“Success in March without the Starch” 4 week challenge ending 20 March

We have not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you are have any health related symptoms or concerns, you should contact your doctor who will be able to give you advice specific to your situation.

  • posted by Milalin
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    I am very fickle when it comes to eggs so it usually has to be very veg heavy. The more herbs, mushroom, tomato etc the better. I’m gradually incorporating a lot more. Can’t eat poached etc

  • posted by Shanshu
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    blessedenough – sorry to hear about your back but you’re right, losing weight should definitely help with that. As to quick recipes, here’s a few ingredients when I need to be fast:

    1) Atkins crispbreads with full fat soft cheese. You can get the crisp breads from Boots if your in the UK and you’ll find you can’t have too much cheese calories wise but enough for a thin scraping

    2) Conjac root is becoming a good friend of mine. I buy it as zero noodles or zero rice. Then I heat it in stock to give it flavour and have it with a meal to replace what would have been the carb element. Or once cooked in stock it’s basically like chicken super noodles so bulk out with a little chicken or veg.

    3) Shittake mushrooms – these are good for when calories are in short supply but you want something meaty.

    4) Miso paste (I use 21 calorie sachets from Itsu) – either as soup or marinade.

    5) Full fat yoghurt – this is a bit carbs so I don’t have lots but I usually have a heaped teaspoon and lace it with the sauce that I want for tea (e.g. mustard or mint etc)

    So the other night I was tired and couldn’t face cooking. I heated some zero rice in veg stock, cut up some courgette, spring onion, shiitake mushroom and Chinese leads. Stir fried that (adding the ingredients in that order) and then added the ‘rice’ and finally the miso paste. I made enough for 3 and stored the rest for quick microwaving future nights.

    Stir fry in general is a great quick meal especially if you buy pre-cut packs of stir fry from the supermarket. Just check carb numbers on the back though because if they slip red pepper in there – the amount will shoot up.

  • posted by Verano
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    LTC I do normally cook and enjoy it but I’ve just lost my way with snacking and ‘easy’ food lately. Yesterday I made frittata for brunch with red pepper, mushroom, spring onion, spinach and a splash of sriracha. The whole meal came to less 250 cals with around 7g carbs and was delicious! I know what needs to be done and I will do it, especially as the scales have rewarded me this morning!

  • posted by Mokovex
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    Morning all,

    Amazing to see so many of us here, this promises to be another active forum 😀👋
    Today -1.1lb.
    This takes me to 0.2lb above my lightest so far and 4.8lb to goal.

    I too am having a go with fasting. Switched to 16:8 a little while ago and starting to throw in some 24hr ones here and there. My niggling concern is when the switch is flipped between fasting and starving myself? I am asking this out of curiosity because as an all or nothing kind of gal, I am wary of substituting one kind of disordered eating problem for another. Does that make sense? Don’t get me wrong, hugely enjoying the benefits that I feel fasting is bringing, notably a sense of satiety that I can honestly say has been missing all of my life. Would love to hear how others have wrestled with this/worked it through. I need to look at the Jason Fung stuff but I am curious to know how often an extended fast is recommended and what is considered too much.

    Go well all x

  • posted by Maid2Measure
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    Hello all. I’ve been convinced to join by Marie123. I keep falling off the wagon and can’t seem to stick at it but I badly need to decrease in size and feel healthier.
    I don’t like weighing as I find it very demoralizing. So my goal for the next four weeks is to lose an inch off my waist. I’m eating more than 800 calories a day but I am logging it and making sure it doesn’t go above 1200 as well as monitoring the carbs. I’m also quite good at drinking lots of water so I hope to up this. I am really hoping I can achieve my goal and get motivation from reading other peoples posts.
    I’ll post an accurate waist measurement tonight and go from there.
    Thanks for taking the time to read my post.
    M2M

  • posted by Mokovex
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    Hi M2M 👋

    Glad you decided to join us, lots of wisdom and encouragement here.

