ClarinetCathy there must be so many of us here just trying too push you on past this last little hurdle. If crossed fingers help I’m sure there are enough of us to get you to your goal by Tuesday! As s-g says just keep on keeping on ……..

Oh well done, Cathy. So close now, you can taste it.

You may be surprised and find that the scales go down again tomorrow (as long as you are sensible today) and you’ll reach target over the weekend. I frequently fast for a day or two and generally find it has a knock on effect, lasting up to 3 – 4 days, dependent upon how long my fast has been. So will be looking forward to hearing further news from you. …..

Esnecca, good to hear your fast is still on track – but why do men always refuse advice from their betters?😉😜

I’m now 37 hours into my fast and feeling good, not at all hungry, feel as though I could go on and on. I will break my fast at lunchtime howeve, after I’ve had a chance to do a supermarket runot, as my scales recorded this morning that I now have over 8lbs wriggle room!!! O/h has nicknamed me The Incredible Shrinking Woman and asked me not to lose any more. Quite how I’ve managed to come home after 9 days away eating and drinking far too much, I have no idea (apart from the travelling fast) But I’m taking it and saying thank you very much😃

Hope everyone else are doing okay?

Theodora- you have a very responsive body and it seems to behave well to this way of eating! 8lb wrIggle room is awesome! I’ve just been preparing my lunch for work and have got spinach, an egg and an avocado. I’ve also got some raspberries and Greek yoghurt with chia seeds. I think I will eat my lunch at 1pm so will have been fasting for 42 hours. It does get easier the longer I fast but I am also aware that for me it could be addictive and I am a little bit frightened of it becoming a game I must win! So with that in mind I will take control and decide to eat at 1 pm. I am planning to do a couple of fasts every month because of the health benefits and I think 42 hours works for me.

I really am so grateful Verano for all the support I’ve had on the forum and I am thankful I found it and joined in. Thank you for helping me with the final push! Watch this space everyone …….. the next few days may see a big announcement from me.

Cathy, I know exactly what you mean about the possibility of our fasts becoming addictive, which is why I took note of o/h telling me to ease up and not risk losing any more by continuing. I am now in the 7s and less than half a stone heavier than I was on our wedding day, and I am fighting the temptation to replicate my wedding weight of 48 years ago. So I seriously need to ease up – we all know that, in reality we all look better carrying a little extra padding as we enter our 3rd age.

I find that I really do enjoy this way of eating. I don’t feel at all deprived and, whilst I do eat the odd plate of chips or a chunk of wonderful artisan bread, they are both very occasional treats, certainly not something I crave every day. The fact that I only have them occasionally makes me appreciate them more as what they should be…….a treat.

I may or may not be unusual or have a responsive body, I have nothing to compare it to. But I love this WOE and cannot envisage ever eating any differently. Hope those don’t prove to be famous last words…….😱

Yes I know exactly what you mean about really enjoying this way of eating. Tonight my o/h asked if I missed eating bread and I said …. I don’t miss diabetes so not eating bread to keep that at bay is no problem… and you know I really don’t miss simple carbs.

But tonight I just needed spice and I only had cold roast chicken so I had take-away spicy chickpeas and spinach bhaji, again just a spicy mix. It was wonderful. So my carbs will have been high but I have still eaten BSD friendly and it got me over my spicy urge really well without having a full on blow out!

I think that we just embrace this WOE after a while and it becomes our new ‘norm’. I agree with you Theodora this is our new life and there is no going back.

Theodora & Verano – I totally agree – there is no going back. This WOE is my new normal also. I don’t miss diabetes either – nor the Lucentis eye injections for the diabetic macular oedema. Not eating sugar, bread, pasta, rice or potatoes is such a small price to pay for freedom from all the horrible things that diabetes causes

I too keep an eye on my state of mind during extended fasts. The urge to push it a little further can cross into pathological territory and even as I type this out a small part of my brain is thinking “I bet I could make it to Sunday easily, maybe Monday.” There’s a limit to how much of a pit I can fall into, thanks the gods, because I spend a lot of time menu planning and looking up recipes and mulling over new food ideas simply because it’s so enjoyable to me and you can’t look at a hundred pictures of delicious food a day and not eat eventually. Anyway I love my decadent break fast meals far too much to hold back longer than 72 hours.

