Well I have a plan: I want to stay with this plan for just one week…. then I will think about Week 2.

So starting tomorrow (although I have started today) I plan on only counting carbs and forgetting everything else: no calorie or macro counting …. just for seven days. Then, and only then, I will think about week 2!

Do you have a plan? Come along on this new journey if you have ….. after all it’s just one week…. only 7 days!

Hi Verano
I’m back and my plan is to get through week 1 with you! I’ve never really counted calories or carbs and always lost by sticking to the principles. So that’s the plan. Stick to the principles because I know it works!
Getting to the gym at least 4 times this week is also part of the plan. Let’s get going!

Good luck with your plan!

My plan is to do a little more exercise – a bit of a challenge in this heat. Wish I was a better swimmer!

My plan for this week is to have a go at the Bodyweight app, and see how I get on. It’s resistance training type exercises, but using your own body weight instead of going to a gym. Thankfully there is a complete beginners plan. And it’s free 😁
Oh, and to keep chasing Skinny2be with the plank. I’m still on 40 secs and she is powering away on 70!
Elle

Just wanted to jump in if I may to ask Elle about the Bodyweight app.

Hi Elle – I’m curious about the Bodyweight app – have you got a link, please?

Heartstar – sounds like your daughter’s birthday was a great success from every which way – congratulations xx

Good morning and nice to see other people also ‘have a plan’. Hi Squidge, Ellem and welcome back Doodledootoo! Marie I’m also interested in that App it sounds useful.

So my plan for today is to write down my menu and tick of each part of it off as I go through the day. The only weighing I’ll be doing today is my snack of nuts. It’s so easy to over guesstimate how much you are eating especially with Brazil nuts. I’ve started the day with some green tea with jasmine to prolong my overnight fast until brunch around 12ish or even 1pm if I can get there. I have plenty water in the fridge so am ready to go.
Hope day 1 goes to plan for us all.

Thank you Verano for setting up this challenge – it is much appreciated.

Plan for this week is to stay off the insulin for another week while keeping good BS levels and continue my battle against the insulin resistance while slowing down the weight loss.

When I have brunch today I will have done a 22 hour fast. Amazingly I am not at all hungry and had loads of energy for our early morning dog walk. My body is working so much better now. I used to feel that I couldn’t access any energy – which of course I couldn’t because a high insulin level was locking energy in the cells and not allowing me access to it. Now it feels so different – I have full access to as much energy as I need.

I feel I ought to add that I am a T2D not on any meds and no longer injecting insulin so fasting 22 hours is absolutely safe.

I like this idea of a new week 1!

Plan this week
1. no alcohol
2. try to get closer to 800 calories
3. elliptical for 45
4. swim for 60 minutes
5. pray and meditat

Thanks Verano, for setting this up. My plan is the same as yours, to count carbs for the next week. If I can, keep them around 20-30g. I haven’t posted for a long time but still hanging around, staying at the upper end of maintenance. It would be nice to drop a little but staying where I am is fine too.

As usual V, you have come up with a great idea and one with which I’d certainly like to get on board.

I’m hanging my head in shame, having gained a whole 7lb whilst away on an extended vacation for four mouths. This in itself is bad, but even worse, it takes me 2lb above my original target weight. Of course this means I now need to tackle the gain head on now that we are home again.

So, my Week 1 plan is extend my overnight fasting window and try to stick with a minimum of 16hrs, but try to push it out to more like 18hrs, as well as limiting carbs and ensuring good hydration. This is by way of easing myself back in to proper BSD (which I have allowed to slip some what) and hopefully dropping a pound or two during the week, in preparation for tightening things up further for Week 2 if necessary.

Best of luck to everyone else here who are trying to make changes this week and thanks again Verano for kicking this thread off – just what I was needing at this point in time.

My plan is to stick to my meal plan for the next 7 days and not to get sidetracked! 🙂 Also, counting carbs!
Sorry to dash, busy today…. unlike yesterday!
Have a good day all!
Kazzeexx

Welcome back SunnyB. I bet you will soon be bidding farewell to those 7lb. Hope you had an excellent four months, and enjoy cooler (?) climes for a while!

