The FastDay Forum

What an interesting thread. I have only tried the "basic" 5:2 as I don't understand all the variations & don't feel I have time to find out. I like the simplicity of 5:2 although perhaps I've complicated it as I calorie count too. I have to virtually loose half my current body weight so try have around 1400 cals on normal days or 500 on fast days. On fast days I don't eat until 6pm having had only water, green tea or black coffee during the day. Portion sizes has been my downfall so I have to weigh & measure.

I'm still finding my way round with the new look but there is so much great information here & everyone has been so friendly & helpful.

@Patchworkperson you have done well to have lost 6kg in the 7 months or so. Well done. Not eating till 6pm on fast days suggests, inadvertently you are mixing basic 5:2 with 16:8 "eating windows" method in that you are fasting for a full 16 or more hours (depending on time of last meal before fast day) at the beginning of a fast day. Labels really arent important but you should do really well in the months to come if you keep doing what you're doing.

Great thread@Juliana.Rivers Like Brand-ie I have never dieted. I'm another basic 5:2, no calorie counting but I do low carb and have lost 22lbs since the beginning of the year. The pain in my arthritic knee has gone ..... whoppee - how cool is that. I don't see the various approaches available as confusing - nor the conversations. In fact the conversations are immensely rich and informative, like this thread and I thank people for being so open, friendly, compassionate and supportive. Through learning about 4:3, ADF etc made me instinctively realise 5:2 was right for me. Stick to Mon-Thurs fast and be mindful during stressful times.

Agree with @manderley and @lizbean it's not a diet (unless you have to label it as such to make it work) it is a way of eating by making informed choices. Don't get hung up on the various methods, you can't go wrong, just mix and match according to how things are that very day. Just be mindful most of the time and have a vague idea of caloric values. Who doesn't know that a pile of salad costs less than a sticky bun and fills you up better?

@patchworkperson you are doing brilliantly so keep on keeping on. Don't get confused nor think you have to learn different methods, just take it as it comes. I sometimes keep a check on my calorie and carb count. I also daily weigh. These two things keep me focused.

Edited to say that yes, I weigh food too. I think portion control is key. You are also doing the right thing by not eating till the evening as this is giving you a full 24 hour fast (from dinner the night before) this is neither right nor wrong, just personal choice. It's what I do because if I eat during the day I find it hard to stop.

I think it's key that you are comfortable with what you're doing each day, as that is the human 'x' factor, and that is what will make it sustainable. If you are 'striving' or making it too hard for yourself, or feel that you are being swamped or overwhelmed, then that's a sign to take stock and consider going back to basics. It is a different mind-set to all previous 'diets' and I think that's a good reason for calling it a WoE (however weird or spacey that sounds) rather than a diet. For many people, 'diet' equals 'effort', restriction and deprivation, partly because of their experiences of other diets, and we all know that fasting paradoxically is none of these!

It should become in the end a part of your life that you hardly think about - like brushing your teeth! It is easy in the enthusiasm of early days, and especially when you have success, to get over-evangelical - or when you don't have success, to try harder, put more effort in, make things more complicated. That's a natural human reaction of course, but there are many instances on here which show that it doesn't always help in the long run ...

After all, it is only eating and there are lots of other things going on in all our lives which merit a lot more attention! I do think self-awareness, or mindfulness, is key: meaning not too much attention, but just enough to keep things ticking over.

Apologies for the long post, but sometimes it takes a long time to say something 'simples'

@Silverdarling's post reminded me that I have always maintained and used to post that for any approach to work it has to be sustainable for YOU and no one else, if you struggle to keep up what you are doing or go for a quick fix you are unlikely to succeed.
It has taken me 18 months to reach my goal-but I've done it my way, basically doing 5:2 and tweaking my other days. I haven't gone particularly low carb, cut down on fruit used windows or given up on the white wine-just tweaked to cut the extra calories. Instinctively I knew that was the only way that would work for me. I am too old to want to change the habits of a life time, but not too set in my ways that I can't change them enough to lose my extra weight and now hopefully keep it off.
Basically then my message is find what works and is sustainable for you and your life style and go with that for as long as it takes.

