The FastDay Forum

Thanks for the comments. @Moogie I do see your point
@Sue.Q i guess 16:8 is one option or a good alternate

@Julieathome I woke up this morning with an idea that's a bit along your line of thinking

I truly have a requirement of needing to associate days of week with activities for dieting (with some flexibilty allowed for partying or work appointments)

so im thinking on one day of the week I do what i would call my "careful" day. i guess the kind of eating that is promoted by companies like Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Slimming world, but they say you have to do it every day of the week, ad infinitum and thus,why they seemingly dont work long term for the majority of people..

Anyway on the careful day, one day a week it will be

- no breads or cakes
- no ice cream
- no frying
- no confectionery or chocolate
- no processed foods with exception of cheese and milk as i dont make cheese or milk cows
- no processed juice drinks and low consumption of natural fruit juices
etc

I wont fast as such, just consume so carefully that my intake is likely to be 800 to 1000 calories, or 1/2 to 2/3 TDEE

The careful day needs to happen after a Feast day, thus i never not have a "foodie day" after a full fast day.

My foodie or feast days will remain unchanged.. that is i can enjoy all the foods I love to prepare and eat sticking as close to TDEE as possible

this way i can run my week like this

SUNDAY FAST
MONDAY Foodie Day
TUESDAY FAST
WEDNESDAY Foodie Day
THURSDAY CAREFUL
FRIDAY FAST
SATURDAY Foodie Day

What do you think?

[Moogie]

Sounds like a plan I try to be careful on Tuesdays & Wednesdays, and a bit more indulgent at the weekend.

Yes, in those terms, I have fast days MWF, careful days Tu-Th and free days on the weekend. This works pretty well for me and I bet you would do fine on it, too. Also, it sounds (and is) way less dramatic than fasting 4 or 5 days a week. As you say many other plans require "careful" all the time. People don't act all concerned and worried when someone says they are counting calories or WW points 7 days a week. This is a big reason why I don't ever tend to throw around the fast word in the real world. People have preconceived ideas that aren't about the type of fasting I am doing.

Yes, in those terms, I have fast days MWF, careful days Tu-Th and free days on the weekend. This works pretty well for me and I bet you would do fine on it, too. Also, it sounds (and is) way less dramatic than fasting 4 or 5 days a week. As you say many other plans require "careful" all the time. People don't act all concerned and worried when someone says they are counting calories or WW points 7 days a week. This is a big reason why I don't ever tend to throw around the fast word in the real world. People have preconceived ideas that aren't about the type of fasting I am doing.

Yes the uninformed people out there do have "opinions" dont they

I love your week-plan 43Tweaker

Im happy to continue fasting on Sunday. Makes the whole sunday thing very simple when i used to fuss about roasts and snacks and cakes on what should be a "day off" from motherly and housewife duties and away from that kitchen sink

i particularly like your terms
FAST
CAREFUL
FREE

Free resonates better than Feast somehow

So now settled, I've decided what i will do.

In youer terms, I am going to do 3 Fasts, 1 Careful and 3 free days each week. may even continue that into Jan and Feb.. and by March i will have made my ultimate goal of 68kg for sure. Already planning my maintenance routine which might be 2 fasts, 2 carefuls and 3 frees. Slightly easer but deliberately keeping in the fasts for the "repair work"

I'm starting to think its not that simple of a calculation, that the feed days are more important than we think to keep the metabolism firing. I started 5:2 in April and moved to 4:3 in May and have been doing it ever since. Was losing about 1.5 lbs a week which was great but last few months its slowed to about 1/2 pound a week on 4:3, which doesn't even make mathematical sense since I am banking 1500 calories a fast day, so about 4500 cals a week, which should be more than 1/2 lb. I know I am not overindulging on feed days typically. All along I've watched my feed days to not go to crazy on Carbs except once in awhile. I have lost a lot of weight on 4:3 - about 50lb(70lbs total from starting prior diet) but still have about 30-40 lbs to go. I am happy I am still losing but 4:3 can be tough sometimes especially with only 1/2 a week and I find I just don't have the energy I did a few months back. My feeling are that I need to make sure I am eating enough on Feed days (even over TDEE a bit) and maybe switch to 5:2 so I have at least 2 feed days in between fasts, but still eat healthy on those days and see how my body responds.

My point is, it seems like 3:4 long term would put your body more into a starvation mode and not give you the results you are looking for. You should be very careful.

