The FastDay Forum

I am just getting back into intermittent fasting after a long hiatus. I got close to my final goal a few years back and then over the last 2 years, got lazy, and slowly crept back up. I have not gained all my original weight back, but at a point where I am frustrated about my health and am changing my lifestyle, hoping to hit my goal by the end of this year. I have about 60 lbs to lose at this point.

Previously I had a lot of success using a 4:3 fast program, and on the feast days, using a low carb model which still came in under TDEE. I was losing about 2.5lbs a week for the most part pretty steadily.

I am back on the horse and am following a less strict version to ease into it : 5:2 and then on feed days, normal food that tend to lean toward low carb, but not as strict. My fast days usually run about 36 hours. I am currently on my second one day fast this week, but have been watching my diet for about 2 weeks now, about 8 lbs down, which is mostly due to low carb and depleting water stores. That rate will be slowing down soon, as been the case in the past.

I understand TDEE and the deficit calorie calcs for weight loss but was wondering if in addition to the calorie deficit a longer term fast would generate, such as two days straight, is there any added health benefit to going this route instead of just multiple single day fasts of the same amount of time? My point is what would be the reason to suffer through a two day fast, as opposed to just doing 2 single day fasts on alternate days? Would the body ultimately burn more calories under this regime or any other health benefit, or is it the pretty much the same.

I am just curious why someone would want to go that route - can't see any added benefit.


Curious what the general consensus or science is on this.

Nice question and I'd like to see some experiences from others. I just could not go two days straight. No way. The only thing that gets me through is that thought, "I only need to make it through today."
Interestingly, I have recommended 5:2 to a few of my friends who all went at it like a bull at a gate, launching into two successive fasting days. They didn't last a month.

I think that success comes from persistence. And like @Fat_Teacher said re colleagues - if you go for more than you can mentally deal with, then you will fail. And getting back up after falling is harder and a longer way to go than just being plain ol' consistent.

At the start I tried 5:2 and 4:3. I had an upheaval at work and ended up eating junk food at the end of my fast - so the 5:2 or 4:3 didn't work.... I think you need to be flexible with yourself as well and adapt to what comes.

So now I've been doing a fasting window of 17 hours for almost 6 weeks now - 5 days a week.

It is easier the longer I've been doing it. I can easily go to a morning tea at work with lots of free food and not have anything with the least amount of "suffering".

Some people find 2 consecutive days of fasting works for them, but I think most people find that not much fun.

Whatever fasting strategy or diet you use has to be something that works for you and you are comfortable with. I don't see any point following a diet that you find difficult, even if theoretically you could lose more weight that way,

We aim to find ways of eating that increase our wellbeing and health, but that also give us pleasure. Food is one of life's pleasures after all!

Thanks for all the replies. Makes perfect sense and I am all about not suffering more than needed, but have also found decent drops in weight once in a while being great motivation for me.

By accident today I am actually extending my fast beyond my normal 36 hours. I would have broken my fast at my normal time - Breakfast, but had to leave early morning today for a meeting, and just had some coffee with cream as I normally do, and realized I was still feeling good, so I am going to probably just go till Dinner tonight which will put me at about 46 hours.

I see on the forum now that we really aren't supposed to discuss longer fasts so I will move on, but it is interesting how much the mental side of it plays into all this. It is definitely half the battle for me.

[Debs]

This is true, the forum does not advocate long fasts. having said that, the original program looked at a five day fast once a month whereas 5:2 was developed to make it easier for us lesser mortals. Between you and me, I have done two days without problem, it depends on various factors. If I'm super busy I don't find it a problem at all.

As regards fasting for two days: all depends on how you define a fast. In traditional 5:2 style a fastday means eating 500 or 600 calories. Defined in such a way I did this for 3 months with great results, getting to goal. But take into account that this was done having 3 small meals a day. In my experience (or better: perception) it is crucial not to overdo the fasting. It gets results more quickly, but it is far better to go for a durable strategy. The psychological point is important (losing too much too qiuckly will feel great for some time, but tends to exhaust your will-power at some stage!), but in terms of fysiological reactions it seems vital to really have these 5 'normal' days - and the calories on fast days!! - in order to not get your body into changing your metabolism. The last thing you want to establish is your body getting more efficient in using the calories you eat, as this will make it much harder to maintain once at goal. Personally I'm deeply convinced that taking the slow way is crucial for maintaining succesfully (at least for me, as shown by my tracker results).

