Posts by elvisabeth

New month, new stats!  Not anything drastic, just steady as she goes  Considering I moved out of state last month, started a new job, and have done NO exercising, I"m impressed with losing the additional inch around my waist and hip!  I stayed at 142 for the longest time...3 weeks!  Most who do fast5 say that it's common to plateau at 3 months.  I'm still on schedule with losing one pound a week.  Sure love the way I look, and I haven't said that in years!

BEFORE      AFT ER

155 lbs        140 lbs

waist 36"     34"

hip 42"           38"

thigh 23"      22"

arm 12       1 1.5

No worry.  During the adjustment phase, which is three weeks, I tweaked my eating and the 5 hour window to suit my schedule.  Now it feels so normal, I don't even think about it.  It's like my body has been rebooted somehow. 

Currently, what I do is eat beginning at 3pm or 4 pm.  The longer I wait, the longer the window stays open (but I don't continually eat for 5 hours.)  Usually, I start with a salad and some vegetables/fruits, being sure to include protein.  I eat until I'm full, and after a couple of hours, I usually have a snack; popcorn or yogurt with blueberries, ground flax and wheat germ. 

On occassion (socially) I dine out.  Example:  today, I had two slices of pizza and 4 meatballs in maranara sauce (4pm)  FULL!  I ate two dolmas at 6pm.  I rode my bike for an hour (7:00 - 8:00) and when I got home, I had yogurt with blueberries, ground flax and wheat germ.  FULL!  No more eating until tomorrow....beginning around 3 or 4. 

My choices today did not include very many vegetables, but was high in carbs, so tomorrow I will eat plenty vegetables, protein and low carb. 

To answer your question, I don't really think about whether or not I have eaten two 800 calorie meals.  Perhaps it is more like eating 3 meals in that time slot.  It's more accurate, I think, to say I eat one meal a day (late afternoon) that is anywhere between 1200-2000 calories, depending what I'm doing and where I am.  I hope that makes sense. 

You can do it lots of different ways!  It really makes me realize when I am actually hungry and when I am not.  I am so intune to what my body is saying now.  I LOVE how I no longer crave food all day long. 

I think it's important to let you know that I didn't loose any weight the first six or seven days.  It was very frustrating!  Then, only a pound or two...

My first week, I ate some nutritionally horrendous things when my window opened.....a plate of curly fries, a hot dog, a bag of M &M's while I was attending a bluegrass festival.  

The second week, I still remember eating at my favorite meat + 3 restaurant:  hamburger steak, fried okra, pinto beans and cornbread and a slice of homemade chocolate cake (no lie.)  I didn't continue to eat that way every day, of course.

Two weeks ago, I visited my Mom.  I knew when I told her that I wasn't going to eat until after 3:30, she was going to flip out, cuz she's a mom.  However, once the window opened, I ate a handful of potato chips, and then consumed the dinner she prepared:  roasted chicken, peppridge farm stuffing/dressing, and fried summer squash.  That seemed to ease her mind, and I tried to explain to her that it's kinda like eating one big meal a day.  

Finally, (while I'm offering you a sampling of my occassional splurges) on my return roadtrip from my mom's, I ate some leftover stuffing I packed for the drive, sliced canteloup, and one large butterscotch dipped ice cream cone from Dairy Queen.  

Those are my decadent deviations. IMPORTANT --> The other meals I've had are rather normal, consisiting of MOSTLY fresh produce (fruits and vegetables) occassional pasta, several dolmas, a bag or two of microwave popcorn, a piece of 99% dark chocolate here and there....nearly no meat except to season vegetables.  

How did you do your math?  I came up with 1680 calories average.  I am monitoring my food analysis and nutritional count meticulously.  I invite you to review it.   I also keep a journal.  I can add you as a buddy and you can read it.  Regarding fatty food cravings, these have been totally eliminated for me.  Formerly, it was a problem I experienced.

I haven't experienced faint, disorientation, headaches.....nothing of the sort!

I am not promoting this.  I am simply revealing my experience for those who are interested.

I really don't see it as a diet, but a change in when I eat.  Like I said, I'm one of those people who finds it nearly impossible to stop eating AT NIGHT.  My breakfast used to be about 500 healthy calories, lunch about 400, and dinner about 500.  What killed me was the snacking, especially at night (popcorn, fruit, raw vegetables, a cocktail, etc.)  By the time my day was over, I was averaging 2500-3200 calories. 

At first, I thought I would try fasting every other day, and when I was searching for that topic, I learned about the fast-5.

So this is working for me.  It is NOT a fast weight loss plan, either.   I find when I wake up, I'm not at all hungry.  After sleeping 7-8 hours of the 19 hours...only 11 to go without eating.  I feel some hunger around 2ish....but then there is only 3 hours left until brake~fast. 

I've been on it for a week, and I've met my goal -- to cut out 1000 extra calories that I was formerly eating ABOVE what I need to be consuming to lose weight. 

I find it very, very easy to go all day without eating, and it's getting easier.  I don't "binge", when its time to eat, but I do enjoy quality nutritional foods when the window opens.  After fasting all day, my stomach fills up quickly at around 400-500 calories, and then I can't eat another morsel!  A couple of hours later, I eat another 400-500 calories.  Then it's time to go to bed, on a full stomach, which isn't comfortable, so now I realize that I will have to make adjustments to accomodate the 1200-1500 calories that I normally need.  The calorie counting is the diet.

Tomorrow I'm beginning my second week, and I'm going to make the following adjustments.  Tonight, I will quite eating at 9 PM.  Tomorrow, I will brake~fast at 4 PM.   (It doesn't matter when you brake~fast as long as the fast is for 19 consecutive hours.)   Gra dually, I want the window to grow smaller for me, so that I no longer continue to eat late the evening.  Then I hope to reasonably control eating 1200-1500 calories and stopping until the next day.  I will not likely ever eat breakfast regularly again since I've been forcing myself to do so all this time (over a year) anyway.

I received this great post from the support group I belong to.  It's a keeper, so I'm including it here with my originating thread.  Maybe someday, someone like me will do a search regarding this eating style at this terrific calorie counting site.  Then maybe I'll have a support forum here.

Thanks!  I've been on it for a week now.  It's not so bad, and it really addresses my problem -- eating about 1000 calories too many, specifically at night. 

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