We really must be creatures of habit! That sounds nasty Allie at least the water that poured out of my steamer was cold!
You are right … yes let’s just do this. So let’s call this Day 1 and start all over again. So far so good for me hope it’s the same for you both as well.
Verano, I just posted my favorite low carb bread recipe for you (Manna From Heaven). It requires buying some hemp hearts but I PROMISE you it is worth it. Your husband will love this bread. Its 183 calories a wedge but delicious and very filling. That and a bowl of soup and he will be full. And it toasts magnificently. Also high in fiber. The hemp hearts are a great secret weapon in low carb….added to cauli rice they bulk it up. Can be added to ground beef instead of bread crumps to make meatloaf or stuffed peppers, stuffed cabbage rolls. Great stuff. I am a big fan (can you tell …duh).
Are hemp hearts the same thing as hemp seeds, Luvtcook? I’m really digging your recipes, btw. For a while there it seemed the recipe section was filled with really high carb wheat and grain-filled foods that were just portioned down to make it possible for BSDers with a high daily carb limit to ingest a tiny morsel of, which to my view defeats the whole purpose of cleaving to such a restricted WoE. Also, I think we may be the only two people on the forum who eat broccoli rabe, or at least who have written about them. I am obsessed with them!
Thank you Luvtcook but at this point in time he seems quite happy to just go with no carbs! So won’t substitute just yet. I haven’t started to restrict calories yet but he does seem to be taking the whole thing on board. Taking it slowly at the moment so we will just have to see!
Esnecca, yes the hemp hearts are the same thing as hemp seeds (the kernel if you will, but all the stuff sold has the casing removed).
So glad you are enjoying the recipes. They are ones that I enjoy that others have developed and posted somewhere. I need to put a spinach and apple salad that is an Ellie Krieger one that I made for the first time this week and LOVED. Another simple combination of a few ingredients that really bring the best out in each other. Another is Shakshuka….a tomato and red pepper stew of sorts with some spice that you poach a couple of eggs on top of. Soooooo good and BSD friendly. My son accuses me of being the Library of Congress of recipes….my computer’s reason for being is to save recipes. Love sharing them, but have no photos to add since none aremy saved ones jpeg format etc. Oh well. Leaves more to the imagination I guess.
Apples are off the list for me, I’m afraid. Way too high in sugar for my <20 grams of carbs a day limit. I have eaten exactly one apple in the 13 months and that’s because it was a heritage breed developed by an aristocratic lady with a penchand for orchard work in the 17th century. Also because it weighed 50 grams so I figured I’d survive. I did survive and it was the best apple I’ve ever eaten. Great on its own as a rare treat. Never good enough to put in an otherwise sugar-free salad. 😉
Tomatoes I do eat on occasion, but I never cooked. I save up those sugars for a special occasion. They’re dedicated to making a Caprese with real mozzarella (buffalo milk or nothing), homegrown basil and a couple of ounces of freshly picked homegrown heirloom tomatoes dressed in the lightest drizzle (1/4 tsp) of kalamata olive oil and a sprinkle of alder smoked salt. When the tomatoes are in season, I’ll have that Caprese a couple of times a week. It’s paradise.
Having said that, I love shakshuka! I make it often, just not with tomatoes. I use greens, all kinds of different ones depending on what’s in the fridge. Last week I made it on a bed of chickory and spinach sauteed with a garlic clove and two pepperoncini. My OH devoured it so quickly his fork formed an elliptical blur from plate to mouth like a Looney Tunes character. 😀
Ensecca, that is why I love that salad….I can handle 1/4 of an apple and get my “fix” with only 8.5 net carbs.
I do have a question for you….when you have done your fasts, what strategy did you use to break the fast? Anything special? I am hoping a day of some vegetable soup and kefir would be fine (after only fasting 4 days). Two days post is Thanksgiving so that one is a bit more challenging. Hoping a bit of turkey and lot of veg….skip the low carb deserts …would work ok. If it is trickier than that, will need to scale back to a 3 day fast so I have more transition time.
The “break the fast” stuff seems a bit overblown to me as every time I have had the flu and quit eating for a day or two (or broth only for a day or two) starting to eat again just did not seem to be a big deal. Usually hit the yogurt hard then as well.