Awesome work everyone! You have four days left. Keep going! 😃

Thanks guys. So pleased to know that I am normal – or at least relatively so – in having the desire to push fasts further and further, just because I can. But just because one could, doesn’t mean one should – and I will hold on to that mantra.

I truly believe that fasting has huge health benefits, and my body really responds to them. I feel invigorated and refreshed and I enjoy feeling in control over my eating, after years of being out of control. But I don’t want to give up one addiction only for it to be replaced by another. Let’s be honest, any quirky eating regime can be dangerous if carried to extremes. But the fact that we are aware of this is surely insurance against it? Not to mention having a lovely husband who keeps my feet solidly fastened to the ground.

So, to please him, I have indulged this evening in a glass of white wine, accompanied by a handful of Brazil nuts, followed by a huge poached salmon salad, with another glass of wine, followed by some wonderfully ripe brie. So mostly bsd friendly (if one ignores the wine) but way over the top on calories. But hey, I have 8lbs leeway and, whilst I may undo the overnight weight loss, hopefully I won’t undo the autophagy benefits.

Only a few days of eating clean to go – I know it is almost Halloween because my darling 17 year old granddaughter turned up a couple of hours ago demanding I save her life!!! The threat posed????? Not having a wonderful Halloween costume that she could boogie the night away in…..or better still, wear something trendy underneath so she could transform herself from spook to siren in one easy move.😱 After all of 5 minutes contemplation, and a root through my linen cupboard, she left armed with a white sheet, eye holes cut out, and a cord hanging around her neck with an empty gin bottle attached on one side and a big sign on the other saying “The Departed Spirit”. After a couple of dummy runs, she’d perfected the Wonder Woman twirl, to transform herself from ghost costume to party finery she would wear underneath 😃 May not have been the most original of costumes, but new to her! So very happy granddaughter, very happy grandma. I love my girls…..what a privilege to have them so close, so they can drop in assuming that I can solve all their problems 😃 And oh, that all our problems were so easily solved!

Krysia – lovely to read your post about your eye check up, well done 🙂
Cathy – how exciting to be so close to goal, keeping my fingers crossed for you, you’ve worked so hard for this!
Theodora – how lucky to have so much wriggle room – you are a good inspiration for maintenance, which hopefully I’ll be on by this time next year!
I have been maintaining for about 3 months now – unfortunately though not at my goal weight, that is still another 16kg away. I’ve tried this week to go “back to basics” and it has worked – to a point. A couple of unplanned meals out has put me over calorie wise – not so much the food, but the wine 🍷. Trying for a week of sobriety this week!
I had a lovey lunch with my daughter at a Cuban-themed restaurant. It was a haloumi salad with a red and white cabbage salad, with mint and I think coriander, mushrooms and avocado. As there was no calorie count on the menu I sent the company an email asking for the nutritional info as I’d love to have it again, it certainly was BSD friendly in terms of the ingredients. I also had another BSD friendly lunch at a local cafe – steamed vegetables with beetroot hommus, salad greens and poached egg. It’s good to see that more places are providing BSD friendly options.
As for fasting – I’m having trouble fasting between dinner and bedtime/breakfast, let alone doing 24 or more hours! Well done to everyone who is able to do this successfully!
I’d like to try it one weekend, but am not sure how I’d get on with my medication, which has to be taken with food. I had thought of having the pills with a tablespoon of yoghurt or something.

It is hard to believe that we are in the last week of this challenge! I think I said it before but it feels like as soon as one challenge starts we are near the end again before you know it!

If everyone is happy with the “Remember, remember low carbs for November” title then I’ll start it early next week.

SueBlue I’m with you when it comes to fasting. If I miss breakfast and eat lunch around 1pm I just seem to be hungry all day and end up eating far MORE than usual. I don’t know if it’s just state of mind and everybody can fast, or if I just have mental block. I think anybody on medication, especially if it needs to be taken with food, should be very careful and I’m really not sure that fasting is right for them. Indeed I’m not sure it’s right for anybody who doesn’t have their blood sugar in the normal range.

Nonetheless, I do admire all of those who can go at least a day with only liquids.

Great title for the nee challenge!