  • posted by Gattina
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    Wow – it’s great to see so many people joining the challenge – good luck everyone.
    Welcome newcomers – I was a newcomer on the last challenge and it really helped having the support of the other people on the forum. Good luck – this woe really does work and if you falter just post and someone will be around to offer support.
    I had a very exciting day yesterday – the Queen visited my place of work. There was such a buzz around the place and lots of excitement. There was a lovely big cake to commemorate the occasion and queen of puddings in the canteen for lunch. I watched and clapped as they cut the cake but made myself scarce when they started handing out slices.
    So I’ve worked out that I need to lose 3.5lbs every week to meet my target for this challenge – may be a bit too challenging, but you have to give it a go don’t you.

    Good luck everyone and I look forward to hearing all your updates.

  • posted by kaz62
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    Thank you for the encouraging comments I’m so glad I finally came in from the sidelines🙂am back on my lunchtime ‘trifle’ fage, raspberries and cinnamon, and walking to a kettle with no snacks for drinks – down 1.6lb in 2 days- definitely feeling less ‘starchy’

  • posted by Esnecca
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    Mokovek, the longest fast on record lasted something like 362 days. There is no chance that any intermittent or even extended fast in the normal people range would starve you. Our bodies have evolved to recycle proteins and use fat stores specifically to handle long periods when food is not available. Constant access to food is a very recent phenomenon, and still not the case in large parts of the world. A study of people who did a religious fast of 40 days found their health markers were all astronomically improved at the end. The level of human growth hormone was an unbelievable 1250% higher than in the pre-fasted state. That’s why I’m in the middle of week-long fast right now. I drink like a fish and it’s all good.

  • posted by Oh2bthin
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    Hi all – loving the positivity on here.
    Esnecca – a week long fast WOW can’t wait to hear how you feel at the end. I have today just come out of a 20hr fast as was thrilled with that! Only ate lunch as I’m going into a meeting at 2pm and didn’t want my tummy rumblings too be heard 🙂

  • posted by Mokovex
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    Thanks Esnecca – echoing the WOWZERS!!! for week long. Would also love to hear how that has gone.

  • posted by Gattina
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    And lots more WOWZERS!!! from me! Hope it goes well Esnecca and I look forward to hearing how you feel afterwards. That takes so much discipline – I’m really impressed.
    I remember reading about the man who fasted 392 days – fascinating story. Here’s the link in case anyone else is interested https://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/fp/tale-angus-barbieri-fasted-year-lost-21-stone/
    In 1966 a 27-yr old man spent over a year in hospital fasting – he was free to come and go as he wanted but they kept a close eye on him. He lost an amazing 21 stone.

  • posted by marie123
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    Hi M2M – I’m so pleased that you’ve joined. That’s a great goal. Any questions/issues fire away, there’s lots of people on here happy to help. Catch up with you soon.
    Marie xx

  • posted by JackieM
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    Hi there

    As someone who is pro-fast and currently on a fast, I am interested in how all this relates to anorexia. I know that there’s a mental difference, but is the physical difference just they have no fat to lose and shouldn’t be restricting food? I know a few friends with kids with anorexia and it strikes me that the strategies for making them eat are pretty full on – you must eat cake etc.

    I must stress, I do not come from an area of knowledge on this, I am genuinely interested in how come anorexics seem to get so physically ill and fasting people don’t seem to, even after a year.

    Sorry if this is me being thick, I would just like to understand better.

  • posted by JackieM
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    Meanwhile, 20hrs in to a fast and all good here. Have been busy in meetings and dog walking, not much time to sit and eat. Took self to car wash and had a shower mid day (separate activities – that would be a distraction!) to stop self dwelling on eating. More (low carb) options to eat at home, but so far not physically hungry. It’s such a weird process. Just licked some sea salt up (delicious) but otherwise just coffee and water.

    Leaving house at 7.30 so just need to get through next few hours and then should be good for at least 36 hour fast. Maybe longer, as am eating breakfast after a dog walk tomorrow that should see me through until 10 or 11.

