Minerva's corner...

Sorry you felt poorly yesterday but glad you feel better today. Sometimes you just have to listen to your body and sometimes it tells you to up the intake a bit. I always try to remind myself anyway I'm in it for the long haul, I used to get fixated on daily calories etc but have learned as long as you balance it out it will go in the right direction, although sometimes not as quickly as I'd like. As Bee so rightly says, make sure you're getting everything you need in your diet and be kind to yourself.

Hope you have a lovely weekend xx
 
I think I am getting the proper nutrition, I don't really cut out any food group really, except carby-sugary things which are not diet friendly - but I don't have a craving for those as such. On occasion I'd like a muffin or a cupcake, but I don't have any around so, it's fine. I have vegetables, salad, protein and carbs in moderation. On occasion I have an apple/fruit.

I think I've settled into a diet plan now, I figured what suits me best is a daily 16:8 approach with calorie counting in the 8 hour 'eating' window. Sometimes that eating window is smaller, but, I've always felt ok doing that. Without really knowing/thinking about it, it's how I maintained my weight over the last two years with mild gains only happening when I did eat breakfast and ate more mindlessly, but I've always managed to reign it back with a more strict eye on how and when I eat. So I never really strayed too far from the 12st 7 mark that I've been floating around for a while.

Friday and Saturday my intake was slightly higher as I felt so rubbish! But higher within my boundary, without overeating. So while I did see a 2lb gain this morning, I know it's just glycogen stores - it's energy that's used by the body as it is, so that will always go up and down a bit. So while I doubt it will shift by tomorrow's WI (so a possible STS week), I know it's been 2lb loss this week until my slightly higher days, it's all going in the right direction in any case. There's no way I'm *not* losing fat at an average of 805 calories per day over the last 33 days. I keep a rough track of every day in a log. I just want to get into the 11's already damnit!! So sick of the 12's! Really! :flamingmade:

Still feel ill though and generally energy-less. Damn cold. I have a tough week ahead of me, need to study lots! I hope I find the strength...

Food today:

L: 2 egg whites + 100g cauliflower.
D: Not sure yet - but something for about 400 calories, easily doable. :)
 
Sorry to hear you have not been feeling well...I blame this rotten bad weather:(

You have to be losing fat if you are averaging 805 calories.

I have been doing 16:8 since Thursday and so far so good.

Good luck with study
 
Well, the weather down in London isn't actually too bad, it was sunny today! Just random splashes of hail and snow over the last week though which was odd. o_O

How are you finding 16:8? I find it's totally sustainable long-term personally, if you're like me and don't mind skipping either breakfast/dinner (depending on your preference) then it's totally a doable "for life" sort of thing as a way to maintain and monitor weight. I really should be combining it with some exercise, but I will do that once I have a bit more time in a month's time after exams. Doing some light cardio will be great in that fasting window. :)
 
I seem to fall back into 16:8 when I break the connection with cravings for chocolate etc. I am loving where I am now and have my routine working for me. I am not really a breakfast person and feel myself I do better without it.

This last week I feel my energy coming back and I want to do more walking and get fit again...the weather is going to be good this week with a high coming up from the sought...so no excuses:)

You have a lot going on now and I think you are great that you are managing to diet as well and there is no point in over doing things...which I tend to do and end up back at square one.
 
I had to google 16:8 - the dieting concepts move and develop far quicker than I do, it seems! Lol

I tried 5:2 and found that on my up days I had no control because I knew I had to fast soon so EAT ALL THE THINGS!!! Lol I would probably do the same on 16:8 - my eating window would be a big ol mess :( Its all psychological with me. And perhaps a lack of enough forward thought and planning. Hmmm.....
 
I find 5:2 a bit too choppy and inconsistent. I know it works, but I'd rather have an everyday (or nearly everyday) routine going then it's more habitual rather than thinking "oh is today a DD?" and then it being complete and utter effort. I know what you mean about the eating windows - they can be tricky to balance, but with calorie counting I don't find it so bad. Eat healthy, unprocessed foods (mostly) and it's fine. :) I used to suffer from the psychological issue you mentioned.... like, I'm allowed to eat so I must eat all the things!! But at the end of the day, I have a bigger force driving me now, which is to get to where I want to get to. Don't get me wrong though, it can be hard pushing through that hunger at times... but over the years I've learned that my hunger eyes are always bigger than my stomach, so most of the time, I make a small meal thinking in the back of my head that it will NEVER be enough because I'm so ravenous - and by the end of it, I'm full and satisfied and I wonder why I thought I'd ever need more.