Don’t forget the fasting mimicking diets that supposedly give much the same autophagy benefits while still eating a nutritious plant based diet. I haven’t tried any of the commercially available ones, but by keeping both protein and carbs low (lots of nuts, olive oil and avocado to get the calories in) I managed 5 days at 800 calories on less than 20g protein a day, and really felt the benefit. Will be doing it again first week of November as a lead in to my attempt to lose a little more of the weight that I need to, now my body weight has settled slightly higher than I like. I WILL have at least 10 pounds of wiggle room before Christmas!

SueBlue – thank you for starting us off for the November challenge next week- great title. Well done on your back to basics restart and hopefully you will see the benefit at Tuesdays weigh in.

I will happily be joining in the November challenge as sadly I am up 0.8 lb this morning following my 42 hour fast to 134.2 so didn’t achieve my goal weight of 133. Feel a bit sad about that but will keep very low carb this weekend and hope that I can lose a little before Tuesday. My body really does defy medical science but hopefully should still be burning fat.

Thinking of you Esnecca whilst youre still fasting and will be interested to read how your very long fast went! You’ll enjoy your meal this evening I am sure.

Have a good few days everyone before the final Halloween weigh in and remember to keep clean for Halloween 🎃

I will be joining the November challenge as I will be back by then. Was doing so well and no weight gain until we went to a Beefeater last night and I had ribs and chicken. Only ate a couple of chips but the bbq sauce was sooooo sweet even though I scraped most of it off. See you all next week.

Impressive Mixnmatch maybe that’s something to try. I’ve never attempted 20g of carbs or less but it’s certainly food for thought.

S-g hope you are having a good break you’ll be fine once you get back into the swing of things next week. See you on the new challenge.

CC, my extended fast went great! I had been retaining water like crazy (I could feel the tautness of it in my belly) and now it’s all happily gone. Instead of my planned filet mignon, we went in a totally different direction and I broke my fast at a Spanish tapas restaurant we’d never tried before. It was one of the greatest meals I’ve ever had, and that’s not just 70 hours of water only talking. The most perfectly cooked shrimp, a brussels slaw that made the one I make pale to chalky whiteness in comparison, every preparation dressed with the lightest touch instead of drenched in heavy sauces and swimming in cups of balsamic vinaigrette (a plague in this country) and a swordfish with hot pepper sauce that was so perfect I don’t have the words to pay proper homage to its greatness. It was a miracle, truly. I couldn’t have imagined a more satisfying close to a long fast.

Well done on achieving your extended fast goal, Esnecca, and your break fast dinner sounds absolutely divine – am drooling as I type.

Cathy, are you absolutely sure you drank enough water during your fast? I don’t see how you can possibly put ON weight during a 42 hour fast, unless your body is retaining water! The counter-intuitive cure for this is to drink more water – I drink shed-loads, and have never failed to drop at least a couple of pounds, even after only a 24 hour fast. I know you are an old hand and know all this, but it’s a gentle reminder to maybe look again at your fasting water intake. But must be so disappointing for you, particularly when you are so close to goal.

Hard to believe we are almost at the end of yet another challenge – where on earth does the time go? Really looking forward to everyone’s end of challenge reports on Tuesday, and then look forward to seeing you all over on the next one.

Morning all,

Back from Italy and just been reading through the posts over the past week to catch up. Good to see where everyone is up to now and remember that this woe is full of highs and lows.

I have had a +1lb gain on the scales but a +2-3% body fat gain. I know the scales aren’t the most accurate way to measure but they do let me know what the general trend is like.

This week will be a big one for me as the Italy trip marked my deliberate decision to have some carbs and sugar (Pizza and gelato) what I have struggled to manage in the past is to come back from that mentally and not just give up. I recognise that my headspace isn’t good but hubby and I are going back on plan this week to get back to our new normal. If I can persevere through the next couple of weeks then that will prove to myself that it is possible to keep on keeping on.

I have recognised that posting on the forum daily has been really helpful at keeping me on the straight and narrow, giving me a measure of routine and accountability. I admit that it was a battle to come back to it again today as the loudest voice in my head was saying “what’s the point”. I know what the point is but years of habitual negative thinking don’t get totally undone in 8 weeks.

x

Well said Mokovex! The only failure here is the failure to keep on keeping on ….. that way we win in the end with better health!