    So excited to have cracked this process, it suits me now, but I don’t think I could have done it until right now, when I am ready physically and mentally.

  • posted by Esnecca
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    I am no expert on anorexia so I wouldn’t presume to speculate on the general issue, but I suspect that the fasting record-holder was not exercising many hours a day, which as I understand it is usually part of the disordered behavior. He may also have been taking vitamin supplements. That’s something Dr. Fung talks about, ensuring your micronutrients are tended to with a simple multivitamin taken daily.

    Probably the biggest difference, however, is the voluntary, non-compulsive nature of a fast versus the obsessive, secretive, defensive character of anorexia. People suffer with the disorder for years, hiding it from friends and family, refusing treatment when it’s finally offered, secretly exercising at night when they are forced to eat a morsel of two. It’s not a regulated thing with a beginning and end, done for a limited time as desired for health reasons.

  • posted by alliecat
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    Hi Jackie. I find the subject of anorexia interesting, too. I have a male friend who spent 2 months
    in an inpatient private hospital for substance abuse/alcoholism. There were also a fair number of
    eating disorders being treated for that as well as cross addiction to alcohol. The patients had to
    be monitored for not frantically exercising the moment that they finished eating. They weren’t allowed
    to return to their rooms to purge, either. I think it is the compulsive nature of the disorder that
    separates it from a pre-planned, voluntary fast.

  • posted by Luvtcook
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    Anorexia is a behavorial disorder characterized by what they term “a distorted body image”. Anorexics do not diet to be healthy but to acheive some ideal of thinness, and cannot see themselves objectively in relation to reality….always see a fat image of themselves that they are trying to correct. They have a very distorted and low self worth and have convinced themselves that if they can achieve ultimate thinness, that this will correct the deficiency they feel. Karen Carpenter was a classic example of this. Had some of the most successful hit records in 1970s with her brother Richard, and yet died at age 33 from anorexia. She obviously could not truely enjoy the great success she had acheived and continued to see herself as lacking….hense the excessive starvation she put herself through.

    This was not a 3 day fast nor a week long fast. It was years of starvation eating. Anorexia is one of the most difficult psychiatric conditions to treat because the anorexic sees themselves through a completely different lens than does the rest of the world.

    If one is striving for genuine health, they have little chance of being anorexic. We all know that being “thin” and being healthy are certainly not the same thing. Most here on this forum are struggling to improve their health and ultimately their longevity.

  • posted by marie123
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    I remember many years ago working with someone from an organisation who supported people with eating disorders. She used to say ‘Food is just the language that their problems are written in’. I can’t remember now what work I was doing with them, or why, but that phrase has always stayed with me.

  • posted by alliecat
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    Marie, that is a profoundly true statement! One of my 2 sisters has a mild eating disorder, which
    manifested itself at the age of 30, following a divorce. For 35 years she’s spent an inordinate amount
    of time avoiding/thinking about food, and probably consumes no more than 700cal/day. She maintains
    always at 10lbs below a healthy body weight. Her reaction to my loss was not joy, but a comment
    that my legs were now as skinny as hers.. Judging by the expression on her face, this wasn’t an
    observation that gave her any pleasure. Rather sad, really!

  • posted by Gattina
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    Marie
    That is a very true statement and I wonder if it can be used for those of us who overeat. I have heard obesity described as an eating order and at a recent conference a woman described using food as a form of self harm.

  • posted by alliecat
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    You may like this, Gattina! One of our fellow members of this community once said that eating
    healthily is a form of self respect. 🙂

  • posted by JackieM
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    Interesting thoughts, Thankyou.

    Hour 22 and just like last time hours 20 I’ve been clock watching. Hungry now, but I know if I can get through to 24hrs I’ll be clear til tomorrow and that’s keeping me firm.

    Cooked son my favourite tea (cauliflower with melted butter and cheese and salt and pepper) and have put his leftovers to one side for tomorrow (bet OAh eats it tonight whilst I’m out). Sitting in car with smell of ravioli as wait for daughter. That’s easy, I don’t eat ravioli. It has woken up the tummy rumbles though!

