don't know how some of you do these plans of not eating much for an entire day. I suppose you get used to it as the body is great at adapting, but I had my main meal yesterday at 1 pm instead of my usual 6:30 pm and today around 1 pm I was STARVING and at first I couldn't figure out why!
Looking forward to dinner tonight and ate a tomato to stave off the hunger.
Can also relate to being hungry if I eat earlier in the day instead of my usual dinner-time window. But I came up with a visual to make the hunger pangs easier to deal with...
You've heard that "hunger is fat leaving the body"? I do believe there's some truth to that, at least. Yesterday, which was a fasting day (one a week, on Saturday), and I was particularly hungry, I pictured a giant scale. You know how you can see the minute hand move more quickly on a giant clock? Well, on this giant scale, I equated the hunger pangs with my weight actually going lower and lower on the scale. Weird, yes, but it worked for me.
Thanks for sharing your inspiring stories, and for setting such a good example. Hope all the If-ites have an excellent August!
My fasting days have been getting easier. I admit that I am only regimented about it one day a week, typically Monday. (This works great with my former dieter mentality of "I'll start my diet on Monday" haha. It's always been my highest will-power day.)
Basically I eat dinner on Sunday night and then don't eat food again (though I drink coffee, tea and water) until Monday night dinner. And I limit that dinner to 500 calories.
The rest of my week varies. Sometimes I eat a higher calorie day (2000+), other days I keep it lower (1500ish). I almost always skip breakfast and sometimes keep lunch very light.
Anyway, I seem to be losing at a rate of 1 pound per week. This is acceptable to me, since fasting one day a week is relatively easy. I would LOVE to get it off faster, but since I am already a normal BMI I suspect it will be slower loss no matter what.
I am not noticing hunger as much during fast days, which is great. I admit to getting kind of hungry around 4pm, but then I remind myself that it's really only another 3 hours until I can get, and that gets me through.
Overall, I am really loving this way of IFing. It can feel a bit like torture while I'm actually fasting, and I do think about food a lot, but it is SUCH a relief to not have to "diet" every day of the week.
My fasting days have been getting easier. I admit that I am only regimented about it one day a week, typically Monday. (This works great with my former dieter mentality of "I'll start my diet on Monday" haha. It's always been my highest will-power day.)
Basically I eat dinner on Sunday night and then don't eat food again (though I drink coffee, tea and water) until Monday night dinner. And I limit that dinner to 500 calories.
The rest of my week varies. Sometimes I eat a higher calorie day (2000+), other days I keep it lower (1500ish). I almost always skip breakfast and sometimes keep lunch very light.
Anyway, I seem to be losing at a rate of 1 pound per week. This is acceptable to me, since fasting one day a week is relatively easy. I would LOVE to get it off faster, but since I am already a normal BMI I suspect it will be slower loss no matter what.
I am not noticing hunger as much during fast days, which is great. I admit to getting kind of hungry around 4pm, but then I remind myself that it's really only another 3 hours until I can get, and that gets me through.
Overall, I am really loving this way of IFing. It can feel a bit like torture while I'm actually fasting, and I do think about food a lot, but it is SUCH a relief to not have to "diet" every day of the week.
Thanks for sharing your success story! I think a pound a week sounds very reasonable.
Okay ladies. I have made two attempts at 500 calorie fast days in the last two weeks. I managed not to eat anything both times until late afternoon, however, I think because of how active I've been, sticking to only 500 calories just isn't feasible. I felt like I was going to black out yesterday (yes, I then ate more!) which is extreme for me in my two years of experience with this. The dizzy spells have been numerous and frustrating.
I'm going to try 16:8 (most of the time) for a while to see how that compliments my new routine. I would like to eventually do one fast a week because I enjoy the benefits it gives me, but I don't think I'll be trying that again for a while.
Okay ladies. I have made two attempts at 500 calorie fast days in the last two weeks. I managed not to eat anything both times until late afternoon, however, I think because of how active I've been, sticking to only 500 calories just isn't feasible. I felt like I was going to black out yesterday (yes, I then ate more!) which is extreme for me in my two years of experience with this. The dizzy spells have been numerous and frustrating.
I'm going to try 16:8 (most of the time) for a while to see how that compliments my new routine. I would like to eventually do one fast a week because I enjoy the benefits it gives me, but I don't think I'll be trying that again for a while.