Hi Theodora- I lost 2lb following my 42 hour fast and got down to 133.4 but the day after, having eaten a light lunch and evening meal I was up again by almost 1lb. I did drink a lot of water and fruit tea during my fast and always do and was mindful of what I ate afterwards and even today four days after the fast I am I ketosis according to my Ketostix but again was up this morning yet another pound to 135.4 so in fact the two pounds I lost I have regained despite being super low carb. My body really is a mystery! Tomorrow morning’s weigh in will be interesting! Today I have eaten Greek yoghurt and 5 raspberries for breakfast with a sprinkle of chia seeds, feta and avocado with walnuts for lunch and I have made cream of mushroom soup for my evening meal. I will have a Nespresso and a small piece of 85% chocolate following that. I am going to be joining the November challenge and fingers crossed will hopefully achieve my goal. I cannot believe how difficult this last half stone has been to shift despite my best efforts.

Well done Esnecca on your epic fast.

Welcome back from Italy Mokovex- back to it for you this week. Draw a line under your holiday and onwards and downwards once again.

Good luck everyone for the final challenge weigh in tomorrow.

Final weigh day for the challenge and I can report a disappointing loss of 300g only. I’m annoyed with myself because I got to within 300g of my goal but social events have seen it disappear and here I am, pretty much back where I started. CC, at least you know you have done what you should! I have only my own choices to blame.

Oh well, maybe I’ll do better on the next challenge! I hope so because the festive season will be upon us after that! I find it so easy to follow maybe 90%of the time but that errant 10% certainly has a huge impact. Gook luck to the other challengers, I hope you have better results than I’ve had 👍

Morning all,

Start : 140.3 lb
Week 1: 136.6 lb
Week 2 : 135.4 lb
Week 3 : hols
Today: 136.5 lb

Total loss -3.8lb and it all seemed to happen in wk 1!

CC, are you able to measure body fat? whatever your body is doing, perhaps the composition is changing?

Going to jump into the next challenge and hoping for some good results for you all today 👏

I have been reading your posts but didn’t join in with this challenge so the net result of my last 4 weeks is a gain of around 3lbs!!! So I’m off to declare my new goal on the November challenge !

Well done to all the losers, and never mind to those who didn’t … today is another day and a fresh start. Good luck on the new challenge.

Start of challenge 138.4
Today 134.4

Back to basics
Determination
Resolve
Support
Result

4lb down and another 4lb to go in November.

Thank you to everyone on the Halloween challenge- it was a positive month. Well done to the losers and good luck to the non losers for next months challenge. See you on the other side.

Cathy

Weigh in at 11 stone 3, so not lost any this week. Not unexpected, since I had quite a few sessions of evening munchies and too much cake and stopped logging again. I have decided that the next challenge is a proper focused weight loss one, not just a half-hearted maintaining really so it doesn’t matter attitude, and have already signed up. Well done to all the challengers, whether lost, maintained or gained slightly, just keep on keeping on towards wherever you want to be.

I managed to lose 4 of the 6 holiday pounds but still have the same few pesky pounds to lose before I start on the next phase. Oh well, I must do something soon or my Christmas dress will not fit!
X B

It appears there have been few ups and downs on this month’s challenge, but well done to the losers, and well done for hanging in there to everyone who was disappointed with their achievements.

My challenge was to achieve another month of maintenance which, despite an 8 day holiday, I seem to have managed – bar half a pound.

Started the challenge at 8st 1lb
Finished the challenge at 8st 1.5lb

At one stage, admittedly after my fast, I dropped to 7st 12lbs, only a few pounds heavier than when I got married 48 years ago! Too light for a 68 year old though, so happy with the little extra gain since then, caused by too much wine over the weekend.

A disappointing end to this challenge in that I am still stuck on 13st 1lb having now been there for ten days!

Doubly annoying as it is just one pound away from the 5stone loss mark and it would have been nice to have got there on this challenge.

Still, onwards and upwards 5lbs is more than the 4lb goal I had set myself so on to the next challenge where hopefully I will pass the 5stone mark!

Well, on this 4 week challenge I’ve lost 10lb – and that was in the first 3 weeks. Stayed the same this week. Can’t believe it, not sure how I did it, but there you are! I now know the meaning of whoosh!