Would appreciate your advise.
Note to Allie: no worry about staying in touch. I need all the help I can get. And I truely look forward to hearing from all of you and reading your posts.
LuvTC
Oh, I go all out. None of that nibble on yogurt and sip on soup for me. I hit the luxury proteins like they owe me money. My favorite break fast is 4 or 5 oz (grass fed, pasture raised, locally sourced) filet mignon, butter basted with a clove a garlic and cooked until just medium rare. While the filet is resting, I chop the clove of garlic, all golden and buttery, and add it to a huge mound of spinach (5 oz raw) that I quickly steamed in a tsp of water in a large sautee pan. Once it’s wilted I dump out the water, add a 1/4 tsp of olive oil and sautee for a minute. I make a side salad of romaine, a green onion, a persian cucumber, sprouts, sunflower/pea/radish shoots with a gorgonzola dressing (6 ml olive oil, 3 ml red wine vinegar, 8 grams sharp gorgonzola, a tblsp of the above mentioned fake mayo, s&p to taste, all mashed together with a fork and thinned out with chicken stock until it’s tossable).
Then I eat like I haven’t eaten for days. Which I haven’t! I do take it very slowly making sure I’m consciously chewing a lot. That’s one of the reasons I like a tall cut of steak cooked medium rare because you have to really chew on it, you can’t just inhale it.
Maybe it’ll feel different for you when you cross the 4-day line. My maximum fast length has been 72 hours so I can’t speak to that personally. Your tummy might be too empty for such a rich meal. If so, I’d still focus on getting the best, most delicious ingredients and keep it simple. Maybe sushi grade yellowfin, sliced as thin as you can across the grain and served with avocado slices, clover sprouts, the green tops of scallions and a dressing of soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, garlic and the minced white part of the scallion. Or you could just play it by ear and see what looks good at the market. Pick whatever is the freshest and appeals to you the most and go to town.
Good morning …. just 3 days of this 4 week challenge left! I’m not sure how many of us are still trying but lets make the last 3 days count!
I make Esnecca’s shakshuka which is almost a cross between both recipes. I use spinach as a base with mushrooms and whatever I have but I add my homemade tomato sauce, only maybe 2 ice cube size pieces, but it”s enough to give it a slightly tomatoey taste.
Well I did much better with water challenge yesterday but I am finding it difficult to get a ‘pint’ before meals, I just forget until it’s too late. How did you all get on yesterday?
I went back to three meals yesterday and I think that may be the best way for me. I have decided that 20g in two meals, although doable, doesn’t really suit me so I’m going back to my tried and trusted 30g in the hope that I can get back on track. On the plus side I’ve still managed to avoid the digestives but have succumbed to crisps once this week. I was saving my OH from himself!!!!
Anyway, hope you all have a good day today.
On breaking a fast: Esnecca, you are my kind of diner…..sounds scrumptious. All the mamby pamby phase in stuff sounds reasonable for a 30 day fast but after just 4 days it all sounded a bit nuts to me. Still, I think I will tuck into my usual kefir for starters and go from there. Minestrone for lunch and Thanksgiving feast for dinner (sensible feasting….hoping lack of hunger carries over a bit and insulates me from going too wild).
On the fast: after 36 hours I have had zero hunger, zero problems. No headache, no dizziness, no noth’n. Not doing much other than watching fasting videos and chatting with all of you, so there’s that. Some fasting bloggers did recommend that you make sure you are getting enough salt so that everything you drink doesn’t just over flush you and leave you dehydrated with no electolytes. So I have been sucking on some crystals of himalayan pink salt for both the salt and minerals, drinking lots of water between lots of cups of tea. I am much more a salt addict than a sugar person so that is fine with me. So far so good. Fasting seems to suit me.
Luvtcook, when I break fast (regularly do 48 hour ones, with nothing but water) I have whatever I fancy (BSD friendly obviously) and never bother with “phasing in” either. I do know a couple (not BSD, not overweight) who fast for 7 days twice a year just because he believes it to be beneficial, so she goes along for the ride, and they don’t bother phasing either.
