The FastDay Forum

I was reading the who's missing thread which has been quite active chat-f12/who-s-missing-t12814.html

and found a common thing said by many that had floundered and put on some of the weight they lost...

that.. they started 5:2 with the basic view of fasting with 1/4 TDEE as published in the Dr MM book and then all the variations came in, one by one. Beyond just 4:3 which is what I adopted, there was ADF, eating windows,Eat-stop-eat, fast -five, liquid fast, low carb , high fast and many more etc

How do we get some of the oldies (old as in time on forum not age of life. lol) and the newbies adopting those first principles of 5:2 in its most sweetest, easiest to understand and with as much passion as they had when they first started in 2012 or 2013?

Or is that a bad thing, given that many here have had such success with their tried and true method?.

Don't want to start the same contraversy over matters of methods, as I know that there is no IF rule and what works for one will not work for another. But just as a general point of view I wonder whether us all being more clever about how we introduce and keep fasting in our life, being more well read on all matters of calories, digestion, sugar levels, etc, it actually became harder to stick to. There are so many options and maybe some of us just crave just simple no brainer methods of our fasting regime.

Perhaps for some, the eating window is the most simplest and easy to follow method to follow in which case, that is their no brainer of choice.

Anyway with that rant in mind, I personally am continuing to focus on relative strict fasting days for myself and also Significant other and Sister. We have all selected Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, thus leaving Saturdays and Sundays to be quite carefree (within reason). Indeed have made Saturday into gourmet Saturday where we try different food ideas from our always growing collection of cook books and magazines. About once in 2 months, we switch to another day if there is some reason we need to eat out on a Monday Wednesday or Friday and thus switch to 5:2 for that week. We never fast on a weekend day. So for me it is simple, easy and sustainable as I enjoy the eating pleasures in life most of the week.

I'm not weighing daily which is really weird cause this time last year i would shout the praises of the regular weigh on the scale but I guess in life, I do go through "phases".

Had a go at the eating window phenomena but still come back to the tried and true, pick x days of the week to calorie restrict, and breaking the fast as late in the day as possible.

Put only only 1.5 of my original lost kilos and still on my journey to seeing the big 69 or thereabouts by Christmas perhaps.

Does anyone else feel the need to bring all of this back to basics?

I am a relative newcomer (3 months in) and truthfully, have recently been finding all the confusion rather off-putting. I have a long post for my blog (am writing it separately in Word) that speaks to this very subject.

May I make an analogy here? I began inline skating about 17 years ago. Yesterday, when I was out walking with my son, I saw a little boy with his mom struggling with skating. So I stopped and gave him a few pointers; skaters love seeing someone taking up the sport, and don't like it when a lack of success leads to giving up. The point is this: I told him only the most basic things, like keeping his knees bent, not letting his feet get too far apart, keeping them parallel (he was only about 4). It wouldn't have benefited him, and probably discouraged him, if I'd gone on and on about doing crossovers or spins! In other words, he needs to be a beginner and get his own experience before he'll be ready for the advanced class.

I realize we are trying to be encouraging to newbies by sharing all the wondrous flavors of 5:2. But I worry that in that process we are confusing and alienating them. Perhaps we could have a stronger recommendation on here that it's a good idea to follow "plain vanilla" 5:2 for at least 6 weeks before starting to add stuff on. Especially since weight loss on 5:2 can be slow, people may think, Oh, I'll just add a little carb counting, restricting calories on non-fast days, no this, no that.... And before you know it, they can't keep it up, and they throw up their hands and say, Eh, just another diet I can't stick to.

But this ISN'T a diet, at least not in my world. (I don't like the WOE label; look what it spells.) So it's my Way of Life (WOL), forever. As I've been practicing it, it's not hard! Not on the whole. (I've decided to call "fast" days "light," and non-fast days "normal.") Sure, some light days can be a little challenging, but then I compare it to previous highly restrictive regimens (the Zone, anyone?) and realize this is eminently doable. I am currently undergoing a shift in my attitude, to NOT seeing this as a means to an end (weight loss)--or even a journey, which has an end point--but just as the way I eat everyday. Forever.

Hi,
Well I'm over a year in and still doing plain 5 2 (though I do eat less carbs than I did). I know it works for a lot of people but I think I'd find 4 3 quite hard - the thought of doing another fast day etc. And the eating window thing - sometimes I do try not to eat till lunchtime, but some days I just really want breakfast! So I do basic 5 2 and it suits me. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!!

Nicely put,@juliana.rivers & @ferretgal. When I first started (11/2013), people were still discovering how easy & successful 5:2 was and only a few were just delving into other IF patterns that worked for them. I have stuck to the 5:2 because as soon as I started to try to count carbs, increase fat, not eat but once a day or w/in a window, it got too "diet-y" & "rule-y" for me and I began to backslide & feel like a failure. Since I had so much success my first 6 mos., I took @tracieknits advice from a post where she mentioned the same point ferretgal made, that it was a life change and she didn't care how long any changes took, she was committed for life and any weight loss was secondary. So this is my approach because it works for me. The health benefits are really happening for me too, so patience has to be my priority.

As much as I like the new format, I found my most help in the beginning with the bubbles on top of the old logo, it was quicker than searching and prevented my asking a lot of redundant questions. It's a little harder to find a quick answer now than it was then and I wonder if that also contributes to less participation/stick-to-it-iveness.

P.S. I am so motivated by reading the maintenance folks' updates. That is what makes me marvel at this change, that it seems sustainable for the long term.

