The FastDay Forum

I started fasting 18 months ago and did fantastically. I lost about 18 pounds and had no problem keeping it off by continuing to fast 2 days a week and occasionally only once.

However, I gained about 7 pounds over Christmas and I CANNOT shift them. I feel like I am doing everything the same as before and don't understand it.

I have three thoughts:

1. It could be the menopause kicking in so maybe hormonal (haven't had a period since before Christmas), but if that is the case what do I do?

2. Maybe I have slipped into bad habits on normal days without realising it. If that is the case please could you give me an idea of what a normal day looks like i.e. give me a rundown of what food you eat between fasts.

3. I have been under a lot of stress for the past year. Could that be catching up with me? I managed to keep fasting through most of it.

I know this seems trivial as it is only 7 pounds but I feel like I'm going backwards and feel really down about it.

Thanks everyone. This is such a supportive forum I hope someone can help x

If you track your calories for a couple of weeks on something like My Fitness Pal ,that should tell you if you are over eating.

I agree with Merlin. The first step for me is ALWAYS an honest, accurate (yes, that means weighing and measuring) food diary for at least a couple of weeks. Start with that and take it from there. Good luck

[carorees]

It could well be a combination of all three!

1. Menopause does seem to be associated with a decrease in metabolic rate
2. After you lose weight your body tries sneaky ways to increase the amount you eat as it tries to restore the lost weight, one of which is to make you feel you have eaten less than you really have. Other ways are to increase appetite and to decrease how much energy you use mostly by making you less active but also by increasing the efficiency of your muscles and lowering your resting energy expenditure slightly.
3. Stress increases cortisol and cortisol tends to make insulin levels higher and when insulin levels are high you cannot access your fat stores to make them shrink because insulin's job is to store fat not to release it.

Tracking calories for a while on MFP or any similar app is a good start. Once you have an idea of how much you're eating, compare it with the TDEE figure given by the progress tracker. If you are eating over the calculated TDEE then you need to reduce your feast day calories or add another fast or half fast. If you are not eating over your TDEE, it could be that the TDEE calculated for you is not accurate because of 1, 2, and 3 above, so take 10-20% off the calculated figure and try to keep to that for a few weeks and see what happens.

And, of course, try to address the stress problem! If the stress levels are very high, it might be worth just trying to maintain at your new weight until your stress problem is resolved and then you will be in a better position to try to lose the weight.

Good luck with it all and let us know how it's going!

Hi, @soonaddsup. Don't worry - you are not alone! There a number of people on the forum who are in exactly the same boat as you!

Caroline has some brilliant advice for you and I totally agree with her and with Winsome and Merlin - get right back to basics. Weigh and measure everything and record your calorie totals. Don't try and go too low in attempt to get things moving. Just remember - it worked for you once and it can do again. If it is the menopause then not everyone gains weight but it can be slightly harder to get it off or keep it off.

When I reached my target weight, I found that I was fine for three months but then my old bad habits came creeping back, almost unnoticed, and before Christmas I had regained nearly half a stone and then by New Year it had grown to thirteen and a half pounds! How silly of me was that, to allow that to happen! I am pleased to report that I am now back to my target weight but it has take me three months to get there!

I hope it goes well for you and don't hesitate to come back any time for help, advice a chat or a rant! There's always somebody here for you.

Thank-you all for your considerate replies.

Thing I find confusing is that I lost most weight in the first 6 months and thereafter I was happily maintaining the loss.

I realised I had been more relaxed over Christmas so started to be strict with myself and get back to what I was doing before Christmas but it seems to be no longer working and I am slowly putting more weight back on.

I am panicking. It feels like that half stone gain has triggered something and this fasting is no longer working for me. I know it seems silly but I really feel panicky as after years of feeling a bit overweight I thought I had finally cracked it.

Of course now I can't even stop fasting as then I will put on HUGE amounts of weight.

Maybe my metabolism really has slowed in the past 3 months due to menopause but in that case I need to really cut back on normal days and I felt I was eating healthily and sensibly.

I am tall and pretty active. I do a strenuous exercise class twice a week and walk at least 30 minutes every day.

[carorees]

There was a thread somewhere discussing the problem of increased hunger over winter and I did find some scientific info suggesting that a change in metabolism and appetite occurs over winter, so I wouldn't panic. I think that summer plus reducing stress will bring the weight back down. But counting calories for a week or so will at least give you some insight.

Hi there! You've taken some good action now by joining here!
Our fellow fasters here give you plenty of advice so jump back on your horse and look forward to losing that unwanted half a stone! Youve done it before so you know you can do it again