Itallianne, Wvuchick, esmi134, Mizzthingaling, Katylil- thanks for the welcome back. this forum certainly helps with the old accountability, and its really good to know that support it as the end of your fingertips.

PrincessSophia, well done on losing a LB on holiday. and good luck getting back to IF.

Geoblewis- I am a foodie like you, like most of us i suspect!. its hard when you have to get the kids meals whilst youre not eating isnt it. I also have been getting them to cook a bit more. my 17 yr old is great and has quite a repertoire of meals under her belt, but my 14 yr old is not so self sufficient!! luckily he has the more naturally healthy choice in food,so less naughty stuff to pick at.
I am currently just starting to combine ESE and fast 5, will see the result next week.

Violet73- i have not had any gut problems. but i dont have any intolerances either. hope it settles.

gamesmaster1- you are so close now, dont lose focus. even if the weight is only ticking down at a tiny pace, you are also maintaining, which is not easy.
you have to do this!!
you could also add a second ticker, with much smaller increments so you can see your loses!

mellyme123-hope your cold is better and hope to see you back soon and mdoc-hope your still there too.

feeling much better again since posting and restarting. thanks to all of you for just being here.
I have started to jiggle a bit with ESE and fast 5. as i work shifts i am going to let them dictate what i follow. so when i work a long day I will do a full fast, as i dont do a job where there is access to food and i am very busy, it just flies by.when im on a day off In the week or i am working an early shift I will follow fast 5 with my window in the evening so i can eat with the family. when im on a day off at the weekend, I will eat normally, possibly overindulge, but only in that i will allow myself the odd treat.

so far this week i have done 3 days of fast 5 and 1 full fast. I am doing another fast 5 today ( just off to work now).feeling good on it so far and it feels easier. I think having 5 days of eating normally i was prob eating too much over the whole week. not sure if i will do 2 full fasts a week, again i think it will just depend on how i feel.

ok rambling now!! will stop.
good luck everyone, I will be weighing in on monday, which I am going to be very calm about as i was bad last week.

Glad to hear you're feeling better at stuff Moozie! I'm finding that combo of Fast-5 and ESE works for me usually too but occasionally (like today or if my bf is cooking), I like having breakfast and I love how flexible the plans are.

gamesmaster1- don't give up now! keep your focus and it may take a week or two but the scale will go down. I'm considering changing my WI day to once a fortnight so the numbers are more encouraging so maybe try something like that?

Sorry I can't reply to everyone, my internets being a fool a won't let me go back a page :/

Well I weighed in this morning and am stupidly happy to have lost 4lbs! means I'm back on track. Woo!

One of my biggest achievements this week has been cutting out snacking which had recently turned into a big thing for me. Its one of the reasons IF interested me because I can have big meals and cut out the need for snacking, whereas I think with Slimming World (which is the plan I was on a couple of months ago) I just felt I could eat constantly. I know its great plan, some of my friends have lost and maintaned a really good weightloss, but it just wasn't for me. IF is the way for life from now on I think!

Hope everyone is having a good day!

Hi all, I posted on the other intermittent fasting thread too. It's great to read about all of your successes with IF!
I have almost completed my first full week of IF, mixing one 24hr fast on Tuesday with 16/8 every day. Still doing my usual exercise routine of strength training and cardio 4-5 times a week.
Saturday is my weigh day and exactly a week since I started IF so fingers crossed for tomorrow as I have been maintaining this weight for far too long!

My digestive issues have straightened out. It was just the first couple of days thank goodness!

Do you guys keep your meals at a certain calorie level when you break your fast?

Violet, I can only speak for myself. I usually eat a normal dinner. But I used to typically keep most of my calories until dinner anyway. my typical dinner is 700 calories, I think.

would be interested in what everyone else does, especially folks doing fast 5.

Have a great Friday!!!!

Glad you are feeling better.

I don't focus so much on calorie counting since I have 3 kiddos and 2 other adults I share meals with. I have made some changes to the meals I prepare for all of us (more veggies, less processed food, etc) and am working hard to stick to my smaller more moderate portions. By doing that and making better choices when I snack I have found it easier to stick to my new WOL.

Plus, being a busy mom I really didn't want to add calorie counting to my endless list of things to do each day.

Hey Moozie.
I am feeling better than I have in almost a week. I hate getting sick. My voice has finally come back and the chest congestion has tapered off.

I started my second fast for the week last night and finish at dinnertime tonight. Despite being sick, I woke up with more energy today so I'm going to give my workout a go today.

Hope u had a good day at work! Enjoy your weekend!

