The FastDay Forum

Hi TML,

You sound in a better place today xx

I think the problem with worrying about maintenance, and I fall into this category as well, is that on previous weight loss programmes I found it so hard and restricting and even when I lost weight I was so miserable that maintaining was impossible. That's the difference with 5:2It seems to rewire your brain so that losing is, mostly, not too difficult (I know, I know, a lot of you are having quite a struggle and I did as well to start with so sorry for that one) so that by the time you reach maintenance you should be more relaxed about the whole eating palavar. I've not found maintenance difficult and I'm almost into 4 months now since reaching my targer weight and I can see no reason why this should not continue as I'm VERY comfortable with this new way of eating. Why would I go back to being miserable?

Hope this helps,

Ballerina x

Hi Swedey,

Sorry to hear that you are having a hard time. I am also a carb girl and I will never give them up but if I'm honest, I don't eat them in the quantities that I used to and this has come about naturally thanks to 5:2. I know what you mean about the problem being in your head, been there, done that, got the BIG knickers to prove it and the rest. I think it will gradually come about for ypu, it is early days and we all react differently. I hope it's not too far off when you stop noticing that you still have the urge to eat till you burst. 'Discomfort eating' is a very pernicious animal, keep going, it will all fall into place one day,

Ballerina x

Ah, I'm not sure if I am but I'm trying!

I've done many diets many times, most of them were crash ones before and after holidays so I knew that I was losing weight that I would gain back or that I was losing the weight I gained recently and just go back to my standard weight.

This is the first time in my life that I gained weight so suddenly and without success in trying to lose it and seeing that losing weight with 5:2 is slow but mostly consistent, it gives me the certainty that -one way or another- I will succeed with maintenance the way I succeeded with 5:2.

I haven't been on here lately, because we've been working 14-15 hours a day for the past three weeks getting our website up and running. During that time, I didn't do any variation of 5:2, I didn't weigh myself, I didn't count calories.

With the website now up, I decided to get back to two days off, one day on. Imagine my delight when I weighed myself yesterday to find that I'd lost a pound over the past three weeks with no effort at all, and a bit more since yesterday morning. I really think 5:2 and its variations can have a lasting impact, but I've been scaling back on my regular days. So, I each much more like a normal thin person, rather than what I normally ate before I started doing 5:2, and although I did have a cream and jam doughnut yesterday, and a cocktail, I also only had a bowl of soup for lunch, and a salad for dinner.

The thing is, before 5:2, I would have stress-eaten my way through the past three weeks and would probably have gained 5lbs. As I said, I truly think this way of eating can help with long-lasting weight loss, but there's no diet in the world that's going to allow you to over-eat five days out of seven and still result in significant weight loss.

Swedey, I would never just stop 5:2 and eat whatever under normal circumstances. It is the way things are now that I can't do otherwise.

Since you are managing to lose weight with 5:2, I'm sure that it will help you maintain as well and you will be able to eat all your favourite foods 5 days a week.

I also wanted to add that yesterday I wore a skirt and sweater that I haven't been able to get into in over two years (the sweater is snug, but it's a size small, and I didn't have to leave the skirt zipper half undone!). So, it's not just the scale telling me I'm losing.

Somewhere in June this quite extensive discussion happened on the forum.. . I think a lot of interesting things were said and for people like me and the newbies, worth a quick look.

Any new thoughts from anyone.

maybe someone can go through and highlight a few posts. I couldn't get past the bickering.

on eating normal: my personal view is that eating mostly healthy food is an important goal. sure, cutting out junk 2-3 days a week on fast days is a start on its own, but we need to recognize how we got here in the first place (those of us who were massively overweight). Not eating spinach. Now that I've lost most of the weight I want to (and I've said this elsewhere, so sorry for repeating myself!), I want to refocus on eating only healthy, minimally processed food. Drinking more water and less coke zero. Eating more fruit and fewer chocolate covered rum balls.

My weight has gone up slowly but after doing 5:2 for nearly five months I can see it was due to all the snacking and the second serves at evening meals. I've never drank many soft drinks nor ate much processed foods but if I baked cake I would eat two slices instead of one, every day, and two serves of risotto, home made curry, etc. instead of one with extra veggies or salad. The portions in restaurant are now often too big and definitely too rich. Still paying for last night's (fried in batter) seafood platter. Had all day only desire for more carbs... but it was a good night