Marie123, it’s called Bodyweight: Your Own Gym by Hard Coded Fitness, LLC. If you use Apple, its on the appstore. For some reason I couldnt copy the link, only the name of it. The icon is an orange square with a white figure crouching with one leg stuck out. A guy called Mark Lauren is the coach, his website is marklauren.com.

I’ve decided to try the app as I want to do resistance training but am wary of paying for a gym membership and then finding I dont go. I can do this at home without havng to buy anything. He uses your furniture and the weight of your body to provide the exercises. Some take a bit of working out at first, but then you get the hang of it. I daresay you have to pay once you get better, but there is a 10 week guided program for beginners, with 4 days of exercise. The sets for that day seem to target a different area of the body. And the best bit is, for every exercise set of repeats there is a rest period, so its mostly resting 😜

Loving everybody’s plan for the week.

Elle

Well, you’ve done it again, Verano!!! Another outstanding idea for a new thread 🙂

Hi everyone! I’m feeling very energized to see so many faces that I know. I’m excited to be spending a new and
very focused week with you all 🙂 🙂 🙂 Reminds me a bit of an extended “play date”….

No disasters this past week on the scales, but I recognize that I’ve been getting a little sloppy with my weigh-ins!
Having O/H around everyday (not teaching this summer), our days are much more relaxed, leisurely dinners that
often include wine, etc. I can’t get away with this too much longer, so I’m going to “pencil in” this habit for 1 night
a week only, in conjunction with one great meal, and teetotal for the remainder of the week. Number 3 on my list
will be to get out of the house earlier in the day to get in a brisk walk before the heat and humidity of the day becomes
an excuse not to do it!

We CAN all reach our goals, so much luck to everyone! Let the “games begin” 🙂 SunnyB, you’ll have that 7lbs
banished in no time. And V., THANK YOU once again for setting this up!

Allie

Good afternoon! So good to see more ‘planners’. Hi Krysia, Mariet, Caron, Kazz and Allie. Welcome Violinist we are yet to ‘meet’ and welcome back SunnyB. A 7lb gain is amazing after four months of holiday. You should be really pleased and you will be able to lose those without too much of a problem.

Well almost time for evening meals here in the U.K. and I hope the day has gone to plan so far. I have managed quite well with fewer than 10g of carbs. Tonight I have my pepper soup, a bit carby because of the tomatoes, and then fish with vegetables. My aim is 20g but less than 30 would be a result for me at the moment.

A question please…. if I have milk in my morning tea is that breaking my fast? I think I’m managing 15 to 16 hour over night fasting but maybe the milk is actually cutting my fast short.

Anyway, hope you all have a good evening within plan!

Hi Verano!
I am a 62 year old female, 5’4”, 170 lbs today
I live in Florida and am a retired accountant who plays the violin.
I was 152 lbs in 2010 and quickly climbed to 174 and have stayed there for 8 years.
I have tried a lot of things but never gave up alcohol to do this. Inam doing that now.
Doc askd me to lose 20 pounds to keep from higher doses of statins and to avoid high blood pressure medicine.
I see her in 9 weeks with blood tests in 8 weeks.
I need to do this.
That is my story. Yours?
Thank you for being so supportive!

That is a really excellent question, V. I’ve wondered about it too! Unfortunately, my computer crashed, and the best
that an IT guy could do was to retrieve all my files, but I lost every single tutorial and bookmark that I had saved. Thus,
I’m working completely from memory here. And that memory is about 2 years old, so DO take it with a big “pinch of
salt” 🙂 ….I do remember reading, on a keto site I think, that you aren’t breaking fast if fewer than 30 cal. are involved, and
even more importantly, zero carbs. I’m reasonably certain that that is when I switched to unsweetened almond milk
instead of dairy. I measure out 1/2c for the morning, 15cal. and zero carbs. Hopefully others will be along with specific
links that provide more research. This is an “Esnecca question”, don’t you agree??? I’d like a definitive answer too!

