The FastDay Forum

I've been calorie counting on my feast days too... I wanted to lose some weight pronto before settling things out and seeing if just regular fasting will work for me. I was limiting myself to about 1500 calories on my feast days. Its worked a treat and I've lost two stone and am now lighter than I've been for 10 years. I'm now halfway through the weight loss I'm hoping for... but... in the last week I seem to have lost about 5lbs which is too much and more than I expected (I should have lost 2lbs) so it seems a good time to relax things a little and I've decided to up the feast day calories to about 1900 - I should still lose weight but more slowly which is probably healthier

When I've reached the weight I want (or a weight where I'm happy!) I'll deliberately stop calorie counting and see what happens - I can't calorie count for the rest of my life!!

James

James

[Moogie]

I don't stricly count calories, though I try to be vaguely aware of how much I'm eating on feed days and if I feel I've overeaten I'll reduce a bit the next day to make up for it. The weight isn't coming off as quickly these days, but that's to be expected after 7 months and only about 9lbs until my goal weight. It seems to be around 3lbs a month now but that's good enough for me as I still eat what I like on my feed days, I'm just more aware of what I put into my body. I don't enjoy pigging out to the same degree that I used to as my body will gripe about it the next day - so I seem to have developed a natural sense of when enough is enough!

I think the key here is sustainability. If you feel that you can count calories and not feel restricted or deprived because of it, then that's fine. If this is teaching to to eat less in a sustainable manner, brilliant! For me I want a diet that will be a sustainable lifestyle, not something that I will want to stop doing, causing the weight to pile back on. That's the key, however you achieve it.

James's idea of counting for initial weight loss then slowly easing back to a more sustainable lifestyle sounds quite interesting if you feel that you need to lose a lot of weight quickly. Personally I've never been in a rush to lose weight. I just want to see it going in the right direction over the long term and then be able to keep at my goal weight when I reach it.

Ah, that's where the difference lies. Patience!

Although oddly the more you do the counting, and dieting, and fasting, and exercising the more it feels normal and sustainable.... for now!

Takes all sorts!

I need counting. It comforts me

This is only day five for me, but I've been on Weight Watchers for a year- lost about 43 pounds, and then was stuck on a plateau basically since last summer- up and down 5 pounds here and there. So I've superimposed 5:2 at this point- so far on day 5, I'm down 6 pounds- I know that's all due to glycogen-associated water loss, but it means my body's responding- the lowest weight I've measured since July....

Me too Pashcaline. I like the counting and recording, and I love the MFP app on my phone !

Having counted calories for several years, I haven't got out of the habit of doing it on feast days - especially as I've always been one of those people who seem to look at food and put on weight! I also wasn't too comfortable with the "eat what you like" on feast days, as I was worried it would negate the fast days. If I do a 5:2, I try to stick to approx 1800cal and if I do a 4:3, I stick to around 2000 cal on feast days. In 6 weeks I have lost 12lbs, so it seems to be working so far. No doubt as time goes on, I will need to modify the calories on feast days.

Just finished my 1st week and must admit to cal counting on first two days

Now just making sure that I have smaller portions

Last night had pizza, normally I would devour one large pizza, last night three slices was plenty didn't feel too hungry before and certainly wasn't afterwards

I don't know why but eating less and not hungry

Whereas before 3 meals and 5 snacks a day wasn't enough

Arnie

I fast on Monday & Thursday. Then on tuesday and Wednesday I follow a fairly strict diet, porage breakfast, low calorie soup & apple for lunch, fish & veg (no potatoes), yogurt & banana for supper. Friday, Saturday & Sunday I eat what I like, but normally find I don't overdo it because I've got used to eating less, but it's nice to have a treat (chocolate tiffin yesterday!), and also be able to accept invitations out for meals without having to decline what's offered. I'm trying to get myself out of the lifetime habit of having food items as a treat (I've had a good/bad day, I'm tired, it's cold, etc were always the excuse for a bar of chocolate) but now I buy myself a new nail polish or magazine instead, and tell myself the treat is to keep my weight down!

I'm just coming into my 4th week - 1st week lost 3lb then in week 2 i put half of that back on then lost 1.5lb again in week 3 - I WAS calorie counting ie. having 500 on fast days and having 1500 on feast days with everything low fat!

Going into week 4 i'm having normal yogurts instead of 0 fat and using clover instead of the light spreads - also my TDEE is 1950 per day so in the week i'm intending on having 1700 which i track on MFP and then weekends not counting and see where this takes me! I think i've been restricting myself far too much and is defeating the object of this plan! Will report back next week and see how I fare! x

Going into week 4 i'm having normal yogurts instead of 0 fat and using clover instead of the light spreads - also my TDEE is 1950 per day so in the week i'm intending on having 1700 which i track on MFP and then weekends not counting and see where this takes me! I think i've been restricting myself far too much and is defeating the object of this plan! Will report back next week and see how I fare! x

I'm very interested in how you fare. I think historically this was my problem, that I didn't really eat enough. Not that I was hungry, but I was eating everything low fat/low cal, etc. I wonder if the 1/4 of your calories is significant because for me, based on my normal consumption, I eat about 1500 calories and 500 is definitively not 1/4 of that.

I just started last Monday so I'm still new at this although I found the fast days quite easy actually and really looked forward to getting some of my favorite salads while keeping it under 500 as I don't cook/like to cook.

I don't count calories on feast days. What's the point? I like the 5:2 because it is uncomplicated and lets me live a normal life. If you are not losing, take a look at what you are eating on fast days. Make sure you are not snacking on fruit throughout the day (one meal between noon and 2pm is best, so you get the full benefits of the fast) and stay well within your calorie limit. I am female so my MAX is 500 calories on fast days, but I try and stay below that. Also make sure you are eating protein on your fast day. It helps.

I'm struggling to eat enough today, reached 1450 of a necessary 1700. Also my head says curb the grains (bread, cake, biscuits; sugar) but my hand reaches out and shoves it in my mouth some how. Beyond cutting my hands off :-0 perhaps hypnosis?

But really, no. Just ate a good crunchy apple and wondering about protein. It's a bit late in the evening for that probably. I don't want to be stressing about this any more.

Sorry, rambling. Stay cool, amigos, we'll soon be lean.