  • posted by Gattina
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    I like that Alliecat 😀
    Well done Jackie I’m very impressed you can prepare food for others and not be tempted.

  • posted by JackieM
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    Plenty tempted, Gattina, but it’s still mine, just not until tomorrow. In fact, there’s quite a pile of food waiting on that basis. Had to give self a little chat.

    23hrs, nearly through the 24hr barrier. Have to take daughter to Guides then am out for rest of evening, will stop thinking about it then.

  • posted by blessedenough
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    Having a good day food wise. Breakfast was a protein shake, then waitrose chicken satay for lunch – forgot my actual lunch doh! Then aldi seeds and nuts. Dinner was lemon pepper salmon fillet with broccoli. Aprox 15g carbs and bang on 800 kcals. Contemplating going for a swim or possibly bed, as knackered. Hope everyone is having a good day.

  • posted by JulesP
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    Weighing into this challenge at 10st 3lbs (64.9kg). Hoping for minimum 4lb loss into 9’s then to stay there and not bounce back up like I keep doing recently. Good luck everyone.

  • posted by marie123
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    Allie – I think it is a profoundly true statement, too. I think that’s probably why, while I’ve forgotten everything else, I remembered that. What a shame about your sister.

    Gattina – I think so, too. I’ve certainly used food in the past as a way of burying feelings and for comfort. Never really thought of it in terms of self-punishment but now you’ve said it, I can see that, too. That’s why I’m so keen on getting to the point where I have a simple, healthy relationship with food!

  • posted by Mariet
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    Allie it’s sad your sister couldn’t share your triumph. Or at least that her happiness for you was coloured by her insecurities.

    I’m grieved to report an upward bounce over night and NOT after any self sabotage. The low must have been an aberration but plugging away.

    To try to broaden my interests I’m starting an oil painting course today. I’ve done watercolours for years but this will be totally new and I’m so excited. Also, my new double oven and stove top are being installed after camp cooking for a few days. Can’t wait!

  • posted by Flick
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    Hi all, Such an interesting conversation about fasting – which I do quite quite comfortably now. I found the notion initially a little confronting – not because I thought of anorexia at one of the the extreme ends of disordered eating. Thriughout the now nearly two rounds of BSD I’ve been eating a 16/8 pattern – so extended overnight fast, initially because it felt like I got to eat two decent meals rather than try to stretch 800 calories over three meals and I was lucky, skipping breakfast and switching to black tea and coffee wasn’t too much of a trial. I added some 24 hour fasts (dinner to dinner) as I started to worry about my metabolism slowing on such an extended period of seriously restricted calories (Jason Fung has some interesting data on how intermittent fasting protected and in some cases can boost metabolism). My concern here was my resting BMR, at age 60 and quite short 164cm (ahem), is already depressingly low at 1200, and I didn’t want to find having successfully worked my way down to a healthy weight, that I couldn’t enjoy a reasonable amount of good food (I’m basically a greedy guts and a pretty good cook) ever again.

    Now getting close to my target my weight loss has stalled and slowed so after much reading I’ve added in more regular 48 hour (and now a 60 hour) fast followed by days of eating right up to 800 calories to give my metabolism a few jolts. I was initially worried that this was getting extreme and might be cause for concern about becoming obsessed with a weight goal. So, as is my way, I just read and read and read until I understood some of the science. I also concluded I love food too much to ever be at the anorexic end of the spectrum – my battle is in the greedy guts and mindless snacking zone! And I’ve found it’s not a bad thing to learn it’s not the end of the world if you feel hungry for a bit.

    Once I’m at my goal weight I’ll use fasting in a similar way to Esnecca and others -primarily for the pretty impressive health benefits but not in this intermittent weight loss pattern. Sorry this was long, it is meant to be helpful.

