grrlAthlete

Hey there everyone!

I thought I would copy Clem & start a journal ! I read Eat Stop Eat last Tuesday (a week ago) which was coincidentially the same day as my first fast. I had decided to try Eat Stop Eat before I even read the book based on the info I had read on Craig & Brad's blogs. I was immediately intrigued.

A little about me - I have been a dieter practically all my life. I got chubby when I was a young kid. I stayed chubby despite many half-azzed dieting attempts until I was about 16 when a friend of the family (who had lost about 50 lbs) told me she did the treadmill 2x daily (morning & night) and ate salads. So that's what I did. I made my Dad take me to buy a treadmill that very day. LOL! I followed her plan like glue & lost weight.

Then the next several years were just experiments w/ one crash diet after the next as I tried to get to my ideal of 110 lbs. (I'm 5'3). I finally got there through a cycle of dieting then binge eating & obsessively treadmilling. Then life happened...had my gallbladder removed, got married, moved away from home & gained about 30 lbs. In 2005-2006, I got down to a happy spot of 120-125 with Weight Watchers & diet pills. I've been struggling ever since. I've tried everything including a precontest diet/training but have hovered around 140 forever which puts me about 15 lbs above my ideal.

At present I'm about 137 & want to get back down to 125ish. I'm hoping a combo of Eat Stop Eat with TT workouts will get me there. As I stated before, I started fasting last week & was amazed how easy it was. Sure I was hungry on fasting days & had some stomach growling but had no headaches, mood swings or irritability that I normally have with just waiting too long to eat. I've been eating "normal" on non-fast days which means I eat whatever sounds good, am very mindful of hunger cues and try to make healthy choices. So far its worked out wonderfully. I feel thinner/fitter/leaner than I have in a long time. In fact, last week was the first time I've seen 137 in a LONG FREAKIN' TIME - think YEARS! So its working plus its so easy!

So I'm going to journal everything here & hopefully chronical my success.

Today is a fast day. I'm looking forward to ending my fast at 6pm tonight. Hubby/I went for a walk during lunch. I feel fine at 23 hours in except my stomach is growling & I feel hungry. But thats ok...only got an hour left!

Hi Mal
How fun for you. It's exciting isn't it to discover that losing weight really is as easy as this (eat stop eat). I have been fasting now since last August and love it. Some of the fasts are hard, but mostly it just feels like a nice break to not obsess over food.
Welcome aboard.
Denise

Denise - thats awesome! Have you had good success w/ it? So far, I just LOVE IT!!

My fast ended yesterday at 6PM...I was hungry! It was not a hard fast but about 22 hours in, I was really really hungry! Strange how it works that way sometimes. My stomach was growling loudly. Anywho, I made it the whole 24 hours. I ended up eating a bit more food than usual. I just couldn't get satisfied. I ate a bit beyond my hunger level but not too bad. I was trying to get myself distracted & not think about food but I kept craving a certain things. It was fine overall...had a sandwich, a few corn chips, chocolate donut (dessert), orange then later some fresh banana bread. It was a bit carby but such was the day.

I woke up this morning feeling very thin. I tried on some clothes & a pair of shorts I couldn't even wear last year fit LOOSELY. Then I am wearing a pair of capris that were skin tight last year - they are very LOOSE today. So this is working! I can't believe it...it seems too good to be true given the fact that every other thing I've tried to do to lose weight has been so hard or painfully slow! Its just amazing that this EASY approach is working for me.

I was supposed to do a TT workout last night but I was so tired & then had to wait a while for my food to digest so I decided I will do it tonite after work. I really need to try to schedule in all 3 TT workouts each week. So far, I've only been getting in 1-2 w/o's + extra cardio from walking. I need to get on a better routine.

My SIL is getting married on the beach next weekend. Then we are staying over a few days to chill. I can't wait! But after we get home, I'll be able to get on a more consistent workout routine. Its so nice that I have this trip coming up & instead of stressing, micro-managing each meal & freakin' out, I'm just relaxed about it. What I'm doing is working so I don't need to stress or worry. I can just enjoy my trip & fast when I get home...its so freeing!!!

