Weekly Post 16.7 - 22.7.2017

KateNkognito

I almost forgot it is Sunday! I had a half pound loss this week. Going to be a careful about NFDs. I have a trend of losing two weeks and then gaining on the third. This week is the third week, so I will watch it.
Everyone dissapeared again last week! I am going to assume that you are all on delightful vacations in exotic places and my invitation to join you just got lost in the mail.
I hope everyone has a fabulous week and easy fasts!

McGirl

I am new. Have feebly tried this many times and failed. Try-trying again, for realz.

flossyruby1

Today, I fast as the past few days have been utter disasters. We leave tomorrow for vacay and I'm not sure I'll have another opportunity to fast, so I'm going for it. Things have been so incredibly busy and it reminds me how quickly healthy eating and fitness can take a backseat to other more pressing matters. We've been eating out a ton and will continue doing so because of our trip. But when I get back, I know I'll be recharged. Keep plugging along, everyone. Even maintaining weight during crazy times are a huge win in my book.

Meghan509

Good Morning Everybody!

@KateNkognito I saw your posts about a few extra calories here and there and how they can add up. I know what you mean...
On the weekends we are known to eat some forbidden foods and I worry that they are going to "trip us up" as far as consistent weight loss. Too many shenanigans will definitely get one in to trouble.

This week we are focusing on getting our full number of calories, if not a little more. As you guys know, both my guy and I exercise six days a week so I don't think we are eating enough in some cases. We do not "eat our exercise calories back" during the week. But, on some weekend days, we do.

@McGirl welcome! Please feel free to share with us the issues you have been having in the past so that we can help you be sucessful this time around. I have been doing 5:2 since March and I have lost between 25-30 pounds. More to go. Feeling good!

@flossyruby1 enjoy your vacation! I know what you mean about even maintaining in a crazy time is good. And in some cases staying the same is the body's way of regulating and then you will come up with a loss after that. Has happened to me now twice!

Today is a light day for me. Thursday will be my second. Friday is weigh in day. July is half over - how did that happen?!

Yesterday we had a good workout at the gym, then went home and made some sandwiches and headed to the beach. I made a crockpot recipe which I will share since it is nice and low calorie. I added an extra jalepeno, some garam masala, and a little cayenne pepper since we like things a little spicey. I put it on top of cauliflower rice. I think it comes in at around 200 calories a serving. Enjoy.

Chat with you all soon!

http://www.slenderkitchen.com/recipe/slow-cooker-coconut-basil-chicken

mamainthekitchen

wooo! what happened to last week! It just zipped on by!! I have had some real good progress on my attitude.... my exercise is more energized and my food intake has been pretty good, although I'm usually smart in choices other than the candy & wine, but I've been pretty consistant with keeping to what I think is my calorie maintenance limit, but I'm still not logging every little thing every single day. So I agree Kate & Meghan, I think that is the true key to success.... log every single thing, measure everything, no guessing etc. a little bit here or there is what puts us all over the edge.

Have a great holiday Flossy... you'll do fine, just be mindful of the starchy stuff and have low cal beer! & water with your wine....but do enjoy your time away!

I love the sound of that dish Meghan! you & I have the same taste buds! thanks for the link

Welcome to you... @McGirl there are a few regulars here, and a few that are taking a break but I'm sure are still checking in... so we welcome your feedback on your success & struggles... we ALL have them!! It just starts one day, then the next...

Well, I've done my workout and now deciding whether to take my dog for a walk first or head out for my own walk first... my house cleaning is of course last on the list!!

have a great day people! I'm fasting tomorrow!! Bachelorette on tonight so I must have my treats!

KateNkognito

@McGirl Welcome! Feel free to ask any questions you have. Good luck with your fasting!
@flossyruby1 Have fun on your vacation!
@mamainthekitchen Glad you are doing better!
@Meghan509 I hope the extra calories get you guys back on track! The recipe looks good, but the rest of my family doesn't like spicy food.
I am pretty sure the entire universe is against me getting sleep for the last 24 hours. I was going to fast today, but lack of sleep and fasting do not mix well. Going to try tomorrow... assuming I get more than 3 hours of sleep tonight.
I hope you all have a great week and happy fasting!

flossyruby1

A very successful fast yesterday. Textbook really Today, we fly to Salt Lake for our big vacation of the summer. I'm planning to stay flexible and hope I can manage another fast, but I'm not worrying about it. I'm loving hearing how many of you are finding (or rediscovering) what tweaks/hacks you need to do to make this successful. IF is such a big topic right now in the field of medicine. It's so exciting to be able to implement a fairly easy way of eating that results in weight loss. But it's even better to implement one that may also help to prevent major diseases. Many of you may be too young to worry about your future health, but some of us more seasoned see the writing on the wall and prevention becomes waayyyy more important than it did when I was younger. Keep at it. I'm a believer that this is a positive investment for your future self and not only in the realm of weight loss!