  • posted by alliecat
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    Flick, it’s entirely possible that I have misunderstood your reference to resting BMR, but that figure
    must be multiplied by a factor of 1.2 – 1.9 to determine the number of calories you can allow
    yourself when you are at goal. It’s based on your activity level, and is also known as TDEE (total
    daily energy expenditure) . If I chose to be sedentary, I could consume 1420-1430 cal/day and
    not regain weight. This WOL has in fact repaired my metabolism, not slowed it down during the
    10 months of Fast800 that got me to target. Exercising 3 x week, I can allow for 1600 something,
    AS LONG AS I keep the carbs low. Some days I even find it hard to consume enough 🙂

  • posted by Flick
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    HI Allie, yes I meant BMR – just life functioning! Lucky you at 1400 mine based on interwebs calculators and my Garmin device which measures heartrate pretty much agree on 1200. My Garmin device tells me my activity levels takes this to between 1600 and 2200 depending on how far and how many hills I walk. I am assuming an average of about 1800 will see me finalising the reverse.

    That is terrific that this woe repaired your metabolism. Based on the science I think you may have been one of the lucky ones! And well deserved I say, yours was a magnificent effort!

  • posted by Flick
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    Sorry I meant to add I will be so interested to discover how, if atall, my eating desires have changed. So difficult to judge this when still firmly committed to 800/20. I am assuming though that as the reverse diet gives my metabolism time to adjust to regular extra calories, so too will my ‘eating systems’ 🤪 I plan to take it very slowly and also plan low carb as permanent. If nothing else I just feel so much happier, energetic and healthier without a whole lot of stodge.

  • posted by stelae
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    Well, you all seem lovely. Mind if I join?

    Me and The Boy have just started the 800: 20, no slip-ups since Monday (yes, I know that’s a low bar, but you should see where we started from). The big challenge for us is no alcohol; we had fallen into the habit of opening a bottle or two every night, more out of habit than enjoyment, and we both want to have a healthier relationship with wine. So far, so good on sparkling water and green tea, but it doesn’t feel like a habit so much as a holiday; if anyone’s got tips on how to make it permanent, I’m all ears. Eyes. Whatever. The Boy is missing his carbs, but being a sterling chap, he’s sticking to this out of solidarity with me. Not that he has a lot of choice; I work from home so I do the cooking. Apart from the usual middle-age litany of aches, we don’t have any urgent reason to change our lifestyle; we want to get out in front of things so we never HAVE an urgent reason. But losing a few kilos won’t be a bad thing.

    I’m finding the afternoons are a bit rough so far; I get really hungry, and have no energy, no matter how much water I drink. I want to get to the stage where I can walk my dogs without needing to take a nap afterwards. What strategies do you all have for that? Just woman up and push through? Try to be extra productive in the morning so the afternoons aren’t such a write off?

  • posted by JackieM
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    Stelae you sound lovely too.

    It will pass. Before I started eating this way I had a nap most afternoons. Then I started this anc felt rubbish for a few days – it’s called carb flu and the more you restrain yourself from carbs the quicker it will pass.

    Now I have bags of energy, even when I fast.

    I would say do the mornings and chill out in the afternoons. I though that depends on the dogs too probably! I don’t think it will be forever though. I’m not a huge believer in powering on when your body is saying something else. But I am married to a man who does precisely that with no ill effect so it isn’t a universal law!

  • posted by JackieM
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    Reporting a new low of 57.9.kg. Yay! I know it may not be permanent but once it’s done it once in my experience it will do it again!

    Not hungry this am, riding the early evening hunger was the right thing. Onwards!

  • posted by JustStickWithThis
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    Hi!
    Thanks for setting this up @jackiem. And thank you @mariet for pointing me to this thread.
    🙂
    I’m restarting the BSD. Just coming out of a couple weeks of flu, food poisoning, and crippling back pain. But I’m way better today!

    I’ve attenpted this diet a few times but could not stick with it. No will power, really just none it would seem. But I am still going to try again.
    So, with some cautious optimism, I’m happy to be here and am starting up the BSD again.

    I’m vegan, so I doubt my carbs will be as low as some, but my main goal is to eat healthy and keep those calories at 800.

