The FastDay Forum

Hi im new to this forum. Ive been doing the 5:2 since August, sticking to 500 cals on fast days. Ive gone from size 16-18 to 10-12. Havent weighed for years so can't say how much Ive lost. Until recently found the 5:2 easy but it's becoming more difficult with each passing week. I don't want to gain weight but am not sure how to stay the same weight. Any advice?
Chris

Wow! Congratulations Chris for doing a fantastic job in reaching your weight loss goal, you're definitely an inspiration!

In terms of maintaining I would suggest to go with any of the following:
1. Switch to a 6:1 regime where you only fast once a week;

2. Stick to 5:2 if you've accustomed yourself to the lifestyle and just increase your calories to 1000 or so ( you can play around with this number) i.e. you fast 24hrs and eat normally thereafter like dinner and dessert

3. Calculate your TDEE to maintain your current weight and stick to that amount as often as possible. You can track this on MFP for a few days and weeks to get a sense of your calorie intake and stop counting all together thereafter. Eating within a condensed window may help with this where you eat within an 8 hour window akin to the lean-gains intermittent fasting regime.

Hope these suggestions work out, you can always switch between all three if you want. Just play around with it and enjoy your weight loss

I guess the question is which part or parts are you having trouble with? Then we can address individual issues.

Thanks Chris for posting, actually I was wondering about that effect, expecting it to happen also in my case once I get that far.

Excellent advice in the post above. Another angle of looking at it: What is your daily level of activity? Can you increase that somehow? I lost 15% of my body weight the conventional way 7 years ago. Although I did regain some, that increase was slow, and I am still well below where I was then - same goes for OH. One of the major contributors to that (we think) was that we are more active on an everyday basis. Not just organized "exercise", but walking more, taking cycling holidays, taking the stairs. I think there is research indicating that exercise/activity is an important factor in those succesfully sustaining their weight loss over years.
The other thing we found useful is being more aware of food choices and volume - dried fruit instead of cookies. What to put on a sandwich. Papadams (baked fatfree in oven/microwave) instead of potato crisps. Cake, yes, on occasion, but smaller pieces. Dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate. Fresh fruit instead of jam in my cereal (which I make myself). Filling up the stomach with a glass of water before digging into dinner. Eating slower, more mindfully, putting down the fork between bites, tasting the food. 5:2 maybe doesn't cover those aspects as well as calorie-restricted diets that teach you about nutrition (and emotional reactions to food), but experience may vary.

As in exercise, I believe it's not just the "big efforts" (as in fasting), but the many small everyday choices (as in smaller portions and healthier choices) that are important.

Good to hear about your impressive results as well! Hope you keep us updated!

Thanks people for replying so quick and for the good advice! As the 5:2 was relatively easy for so long, I imagined it would be easy for however long I decided to keep it up. Dr.MM said hunger pangs come and go in waves and you can cope with them, but for the past month or so I have felt constantly hungry on Fast Days (and hungrier on Non-Fast days) and haven't been able to stick to 500, not with willpower, drinking loads of water etc. I tried 6:1 but couldnt stick to 500 for that day either. As I have been size 16+ for most of my adult life, being a size 10-12 is a new, wonderful experience for me, so as u can probably imagine, I am not keen to put the weight back on again, but feel I can no longer do 2 x 500 cal days. So I'm going to start 2 x 1000 cals days as advised, starting with today. Will also try some of the many other tips you gave me. Will let you know what works! Thanks again! Chris

[carorees]

Hi Chris

I suspect you have come up against your body's lower limit for weight. This is a set point, determined by genetics we think, at which your body works very hard to increase your weight. This is why you are experiencing constant hunger.

I think the idea of continuing 5:2 but fasting only until dinner time and allowing yourself a bigger dinner would be the best way forward. If you weigh yourself weekly and adjust as necessary you can work out a calorie intake for fast days that results in maintenance without affecting feed day hunger. It may be that you will need to adjust quite often to do this though.

My OH had the same problem with hunger after a few weeks of 5:2 (he was not overweight to start with) and has now gone to 6:1. That is another option for you.

Good luck.

I would suggest looking at the gi index of the food you have been eating. Has that changed? Could you have been eating food that may have spiked your insulin output and making you feel hungry?

I agree with Carorees, you may well be at a set point. Somtimes these set point can be re set. Some say 3 months, I think 6 weeks. Who knows?

You could also try eating more protein. That really stops hunger in its tracks. I think if you did that alone,the hunger would go.

[carorees]

Scientific studies have shown increased hunger after maintaining a 10% loss in body weight for up to a year . Let's hope fasting resets things quicker than that!

Thanks, this forum has helped me already and i've only just joined! I calculated my TDEE, i don't weigh so i estimated weight, and if i eat 1000cals on fast days i can eat 1900 on other days,(to maintain weight) which is far more than i have been eating. I haven't been eating protein in fast days (veg and fruit only). But i could certainly increase it on the other 5 days. I don't think my actual food choices have changed much altho i have been having cravings v recently, for things like cakes and chocolates. But yesterday i allowed myself 1000 cals and i felt fine. So maybe if there is a low set point and i have reached it, i can now maintain the weight without much change either way. Not weighing means i only know by the tightness of my clothes!

I believe Dr M said it was important to eat protein on fast days, in fact more on fast days than on feed days. The body needs around 50-60g of protein a day to work? Carorees will know for sure, wonderful encyclopaedia person! :0)

[carorees]

Try to keep protein down to 0.8g per kg of your weight. That means protein will be a larger proportion of you're food on a fast day but not more overall. 0.8g/kg is around 50-60g. But remember not 50g of meat, 50g of the protein so the weight of meat, cheese, beans or whatever will be much more. The calorie counters like mfp and fat secret give protein as well as calories in their food database.