If I'm not mistaken, even Valter Longo style 4-days-in-a-row fasting once a month involves eating 500-700 calories on the "fast" days.

... I understand TDEE and the deficit calorie calcs for weight loss but was wondering if in addition to the calorie deficit a longer term fast would generate, such as two days straight, is there any added health benefit to going this route instead of just multiple single day fasts of the same amount of time? My point is what would be the reason to suffer through a two day fast, as opposed to just doing 2 single day fasts on alternate days? Would the body ultimately burn more calories under this regime or any other health benefit, or is it the pretty much the same.
...
Curious what the general consensus or science is on this.

By far the best recently published book detailing extended fasting (not discussed here due to well meaning but conflict-riddled rationale) is Jason Fung's "The Complete Guide to Fasting". Highly recommended.

To begin to answer your questions, extended fasting (EF) includes substantial additional benefits including weight plateau busting as one example. Defeating insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome (and T2D) are others. How, you might ask? EF essentially provides time for the body's cell-level processes to relearn how to once again use a neglected resource - fat. With fat again being utilized as a viable and immediately available energy supply, hunger ceases to exist.

DrMM got very close with his now 4+ year old documentary, but failed to recognize and complete the necessary step. His (uh, the other 5:2) site essentially acknowledges this with their continuing discussions about EF (60-some posts from a keyword search done some months ago).

There is considerable controversy and conflict regarding EF, represented even in the replies accumulating here. Some of this is no doubt a result of our completely irrational societally-induced paranoia regarding hunger. This is one of life's total fallacies. We're all convinced from birth that we'll die a truly horrible death shortly after experiencing intense hunger. Hah! Pure bovine excrement.

Take a moment to consider our caveman ancestors in dealing with their environment and sporadic food resources. As with every other living entity, those that couldn't access their fat reserves at critical times for extended periods and instead continued the path to being even more fat, sluggish and dimwitted, became easily caught food sources for those who could. They are extinct. How could any caveman ancestor act appropriately to life and resource threatening situations ever live long enough to have offspring when his focus was intensely and entirely on his weakened mind-numbing hunger state, as we moderns seem to believe? The very idea is pure idiocy.

We are the great-great-great...grandchildren of those who could easily tap into their various energy reserves, thriving while doing it. To an extreme, we "fat" modern humans are miserable due to our own successes and unquestioned hubris! As a result, we can certainly put the weight on but stubbornly hold an irrational fear of the very natural process required to initiate its removal.

By adding science to careful personal experiments we can mindfully choose to use our fat as Nature intended - to be lean, nimble, quick thinking - healthy once again.

Hunger is far shorter in actual real world duration and easier to defeat than everyone has been lead to believe. Knowledge and a few simple techniques make subsequent weight setting and control efforts much simpler.

So, is EF the final diet answer? No. But it is another very important tool. Notice the clarifying second half of the common saying: "Science has all the answers. We just don't yet have all the science." But we already have more than enough to act in our own best interest.

Another quote: "Those that know that something is impossible should never interrupt those that are actually doing it.". Regarding EF there's an huge difference between those that have done it and those that have only read (or presumed, or theorized) about it from panicky articles and oft-repeated hearsay as their primary sources. There are many successful 5:2 graduates who periodically revisit here. A number of these individuals didn't stop with periodic 500 calorie meals as THE solution, but continued to question, learn and self-experiment within the bounds of cost/reward/risk. The more you question, the more you know, the more you can act intelligently to resolve any issue. Question to satisfy curiosity, then challenge the answers to truly understand. We all then learn something from each other.

By far the best recently published book detailing extended fasting (not discussed here due to well meaning but conflict-riddled rationale) is Jason Fung's "The Complete Guide to Fasting". Highly recommended.

Thanks for this tip - It is a great book and answers alot of questions about Fasting and current medical support in a formal book.