The FastDay Forum

Just want to say that I really agree with GMH and Wildmissus. While my weight is going down very slowly, it IS going down. I have read many posts and try not to start agonizing about different variations and think I will just continue with the simple 5:2 as is.

I have thought about trying 16:8 on my non-fast days and I could if I lived alone - but my hubby likes to prepare our simple breakfasts, even brings my coffee in bed in the mornings - its just our time together and I don't really want to spoil that more than necessary. On the other hand, I can totally see how others will try and find the best way to manage their eating and lifestyle.

Hi Lovemyparrot,

I think you are quite right, just do what suits you, this has always been what I've advised others on here. It is such an idvidual thing and I think the time spent with your lovely husband over breakfast is more valuable to your health and wellbeing than losing weight quickly. The weight will go in it's own good time but in the interim, relax and enjoy your life,

Ballerina x

Hi I couldn't agree more !!! Earlier on this year I was so desperate I go scamed with raspberry keytones But had sent for fast diet book after seeing Mimi's column on how she'd done, put the past behind me and got stuck in did 5;2 first week only found it so easy so started 4:3
This Wonderfull WOE has probably saved my life, only counting (sort of )
on fast days no other time, but the last 2 weeks have been 'heavy' on food so asked Caroline if I could take calories by week instead of daily
tweeked as you say to suit my needs at that moment = 3 fast days + 2 days of fasting 24 hrs then eating Indian meal out with everything no counting + 3 days eating anything no counting, did that both weeks only
Result begging Caroline not to give me rol***king for loosing to much don't know how it happened it just did I was never wanting something I couldn't have and was never hungry + still did my 3walks on f/days
The difference in this 21lbs is truly amazing Sue

TML13 - you say that the Atkins diet only works in the short term. Did you read the book properly? I know it is very technical, and perhaps your English isn't quite up to it.

Indeed, my English are limited to 20 years of translating for a living. But, thank the God of poor English speakers, the Atkins book was translated in many languages and it is available in Greek. Not that it would make any difference because I don't see many people doing it forever and I've seen many people gaining back the weight they lost after stopping it for a few months.

TML, thank you, but I struggle to write Christmas cards!

Ballerina x

Come and stay in my spare room, nobody writes Christmas cards in Greece, LOL!

TML my experience with Atkins was exactly as you say in that I had great weight loss and as I was meticulous in not eating carbs but 3 months in hit a wall and was so tired that I was advised by my doc to quit the diet. Weight came back on in no time. Oh that I would have just moved over to 5: 2 way back then in 2002. I did go into ketosis and shed the fat more than where I am now.
Now 4 months into 5:2 fast and no fatigue so this WOE is proving to me very sustainable though slower but it is the opportunity for normal eating most of the time that is more attractive than Atkins. Still love the flexibility of and variations to the theme of 5:2.

Gillymary, my experience with Atkins was 5 days of horrible headaches.
But since Atkins was very big around 10 years ago here in Greece, I've seen oh-so-many people losing weight (lots of it, admittedly) and gaining it back as soon as they went back to eating normally.
As Rachel said in Friends, "Carbs found them", LOL!

As with all restricted diets, (Atkins, Dukan, WW, cabbage soup, Israeli army, Mayo clinic, Scarsdale, WW again, think thats all Ive tried so far!) once you veer off...the weight finds you again. This WOE seems to confuse it and the weight cant find you again. I thi nk it the very range of variations that makes it work, rather than a restricted diet of constant deprivation.
TML, your english is so good and colloquial it took quite a few of your posts for me to realise you are greek in Greece, not english in Greece, if that makes sense

Thank you, Julie.
I'm actually a half Greek/half Brit (I have both Scottish and English blood, it is rather confusing, LOL) living in Greece.
My English is as good (or as bad, if one must say) as my Greek because being bilingual means that one makes mistakes in two languages instead of just one.

Hi, TML13, I knew colin44 was taking his life in his hands when he wondered if you could understand the Atkins book!!!!!!

Good for you Sue.q.you have done so well
I have also sort of worked out a way of doing this,with two fasts and then skip breakfast ,light or no lunch and a nice dinner,not counting calories.only been doing tis or a week and have lost weight.rather happy about tht
Now lets see what the weekend brings
I plan to go with the flow,and eat if hungry or feel like it.lets see what that does to the weight
TML ,how are things going with your plan ?

Hi everyone,
Just wanted to say hello and that I love hearing all your very valued opinions.
I too am very happy with this WOE after a lifetime of dieting.
I remember reading a few weeks back about someone spying on their slender friends to see what "normal" was for them- he he - I too am checking my slim friends to get sneaky tips on their WOE.
I'm trying to reeducate myself for when I get to my goal.
However I do believe that 5:2 really does help this happen naturally by giving us more respect for food and learning about only eating when we are hungry.
Have a lovely w/e everyone- from very wet dreary Sydney!

Hey TML 13 I spluttered my green tea as I giggled at the comment about you understanding the Atkins book Lols
I thought your reply was very restrained.
See ya later alligator!

Well, I don't know about you folks across the pond and your scabby dogs...here in the States we only eat hotdogs. In fact I've never even seen a scabby dog! (Insert silly/sarcasm font)

But, on to the more serious topic at hand. I was doing 4:3 when 4:3 wasn't cool. It worked awesome for me in the beginning and pounds were falling off left and right. It worked until it didn't and then I had to get creative because I found I liked this WOE even if the weight loss was slow. Even if I wasn't losing at all, but only maintaining. When you have an underactive thyroid, PCOS and insulin resistance, trying to lose weight is like cutting the lawn with scissors. I consider it amazing that I am no longer gaining. A 43 pound loss beats the heck out of a 5 or 10 pound gain which is where I would be right now on any other plan because of the lack of sustainability.

I remember when the Horizon show aired back in the fall; having heard about it on another IF forum. MM wrote a fine book about 5:2; I rather enjoyed the TV show, too. It really wasn't breaking news to me since I read a similar book 5 years earlier and lost 50lbs using 4:3/ADF at that time. Mosley has brought a lot of attention to this WOE and I think that is awesome! Anyone willing to give it an honest try might be surprised by how well it works and how well they like it.

If a person wants to find a WOE that is sustainable for life; they will likely have to tweak and customize the plan to their own situation. I have done plans where I counted calories, carbs, points, exchanges and more. On any plan that I managed to stick to more than 90 days, I always came to a stall, a plateau, sometimes a standstill that felt more like a screeching halt. This particular plan was the only one EVER that I didn't get so frustrated I quit at the point where it got harder.

I say, tweak if you want to and don't tweak if you don't want to...this forum is a big place. There is room enough here for us all, isn't there? And, if there is not...well, the internet is a big place, the world is even bigger. Now, let's all join hands and sing "Kumbaya."