The FastDay Forum

Hi all
It is 930pm here on my side of the world and I am struggling to keep my eyes open but...
I have tried to do a bit of a search on 4:3 but the search function won't accept 4:3 as a word!
I was wondering whether there were any 4:3ers out there who could give me some basis or reasons as to why they are at present choosing to do 4:3.
Have you seen faster weight loss? Is it a psychological control?
Did you start off 5:2 and change? Or did you go straight into 4:3?
The reason I ask is not specifically to achieve a quicker weight loss in all honesty.
I have been doing Monday/Thursday for 4 weeks and have seen pretty good results.
However today (tues) was a bit yucky. Even though it is a feed day I really feel like I lost the plot a bit and ate too much and are now feeling not only a bloated tummy but guilt.
Getting rid of the guilt was such a motivator for me to get on this in the first place.
I am so tempted to now do another fast day tomorrow now just to alleviate some guilt and put myself back in the drivers seat. And then I was thinking "well maybe I could do Friday too?"
Am I looking at this from the wrong perspective? This is why I am after the thoughts of 4:3ers but of course 5:2ers who are now starting to find the day after a fast has become a little too much of a food fest?
Sorry for the blab..

Hello

I do 4:3, it's just 5:2 but for greedy people! (me i mean not you, I am sure you're fine!)

Really it just means you "sacrifice" 3 x 1500 calories a week, rather than 2x1500 calories.

Go for it! As you say, as long a a)you feel happy & b)you don't get fed up and stop altogether, it's got to be the way to go!

Hi ejaykay. Use the Google custom search (lower-down left-hand side) to search for 4:3, it's more flexible and powerful than the top-left search, there are quite a few 4:3ers here. Most I think do it for a bit of extra weight loss, perhaps (as you are thinking) to kick-start their dieting or to get back on track. Alternatively it can be done with a less draconian calorie cut on the fasting days to give the same planned overall weight loss as 5:2.

My 2p or 2c: do whatever feels right for you, don't feel you have to make up for a messed-up fast day, but if you are happier doing so and are able to, go for it.

Is 4:3 almost ADF but without the need to rotate the days ?

Dominic, thank you! Exactly the directions I needed!
I will do some research and see how it could work for me..
Thanks guys, I am off to sleep!

I'm now doing 4:3. Did ADF for 11 weeks and fancied a change.

I personally needed the mental certainty of knowing exactly when I was fasting and found ADF pretty good. It meant (to me) I could be liberal with my feed days and not particularly as restrictive on fast days, so I possibly eat more than 500 cals. Now that's I've settled into fasting, my entire diet is better and I don't need treats at the moment as rewards, which is how it was working.

I've lost weight slower than people on 5:2 as well, bang on average of 1.1 lbs a week.

However, I've ramped up the exercise and want to socialise on the weekends, so have moved to 4:3. I'm not sure yet but I think I may actually lose more weight on 4:3 but why is open to debate. I'm thinking of blogging about it once I have more weigh-ins recorded.

I'd be challenging the guilt feelings myself, I do extra fasts for mental relaxation, not more stress.

[carorees]

Well, I think that there is a lot of complexity in the whole weightloss thing that means it is not certain which of ADF or 4:3 or 5:2 will give the best weight loss in any one person. It depends on how much you compensate for the fast days on the non-fast days, whether your TDEE changes as a result of fasting/feasting, whether you relax your calorie allowance on fast days for a start!

The problem is that the body not only reacts to the day-to-day changes in calorie intake by adjusting the sources of energy being used but also to the average calorie intake over a longer period of time. We don't really know how these influences play out but it is known that the brain does some very odd things surrounding appetite and desirability of food when calorie deprived, including misjudging the amount of food eaten as well as driving cravings for calorie dense food! How your body responds to 5:2, 4:3 or ADF is unpredictable. Like BBT053, I think you have to experiment and see what suits you!