The FastDay Forum

I'm curious to know other's motivations...what was the "last straw" that made you try 5:2?

Not being a serial dieter, for me it was the muffin top that ballooned above my jeans. I swear: one day it wasn't there and then the next day I could barely get in them!

Yesterday I put on those same jeans and I could pull them down without undoing them!

Mine was my size 16 jeans getting too tight and the fact that I didn't like looking in the mirror or having my photo taken, then when I brought some scales and saw the damage that was it!

I too have falling pants syndrome. My last straw is when I saw a picture of myself. All I could think of was the blueberry girl in the Willie Wonka Chocolate Factory movie. I have always struggled with at least 30 extra pounds and before I cared to admit it that number doubled. I really am happy with this WOE. It has helped me enormously. I mention to others in a similar situation and they don't buy into this plan. I guess some peoples straws are longer than others.

I was fed up with not being able to fit eating out & a social life into the strict calorie controlled diet I was following because I knew I had to lose weight. I was also tempted with the idea of being able to use fast days as a way of maintaining my weight when I finally do lose all my extra weight. Finally the possibility of the health benefits preventing a return of my breast cancer & declining into dementia because my Mother had both of these although admittedly she had dementia when in her 80's!
5:2ing has also given me a great sense of control over my food choices & the quantity I now eat

I had put that stone (14lbs) on again, I used to fast years ago to maintain my weight but stopped doing it when I reached 60 thinking I was damaging my health. Since then that bl........ Stone kept coming back and I followed all the usual diets WW, Rosemary Conley, Ducan Diet they all took the stone off but it kept coming back. When I heard of the health benefits of 5/2 I was delighted and started the stone has now gone I may try to go a bit lower and know if I fast 1 or 2 days a week I will maintain.

It wasn't planned or expected. Heard about it from a friend, then watched the Horizon video.

Up to that point I was frustrated that increasing exercise frequency and intensity didn't impact weight. A little sure, but not nearly enough. And for me, it mostly resulted in increased injuries and yet another lengthy recovery period. My quest for better half times turned into a string of $500 T-shirts and irritating DNS/DNF excuses.

I decided that my only rational alternative was to lighten the load first - to reduce weight and the resulting strain on the body, then work back into increasing mileage and speed.

It worked. Mileage is way up and climbing. Injuries are currently non-existent. Happier, healthier, much more alert and food tastes far better than I can remember.

I can do this forever.

Mine was going on holiday and nothing fitted, looking fat in photos and just generally feeling fat , fat and then fat!

For me it was part of getting older and feeling invisible and dowdy. I'm 45 in a month and have spent the last year as a mature (very mature) student. Middle age spread doesn't sit well with the student vibe! I think I'm enjoying 5:2, but the progress is very slow and I am definitely still thick around the middle. My aim is to comfortably fit into size 10 skinny jeans and miraculously reclaim the energy of my youth. I'm not there yet. I get very envious when I read about others on the forum being able to tug their jeans down without undoing them. I'm trying, but they keep gettin' stuck...

Fascinating read everyone; thanks for sharing!

I get very envious when I read about others on the forum being able to tug their jeans down without undoing them. I'm trying, but they keep gettin' stuck...

Hourglass, you don't mention how long you've been doing this or how far you have to go to size 10 skinny jeans (or if that's a UK or US 10) but anyway DON'T BE DISCOURAGED. I've been following this WOE for almost three months. You'll get there!

AND, you'll get there without depriving yourself of food, well except for the obvious deprivation.

I did it because someone mentioned it so had a look and, at 39, am a seasoned dieter. Have reduced before but then get fed up or eat something I shouldn't and give up! I never feel deprived or like I'm missing out and my size 26 jeans were really tight - should have bought the next size but was trying not to 3 months later I can fit into size 20 jeans - can't do them up yet but can get them all the way up I feel better, I exercise more and I know this is doable and will continue to do it forever - it has to be a way of life/way of eating for me and I want to be fitter at 40 than I've ever been!

I made my New Year's Resolution to lose weight this year when I weighed close to 14 stones (89kilos) Quickly lost a stone and then even more quickly put it all back on as I went on a carbfest. My scales weren't reliable so I used the machine at my local Boots. I was given a slip of paper with my bmi and fat percentage, which was 49 per cent. I was literally HALF FAT I was so shocked, I stopped on the way home to buy a copy of the Fast Diet and haven't looked back since. My weight is now just over 11stones (72 kilos) and my waist is nearly half my height. I haven't been back to the weighing machine in Boots yet, but hoping the fat per centage is more like semi - skimmed or even half and half!

I'm here because I was fed up of yoyo dieting and having no energy. Saw the book in the supermarket and have been hooked ever since. Started in April. A 3 week break for hols in May and back on for the past 8 weeks. Enjoy my fasting days and now into my size 14 (uk) jeans again. First time in 5 years. For me this is something that will now be with me for life. X

Some common themes here which I share. One, the hope that this is the end of a life-long quest to find a sustainable way to manage my weight. Like others, I've tried calorie counting, WW and Atkins and each time lost loads of weight and then put it all back on with interest. My life is anything but routine - I spend some time alone in London (so I can eat as I please) and a some time with family here or in India (so meals with family, fairly traditional way of eating). So far, this WOL has survived all the variations of my life where diets (WW and others) simply fell apart. True, the family are somewhat bemused but they're getting used to the idea!

And two, the health indicators. Both my parents have high blood pressure, cholesterol and heart disease. They were on medication by the time they were my age. I've been lucky so far but desperately want not to have to go on medication. If this WOL will do that for me, I'll stick with it forever, plateau or no plateau (preferably no plateau, thanks very much!).

I have lost 100 pounds or more, 4 times in my adult life. Im just about 63 years old, and while I can sucessfully diet, I have never been successful at keeping it all off. I regained 100 of the 162 I lost about 8 years ago. This year I went thru a nasty round of illness, breast cancer. Chemo, was absolutely the worst experience of my life, but I did lose over 30 pounds from it. Not wanting to regain it, and at least have something positive come from it, I starting looking at ways that would be less "diet" like, and had seen a few shows that mentioned 5:2, and then the final push was seeing the cookbook discussed on Good Morning America. Seemed like a good time to try something completely different from anything I have done.

So far, so good, Im 5 fasts in the books, and have lost about 7 pounds so far.

Thats my story and Im sticking with it

There was no last straw for me as such but, like others have said ,I just got fed up with myself and my amazing ability to keep losing and gaining the same fat, over and over again. I was already on slightly reduced rations when I saw the Horizon programme and decided that, AT LAST, this might, just might, be the solution for me, my own personal 'Holy Grail' of weight control. That is exactly how it has gone for me, I am now maintaining under my target weight and have been for months. This is the first time in my life I have ever done a maintenance plan, so quite a novelty for me. I see no reason why I should not continue this way of life indefinitely.

Ballerina x