Things are ok here. My sleep quality has been poor lately and I'm not sure why. My energy is ok, possibly due to the HRT. Yesterday I did some work up at the new house- my husband literally handed me a pick and a shovel and had me dig out a section for the stairs for the front porch, haha. It was a good workout. Afterward I went to church. I stayed up a bit too late (probably 11pm) last night which I know better than to do, particularly on a Sunday night. That sure makes Monday a rough one!

I'm fasting this morning but it's not a long fast since last night I had (hanging my head in shame) a big bowl of homemade tapioca pudding. It's a weakness. Anyway, I'm back on track today and determined to be good for the rest of the week and get back on IF'ing with the 18/6 plan.

I need to figure out how to work some exercise in this week. Tonight and tomorrow night I'm going to a church retreat. So unless I try to squeeze some exercise in at lunch, not sure how I'll get any in. I might do that, just squeeze in some HIIT or something at lunch while my lunch is cooking.

Did you have a good weekend?

Hi Dee,

Lovely to hear from you. I'm sure your homemade tapioca won't dent your efforts in the long term - you sound to be straight back on track which is fantastic.

If I'd stayed up until 11pm like you, I would have been no use to anyone today. We generally get up at 5.30 though we are often awake beforehand, so we try to be in bed and asleep by 9.30. Our friends laugh at us saying it won't be long before our daughter is staying up later than us - she's 10!

The impromptu workout with the shovel sounds fun. Some weeks it is just not possible to fit a formal training session in. I'm sure you will find time next week when you have less going on.

It's my weigh in day tomorrow so I am excited to see my progress. I have found the first week of IF very manageable. It's definitely a method that I find easy to stick to.

I hope you enjoy the church retreat tonight. Take care. Corinne

Hi Corinne!

Well, there's been more than 1 bowl of homemade tapioca lately. It was 2 this week, plus 1/2 pint of ice cream. On different nights, of course. It's like I let the sugar beast out of it's cage. It's still not crazy, but I know I'm slowing my weight loss down by eating garbage like that, delicious though it is.

I wish I could go to bed earlier. I sleep very poorly, so I usually try to make it up in quantity, since I can't seem to get it in quality.

IF went fine yesterday and today I hit 18 hours again before eating. Should have no problem doing that through Friday. Weekends I generally shift back to more of a 12 and 12, and eat 3 meals instead of just 2.

How are your workouts going?

Hi Dee,

Lovely to hear from you again. Believe it or not, I have never tried tapioca. I totally get what you mean about letting the sugar beast out of the cage. My experience is the same, once I give in and have something sweet, it seems to open the floodgates for uncontrollable cravings. My husband can literally eat one small square of chocolate and be satisfied not to eat any again for a week. I am hoping that with the help of the CBT techniques in the Beck Diet Solution that I can overcome this 'all or nothing' mentality.

Good news from my first weight in this morning - 5 pounds lost. I know the weight loss will slow down after week 1 but I am so happy with the result from my first week.

I didn't train this morning as I went in the sauna instead - not sure if I mentioned it before but I'd set myself a treat of going in the sauna once I'd lost 5 pounds - I just didn't think it would be so soon! Hopefully, I can maintain a 1-2 pound weight loss weekly from now on.

I'm getting into a good routine with the IF, I don't find it too much of a struggle to fast until 2pm. Monday to Fridays I'm sticking with 18/24 with the option of being more leniant on a Sunday when we have a family day. However, I find that I am making healthier choices all round. I'm moving this new positive mindset I seem to have adopted.

I believe the UK is 9 hours in front of Alaska so you will no doubt still be asleep when I'm typing this but I hope your day starts off well and continues in a positive and happy manner.

Corinne, congratulations on your 5 lb loss, that's terrific!

I love your idea of rewarding yourself with a trip to the sauna. I would love to do that, and it's supposed to be so good for you. Detoxes you and such.