Meghan509

Good morning all!
Successful light day yesterday. I don't weigh until Fridays, but my guy weighed this morning and had a loss! That is a nice feeling for him because he had a slow week last week and quite a few light beers with pizza this past Saturday night while we were at a friend's house. We like to have a little fun on the weekends and keep it really low key during the week. We will see what the rest of the week brings!
As I mentioned, I am mixing things up going forward with my non light days. Going to make sure to reach my calorie minimum, plus a little more since we are exercising a lot. Also going to implement the intermittent fasting "IF" "eating window" approach of consuming my calories during the afternoon / evening time in eight or nine hours. So that would mean I will not eat breakfast. Not a biggie for me since I am not a big breakfast person. Have my coffee in the AM and then start the day with lunch at noon or so and finish eating for the day at 8 or 9pm. Plenty of water and green and unsweetened black tea throughout the day. My morning yogurt will turn in to an afternoon snack. So I will be more or less fasting from dinner time at 8 or 9pm to the following day at noon time.
Some strict IF folks will say that if you put milk and sugar in your coffee vs. having black coffee then you are not really truly fasting. Either way, I am going to going to see if this approach helps shake up the weight loss a little bit. My guy is going to try the same thing. Will let you all know how it goes.
Sounds like everybody is doing well!
Flossy have a great trip! I know all too well about disease prevention. One of the main reasons I am here trying to lose this darn weight is that I am a cancer survior. Grateful that my issue was caught early... Would love to get down to a healthy weight and BMI and to be able to worry (less) about anything coming back.

KateNkognito

Grr. Just hit the wrong thing and lost my post!
Part of the reason 5:2 appealed to me was the promise of disease reduction/prevention. I have a lot of stuff in my family medical history, but there is also a lot of obesity, smoking and drinking, too. I want to get my blood work done, but I am a little scared that it will be bad. Like, they take one look at it and tell me to get my ample behind to the hospital, bad. But I am also curious if the on again/off again fasting I have done the last couple of years has helped keep it all in check. This is my dilemma.

Meghan509

Hi All,
Yes, my guy and I watched the Mosely Documentary when we first started 5:2 and we also read his book. We have his book and the cookbook that goes with it. It is amazing how fasting can help with disease prevention and reduction.
I hear you Kate. You got to do what you can do without driving yourself crazy. With me I have a lot of cancers in my family history, but ironically not the type that I had. I changed my eating over the years, after my health scare in spring of 2015. I pretty much only eat poultry, fish, or vegetarian / beans, etc. No red meat, pork, bacon, lamb, I don't drink soda (diet or regular). I also try and avoid all artifical sweeteners whenever possible. I will have a steak or burger or a little bacon as a treat once or twice a month. Exercise regularly. I don't smoke, I drink only on the weekends but not much.
My thing was from my teenage years on, eating poorly and not exercising. Comes from my living under my Mom's roof. Not all her fault. We just didn't know any better. You don't know what you know now it seems. Eating properly was not as important or in the news back then, in the 80's if I recall. There was no social media or internet!
My Mom is obese and loves sweets and food. I was the only child and could easily convince her to take me to McDonald's or KFC for dinner. It is hard to break those habits, hence the reason I am here losing weight.
In any case, yesterday's experiment with IF or an eating window of noonish to 9pm or so, went very well. I also increased my calories by about 150. Enjoyed an ice cream for dessert! Will see how the scale reacts on Friday AM for weigh in.
Speak to you guys soon.

flossyruby1

Hey, Kate!! I totally get the fear factor in knowing the state of your health. I'm entering an age where I think "well if I don't see the doctor then I can't hear any bad news". But what keeps me proactive is knowing how stupid I would feel if I didn't take care of something totally preventable. To me, that's a selfish move and impacts my kids. That being said, personally, I have high cholesterol and PCOS, which my MD has decided points to pre-diabetes. I've never been diabetic, but the 2 are so closely linked, he assumes that I at least have glucose intolerance. I've been on a statin and diabetes drug for years and the combination of fasting/weight loss and a vegan diet has changed everything for me for the better than before I adopted my new lifestyle. I probably will never go off medication, but if my lifestyle augments the benefit of meds and makes them work even better, I'm happy. I say, go get your labs done. Find out where you are and get a baseline so you know what you need to do. If you see improvement with fasting, it only serves as further motivation along with weight loss. Losing weight can only motivate you so far. Trust me, I know. Knowing your are making positive changes metabolically and at a cellular level can help keep you motivated.

mamainthekitchen

Well said Flossy! Being proactive in your own future health has got to be the best possible route for a long happy life... and an awesome example for your boys!!

Meghan you've already been dealt a life challenge but you have a fighting spirit and are making such positive changes in your life!! Well done girl! I also like the idea of IF times but don't always adhere to that.... my days are sometimes (ok, all the time) not my own.... yadda yadda...