I'm glad you're feeling better in yourself Mini, I do feel more energetic too (even if a bit fuzzy at times). I don't know whether it's the diet or generally feeling better about myself, maybe a combination of both. :)

So today, I spent the day at Uni forcing myself to do some work... and now my fasting window (until I actually have dinner later) will have been close to 24 hours. :/ A bit longer than I would have wanted, but hey ho. It's how the day went...

I lost 1lb this week which makes me a bit annoyed, that's 2lb total for the last two weeks. -.- I've always been such a slow weight loser, no matter if it's a VLCD or not. Even doing exercise alongside never really made any difference. MEH.
 
I'm feeling really discouraged today. The weight is not shifting at all, it's really been in a plateau for the last two weeks. Something in the back of my head is saying that a 'day off' might kickstart things, as it's sometimes helped before, but that seems counterproductive too. In one way, I can see the positives - replenishing the glycogen stores can help the body along as it does get to a stage where it doesn't want to lose fat and wants to hold on to everything, so by replenishing, it uses that and begins to take from the deeper energy stores again as there's plenty to go around. But then again, it might also have the opposite effect and just hold on to everything for dear life.
Ugh, I don't know. This does seem to happen around this weight which is probably part of the reason I've given up before I get to the 11's in the past few years. I'm on week 6 at the moment and ... ugh. Just. I am not sick of the diet at all, that front is fine, but, I just don't think it's working. What's also bringing me down (and I know this is bad) that people eating whatever they want (within reason) on WW and SW lose way more per week than I do. -.- Makes me think I'm doing it all wrong.
 
It must be in the air as I was having similar thoughts to you this morning Minerva and after writing down the Pros and Cons I am going to do another month on 16:8:)
 
Yeah, must be just one of those days Mini... Just got to push through really and continue... eating won't solve the problem, so just got to keep busy and get on with it...

Today I did my 16 hours of fasting and had an egg-white and chicken omelette, it was nice and filling. Now I won't have anything until dinner time, and then the cycle repeats. It's good that it's an everyday thing, I do like routine. Yesterday I had thoughts about just buying lots of bread and cookies and scoffing the lot, but that thought vanished today thankfully, and even so, I wouldn't have done it. It's totally not where I'm at. There's so many justifications for it in my head like "oh it's a one off", "you're in this for the long term, one day won't do anything" :blahblah: ... But it does! Mentally anyway. One day might spiral into two, three in a few weeks and then the whole thing will be out the window. "Oh I'll start tomorrow" and then 'tomorrow' just gets put aside for a month. Bleh. Not worth it.

I may be losing extremely slowly, but at least it's going the right way. I'm not in a hurry. I'll get there when I get there. *she said trying to convince herself*
 
I really should stop weighing myself every day :rolleyes: it's not very beneficial. BUT having said that, I weighed 2lb less than yesterday! Yay! 12.0.8! SO CLOSE! It motivates me enough to know it's working, even if it goes up and down a bit. Yesterday I did have more protein, so today I'll try to do the same. :)

I do have a meal out on Saturday, to honor the memory of my step-grandmother who passed away a couple of weeks ago. I didn't really know her very well, only met her a handful of times, but I will go to support my stepmother. While they didn't have the best relationship, losing a parent is never easy. As for the meal, I'll try to be good, avoid all alcohol and choose a healthy option (hopefully there will be one). There's going to be a lot of extended step-family I've only ever seen maybe once or twice when I was little, I wonder if they'll even know who I am!
 
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Sorry for your loss Minerva...I am sure your stepmother will appreciate your support.

It is good to see the scales moving down...2lb down is nice.:) I know weighing every day is not for everyone but I find the scales keeps me accountable...
 