Pleased you managed more water yesterday, V. But, like Allie, I’m struggling with remembering to drink it at odd times between meals and, therefore, am falling short – seems to me (though of course we are all different) that drinking before eating anything (not just meals, but snacks too) is a much easier habit to form, as preparing the food acts as the “reminder trigger” for me. But another pound on today, so at this rate I will zoom above my target weight!! If there is another increase tomorrow, I may go back to my usual “pint before eating” habit, which I found really easy and effective.
Allie, loving being thought of as a “water nymph”😀 Unusual not to have had a post from you this morning – how are you doing? Hope everything is ok?
Good morning, everyone! I’ve been a little slow out of the gate today. Seems
that I needed a full mug of coffee to get my brain in gear before sharing the
contents of such this morning 🙂 Thank you all for thinking of me. I’m just
fine, however.
I like the water nymph idea too, Theodora! Maybe we can get a routine
going with synchronized swimming? I recommend dusk as a good time
of day……I don’t want to scare small children with my pleated skin! I
understand EXACTLY how you might be feeling seeing the scale move
up .5 lb. a day. I’m deliberately holding off a weigh in til Weds. It will
be the last day of the challenge and time to see what effect the new water
management plan has made. We are really walking a tightrope of our own
devising though, aren’t we? Thanks to my low tech rubber band reminder,
I made it to the full 12/8-10 glasses of water yesterday. No time like the
present to get started again today, however!
See you all later, my friends
Allie
Good morning
I had a mixed day yesterday. We were eating out last night and I didn’t drink my full quota as a result. I find that, subconsciously, I drink less when I know I’m going to be away from home. It the past I have been to a restaurant that doesn’t have toilet facilities on the ground floor, and although this is very rare, it can cause huge problems. So, I tend to drink less water on the days I know I may have a problem. There is no excuse today though as I’m home!
Have a good day….. just 2 left now!
I’m very close to 11,4 so I should be there by Wednesday, but I’ll be away from the internet by then, until at least Thursday, more likely Friday, and away from my scales effectively until Saturday, as my most meaningful weigh ins are always first thing in the morning.
Esnecca, Luvtocook, do you really mean three/four days of no food at all? (Other than water.) :0
Ancient Weaver: correct….doing a 4 day water only diet (with some extra salt). I am now 2 1/2 days in having started Fri night around 7 pm as last meal, and it is going fine. More of a head issue than a stomach issue…..very boring with no meals to punctuate the day. Lost two pounds for my regular weekly weigh-in on Sun, but another 2 lbs since then, so I would count those extra lbs as a loss of 1 lb a day on the fast so far. As I said, really doesn’t feel much differnt than doing the 800 except for the desire to eat something interesting rather than any real hunger.
I can see myself doing a 4 day fast maybe twice a year for health (immune & disease resistance) reasons, but may do a two day fast each month to augment the BSD diet as I have 67 lbs to lose and want them GONE. Am now 33 lbs down from my max weight but have gained/lost/regained/lost ect ect the same 20 lbs for years now. So yes, I am trying to turbo charge the diet at this point. Am at 215 now and am aiming to get under 200 lbs by New Years Day. My birthday is the end of Feb so shooting for another 15 down by then. After that am going to have to get more creative to find some goals to finish off the rest. Maybe will need to plan a big trip. It would be exciting to actually fit in an airplane seat comfortably. Over the years they have gotten smaller and I have gotten bigger. Not a good combination for pleasant travel.
Fasting lowers insulin and blood sugar levels dramatically and takes hunger with them. I’ve only been genuinely hungry once on an extended fast. I just spent a lot of time planning my break fast meal and let the fantasy combinations carry me through to the endzone. I hear you about wanting to shed those post stat. I had so much weight to lose and my life on the line. I’d already wasted two decades getting hyper-obese. I had no more time left to waste.
Last year at Thanksgiving was the first time in a decade that I could do up the airplane seatbelt without needing an extension. It was a close call, though. I had to suck it in, Shatner style. Now coach feels like business class did. 😀
Esnecca it looks like it could be fasting that has made my BS fall to it’s lowest ever despite no longer taking metformin. The week or so before my last HbA1c I was only having two meals a day so probably doing 15:9. I don’t know if that counts as ‘proper’ fasting but my diabetes nurse did mention fasting as a possibility for lowering BS. Anyway, I’m just going to take the new lower figure and run with it!