Allie oh dear! My semi skimmed organic milk has nearly 5g of carbs per 100ml! Think I should just stick with the green tea with jasmine and black coffee! You are so right this is an Esnecca question…… Esnecca where are you when we need you???

Violinist, pleased to ‘meet’ you. My story ….. I was diagnosed with T2 diabetes about 7 years ago. I found this way of eating two years ago. I no longer take medication, my blood sugars are ‘normal’ so I reached my goal of being drug free almost 12 months ago. Staying drug free is more difficult! I’m older than you, heavier than you and shorter than you!
I have always resisted statins because my natural cholesterol level is 5.2 and although the U.K. guidelines might have changed to 4. something my cholesterol has never altered. I’m not taking statins just to get within their guidelines!
I think that you will find your blood pressure comes down just eating low carb. Although once you go down this route it’s a life long change and not just a quick fix.
This website and these forums have been a saviour full of information not just for me but for so many people here. So Violinist I’m ‘pleased to meet you’ and wish you great success with this way of eating.

I’m as giddy as a child, my friends! Did my first fast of 20 hours today!!! I don’t understand why I fail with black
coffee, but can succeed with iced coffee and a splash of unsweetened almond milk!! Do you think I should “alert
the media”? I’m deliriously happy about this, out of all proportion to the actual event 🙂

Allie, well done with that! What an achievement! I’d be interested to hear about your experience with fasting. I’m just reading about it in JF’s book.
Did you build up to a 20 hour fast? Do you do shorter fasts as well? And are you maintaining now rather than actively losing? Was it difficult? I have a lot of fear around it, but then I was scared of starting the 800 8wkBSD, and its been brilliant.
Ha, sorry for all the questions! I’m wondering how to approach life after the 8 weeks (got a week and a half to go) , as I still have a bit to lose. So I’m interested in the intermittent fasting idea. Some days I eat in a 16:8 pattern on the 800 8wks, but I’m always very happy to get to lunchtime 😜

And Allie, you should definitely alert the media, I think we should send a marching band round to your place. In fact here ya go…
🎶🤹🏻‍♂️🎺🎶🎷🎶🥁🤹🏼‍♀️

Thank you, Elle, “mon petite choux”! Your emoticons are delightful 🙂 I have a number of urgent errands to fit in this
afternoon, but I’ll be back later to answer your questions….Absolutely “my pleasure”! 🙂

Allie, congratulations and ya, I want to know everything Ellum wants including your success story!!

Verano, so pleased to meet you too!!!

Woo Hoo, Allie, way to go!!!!!!!!! I know this is something you have been thinking about for a while now and you must be really proud to have proved to yourself you can do a fast.

Once OH is back to his normal work routine, I’ll be looking to do another 20hr fast myself – can’t get away with fasting when he’s around. He gets too bent out of shape about it and it’s not worth the potential arguments.

Did okay on extending my overnight fast today and have keep carbs down pretty successfully, though I haven’t been counting at this point. Todays food has consisted of a small snack of three almond crackers with a little pate lunchtime and a salad with an egg and some roast pork this evening. Nothing more today and will start again tomorrow.

Thank you, Sunny! I do feel inordinately pleased with myself that I’ve figured this out! You are absolutely right, too,
it was really bothering me that I couldn’t find the will to do it! 🙂 Krysia really inspired me with her reports of inches
lost from her waist. Like you, I have to keep a very “low profile” about this when O/H is around, or I ALSO have to
listen to too much talk about being too skinny, or looking skeletal. None of this is true of course, and I have visual
input from Kazzi and JGwen, who both say I look slim, but not skinny! I think it’s fabulous that your husband has the
freedom to take 4 months off, or can function by way of the internet, in his professional endeavors. I hope that
the new rose survived the trip home, too! I know that the kefir grains are alive and well in your refrigerator 🙂 See you
tomorrow. Selfishly, I’m very happy to see you back and participating in this challenge!

Allie

Allie – just read your post – congratulations on achieving your first 20 hour fast. Great that you have found that iced coffee with a splash of almond milk is the key to achieving a 20 hour fast.
I would really struggle with fasting if I couldn’t have my coffee with a teaspoon of cream. Actually – I don’t think I could fast without it.