    Best of luck everyone!

  • posted by kaz62
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    down to 12st 0.5lb giving up the milk in my morning coffee so I can go 16/8 have a good day everyone ☺️

  • posted by Gattina
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    That’s brilliant Jackie well done 😀
    Welcome just stick with this. This is my second time and the forums are really helping me. There is so much positive here and great inspiration from people who have achieved so much. I hope it helps you too. I’m glad you’re feeling better and look forward to hearing how you’re getting on.

  • posted by Sandy47
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    Just checking in again to receive updates, managed to unsubscribe myself when catching up with all your posts last night. Oops. Have a great day everyone x

  • posted by JGwen
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    Hi Alliecat,
    I am sorry to hear about your sisters reaction to your weight loss. I am finding that friends who have the opposite problem, comfort eating, but often talk about their need to loose weight have started to avoid that topic when we talk. its so sad how many people are dealing with their other problems in life by how they eat. There was a brief discussion about people watching and looking whats in other peoples trolleys at the supermarket. I am starting to realise how many trolleys are full of diet soft drinks and low fat products and cakes, chocolate and high carb ready meals.

  • posted by Shanshu
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    So it hasn’t gone well so far. I haven’t counted, I’ve scarcely moved from my study due to a heavy workload and water has not been drunk in meaningful quantities – Red Bull on the other hand really has.

    On the plus side I had a shift downwards this morning on the scales but will wait to see if that sticks before I jump up and down about it.

    Today is going to be no better on the counting front but I will at least be out and about and hopefully will drink more water. There will still be Red Bull but baby steps.

    Hello to all the newbies (I say this like I wasn’t a newbie to these challenges last month!) and also good luck to everyone. KOKO

  • posted by Marcassin
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    I would say to all new starters just stick with it for a couple of weeks, after that the cravings go which makes everything so much easier. I am finding the discussion on fasting really interesting and am looking forward to reading Jason Fung’s book. Last week I did a 36 hour fast which was quite manageable. To anyone who is just starting this probably seems insane but it does show how you lose the cravings that used to dominate. To put this into perspective I used to worry if I hadn’t taken any fruit to work, that I wouldn’t be able to last out the long stretch between 8am and 12 noon without resorting to biscuits.
    Now I’m mainly free of that worry, I’m on a long day trip to London by train today, I thought about taking a salad or a boiled egg but in the end I have just brought along a small piece of cheese. This is still by way of emergency back up in case I really want to eat as I know now I could go all day without anything terrible happening.

  • posted by Inka13
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    Just wanted to drop in to say I’m also joining this challenge, as a frequent reader but infrequent poster, I need to do a bit more on the posting front but just wanted to say thank you to whoever posted the link to the Jason Fung series of lectures” The “Aietology of Obesity” – they happened to coincide with your post Jackie M, about your 36 hr fast so I decided to follow in your and all the other amazing fasters footsteps and do my 3rd fast. I was aiming for 48 hrs but got derailed at the 33 hr mark by an unexpected social situation with a pariculatly nasty person, which had me reaching for the red wine as soon as I got home!!
    Anyway, on the last challenge I lost 7 pounds due to fasting and reining in the calories ( actually started to weigh and measure, who knew?!) so just wanted to say thank you to all you wonderful posters, without whom I would be lost!!
    KOKO everyone and hope it’s a successful challenge for all.

  • posted by VictoriaM
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    Morning all,
    Your talk on fasting has inspired me. I have decided to go for 48 hours. This is based on several factors. Firstly the OH will be late back tonight so I can miss the evening meal without him worrying that I’m being faddy and hurting myself (lunch is easier as we do our own thing). Secondly I was doing so well yesterday with visitors, and then lapsed in the evening and had 3 pieces of the flapjack that I made for them to have with their lunch. So I was well over calories yesterday. Thirdly I’m going out for a Chinese New Year meal tomorrow evening!
    And finally, and long term more importantly, I want to experience what you are all taking about and what fasting can feel like.
    I’ll keep you posted.

