Where has July gone?!?

I cannot believe it is the end of the month already!

Admittedly, I have been in a bit of a whirlwind.  I have been working feverishly to finish my Master's Degree, and there have been several mini-trips in the last two weeks.  It's been crazy, but good, kind of, well...mostly!

I am holding steady on the weight front.  I haven't fasted in about 10 days, as my activity level has meant it is better to eat, but I have to say, I really like the way I feel when I pull back on the food front every once in a while.  I do agree, however, that it's important to gauge your schedule and be realistic about what you can handle.  (My fast days last week would have happened during hiking and biking days...not really the time for no sustenance!)

This brings me to my next decision...the scale.  I have a love/hate relationship with this thing.  And honestly, it's where an obsession can really kick in.  I know you are only supposed to weigh once/week.  And often, this is where I begin.  But then, it becomes daily.  Then, it can become after a hard workout.  It's just ridiculous, really.

So, I'm putting it away again.  I am going to put it in the closet until mid-September.  Six weeks.  This means that I am really going to have to pay attention to my body and what it is telling me about my progress.

I have been working on that already.  When I go to put my hand on my hip, I have to dig through a bit more fabric to find it, for example.

Weight-wise, I hope, at most, to be in the 20__s in six weeks.  The best scenario would be onederland.  While not impossible, I realize that might be pushing it.  I do have a very active six weeks coming up, though, so, we'll see.

Here's to the end of July for all of you, and to the next six weeks of tuning into what the body has to say!

Moving the Weigh-in Day

Well, I am still working with the FastDiet, and I think Monday's will end up being a fast day for me.  This means it's probably best to move my weigh-in day to Tuesday, so that's what I will try!

I am doing my second fast day today, and so far, so good.  I like how it has forced me to hydrate.  Now, I am a big fan of water on a good day, and I think this will bump me up into the range that I can't really worry about not having enough water in my system.

For me, it's also reteaching me what it actually feels like to be hungry, rather than simply working with a craving or eating mindlessly.  Since last Wednesday, I also have to say that I didn't go overboard on the other days.  That fear that I would overeat has not yet materialized...

The FastDiet, Monday's Weigh-In, and other things.

Somehow it's already Thursday, and while I did get my weigh-in from Monday, I haven't posted yet!

Truth is that I am trying to spend a little time away from technology.  Remember when phones had cords and didn't follow you to the beach?  Remember when Internet necessitated a dial-up connection and as pages loaded you could attack household chores?  Remember books?  :)

Since so much of life revolves around electronics, I have decided to take leave of them when possible.

First, to Monday's weigh-in.  I ended up getting sick towards the end of last week, and while I think my eating was still normal, I did still lose weight.  (Truthfully, I think hydration helped...I was drinking as much as possible, in the hopes I could be healthy on the 4th...didn't happen :()

All in all, the numbers are going in the right direction.  I am close to the teens, which puts me so much closer to onederland in general, which is awesome!

This brings me to my next adventure, so-to-speak.  I have a friend who began the FastDiet a while back.  She's already pretty fit, and she's looking to the health benefits as much as anything.  Now, I have heard about this diet, and have done some research into it.  I have decided to adopt the lifestyle, and yesterday was my first fast day.

Here's my thinking about it--for me, it's honestly somewhat close to what I end up doing anyways, but takes a different mental shift and a few different shifts in habit.

I do love food, but one of my biggest issues is that I can get so busy with my work schedule and commitments, that I FORGET to eat.  Sure, I get hungry, but at times when I can't eat, and then, unless I consciously remind myself, I can actually forget (I have been known to heat things up in the microwave and remember it hours later).  Now.  I will usually make up for this, but it's not the best cycle.  

The FastDiet works on a 5:2 (with other modifications possible) plan.  Eat normally 5 days a week, and fast for 2.  The fast is not an entire fast, but actually a restricted diet to 500 calories, leaving as much time as possible between meals.  There are many ways to work this diet, and the link here is to the books available.  There is also a BBC Horizon documentary (Eat, Fast and Live Longer) that offers a lot of helpful information into the lifestyle.

Anyways, for me, it's not that big of a leap.  The difference will be not having the calories in the evening, when I usually remember I haven't eaten much during the day.  My hope, actually, is that the honest fasting (filled with good foods for the 500 calorie meal), will help me on the other days.  I hope it will help me to eat with a bit more regularity, along with the healthy choices that I already tend to crave more than other things.

So, yesterday I jumped in with a Fast, and it wasn't terrible.  I also didn't wake up ravenous, and my choices today have been healthy.

The health benefits of this lifestyle are also important to me, and so while I hope it will help me to continue losing weight, I think the health factor is the most important.

I suppose the other things will have to wait, as this is a long post already!

I know the FastDiet can be seen as another fad, and I am no stranger to trying a few of them, but this one actually seems pretty easy for me.  Anyone else tried it?  Thoughts?

I went on Vacation And...

So, I went on vacation, and I LOST WEIGHT!

This is an evening weigh-in, so it could even be more, but I will TAKE it!

Sure, I would like it to be more, but I certainly didn't restrict myself on this vacation (nor did I overload).  I also stayed pretty active, and I think that helped the scale tip in the right direction!

More to come, but I am exhausted, and it's 8:18, and no supper yet...perhaps a nice big bowl of fruit! :)