The FastDay Forum

Another newish thread seems to have a lot of people fading their enthusiasm for this wonderful WOE.

I wonder if anyone is here that has actually climbed above their start weight or within 1 or 2kg from start weight.

Perhaps if they have they wont have returned to the forum.

I think even if you're weight loss has stalled or even climbed a little back up is any reason to give up and go back to old ways where we are carrying way too much weight for our health, well being and just feeling good about getting into some nice clothes.

An annoying plateau effect or just the passing of time, whatever the reason for less enthusiasm than some months back, climb back on board and you wont regret it.

This is an excellent thread from way back (Feb) started by Carorees) worth reading if you are new here. Theres' so many gems here from 6 months ago.
not-losing-weight-f27/5-2-diet-weight-gain-t1006.html

I don't foresee a huge drop out rate, there is always a slight wobble when people start to get complacent in any diet. I do think we are all suffering a little bit of post holiday, post summer down time but it won't last long and soon we will all be back to striving for a pre Christmas weight loss just as we all went for for a pre holiday weight loss.

Ballerina x

Julianna I still love 5:2 and will maintain it but on the 'jumped ship,' thread As I see it I think we are just chewing a different sort of fat, scuse the pun e.g. not the scales this time as the challenge but the motivation and psychological fatigue of the long haul nature of the 5:2 journey as we approach our goals

We are having fun while we discuss it, as is the twist of some of the threads, humour is never far away

I agree with Ballerine and Gillymary - I don't think it's a drop out, but rather a "hey motivation, come back" call out.

[Tracieknits]

Like I said in the other thread, when I need motivation to stick with it, I weigh myself every day.

I have also given myself permission to deviate from course for a slight bit, for a set period of time. For example last week, hubby was traveling for work, so I did 16:8 (ish) for the week. It's hard being home all day with a nearly 13 year old boy who is very skinny and needs to be encouraged to eat!! Next week we are all traveling to see the inlaws, so we'll do one fast day and I'll probably just skip breakfast while I'm there. Wednesday might be a modified fast day in that we might do the usual not eating until dinner thing, but we won't be counting calories at dinner.

I don't feel bad deviating when there's a fixed end date to the deviation, as I start to look forward to getting back on track. I'm actually excited to fast again tomorrow and make my lovely turkey chipotle chocolate chili

I havent jumped ship,if I did I would probably just sink after my indulgences on the weekend. I dont know how but I havent missed a fast or messed up a fast since I started in February. I have never stuck to a diet for that long.
I still dont like fast days but have accepted that this is now my way of life, something I can sustain in the long run.
So Im still enthusiastcally here fasting but just being a bit too enthusiastic about the eating days as well.

I always nod while reading posts from the contributors here. I have had a wobble, my home scales behave like a contrarian character, but give me a relative idea of ups and downs. But my doc's scales showed more than my home ones, so I was a bit dismayed. Ah well, now to continue the fasts with increased conscientiousness.
I do truly enjoy fasting days. But I find social life can trump my fast day limits and then I have trouble finding an extra day to fast.
I am quite interested in the 16:8 hour day feeding. So, I have had a go at it, but I'm not sure if I ate too much in any case. Ah well, the full day fast is the most reliable way to do the fasting for me, it seems. And in a way it's also quite a simple method as you don't need to think too much about the feast part of the days. Just remind myself of tomorrow's good food.
Healthy foods, yes, but not necessarily worrying about cals/kgs. I'm hoping to do 3 days of fasting this week. Although one day will be a 16:8 type I reckon.
I am losing weight, just slowly. I look forward to my new wardrobe of summer clothes, and lots of swimming.

Thanks JulianaRivers, Tracieknits and others for the great points.

I wouldn't trade this WOE for anything, and I do see this as a long term plan for me, but after doing this for 5 months (with both progress plus some occasional plateaus) I confess it was a bit difficult to fast last week while on vacation at the beach, though I am proud I DID fast twice in the week - and even fasted while at a water park all day with my son and his friend while they enjoyed burgers and ice cream.

Problem with being on vacation is that I ate and drank too much on my feast days, much more than if I were at work. I exercised pretty hard every day (something I don't do when working) - ran 4-5 miles several times, took many walks, and walked/climbed the waterpark with the kids as I mentioned.

BUT eating out and having all day access to food was what did me in! So now, even with the workouts and the two fasts, the scale is up by 4 pounds even if I'm pretty toned and clothes fit well (and I have a nice tan which always makes you look thinner .