Lovetcook, well done on your fast so far. I agree, once you get your head around it, it’s not actually that difficult – I certainly never feel actual “hunger” and I have learned to consciously enjoy that “empty feeling”. Fasting is also a great maintenance tool to have in one’s armoury. I know you aren’t there yet, but you WILL be, I know, and then it comes in very useful, once or twice a month.
I enjoy fasting and have found that after one day, I generally lose a couple of pounds, but a longer one can result in much greater losses. My longest to date was 49 hours and it resulted in 4lbs loss initially, but it seems to have a kick on effect and I lost another 4lbs over the course of the next 3 – 4 days, even though I was eating normally (BSD friendly, obviously, but not weighed or calorie restricted)
In fact, I am 18 hours into a 36 hour fast atm (started at 7pm last evening), just because I was feeling rubbish after challenging Verano to change our water drinking habits – she was to drink a pint before eating, I was not allowed to drink anything at all for at least an hour before eating. This has resulted in my water consumption going way down, and my body water percentage has dropped a whopping 3% in just 3 days! So today, it’s water only for me as I really need to get hydrated again. I would continue the fast for longer, but my favourite niece and great niece are visiting tomorrow, haven’t seen them since this time last year so really looking forward to it, and we are all going out for a family lunch, so that is when I will break fast – actually it will be nearer 41 hours by then!
Good luck with the remainder of your fast – I’m off to have yet another pint of water!
PS Verano, great on your BS fall – yes, just take it and run. How’s the water consumption going?
Theo so very sorry to hear that my challenge has mucked you up so much. I can understand how difficult it must be to change you water drinking and I suppose there’s nothing clever in taking a backwards step in your wellbeing.
Water consumption improving again today. I think the answer is to never go out then the subconscious fear of being unable to find an accessible bathroom would disappear ….. maybe that’s a bit drastic!
Esnecca and Theodora: thanks for the encouragement on the fast….good to know that they have been so successful for you with no problems. I do love this forum….so many knowledgeable and very helpful kindred spirits.
Verano: I have the same bathroom fears as you do. Part of it is the extra weight and the difficulty of climbing/decening stairs to a bathroom, not to mention the embarrassment of leaving the table twice when everybody else has been just fine with no breaks. Age and childbirth have reduced my effective bladder capacity to what must be walnut size and the water just seems to go straight through me. The good news is all that extra exercise. Or not. Oh well, just another challenge of aging.
Not a bit of it, luvtcook! This WOL is analogous to the fountain of youth 🙂
I used to have to go up or down the stairs one step at a time, using bilateral
handrails to pull myself along the way. Now I can travel up or down without
touching the rails at all. Have faith, all things are possible 🙂 🙂 🙂
Allie
Question for all you success stories and maintainers: the principal of MM’s other diet, the 5:2 is eat “normally” 5 days a week and fast 2 days a week.
I never expect to ever be able to eat “normally” and not count carbs, but would like to know if you have any experience or luck with having a shall we say “relaxed carb day” and fast the next day, to allow for the occassional Pad Thai or Shrimp Dumpling. I can live without bread but a life with never another Dim Sum brunch would be so very sad.
Frankly, I would be thrilled to death to do a backward 2:5 and have relaxed carbs 2 days a week and do 800 cal/low carb the other 5 (with care to not have sugar spikes. Advise would be to never do carbs for supper, but brunch or lunch when you can handle them better).
Thoughts?
Way to go Luvtcook….I was going to fast for 24 hours, but at 2pm today I felt very strange. I waited but didn’t feel any better. So I have had some Celeriac Mash, Cottage Pie that I had frozen. Feel better now. Will try the fast again tomorrow.
I have been thinking for some time that we need a “conference” or some such…so that we can meet up and discuss our triumphs and downs. Maybe MM and his wife, will be able to help in that direction?
Take care peoples.
Nonna Mary
xxx
Hi Luvtcook I’ve been BSDing for almost 17 months since July 2016 and I really don’t miss those sort of carbs now. I’m not at goal but have been ‘maintaining’ for almost 5 months now …. need to get back on the losing track again …. but I really coudn’t eat sushi, which I loved, or noodles or rice again. They just no longer hold any appeal. The other problem is that once you ‘allow’ yourself the odd carb heavy food the easier it becomes to have more and more and it becomes like a slippery slope. Also if you do eat too many carbs you end up ‘hungry’ again.