Have a great day everyone!

Sounds like you have an exciting weekend to look forward too. I know what you mean by this being so freeing. It really is to not have to worry about counting carbs or calories, but I have to confess I still count calories but more of a habit than anything.
I have had success with the weight loss, but not as much as I'd like to lose. My fault. Sometimes I just can't stop eating once I've started, but I've noticed it's when I've had too many carbs. Protein is really a must for me.I have kept the weight off that came off to begin with, within 3-5 pounds. I started at 133 & now I range around 126. My goal is 115#, but would be satisfied at below 120#. I'm 5'3 and have had 3 kids, so I try to be realistic with myself.
Sounds like your losing weight quite nicely. I agree with you, that this is all so easy & exciting. There are some great IF websites out there that have a lot of great info too. Who woulda thought losing weight could be this enjoyable huh? Congrats with the weight loss so far.

Denise

Well this past weekend was a blur.

I had to go to jury duty or basically in a huge room w/ thousands of other ppl to find out when I have to serve on jury duty. So that was Friday. I also ended up meeting some friends for Indian food for lunch. I had only ever had Indian food once before & was skeptical then. But this time I went w/ an open mind & it was DELISH! Then we saw Iron Man which was good. I had dinner with some relatives at their house...steak, potato, salad & homemade cookies. Needless to say, Friday was a day of eating. I didn't overeat but definitely felt like all I did was eat by the time the day was over...not sure why b/c I only ate 3 meals but somehow it felt like alot.

Saturday was mostly a stressed out day...family issues. UGH! I didn't eat very much.

Sunday was supposed to be a fast day BUT I ended up eating a late lunch/early dinner b/c some ppl took us out. Bad part was that it was so NOT WORTH IT. It was cafeteria food & not good at all. But I felt badly since the ppl were buying for us so I ate despite not wanting the food - I was hungry though. So my fast ended about 4 hours too early but thats ok, I suppose.

We are leaving Friday to go to the beach for my SIL's wedding. Then we are driving to another beach for a few days to chill so it should be nice. I'm hoping the weather cooperates!

I'll be fasting Tues/Thurs this week. I'm also planning on getting in all 3 TT workouts this week - tonight, Wed & Fri AM.

OOOHHH yay, another journal!!!!!!!

Hi there, Mal!!!!! I'm so excited to follow along. I'm your exact same measurements and have your exact same goal!!! So we can help motivate eachother. Seems like you are having a similar experience as I have with my fasts. For me, the MOST difficult time is the 22nd hour...crazy how you're experiencing the same thing. sometimes i even just give in at 22. hum, so crazy. don't worry about the "binges" in the beginning, they actually taper and your stomach will seem to "shrink" and you'll get SOOO full after a fast.

Anyway, I"m in a rush, but i just wanted to say hi.

Hi Clem!!! Thanks for posting to my journal! So crazy that we have very similar experiences.

It will be very nice when I stop being so hungry after a fast!

I did some thinking & mental calculating this morning. Scray, I know! I realized that I take in as many calories at dinner/dessert that I do w/ breakfast & lunch combined. SO...today my experience is that I'm going to start my fast after lunch & see how I do w/ a lunch to lunch fast. Evening is a snacky time for me...I tend to *want* or crave things. I'm trying to eat REAL foods - very minimally processed stuff so the foods I do eat are calorically dense which means it doesn't take a lot for them to add up quickly.

I also calculated that I've been eating approximately 1700-1800 calories on non-fast days - thats an approxmiate estimate of a typical day. There have been a couple days where I know I ate beyond that & a couple below that (lack of hunger) so I think that's a decent average. I feel that is my true maintenance level - maybe a bit low but not too far off. I have a sedentary job & am not that active above/beyond workouts. On my fast days - I've been taking in about 800-1000 calories so that is not a very large deficit - about 1600-2000 calorie deficit weekly (2 fasts). So that means that I really need to expend another 1500-2000 calories roughly in workouts to be at a 3500 cal deficit (loss of 1 lb a week). So that tells me that I need to step it up on the workouts!!!