  • posted by treelady
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    Hi Juststickwiththis,
    I’m quite a newbie too, and I can only echo what others have already said. 3 weeks in and (amazingly to me) needing and wanting sugary sweet stuff has just gone away. I am doing this for the weight loss and as Stelae has already said, I want to reverse changes to my body before I get into the pre-diabetic range and ‘have’ to do something about it.
    I have found having a strong reason other than weight loss has helped me keep at it – I am a classic pear shape, but have become more and more ‘ships decanter’ shape over the last couple of years, and having read all the stuff about how bad it is for your heart if your waist becomes bigger than half your height, plus Mum having to go into hospital just before Christmas for open heart surgery has really given me the ‘will power’ to stick with it. Someone else (sorry, can’t remember who) that will power is just like a muscle, the more you exercise it, the stronger it gets.
    Reading your way through all the other forum topics (particularly the BSD Way of Life one, is so inspiring as you follow the successes of those who have been there and done that before us. The first thing I do in the morning when at my desk is to catch up on all the latest forum posts and I find this keeps me focused as well.
    So please, as your forum name says, just stick with this, keep posting – especially if things are not going well, and we will all help you get used to this way of life.

  • posted by treelady
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    So, 0.5lb down so far this week – quite impressed with that particularly as I went out for my monthly dinner out with the ladies from the village (the dining dames) on Tues night, avoiding the obvious carbs and no pudding I hasten to add. I am teetotal, so got my water quota in that night no problem. Was really chuffed when I received comments such as ‘you look well, have you lost weight?’
    Although I am stepping on the scales every day (which does keep me focused on what I am eating during the day) I keep reminding myself of non-scale victories, such as being able to get back into a favorite old pair of faded gardening trousers without my lower legs being starved of blood when I kneel down for weeding.
    The bra conversation has made me laugh too – I have been a 38B all my adult life, and gave in and got myself professionally measured mid last year. The lady was adamant that I was a 34A and having strangled myself squeezing into this ridiculously tight bra, I asked her where she thought 4″ of my rib cage had disappeared to? The very bright red strap lines after I took it off also convinced her that I was larger than she had measured.

  • posted by Gattina
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    Hi All – hope everyone is keeping well.
    JGwen – I can relate to your friends and have stayed quiet in conversations where I felt self conscious about what I ate. I used to work for a charity that did research on diet related cancers and they put out lots of messages about healthy lifestyle. The motto for staff was to ‘live the message’ and the staff actually did. They were all skinny and I assumed healthy – most of them running or cycling to work, going to the gym at lunchtime and after work. Nobody used the lift, and if anybody ever brought some chocolate in the smallest bar would last a month! I hated it! I never spoke about food and I hid in the park opposite to eat my lunch ( with a big bar of chocolate and crisps). I felt self-conscious and judged the whole time I was there. I became more and more depressed and in the end left. I didn’t like the environment because I wasn’t ready to make good changes to my life – rather than be inspired by the environment I was in I blamed everyone around me for making it so difficult for me. They were wrong for not eating chocolate, biscuits or cake and making me feel uncomfortable.

    I’ve changed my view now and can see people were making healthy choices for themselves. Nobody was making me uncomfortable – I felt uncomfortable because of the unhealthy relationship I had (have?) with food. This woe is a significant change for me – I wasn’t able to see it through last year but this time I will continue – I want to follow in the footsteps of our fabulous maintainers 🙂

  • posted by alliecat
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    Wonderfully insightful post, Gattina! Stay in step with us all, and you will attain goals that you may have yet to
    imagine 🙂

  • posted by JGwen
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    Hi Gattina, – My friends and I used to talk about our weight problems and associated health problems as part of our regular catch ups with our lives. For the first few weeks I was on BSD we were still swapping different diet suggestions, and diet books, but now I feel uncomfortable raising this subject when we meet up. I hadn’t seen the patterns of stresses within families and other areas of life and the comfort eating as clearly I as do since starting to emerge from that hamster wheel myself.

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