Week of pain

The blog has become rather diet centric in recent posts.  I suppose that is just a reflection of what happens when one starts a new regime and it, briefly, seems utterly fascinating.  Give it a few more weeks and the novelty will have worn off.

Anyway, a very pleasing result this week.  I had already decided to quit with the weekly updates lest they become an utter yawnfest - but this was worthy of comment:

Weeks 1-4 loss / (gain): 10.6lbs
Week 5 loss / (gain): 4.8lbs
Total: 15.4lbs

I'm not quite sure what happened to create such a big loss.  I'm (sadly) far too experienced in this game to think that weight loss always occurs on a nice, straight line basis but even I was surprised.  However, this week, the scales are not showing any large movements - a plateau, if you will. 

The week of pain in the title refers to the fact that, a little while ago, D and I decided that it might be a good idea to throw a 4:3 week into the mix every month or so.  As it says on the tin, this consists of three fast days rather than the usual two.  It will be interesting to see if this busts the plateau or whether this week is just destined to be a bit of a slowdown.  It will also be interesting to see if I get through fast day number 3 (scheduled for tomorrow) without weeping.  The last two have been difficult - not because I've felt hungry particularly, more that I've been COLD and craving melted cheese.

Still, as I said in my last post, I feel cautiously optimistic that I have found a long term way of eating / dieting that seems to allow weight loss alongside a "normal" existence.  And that, for me, is the golden ticket that helps me to live with the temporary discomfort.  I wonder if I will be quite sanguine when (likely not if) the weight loss slows down and the victories are harder won?

In answer to Lesley's question, D, who has much less ballast than me has lost 7lbs in the past five weeks.  This is an excellent result and suggests that 5:2 can also work for people who aren't particularly overweight.  He tends to take a less moderate approach than I on non fast days and yet still has recorded consistent losses.  To take things to the next level though, and ensure long term consistency, both of us need to up the ante with regards to exercise - Lesley, do you think if I keep saying it that eventually I will do it??