Ok, disaster averted--this morning I'm only .6 lbs more than my lowest weight two weeks ago. I think my appetite is going down, too, whew! Still, two weeks of absolutely no loss, is not awesome! We'll see how the next month goes.

TGIF!!

noname-I was down! I'm up again today, but its bc yesterday I had a dinner party and over did it, but only being up less than a lb after a day like yesterday is pretty amazing! I know what you're saying about the weighing in, I know it will slow down and after a while I get a better idea of my trending weight. I love coconut water! haha Glad you're feeling more like yourself, hope you have a good time with your family!

lightenup-Glad your appetite is calming down! You can and will start losing again, you've got this!

So happy with my loss! IF has been a lifesaver for my sanity with these last few lbs! I'm down 3lbs since starting 5:2 and am so so happy. I know some of that is water weight of course, but I really believe 1lb is actual fat I'm up a teeny bit today bc I seriously ate so much yesterday at this little dinner party I had, but I'm up less than 1lb so I'm not that upset. Today I went to the gym with my exercise buddy and did her intense 90 min strength routine. Feeling a little like jelly Haven't eaten very much today since I'm trying to stay a little below maintenance since I went over yesterday. Tomorrow I'm going hiking and I'm really excited to try out my new shoes! I met up with my dad and we went to the 5-10 outlet and I got two new pairs of hiking shoes and he got a pair of hiking/approach shoes and a pair of climbing shoes for $100!!!! Yay for good deals Also going to my fiance's high school reunion tomorrow night. Sunday is going to be a chill day, although might try and go for a little hike in the morning.

Yesterday I did a 2 hour hike with my sister up the mountain and she brought along a friend. Well I couldn't believe how this guy was dressed...all white, adidas, just a small propel water. He struggled a lot....we had to do an easier hike than planned. Afterwards while talking I commented about being sorry that he ruined his white shoes and he said he actually has hiking boots and a camel back but didn't bring it bc he assumed he was just hiking "with two girls" and thought we wouldn't be very good hikers/in good shape!!!! Seriously, me and my sister get this all the time from people and I have no idea why no one believes us when we say we hike Its like, they think we're just weaklings? Idk really frustrating though.

Question: Have you guys noticed a change in your energy levels since doing IF? I can't believe I have so much energy now, and its increased even more since doing 5:2 Is there a science based reason for this or is it just some kind of random thing?

Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Lightenup I'm glad you feel more in control now! It is so hard when hormones are crazy but I think IF helps so much to prevent from going overboard ya know?

Dottington so glad tings are going so well and that you had a drop in the scale! Yayyyy! The energy increase is definitely related to fasting. I've read a lot on it. Will send a link your way if I can find a good one that explains it.

I just discovered that Smart Water has electrolytes. I thought it was just regular water! So I'm gonna pick some up today since the coconut water was so gross lol I was doing well Wednesday and Thursday and went to the gym twice, but yesterday was iffy and I have a headache this morning.

So on my long drive with my parents yesterday, my mom asked me again about my weight loss and how I'm doing it. I have been vague until now but I figured it was a good opportunity to tell them about 5:2. They both listened and asked questions and didn't judge. Obviously since I have been doing it for a year they can tell it has been a healthy change. Then last night, my cousin (who immediately noticed my weight loss, which was awesome!) also asked me what I'm doing, and I told her! She made a joke about bulemia at first but then listened. We didn't get to talk too much about it but I hope it comes up again. She lost 50 pounds last year and regained which I know she isnt happy with. Maybe I can inspire her to check out IF. It was nice to openly discuss it. I kept it simple and didn't mention how I combine it with 16:8, but that would get complicated lol

Everything is slowly coming together. I think I'm finally experiencing real hunger for the first time in a long time! That's a good thing...I forgot what it felt like. In the morning between 9-10 (my start time) my belly actually rumbles and I feel true hunger pangs. Wow, it's amazing! I never realized how much mindless eating I was really doing until now. I still struggle in the evenings. I TRY to stop eating at 5/6 but sometimes extend it to 7 PM due to my two hour commute to work not always allowing me time to get home and prepare something. I don't beat myself up about it I just make myself very aware of what I'm eating and am chosing not to just stuff myself. Thanks again for all of your support! This is a wonderful thread. I'm working on this each day and the support here is priceless!!!

