Fast 5 Diary, Four Month Summary: The Verdict Is In!

Key part of the summary from the last post:

I still enjoy letting down my guard a bit during dinner, but I suspect that I have let it down a bit too much since my average weight for March went up compared to January and February.

Summary: I have let my guard down too much during my window to accomplish my goal of losing belly fat.  Specifically, I imagine that I consumed too much of the wrong thing (e.g., carbs).  I have given it a good try, and see some up sides as I have written.  In the end, though I am not moving closer to accomplish my very goal of losing belly fat.  I not sure anything will other than liposuction.  But since I am now reading Why We Get Fat (And What To Do About It) by Gary Taubes, I am going to double down on reducing carbs for the next 30 days and see what happens.  I will start with giving up bread based carbs which I never eat a ton but maybe more than I think?  I'll still have a glass of wine at dinner, and a few bites of chocolate during the day w/coffee.  We'll see.

In summary re: Fast 5, I am a fan.  I like the plan for a lot of reasons as documented below. 

Pros:

1. I look forward to dinner for a few reasons because it gives you a little more flexibility with what you can eat at dinner.  As I've discovered, too much of what I want.

2. I like eating when I am really hungry. 

3. I like that you only have to track what you eat once a day.

Cons:

1. It is a little awkward not to eat when I eat lunch with folks. 
2. The way I was executing this plan was not going to help me to have less belly fat.

Measurements

1. Am I losing any weight?  average up in March/April; still down 1.5 from 2011 average but average is up starting in Feb-March
2. Is my waist shrinking?  No
3. Can I sustain this? Yes
4. Does it suck the joy out of my life? No!
5. Does it bring any joy to my life? Yes.  One of my favorite things is making dinner, and it makes making dinner more fun! (too much fun I guess)
6. Is it working for my family? Yes
7. How do my my clothes fit? The same

Fast 5 Diary Four Week Summary March 1st - April 1st: Plateau!

Interesting fasting days in March. I hit a plateau late in February that lasted through March, and I am hoping I make progress in April.

Summary:

Fasting during the day has definitely reinforced my belief that I eat out of boredom.  At work, I find that I *think* about reaching for a snack almost immediately when I am frustrated or perplexed.  Nothing to do with hunger---It's almost like an autonomic response.  Why do I respond to frustration or anxiety with wanting to eat?

I still like feeling hungry around 3:00 in the afternoon.

I still enjoy letting down my guard a bit during dinner, but I suspect that I have let it down a bit too much since my average weight for March went up compared to January and February.

Also, I had a physical in mid March.  It's good to get a physical, but I was motivated by a friend who expressed concern for my health when I told him I was trying Fast 5.  I knew I felt fine, but decided it was reasonable to see if Fast 5 would affect my blood work.  The answer is no.  It seems to have had no effect.  Blood work looks exactly like it always has looked.  Everything was just like it was the last time I had a physical.

Pros:

1. I look forward to dinner for a few reasons because I eat what I want.  As I've discovered, maybe too much of what I want.

2. I like feeling hungry at 3:00ish in the afternoon.

Cons:

1. It is a still a little awkward not to eat when I eat lunch with folks.  Last week I tried to switch my window from evening to lunch so I could eat lunch w/friends, but I am not disciplined at night.
2. Still not convinced it will help me to have less belly fat but time will tell.

Measurements

1. Am I losing any weight?  average up in March; down 1.5 from 2011 average but up from average since Jan. 2, 2012
2. Is my waist shrinking?  Not last month
3. Can I sustain this?  Time will tell; so far so good
4. Does it suck the joy out of my life? No!
5. Does it bring any joy to my life? Yes.  One of my favorite things is making dinner, and it makes making dinner more fun!
6. Is it working for my family? I think so.  I think they enjoy the dinners I am making, and other than that should not affect them.
7. How do my my clothes fit?  Mostly the same.

Fast 5 Diary February 12 - It's a process not an event :)

Still pretty high on Fast 5.  Still in a plateau.  So if you put it in perspective, I am down about 2 pounds, which is a lot for a "little loser" like me.  I still hope I can make some headway on my waist eventually.  


My favorite part about it is STILL that I get to have a boatload of fun at dinner.  Last night we had Tom Yum Koong Soup with Mahi Mahi.
 My adjustment for February was to fast during the 5 day work week, and do whatever I normally do during the weekend, which involves more grazing.  

Pros:

1. The best thing is I am still excited about dinners.  I love that I can be less careful preparing and eating dinner.

Neither Pro nor Con
I am still indulging in the "brake" fast.  But this month I am going to cut back on the morning "brake" fast.


Cons:

1. It is still a little awkward not to eat when I eat lunch with one other person.  For example, Monday I had lunch w/my team.  I hate it when I do cause I am not good at monitoring myself at night, but it's okay.

2. In the words of my husband every morning, who also started Fast 5 on January 1st, "I'm not ripped yet." Gonna take a while.

Measurements

1. Am I losing any weight?  yes, slowly
2. Are the rolls diminishing?  (I am not going for the stomach my 14 year daughter old has, but less of that nonsense would be good) a little
3. Can I sustain this?  Time will tell; so far so good
4. Does it suck the joy out of my life? No!
5. Does it bring any joy to my life?  Kind of.  One of my favorite things is making dinner, and it makes making dinner more fun!
6. Is it working for my family? I think so.  I think they enjoy the dinners I am making, and other than that should not affect them.
7. How do my my clothes fit?  Mostly the same.