Thank you Mini.
To be honest, you're right, the scales are a good tool if you're ok with daily fluctuations. I know I'm ok with them, a gain or a loss spur me on equally to either 'fix' or give me extra motivation. In the past I'd have been a lot more ready to throw in the towel, but reading and just knowing more about it all, helps. I know I'm at the bottom of the glycogen storage range so those ups and downs are going to happen a lot more frequently in comparison to someone on a more conventional eating plan.
I've been researching Intermittent Fasting a bit more and I read that for the body to get used to this regime and to stabilise will take a few months, so I'm in no hurry with it all really. I can see it works and I feel better, but only when I eat more 'properly' the day before - not carb loading, but eating more protein. If it's minimal calories on just vegetables I don't feel good, but I've felt a difference in my energy levels on days where my food was much more energy dense, not in calories as such, but more protein orientated. So I'll continue doing that I think. :)

Today though, I have a Hello Fresh box arriving and while I'll be fasting the full day until dinner time, I have a really lovely Pork Satay Burger to look forward to :D Except I'll take out the sweet potato, don't care much for them really.

https://www.hellofresh.co.uk/recipe...tay-burgers-with-paprika-sweet-potato-wedges/
 
I'm so happy right now! I went through some old clothes in my closet - long resigned to storage bags as they're clothes that I wanted to hang on to "just in case" I ever get into them again. It's been years. I fit into my size 14 jeans without any problems! No muffin top! :D I'm so pleased. One of the 14's a tiny bit tighter as it's a skinny cut - so a few more lbs and they'll be perfect too, but they are wearable now. Whether I'm actually brave enough to wear jeans is a whole another issue, ever since I gained enormous amounts of weight (almost going to size 20 again) I resigned myself to dresses and skirts to hide my thighs and hips as I couldn't bear to look at them. I still can't - even though size 14 should be visually fine. But in my head they just look ginormous no matter what. I think I'll take baby steps and wear them on small trips around town and get used to it again.

I found some 12 jeans too, and while I can just about squeeze them on (no chance of closing), I found an old receipt in there... from 2010. Which made me slightly sad. I haven't been a size 12 in 6 years and memories of that weight gain are still hard to think about. I was in such a bad, dark place and gaining rapidly. I went from size 6/8 to 18 that year with a lot of mental chaos in between. I wasn't coping and looking at the receipt I could see I was buying so much low calorie food because I was in full binge eating mode and I was trying to mitigate that damage. A lot of sugar free jelly, a lot of vegetables, to try to fill the void I needed to fix some other way.

Thankfully I've dealt with my binge eating disorder over the last 6 years, little by little and it's no longer something that affects me. I physically can't and don't want to eat that much anymore. There have been days where I do eat a bit too much unhealthy stuff in one sitting, but they're more controlled small-scale binge episodes, there's no way of getting away from it completely. Food as a friend, a comfort blanket, an aid has been programmed into me and I'm not sure there's any real way of getting away from it. So small doses of this behaviour, every once in a while, is probably going to happen for the rest of my life.

So, as long I know how to control it, it won't control me.
 
Hello, I've just been catching up with your diary. Sorry for the loss of your step grandmother, these things are always sad even when you don't know the person particularly well. I guess it just reminds us of our own mortality and of losing people that are close to us. Well done on your weight loss and determination to keep going. I must confess I don't know anything about 16:8, I've never heard of it before and will google it when I get the chance. I shouldn't even be lurking around on here at all today as I've got sooo much work to finish before I go off on sick leave for my op next Friday (one week to go eeek :eek:) So sorry the reply is a bit short.

Getting into your skinny clothes again is great isn't it! That's really good for motivating you to continue. :) x
 
Thank you Ticketty. You're right, losing anyone isn't easy, it really does put things in perspective at times. If anything, I'll be there for my stepmum as she's the only person I really care about from that side (I don't know whether that's a bad thing to say? ...) I don't really know any of them and I think they've always viewed us as outsiders as we're foreign and my dad's an odd-ball. He's a total Russian nerd (mensa level IQ), who while in Russia comes across as confident and knowledgeable, in the UK his mannerisms just seem confusing and eccentric.

