The FastDay Forum

Very happy to realise that whilst I had an enjoyable carefree few days and evenings over Christmas and the New Year that I maintained my weight loss - Happy Days!

I only gained a couple of pounds over Christmas (which I lost quite fast) but what did the damage for me was 2 short holidays - one in Dec to Germany (carb capital) which meant I put a HUGE 4kg on in about the same number of days because I had been eating quite low carb and despite my best efforts in Germany it didn't seem to be possible) and then another short break to Athens which was less damaging as I put 2kg on only (which I've now nearly lost). Otherwise I think I'd have made my Christmas target of 70kg quite easily and be well on the way to 10st something. I failed . Hopefully this weigh in day (Thurs) I'll get under the 70kg mark.

I was 11 st 9 on Dec 13th, but I could feel I'd gained over the Xmas period and rather than be too crestfallen I resolved not to weigh myself until end January ... but I've been pretty careful since Jan 1st so I gave in and weighed myself last Friday and was 11st11.6 So I guessed I was probably more than that on (say) Jan 2nd. In the survey I ticked 'between 2 and 3 pounds' but if I'm honest it was probably more like 4 or 5

This morning the scales say 11st 10.2 so I'm encouraged. Onwards!!

John- kudos to you for keeping your nerve, I'd have been devastated by that sort of gain, but you've faced it calmly and are clearly back on track! Well done!

I don't know how much I put on, but I have been back on the straight and narrow for a couple of weeks and am back at my pre Christmas weight this morning-thank goodness!

I put on a kilo, but it was hard work taking it off again and I have only just started to shed further weight this week. Getting back into fasting took some will-power post Christmas. I had to force myself! Which is why I started the Valentine Challenge, I thought we might need something to focus on and commit too. It's the commitment that helps me, although I get sad if someone is struggling with the challenge.

It's very sobering to realise that there's a 'slippery slope' waiting for you if you're not aware of what you're eating all of the time. Some of us just can't afford to be blasé.

I do not intend to go back to my old ways, but it's hard sometimes. It could also prove expensive if I put the weight on again, as I have given nearly all of my old clothes to charity.

Good luck everyone with your journey to a new you.

I didn't gain over Christmas, but I did over New year and the first week after. It was all the leftovers, that did the damage.

I am only just getting back into the proper mindset for controlling my feed days, plus having eaten all the treats I can now start losing again. I am very happy that it was ONLY 2lb I gained. Most Christmas's in the past it was 8lb increase every year.

[Tracieknits]

I think two things helped me over the holidays - and I plan to do them again this year.

1) I weighed myself every day. Weighing daily is not necessarily for everyone, but it doesn't make me crazy anymore. I have a fitbit scale that syncs to my computer via wifi and it tracks my weight for me. I find that weighing every day really shows me how what I did yesterday affected me today. It makes me more mindful, and I may cut a smaller slice of cake or only have one cookie instead of four.

2) Hubby and I agreed to have a vacation from dieting for two weeks. We were going to try not to stuff ourselves. But we were going to eat whatever we wanted, mindfully and slowly until we were just barely satisfied. Yes, as a consequence we had some terribly naughty things in the house that we made every effort to eat up before the morning of January 1 It was a wonderful break that prepared us emotionally to recommit to fasting.

John- kudos to you for keeping your nerve, I'd have been devastated by that sort of gain, but you've faced it calmly and are clearly back on track! Well done!

In fact, I have worked out that I have actually gone below my weight maintenance range with yesterday's fasting day. My weight as reported to the nearest pound is exactly bang on 11 stone. However, that is actually 10 stone 13.7 pounds when you report that to the nearest 0.1 pound. That is below the lower limit of my weight maintenance range, which is one reason why I set a weight of exactly 70kg to be that lower limit.

However, I know that my weight will increase by tomorrow's daily weigh-in as the lost water weight from my fast is replenished, and that should take me back into my weight maintenance range. I have found that I can avoid that initial weight gain by being very careful on my first fasting day after a fast. However, that usually requires a low calorie intake and even with that, my weight will usually just stay the same as the replenishment of water weight after the fast is cancelled out by the effects of that low calorie intake. However, my weight will usually decrease after that due to that low calorie intake if I continue to be very careful about subsequent feeding days.

That is why I just allow that initial weight gain to happen and unless I am binging all the time, that weight gain always levels out after a day or so in any case. That seems to be so much the case just now that there has even been a number of occasions during the last week or so, where I have maintained the same weight as the previous day or even lost a bit of weight, despite taking one or two sugary snacks and higher carb options on those days. One example of that came last weekend when I ate that big bag of almonds and still managed to maintain the same weight as the previous day (that was even followed by a loss on the following day).

What all of this is showing is that unless I am binging, I actually find it very difficult these days to gain weight except for on that first day after a fasting or very low calorie day. That just shows how much this WOL has taken a grip of things, but that could also pose quite a big challenge if I find that my weight at any of my weekly Monday morning weigh-ins is below the lower limit of my weight maintenance range and I actually have to gain some weight (a situation which would have been totally unthinkable before I started this WOL).

It would be interesting to do a follow up poll in, say, three months, to see how long took people to regain their pre Christmas weight.

[Moogie]

I edited the poll options for you @Juliana.Rivers. For future reference if you click to edit your post and then click on the poll creation option it should list the current poll settings so you can adjust them.

