The FastDay Forum

Ok Guys

I am in to my fourth week of fasting and am a bit disappointed with the results. I'm wondering am I doing it wrong. I'm doing 5:2 but decided this week to move to 4:3. I am 5foot and weight 118lb with a goal weight of 112. I run 4/5 times a week covering 4 miles each time with a long run of 12-15miles on a Sat. I also swim once a week and have been cycling on a Sat as I training for a triathlon. ~I will have to throw in a couple of spin classes from next week too. My TDDEE thing is 1700 calories - which allows me about 450 cals on a fast day.

The last two weeks the same couple of lbs are going up and down and I don't appear to be losing inches either. For example I ate
Mond: 1841 cals
Tues: 420 cals
Wed: 480 cals
Thurs: 1876 cals
Fri: 700 cals
Sat: 1700 cals
Sun: 2400 cals

That averages out at about 1345. Although myfitnesspal says I need to take 1200 cals per day to lose- but obviously my exercise would take off some.

On a fast day I tend to have 2 boiled eggs around 9am, lunch I will have a veg curry with slim pasta, I also have about 4 cups of bovril and then for dinner I usually have veg curry again with slim pasta. Although tonight I'm going to have a salmon fillet.

Am I doing something wrong- I do think my non fast days are a bit high but wondering are my fast days not being done right? I have a wedding in 3 weeks and really want to lose the weight. However, I do eat out on Saturday nights and have wine. I was thinking of cutting out some carbs maybe?

From what I have been reading on the net it would seem that carbs are the culprit. Substitute fat for carbs (and as saturated as possible) is a common dietary instruction (Mark Sisson, Peter Attia) - but I suspect you are, like me, a veggie of sorts, so this would mean olive oil and nuts as good sources. Both the above authors hate grain-based carbs. Good luck with Triathlon training!

[carorees]

Yes, I wouldn't worry about the feed days. Have you tried going longer without food? I would try skipping breakfast and/or lunch because that pushes your body to burn more fat. Also check you are not having too much salt (I know the bovril is great but it might cause water retention).

Some others have reported sudden weight loss after a long period without change so don't give up!

Your bmi must surely already be in a healthy range, so losing any more weight will be a slow and difficult process. Are you doing any weight or strength training?

Your 1345 average intake should be about 200 calories below your expenditure without exercise, so say 400-500 below actual with exercise. That should lose you about 1 lb/week.

I actually have no idea how to do strength training - any recommendations?

http://ironsisters.blogspot.co.uk/2012/ ... orial.html may help, "New Rules of Lifting for Women"

I am on my third week of fasting and so far have only lost 1 pound. I am having 40grams of porridge for breakfast at 8ish then just fluids during the day and then usually salad with a small piece of salmon or mackerel at 6pm. Is it worth trying to have supper a bit later?

With the amount that you`re exercising you`re weekly average should be around 1500, your TDEE is not 1700 it`s more likely around 2000 or so.

I`m 5`2, with a TDEE of around 1700-1800 and I average around 20 miles a week, and my weekly calorie intake average is around 1350 as well and I`ve been losing steadily. I know everyone`s different but considering that we are the same height and you work out more than I do you should certainly make sure that you are eating sufficiently to meet your body's needs.

Also I might add, you need to reassess you expectations. Considering you have roughly 6lbs to lose, your weight loss needs to be about .5lb - 1lb a week so as to sustain your lean body mass. Any loss greater than this is not healthy (at your current weight) and definitely not recommended especially if you`re training.

PS. you`re probably holding on to a lot of water due to your exercise regime which can explain the fluctuation on the scale. Perhaps weigh-in monthly to ease the stress that this may be causing you

Sincere24 I really appreciate that info-had given me hope.i will certainly persevere and maybe do a bit of strength training.are you sticking to 500 on fast days or do you less?

Hi JMOUSEY,

I try to stick to around 500-600 on fast days. In the first few weeks I think I was between 300-400, so it really depends on my appetite during a fast day especially since I save up my calories til the evening.

I tend to look at weekly averages, so an additional 100 on fast days won`t hurt in the long run lol.

Good luck!