Yesterday I tried cauliflower pizza! Different.... I would try it again... and definitely low cal other than the cheese which I would use less of next time. Today I'm just not caring what I do, as I had a horrible sleep last night waking up constantly, so no workout today. Making just a regular pork tenderloin & pineapple of rice dish, simple and I'll get to bed early and fast tomorrow! But I'm just in the mood to have a beer and sit on our porch and think about life..

Check in tomorrow!

KateNkognito

Y'all are so inspiring! I think I am going to find a clinic that will do it, cash in hand, and just send the results straight to me, not my doctor or insurance company. And then, in a year, or maybe even a few months, do it again.
It sounds like you all are doing pretty well. I am having an epic fail. But, I think I can turn it around. Prayers would be appreciated, because I think divine intervention is my only hope.
Happy fasting!

Meghan509

Good morning everybody!

Thanks all. Sorry to get a little "deep" the other day with you all. I appreciate your kind words.

Aside from my health scare, another thing that keeps me going is I look at my Mom and how she has so many limitations due to being obese most of her life. Osteo arthritis leaves her with limited mobility. Hard to walk for a long period of time, up stairs, etc. She has had joint replacements, type II diabetes, etc. I vow to never, ever go there. I refuse to ever have to live like that because of something self inflicted - food... She is 73 years old. My Dad on the other hand has always been a relatively normal weight his whole life. Unfortunately that gene didn't carry over to me. LOL

I believe it was in the Mosely documentary where a man had a very sad but true point. He said in poor countries people are starving to death because they don't have enough food, but in wealthy countries people are killing themselves because they are eating too much food. i.e., heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, etc...

Kate, don't be afraid. Take the bull by the horns. You got this. You are already doing well for yourself by following 5:2 and losing weight. Nobody is perfect. We are only human! You are in our thoughts!

Light day happening here today. Drinking lots of water and Green Tea. I have to say following this IF "eating window" thing has been awesome. I love it! Not really hungry at all in the AM. Start with lunch at noon and finish eating at 8 or 9pm. So in IF speak that would be a 15:9 or a 16:8. Fasting from 8 or 9pm on, until noon the following day. Only coffee in the AM and then water and Green Tea. I will weigh in tomorrow to see how my experiment has worked, so far...

Have a good one all!

flossyruby1

You know, Kate, I might recommend you see a physician first before pursuing getting lab work done. First, I'm not sure it can be done with doctors orders. Second, there may be items on an order that you either can't/don't include because you aren't sure. And third, once you have the results, you may be left with challenges in interpreting results. Cholesterol is fairly straight forward. But things like C-reactive protein or hemoglobin a1c may be more complicated. And labs are often interpreted looking at several factors and not as a singular item. For example, diagnosing metabolic syndrome involves looking at 3 different tests. A doctor is a resource and should be your partner. Personally, I didn't mention to mine about fasting. I just had my labs done after I had lost my weight. The results spoke for themselves. Come to think of it, I'm not sure I've ever told him. He's pretty open minded and I've been with him for years. I think all he cared about was me losing weight. Fasting isn't any crazier than some of the other popular ways out there. I just know that when I've had abnormal lab results, it helps to have my doctor put it into perspective and help me understand how one thing impacts another. Just my thoughts on the subject

mamainthekitchen

Enjoying a surprise fast day today! Woohoo! Coming in @459 cals!! Just sat down now to have some green tea until bed! Yeahhhhh!!!

Meghan509

Nice job on your fast, Mama!
Lately I have been coming in at 550. Yesterday I skipped my mid afternoon cherries to avoid coming in higher. But it paid off. Down 2.4 pounds this week!!! And in to a new set of numbers on the scale! Very happy this morning!!!
I am going to stick with the Intermittent Fasting "eating window" thing. Eating my calories from 12pm to 8 or 9pm. This seems to be working for me. Hoping to continue losing at a decent pace. Also increased calories and still had a decent loss which is something else for me to watch / note!
Hope everybody is doing well. Today I am going out to lunch with my coworkers. Will start my eating window at noon. Having my afternoon cherries today. Otherwise, saving my calories for dinner out tonight.
Another hot one today! Saturday is supposed to be nice. Sunday a little rainy. Beach on Saturday if all goes well.
Hope everybody is having a great week.
Have a good Friday! Will check back soon.

mamainthekitchen

Awesome Meghan!! That's a solid loss!! I'm so happy for you because you've really been working hard so I'm glad those scales gave some good results for you!!

I had a very low day yesterday! Just over 800 cals... we were suppose to go to a BBQ but it got changed for today instead! So, after saving my calories for the BBQ yesterday my day ended in me making spicy blackened grilled chicken with fresh salsa, avocado and small garden salad for dinner... just figured I'd go with it and have some tea afterwards... fooled my brain to think it was another fd! I may do that more often so I'm really hungry now... I'm going to do a weight session fasted! Then have some oatmeal & fruit before the dog park walk.... then the BBQ!!! Woohoo! Happy Saturday peeps!