The Potato Diet

Well ... did anyone see it last night? No. Thought not. if you want to lose weight quickly for any reason - to fit better in that special dress is favourite - you can't go wrong with the potato diet.

I've managed to - temporarily - lose 7lbs in 9 days of potato heaven. And, unlike other mono-diets I still wanted potatoes as soon as I stopped doing it.

You can of course carry on for longer than a week - and permanently lose weight - but more care is needed to get in essential nutrients. I only missed 'crunch' every time I did it, so added lettuce, my fat was avocado rather than oil. And there's no way I could manage 5lbs spuds a day, I generally hovered somewhere between 2 and 3lbs.

And another top tip, cook them, let them cool, then reheat. It gives them more resistant starch. The same can be done with pasta and rice.

Bugger the Muesli today, I'm off to throw spuds in my Breville Halo+

I say, they're £30 cheaper than when I bought mine. I might get another for the tin hut, rather than taking this one back with me. I use it nearly every day because I use far less fat with chips/wedges than I did on jacket spuds.

And all my cheap Lidl veg was roasted in it before Christmas - because I don't like boiled veg - but I did use a bit more oil/fat for that. And it has many other uses ... Hmmm 🤔

Note to self ... the top rack in your freezer is completely full of roasted veg, please remember to use it...

Mr Grumpy Has Lost It!

14th April.

Hubby has lost 19lbs of the 20lbs he gained during my first year of 4:3. Yes, I overfed him - oops - but he wasn't forced to eat the sneaky doughnuts now was he??

Anyhooo, now he's done that so quickly - git!! - we're switching to 5:2 in the form of a back to back 500/600 cals on Saturday and Sunday.

This is because I work at home - when I like - and where we are through the summer - in a caravan aka 'the tin hut' near Skegness - it's busy at the weekends so we don't go very far.

This will leave us to go out any day in the week without having to think 'up or down, have I got to swap?' ... and my GOM is the best picnic maker ever - and he prepares it while I'm still in bed :)

Of course if either of us start porking up again - by more than 3lbs - we'll add another down day midweek.

We both intend doing at least two down days or DD (fasting days) a week forever as we both feel so fit and well - not at all bad for our ages 54 and 74 ;)

Update 27th April.

Yeah, yeah. So full of good (brave) intentions. We didn't even make it one week. I'd caved in by Tuesday afternoon and told Mr Grumpy that I was slipping a DD Wednesday in, he said he would too. This wasn't as strict as our usual DDs, he had around 800 cals and I had 650.
Our weight remained the same so we'll try this for the next couple of weeks ...

Update 8th May.

Well he's lost 2 more pounds without trying so we've switched to 16:8 - which is a 16 hour fast and an 8 hour eating window ...

.....

1. Me and Alternate Day Fasting
2. Me and Alternate Day Fasting ... Three Weeks On
3. Five Weeks of Alternate Day Fasting
4. Eight Weeks of Alternate Day Fasting
5. Ten Weeks of Alternate Day Fasting
6. Alternate Day Fasting Three Months On
7. Alternate Day Fasting in Winter
8. Alternate Day Fasting Over Christmas
9. Me and Zumba
10. Saying Goodbye To My Curves 
11. Eight Months Of Alternate Day Fasting And Me
12. Growing Up 
13. A Year Of Alternate Day Fasting 
14. 60 Pounds Of Blubber - Vanished
15. The Perils of Alternate Day Fasting 
16. Mr Grumpy Is Losing It
17. Mr Grumpy Has Lost It
18. Fasting For Maintenance
19. Tweaking Maintenance
20. Weight Gain 
21. Still Maintaining
22. Four Years Of Intermittent Fasting

  .....

• ADF Facebook Group ... come and join us :)

Alternate Day Fasting Over Christmas

So far I haven't changed my meal times as mentioned in my last post because the weather got warmer and I haven't been as cold as I was during the day. Knowing British weather, this is apt to change at a moments notice.

.....

I decided - because I'm a good girl - that I would stick with ADF over Christmas and new year by juggling my days ... hmmm yes, rather because I was too afraid of the consequences otherwise.

Therefore on Christmas week my weekend (diet-wise) was Tuesday and Wednesday, New Year week it was Monday and Tuesday. I didn't restrict my eating or drinking at all these days although I was slightly more careful on my other up days and positively saintly on my down days.

I'm pleased to say that even though I came fairly close, I still didn't need any over-acid stomach remedies. Considering the richness of the food I ate this is brilliant!

Over in our ADF group on Facebook, it's fair to say that the vast majority of us let our hair down - and loosened our belts - completely forgetting about fasting for the time being and simply enjoyed the holidays.

The results were obvious, they gained weight and I didn't - buffs up halo until it glows - however, they have since lost their Christmas weight gain and I'm still stuck on a plateau all by myself.

The conclusion that I can draw from this is that it does you good to forget all about calorie restricting for a short while, as any damage done is as quickly undone ... with the added bonus that you've thoroughly enjoyed yourself.

It also seems to have kick-started the weight loss again for one or two people who have gone several weeks and stayed the same weight ... like me :'(

I wish I could let myself have a week off to try it but I daren't - I have an enormous guilt complex and an obsessive nature - even on our honeymoon I juggled my days around so I only missed one fasting day - the only one I've missed since the 8th August - and I only justified that because I'd previously done two double down days in one week.