As you said its not one size fits all therefore my first fast
(trial day) went so well for me personally I did the next day (proper) then put in an extra day mid week not even knowing 4:3 existed For someone starting with a disgusting weight of 19stones/266lbs For me to say I found this WOL easy having
yo yo with my weight for many years that fact alone is truly amazing, then 6weeks later something very strange happened I learned from this very forum that carbs cause water retention absolutely no one in the medical profession has passed this nugget of info on to me NEVER!!!
At my start I was very close to a wheelchair. Fact
Most of my meds have now gone and my 2 others drastically reduced ready for coming off them completely, I've just had a MOT at my GPs surgery with a massive thumbs up
from Dr + nurse
Obviously I've still got a very long way to go and no I'm in no hurry providing I see some tiny loss that's fine with me coz I'm very happy were I am on my fasting journey with my body deciding on the next catch-up move, I love my look back from my mirror♥
miracle considering they were banned from our house by me!
No I wouldn't change anything at all, back to basics personally for me is for difficult times only.
Oh I hope I'm never seen as rude and inpatient

Well you 're always rude to me @sue.Q
But like Mandy used to say,ooooh...you ARE awful..but i like you! X

Seriously,tho,am horrified at the idea any newbie might find us impatient or abrupt am sure it's never intentional from anyone here,
but with no non verbal clues to observe,it can be difficult to gauge exactly what the writer means...

I agree with back to basics being someone who has felt it had turned into a diet with all the added restrictions. I am struggling big time and have gained far too much again. For this reason I am going back to basic 5:2 and will not read anymore about variations. My head is now a mess as well as my body!

I'm glad this has come up and frankly wondering when it would. I imagine that all of the tweaks and twiddles experienced fasters have tried to help things along (with the best of intentions at heart) just make it all too overwhelming, especially for newbies, although we should have a toolbox for nutritional advice based on sound research should people want to do more. There are only two rules!

Decide on your fasting pattern
Stick to your TDEE on non fast days (Total Daily Energy Expenditure), defined as the total number of calories you burn in a day to maintain your weight. Calculate this by using the tracker on the yellow toolbar

The rest is noise and we are in danger of becoming another 'diet' site.

@moogie, tagging you so the idea of the bringing back the bubbles mentioned in the thread does not get lost. I agree its a quick way of navigating.

Personally I have not seen people being rude or offhand here although I have not been on the site for a while. Quite the reverse. Most folks here are so welcoming and more than ready to give a helping hand. Hope I have not offended anyone

@Juliana.Rivers I absolutely agree with you. I am one of the 'older' members on this forum and can see my 2 year fastiversary on the horizon ( 12th Nov). I have only ever done basic 5:2 because I had sworn I would never go on a diet again and I look on this as a long term change of my eating habits rather than a 'diet' I rigorously count my calories on a fasting day and write them down in a book. I now try to stick to the low 400s on a fasting day as mt TDEE has reduced. From the second week I have saved all my calories till the evening. I like cooking so I make a tasty and fairly bulky meal which I look forward to. I collect recipes from this site and from the internet and keep them in a separate loose leaf binder. I also use the Hairy Dieters books quite a lot. My hubby reckons we have nicer dinners on fast days than on many other days. The rest of the time I don't count anything. I had been eating 'carefully' for years so still eat relatively low fat. I find my eating habits have changed. My brain now seems to know when I am full up. I have a sweet tooth and I still eat sweets but now a few will do. Although I love puddings I rarely have them because I am usually full up by then and that extra 'pudding space' I used to have has mostly disappeared.
I don't do 5:2 when I am on holiday so usually put a bit on. It takes longer to get off than to put on but I seem to get there in the end.
One obvious thing I would like to point out to 'newbies' is that your weight is artificially low the morning after a fast. I think this is due to the water you lose when you deplete your glycogen stores. This water will be regained when you eat again. I started on a Monday and I weighed myself that day. Although I am a daily weigher I only 'count' my Monday morning weight . When I first started there would be people triumphantly posting large losses when they weighed themselves after their second fast day - this was on facebook, not on this forum. I found it rather disheartening as my weight loss has always been slow. Several weeks later these people would be bemoaning the fact that their weight loss has slowed or reversed as you can obviously only get that artificial loss once.
I think people are too quick to panic and try and change things if their weight loss is not what they want. If you make it too complicated or difficult you are more likely to cheat so gain or not lose and then look for another fix and thus enter a vicious circle.
My policy is to be absolutely honest with myself on fast days it is only me who will feel the consequences if I eat something when no one is looking and my motto is Slowly Slowly Catchee Monkee
Sorry this is so long......

Just lost my post so here it is in short:
I'm sort of back to basic with 5:2 as it was feeling diety. I wanted to lose a bit more before summer but it is what it is. Will be doing eating windows when away form home as that works best for me.
I hope I've not been sharp or off putting for newbies, I haven't noticed that from anyone.
I love the banter between you two @Sue.Q and @CandiceMarie , always makes me smile.

Dee @justdee i' m glad youve noticed how that@Sue.Q always picks on me...and how i always just turn the other cheek xx

@Candicemarie
You've got bigger cheeks to turn than our lovely Dee.

Well you've just got a cheek full stop Missy and youre not too big or too clever to get a smack!

Enough @Candicemarie Methinks this could be misconstrued and off putting to our newbies tuning in

Only fair to warn the newbies SusieQ!
I joined and was a lamb to the slaughter...
wild and false accusations from the start from a certain someone.........*shakes head sadly*