Verano – this is from a Q&A session with Jason Fung:
While fasting is it okay to drink coffee with milk? I can’t do black coffee. I have a little milk with my coffee.
Technically, the milk does not fall within the guidelines of a true fast, but the small amount of milk/ cream added to coffee improves compliance tremendously for some people. So in our program, we absolutely allow milk/ cream in coffee, but no sweeteners or sugar.

and in answer to a question from Lucy – Jason Fung said:
I use cream in coffee during fasts as well. For me, that little bit of cream does not stop me from getting the results that I desire.
In others, it may undo some of the positives, but generally not.
Dr. Jason Fung

So Allie and Verano – it looks like our splashes of milk, almond milk and cream have got the thumbs up from Jason Fung.

Good morning!
Well done Allie may this be the first of many!
Sunny it sounds like you had a good day yesterday and you certainly seem to have got yourself back on track quickly. I think the only way to lose those extra pounds is to tackle them straight away. I didn’t listen to my own advice and so have gained a little with each trip away over the last 8 months.
Krysia that’s interesting! So I guess it may or may not be ok depending on the individual. I have decided, just for this week, to start the day with milkless green or earl grey tea. I need to give it a go because I could just be fooling myself that I’m fasting for 15 or 16 hrs.

Well day 1 was a 90% success for me. I didn’t make 20g of carbs but had a lot fewer than in a ‘normal’ day of late. So building on that today I will just count the carbs. I’m finding it so difficult to break the habit of a lifetime, literally, and ignore the calories.

So, I hope yesterday went to plan for everyone and if not remember today is a new day, clean slate, make the plan work today, just for one day. I will make the 100% mark with my plan today, hope you do too.

Hi, I also have a plan, I started on Monday and have lost a whopping 14lbs when I ventured onto the scales this morning, I was eating 3000 plus calories a day, starting weight 15st 4lb, this morning 14st 4lb. I expect it to slow down but for now I am thrilled to bits. My plan is to see the 8 weeks out with support from this group and my sister’s. Good luck one and all

Thanks for the quotes from Fung on the addition of milk/cream to drinks when fasting, Krysia. I confess I used almond milk or a little double (heavy)cream for drinks when fasting, although I suspected it was ‘breaking the rules’, it helped me achieve my goal and I don’t think it negatively impacted on the end result. It is certainly the way I will continue to approach fasts.

Yes Verano, my plan for yesterday went pretty well and today is going okay too at the moment. Had an encouraging result on the scales this morning, but not going to report right now, will wait and give an overall result at the end of this challenge week. The result this morning was encouraging, but I’m wary of complacency – hence not posting this morning’s weigh in result. You are right, I think the best way to tack any gain, is head on and as soon as poss. Not always easy to do though and had we arrived home mid-week, I suspect I might have procrastinated a little longer.

This morning I have made a new batch of almond crackers, using almond flour I brought back from Turkey, which a friend of ours made for me, using unblanched almonds, so higher in fibre with a lovely colour, especially when baked. The result is a very tasty cracker too.

That is a fantastic result Gill33UK, it’s encouraging to see a good result early on, but don’t be disheartened if things slow or even stall as time progresses, this is normal and you should continue to see things headed in the right direction. The forum is a fabulous resource, where you will find support, encouragement and congratulations as appropriate, as well as lots of warmth, wisdom and wit. Welcome aboard!

Thanks for the welcome back Allie, it’s so appreciated. Being able to slot back into the forum so easily, is definitely helping me to get back to BSD and hopefully resolve the holiday gain quickly. With my OH, it’s not so much that he thinks I’m skinny, as that as someone who believes that at least two meals a day are essential to health and survival, he thinks fasting unhealthy. I’ve tried to explain that in fact it is far from harmful, but he just can’t get his head around it and get on board with it, so it’s just easier if I keep any fasting surreptitious.

Have a good on-plan day everyone. Will look forward to reading how everyone is getting on.