If I don't lose any more weight by this weekend then I'll have to try shaking things up with the threatened fast-5 or I'll literally do ADF without my 'weekend' off, giving me an extra down day a fortnight ... or I could stop eating Christmas cake, mincemeat muffins and chocolate on my up days.

Weight loss over five months ... still 35lb ...

.....

1. Me and Alternate Day Fasting
2. Me and Alternate Day Fasting ... Three Weeks On
3. Five Weeks of Alternate Day Fasting
4. Eight Weeks of Alternate Day Fasting
5. Ten Weeks of Alternate Day Fasting
6. Alternate Day Fasting Three Months On
7. Alternate Day Fasting in Winter
8. Alternate Day Fasting Over Christmas
9. Me and Zumba
10. Saying Goodbye To My Curves 
11. Eight Months Of Alternate Day Fasting And Me
12. Growing Up 
13. A Year Of Alternate Day Fasting 
14. 60 Pounds Of Blubber - Vanished
15. The Perils of Alternate Day Fasting 
16. Mr Grumpy Is Losing It
17. Mr Grumpy Has Lost It
18. Fasting For Maintenance
19. Tweaking Maintenance
20. Weight Gain 
21. Still Maintaining
22. Four Years Of Intermittent Fasting

  .....

• ADF Facebook Group ... come and join us :)

Alternate Day Fasting Three Months On.

Well, if you've been following my blog other than the 'dieting' posts, you'll know that I've been a busy bee preparing for our wedding ... getting married ... then going on a family honeymoon.

I even managed to do 5 up 2 down for the honeymoon (Mon-Fri) by making the Sunday before a down day and the same for the Saturday after we came home. So only having Wednesday as an extra up day. I'm surprised at my determination and commitment. Three months ago I thought by the time I'd got the wedding out of the way, I'd be hiding the bathroom scales and pulling faces at the mention of that dirty, dirty word DIET ... this was all assuming I even made it that far.

Not a bit of it. Being able to eat a normal diet four days a week and only being ultra-strict for three days - and always knowing that if ever I'm hungry then tomorrow is a munch day - has made this so easy ... too easy in fact to ever give up.

I've now lost a total of 31lb (gained 1lb last week eating fast food at Center Parcs) and have set a realistic target for a further loss of another 26lb by next summer. I won't stress over little gains or no losses here and there, it happens even on a regular diet regime.

More pleasing than the weight loss is the inch loss:

1. Chest 3"
2. Waist 6"
3. Hips 4"
4. Both upper arms and each thigh 2"

There are lots more bits I measured but I'm sure we've seen enough now :)

I still feel great, especially on the down days. Anyone would logically think that being hungry would make you weak, dizzy or faint - or at least grumpy - I've felt none of those but I do now drink an awful lot of concentrate low calorie squash and plenty of fruit/herbal teas to combat hunger which in all probability is actually thirst anyway ... and I don't actually fast in the literal term.

I don't have breakfast, my first meal is about 1.30pm. These days because I'm at home, I have a warm salad from t'shop across t'road for lunch (approx 250 cals), then one of my amazing home made vegetable soups out of the freezer at about 7.00pm. Or I have 'Skinny Soup' from the same shop and occasionally tinned chopped tomatoes on toast.

I still see no reason to vary it over-much, I like soup and can flavour it to suit myself. Plus I eat a far wider variety of foods on my up days, so no chance of becoming bored. I no longer count the calories in my drinks but estimate that I take in approx 550 cals now on the down days ... and it's still working for me.

I've got a new way of doing my vegetable soup now, but this is because I can't stand certain vegetables either in soup or stew but they add bulk without too many calories. These include turnips, carrots and parsnips (yuk). So instead of cooking everything together, I cook these with only a little of the stuff I do like - potatoes, leeks, celery, peppers, mushrooms, red onions, then zzzzzz it down to a purée and do all the rest in the slow cooker and keep it moderately chunky, before mixing together and freezing it. Yum yum yum.

I can't recommend enough the Alternate Day Fasting group on Facebook for support and encouragement. Anyone wishing to embark on this particular journey to a slimmer body and hopefully healthier way of life ... with no hang-ups about 'oh, no I shouldn't have eaten that - oh bugger it, I've ruined the diet, I may as well pig out' ... would do well to join us there, I even contribute words of wisdom occasionally - well, I admitted weighing myself while holding my boobs up in case there was a chance I'd weigh less  ...

.....

1. Me and Alternate Day Fasting
2. Me and Alternate Day Fasting ... Three Weeks On
3. Five Weeks of Alternate Day Fasting
4. Eight Weeks of Alternate Day Fasting
5. Ten Weeks of Alternate Day Fasting
6. Alternate Day Fasting Three Months On
7. Alternate Day Fasting in Winter
8. Alternate Day Fasting Over Christmas
9. Me and Zumba
10. Saying Goodbye To My Curves 
11. Eight Months Of Alternate Day Fasting And Me
12. Growing Up 
13. A Year Of Alternate Day Fasting 
14. 60 Pounds Of Blubber - Vanished
15. The Perils of Alternate Day Fasting 
16. Mr Grumpy Is Losing It
17. Mr Grumpy Has Lost It
18. Fasting For Maintenance
19. Tweaking Maintenance
20. Weight Gain 
21. Still Maintaining
22. Four Years Of Intermittent Fasting

  .....

• ADF Facebook Group ... come and join us :)