Fast 5 Diary February 6 -It's a marathon, not a sprint

Still pretty high on Fast 5.  It's all about having fun with the family at dinner.  I love that.  I am going to make a few adjustments of a psychological nature (truth is that it's all mostly mental).  I am going to plan to fast during the day of the work week, and do what I do during the weekend.  I assume that will slow down my progress which is pretty slow already but I think that is the way it is.  That's okay. This is about defining a marathon not a sprint.  It's about a lifestyle change; it's not an event.

Pros:

1. The best thing is that I still look forward to dinner because I can cook fun stuff for my family, and eat what I want.
2. Though slowly, I am trending in the right direction.

Neither Pro nor Con
I am still indulging in the "brake" fast.  But this month I am going to cut back on the morning "brake" fast.


Cons:

1. It is still a little awkward not to eat when I eat lunch with one other person.  For example, today I had lunch w/my team.  I hate it when I do cause I am not good at monitoring myself at night, but it's okay.

2. In the words of my husband every morning, who also started Fast 5 on January 1st, "I'm not ripped yet." Gonna take a while.

Measurements

1. Am I losing any weight?  yes, slowly
2. Are the rolls diminishing?  (I am not going for the stomach my 14 year daughter old has, but less of that nonsense would be good) a little
3. Can I sustain this?  Time will tell; so far so good
4. Does it suck the joy out of my life? No!
5. Does it bring any joy to my life?  Kind of.  One of my favorite things is making dinner, and it makes making dinner more fun!
6. Is it working for my family? I think so.  I think they enjoy the dinners I am making, and other than that should not affect them.
7. How do my my clothes fit?  Mostly the same.

Fast 5 Diary Four Week Summary January 2 - 29

Summary 1/2/2012 - 1/29/2012:

For the most part, I agree with what I said in my 2 week review:

I am really glad I tried something different and surprised at the number of high number of pros and lower number of cons (so far).  I would never have tried this ten years ago. 

Still true.  What's new?  Over the last month, I have about 5 bad days.  By bad, I mean either I had an unexpected blip up with my weight, or behaved badly.  That's okay.  I actually have a theory that it is good to behave badly once in a while, so you can practice recovering.  So, I got some practice there.  And blips.  Well, you are going to have them.  I am going to try to see if I can figure out what caused them, but for not I don't know.  In the end, after 1 month on Fast 5, my average weight went down 2 pounds.  My waist size went down a little---maybe a quarter of an inch.  I hope I'll see more progress in a month.

I continue my exercise program, which is a combination of aerobic and weights (by weights, I mean chin-ups and dips so lifting my body).

I added a new measurement (measurements are below Pros and Cons):  How do my clothes fit? (number 7)

Pros:

1. I look forward to dinner for a few reasons because I eat what I want.  Fun! 
2. It is easy to know exactly what I have eaten, to understand what is effective.  No mysteries. No hiding.

3. I really like being hungry before I eat.  It makes me eat more responsibly; when I am hungry I don't want junk. 

4. So far my measurements are good (see below).


Neither Pro nor Con
I am still indulging in the "brake" fast.  But this month I am going to cut back on the morning "brake" fast.


Cons:

1. It is a little awkward not to eat when I eat lunch with one other person.  It is less awkward in a lunch "meeting" with a group. I am finding the whole thing less awkward though. 

2. Weekends are still hard, but getting easier.  Learning how to manage my day better.

4. In the words of my husband every morning, who also started Fast 5 on January 1st, "I'm not ripped yet." Gonna take a while.

Measurements

1. Am I losing any weight?  yes
2. Are the rolls diminishing?  (I am not going for the stomach my 14 year daughter old has, but less of that nonsense would be good) a little
3. Can I sustain this?  Time will tell; so far so good
4. Does it suck the joy out of my life? No!
5. Does it bring any joy to my life?  Kind of.  One of my favorite things is making dinner, and it makes making dinner more fun!
6. Is it working for my family? I think so.  I think they enjoy the dinners I am making, and other than that should not affect them.
7. How do my my clothes fit?  Mostly the same.

Fast 5 Diary January 28--bad day (totally worth it though)

Bad day on the 27th.  Felt a little punk in the morning (allergies I think) and salt just sounded so good.  In the end, too much snacking during the day, and one thing I have learned is that I DON'T do a good job of making up for bad days at night.  In fact I kind of splurged with some of this.  

Yikes!

Have to say that it was totally worth it. Pretty sure I broke my plateau though :) Gonna try to be really good today!Gonna skip measurements today, given yesterday.  Measurements tomorrow.  Will have been a month (mostly) on Fast 5 :)

Fast 5 Diary January 25

Seem to have plateaued for now.  

Still down 2 pounds.  Will measure w/ tape measure this weekend at my 1 month boundary.  Then it will be a month on Fast 5.

Still indulging in a few "brake" fasts. Usually a rollo with my coffee, cause it melts and is very nice, and 1-2 days a week, I'll have a few saltines next to the salad bar at lunch.  Not much in terms of calories or being filling, but psychologically seems to do me some good!

• satisfying: yes
• filling: yes 
• feels effective so far: yes