I've been wimping out a lot lately & making excuses. I've let life & other nonsense get in the way. If I really want to get to goal, I need to focus on the deficit! So, I think I'm going to do the TT Transformation Challenge. I will start it when I get back from the beach. Being in a Challenge will help me get my workouts in.

Overall, I feel very good about where I am. I am feeling thinner & fitting into smaller clothes. I don't know how much I weigh b/c honestly, I'm afraid to look. I don't want what the scale says to dictate how I FEEL! I feel GREAT & am looking better each day...but if the scale says something different, than I may end up second-guessing what I'm doing. I don't want that to happen b/c I finally feel at peace with eating. I feel like I need to focus more on getting in my workouts & just daily exercise but my eating is finally non-obsessive & enjoyable & dare I say...normal! It feels so nice to just eat normally & then fast a couple days.

Well...I started my 1st fast this week yesterday after lunch. Its my experiment this week to see how I do w/ a mid-day fast. So far...so good. I actually felt a bit naseaus (bad fish) after lunch so it was easy not eating the rest of the afternoon.

But I was hungry last night around 8 pm & really, honestly thought about breaking the fast. I was making all sorts of mental excuses - "I'm not feeling well" - "I'm naseaus from eating fish at lunch so maybe I *need* to eat to feel better," etc. LOL! I was craving a sandwich - I had all the delish ingredients on hand. I was even mentally calculating my calories for the day & thinking I could simply do my fast tomorrow.

BUT...in the end I realized this was an experiment I wanted to try AND if I feel naseaus, does it really make sense to EAT?! [That is exactly the type of rationale I used to do all the time "eat to feel better" - HUH? So glad I read Eat Stop Eat!!!] I also reminded myself that we are leaving for vacation on Friday SO a Tues/Thu fast is the best for this week. So after the reasoning & rationalizing I decided to continue the fast. I'm so glad I did b/c now I'm almost done!!! I only have 3 more hours & I'm not even hungry this morning! Awesome!

Plus I weighed this morning - I'm down another lb to 136.8 - YAY!!! I can't even believe it! Its so insane to me that I'm losing weight so simply. I always made it so difficult in the past. All the nutrition myths & books I would read looking for solutions only complicated things!

Alright well, I need to get back to work. Just wanted to share the good news about losing weight & the success of a mid-day fast. I think (excluding my hunger last night) the mid-day fast might be easier for me. I see how the rest of the morning goes...

Going to the gym tonight for a workout...really need it!

Mal wrote:Overall, I feel very good about where I am. I am feeling thinner & fitting into smaller clothes. I don't know how much I weigh b/c honestly, I'm afraid to look. I don't want what the scale says to dictate how I FEEL! I feel GREAT & am looking better each day...but if the scale says something different, than I may end up second-guessing what I'm doing. I don't want that to happen b/c I finally feel at peace with eating.

EXCELLENT state of mind. Good for you girl. Keep at it!!!

Mal wrote:Well...I started my 1st fast this week yesterday after lunch. Its my experiment this week to see how I do w/ a mid-day fast. So far...so good. I actually felt a bit naseaus (bad fish) after lunch so it was easy not eating the rest of the afternoon.

But I was hungry last night around 8 pm & really, honestly thought about breaking the fast.

mal, i usually fast from lunch time to lunch time and the evenings are the toughest time. i'm not always that hungry. some of it is the habit of being home and thinking i should be stuffing food in my mouth.

from the time i wake up the next morning until lunch, it's a piece of cake (so to speak). so i know exactly what you're talking about.

Thanks Clem!!! I need to post in your journal too.