Violet - I don't count calories either, but I'm mindful. My dinner is probably anywhere from 600-800 cals and then I eat some fruit and usually something later in the evening again. I eat a healthy size dinner, but it is not a binge meal. I think my total for the day is usually 1200-1300, sometimes more, sometimes less. I do focus on whole foods, with very few refined carbs.

This give me a steady calorie deficit. To me one of the main reasons I do IF is because I like a nice evening meal, and I'm a night time eater. I'm done counting calories, points, eliminating food groups, etc. I have done it all!!!!

IF is the only way I have been able to keep my food consumption down without a great deal of thought or effort.

This describes me exactly! I am mindful of calories though, otherwise my fast-breaking meal would not be the deficit I would like.

I find fast 5 works best for me, with a 24 hour fast thrown in before a big event or a meal where I will be overindulging quite a bit.

It's so nice to find people who understand it's not an eating disorder or starving yourself. I love what Italiannie said in the beginning of the thread:

no deprivation, just delayed gratification.

That's awesome and describes it perfectly. I am eating the same amount of calories I would on a weight loss plan (1300-1600 average), just "saving" them or the bulk of them for the time I enjoy eating the most, in the evenings.

Nice to "meet" you all

I think I would also like to do a combo of ESE and Fast 5 eventually, but right now Im having an issue with eating well while on Fast 5.


Rosey85 good luck on your WI sounds like youve been doing good with IF.


Violet im so glad your feeling better ..I have not been keeping track of calories but really want to, seems like i just eat, wish i had more control and i guess more of a plan but doesnt seem to work that way.


mellyme glad ur feeling better as well, its hard when ur sick.


35x35 glad ur here and nice to meet you


katylil 4lbs thats awesome!


Happy Friday wvuchick and everyone!

I haven't been working out much while doing F5 but I really want to and start out slow cause I usually start out, overdo it and then quit right away. I want to do some dvds or a dvd program that will help lean me out and not bulk up cause i am muscley (dont think thats a word haha) as it is. Especially for my stomach area, from having a baby, and my behind (not so youthful looking as id like)...
So I would really like to get some ideas of anything good like that if any one knows. Thanx

Hi Guys, just settling on the sofa after work, having had a huge salad with Chinese spare ribs - yummy.

today went well, though i was starving when i got home, which is unusual, but I was late getting back.

Rosey85 and 35X35, welcome to the gang, keep checking in, it really does help to have this kind of support

esmi134- I too have trouble keeping up any real exercise program, but this week i have bought some of those ankle and wrist weights- the ones you wrap around. so when im at home doing the chores i wear them as i walk around the house. i have no idea if its going to help, but it makes me feel like im doing something

Katylil- amazing weight loss, well done woohoo!!!!

Violet73- I don't keep track of calories, but as a veteran dieter i have a really good idea of what im putting in my mouth! Like a few of the others, I chose IF because I don't want to count calories. I find i get too caught up in it all and begin to obsess about food that i can and cant have.
I do try to keep it simple most of the time and then if i really want to i have a splurge without any guilt.

mellyme123- thanks, glad you're feeling better too

hi to everyone else and hope you all have a great weekend- I am working but will be off on Monday.
bye

Moozie, I have a 14-year-old son who has a major case of entitlement these days. He can cook for himself but chooses to skip a meal rather than make something healthy. If my kitchen was stocked with all the unhealthy choices he prefers, he'd be eating all the time! He's a big boy, 5'9" and 220 lbs. If I don't cook and he chooses not to cook for himself, then I started looking at it as the adolescent over-privledged white boy version of ESE. I'm not worried that he's not getting enough nutrition because when I cook, it's all healthy and mostly veggies. But it seems to produce a large volume of "attitude gas" from him!

@Esmi134 and Moozie, thank you for your welcomes! It is nice to be able to read others experiences and talk about it, as I daren't mention it to any of my friends even though I would like to. Especially the ones who are struggling to lose weight and trying different diets, I may do though, in time.
My boyfriend knows, but he is of the "eat little and often" school of thought and thinks "fasting" is unhealthy...sigh!! But he doesn't judge, not like some reactions I could imagine getting from people!

Hi Everyone!
Welcome Rosey and 35x35. Great to have you!
We're really growing - so exciting.

Esmi - You said you're having an issue eating well on Fast-5. What is your struggle? Maybe it's something someone else here has overcome.

This is an inspiring group. Seems like many of our experiences are similar. Nice to hear what others are doing and how they deal with challenges.

Ate an early dinner. Will close my eating window around 7pm and then do my Saturday 24 hour fast.

Have a great evening. I look forward to another day of IF and 3FC and hearing what everyone is up to.