It sounds like things are going well for people!

Vealcalf--I agree, it is so interesting and enlightening to actually feel real hunger, and to realize it won't kill you (or your metabolism!).

Dottington--So you've added 5:2 and you're liking that--can you remind me what you're adding it to? Is it a 16/8 eating window the other days? I know that's what Noname is doing, and it's working well for her. I'm thinking about adding the 5:2 days, and keeping the current 6-hr eating window on the other days (I say Fast 5, but to be fair it's really about a 6 hour window, so I guess 18/6, but whatever). That would essentially mean making my eating window smaller and just trying to eat what I normally have after 8pm. I don't like the idea of little bits of meals throughout the day, and I'm already used to the Fast 5 woe.

Noname--I'm sure that was nice to let your parents in on your woe and how that's been so successful for you. My family pretty much knows what I'm up to, at least my mom and sisters. My dad and stepmom have heard me talk about IF in the past, and my dad has always had a pretty strict eating plan himself, as he's a marathoner/triathlete and tries to stay quite thin. My stepmom once said he goes entire days without eating, so I guess he probably does IF without knowing about it. Anyway, I'm glad your family was supportive! I also can think of some people I'd love to share IF with, to help them shed some weight, but I guess you have to slip it in there subtly sometimes.

Well I'm still stuck at the same weight as the past 2.5 weeks, but I had a good day yesterday, and I know I just need to get back in the groove and not eat as much in my window. I'm eating more raw vegetables which are filling and I love them, so that's helping. Also helps with the regularity issue, lol. And I had a great week of running workouts, so that was nice. Oh, I was getting discouraged about the weight being at as stand still, so I did take my measurements and compared to 2 weeks ago. Every measurement was down some, except bust (yay!) and calves (boo!). So at least I have that even if the scale isn't moving. I mentioned I might add some 5:2 days to see if that helps move the scale, but I might wait it out another week or so.

Noname and Dottington--When you do your fast days, do you wait until later in the day and eat all at once, or spread the calories out? I would def skip wine that night, but I'm thinking maybe a small snack like a boiled egg or greek yogurt while getting dinner ready, then a small, filling dinner, and then a small after-dinner snack (my fav "treat" right now is a serving of almond butter with a drizzle of honey and cinnamon--200 cal). I just seem to need more than one eating event in a day. If I went to 600 cal I would be fine with that.

A while back, someone asked what people were eating, and I forgot to answer, so I'll do it now. I've been doing a 6-hr eating window in the evening, so at about 5:30pm I eat a "meal" made of my favorite, filling snacks. This will usually be a combination of about 4 of the following, depending on the day: small fruit and yogurt smoothie(with spinach if I have it--this is shared with the kids which we all enjoy, and makes up for skipping eating lunch with them), a Greek yogurt, a boiled egg with salt and pepper, a 100-cal pack of guacamole with a limited number of chips, a serving of hummus with an unlimited amount of raw veggies (cherry tomatoes, cucumber, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, etc), a serving of almond butter with a drizzle of honey and cinnamon (yum!). By the time I've eaten that I'm full, and I've had between 500 and 700 calories. So then it's almost dinnertime, but I'm not all that hungry so I eat a much smaller portion. Dinner is just what we've always made for family dinners: black bean tacos, pesto pasta, Shepherd's pie, meatballs and pasta, baked fish and vegetables, breakfast for dinner (a hit with the kids!), pizza, etc. I just have a small portion and try not to go back for seconds. Then after the kids are in bed, hubby and I have a glass of wine with a small slice of gouda or some other yummy cheese, and that's pretty much dessert. Or I'll skip the cheese and have about 5 bites of ice cream or other sweet, but not too often lately. The other day I made a berry crisp that was quite yummy, and not too terribly high in calories for a small serving.