169.6 this morning
Good 8 am this morning in Florida!

oops, be back

Morning all!
Just love all the advice you guys are giving thru Jason Fung!
I haven’t been in the 160’s in a long time so I do see this is working. Wish I could put some kind of milk or cream. My digestive system is dairy challenged.

Hi Elle
Thanks for the info about Bodyweight: Your Own Gym I’ll check it out.

Marie x

Have you tried unsweetened almond milk (or other nut milks) Violinist? These work as well as dairy and if unsweetened, are relatively low carb – in the case of unsweetened almond milk, carb free. Can take a bit of getting used to the flavour, but is quite palatable once you are used to it.

Look at this!!! 33 posts by day 2 🙂 This is why I adore the weekly challenges…So much wonderful energy and positive
thinking here. Wherever you go, V., we follow!

I’m sorry Elle and Violinist! I got side tracked yesterday, and then I couldn’t remember which thread your questions
were on 🙂 This will be a bit of a “strange tale”, as my story is rather extreme…19years ago I was diagnosed with Lyme
Disease. I was 50 at the time, and at an ideal body weight. Over the course of 17 years I gained 148 lbs. Yep, you
heard that right! I began this lifestyle june1 2016, at 285 lbs. Reading “Why We Get Fat..and What To Do About It”
virtually changed my life. That’s why I recommend it so shamelessly 🙂 I’ve never looked at food in the same way since.
Over a 10 month period I lost 140lbs, then began maintenance. I followed the reverse diet approach, gradually increasing
my calories. Eight more lbs. disappeared as I was slowly eating up to my TDEE. I’ve been in maintenance for 15 months,
but a long fast always eluded me. A sleep disorder comes along with Lyme Disease, so I’m usually awake from 3:00am.
There are a lot of hours between 3:00am and 2:00pm! On most days, 15 hr fasts were the best I could do…I’ll summarize
by saying, Elle, that it took me a year to be able to do 20hrs. I began with 18/6 4-5 times a week, and now I’ll throw in
1-2 20hr fasts. I have my eyes on the prize of reaching 24 hrs. My life doesn’t resemble in any way what it was when
I was morbidly obese. I feel 25 years younger, and have so much energy that I’m at a loss to use it all! I just love reading
everyone’s successes, because I think it’s good to remember where I’ve been. I take a particular joy in seeing others
find this WOL, and if I can offer a little support in my own small and insignificant way, it brightens my day 🙂 Story
over my friends, but in another way, it’s just beginning!

Allie

Holy cow, Allie!!! What a story??? Thank you !!! I am trying to read that book, but I don’t get it half the time

Violinist, Gary Taubes has numerous lectures on you tube also, if you might find that a little easier going? Have a look 🙂
It’s quite dreary around here today, dark, dark, dark! I hope you are in the pool, doing your laps 🙂 🙂 🙂

Good afternoon/evening!

Gill33UK welcome to our merry band of 1 week challengers. You have had an amazing loss so far and you will find all the encouragement on these boards to keep you on track. I like ‘1 week’ challenges because they are only 7 days and they seem so much more manageable than 8 weeks in one hit. Anyway, enjoy your journey.

SunnyB can I have your recipe for almond crackers please. I tried seed crackers but made a complete hash of them ! They were an absolute disaster and ended up in the bin!

Allies you always make me smile. I always find your story so inspirational. Believe me me I am no Pied Piper but always appreciate any support if I start a thread.

Violinist I also struggled with Gary Taubes and I know several others have too. Maybe Allie is right and his YouTube podcast are more ‘digestible’. Let me know if you watch one!

Anyway, signing off for this evening hope it’s a good one . See you tomorrow. Stick with your plan!

Allie – just wanted to say a big congratulations on your 20 hr fast – I know how much you wanted to do it – well done that woman xx

Allie, thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions. I’ve read your post through several times, as it is a fascinating story. I am full of admiration for the way you have tackled it, and the way you share the information with others. It must be hard to have all those awake hours when fasting.

I’m currently reading Jason Fung’s book, and would like to try intermittent fasting once I complete the 8 weeks, so am very interested to hesr people’s experiences.