Stay safe! I had to switch from a lower calorie approach to 1200 calories a day for five days, one fasting day, and one "blow-out day a week, because I wasn't feeling well. It has made a world of difference.
Okay ladies. I have made two attempts at 500 calorie fast days in the last two weeks. I managed not to eat anything both times until late afternoon, however, I think because of how active I've been, sticking to only 500 calories just isn't feasible. I felt like I was going to black out yesterday (yes, I then ate more!) which is extreme for me in my two years of experience with this. The dizzy spells have been numerous and frustrating.
I'm going to try 16:8 (most of the time) for a while to see how that compliments my new routine. I would like to eventually do one fast a week because I enjoy the benefits it gives me, but I don't think I'll be trying that again for a while.
You were trying to do a LOT on a 500 calorie day - 2 mile run AND a Core workout... that's too little fuel and you have less reserves to pull from. So, modify!!! Seems you are wise to do the change.
Hunger, thanks for that. Whoa, 1200/day is higher than before? I couldn't survive on that but you are much tinier than me
Berry, I know it sounds like overdoing it, but its pretty common for people on 5:2 to do intense workouts on fast days, and historically I have never had an issue. I make sure to eat a nice meal the night before and do my workouts in the morning. I cannot, however, do intense workouts the day AFTER a fast day - that's when my energy stores are low! But, obviously it wasn't working this time around. I still highly recommend fasted workouts.
So yesterday I ate lunch dinner and a few snacks, keeping to about a 9 hour window and calories were probably kind of high. This morning I had a peach before my run and had a very good workout. Still really hard but my body didn't feel fatigued. I ate a small lunch and will have a fairly big dinner. Hopefully keeping my calories moderate on a daily basis will prevent the issues I was having with fatigue. I will keep you all posted!
Hunger, thanks for that. Whoa, 1200/day is higher than before? I couldn't survive on that but you are much tinier than me
Berry, I know it sounds like overdoing it, but its pretty common for people on 5:2 to do intense workouts on fast days, and historically I have never had an issue. I make sure to eat a nice meal the night before and do my workouts in the morning. I cannot, however, do intense workouts the day AFTER a fast day - that's when my energy stores are low! But, obviously it wasn't working this time around. I still highly recommend fasted workouts.
So yesterday I ate lunch dinner and a few snacks, keeping to about a 9 hour window and calories were probably kind of high. This morning I had a peach before my run and had a very good workout. Still really hard but my body didn't feel fatigued. I ate a small lunch and will have a fairly big dinner. Hopefully keeping my calories moderate on a daily basis will prevent the issues I was having with fatigue. I will keep you all posted!
I find it really interesting the way our bodies adapt over time. And also it has a way of letting us know when we need to make a change, too! I haven't worked out on fast days yet because I am worried that it will make me super hungry and I'll end up totally blowing my fast. I am still pretty new to this as a lifestyle and am trying to stay on track for not. But it's good to know that fasted workouts can be beneficial!
I'm still here. I have cut down to 2 meals per day this whole summer. I am getting a small bit of results. I was really hungry at first, but 2 days in particular were kind of "hump" days, and it got so I just would wait without complaint (from my stomach) for lunch. I have a small meal for lunch. Oh, I would say 300 calories, and then a larger meal for "dinner" coming in at about 6 or 7 o'clock p.m.
I work as a substitute teacher, and am in a master's program and alternate teacher's program. I teach mainly grade school, and so there are many "temptations" available, including nasty cafeteria food. I really need to stay away from the teacher's lounge.
I am trying to stick with high bulk no fat "vegan" food, and lots of vegetables. It is a lot harder than it sounds. But it also means that my food prep is down to cut vegetables. Low calorie soups, rice & beans. Boring, I know. One food I absolutely cannot have is cheese. I think most of this weight is caused by cheese.
-- well at last I am confronting my deamons-- I am not much of a sweets lover, but I absolutely will never miss a chance to eat either salty crunchy chips/crisps and crackers or cheese.
I haven't totally been good. I need to get my discipline in order.
So, no breakfast, light lunch, realistic portion dinner. I still get hungry. I know that 1) I am not actually starving and 2) I am not suffering from any nutritional deficiencies, and 3) It is better to feel hungry than to be as overweight as I am now (by 100 pounds).
School starts on the 17th. Both my work (school) and my Master's program (school) so I will not be able to post much. I am getting to the point where I have to get serious and start reading a whole lot more books.