I still need to get the weight back to where I was before my vacation. This is a bummer because up until now I've enjoyed a pretty steady progress. Before my vacation I WAS 5 pounds from my goal and now I'm more like 10 lbs away. I guess it could be worse but now it's back to reality. I am trying to "detox" and go very low carb for the next couple of days - looking at Dukan's attack phase for a couple days per TML13's suggestion plus 2 fasts this week. This is ONLY going to be a short term thing for me - to jumpstart my progress and give me motivation to get back on track (and frankly I think I could go stand to go off the carbs and wine for a week). I don't see myself doing Dukan for too long in the restrictive manner proposed.

Sorry for all the rambling. I guess what I'm saying is that despite the lack of motivation, I'll get back into this WOE this week as I really do believe it's the best plan for me and my life.

Glad to hear there isnt a general decline in enthusiasm and much of it is about the holiday period.

Im on the other end of planet Earth where we are juat coming into spring. Australia doesnt "holiday" till about December 1. and then much of the town seems to stop and go to the beach till end of Jan!

Thats about 3 months away so Id better get into the fasting in a big way so i can unashamedly wear my swimsuit for the first time in a while.

I live in Sydney too Juliana and I am looking forward to finally feeling (hopefully) confident in my bikini.

Yes, still enthusiastic here, and another Sydneysider looking forward to enjoying the summer more with my slimmer body. Being able to wear sleeveless clothes without fear!

I have been at this a loooong time since I started 4:3 in Feb 2012. So, I have been through all the cycles of the seasons including 2 springs and 2 summers here, an all-inclusive vacation @ a Cancun resort, another Florida vacation at the beach, and all the holidays, birthdays, weddings and celebrations life could possibly throw at you in 19ish months.

I am in for the long haul. Period. I used to think of this as a journey, then a marathon. I later came to the realization that it is not either of those things because there is no end date and no finish line. I am Dory from Nemo and I have to just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming. You know what? You do get tired. Physically. Mentally. Even exhausted sometimes. Motivation and dedication really does wax and wane and come in waves. If you do get so tired of swimming that you just feel like you can't go on; you can just tread water a while for a maintenance break.

Once I was almost at a dead man's float. It was around Easter time and I was trying a different IF plan for a couple of weeks around that time. (16:8 moving toward Fast Five.) I actually gained weight on that plan. Nine pounds of salty Easter ham, Cadbury eggs and fluff & stuff. It was the closest I ever came to giving up. Instead of quitting I took a step back, rethought things, tweaked a little and decided to try a month or so of 5:2 instead of 4:3. I switched my focus for a little while to just get back to my before Easter weight and then maintain a while. I really needed a psychological break more than anything. 5:2 was the perfect break after more than a year of 4:3. I did lose those nine pounds, although it was slower than I wanted. Then, I maintained a while and took a much needed break.

Thankfully, I did bounce back from that break and have since reached several new low weights and mini goals. It hasn't been easy. But, I did stick it out and move beyond it to some non-scale victories as well. I was able to wear the shorts and the sundress that I wanted to get into this summer. I had to buy a new swimsuit after the one I just bought for our Florida vacation almost fell off of me. But, most importantly, I just kept swimming and never went down with the undertow.

on top of whatever seasonable influences are being felt I think that we have to be realistic about the difficulties of sustaining any long term change in our diets. I have been 5:2 since early April and am v happy with my weight loss. I would still prefer to be able to eat what I want AND keep the weight loss (wouldn't we all??) but accepting that this WOE is to stay kind of sucks. Sort of like acknowledging I cant have my cake and eat it too. Actually ALOT like that! For me the honeymoon is over, now I just need to shut up and get on with the fasting. I don't like having to think about food in this way all the time, I liked eating what I wanted when I wanted to. So in response to the original post, flagging motivation is predictable for all of us. For me I have dealt with it by doing some long term swapping between 16:8 and 5:2, not having any real fast days was like a holiday! I think the key to staying on the wagon is playing with it abit but not losing the plot all together. Hard to keep your eye on the ball all the time but we all know what happens if you just stop. Back in those big jeans again!

Really interesting replies. I'm reaching goal weight and hanging on to the wagons my fingertips- first real fast-fail last thurs.

I'm partly here for the suggested (not proven) health benefits of IF, so I'm wondering whether there are many people who are doing 5:2 without wanting to lose weight right from the start (though I did also want to lose). I guess that's the same as being at 'maintenance'.
Will the motivation be harder to sustain then?

I'm soooooo glad I persisted after my Week 4 plateau. It's Week 7 for me and all of a sudden I'm losing weight daily, losing quarter to half a pound every day, despite eating more than usual on my fast days and exercising a bit less. It feels like my body finally got it after a few weeks' lag. If this continues, I will go into maintenance soon. The health benefits though unproven have not been disproved yet. I feel energized although the insomnia is a pain but I have switched my fast days to work around it and hope to sleep better.