I did enjoy dim sum my favourite being Har Gow but trying a piece several months ago it was just slimy! I certainly don’t miss it now!
Allie: impossible …. can’t be ….. stairs without rails ….. who could even imagine
Luvtcook, as far as adding carbs back in occasionally is concerned, I think it depends on whether you are addicted and / or diabetic. Fortunately, I am neither and so, whilst I went really low carb for my 2 back to back rounds of 800 (averaged between 20 – 25g a day) and was incredibly strict and focused throughout, now that I am on maintenance, I happily allow myself a few extra (err….sshhhhh…..refined) carbs occasionally. But I do make sure they are ones worth eating and do it very mindfully. For example, I love moules, but they just aren’t the same without frites so when we go for supper at my favourite waterside pub, that’s what I have. Or, sometimes I’ll have a piece of wonderful artisan bread. And, boy do I enjoy them – but they are occasional treats, enjoyed all the more because I don’t have them often – and therein lies the secret. If we start eating empty carbs again regularly, we will be back where we began our journeys. And, anyway, I have totally lost any inclination to eat rice / pasta / potatoes (other than the aforementioned frites) or any bread which isn’t well worth the eating.
Throwing in a fast day after such an indulgence will certainly undo any small damage done “weight-wise” and, as mentioned above, it is an important maintenance tool in my armoury.
V – please don’t worry about it, I’ve certainly made up for it today and will, hopefully, be back on track with my water tomorrow. Really pleased that you have managed to drink a bit more, well done.
Mary, I suggest you build up to fasting gradually – how are you on, say 16 / 8?
PS Further to stairs without handrails, I have made the conscious decision to always put on my trousers / socks etc standing up, and not steadying myself on anything other than the one leg. Took some doing to start with, but easy peasy now.😁
Thanks Theodora, but I have been regularly fasting 24 hours for several weeks now. When I don’t fast for 24 I do indeed do 17/7…so I am used to it. This is the first time I have “gone funny.” I will see how I am tomorrow.
Keep giving the great advice. I know I am not the only one to read all your posts and learn from them.
Cheers
Nonna Mary
xxxx
Ooh, sorry Mary, I hadn’t realised you are already a seasoned faster. Either way, if you felt funny, I’m sure having a little something was the right thing to do.
Hopefully you’ll be feeling fantastic tomorrow .
Theo xx
How’s the long fast going, Luvtcook? I’m 28 hours in and feeling good – far more hydrated as I’ve been drinking water like it’s going out of fashion 😄
The next stage will be a doddle, because I’m tucked up in bed now, so that’s the next 8 hours sorted, then it will be water and black tea before walking the dogs, then water and black coffee upon my return, and then a blowout family luncheon to break my fast. But, and it’s a big but……I got to choose the restaurant, so I know it has plenty of BSD friendly choices😄. But, there may be wine…..🍷🍷🍷
PS Just had a thought – maybe I need a reverse miracle and have the wine turn into water?😉😄😉 If it can be done one way, surely it can be done the other? 😉
Theo, you are an inveterate bad influence on me. O/h always keeps an
unopened bottle of chardonnay or white bordeaux in the drinks cabinet
for me, in the hope that I’l l pull the cork and gain back a few pounds!
I’m going to have to put you on his list of co-conspirators! 🙂 🙂 🙂
Haha Allie, fancy me being classed as a fellow-conspirator with your o/h – though why does he want you to put on a few pounds? Or does he just want you back to more or less target weight? In which case, he can conspire against me too😉
We always have white wine and champagne in the drinks fridge and numerous bottles of red on the racks, and it takes no persuasion at all for me to pop a cork, which is why I could do with a reverse miracle. Mind you, drinking wine – and I AM NOT ADVOCATING THIS in any way, shape or form – seems to be about the only thing keeping my weight stable atm!!!! Days I drink wine, weight stays the same. Days I don’t, I drop a pound or two! Very disconcerting 😲😞😫
LAST DAY………………
So we’ve almost made it to the end of another challenge. My aim has been to refocus and in the main it has worked. In the last four weeks I have only eaten biscuits a handful of times and crisps once. I have been more conscious of drinking water and I do have more now. I gave up on giving up Lindt 90%, a girl has to have some pleasure in life! Unfortunately wine didn’t take a back seat as planned but hey there’s still time to address that.
