The FastDay Forum

Hi Sarahg,

I'm sorry to hear that you are struggling with this, but congratulation on being near your goal weight. I'm not sure what the calorie count for your food would have been and I'm sure there are others who are more clued up than me on such things will be able to advise you. All I can do is tell you that whatever method you choose will get easier the more you do it. I seem to remember that in Dr M's book be was told by the medic who was overseeing his initial long fast that the next time he did it his body would remember and it would get easier. I certainly have found this to be true, also, I really struggled to lose weight in the beginning and I had a couple of spectaculat plateaux along the way but once my body got the message it got so much easier. I hope you start to benefit soon as I know how depressing it can all get. Don't give up, you are doing your body a huge favour, in my opinion, even though those benefits are not yet obvious, they will be,

Good luck,

Ballerina x

I am trying mixing my days around to see if I can persuade my body into cooperating & losing 1&1/2 lbs this week. Monday was a fast day, Tuesday 16:8ing, Wednesday fasted throughout the day & then normal dinner & nothing to eat after 8-00pm, to try & compensate for going out to dinner on Tuesday, today I have had yoghurt & a banana for breakfast. Hopefully my body will be soooo confused it will lose weight. My average intake is within my TDEE for the week & I will be fasting on Friday & I weigh on Saturday. I really want to get below 14 stone because it become such a mental barrier now. Oh & I have been exercising to my salsasise DVD each morning.
My OH is eating much more than me but has only another half a stone to lose & is averaging one pound a week weight loss. It seems most unfair that men lose weight more easily than women!

Hello!
Just about to break my fast (16:8 today) after 2 back to back fasts ~ not starving but tummy VERY noisy!!
Weigh day tomorrow so will still try to eat lightly, xx

Thanks for the support,ballerina
Had a better day today.wasnt so hungry so tried a sort of mini fast
Will continue trying the 16.8 but I think I was overdoing it yesterday trying to fast two days in a row,making it the third fast of the week
I. Think I will stick to two fasts and maybe a third day will jut be careful , sort of do a mini fast I lost a bit more today but plan to eat normally to tomorrow.will skip breakfast though ,try 16.8 and see what happens to the weight.

Hi Sarahg,

As you are so near your target weight you might want to relax a little, I know how it feels to see the finishing line and find it is JUST impossible to get there. It makes you rather tense so, chill girl, go with the flow for a day or so and see how it goes,

Good luck,

Ballerina x

You know you are so right
This morning I woke up to find I had lost a bit more and another cm off my waist
To be honest if I stayed at this weight I would b happy .just don't want to put on so think I will try maintenance .by doing 16,8 most days unless I am too starving
Then if I put on I will do a fast .
It's now about making this a way of life not a diet.
Thanks again.x

Does anyone else do 16:8 because they really struggle with 5:2? I have been fasting for 2 months, and I still struggle with the 500 cal days, I was trying to do one today, but it's lunchtime and I have decided - I'm changing to the 16:8 approach. Maybe some people will just always struggle on 500cal? I know so many people update that they are finding fasting 'so' easy, and they 'can't wait' for the next one - which is great, I am happy for them, but jealous as all h*ll too!!

I am not going stuff a full days calories into the 8 hour window though - just regular lunch and dinner.

[Betsysgr8]

Lucy, It's not uncommon to really struggle with 500 cals, some started with 700-800 cals on fast days and whittled off 50 cals per fast until they reached 500 cals. I think your plan of just skipping breakfast could work and it's worth a shot to try. It's better for you to find something that is sustainable and works for you.

PS: If your TDEE is high you can probably have more than 500 cals, put your info in the progress tracker and see what it recommends for your fast day calories.

Thanks Betsygr8 - my fast days according to the tracker can be 531. I don't think that 31 calories is going to make much of a different! I probably do closer to 600 anyway, and still struggle.

I dunno, I've read pros and cons of the 8 hour diet, seems to me the people that say it doesn't work are the ones that gorge for 8 hours...My only concern would be supressing my metabolism from too many low cal days - i.e. losing the big up and down calorie of calories that you get on 5:2. But I guess I need something sustainable too, and if I am not finding 5:2 sustainable then why force the issue? I have stuck with it 4 months...I'm not exactly giving up too soon!