Oldgrrl - thanks for sharing your experience! I really like the mid-day fast. It just so happens that we have meetings on Tue/Thu evenings so that puts me out of the house so that should help w/ wanting to eat. Except I was home this Tues b/c of not feeling well. Also I realized I take in the majority of my calories in the evenings so I think NOT eating a couple evenings a week would actually work better for me. I'm trying it again today after lunch until tomorrow after lunch.

Well its very rainy & gross outside today. UGH!

I'm not sure what is going on w/ my stomach lately but it was upset Tues night which I thought was from eating fish at lunch but then it was upset again last night. Ugh! Hoping it gets more settled today. I went to the gym last night to workout but had to stop early b/c my stomach got so upset. Frustrating!

So glad its Friday!

We leave out tonight for our beach trip. I am getting excited even though the weather is supposed to be less than ideal. Whatever - I am going to enjoy it no matter what!!!

I am 22 hours into my fast that started yesterday after lunch. I am starting to get the 22 hour hunger pangs. I'm ready for some lunch!

Well, other than that, I'm doing ok. I peaked at the scale this morning & it was up a tiny smidge. Not too worried about it since I ate sushi yest for lunch so I'm sure its water retention from the sodium.

I checked my measurements & they are still good 36-26-37. Also my abdomin measurement is down to 27" at the belly button - sweet!

I won't be fasting again until Thurs of next week (day after we get back). So hopefully I can enjoy myself & be moderate. I need to really focus on my true hunger & not overeat.

I'm also excited about signing up for the TT Challenge when I return. I think that will be a good motivator for working out during the summer months which is when I tend to slack off.

Have a good weekend everyone! I'll check in when I get back!

Well I'm back!

Actually its not too bad to be back. Just not thrilled to be at work. We had a pretty good time on vacation. My SIL's wedding on the beach was... how do I say? HOT, MUGGY & BUGGY. ICK! It was at a National Park. There was a beach but it felt more like a beach at a lake rather than the ocean. Then the "reception" was under a pavillion in the woods so there were bugs everywhere. Normally I'm not the type to freak about bugs but I was getting eaten alive - we all were! Plus it was very hot & muggy so we were all sweaty & pretty much miserable. LOL! Anyway, we were all glad to leave & move on to our "vacation" part of the trip.

The beach we stayed at after the wedding was nice. It was a little cool & windy the first couple of days but overall good. I got sun-burned b/c it felt so cool I didn't realize the sun was actually burning me. UGH! But it was relaxing & we enjoyed some good food.

We got back last night & I'm doing my fast today after lunch. I'm actually looking forward to a fast. I didn't overeat on the trip. I ate what I wanted but was very careful to eat only to satisfaction BUT I still ended up eating alot y'know? So not eating for a day will be a welcomed change at this point. I'm also looking forward to getting back in the workout groove. I'm going to do a TT workout tomorrow & hopefully start the TT Challenge on Monday.

I feel like I've lost some more weight. Not much - maybe another lb or so. But I did feel smaller & pretty content w/ my body this trip which was nice since I was in shorts & swim suits the majority of the time. In any case, I feel like I'm making good progress toward my goals.

YAY TGIF!!!

I started a fast yesterday after lunch & am feeling great right now. The lunch to lunch fasts are the easiest ones for me. I'm starting to get hungry but nothing too intense.

Even though I've only been working 2 days this week, I'm so ready for this weekend. How pathetic! I just need the extra rest from the trip.

Well nothing else to report. Have a great weekend everyone!!!

Mal

Mal wrote:YAY TGIF!!!

I started a fast yesterday after lunch & am feeling great right now. The lunch to lunch fasts are the easiest ones for me. I'm starting to get hungry but nothing too intense.

Even though I've only been working 2 days this week, I'm so ready for this weekend. How pathetic! I just need the extra rest from the trip.

Well nothing else to report. Have a great weekend everyone!!!

Mal

Hey girl!!! Happy fasting. I'm fasting today too...3rd one this week b/c i've been a piggie and gained 5 lbs

Have an excellent weekend, sweetie!!!!!