So, that's what my days look like right now. Oh yeah, I can't forget the coffee with a little sugar and milk, and a bite or two of chocolate with the coffee in the evening when my husband gets home. He has to have caffeine each day, but he likes it in the evening more than morning, and I typically have coffee in the morning and evening, but mine is decaf. I esp love my evening coffee because I get the chocolate bite! ;-)

How's that for detail, lol!!!

noname-That's wonderful you were able to open up to your parents about your lifestyle and that they were so understanding!

vealcalf-Glad its all working out so well! It's amazing how much we eat when we're not truly hungry isn't it?

lightenup-Yes I'm trying to mix 5:2 with 16:8 That's great that you're losing inches! Inches really are what's most important anyways. I fast Mondays and Wednesdays since that's what ended up working best with my schedule. I save it all for dinner. Much easier for me that way since I can just forget about food and eating for the rest of the day. But if spreading it out would work better then go for it! I know a lot of people aren't super strict with the 500. I joined a 5:2 group on mfp and it seems people have picked all kinds of numbers below 1000 to make it work. Some also still keep a small (like 200-300) deficit on regular days. I think you should give it a go I actually enjoy and look forward to my fast days now. Really enjoyed eating about your eating day!

So I thought I handled 5:2 well, but really I just handled the fasting well. The other days I felt lost. I didn't trust myself, I was afraid I'd eat too much, afraid I would gain weight etc. And bc I was afraid all those things happened this weekend I realized I need to have a strict plan for non fasting days. I need to keep to my eating window and keep to a calorie amount. I'm going to try and keep a very small deficit on non fasting days (200 calories or so). The real issue is I feel lost having to change the amount I eat depending on exercise I do. So new plan for non fasting days is 1700 for regular days and 2000 for intense exercise days. I'm going to see how that works out for me this week.
I just don't do well without rules!
Also, I've put away the scale and will weigh after my 2nd fast again. I don't feel like I'll have lost any weight though since my weekend was so awful.

I'm still having a bit of an issue with appetite and not being able to wait until my eating window is open. I bought and began taking a vitamin B complex supplement exactly 1 week ago, and I just found this online: "Read the labels before you purchase vitamin B complex. If it contains high amounts of thiamine or pyridoxine -- B1 and B6 -- you might notice an increase in appetite."--Yeah, this supplement I bought has thiamine at 2000% daily value, and pyridoxine at 2500% daily value. Guess what I'm not going to be taking anymore! I've also read about vitamins, esp B and multivitamins, causing weight gain via either increased appetite or water retention. So I'm going to take a supplement break and see what happens.

Anyone else experience this??

lightenup Yay for your measurements going down! Always a good thing to check when the scale isn't moving. RE: 5:2 and when to eat, I pretty much just drink water (and coffee in the morning) until my evening meal. But sometimes I will snack before and/or after dinner on things like pickles, watermelon, etc. Especially if dinner is going to take a while to make. So I think your plan sounds solid!

RE: vitamins...I never heard that before! Funny you mention it though. I started taking my multivitamin just over a week ago and was quite bloated all last week. Related? Hmm. No experience with Vitamin B supplements. Most healthy people with balanced diets shouldn't really need those supplements anyway, so unless your doctor told you to take them, sounds like a good idea to test things out without them.

Dottington That is exactly why I combined 16:8 with 5:2. Having no boundaries on the other days of the week made me go way overboard! I hope your new plans works for you. It sounds quite reasonable. Why do you adjust your calories based on whether you worked out that day? Do you find yourself feeling weak if you don't?

Fast yesterday was a bit tough and I may have gone over (I ate something I don't usually eat on fast days so I'm a bit iffy on the calories), but fasting again today to get it out of the way. I've got a jar of pickles at work just in case, and I bought a bunch of electrolyte water. Here's hoping today doesn't suck and that I kick this lightheadedness in the butt! And hopefully a new low on the scale tomorrow...that would be nice.

No gym this week. I really thought I would manage getting there last night and tonight but I always forget how much planning and packing goes into preparing for this music festival. Oh well. I'll be very active when I'm there, and when I get back I'll finally be able to get back to my routine.