ClarinetCathy and Mariet – I’ll be with the others ready to give a loud cheer when you reach your goals. Mokovex – It’s great you’ve kept on posting – that’s a big thing.

Looking forward to reading some more good results on here.
Best of luck on the next challenge everyone, see you over there.

I’ve got to get ready to go to a pilates and then exercise class – haven’t been near one for about 40 years – slight panic – trying to remember why I said yes now?

Marie x

Well I’m still stuck at 9st 2 which is really not surprising considering how my eating has all gone a bit ‘Pete Tong’ this week. I’ve managed to have fish and chips three times in a week – what the heck is that all about it? Feeling in great need of stodge 🙁
Then I thought I’d do a mini fast yesterday but only made it to 2.30 before reaching for a few slices of cheese and an apple.

I’ve started reading the MM clever guts book for extra interest. Reading about tapeworms and parasites this morning almost put me off my breakfast. Almost.

Still, despite my deviations this week am patting myself on the back for losing 3 lbs overall on this challenge. I think you should all be patting yourselves on the back too, you’ve done brilliantly! See you on the next one!

Soapbox a five stone weight loss is absolutely fantastic! Look forward to celebrating with you on the next challenge!

Congratulations to everyone, with a loss or without, we are heroes, we are here!

I’ve been mostly absent this past week. Two reasons/excuses: started the week wondering how such a positive mindset the previous week could have changed so quickly and was extra busy with preps for a party on Saturday night to celebrate OH’s 80th birthday and our earlier in the year 50th anniversary( when we had just had dinner out with our kids and grandkids). His birthday is today, Halloween, and we usually have fun with the children in the street when they come doorknocking – we wave a selection of lollies under their noses but they can’t dig in until they’ve sung happy birthday, which they do with great gusto, as do the supervising parents.
Anyway, not fully engaged with this challenge – just semi-aware.

I finished the previous challenge/began this one at 64.3kg. Had my usual ups and downs and weighed in this morning at 63.5kg, a loss of 800gms. Was much less during the month as I did touch down into the 62kgs so that will be my aim for the next challenge.

See everyone over on the next challenge….

Happy birthday, Butterlover, another Halloweenian.

Hello – I weighed in at 17.2 this morning. I’ve lost 7 lbs this month and I’m really pleased with that – my goal was 9 lbs. Intermittent fasting seems to work well for me and I’m eating once per day 3 times a week – Tues, Weds, Thur and twice a day the rest of the time. That seems to fit in well with my routine at the moment.

Well done everyone – it’s been inspiring and fun to join you all with this, my first challenge. I’m looking forward to the November one so see you over on the next thread!

Kazzee

In all the excitement of setting up the new thread and posting there, I forgot to update this one!
I ended the challenge 0.8kg, or 1.76lb less than I started – not the best 4 week challenge result I’ve had, but then again not the worst either.
I did actually reach a challenge goal – I finally got to the weight I was trying to achieve in the Spring/Fall challenge! Of course we’ve had at least 2 4 week challenges since then – but I got there in the end!
This isn’t my final goal weight by a long shot – still another 16kg to go, but it does bring me down into the next 1/2 stone bracket (yes I measure in both pounds, stones and kilos!).
Although I’m a “slow loser” I do find the challenges help me stay on track – I added up all of my losses since starting the various 4 week challenges and it’s over 6kg all together.
There had been so much positivity in this thread and I’ve noticed that it has carried over into the November thread too, so let’s all Keep on keeping on 🙂

So disciplined, KazzUK, and it’s paying off for you, well done you:)

Well done SueBlue, on reaching a challenge goal, tardy or not, a goal reached is a goal reached! And 6kg is not to be sneezed at so well done 🙂

I’m intrigued at your use of both kgs and pounds/stones. I might try it myself as a shove along. When I converted 63.5kg to 9 stone and 13.9935 lb, why not just say 10stone for heavens sake, it was bit of a shock …. I’m too damned short to be 10stone.

Thanks SueBlue, see you over the page.

Thank you Marsie – I did plateau in September for 3 weeks, so I have to keep on keeping on as SueBlue says for as long as I can, but it is becoming much easier now I’ve got my head around the low carb healthy fat thing! Good luck to you too for the Nov challenge. 🙂