I am away very early tomorrow so won’t weigh-in but I have had a small loss so far over the four weeks. I’m off for a bit of pampering today, hair and nails. I think I may have a break from ‘hosting’ a thread for a while but I will be around. I hope this challenge has been useful for everyone and so it’s onwards towards the next challenge, the silly season and the New Year…..
Well done on an, on the whole, successful month V. But if you’re not starting another, does that mean I have to put my pompoms away now? 😢
38 hours into my fast and I have lost a whopping 4lbs 😱 That wasn’t the intention at all, though I knew I’d lose a pound, maybe 2. But FOUR??
On the plus side, body water percentage has clawed back 2 whole points and I an feeling much better, rehydrated and raring to go.
How are you doing luvtcook? Not sure exactly when your fast is due to finish? Hope it’s going well anyway.
Off for family lunch today so will hopefully claw back a pound or two. Have a good day everyone. Bye bye pompoms 😢
Well V, can we really be at the end of our 4 weeks? It’s been a pleasure to be
a guest on your thread, you really do “host” it like we have been invited into
your home, where you look after us all! Many thanks for allowing me to be
a part of it. I hope you truly enjoy your time away, and I’ll be looking forward to
your posts when you return. I know it will be a challenge with the water while
away, that’s always an issue for me too. (I hate using public washrooms,
and I don’t have the mobility issues you do). You can get back to it when
you return, no worries. Just have a great time!!!!
‘Morning Theodora, All! I hope all of you fasters are almost thru your
3-4 days. I can’t do this at all, so I tip my hat to you! Theo, o/h thinks
I’ve gone too far below my target (13lbs) and believes that I look unwell.
The word “scared” isn’t part of his vocabulary, so when he used it recently
to tell me that “I’m scaring him” he succeeded in getting my attention 🙂
The wine (and I’m NOT advocating for it as a weight maintenance tool, either!)
he keeps on hand is his best effort at preventing me from further losses. I
think I may be responsible for planting this idea in his head because I totally
abstained for the 10 months it took to get to target. Does this make any
sense? 🙂 🙂 🙂
Catch you later, luvtcook. I need coffee, NOW
Allie
My goodness Allie – 13lbs under target is a huge amount! No wonder he’s worried! Well, depending upon how realistic your target was, of course. Do you mind me asking how tall you are, and how much you actually weigh? And your BMI? Forgive me if I’m being too personal, feel free to tell me to go to hell on a bicycle 😉
I know I’m 11lbs under target, but only because I’m just completing a 40 odd hour fast – wanted to rehydrate, not lose weight, but ended up doing both.
Maybe you should let him persuade you to have that wine, if it makes him feel happier? Like you, I abstained totally whilst wanting to lose, but since reaching maintenance I drink wine 3 days a week and it does have the effect of keeping my weight more or less stable, within a pound or two. Ideally I’ll keep between 5 – 7lbs wriggle room.
I’m worried that your o/h thinks you look unwell! What do others think? Mine at least keeps telling me I look great. I certainly feel great. How do you feel? Have you had a check up? Sorry to be so nosey, it’s done out of love and concern by someone who is/has been in similar position, ie losing too much.
Love Theo xx
Hi Theo! You aren’t being in the least too personal. I enjoy our daily
banter enormously, but I also know that you recognize exactly where I am
with respect to maintenance. Uniquely so, in fact! 🙂 I’d truly welcome your
opinion! I’m 5’7″ tall, current BMI 21.46, current weight 137lbs. The range
for my height is 118.5 – 159.6. I set my target at 150lbs. (I like round numbers!).
Since reaching that goal I’ve basically been losing about 2 lbs. a month, getting
me to 13lbs. under. I feel extremely well, better than at any time since my 40’s!
O/H has seen me at this weight before, @ age 50, and never thought I was too
thin before. What is hard to calculate, though, is how much the loose skin
weighs. He thinks it’s probably 10-15 lbs, so I actually appear to look about
125lbs, give or take. I would describe my bone structure as slender to average.
