The FastDay Forum

I had problems accessing the sie this morning.
Maybe we are quiet because fasting is no longer a fad , but more generally accepted so there is more support in the ' real world' and less need for online support-just a though!

Well, I'm coming from the American perspective, where 5:2 has never been a fad, and practically no one knows what you're talking about if you casually mention it. Mind you, the good part of that is they don't have any negative preconceived notions either. Of course, once I mention that I eat only 500 calories 2 days a week, they usually recoil as though I'd offered them a snake!

I don't usually count; once in awhile I'll do that just to ensure I'm not unconsciously cheating. My big thing is, this IS my WOL for the rest of my life; if it becomes just another diet, I KNOW I'll go back to my old ways. I am SO surprised that I've found and have been able to commit to this WOL; currently down 32lbs (after just over 1 year). Would like to lose more, 25lbs or so; but as I've already realized my main goals (no knee/foot pain and normal blood pressure), it's all gravy from now on. I seriously doubt I'll ever have worry about getting too skinny, but if it happens, I'll deal with it then. By the way, I do what I consider "plain vanilla" 5:2--500 calories on Mondays and Thursdays; eat normally (not pigging out, but not "dieting" in any way either) on other 5 days. I tend to eat fairly differently on light days, lots of veggies and protein, no refined carbs, needless to say no alcohol...and a bit of healthy fat. Do not limit carbs on normal days; I plan on eating this way for the rest of my life, and life isn't worth living (for me!) without bread and an occasional pastry!

@GMH, musing a bit more...I think perhaps what's happening is that many 5:2ers have settled into a routine and don't need as much support. And since 5:2 hasn't been in the media eye so much, those who do hear about it just follow the book or what their friends told them. Of course, I suppose the Google rating as shared by Moogie could be an issue as well...people do tend to click on the top link, don't they? While I haven't hung out there and cannot judge, I can't imagine they could have a better bunch of wonderful, real, supportive members than we do right here! Not a troll to be found!

[quote]once I mention that I eat only 500 calories 2 days a week, they usually recoil as though I'd offered them a snake!
/quote] Hahahahaha! Love that @ferretgal

[carieoates]

There does seem to be a cycle here, as with all things, a natural turn over. As newbies arrive they have the same questions, as we did when we arrived.
I for one still fast, and restrict calories, often out of habit rather than stressing about it. As it becomes second nature we don't always find it necessary to declare/shout about it.
The dark winter months are very busy here, as we are restricted to our homes and not out enjoying holidays, days out BBQs and our gardens maybe.
As my mum always says "it'll all come out in the wash"

Hi All,
I'm really new here, three weeks or so. I tend to get into things after they've been fashionable and I'm really glad you folk are around ... I really like this forum ... Maybe also because it's a bit quieter at the moment than the other one ...
I've not got much experience with dieting (and I'm glad about it) - I'm really quite heavy (165 cm, 71.1 kg) but I wouldn't say more than a bit overweight. I'm pretty active, my body tends to build muscle quickly (and quite a bit of it) but recently (I'm 44) I've been collecting more fat than I like (mainly on my thighs, back of arms and in strange places like the inside of my knees) so I thought I'd experiment with fasting for a bit - and here I am.
It's nice to hear others experience and everybody here seems super supportive and also down to earth ...
Well done everybody for creating such a nice space and thank you!

I'm into my third year of fasting (I started Jan 2013). I'm in maintenance and I still fast three days a week and count calories on the other days (albeit I probably eat a bit more than I should on the other days!). The only time I don't fast at all is on holiday.

As far as I'm concerned, I see this as my permanent way of eating and I like the discipline of fasting three days a week. It allows me to indulge a bit on the other days while keeping my weight in the range I want it to be.

Perhaps in the popular consciousness 5:2 was a fad or a craze which has gone quiet but it will always be a valid WOE that will come in and out of fashion, like Atkins. Fast-5, which has been on the go much longer, still has a gang of maintainers and still attracts newbies.

I notice that whenever dieting comes up in the media - usually this time of year when everyone is trying to slim for the summer that 5:2 is ranked along with other popular weight loss programmes such as Slimming World and Weight Watchers whereas Atkins and Dukan hardly get a mention. Also many articles on Intermittent Fasting as a way of losing weight rather than 5:2 per se.

Finally, I feel part of a community on this forum and that here there are 'real people' on Fast Day who want to change their lifestyle and are genuinely interested in how everyone else is doing.

I think IF in various forms is here to stay. There is new compelling and well respected evidence coming out each month to validate our WOE. I don't do 5:2 anymore but I do 16:8 most days and feel healthy even though my weight is up since I started this WOE for all sorts of reasons. However I honestly believe that if I did not fast, I'd be even bigger.

once I mention that I eat only 500 calories 2 days a week, they usually recoil as though I'd offered them a snake!
/quote] Hahahahaha! Love that @ferretgal

i

That made me laugh too @ferretgal! X

Well, I'm still fasting, Monday and Thursday most weeks, trying to stick to 500 cals but not counting calories. Just estimating. I might go over. Or under. I think the whole 5:2 fast Diet has become main stream. I was so surprised to see the Australian Women's Weekly 5:2 Diet recipe book in the news agency, and not any acknowledgment of Michael Mosely or the original program. And you often see it listed in comparisons of various diets: paleo, sugar free, etc. Usually it is given a good rap. Whereas at first, it was new and different and lots of people were warning that it was 'risky'. Now it's just there. I'm in for life. I don't want to put back on the weight I've lost.

I had English visitors and I just told them that I was doing 5:2, you know Michael Mosley. This I think was in explaining that I was not quite so low carb as I used to be before. I love this way of dieting. It has given me so much more freedom with food. There is really no forbidden foods. I think I've been doing this for 3 years, and I still find this site invaluable. I check it every day I can. I don't always write, because I don't have anything to say to some topics. And it is important to remember how global we are. I am NOT in the winter challenge site, because I am in the summer challenge one. It is summer here in the Northern hemisphere! But I LOVE reading eg. about Sallyo's spring flowers, when we have the winter rains here. Sallyo, the Lilacs have finished and the roses are now coming on... Please do not pack up this Forum!

I think IF in various forms is here to stay. There is new compelling and well respected evidence coming out each month to validate our WOE. I don't do 5:2 anymore but I do 16:8 most days and feel healthy even though my weight is up since I started this WOE for all sorts of reasons. However I honestly believe that if I did not fast, I'd be even bigger.

Hey Karen can you please explain what 16:8 is. I have seen this mentioned before and things about 'windows of eating' but I don't know what it is.

Thanks,

Jaye

Obviously, a lot of us who put a lot of time and hard work into fasting found that the longer we fasted, the more problematical it became. There is no long-term data about 5:2 fasting but those here who have been so honest with their progress are making it clear, to me, at least, that the big hope we had, that this was a more sustainable effective diet for most people, is not playing out.

But I think the silence here on this forum has a lot more to do with the redesign which makes it very hard for people who have signed in on mobile to REALIZE that they have signed in effectively. I have access to reliable web stats and have seen that over the past 2 years the traffic on sites I manage is now something like 65% mobile/tablet. So when you have a site that is not really mobile friendly, as this one is not, you are going to lose the flow of new people that is what keeps a forum humming.

I am bummed by this, because I have found this forums so helpful. But not surprised. I have seen other forums slowly choke to death over this past year over the identical issue. If people can't easily find your forum, sign in, and participate on the mobile version of a forum, that forum is not going to survive. Eventually, we will be left with only the content-free idiocy of Twitter and the endless stupidity-reinforcing memes of FB. The age of online information exchange is drawing to an end.