Eight Months Of Alternate Day Fasting ... And Me :)

I think it's fair to say that I've been successful following the ADF lifestyle. Up to now I've lost 48lb and my target is well within sight.

Just lately - because Doctor Mosley's book was recently released - there has been a flurry of interest in what we Brits are doing - diet-wise - from across the pond in lard country aka the U S of A. Mostly their reaction is that we're totally barking:

'During those 500-calorie days, you probably won’t be doing much of anything except sleeping. You'll be light-headed, anxious, shaky, dizzy and super tired -- Imagine what you are like when you eat lunch late and multiply that by 100. You definitely shouldn't drive, operate machinery, take care of young children, perform surgery or basically anything else that might put yourself and others at risk. You might pass out! And even if you don't, your body doesn’t have enough energy (calories) to let your body function properly.'

Yeah, right ... this was obviously written by someone who lives with a burger in one hand and a super-sized coke in the other lest they miss out on a few calories ... I can say this with impunity, they rubbished us, I'm getting my own back ;)

What is it with Americans and their desire to be fat ... And no-one must dare to suggest they miss a meal. American news sites and their associated diet advisers are dire! They MUST be on the take somehow.They've been telling us how to eat for decades and when we did as we were told, we got fatter ... how does this STILL make them right and give them the right to tell anyone how they should eat?

Well, it's like this ... dieting is big business. Anyone who comes along and rocks the dieting boat by declaring that - 'You don't need to go and be weighed weekly and be told that you're fat ... and you're not going to get thin by paying us lots of dosh and eating our dreadful processed meals' - is going to be regarded as either a total barmpot or a charlatan. Fasting can't possibly work ... they can't make any money out of us, they'd rather we went away and kept quiet.

We've even been told by nutritionists and diet gurus that we must eat little and often (six meals a day) to keep our metabolism going. Yes it keeps it going all right, it also keeps insulin production up. Once we've done growing our bodies need a rest from constantly digesting food. We're not really built for grazing because we're not ruminants!

Anyhoooo, despite all the warnings that we're obviously completely off our collective rockers, Americans have joined our ADF Facebook group at a very fast rate since the publication of the book. Not only that, I get far more 'hits' on my blog on this subject from America than anywhere else in the world. Australia creeps in second place. It must also be noted that the basis of this 'diet' has been adapted from experiments done in the USA, but apparently we in Britain are far more gullible and ready to jump in and have a go ... we're also considerably lighter now :D

We've now been told - by them that know - that fasting isn't safe for women. Now, to me this is a grey area. I will NOT pooh pooh any proper medical advice given on this, because they may have a point, especially with women who want to have children sometime soon. Hormone fluctuations seem to be a real side effect of fasting and I think we should take this into consideration if we're going to fast more than two days a week. However, have they actually proven this to be the case or is it yet another way of making us conform to the established way of dieting that makes someone else rich?

And now we come to me: It's no secret that I've been perimenopausal for a few years now. Things came to an abrupt stop on my last birthday (6th November). I had hot flushes through December to late February when they too stopped - just like that.

Well, methinks, if this is menopause; it's a doddle. Hmmm, yes, but not the doddle I thought. Over the last few weeks I'd tried experimenting with two sets of double down days every other week (yeah, yeah, broken promises blah, blah blah), making me seven up and seven down a fortnight, so true ADF with a twist.

By the Thursday night of my second set of DDD's I had a visitation, and I don't mean in any biblical sense. Chuffin Nora, but it was unpleasant, five months totally without and this happens. Worse still, I never can eat much during this time or I'm in agony with windy bloat as well as the cramps.

This was not the best way to end my week of extra 'fasting'. I decided that any signs - as these news sites reported - of being weak and faint  then the only sensible option I had was to take a week off and eat sensibly and healthily every day. Someone as tough as old boots like me going all delicate - pathetic isn't it? ... Or would have been. As it happened I was fine, I just lost no weight.

Anyway it set me to thinking 'why did this happen? Why now? I know the road to menopause is rocky but I had to wonder at all these warnings about our hormones and the consequences of fasting.

So I contemplated my - recent - past diet, what had changed? Well, Asda stopped doing the warm salad I had three days a week, these consisted of chicken, leaves, butternut squash, peppers, potatoes, courgettes, endemame beans, broccoli (depending on which flavour I chose; there were three) plus a dressing which came out at approx 200 cals.

I decided to do my own version with the leaves, low calorie dressing, chicken and prawns. I was angelic as ever and weighed and counted calories in everything. But because I was DIYing and didn't bulk out the salad with many calories, I had more chicken - thus my protein intake almost trebled on my 3 or 4 down days.

Checking back through my food diary and my hot sweaty lady calendar, there does seem to be some correlation in losing the hot moments shortly after upping the protein. Now I know almost absolutely nothing about how our bodies work, I'm just going on my own observations and notes, which is what I promised to do when I started this experiment.

I will cut down on the protein and try to get a happy balance or I know I will be drifting into Atkins country without meaning to - been there, done that, had the smelly breath. It was an awful diet and totally unsustainable for a - then - vegetarian. I didn't lose a lot of weight but I did start eating meat again, so both me and the animals have got a lot to thank Dr Atkins for.

