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

Fast 5 Diary Three Week Summary January 2 - 22

Summary after 3 weeks (January 2 - 22nd)

I am down @2 lbs.

My memory is that I have felt at my best when still a few pounds lighter, but seriously it is not my primary goal to lose weight; rather it is my goal to get ride of some of the belly fat :-(  So we'll see how that works out.

My waist *may* be a little smaller, but there is not enough of a difference that I feel confident that I am not squeezing the tape measure or measuring in a different place.

I still like Fast 5. Thought it would be a lot harder.  It's not hard, and I like that I can have fun with dinner

• satisfying: yes
• filling: yes 
• feels effective so far: in some ways

Fast 5 Diary January 19

So today I talked to a friend at work.  He wondered why I was not eating lunch.  I told him that I was at war with my belly fat, and decided to try Fast 5.  He seemed concerned that fasting with a 5 hour window to eat was bad for my health.  I am not worried, but to validate my assumptions have scheduled a Physical, a few months out, to check blood work.  

Re: dinner, no hubby tonight (he is out with work friends) and I made grilled cheese for the girls (their favorite).  They had apples and grapes as well.  I had the tuna from the tuna sandwich I bought at lunch (inspiring work friend's questions) but didn't eat.  I ate 4 crackers with cheese.  I ate an apple with peanut butter.  I'll post a "measurement" summary this weekend. 

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

Fast 5 Diary January 18

Definitely easier to fast during the weekdays.  Just so busy, and have a good routine punctuated with coffee, water, or diet coke whenever I want.  So far have really enjoyed dinners and not been careful at all.  Last night I made London Broil, marinated for 2 days in lime juice, cumin, cayenne pepper, olive oil, Trader Joes 21 Seasoning Salute, and salt.  I made prosciutto wrapped asparagus and roasted the rest of the asparagus in olive oil and salt.  I ate an apple with peanut butter.  I also made grilled cheese for the girls, and had a few slices of the gruyere.  I am not hungry this morning.  I'll post a "measurement" summary this weekend. 

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

Fast 5 Diary January 15

Confirming that weekends are going to be the challenge with this diet.  Funny, because formerly weekends were the easiest and most effective days.  I may have to re-think my approach to weekends.  

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

Fast 5 Diary Two Week Summary January 1 - 14

Summary 1/2/2012 - 1/14/2012:

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. 

Pros:

1. It is easy to know exactly what I have eaten, to understand what is effective.  No mysteries.

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

3. It saves time to eat once a day. It really saves time. It's a little eye opening how much time I spent thinking about what to eat for lunch, going to lunch, eating lunch and getting back to work. Now I just do that when I want to socialize. 

4. I look forward to dinner for a few reasons because I eat what I want.  Fun! 

5. So far measurements are good (see below).

Neither Pro nor Con
I am indulging in the "brake" fast.  The closest I came to an all day fast was the first day.

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.

2.  Sometimes I get really hungry. Less so now than at the beginning.
3. Weekends are surprisingly hard, since I am not running off to meetings all the time and have fewer distractions.
4. In the words of my husband every morning, who also started Fast 5 on January 1st, "I'm not ripped yet." 

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
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.

Fast 5 Diary January 9 - 10

January 9th 

Woke up not hungry - Yay!

Coffee with cream, vitamins

"Break" fast at 1:00 p.m.: 4 crackers, 1 rollo

• Vacation day from work!!!  Because I have to take MilkDud (our American Bulldog) to the vet and it could take all day.
• it didn't take all day!  MilkDud and I home, then me shopping for dinner
• Home to blog, exercise and cook...thought a lot about what to cook for dinner
• Cooked a lot!
• but first, 45 minutes on stairmaster, 3 chin ups (New Years resolution-at least 2 a day everyday)

thinking about dinner....decided to make a few things:

•  http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Rempel-Family-Meatloaf/Detail.aspx
•  Emeril's Eggplant Parm  and ....had ripe bananas so...
•  Barefoot Contessa's Banana cake:  (can't find link on Food Network, so used a different site with recipe)  but! no sugar in frosting and half sugar in cake  (tastes so good. Ripe bananas provide plenty of sugar, creme cheese gives plenty of rich frosting flavor, and not sure cutting out more refined sugar would even hurt)

“Break” fast: tasted banana cake batter, 10 cashews/almonds

Dinner: Bacon and cheese meatloaf, eggplant parm (mostly ate cheese), ½ slice banana cake

• satisfying: yes
• filling: yes 
• feels effective so far: yes
• Overall:  good day, fasting is getting easier or at least was today.  Busy day today, so maybe due to that

January 10^th

Not hungry – Yay! definitely not hungry

Up a few tenths of a pound; still on the right trend, so fine; this is for the long term; not short term fixes

coffee with creme, vitamins
Stop at McDonalds for small coffee with 3 creams on the way to work (planning meeting ahead)

30 minutes on the stairmaster, 3 chin ups (New Years resolution-at least 2 a day everyday)

Dinner: Eggplant parm leftovers (heavy on the mozzerella cheese), few nuts (cashews/almonds), chicken breasts grilled with garlic and olive oil (small amount), 1 big bite banana cake from last night

• satisfying: yes
• filling: yes 
• feels effective so far: yes
• Overall:  good day, fasting is getting easier or at least was today.  Busy day today, so maybe due to that.