I don’t know how U.S. sizing correlates with yours, but I’m wearing a U.S.
size 6/8 at the moment. When I look at sizing charts to order clothing though,
my hip measurement is closer to size 4. I think I need a 6 to accomodate
this waist size where I have, ahem! some loose skin. So, that’s IT, in a
nutshell! Your concern means a great deal to me, so thank you. I’ll be
looking forward to your perspective on it!
Love,
Allie
Verano, great job hosting the challenge for NOV. I am hoping someone picks up the batton to do a DEC challenge, because lord knows DECs are always challenging.
Enjoy your day of pampering.
I am off to pick up turkey, then home to clean house and start prepping veges for THE FEAST.
Actually my feast starts tomrrow. End my 4 day fast at 7 pm tonight. I am planning a light supper tonight….but tomorrow night will avail myself of a local restaurant’s WED Lobster Special…option of a 1.5 – 2 lbs, or the 2 lbs. I am going for the 2 pounder….with all the drawn butter the poor thing can sop up. Salad on the side. It comes with a baked potato. Usually I take it and scoop out all the inner fluff and just eat the skin with some butter, salt and pepper. Potato skins without the crisping, but very good and you get all the vitamins and minerals in the skin anyway. Does the trick. Counting the hours.
Ta ta all.
Luvtcook there will be another December challenge starting next Tuesday not sure of the title but look at the Remember remember thread.
Thank you for joining me Allie and Theo and Caron and anybody else who is still reading! I’m not going anywhere just taking a short break. Sometimes we need a change but I’ll be back!
Hi Verano, Enjoy the pampering and the small break! Thank you for hosting this thread. To round off, I shall report a total loss of 5.5 kilos (12lbs 2oz) since starting on this thread nearly four weeks ago. The loss has slowed (heavy cold = overwhelming need for porridge!), but am still pleased. Thank you all for the hints and tips. I shall now hunt down another thread for the next four weeks. Best wishes to all..
Hi, Caron! That’s an impressive loss for 4 weeks. Well done! Hope to see
you on the upcoming Dec. thread. It will be lots of fun, and a big help to
all who don’t want to “lose the plot” going into Christmas 🙂 🙂 🙂
Allie
Hi Allie
I have read and reread your post above before responding to allow me time to digest (no pun intended).
Your figures are, in fact, better than mine – my BMI atm is only 19.1 and I would prefer it to be more or less where yours is – approx. 21 (mid range). If you deduct 10lbs for your skin however, your BMI is about the same as mine is right now so, yes, we are in a very similar place. But I am not convinced that BMI is the best measure. Obviously I weigh less than you, but I am 3″ shorter. I wear UK8, the equivalent of US4 (just looked that up on a conversion website and it shocked me – a 4 sounds soooo much smaller than an 8!)
I DO think that, at our age, this may be too low / small but, like you, I feel great and I do love being slender (hesitate to say thin, because I don’t think I am), and I too have a slender body frame. However, I really wouldn’t want to lose any more (but do feel I could easily do so) and am trying to stabilise my weight, relatively successfully at the moment – it is fluctuating by +/- a couple of pounds every few days, but not dropping any lower overall). I think your husband is right to be concerned if you are still consistently losing as much as 2lbs a month, particularly as many on 800 aren’t losing that amount regularly.
Do you know your body fat / water percentages? Have you had a body scan? A few months ago I had a bodytrax scan and, I was encouraged to note that the readings were very similar to those of my home scales – i.e Bodytrax Fat 22.3%, home scales fat 22.1%; Bodytrax Water 56.6%, home scales 56.9%. So I now rely purely on my home scales, and they still read more or less the same (+/- small weekly variations) and that puts mv fat %age below average (which is apparently 25 – 31) and into the “fit” level (21 – 24).
