Sincere Apologies to my lone follower for my absence.

Still Alive – Still Fasting (85kg and maintaining)
AND, with new confidence in my sleek, svelte, toned 23-year old body [dream on Mr Varicose Veins] I have now returned to the Voice Work that is Monsieur Gilles Petit.
I’ve just had a wonderful weekend of voice, body work and being “spoilt proper” by our hosts Daisy & John. I was pleasantly surprised as to how well by damaged knee (osteoarthritis and criciate instability in case you’d forgotten) stood up [yes – deliberate] to some intense balancing and sitting in half-lotus for example.
I also found my voice again, which was great.

All this due to intermittent fasting and a reasonable amount of gym work.

You know who you are?

Man in Red Hat Produces Realistic Finger-Painted Landscape at First Ascent?

I have to admit to struggling with dieting, fasting, etc….mainly just day to day living at the moment. This is muchly related to working full time, getting up at just past 0600h, shortening days, continuing damp in the flat and trying to fit possessions and a wood-work-shop into a small flat. Not to mention [but I’m about to!] trying to organise/plan what to eat and when…………….I need to sit back and think it through.

I don’t know what weight I am as I haven’t been to the gym for about 2 weeks and don’t run to scales [as Pavarotti said to his Personal Trainer?]. The flabby bits of Utterly Middlagedly Spread are still reducing, so I hope I’m doing OK. On the positive side, I’m loving having organic salad veg delivered every week…..I’m very impressed with Abel & Cole so far.

Watch this space!!

An *Extra Fast day today!

A few extra fast hours, to be honest/exact. Having decided to wait to have some food until after my interview at 1100h……….it was more than an informal 30-45 minutes. So, after a long chat, tours, waiting “5 minutes” for somebody who was tied up with a visitor……I didn’t leave until 1300h, then spent 2 hours and 10 minutes driving the 6 miles back to home.

Most of this was stuck or crawling along the M32 between junctions 1 and 2 without an oatcake or even a bottle of water in sight!! A “police incident” apparently**. I soon got past the I’m Hungry Mummy! stage and just enjoyed the feeling of pleasant emptiness, not the gnawing pains which, I suppose, might be experienced – I might have to try a full fast for a few days to get there?

I’m now thinking about what to eat once the break-fast of 2 bananas has worn off. Trouble is, I don’t really feel like eating…….which is very interesting, given that [at the same time] I’m feeling like stuffing my face. I suppose that’s what we call “being in two minds” ?

 

**STOP PRESS!!  [writing this 13Sep12]  I found out the following day that the “incident” [I love the understated way we talk about things!] was a man threatening to jump off a bridge onto the M32………..

……..then yesterday another young gentleman decided to do the same – so the motorway was closed again….AND I just missed the huge tailback, because I’d gone up to the B&Q Warehouse to check out prices!! Phew!

Learning from Dogs (Click to link/view)

Some good details in this link/blog…. about Alternate Day Fasting (ADF) and Calorie Reduction (CR) – with clips from an interview with Dr.Varady. This is the university (assistant) professor that Dr Michael Mosley featured in his Horizon programme.

Sunny Sunday. Another great day, in terms of weather. I’m hopeful that it will be a good day in terms of my internal weather…………

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

• Starting with thick fog in the low-lying areas plus a depression stuck over the littoral.
• This is a hang over from Hurricane Cider, now dying away in the North Atlantic.
• Good prospects of higher pressure and warm currants after tea (2 mugs and rising).
• Massage due at 1030h BST, visibility poor, but increasing with spectacle-wearing.
• Underlying Optimism following the Force 6 Interview on Friday.
• Risk of Precipitation should Optimism rise to a Force 8 Presumption.
• Feldenkrais due Monday afternoon. Improving body balance and posture likely.

Back to the fasting tomorrow. I need the focus – job interviews in London then Eastleigh made it difficult to plan and monitor what I ate. The downturn/recession yesterday [without the motivation of things to do] allowed my bingeing & alcoholic gremlins to get a grip.

The good news, yesterday, was that I was down to 90kg, so I need to remember the bigger picture – that this “diet” seems to be working. I’m certainly feeling better with both the weight dropping and muscles strengthening.

I’m back on a calorie-reduction day – and struggling with motivation, as my mood is very low.

All the stress of potential change, plus being on Job Seeker’s Allowance, plus no repairs being done to this flat despite constant pressure. This all triggers my “rejection” button, or the “I’m a failure” bit of Mind Malware. Having the focus of “fasting” is, actually, quite useful in helping me to focus on something and not being drawn into eating or drinking [alcohol] to fill the emotional hole inside me.

Moan over.

I’ve had to be a bit flexible today as regards when I started the 24 hours of “fast”. I was away and it wasn’t until mid-morning that I got back home [Bristol, UK, in case you’re interested]. Hence I’ve started after “lunch” today, so I’ll see if it feels different to starting after breakfast.

Still 91kg when I weighed in at the gym, so that feels good that I’ve stabilised a bit, rather than bounced back to 92kg+.

√1 = ?

29Aug, 1915h: Having been in a very depressed state yesterday, I’ve got back to a more even state of mind this afternoon/evening. My second day of reduced-calorie-intake [challenge: invent an acronym to use instead of “fast” that is snappy AND conveys the idea of CR or IF ]….and the hunger pangs are starting now.

I was still depressed, unmotivated, etc. this morning. At least I had the incentive of having to drop off my car at UK Car Body Repairs [another insurance claim…why do people keep clipping my nearside front wing??]. I, then, went to my gym as I know it helps me switch off my monkey-mind AND I’m on a mission to lose weight and get healthy (or healthier) AND to keep that going into my old age.

