The FastDay Forum

WOW...I would love to find that yogurt! We're getting a new mega grocery store opening the end of this week, maybe they will carry it? Fingers crossed!

Scale was not as shocking as I had feared. Up 1.5 lbs for the month of July. Not happy about it, but relieved that it wasn't more. I'm really trying to make August a better month. So many social things and adult beverages on the golf course!

Hope you're all doing well.

still here still down that 4 pounds. Today is a fast day and I'm feeling good. I tried explaining 5-2 to my mother who really wants to loose weight and she had no interest in what I was saying. So many people think fasting is unhealthy and it drives me nuts. 2 fasts a week is good for us! I tell my kids (who are always hungry all day long lol) that feeling hungry sometimes is a good thing and to drink more water. Well have a great day everyone. And welcome nutfmuffin!

Yes, it's amazing how people will just regurgitate the same old views over and over. They repeat the same failing strategies. It is as though they haven't paid any attention to the studies done since the 90's "fataphobia." There was just a study referenced in Prevention Magazine that said that eating breakfast did NOT result in fewer calories consumed later in the day. The 500 calories consumed in breakfast seemed to result in a faster metabolism which kind of negated the extra calories, but at the end of the day there was no difference in weight loss or gain between the breakfast eaters or those who skipped breakfast. There seemed to be no negative effects either way. That would seem to me to mean that it is a matter of personal preference and personal differences about how we react to breakfast/no breakfast. Now, when you take an intermittent faster or 16:8 person, I will absolutely bet you that they will end up losing more weight than a breakfast person. But, people just keep mindlessly repeating stuff no matter what.

WOW...I would love to find that yogurt! We're getting a new mega grocery store opening the end of this week, maybe they will carry it? Fingers crossed!

Scale was not as shocking as I had feared. Up 1.5 lbs for the month of July. Not happy about it, but relieved that it wasn't more. I'm really trying to make August a better month. So many social things and adult beverages on the golf course!

Hope you're all doing well.

Hey Lori! Way to go! 1.5 lbs. is a piece of cake to lose, and all the social things and adult beverages must have been totally worth it!

Word of warning on 'that' yogurt. The pot is one third of the size larger than the pot in the UK, which takes it up to almost 400 cals if you ate the whole thing - and you would probably feel pretty ill afterward given it contains 38g of fat.

I have been working my carb intake back down to under 50g a day in conjunction with 16:8 and increased my fat intake to between 70g and 100g a day. It's only day 4 so feeling a bit crappy but hoping by tomorrow it will have worked it's magic. I will see tomorrow if my body can run on fat when I go out for a run.

Re: sharing 5:2 with others--as y'all know, 5:2 isn't well known in the U.S., which is both good and bad. I try to never use the term "fasting," 'cause it turns most people right off. And the few it doesn't, they sniffily exclaim "It's not fasting!" (it really isn't...).

I just recently had my first "convert," my male friend who insisted for over a year that he "couldn't possibly" go without eating for more than a few hours. However, he has considerable weight to lose, and he saw that: 1. I was losing weight; 2. I was keeping it off, more than a year later; 3. I wasn't suffering and complaining, after the initial "honeymoon" period. 4. I could eat "normally" on "non-fast" days; 5. I wasn't weak and tired from "dieting." So it seems that shutting up about it and allowing him to see it "in action" convinced him to give it a try.

When I do tell people about it, I say, "I just eat only 500 calories two days a week; the rest of the week I eat normally." If they seem interested, I might share more; I generally emphasize the flexibility, because many people get worried if I mention I usually don't eat anything till at least late afternoon on light (fast) days. I ALWAYS mention this forum as an invaluable source of support and information.

Does anyone know why so few guys participate in this forum? Is it just guys' usual "go it alone" mentality? Or that us gals are more group/support oriented? My friend has joined the forum but has posted only a couple of times. I notice that many members have a husband who doesn't participate even though he also does 5:2.

I have a male colleague who does 5:2. He says he does it because it does not require any thought and that on two days a week he just has one light meal a day.

I'd say it's a "guys go it alone" thing, probably. My hubby is doing 5:2 with me. (I don't think he's doing it in the best way, but that's just my opinion.) But he would never, ever join an online forum for "support." That's not his style and he would see that as decidedly not masculine. (He also thinks that wearing a coat in the middle of winter is for wussies, too. So yeah. He has some issues in that department.)