IF sometimes is a struggle for me. Like right now I'm pretty hungry- it's 9:30am, my last meal was finished by 6pm last night. I won't eat until about 12:30pm today for the first time. Still- it's kind of good to feel hungry, I think. I think before I ate when I didn't need to. Although honestly today I'm feeling REALLY hungry so I may have pushed it too far this time. Hopefully my blood sugar holds out until lunch. I should bring some protein powder to work and keep it here just in case, I guess.

I hope you had a great day!

Hi Dee,

How are you today - did you have a tapioca free day yesterday?

I've been feeling quite lethargic today and found myself battling cravings and a feeling of wanting to give in this morning. Quite surprising given that I had such a great result yesterday. I'm not sure where this sudden change in motivation has come from but I wonder if it could be hormonal as it is coming up to that time of the month.

However, on the plus side, I went into the gym this morning and did well and I was fasting until 2pm. I've just had some sushi for lunch but I also ended up having some tropical fruit chips.

In the past, it has always been at this point that I give up - eating one thing that wasn't on my plan, but I know that if I keep giving in I will never get to my goal weight so I aren't going to. I'm going to finish this message, have a large glass of water then immerse myself in jobs until the school run.

I guess my first tricky day was inevitable but I'm learning to say 'oh well' and get on with it.

There was a programme about Alaska advertised on TV last night which sparked my interest - I'm going to record it then I can see the state you live in.

Hi Corinne!

I was tapioca free last night but I went a little crazy on carbs by eating potatoes, carrots and a pear yesterday. Went over my carb allowance. I'll try hard today to keep it low, to compensate.

I, too, think I might be coming up on that TOM. It's harder to tell with me because I'm in perimenopause and skip cycles for one or two months at a time, then I'll have one. But I sort of feel like I may be about to have one.

I love sushi. I haven't been able to have it since I got sick- as healthy as sushi is for normal people, there's numerous things in it that I can't have. I look forward to when my gut recovers and I can have sushi again.

Alaska is a bit of a mixed bag. The southeast is a rain forest. The area I live in, south central, is mountainous. Further north it gets much flatter, and less trees, and colder. I was going to post a picture but it won't let me.

Hi Dee,

The things us ladies have to put up with each month! I'm positive that my low mood and cravings yesterday were down to hormones as my food/drink/exercise etc had not varied and the night before that I had gone to bed in an extremely positive and happy mood so really hormones can be the only explanation. Either way, I have awoken today with renewed vigour and a steely determination. Today is Day 10 for me and this is probably the longest I have stuck with a diet/exercise plan for quite some years but this time it has felt totally different - apart from yesterday, I haven't struggled with it at all.

I have stuck to an 18/24 IF routine every day since I started and haven't really had any issues with it. It feels empowering not eating in the mornings as it is my choice not to do so. I plan to have some tomato soup and rice cakes at 2pm, a banana for my late afternoon snack and then homemade spaghetti Bolognese for dinner. That's another thing I like about IF, it helps me through the last couple of hours of a fasting stage knowing that I have yummy meals planned for dinner and lunch. If I was following a traditional low calorie diet I would struggle to be enthused by the variety of 'low cal' foods available to me!

What do you have planned for the weekend - more work on your new house? If you work out how to attach photos (I must admit I don't know myself!) maybe you could send me some of your new place? Or, if you prefer, my email address is [email protected]

Hi Corinne! Congratulations on sticking with it for longer than any other plan, and most importantly for finding one that seems to work for you. That's so important. I agree it does kind of feel empowering. I really like that if I fast at breakfast, go light at lunch, I can have a huge guilt-free dinner of pretty much anything I want. And I agree that it's so much better than "low cal" foods.

I found this interview with Dr. Jason Fung on fasting and it was fascinating. It's long so I listened to it in pieces over two days, but it's really good. Towards the end he points how in like the 1950's and such people ate crap- white bread, etc. and yet they weren't obese and he says it's because back then people didn't snack and so they ate in like a 10 hour window and then fasted and he goes on to say how this eating 6x a day sort of thing is not good. The whole interview was really good, check it out if you have the time and interest:http://highintensityhealth.com/167-j...-for-fat-loss/

I'm getting more and more excited about this whole IF thing. It started out more like a lark, but the more I learn about it the more interested I am in sticking with it for at least 6 months and getting bloodwork done and seeing how it impacts my A1C, cholesterol, etc. It sounds like there are so many health benefits to this, and I'm kind of like- how did I not know this?