I'm starting to think its not that simple of a calculation, that the feed days are more important than we think to keep the metabolism firing. I started 5:2 in April and moved to 4:3 in May and have been doing it ever since. Was losing about 1.5 lbs a week which was great but last few months its slowed to about 1/2 pound a week on 4:3, which doesn't even make mathematical sense since I am banking 1500 calories a fast day, so about 4500 cals a week, which should be more than 1/2 lb. I know I am not overindulging on feed days typically. All along I've watched my feed days to not go to crazy on Carbs except once in awhile. I have lost a lot of weight on 4:3 - about 50lb(70lbs total from starting prior diet) but still have about 30-40 lbs to go. I am happy I am still losing but 4:3 can be tough sometimes especially with only 1/2 a week and I find I just don't have the energy I did a few months back. My feeling are that I need to make sure I am eating enough on Feed days (even over TDEE a bit) and maybe switch to 5:2 so I have at least 2 feed days in between fasts, but still eat healthy on those days and see how my body responds.

My point is, it seems like 3:4 long term would put your body more into a starvation mode and not give you the results you are looking for. You should be very careful.

by george, i think youve got it! thats i guess one of the reasons not to do 3:4 long term.
i havent found 4:3 being an energy trainer for me and maybe i go a bit over my TDEE on feed days. without really rigid calorie counting i can only reply on my gut feel.

I think your "Careful Days" plan is a good one to try first, Juliana.R. I do something like that, although I don't restrict any food types:

Monday - Fast Day
Tuesday - Careful Day (eating generally healthily but under TDEE)
Wednesday - Careful Day (as Tuesday)
Thursday - Fast Day
Friday - Careful Day (though eating around my TDEE)
Weekend - Anything goes!

It's worked for me.

I do 2 fasts back2back for months now (monday and tuesday) because it suits me. On monday a "liquid fast" and on tuesday a "normal" fast. Wednesday and Thursday, a 16:8 low carbs without any process foods, only water and black coffee or tea, Friday a "normal" fast (it's a big day for me very busy so it's an easy one), a "normal" day on Saturday with breakfast and a 16:8 on Sunday (I don't take a breakfast as we always have a big lunch and I don't eat at dinner as I am not hungry because of the big lunch).

Seems complicated but it's really not. Also I only drink alcohol on Sunday but it's just because my body reacts differently to alcohol since I lost weight.

The key, for me, is to not get bored and I would get really really bored with a 3:4. Maybe I could do it for a month but a month can be really really long....

Your BMI is pretty good already. Can you increase your exercise and thus improve TDEE ratio for every day? Or lowering intake on feast days? Good luck with it, whatever you decide to do.

Your BMI is pretty good already. Can you increase your exercise and thus improve TDEE ratio for every day? Or lowering intake on feast days? Good luck with it, whatever you decide to do.

Good thought. i just replied to a post about walking benefits-side-effects-f28/something-i-haven-t-done-for-a-while-t9663.html

somehow feel that would be preferable to decreasing intake on feast days. maybe less from weight loss point of view and more from toning/cardio health which is as important if not more important than weight loss.

im gonna have to invest in a pedometer or something.

I think your "Careful Days" plan is a good one to try first, Juliana.R. I do something like that, although I don't restrict any food types:

Monday - Fast Day
Tuesday - Careful Day (eating generally healthily but under TDEE)
Wednesday - Careful Day (as Tuesday)
Thursday - Fast Day
Friday - Careful Day (though eating around my TDEE)
Weekend - Anything goes!

It's worked for me.

Yours sounds good. lots of careful days with 2 fast days and of course the anything goes weekend. iknow when i go on maintenance, prediction is about April 2014 im going to have both Saturday and Sunday's as free days, like you.

I agree about being careful not to go into famine mode @Juliana.Rivers, I haven't mentioned it before but that is what I think happened to me. The only way I can shift weight now is fluid fasting with calories but bringing it under my fasting TDEE.

I was doing 5:2, 3x16:8 for 2 months and just ate freely on the weekends. Stopped losing weight completely. I was a bit stressed too. Now I do 5:2 Liquid Fasting and has done the odd extra 18:6 breaking fast with protein like salmon then evening meal with carbs. That was when weight loss started again reading up about famine effect and following the recommendations.

Now I have pulled back to 5:2 liquid fasting and am waiting to see how it's is working. Being so close to your goal I understand your frustration but I found upping the fasting backfired on me. Still need those feast days.