Hey Ladies! So sorry I haven't checked in! I had family from CA over the past week and we have been busy! Yesterday was my birthday and it was bittersweet as my family left as well as my oldest nephew also joined the Marine Corps... I'm a mess LOL

Anyway I've been so good about keeping within my window! Very proud I've also kept up with my running. My food choices haven't been "perfect" but still doing the trick This morning I weighed at 155.6

It's a slow process losing, but I'm ok with that. I've lost huge amounts of weight before and gained it right back. I pray that I'll lose it slowly and keep it OFF!

Something I did wanted to point out: I've noticed that if I drink alcohol I gain weight really quickly - mostly bloating. Lighten up, do you think the wine might be what it's doing this to you? Also, at what time are you weighing in? I've noticed that it's actually better to weigh in right before my eating window opens especially since my eating window closes late

I have a meeting in an hour i have to finish prepping for, so I will check-in again later. Have a wonderful day!

Nooooo, not the wine, say it isn't so!!!

Nayla--Happy birthday, a little late! I hope it was a great one and you enjoyed your family visit! Yay for staying in your window! I run as well, but I'm just starting to get back into it after a time off. How much do you run? I'm still doing run/walk intervals until I work back up, but doing faster running rather than the long, plodding runs I've done in the past. I really like speed better, and then I can call it HIIT, right? ;-) In regards to wine, I really haven't changed my intake at all in the past 2-3 months, except to maybe be drinking less recently than usual. So I don't think that's my particular issue, but I'm sure if I cut it out completely I'd lose more weight, as long as I didn't add back the calories with something else. But for now I'm happy enough with cutting it out about twice a week, and keeping it to one glass the other days. This is my first day without the vitamins supplements, so we'll see if that helps.

Dottington--I would definitely be afraid of non-fast days if I only did 5:2. I think that was part of my problem back a couple of years ago when I experimented with various IF methods. I do like the Fast 5 or 18/6 eating window, since it's just like extra insurance that I can't stuff TOO much into my face, ha! And now I can't imagine eating breakfast and lunch, lol. Anyway, I hope this week goes well for you and you see a loss despite the weekend.

Noname--Thanks for the 5:2 tips (Dottington too!). I think I'm going to see if there is any effect from taking out the supplements first, and then if not I might move on to the 5:2. I'm a scientist, so I like to keep my experiments controlled ;-) (Really, can someone tell me how to put in nice smileys?? All I can manage is :-) Anyway, if I notice a difference after stopping the vitamins, I'll def let you know! BTW, I added the B complex just because I'd heard you get more energy from them, and while losing weight and having lowered calorie intake, I figure I might be deficient in something lately. As for the multi I take, it's pretty much 100% for most vitamins, and I was taking that "just in case". So what is the music festival--something you attend, or do you play? For those days when you can't get to the gym, would it save you time to do something at home, like a workout DVD or youtube video? I've found if I can't get out with the kids at home, I can do a quick 30-40 min workout right in the living room and feel like I did something at least.

Well strangely enough today I was back to my usual IF appetite--getting full easily and not thinking about food much. Of course it was a busier day for me as well, so maybe that helped. I did take the supplements last night with dinner before I started looking that info up online, so tonight is my first night to skip them. I have also noticed that my cycle is doing some odd things, and I read that vitamin B6 can also alter your cycle, and increases your progesterone (weight gain, anyone?). Ugh, stupid supplements!!

Noname--I meant to ask, are the electrolytes helping out any? Are you still feeling lightheaded?

noname-I wish I could stick with a lower calorie amount for my intense workout days, but for my long hikes I really need more :/ I get extremely light headed and dizzy otherwise. I'm only going to do the 2000 on days I exercise 2 hours or more though. I'm active most days, but if its less than 2 hours I can deal. Sorry yesterday was a rough fast day, I have a feeling my fast tomorrow is going to be tough. Btw I think your love of pickles is so cute! My sister loves pickles as well Your music festival sounds like it will be a ton of fun!