I've got lots of milestones coming up over the next nine pounds:

1. Three and half stone lost.
2. 50lb lost.
3. My weight in stones starting with a fresh - smaller - number.
4.  25% of my bodyweight gone.
5. 4 stones lost.
6. Target weight.
7. The lightest I've been since my school days.

Best of all though is the knowledge that I'll never be fat again by continuing to follow ADF maintenance ...

.....

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 :)

My Thermostat Is Broke!

Now, before Bernard reads any further ... It's nowt to do with the gas boiler. In fact, this post is entirely for 'wimmin'.

Now, we all know I received lots of lovely booze and choccies for Christmas. The grumpy old man is still munching his way steadily through the chocolates, and I've made a bit of a dint in the alcohol. But, alas!! Not nearly as big a dint as there should be by now.

I appear to be unable to drink at this specific moment in my life and this has to be the worst symptom of perimenopause - for me - yet. We have already covered most of the symptoms before in my blog [memory not gone yet]. Oh heck I've just looked at the date I wrote that post ... HOW LONG IS THIS GOING TO LAST?

Is it not bad enough that I'm sat shivering and muffled up to the eyebrows one minute, then stripping off and throwing caution to the wind - and a 'don't even think about it' glare at my GOM; watching with a twinkle in his eye - the next?

Then there's the mood swings, I spend two days bawling and blowing my nose into a snot-stiffened tissue every time an advert comes on the telly for poorly donkeys and starving babies. So I turn the telly off and listen to music - while I work - to take my mind off all the depressing things in the world. Only then I find that I've gone into reminiscing mode and start blubbing over every dead dog, cat, budgie, pigeon, hedgehog, rat, mouse, fish et al I've been in contact with.

Of course straight after this episode I popped over to Bernard's lovely blog which was happily on about parrots and parakeets ... then I got to the comments. That set me off again, I pictured this poor little bird sat by the side of the road hour after hour - oh bugger, I'm off again, where's me hanky? - waiting for its lifelong mate to get up after it's been flattened.

The following day I was in a vile mood, I told a scrap man to p**s off just for daring to knock on the door - and he was ever so nice - he told me to have a nice day, that just made me want to throw something - non-metallic - at him.

And now, back to my 'drink problem' or 'lack of drink problem'. I just can't do it. One little dropsicule and I end up in a major sweat with a dreadful headache, which no amount of pain killers will shift. I even had to go back to bed on Tuesday after only one hour's work.

I'm not about to give in though. I've finished all this week's work ... so tonight - after total abstinence since Monday - I'm going to let my hair down, have a drink or two and no doubt take all my clothes off ...

What the ¥@%* Is Perimenopause?!!

Apparently, and yet again, they can't possibly mean me, one of the symptoms of perimenopause is damn mood swings!! boo hoo, sob ...

Now I can ham it up with the best of 'em, guaranteeing tea and sympathy from the GOM, until boredom sets in and kicks me up the a**e. But this time I feel dreadful! I have flu-like symptoms, I daren't eat anything as I instantly turn into a bag of wind and I'm SUFFERING! I even - and this is deadly serious - stopped 'playing' with my beloved computer and took to my bed, a shivering agonized wreck yesterday afternoon.

I decided to cruise t'interweb to look up my latest symptoms, whilst languishing in a 'look at me, I'm really ill' posture on the sofa later in the day - I am a renowned hypochondriac, one who hasn't visited a doctor in 26 years I might add!

I completed a survey on the women to women website - which was very informative and helpful - and so far they haven't asked me for lots of money.

My results showed that:
a) I have severe symptoms caused by 'entrenched hormonal imbalance'.
b)I don't give myself adequate support so things have got to change.
c)I make low demands on my body - being idle, this is fairly easy - but I don't need any more stresses in my life or my symptoms will be exacerbated - so Asda, Heanor Haulage, PMB and the county council - PUSH OFF!

I need lot's of 'lady vitamins', a better diet with more fruit and vegetables and gasp - exercise - me? - they cannot be serious! AND!! I must cut down on alcohol, I have decided in my wisdom that this is poor advice so shall ignore it, as I get valuable vitamin C in my orange juice with bits in which I drink with my whisky, likewise Southern Comfort, I drink that with frozen fruit in rather than ice, so healthy and balanced I think.

I had a really bad night, PMB didn't even get to wake me up as I was still tossing and turning in a sweaty but shivery fashion at 1.21 when the brrrrrrm clatter started. They'd only finished at 11.10 the previous time. When I finally dragged myself from my pit this morning, I shuffled about from room to room, bent over with pain and muttering under my breath that if I don't come equipped with a willy in my next incarnation, I'm going to sue ... someone, anyone!

I'm almost tearful because we've got wall to wall sunshine and I want to go back to the seaside but haven't got the strength to finish the ironing or pack the bags - this probably serves me right for treating other ladies with disdain when they said they were 'as weak as kittens' when they went through a certain age. My brain hurts - this is obviously due to its size, being too large for my cranium - don't argue!

All in all I'm feeling miserable so don't anyone dare upset me or you will be immortalised in my blog ...