BTW, what do you guys think about my husband's 5:2 style? His approach is to fast on his fasting days and eat a 600 calorie meal at night. No prob, right? Then on two other days a week he does a 16:8 approach, but still drastically limiting calories. And then on the remaining 3 days (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) he eats and drinks whatever he wants (typically not very healthy foods... whiskey & Coke, French fries, hotdogs, pizza... he eats like a college kid even though he's 41). Do you think this is okay for him (a moderately active man)? Or will this end up detrimental in the end? (He doesn't formally exercise, but his job requires him to be on his feet 8 hours per day. Aside from that and typical lawnwork, no other labor.)

I worry that the end results might not be what he wants. He's just hitting the overweight mark in BMI, so he doesn't have a lot to lose, but the doctors did suggest dropping 20 pounds to control his apnea.

I'm still here and still down those 4 pounds. I haven't lost more but So far August has been kind to me.

@nutfmuffin My experience with the men in my life is that they can cut out two cookies and a cupcake each week while eating all the rest of their usual junk and drop 10 pounds in n no the me. My son dropped 25 lbs in a couple months eating 2500 calories a day.

Life is so unfair!

@Canoegal, I'm declaring every pound not gained a victory. I got up
to only 4 lbs below where I started fasting in Feb '13, just last week. And Inhave been fasting the whole time save for 2 months. But I figure I'd have gained 10-15 lbs over this period had I not been fasting. So it is still a win.

@peebles yes! You wrote exactly what I feel... so thankful for no weight gain! If that's all I get from 5-2 I will be happy. Even if I only loose aa pound a year I will be happy

Where have all you people from the US gone? Has everyone stopped fasting for August? I really enjoy hearing about life on the other side of the 'pond', so don't let me down!

@peebles That is so true about men! But age is catching up with my hubby, I think. He loses/gains the same 5 lbs every week. No real loss for him yet.

I'm still fasting in the USA! But I've been struggling. My fast days are no problem, but I am going overboard a bit on non-fast days. Time to reel it in. And the bounces in weight... AGH! Last week I hit my highest weight in a month, but I also hit my lowest weight in a month. I should probably stop weighing every day.

I'm still here!! Not really making any progress......although I love Peebles post about not gaining being a victory! I heartily agree!

I typically lose weight better in the Winter, which is odd. There are just so many social events etc in the summer that I find it hard to lose. I play a lot of golf and always have a cold "lite" beer or 2 at the course. I don't drink during the week, but those couple beers on the weekend bounce the scale up and then I spend the weekdays getting back to where I started! Sigh......... Oh well, I'm not gaining!!

I'm hoping to lose the last 25 lbs this Winter. We're planning a week in Florida in February and I'm going on a Bermuda cruise with my sister in May. I'd love to be at goal for both of those events! It is certainly doable........I just have to do it!
I won't get a serious start until we return from our West coast trip at the end of September. I'm giving it a good 3 weeks before we go and then won't worry about it for the 2 weeks that we're away. I'm hoping any gain will be minimal as we'll be doing a lot of walking. Whatever, I'll deal with it when I return!

Hope everyone is doing well!

I'm still here just didn't want to keep posting like I was talking to myself @nutfmuffin I have the same problem as you. Fast days are going well but then non fast days are a struggle. But yes.. NOT gaining is a VICTORY! I thought about adding a 3rd day again, or a 1000 calorie 3rd day, but right now I hurt my foot and haven't been able to walk my 10,000 steps a day and work has changed so I have to figure out my new role and homeschooling is starting up in a week. For some reason I have been having a craving but cant' figure out what that craving is. So I tried adding somethings back and it didn't fix it. Drank more water.. didn't fix it. This unnamed craving is causing me to eat more. So now I'm trying to ignore it hoping it will go away (yes I am taking vitamins and heating healthy. thought maybe it was a sugar craving but that wasn't it, and its not salt or coffee.. tried all those.. so now I'm thinking maybe stress??)

So my goal right now is to NOT gain weight and call that a victory and when things settle down figure out what to do. Some things work for a while on non-fast day but then they slip away.

But NOT gaining is my VICTORY and I'm claiming that for now.

I'm still here and 5:2ing in the U.S.! Not losing the way I'd like, but I keep telling myself that I'll lose more once my body gets acclimated to this weight...we'll see. But still way better than before...and I'm now at the BMI considered good for "older" women (I'll shortly be 60--eek!). Still have a roll on my belly; funny that it bothers me more than being obese did...