Fast 5 Diary January 1 - January 9

January 1

Saw this on Twitter:

"Starting tomorrow, I am eating rationally again. The holiday time is KILLER for anyone attempting to shed a few pounds"  (Billy Hallowell tweeted this on January 1) 

"Break" fast: 1 rollo with coffee, 1 Fuyu persimmon (such a weakness for these!)

Bake banana bread all day to use overripe banana; taste batter taste bread (incredibly good due to the overripe banana chunks on the bottom of the pan and the crumbly stuff on the top)

**(not really fasting with all the tasting of the batter, so not sure I am starting today....)

Exercised on StairMaster and 2 chin ups (New Years resolution - 2/day everyday)

Dinner:  Made pork roast and fried yucca for New Years Day: had small plate (5-6 bites) of pork, and a bigger plate of fried yuca (if I am going to indulge, yuca frita will always be one of my top choices)

Did not make a green vegetable, which is unusual for me, but good news for my family.

January 2

Woke up hungry (starches night before? yuca very starchy) not starving though and down a few tenths of a pound

Coffee with cream, vitamins

"Break" fast: 1/2 a persimmon

Coffee from McDonalds on the way to work (as a treat because I was facing an all day planning session)

Coffee at lunch, Airborne (unexpected but this gave me a few extra hours of willpower to make my fast last)

"Break" fast: few nuts @ 4 (not starving but really want to eat!)

Dinner: more fried yuca (six pieces, small caesar salad, 3 crackers 2 bites pork, airborne, DDP, 1 glass wine and Oklahoma State at Fiesta Bowl!)

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

January 3^rd

Coffee with cream, vitamins

Morning "Break" fast:  coffee with cream, 2 rollos, grapes while fixing CC's breakfast

Picked up coffee and biscuits at McDonalds to take into work to celebrate Cowboy win—drank extra coffee and no biscuit.

Afternoon "Break" fast: 10 cashews

Dinner:

2 crackers w/egg salad, 2 crackers no egg salad

6 bites swiss mushroom burger

10 asparagus

10 green beans with butter

5 large segments of pomelo

1 glass white wine/and 1/2 glass of red

1 Diet Dr. Pepper

Tired today, cause was up late last night watching Cowboys kick butt in the 2012 Fiesta Bowl. Does being tired make me psychologically weak? Maybe.

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

Jan 4^th

Woke up 4:30 (yuck), not hungry, down 4 tenths of a pound, Yay!  Going to be stronger today. Not eat less necessarily but not as randomly.

Coffee with cream, vitamins, Airborne (cold coming)

Morning "Break" fast: ½ piece of banana bread (include recipe), few bites of an apple

Afternoon "Break" fast: 10 cashews

Dinner: protein wisdom for dinner----brought home chicken and sushi from Harris Teeter.  Ate chicken breast and a half probably, 1 bite sushi, 1 glass white and a sip of red, Airborne

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

January 5^th

Not hungry! Yay! Guess protein helps.  Down 2 tenths of a pound!  Yay!

Coffee with cream, vitamins

Morning "Break" fast: 10 grapes

Taking CC to the dentist today (nervous); back from dentist at noon

Afternoon "Break" fast: few saltines(4), coffee with 1 rollo

Stairmaster (45 min Yay!)

Dinner: Tom Yum soup, 4 long strips mozz, cheese and crackers (3), 4-5 bites chicken from tom yum soup, medium plate of raspa

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

January 6^th

Coffee with cream, vitamins

Morning "Break" fast: coffee, few grapes/cheese

Afternoon "Break" fast: 10 cashews, 2 rollos with coffee

pick up Sibyl at the airport! Yay!!!

Champagne!

Dinner:  Making Emeril's Eggplant Parm

Eating some of the cheese I am slicing: mozzarella and swiss cheese; around 5 or six slices and 2 slices bacon, Plate of eggplant parm with loads of cheese, apple and peanut butter

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

January 7^th

Up a few tenths of a pound---understandable (key will be to do less of this past evening meal behavior than the other days if I can). Not hungry.

Coffee with cream, vitamins

Having a pedicure with Sibyl and a Diet Dr. Pepper

Late lunch at Biaggis with Sibyl; did not order anything but a glass of wine and a diet coke, ate 1 piece of bread with "Italian butter"  Should have resisted.  Definitely tasted good and did not eat more. **It's kind of weird not to eat when the other person with you is eating. 

Dinner: cook roasted shrimp with feta from The Barefoot Contessa's book

January 8th

Coffee with cream, vitamins

Shopping with Sibyl: went to REI to look for hiking boots for Sibyl.  **Note to self: Don't go there again!  Was like going to Whole Foods with more athletic younger people.  Several clerks constantly raved about the membership:  only 20 dollars to "own" part of the company (even though my friend Sibyl lives in FL and there are no REIs there!), and on and on about the company's green initiatives.  Could not think of another way to get this clerks attention who was trying to hand out membership applications, but to say, "No don't waste your time with me.  I am against the environment.  I don't like bugs, I am not outdoorsy, and I don't support green initiatives."  Upside, the clerk stopped trying to sell me a membership.  Downside, half of the customers in the store turned and gave me dirty looks.  Thought they were going to murder me!

Lunch at Carolina Ale House: did not order anything but a glass of wine and diet coke.  Ate 1 crouton with Ranch dressing.

**One downside of this diet is that it is a little awkward when out with others.