The FastDay Forum

Hi, I had over five stone to lose when I started in January. I have lost two stone since then so over a lb a week. It's been so easy and I honestly don't think I'd have managed to lose weight using any other regime. I started at 18 stone, but am 5ft11 so was a size 20, although I had started buying clothes in shops with more give so think I was probably more of a size 22! I feel so much better already and although sometimes it's daunting thinking how long I have to go to get to my goal, I absolutely know I will as lots of my eating habits are changing for the better as time goes on. The best thing about my weight loss so far is that chairs with arms no longer fill me with fear! I know now my bottom will fit without hanging out the sides and when I stand up I will not have the chair stuck to my bottom,! Hadn't realised how much that bothered me until I realised it was no longer a problem!
I hope everyone finds as much success as I have and look forward to celebrating all your milestones together! Good luck all, you are not alone!

I also have 5 stone to lose. Nearly lost the first stone...

I have a load of weight to lose too. Have not set a target as it would be too overwhelming. I am just setting small targets and i have nearly reached my first one. So far in 7 weeks of 5:2 I have lost 4.7kg which I am quite pleased with. I am not calorie counting on feed days and not yet doing much (any) exercise as I just had a seriously bad back last week. Onwards and downwards.

I've got a lot to lose. I'm just 10 weeks into my journey. I haven't weighed myself yet, but feel things shifting ever so slightly. My waist measurement seems to be staying the same, but I do think I've lost a little elsewhere. I'm hanging in there! I think it'll work for me, and be noticeable at some point... because it seems to flip the hunger switch to OFF, and I often have wished for that on diets!

I feel like I am still at the beginning of a very long journey...I'm happy to get to know all of you, and so glad to have this forum. Even if I don't post very often, it helps me to read what others say, so thanks 5:2 pals...

I'm doing the 5:2 plan, I fast two days at 500 or so calories and the other days I don't count calories but I eat very sensibly - and try not to eat between meals and try to stick to an 8-hour eating window except on Sunday when I like breakfast.

I'm not weighing myself yet... I'm judging myself by the way I feel and my cloths feel! So far, my tight jeans are still tight, but my t-shirts seem a little looser.

to everyone = on the slow, long road.

Hi, I've just started, completed my second fast last night.
I have about 5 stone to loose to have a healthy BMI.
Breaking it up into sections to help achieve smaller goals step by step.
Looking forward to seeing less of myself

I was 16 stone..have lost 4lbs...but I want to get to at least 10 stone...although could do with a touch more as even at 10 stone my BMI will be 25.6, so still a shade over a healthy weight. But I am aiming for 10 stone, as getting single figures seems a dream at the moment, and I don't even remember ever being under 10 stone, even when I was a size 8/10.

I have another 4 stone to lose & I would like to get down to 10 stone which is the top end of BMI for my height & I will re-evaluate then. I have lost 23lbs since Christmas & I would love to get below 14 stone by the end of June before going on holiday, so I have 2 lbs to lose to do that. I am in for the long haul because I lose weight slowly but this WOE such a manageable way of doing this. So let us all keep going & keep our motivation up for this.

Hi I have about 5 stone to lose. 3 weeks in and a long way still to go! Good luck on your journey x

I have a 6 stone or more to loose and have managed 13 lbs over the last 6 / 8 weeks ( only on my 2nd week of 5:2) so yours certainly not alone. However I've got rid of it before so I know I can again but i'm hoping that with this way of eating that I can make the weight loss a permanent thing in my life.

[carorees]

I started in November with 5.5 stone to lose to get me to the top end of normal BMI. So far I've lost just a little less than 3.5 stone so I'm over halfway! I'm hoping to reach my target in the Spring next year. However, even if my weight loss stalls now, I'll still be delighted with the improvement in every aspect of my life. I don't intend to do 4:3 or any other non-sustainable changes to the diet as I believe that if it can't be kept up indefinitely (which is what will be needed to keep the weight off) then there's no point doing it. If I should reach my target and go beyond it then I could look at throttling back on the fasting a bit, but I somehow doubt that will happen. I foresee that I will be continuing 5:2 fasting forever unless I become so old and frail that I start to lose weight naturally!

It's really nice to know I'm not alone on this very long journey... and I'm glad to hear of just doing the simple 5:2 plan again carorees. Thanks for reminding me of that. This week I've been trying the 16:8 and it's been really tough after a fast day for me.. I think I may go back to just 5:2 to make it easier. I think the ease of the 5:2 does carry you longer and it's ok to look out a year or the rest of your life to see this is manageable, and sensible.

I am a slow starter! 10 weeks in already... I do feel thinner in my forearms, heh... maybe my back is losing weight, and since it's behind me I don't notice so much. My face seems a little thinner too.

That's alright, I'm ok to go slow... thanks for the support everyone

i hate to think how many stone i have to get rid of! Have found it useful to work in kg simply as i was not so used to it so was 'easier' on myself for what amount the scales then said1

I was dieting under a dietian i was sent to by my gp, and after a year of that i hadnt lost much at all (but some!) since starting 5:2 a lot more has come off. Its not shifting as fast as it is for some, and i have had the occasional odd blip or two (or three...or four) but its steadily heading down hill. I shocked myself getting into the next size down in clothes this week for instance!

I have a long way to go, even my target weight is really rather too high, and i know it will take me years, which is really hard to accept at times. Still with this i feel like i can keep it up for years, i already have for many months!

All i can say i think of your reasons, hold onto them and hang on in there. We may take longer to reach our goals than others but just think how much more satisfying it will be to get to them1

Keep at it! I did not have that much to lose but I know many that have had more than you and lost it only to put it on again. This method will be slow but sure.

Hi, I'm really pleased to have found this thread. I was a little worried when I read that people who are severely overweight should not do 5:2 because I too have about half my body weight to lose. I haven't started a tracker yet because even in here I feel really uncomfortable putting my actual weight in written form .
I'm also a little concerned about tracking as I don't want to lose hope. I don't really mind how slow it is but do need it to stay off.
Thanks to everyone in this thread for the inspiration, Noo your post above has really given me some hope.
I am on my third fast day, I started last week but only managed to stick to under 500 cals for one of the two days last week but that was down to being unprepared and I have done better this week, I think possibly having got an infection when I had a tooth out has helped today as I'm a bit scared of eating and getting anything else in the hole lol.
I am not going to be able to do the same two days a week as I work shifts on a 3 week rolling rota so I have planned to do:
Monday/Wednesday
Friday/Sunday
Tuesday.Friday.
I haven't seen anywhere that the fast days have to be the same days every week but please could someone correct me if that's the case?
This week I was on leave so have done Tuesday and today (Friday) and will be starting next week as Friday and Sunday.
Sorry for the long post but just needed to be able to say some of it

Hi Kathy46, you are doing it perfectly - no it does NOT have to be the same 2 days a week. If you go over your 500 once in a while (and I think almost all of us have), the fast day is not a bust because you have STILL restricted the number of calories you have taken in.

Have you seen the fasting today topics (they have the date on them)? Just jump on when you are fasting whichever day it might be for inspiration!

BTW, you can put your stats in the tracker and keep them private. Another tip, measure yourself, especially around the waist, but everywhere else as well. There may well be times when the weight is not going down, but the measurements will be going down!

Take Care!