Saturday will be a blend of working at the house and volunteering at the church, something I do twice a month, and going to the Saturday evening Mass. Sunday probably will be working all day.

I will get some fresh pics of the house and will send, it's nearly done! They're planning to do the appraisal on Tuesday. So hopefully the paperwork will clear quickly after that and we'll be in the house soon!

Hi Corinne! I hope everything is well with you? I spent the weekend working on the house. I had to nail on some hurricane clips to the deck, some trim for the doors and tubs, and helped my husband hang 3 doors. Stuff like that. No digging, this weekend, thank goodness! How have you been? How was your weekend?

I did not do the fasting this weekend, but I did only eat twice each day. My carb levels were up, again. I really need to make a greater effort on that because reducing carbs has such a positive effect on my fat loss efforts.

Did you fast this weekend? Do you ever take breaks from it, right now? How's the exercise going? I got lots of steps in this weekend, and lots of stairs (the house is 3 stories, so up and down!) but no formal exercise.

~Dena

Hi Corinne- I got a real workout in last night, finally. I did T25 (cardio) and 20 minutes of yoga. How are your workouts going?

Hi Dee,

So sorry I've been out of touch for a few days I've been quite poorly but I am on the mend now. It's 9.30pm here now and so I'm off to bed but just wanted to check in and let you know I hadn't given up! Hopefully in the morning I will be back to full health and will message in reply to yours. Thanks for sticking with me. Corinne

Hi Corinne, sorry to hear you haven't felt well! I hope you feel better soon.

I did manage to get in a half hour of yoga tonight. I haven't felt very energetic- I rarely do, these days- but yoga is do-able.

I will post more tomorrow.

Dena

Hi Dena,

Thank you for your messages while I was absent. I am well again now and back to feeling great.

You asked whether I ever take a break from IF. Monday to Saturday I fast until 2pm then have a 6 hour eating window. On Sundays I am more relaxed and tend to eat 3 meals throughout the day.

I haven't been able to train while I've been ill and I've decided not to go to the gym today to give my body chance to fully recover. However, as of tomorrow I will be back in the gym.

It sounds like things are progressing well with your new home, I'm looking forward to seeing the photos.

I haven't had chance yet to listen to the interview which you linked but I will do so. Like you, I find the idea of IF extremely interesting but I have struggled to find many sites dedicated to providing accurate info. Have you found any sites that deal with IF?

Looking forward to hearing back from you.

Corinne

Hi Corinne,

After listening to that talk by Dr. Jason Fung, I googled him and he's on two websites that have info on IF. Also, Mark Sisson of Mark's Daily Apple has been covering IF and Keto recently in his blog because he's got a new book coming out on Keto. The blog is searchable, and I've always been impressed with the quality of the info in his blog.

https://intensivedietarymanagement.com/
https://www.dietdoctor.com/authors/dr-jason-fung-m-d
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/blog/

I am glad you are feeling better and think you are wise to give your body one more day of healing before resuming hard physical activity.

We went over to the new house last night and the cleaners were there cleaning it of all the construction dust. It looks so nice! My husband and I were measuring the lot outside for the fencing we're going to install for the dogs so they have a safe area outside to play in.

My home PC died this week and all my house pictures are on there, so I'll have to take news ones. I'm really bummed about my PC, I didn't lose everything because it had been acting up a few months ago and so I did a backup but I don't have a recent backup and so I've lost some photos, primarily, and some email. We're hoping we can take the harddrive and slave it to my husband's PC as a D drive and get the data off there. Fingers crossed!

I hope you had a great day! I guess it's evening there by now, but only 9am here!