The FastDay Forum

I am 60 and have lost a stone since mid- Jan.
For me it's brilliant. I have averaged a weight loss of just over 1 pound per week and do 4:3. I would like to lose about another stone which I feel is completely achievable!

Hi, I'm new and so glad I found this forum. I have had just one fast
day and another tomorrow. I have a hard time losing weight so I'm nervous about this new WOE. Got my fingers crossed!

At 59 I'm really pleased with progress so far and it fits easily into normal life. I've lost 12lb since I started and feel better for it.

Hi, I'm 59 and so pleased to see all this progress. I just started today. If I can lose 1 lb.a week (I believe that's .5 kg.)...I will be thrilled! Heck, I'll even take 1/2 lb. a week! I haven't been able to lose for the longest time on other plans. When I learned about this way of eating, it immediately felt like a good fit! I'll post any losses next week.

I'm 57 and started 5:2 6 1/2 weeks ago.I lost nothing for the first 2 weeks, and just 1 lb over the next two weeks. I then started tracking everything I ate and drank using myfitnesspal and lost 3lbs over the next two weeks. I have stopped tracking my food now, as I think that I am eating 'more mindfully' and I hope the weight loss will continue.
I think that we become less active as we get older - I certainly do a lot less running around than I used to when my four daughters lived at home - and this may have an impact on TDEE and muscle mass.

I'm 62 and have lost 7 lbs in 7 weeks but am very careful what I eat the other 5 days. I only have another 7lbs to lose to get to 9 stone. I tried all last year to lose a few pounds but was stuck so this diet is great. I am also very active with exercise in the gym but I was last year as well and still didn't lose. I don't think it is any harder being older but the loss is less per week.

Hi, I am 53 and finding weight loss to be slow, although I am fitting into my clothes better. Even though I'm not much lighter than when I started, I definitely don't feel so bloated and "lumpy", so that's good. But I have been wondering whether my age has something to do with how hard it seems to shift the excess. The joys of the menopause mean that I haven't slept properly in a couple of years and always wake feeling like I need a good rest, never like I could go out for a run (like that would EVER happen!!). So I never feel full of energy - more like I could always do with a sit down! I can't help wondering whether that is a contributing factor, but I'm probably just making excuses.

My other problem is that I really struggle with drinking water. I know that we should all drink more and that sometimes feelings of hunger are really thirst, but I struggle to drink plain water. I have never liked the taste and prefer to add sugar free squashes or drink diet coke etc. I know that everyone says that all the additives are bad, but I just hate the taste of plain water - tap or bottled. But I am trying to drink less of those by training myself to like (almost) black coffee, although I can't have it without a sweetener, so I don't know whether that's better or not.

Thank you Joyful Janet for the myfitnesspal tip. I'm going to try that now and hopefully will get my calorie intake under control. The more I know I'm not supposed to have something, the more I think about having it. But I find that taking myself off to my sewing room for a few hours definitely helps - the farther away from the kitchen the better!

Thanks to everyone for the helpful advice.

I'm 61.

Maybe the weight came off slower than it would have done if I'd known to try this when younger (ah.... wouldn't that have been wonderful!), but it has come off, and faster than I would have expected from previous experience. And of course I've found it easier to stick to the regime despite my habit of pigging out.

For me, it's averaged out as about a kilo a month (some months much more than others), so I'm delighted overall.

My other problem is that I really struggle with drinking water. I know that we should all drink more and that sometimes feelings of hunger are really thirst, but I struggle to drink plain water. I have never liked the taste and prefer to add sugar free squashes or drink diet coke etc. I know that everyone says that all the additives are bad, but I just hate the taste of plain water - tap or bottled. But I am trying to drink less of those by training myself to like (almost) black coffee, although I can't have it without a sweetener, so I don't know whether that's better or not.

I have a Brita filter jug (the local water is well-known to taste nasty) and a SodaStream to turn it into soda-water. Adding a couple of squeezes of lemon or lime turns it almost into fizzy lemonade.... But yes, do try to avoid the artificial sweeteners.

I do have a Brita water filter and a soda stream, so I will give that a try thanks.

Feeling quite despondent as I am not losing. My weight started at 11st 3Ibs. I go down to 10 stone 12 after a fast but then back to 11 stone 2Ibs after a day or two of non fast days. I exercise regularly, I go to a very hard boot camp style gym session 3 times a week, and eat healthy in-between fast days, HELP!

[carorees]

Hi Fiona

We need more info to get an idea of why you are not seeing movement on the scales: your TDEE, what you eat on feed days, how you arrange your fast days (cals and timing), how much you need to lose to get to a healthy weight, previous diet history, anything else that could affect weight loss.

If you are happy to share this info we'll have a think about what's happening.

Hi many thanks. Can you let me know how to work out my TDEE?. On my fast days I have breakfast at 7am (porridge, 150 cals) and a low cal ready meal (under 350 cals) or I cook a 350 cal or under tea at 7pm. I have been cooking from the Hairy bikers diet book recently and cutting out the carbs so I can give the rest of the family the same tea as me, (or visa versa really!). I have high bp, which I have 10mg rampril a day for (genetically disposed to it unfortunately) and cholesterol was quite high when I had it read recently. I did do a low GI diet a few years ago which worked, and I am wondering if its a carb issue?

[carorees]

TDEE calculator links in FAQ (link to that in my signature). Have you got a feel for how many cals you eat on a feed day?

Have you looked at myfitnesspal? I find it really helpful. You can calculate TDEE, and you can log your food and exercise each day and it tells you how many calories you are having, as well as how much protein, salt etc. It has been recommended by several people on this forum, which is how I found it.