I thought I might do 16:8 on weekdays, and then eat breaky etc on weekends to keep the body guessing a bit.

I never used to eat breakfast when I was in my 20s and was as slim as anything. The reason being I spent most of my 20s being a student so never really thought about breakfast plus I would get up about 15 mins before I was due to leave the house so had no time to eat. I never thought about what I should and shouldn't eat so ate whatever I wanted and drank.....ALOT!! forever slim in those days. Obviously got a bit older and read everywhere that breakfast was the most important meal of the day so I ate breakfast every morning and have piled on the weight.
I don't have breakfast on my fast days and to be honest don't miss it at all, also I stopped eating anything after my evening meal a few weeks before I started 5:2 so maybe this 16:8 thing might actually work for me.Hmmmm certainly worth thinking about.

I was thinking too that a lot of my previous success on 5:2 comes from the big differences in calories day to day. If after a few weeks on 16:8 i'm not losing, I could still aim for some low calorie days (if not as low as the 5:2 fast days) - say, 1000 calories. So I could do 1500,1000,1500,1000,1500,2000,2000 (the last two are my weekends ). Only roughly of course, because I am not counting my calories, but I have a pretty good idea from years of counting what all that would look like.

Having said that - last week was meant to be a 5:2, but on Monday I was so hungry I ate 1000 calories at dinner, and Friday I aborted at lunch time to turn it into my first 16:8 day, and the remaining 5 days I ate breakfast, lunch and dinner as regular - and my weight remained stable. So that has given my some confidence that I won't gain weight changing from 5:2 to 16:8

Yesssssss! I am so pleased I have lost 1lb this week after only losing ounces in the previous two weeks.
Lucy I agree mixing up your daily calorie intake over the week is a good idea, at least it worked for me last week with two days fasting, two days 16:8 ing then an additional sort of semi fast with no breakfast or lunch but a normal dinner & two normal days.
I am also wearing new smaller size jeans & my waist has gone down an inch! Has anyone else noticed a change in body shape? I seem to be losing weight evenly over my body for the first time. I am pear shaped & previously have lost it first from my face, my waist & boobs, this time it's some from my waist but mostly from my stomach, bottom & thighs which is brilliant but a bit weird Is this because 5:2ing really does affect body fat all over the body? Anyway I am so pleased

Yes Isis I am experiencing even weight loss my ankles are slimmer, neck, legs. Have to measure all over again just for the record as have only been concentrating on my belly at navel and waist measurements.

Lucy re your struggling to get in under 500 cals. Here is how I did it. I started out meticulously using MM 's calorie counter in the 5:2 fast book. The meals are midget if 3 across the day and counting all the cals with milk or sweeteners. So that is why people end up I think with a pattern of 2 or more likely 1 meal a day and then fluids which are low cal. I found it was a bit of work to figure it all out but there is such a lot you can pack into 500 cals. I went through the MM book and wrote down the lowest cal foods and only made my meals from them. Then I evolved to liquids only again with calories and that meant clear soups, herb teas, coffee, water,fresh hot lemon or ginger tea. Now switched to 5:2+16:8 still 2meals on 2x 500 days made from scratch and researched from web or my recipe books of very low cal meals and I found veggie meals gave me a bigger bang for the 500 cals . I now do soup and a comfort style pm meal and herb teas, might treat myself with coffee in the eating window. The rest of the 5 days are 16:8 I eat what I fancy usually healthy wholesome and with treats. I don't go crazy as I am a woman on a mission - to get to my goal healthy BMI . Have 5 kg to go. I am not messing around but my weight losses are slow and steady. I record in MFP just in case I need to review a rough estimate, but 5:2 days am more precise otherwise I am wasting my efforts ... I think

That was long winded but there you are, hope it might help

... Just done a sneaky weigh in, as was curious to see what effect my 'week off' had had (actually did 16:8 all week, no fasting) and ....

Another 2lb down, and another half inch off the waist

Thanks to all for the ideas you have shared - it works

Well done Silverdarling and wey hey