nayla-You're doing so well! Also happy belated birthday

lightenup-Thanks for the support, I'm really hoping for a loss too! Yeah sticking with an eating window today has made things so much easier. That's so weird about the supplements, but at least you're feeling more normal. I don't take any supplements so I can't really help with that. Maybe its just hormonal stuff? Hope your appetite stays in check Oh and to put up the fancy happy faces when you're writing and see the regular smilies on the right side you can click on the link that says "more" at the bottom of them and all the different ones will pop up in another window and you just click on one to add it

Did well today but got pretty hungry this evening. I think I went 30 min outside my eating window, so did pretty good. But yeah, super hungry today! I know why though, stupid TTOM is here Ugh so dumb. My calories came in at 1661 so stayed below 1700 which is my goal for normal non intense exercise days. I did an hour hike this morning too. I'm planning on doing a long hike thursday. Still haven't decided how long though....but hoping for at least 3 hours.

I've hidden my scale bc it was starting to drive me crazy. Maybe I'll weigh Thursday. Honestly, I seem to do much better when I don't weigh which I know is really weird. So part of wants to ween myself off the scale. I was weighing multiple times a day and I know that's crazy

Have my fast day food all planned out for tomorrow. I'm a little anxious though bc of TTOM and I've been so stupidly hungry today Maybe tomorrow will be a magically easy fast day Monday was rough but I did make it through so I know I can make it tomorrow too!

Lightenup (It's Lorie right??) - Glad you're back to normal! I'm sure things will work out As far as running I've been doing the C25K program for the past 11 weeks or so. The reason why so long is because I was doing a challenge with my sister and I had to wait 2 weeks while my sis caught up (she got the free app which stops at 2 weeks!). Anyway - really enjoying the long slow runs. I just take my time and enjoy the scenery and listen to music. We're officially done with the program but we both agreed that we'd keep up with it. We have two more 30 min runs then a 45 minute run coming up. I may go out today again although it's my non-running day. I think I want to start running every day or at least add one or two extra days. I'm very proud of myself. Not even while I was in the Air Force I did so well running outside.

Dorothy - TTOM is due any day now and I'm struggling with food as well! I wanted carbs and sweets yesterday! All within reason, but it was part of my meal! LOL Had a small piece of chocolate covered coconut macaroon (sp) for lunch and frozen yogurt after dinner

I'm going to test myself and see if I can go all the way to dinner fasting. See if I can do what you're doing, Dorothy, and combine both.

Have a wonderful day ladies!!

I thought yesterday's fast was going to be super difficult since it was two in a row, but it was actually quite easily. I am pretty sure I ate over 500 calories, though. Either way, I finally saw a drop in the scale after two weeks.... only a .2 pound loss below my lowest, but it's better than the one pound gain last week! Hopefully next week my body will catch up

lightenup Ah so much to respond to you about haha!

Smilies - you can click "go advanced" and you will see a selection on the side. The "code" for each smilie is next to it if you want to type instead of click it. Basic smilies are just : ) without the space in the middle. A wink is ; ) without the space.

Please do let me know if you see any improvement going off the vitamins! I'm taking mine because of my lightheadedness issues, but it would be nice to know how they are affecting my weight. And a little improvement, but still getting it some. We'll see how I feel after 4 days at this festival, where I'll be eating normally. That is weird about B6 possibly altering your cycle! But I do find it interesting that your appetite is back to normal even though you were still taking it. Maybe it's not related

It's the Philadelphia Folk Festival - it's like a more laid back version of Bonnaroo, and folk/bluegrass music rather than indie. The headliner this year is Old Crow Medicine Show, can't wait! My boyfriend and I volunteer every year. It's a lot of fun and we have a great crew. We camp out in a field the whole time and just hang out when we aren't doing our volunteer duties :P

Dottington - Sounds like it is for the best that you keep the calorie count up, then. Do you need to count the calories, or do you just kind of know when you've eaten enough? I know you count anyway, but just curious.

With TOM, I personally find it easier on a fast day since I know that regardless of how hungry I am, I have a plan. I hope you find it easy to stick to as well. Good luck!!!

nayla good luck fasting until dinner! Are you trying that today? And happy belated birthday. I must have missed that post.