Think the smell of sweat and Kerrang at full volume!

A good session – I’ve changed from my fairly lackadaisical regime of repetitions, with relatively low weights. I’m now, after Craig (trainer/owner at Workout Bristol), suggested my knee would benefit from resistance work. He’s right, as my knee already feels a little more stable/activated/strong…hard to describe or quantify.

As for the “fast” – I had a larger breakfast this morning, using up all of my 600kcals allowance. Hence, nothing since, except black coffee & herbal tea* [I’m telling myself that black coffee has no calorific content/value…..it has anything from 5 to 25kcal per mug, depending who you believe (see yesterday’s post)]. Now I find that coffee can help us keep, or even produce, fat …..so, as with all dieting, health, etc., there is LOTS of information out there and it’s easy to get fixated on DOs and DON’Ts.

I’m trying hard to stay relaxed about it all – while keeping focussed.

Hunk, huh?

* and much water, of course.

28Aug12, 0731h: I’m having a hard time this morning….as I need to stay not eating until AFTER breakfast. I had my 500kcal breakfast yesterday, then “fasted” until now…..but my hungry mind-body keeps trying to tell me it’s OK, you’ve done what-feels-like-a-day, so just have a little something! I’ve had a cup of tea WITH soya, so that’s [apparently] 25.8kcal to keep me going until about 1100h.

I’m now looking for a resource/website where I can find out the average calories for, say, green salad….rather than, as in the one I’ve got a 24-hr free trial ( WeightLossResources ) where they list at least 20 variations for most items. It doesn’t matter to me whether it’s Tesco’s Salad with Rocket or Waitrose Salad with Lamb’s Lettuce……just give me a rough idea, please! While I’m at it……Who calculates their calorie intake to a 10th of a kcal?? Get a life, people.

End of rant. Old age…..or hunger?

No biscuit, honest!

21Aug12, 0945h: Ended fast this morning. Feeling a little achey around shoulder girdle, plus a slight headache, possibly after disturbed night, waking about 3 times. Had a banana earlier with my cuppa in bed…then just had a mashed banana, apricots, yoghourt & a granola sprinkle. Now have the burps, gurgles, etc. as wind develops!

Which one is Frank?

I’m trying this fast regime (2 successive days of only 600kcal, then 5 days of normal eating) as an experiment as I’m very interested and curious about what I eat and how it affects me. The idea is that various indicators are radically changed (blood glucose; IGF(?), etc……must check what these are!). These are all indicators of getting such things as diabetes, cancer, etc. It’s postulated that doing this could significantly reduce the chance [possibly to zero!] of getting such diseases. That’s gotta be worth looking into??

Going to take a Rennie and do some yoga/stretching to release my neck……

1200h: Didn’t need the Rennie! Just some lying down yoga, etc. Perhaps the food got into my system as well? Now I’m feeling fairly normal and have just had my daily addiction of strong black coffee plus a piece of toast.

I’m noticing a lessening of the desire (both physical and emotional/mental) to eat more than I really need – so just 1 piece of toast felt right, not the usual 2 (plus an “incy-wincy” piece of bread….JUST while the toast is browning!). Having said that, I have been developing this mindset/resolve over the last few weeks as I’ve reduced how much I eat (to lose weight), trying to eat only when I’m hungry – and by hungry I mean physically hungry, rather than my monkey-mind saying so [Just ONE more tiny chocolate digestive……].

Afternoon/evening: Feeling very normal, now. Got into quite an angry & depressed state [no, they’re not mutually exclusive in my experience!] after I called about my ongoing battle with the letting agency to get repairs done in this recently-taken flat. Spent all evening writing an email and letter outlining what I wanted done and why I was now seeing a solicitor….which I am about to do, having called Shelter and got a number to call. [Must mention the brilliant resource of http://www.saynoto0870.com where one can find “geographic” phone numbers which are the equivalent of 0800, 0870, 0845, etc. numbers….which are vital when one only has a mobile phone. Hence I got a number for Shelter instead of their advertised 0344 number].

Despite all this stress, I managed to not overeat and noticed a stronger will, or motivation, to stay very mindful of what I ate. I can’t say the same for drinking…..had more cider than I’d planned!

The thoughts, now, are about when to do the next 2 days of “fasting”. I might move to Mondays & Tuesday….or, possibly Thursdays & Fridays. I realised, after what a friend said on Sunday, that fasting on a weekend could be difficult as Saturdays & Sundays can be very long and empty….giving monkey mind lots of space to denigrate my efforts. Must decide tomorrow, as I could start again this Thursday!

Dawn with Ice Cream Cones

Woops, that didn’t quite work!

You can guess that I’m new to this blog/Wordpress. Start again:

I’ve just started experimenting with fasting. This is to record my feelings, sensations and perhaps progress. I was inspired after watching (on catch-up) the BBC programme Horizon where Michael Mosely looked into some of the latest (?) research on how to stay healthier, perhaps live longer, etc.

The idea of fasting for 2 days out of every 7 appealed to me as it fits well with what I’ve been doing for some time – namely trying to eat only when hungry, so as to lose weight. AND the “fast” isn’t a full/true fast, as the idea is to eat only 600 calories* (500 for women) for 2 days, then eat normally for the other 5 days. *[strictly it is Kilocalories, or kcal, but apparently we don’t like saying the kilo part? I’ll resist the urge to convert to Joules, my favourite SI unit!]

So here goes……………

I’m now at evening time of the second day, having started yesterday morning. It was feeling quite tough earlier in the evening/afternoon – feeling a bit weak and a little tired. I had a mug of miso & seaweed to give my tummy something to chew over. Much better now. Only a mild headache….and looking forward to breakfast tomorrow morning….yumm!!