Have you worked out your TDEE? And are you eating up to it? What is your carb content? Whilst actively trying to lose, I attempted to keep my carbs down to about 20 – 25g a day, and continued with this once I reached maintenance. However because, like you, I continued to lose but really felt no desire to eat any more, I increased my carb allowance to between 50 – 60g (often works out more, if I’m drinking wine) and this seems to have stabilised me – more or less anyway. As mentioned before, the 4 days when I am not drinking, are the days when my weight drops, but I do drink 3 days a week and then I gain the couple of pounds back. I know we shouldn’t be advocating using alcohol in this way, but I am not addicted to it and, whilst I gave it up completely whilst doing 800, it was never on the cards for me not to reintroduce it, so dropping a couple of pounds when not drinking, and regaining it on the 3 days per week that I am seems to be working for me atm. Without it, I suspect that I would also still be losing. Also, I think that a glass or two of wine increases the appetite a bit so on those days I am more inclined to eat over, or at the very least, up to my TDEE which I struggle to do when not drinking – like you, I really rarely feel hungry, but am generally happy to have an extra handful of nuts etc with a glass of red (or white for that matter!).
Other than the above, and giving you the benefit of my experience, I don’t know what to suggest. As long as you stop losing, you are probably fine, but if you do continue to drop a couple of pounds a month, I suggest you have a medical check, just to rule out anything else that may be going on – though I suspect nothing is and, like mine, it’s just your metabolism gone into overdrive, so don’t fret – that alone can make you lose weight!
My advice – let o/h open that special bottle of wine this weekend, and drink it mindfully and enjoy it. At the very least, it should make him feel better. Hugs xx
Oh, Theo, I’m so indebted to you! Thank you SO much for taking the time to
analyze my stats. I’ve done a recalculation of my TDEE, only to discover
that I hadn’t upped it when I began exercising 4 weeks ago (thanks to Verano’s
Refocus thread). A moment with the calculator reveals that I have a cal.
deficit of 6900 a month! That IS the 2lbs! I could dance a jig with this
knowledge in hand. How do I thank you?! I simply hate not being in control,
so now I have a starting point. You’re an angel 🙂 I want to “alert the media”!
You and I are just going to figure out this maintenance thing once and for
all.
I’ve never had a boditrax. During the Fast 800 I was usually doing 20-25
net carbs. That really hasn’t changed much, unless I’m having a wine day.
I’m pretty much a cheap date, however, so certainly no more than an extra
10 carbs, I would think. So, my friend, thank you IMMENSELY for figuring
this out. My anxiety level has plummeted, thanks to you. I’m smiling from
ear to year! Will be talking to my “soul mate” and partner in crime later 🙂
Love you,
Allie
I don’t know about being an angel, Allie, I’m just so glad if I’ve been of help, my friend. Sometimes we can be a little too close to a problem, which makes us unable to see the wood for the trees. I do hope that increasing your cal allowance by approx. 230 a day to come up to your current TDEE does the trick, and I’m really pleased that the realisation that you haven’t been (albeit inadvertently) has reduced your stress levels. Hopefully it will help to reassure your o/h too.
Maintenance is SUCH a balancing act, thank goodness we have each other to bounce ideas off, as we seem to be the only 2 on site at the moment experiencing this particular problem. Hopefully our experiments and experience will benefit any BSDers who may encounter the same in the future.
In the meantime, an extra helping of yoghurt anyone?😉😘
xx
Caron a great loss pat yourself on the back!
Well wonderful to feel some sun on my body again and feeling relaxed despite a very early start this morning. I just love these boards. Everyone is so helpful. There is always someone to help in a crisis with great advice. I, for one, know that there is no way this plan would have been anywhere near as successful for me, without the help of all my ‘friends’ out there.
Allie so glad you have sorted your problem, and yes, I think sometimes others see things far more clearly than we do ourselves.
I’ve enjoyed my last four weeks here and they have been successful, as far as I’m concerned, because I’m still not going back to the ‘old me’, much prefer the new one, the water drinker!!
Look forward to another challenge in the not too distant future but for the moment I’m going to relax, enjoy a glass of cold white, gaze at the ocean in the far, far distance, and recharge my batteries. I think as we get a little older stress, surgeries and all manner of things take a greater toll on our bodies. We need to be kinder to ourselves.
See you all soon.
I’ve only had minimal success at losing weight, this month, but I have found a simple system that is easy for me to stick to, and with the addition of a bit of calorie counting even gives me weight loss, and that was my main aim. As a bonus, I have lost the 2lbs that I was hoping I would, and possibly more, by tomorrow, as I usually weigh less in the morning than bedtime, and I am 11,4 right now. 🙂
Many thanks, Verano, for ‘hosting’ this thread. 🙂