You're making me hungry, lol! Ah, the Starbucks Via--nice! I'm not sure if we had coffee on our backpacking trips, but maybe? If we did it was more like Folgers instant, so Starbucks would be a great improvement. We didn't do salami or eggs--interesting! My goodness, how do you keep the eggs from cracking, or maybe crack them into something beforehand? So many questions, don't feel obligated to answer! Pesto is one of our faves, so let me know how the dried turns out! (not even sure how you do that with olive oil?) Healthy, smealthy, you're schlepping that backpack all over creation! Comfort food is good!

Yeah, I forgot about the low-cal days with the 5:2. I've considered trying that, and maybe I could relax a little more on watching calories the other days. I'll try my 6 hr window another week or two and then revisit the 5:2 idea.

First of all, I LOVE coffee. A bit of a coffee snob, and I HATE Starbucks. But Starbucks Via instant coffee is simply amazing. I get the Italian roast and it tastes like a nice, fresh, dark cup of coffee. Expensive, but there's a $1.50 coupon on Coupons.com right now for it. Comes out to less than $1/cup with the coupon.

Eggs, not sure. My bf brought eggs with him on his last trip (without me). I think he just kept them on top of his pack and was very careful. I cut the egg carton in half so they're protected. You can also crack them into something like a water bottle and store them that way.

Salami is nice for lunch because you don't have to cook! Just cut off a chunk as you go...

For the pesto, I measured out olive oil as per the directions. Should be pretty easy. Now I'm reading that it may be just as easy/lightweight to bring fresh pesto or make your own dried mix with dried basil. Olive oil is a great way to add calories on a backpacking trip (isn't it funny to be talking about adding calories, on a weight loss forum? But you know how important it is to have the energy for a trip like this!)

Haha hope that helps. I wish I had a dehydrator..

I went over the 500 calories but well under 1000... I was starving for some reason!

Hope everyone had a great day!

Better than no fast at all, nayla! You'll probably still see benefit from that.

So yesterday was my first day of my break skipping a fast...and my weight went down to my lowest Once I hit 186.8, I haven't been able to get back down to it and that happened at the end of August! My goodness. Guess this will be a good break! LOL

What's even better is I had THREE beers last night! How the heck did I lose weight? No booze this weekend though!

Noname!!! YAY!!!!! So excited for you! I'm telling you, our bodies need a swift quick sometimes.... and loving too which is what you're doing! No stress!! Stress will mess with everything. So excited for you! And SO jealous that you had beer and LOST weight! haha! love it! Can't wait to hear all about your hike!

Lightenup- I do speak Spanish. I was born and raised in the island... my husband does not speak Spanish, however, so like in your case, it's very hard to speak the language around my kiddos. I always have Spanish music, radio shows and tv shows to help the cause... and pray that it will stick. It also doesn't help that they DON'T want to speak it... it is what it is.

I fly out tomorrow morning for San Diego... Very excited to see my sister and but necessarily about the engagement... It's going to be challenging, which is good, but sucks at the same time! HA!

146.2 today!! SO FREAKING EXCITED!

Have a great day ladies! I have tons of work!

Hey ladies, hope everyone had a good weekend! I got back from the long, hard, exhausting hike and weighed 187! My weight is UP from that today, but that's because I ate pretty much everything in sight yesterday. I was insatiable. I think I overworked myself a little bit (also had to take off work because I was too sore!). Was a great trip. More about that and pics in this thread.

nayla oh have a great time in San Diego! I bet the weather is great there this time of year.

Noname--That sounds like an awesome trip! I've never heard of hammock camping--interesting. With bears and such, probably nothing I'll be doing anytime soon, but interesting, nonetheless That's awesome that you didn't gain anything, but of course you did a LOT of hiking! I understand eating everything in sight afterward. That's what I did after our 6-day hike in the White Mountains. I had lost weight so that my hiking pants were loose by the time we were done hiking, and then I gained it back quickly by eating so much in the days afterwards. Anyway, I'm still jealous! But I'm glad you had a great time! How much longer on your break?