Me, I gained around 2kg due to failed fasts. I started out with the best intentions each fast day but then got foiled by family occasions and decided not to be a martyr and skimp on the enjoyment with them Thankfully I'm currently only about 200g more now than I was before Christmas, so it came off pretty easily and I should be back on the downward trend soon enough.

I still can't believe that last year I lost half a pound over Christmas, but then again my TDEE would have been higher then and we didn't have as much family stuff going on.

Don't think I did too bad this year considering the national average is more like half a stone gained and I've heard of folks putting on nearer a full stone! I'm glad I chose not to worry about a few lbs gain as just like I thought it came off again really easy. No need to fret!

[carieoates]

I completed the questionnaire as I would like to see how it compares next year.
Thanks for doing this Julie as it has made me revisit this, I am not normal...I know I know...you knew this already.

So surgery was 4th Dec- (weight 12.8) no to little food for 2 days, but with swelling and drips and drugs who knows.
Stable weight, then a loss, then Another loss, then another. So lowest number seen was 12.6.
Then I think my appetite retuned and I had the odd mince pie and several small glasses of wine.

Although I was doing 16.8, and have done ever since. I'm currently bobbing around 12.10 - 12.11 so my gain from pre Xmas and Pre Op is 3lb.
I suppose some would say I've done well not to have put loads more on due to inactivity etc.
but am struggling to lose anything at the moment.
So what I'm saying is you can remove my vote as I'm not normal!!!!,

I weighed myself on the Monday before Christmas and at that point in time, I was 68.5kg (10 stone 11 pounds). Since that is both outside and below my weight maintenance range, I would not have fasted during the following week in any case as I sought to gain a little bit of weight back to get back into my weight maintenance range.

I then took a complete break from my health regime over the festive season and did not weigh myself again until Monday 6 January 2014. On my return, I weighed myself again only to discover that my weight had shot up to 75.7kg (11 stone 13 pounds). That is more than a whole stone gained in that fortnight, and a massive 7.2kg. That meant that I was still outside my weight maintenance range but now, I was above that range.

Because of that, I did a 5:2 week by fasting on the Monday and the Thursday and with that, my weight quickly dropped to 11 stone 3 pounds before settling down at 11 stone 5 pounds on the following Monday. That meant that I was now back inside my weight maintenance range and could now, switch back to 6:1. However, I did so by eating a slightly higher calorie intake on my feeding than what was the case before Christmas, and the reason for that was to ensure that my weight didn't drop as low as what it did just before Christmas.

Even with that though, I still lost nearly over two pounds over last week which meant that my weight at yesterday's weigh-in was now 11 stone 4 pounds and with yesterday's fast, my weight has now dropped to below 70kg once again to stand at 69.7kg which is exactly bang on 11 stone. That means that I am now fully back on track which shows that for me, even a large weight gain over a short period of time can be quickly overturned.

The strange thing for me though is that this is the first time in my life where I have gained a lot of weight in a very short period of time, without any need to wipe out all of that weight gain over time, and it is thanks to this WOL that this has been the case.

John i think whats good about our Way of Life (whenever i write that i feeel like im referring to a new religion or sect)... is that it makes us really aware of our weight. Even if you weigh fortnightly or monthly (mine is daily) you can really be conscious of cause and affect and adjust behaviour to modify weight.

Wondering if eating freely when the body is used to 2 or 3 days of fasting or a 16:8 program that our bodies react differently to excess food consumption than if we werent doing IF. Maybe the scientists in the house.. calling @Carorees can explain.

Can sudden increases in calorie intake have a greater effect on our weight if our bodies are used to a strict IF routine?

It would be interesting to do a follow up poll in, say, three months, to see how long took people to regain their pre Christmas weight.

yes ill make a diary note to do this. Good idea.
Wasnt there an article posted somewhere that stated it takes 3 months. though im thinking us 5:2ers know better than that and can get it down to 1 month or in John's case, 2 weeks !

My fitness instructor admitted today that he put on 3/4 of a stone over Christmas. A full 11 pounds. I would have crawled away into a corner and cried for weeks at that. But he wasn't bothered, most of it has already gone he says.

I edited the poll options for you @Juliana.Rivers. For future reference if you click to edit your post and then click on the poll creation option it should list the current poll settings so you can adjust them.

Me, I gained around 2kg due to failed fasts. I started out with the best intentions each fast day but then got foiled by family occasions and decided not to be a martyr and skimp on the enjoyment with them Thankfully I'm currently only about 200g more now than I was before Christmas, so it came off pretty easily and I should be back on the downward trend soon enough.

I still can't believe that last year I lost half a pound over Christmas, but then again my TDEE would have been higher then and we didn't have as much family stuff going on.

Don't think I did too bad this year considering the national average is more like half a stone gained and I've heard of folks putting on nearer a full stone! I'm glad I chose not to worry about a few lbs gain as just like I thought it came off again really easy. No need to fret!

thanks for that @Moogie. i saw the tab but didnt click it. illl know in future. it was my first poll ever here.

Good to see you have nearly lost all christmas gain and its only 22nd jan.. less than a month.

Yes with this 5:2 WOL, we know not to fret when we see the blips in weight as we have the best tool to fix it fast. ('scuse the pun)