Manderley,you inspire me.i always thought the reason I am struggling to lose on 5/2 ,4/3 is cos I am at low end of my bmi
I need to only lose two kilos but won't budge,
I did manage last year then put it all back and now despite regular fasting ,nothing
This threads,however has inspired me to stick to the basics.i keep veering off to windows,low carb etc
Karenm I am with you,gonna do this for a few more months and then I am going on holiday so will re think if I haven't lost by then

If I could give you one advice which worked for me so far, try to relax as much as possible and listen to your body (I guess that makes 2 then )

As soon as I stopped focusing on that darn kilos I had to gain to go back on the "normal BMI" side, everything went smoothly and I only had 3 kilos to gain, which is nothing. Sooner or later you will lose these 2 kilos and the joy will be as great, maybe even bigger, a bit when you find something you lost for quite some time and thought you would never find. Surprise !!!!

You are so right
I think that is why I often lose weight when I go on holiday
I can't stop thinking about it
I weigh myself all the time and keep thinking of different ways to lose weight

Quit thinking ! I mean, I don't know if you plan keeping doing 5:2 for years to come but, if that's so, you'll lose those 2 kgs when you're body will be ready. Plus, are you sure you need to lose those 2 kgs ? Maybe your body like it that way...... Who knows....

True
Time to relax and if I lose I lose and maybe you are right this is my weight for now

Will do my fasts ,watch what I eat on other days and get on with my life
Thanks

I have definitely been having a harder and harder time with every pound I lose. It isn't so much the focus on the scale (which is moving slowly, but I am working on "the last 5 lbs.") It's that it is getting MUCH tougher not to overeat on the non-fast days.

I reread the post citing Dr. Amanda Salis about "starvation mode" and it really connected. I've lost 8% of my starting weight, and that seems to be the level where my body says, "Uh oh!" Followed, by, "Doesn't that apple fritter look yummy?"

Not so surprisingly, I'm only a pound or so away from the level where I felt impelled to regain the last two times I reached it.

I would like NOT to regain this time, but I am thinking I had better just eat on my eating days and keep fasting twice a week, and not do what I am feeling tempted to do, which is to get much more restrictive all the time. That way leads to eating disorder, and I can see why this intermittent fasting approach does seem to put some people on that pathway.

For example, I was reading on another IF forum where people were eating nothing but potato on their fast days in the hope that some magical power would supercharge their weight loss. This reminds me of an extremely silly hack popular on one of the diet newsgroups years ago ,which I tried when my weight loss stalled, where all I ate for a week was lamb (something most Americans never eat at all.) Supposedly eating an unfamiliar food was supposed to trick my body into dropping the pounds. it didn't, but my husband still teases me about it. And it taught me the value of avoiding extreme diet hacks when you stall!

[carieoates]

That's absolutely bonkers @peebles how can someone survive on just potatoes or lamb. No wonder people lost weight through not being able to eat another bite.
The closer to goal and often the closer to your bodies natural "happy" weight the harder it is to lose.
Some folks change their goal weight at this point, worth considering changing your goal to fat percentage, when @carorees returns it may be worth asking her advice. Because I'm tall and muscly my goal weight is now 11st11 which should bring me down to a healthy fat percentage. It's not all about the weight. Which took me too long to figure out.

As so many here have commented, for me this WoL is not so much a diet as a new eating pattern. I do keep track of calories on MFP more because I need to keep track of my carbs to decide on my insulin dosage. I work very hard not to judge myself, obsess or get stuck in a "diet mentality" because I know that will backfire. I'm sure I've said it before, but even if I never lost another ounce (& I have 1,200 oz to lose the health benefits and mental health benefits alone are enough for me to do it for lifetime. Eventually, if things continue as they have been, I will be off of several medications and have better numbers in my medical tests and that's my proof that fasting - whether 4:3, 5:2 or any other pattern is not (for me) a diet, but a WoL. This thread has been so inspiring, thanks to all the long term fasters and maintainers who have contributed their experience and perspective, it's really helpful for someone like myself who needs to see the long view. Good luck to the new folk as well, I can't believe it's been 8 months for me already.

[carieoates]

Good morning all.
Back to basics has got me back to pre-holiday weight.