It's PMS week for me, so yay, I'm already gaining a little due to that and some food splurges the past couple of days. But still, I'm under where I was last month during PMS, so I guess that's something. I really am anxious to get to the next decade down, and I didn't really think it would take this long! I'm thinking of mixing things up and doing some 6-hr eating windows, some 8-hr eating windows, and maybe one 24- or 36-hr fast per week. Today was so easy to fast during the day because I was working away from home, so I only had my water, coffee and tea with me. At home it's been more difficult, so I'm going to try to work around that for my weekly schedule. That, and get the butter out of the house! It is my complete downfall, butter with any type of bread. My husband made blueberry pancakes for our "breakfast for dinner" dinner the other night. Mmmm, I could eat those for days with some nice butter on top! Anyway, I digress...At the same time, I'm trying to do some different workouts, incorporating more strength training alternating with my running cardio. We'll see, something's gotta' move this fat off my thighs and butt!

Okay, sorry for the ramble! I hope everyone is doing well! Nayla, enjoying CA?

Well today my fasting plan got derailed by my daughter's after-program party at school. If only I hadn't eaten the other half of my son's cookie! (just trying to keep him from having so much sugar, right?) Anyway, I now have a plan in place for when I do have to eat earlier in the day than I wanted (or when I just DO eat earlier, even if I didn't "have to")--I'm going to stick to an 8- or 6-hr window, even if it means stopping eating at 7pm. This is unusual for me, as we tend to eat dinner late, have wine and cheese, etc. But lately I've been cutting out wine some nights and having nothing after dinner except a nice cup of tea. My husband joins me in the tea, as well, so that's nice. Hopefully that will curtail some of my higher calorie days that have been happening lately. Anyway, I hope everyone else is doing well! PMS going on strong here, lol!

Hey ladies! Haven't read anything but just wanted to check in. I have been able to keep up with my 16:8! Also had a forced fast today. Not enough time to get lunch, so just had dinner.

Will check in soon! Xo

lightenup It sounds like you are making a new, healthier routine with tea rather than wine - I know it's hard to give up the wine, but trust me, it's worth it! The weight has come off faster ever since I made that change myself. Not sure it will last for me in the winter months lol Hope PMS week isn't going too badly :P

nayla - Oh darn, a forced fast! I like those lol

Coming to the end of my break. My weight has been pretty stable in the upper 180s, aside from a couple days it went back into the 190s, but I think that's because I had a ton of carbs and got bloated. I haven't been super careful about what I eat, in fact I've used this time to indulge in a few things (like fast food) that i don't normally eat, so I am happy with where my weight is. I'll get it all out of my system now, and come Monday it's back to fasting! I'm really looking forward to it!

Today is my boyfriend's birthday, so I bought a couple nice ribeyes and I'm making potatoes au gratin and a pumpkin pie. It'll be a nice indulgence. We also have a work picnic today, so I'm not going to eat anything until then, and I'll try to keep it light at the picnic so I can enjoy dinner.

Okay ladies, today is my first fast after two weeks off and I CAN'T WAIT! Time to start losing again!

Good morning Ladies!

I got back from San Diego on Saturday morning. I weighed this morning after my first run since Thursday and was pleased to see 147.9! YAY! My goal is to hit 145 this week if not lower... I think I can make it happen? Next week I'm in Chicago and want to have some wiggle room... I don't ever want to see 150 again and Chicago is such a foodie place that I'm bound to hit it if I stay at this weight LOL I'm planning on sticking to my 16:8 like I did last week, but I know it'll be even harder because I'll be at a conference with all of my co-workers and customers... Food and drinks are always part of that equation.

I hope everyone has a great week! OH! and Noname! I'm right there with you.. Fast for me today as well

nayla did you have a good trip? Sounds like you did very well as far as eating goes! Do you usually travel much for work? That will be a challenge to keep to 16:8 while at the conference, but I bet you can find a way to fit it in!

Today is a struggle. I'm not really hungry, but I am SO tired that I've had four cups of coffee so far today. I don't think I'll be summoning the energy to go to the gym tonight.

Noname - so sorry you're feeling tired. I was feeling the same way - I took a 20 minute nap and had a half piece of grilled chicken (about 60 cals) and I'm feeling much better now!

I do travel often or do a lot of remote work. I haven't traveled much for the past two months, which has really helped me get into the groove of things with this new WOE as well as my running goals But now that new standards have come out, I have a feeling that I'll be traveling quite often. Thankfully, it's usually Monday through Thursday and I always try to schedule a week in between at home so that it doesn't hurt the kiddos as much. They're used to it now... and again, I'm grateful for remote work at home!

Anyway - as far as the conference next week, it's not so much about keeping the 16:8 because I usually DON'T have breakfast anyway, it's about keeping my calories in check :/

Hope you get some rest tonight!

Lightenup - how was your weekend?

Missing Dorothy! Hope you're doing well (if you're reading this )