The principle of 16:8 is a daily regime of fasting for 16 hours (so an early-ish dinner, finishing at 8) and then not having anything until lunchtime (around 12-1). First 12 hours are said to deplete glycogen stores and then rest of the time body will enter a fat burning mode. First month or two did feel difficult, until the body gets used to accessing fat reserves for energy as it really doesn't like to do it. Now that I seem to have passed that critical point, I feel great! Research shows that muscle tissue will not be touched, so long as calories are sufficient in the eating window so that the body doesn't go into starvation mode. So it's great for either maintenance or weight loss and that depends on calories consumed. I find I can eat anything in my eating window - but I usually do stick to protein as it makes me feel the most energetic and full the next day, but there are meals that are more carby (like the burger yesterday!). Sometimes I do a 20:4 day (so fast 20 hours and eat for 4) as my meals are so spaced out anyway, I don't snack or graze during the day unless I'm VERY hungry, which doesn't happen very often. When I get down to 11st 7 I'll start doing some exercise too in the optimal fasting point before I have my first meal and that would be ideal. :D

--

So today, I went into the back of my wardrobe to search for something to wear for tomorrow's event and I dug out a size 14 dress I bought 5 years ago or so "to wear when I slim down". Needless to say, the tags are still on it and I've never worn it... But it fits wonderfully now, that day has finally come!! I'm over the moon :D I also bought a pair of black flared jeans, they fit <3 I need to lose a few more lbs (or wear spandex underwear o_O ) as there's a tiny muffin top due to them sitting on my hips, but I'm so happy. I feel more like a normal sized person now. Can't wait for the 12's!

ALSO the scales dipped into 11's this morning!! 11st 13.8. If I was a person who wasn't too self conscious to dance, I so would be doing a happy dance right now! It's all the motivation I need to be good tomorrow :)
 
Thanks for the info on the 16:8 diet. Trying to remember all my biochemistry about metabolism from my degree now! If I'm correct calories need to come primarily from protein to protect lean muscle tissue irrespective of the time food is eaten but don't quote me on that. Also fat is burnt as a primary energy source when the glycogen store is empty i.e when you are in a mild ketogenic state which I would have thought took longer than 16 hours, but it sounds very interesting and obviously is working for you. I'll have to read up on it, my sad scientific brain is intrigued!

How wonderful about being able to get into your size 14 dress, and feeling happy in your new jeans! It's the most amazing feeling isn't it. Where are you going tomorrow, I can't remember? Hope you have a fab time, sure you'll look and feel a million dollars!

I'm sure your step mum will really be glad of your support. Your comments about your dad made me smile. Have you read the book "A short history of tractors in Ukrainian" by Marina Lewycka? It's a really funny book and the way you describe your dad sounds like the main character's father, who is a really clever Ukrainian engineer living in Luton who comes across here as a total oddball. I loved the book and would recommend it if you haven't read it.

Have a lovely weekend x
 
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You are right, it does take longer than 12-16 hours to deplete glycogen stores, but I think that is if they're at their fullest. With the 16:8 they never get to their maximum stage especially if an individual is semi-low carbing/eating more protein with their meals. Like, I feel a massive difference in my bloat levels between eating a lot of carbs 3 days in a row and having a one off carb meal in-between more strict days. So it really depends on where it's at. Right now I feel I'm operating at the lower scale so they do get depleted more readily. I obviously can't give you a scientific study on this particular point, but I can provide some links to intermittent fasting videos. In *theory* though, my metabolism shouldn't be too affected if I eat enough calories, so I have to keep an eye on that aspect, but it's early days :)

Tomorrow we have a dinner planned for step-grandmother's remembrance, a lot of extended step-family will be there. So that should be ... *ahem* .. fun. :rolleyes:

Also thank you for the book suggestion! I'll buy it for my kindle to read, it sounds amusing. Spot on with my dad stereotype, mine's an engineer, mathematician, businessman, got knows what else, he doesn't really talk about much of it, all I know is that he has 3 PhD's and is the most intelligent person I've ever met... even with all his quirks.
 
Yes, that makes sense, if you are not loading up on carbs then it will take less time to get into ketosis. I've just found this paper, which looks really interesting

http://www.pnas.org/content/111/47/16647.full

A little light reading for the weekend, or in hospital. Other women take hello magazine, I take academic papers to distract me! :rolleyes:
 
Hope you enjoy the book. Think maybe with your Eastern European heritage there may be some aspects you can relate to. There are serious parts in the book, like the older characters having had experience of the labour camps etc and the historical aspects are really interesting. I love talking to my Czech daughter in law's mum, she lived through the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia and her stories of growing up under communist rule are fascinating. It seems strange to think though we are the same age we grew up in different worlds.
 
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