Hi V, the basic recipe is as follows:
200g almond flour, 1 large egg or an egg white with a little almond milk, salt. Mix together to form a dough. Roll out very thinly between sheets of baking parchment. Score to mark out the crackers, slide baking parchment with crackers onto baking sheet and bake, keeping a watchful eye as they burn easily. Cool and store in an airtight container.

Ring the changes, by adding small seeds or milled seeds and/or nuts, herbs or spices, grated parmesan etc. You can calculate cals and carbs by weighing measuring and dividing results by number of crackers made.

Hope that helps. Sorry it’s not more exact, but I rarely weigh and measure when I make these now.

I have whined A LOT about my shortcomings in this area…I so appreciate the support and celebration from
everyone 🙂 🙂 🙂 Thank you, Marie!

Verano, going grocery shopping tomorrow so will pick up some almond milk to try in a morning I am not going anywhere. Thanks.

Allie, will try the utube lectures also. Thank you!!

I mean Verano. Tired this afternoon!

Sunny – it is nice to see you back on the forum. I thought your 7lb gain during a 4 month holiday was amazingly small. I managed to do that between Christmas and April and I wasn’t even on holiday. The good thing is that it does disappear very quickly.

Good morning! DAY 3 of 7 has arrived so there’s still plenty of time to make this a really good week.

Thanks for the recipe Sunny. Do you know what temperature you cook them on? Some recipes seem to call for long slow cooking and others at a fast high temperature.

It looks like another warm day here so it’s BBQ for us tonight. Venison burgers (no buns!) and salad for me. The burgers are slightly carby at 3.7g per burger but I think that’s probably just acceptable. I will just be very careful with my brunch today. Maybe a kipper or asparagus and eggs. As you can see I’m not very good at forward planning. I tend to decide each morning what the day’s meals are going to be.
I should take my own advice ….. if you fail to plan you plan to fail!….. have a good day!

Congratulations to everyone who is doing well with their challenges!

I just couldn’t run this morning – probably just the heat, I don’t feel ill or anything. I walked most of the route, but I’m OK with that as it’s better than having given up and taken the quickest route home.

I’m interested in the benefits of fasting. I can understand that longish periods without eating mean we’re likely to take in fewer calories, so it’s good for weight loss, but I believe there may be more to it than that? (Maybe it deserves a new discussion?)

Seems my scales were playing tricks on me, new in my heart it was too good to be true! Still lost 4lbs and 3 days to go tell I have been doing it for a week. Ho hum! New batteries in the scales and onwards we march! Good luck all.

Good 6 am in a Florida morning Verano, Squidge and Gil!!!

Scale says up a pound, but I know when you weigh daily you will have that. I may start weighing less, like weekly, if I feel it is stressful. It will help me concentrate on the diet instead. My progress is this:

1. Went from 2,000 + calories with alcohol to about 1,000 calories
2. Still have something at 5:30 and 3:30pm, will try almond milk in coffee in am
3. exercise is normally 60 minute laps in our pool and 30 minute elliptical, but schedule has been screwed up lately.
4.Lost 4 pounds this past 7 days since coming back from New York

Hi Verano – can’t give an exact temp as I use an Aga and actually don’t know the exact temp it runs at as it varies, however, I bake my crackers quickly at high heat, which is why I said to be watchful as they singe quickly – hope that helps.

Thank you Krycia for your kind words, I’d have liked less of a gain, but have to hold my hands up and say I’d allowed things to slip, so have to own the result. The scales showed another small decrease this morning which is encouraging and so far, I’m managing to stick to the plan for this week.

Sorry your scales had duped you, Gill33UK, but any loss is a loss, so just keep right on and I’m sure you will be reporting a good result at the end of week one.

Good to see so many of us are doing well with our plan for the week – keep up the good work and have a great BSD day.

Great to see so many people on this thread 😊 I can report four days on my plan, making sure I have at least half an hour brisk walking and staying within the limits I’ve set myself- haven’t gone over 39g carbs and mostly under 20. I feel so good when I’m disciplined, sleeping like a teenager and so much energy. Keeping on keeping on!