The FastDay Forum

I notice a huge variation in people's target weight/BMI etc. I wonder if there is some magic figure to aim for that is a natural weight for person so no need to keep on diet? Up to time of having two children in my 30's, I was the same weight. I never regained that figure especially after last child when put on lot more weight during pregnancy. I have never really tried to shift the extra weight. Or does age have to be factored in? the infamous middle age spread and a maybe a slowing of metabolism?

I would like to think of achieving a certain weight and then to maintain without having to return to fasting save occasionally such as after a holiday/lot of celebratory meals. Or will it always be a battle? Is there some magic to the fast day that cannot be achieved by trimming down those unconsumed calories from each regular day? The more work we put into achieving our goal, surely will make us more dedicated about not going back up the scales?

Not an expert @Cobham but the variations on what consitutes reaching target are many and include height, weight, gender and personal perception. Good starting point would be filling in the Tracker which can be kept private to yourself, giving you aims and numbers to work with - or many of the online aps. For me, Middle Age Spread was always a myth - until I got it . I spent years losing a couple of pounds and putting three back on - and that was while I was exercising as well. Once I started on 5:2 last year, there has been no going back. I lost almost 2stone and have been maintaining since end July last year on a mixture of mainly16:8 and one full fast, usually a Monday, each week.

All diets work whilst you are on them and fail when you come off, because as a general rule coming off the diet puts us back into our old eating patterns as many are not sustainable as a way of eating for life. 5:2 and its variations is a sustainable way of life and as such is not hard work (for me and many others anyway). Also a bad day is just that - move on and do better next time: with a regular diet generally the feeling is you've blown it and give up. Trimming down everyday is a diet and as such hard work. Also you body does not get the possible health benefits of resting from processing food and repairing itself. This WOL really does help you to eat better if you let it. Have a look around the site there is lots of information that can help you and answer your questions more fully and coherently than I can.

[carorees]

Hi @cobham I've written an article about choosing a target weight here:
https://www.fastday.com/fasting/what-sh ... al-weight/
and another about when to enter maintenance here:
https://www.fastday.com/fasting/when-sh ... intenance/

These basically distill the debates we have had here on the forum over the last year or so...hope you find them helpful!

PS Feedback on the articles is always welcome, especially if you feel something needs clarifying, adding or taking away!

Good article Carorees. Thanks

Thank you Carorees for the references. I will save until tomorrow which is a fast day so good to browse here then to keep motivated. I have just found a weighing scales that does grams so will be bit more scrupulous about calorie counting. Being celiac, I make a homemade biscuit and don't buy much shop stuff. but I am horrified at the calorie count of the ingredients and then my dividing by 30 or so for the batch I make up.

Week 5 and still here!

Welcome Cobham ! X

I've just read Carorees article on choosing weight target and it is excellent. Everyone is different, it is your choice which weight you feel most comfortable at. I was around a BMI of 23 for a long time, then 4 years ago went to just under 21, and then did 5:2 to get down to BMI of 19 where I've been since March 2013, and I now feel 'right'. I am quite tall (5'8") but have a narrow frame and looked chunky with a BMI of 23. A BMI of 23 is looks perfectly fine for other larger framed people, but not on me!

I ignore BMI, I know my best weight is around 10st 7lbs. Any lower and I look ill! This puts me in a size 10 which is fine for me. That is what I am aiming to get back to.

BMI, notoriously, does not account for breasts. I have always had big ones, even at an extremely low weight in my 20s, so my BMI and healthy weight target will always be higher than that of someone with a similar build who is less endowed. Oddly, some people's breasts will deflate when they diet, while others' won't.

It is very unlikely you can get to goal and forget about it. You will start gaining at a lower calorie intake because our caloric requirements depend on our body size, and you'll be smaller. Then they will drop further as you age.

If you are one of those rare individuals who eats a carefully chosen diet dispassionately every day, never snacks or over-indulges, it would be possible, and I have met one or two people like that. But they do seem to all be males.

To remain at your goal long term, I would suggest setting some level where if you regain to that level, you go right back on the diet. For me the level that works is 2 real lbs over goal (not water weight fluctuations), as that is an amount I can usually lose without too much work. More than that gets really tough, as you are trying to lose again those last few pounds before goal that are always the slowest to come off.

Hi Cobham,

once one reaches the target weight, fasting may not be necessary. However, fasting brings so many more health benefits, other than weight loss, that it makes sense, in my opinion, to continue with it at least once a week or more, especially after food-events.

When I started doing 5:2 I thought reaching a BMI of 22 was going to be too hard but I kept losing without too much effort. It was not 'just' done through fasting, I increased my exercise level too, run at least once a week 4-5kms and eat much more vegetables and less refined carbs. I look better than I did 6-9 months ago.

If I fast properly two days a week I seem to be able to lose more weight still but most weeks I tend to have a higher calorie dinner on the second night and sometimes enjoy a glass of wine with it. I weigh daily and think I can easily go back to two 500 cal days a week, should I feel the need. All blood tests have improved so this target weight/BMI seems right for me.

Thank you for that article Carorees. Just what I needed to hear and now need to seriously review my target

[carorees]

Hi Cobham,

once one reaches the target weight, fasting may not be necessary. However, fasting brings so many more health benefits, other than weight loss, that it makes sense, in my opinion, to continue with it at least once a week or more, especially after food-events.

Absolutely. Have a read of my articles in the fasting section of the main site on the health benefits of fasting: https://www.fastday.com/fasting/health-benefits/