The FastDay Forum

Has anyone tried fasting 3 days a week instead of 2? Im losing up to 1 lb a week but feel impatient to lose more, though I'm not too sure if its 'safe' to do longterm.

Quite a few of us do 4:3 instead of 5:2 but it's always recommended that you settle into 5:2 first I think. As far as I know there is very little evidence to suggest 4:3 speeds up weight loss very much (someone correct me if I'm wrong) Personally I prefer the rhythm of 4:3

I've been doing 4:3 as it fits better. Fast Mon,Wed,Fri, 'Feast' weekends.
It means the weekend starts and ends with a Fast day.

However - since changing from 5:2 to 4:3 my weightloss has completely stopped.
This week I'm trying a 3:4 to kick-start (Fast Mon/Tue, Thu/Fri).
We'll see!

I am doing 4:3 as its more viable for me with work and all. I dont fast weekends. I will eventually settle for 5:2 come winter and ramp things up with indoor workouts like the 30 day shred. I am only in my third week but I am pleased with the progress so far. Weight wise and inches lost.

Hello. I am contemplating going 4:3. It seems to be Mondays and Wednesdays that work out best for me fasting wise as I often eat with friends on thursday evening. Going from weds to monday with no fast feels like a long time to undo all my hard work, so when I've fasted proper on mondays and wednesdays, I am trying on fridays to either fast or just 'eat low' (i.e. no brekkie, bowl of porridge or something for lunch and a fast-style dinner). I'm not seeing it as a full-on fast but just as a kind of 'see how it goes' day.

Currently my work can change week by week and can be quite active so I've been fitting my fasting days around that (next weds I'll be doing lots of digging so probably won't fast). I'm not sure if an extra day helps with more weight loss, but maybe if you like to eat lots on food days (like me!) it might prevent gains?

Whatever works for you I guess!

Yep me.

too early to tell as only a week in. im looking forward to tomorrow's weigh in. as it should be lower than ever.

I've been doing 4:3 from the start and have had a steady weight loss, apart from one week on holiday and last week (which I don't know why I didn't lose weight). I do Monday, Thursday and Saturday usually, but adjust for any social engagements. I haven't found it a problem so far.

I tried 4:3 when I wasn't losing but didn't see much difference.
Currently, I'm doing 5:2 but 2 days of 5 are half-fasts since I'm doing Dukan attack on Mon/Tue and the calories are usually less than 1000 daily.
Personally, I find it easier than 4:3 and the weight loss is not bad at all!

May be coincidental but i started 4:3 about 3 weeks ago and finally am seeing the lowest ever weight for the time on this Way of Eating.

I mentioned it before.
On average i gain 200g on feast days.
I lose on average 400g on fast days

5 x 200g on feast days = 1000g gained
2 x 400g on fast days = 800g lost

net... 200g gained

well i wasnt gaining but i sure wasnt losing

so do the sums again on 4:3

4 x 200g on feast days = 800g gained
3 x 400g on fast days = 1200g lost

net result : 400g lost


i know its a bit simple my math. but it seems to work for me.

From a nutritional intake point of view.. would never go say on a 3:4 (4 days fasting) plan so 4:3 is just perfect. (for me)

I've done 4:3 for several months, started on ADF tho so it was a relaxation. Only ever lost the average of 1 lb a week, but pretty regularly. I might eat more than 500 cals, as I don't really measure any more.

Just taken a week off and struggled. It's fine but don't expect it to make a huge difference, it just gives you more flexibility/structure, which I like.

I wouldn't be impatient with a lb a week, it's still 3600 cals deficit and anymore, I would worry about skin and sagging, depending on what size you are now.

It does add up, 6 months in and I'm two stone lighter.

I'm doing something of a 4:3. I fast Mon/Wed and a half fast on Fri (fast all day with a normal meal and a few drinks in the evening). I don't track my weight closely. I'm still losing. Like HopefulHeart, I like the rhythm of 4:3.

My husband and I have looked forward to pizza and SciFriday for years. If it weren't for that, Friday would be a full fast day for me.

I do a 2:1 which is 2 days normal and 1 day fast repeated (I don't do much socialising so weekends are fast territory for me).
This means that every other week I do a 3 day. But the 7 day length of a week is rather arbitrary in my eyes.

I do a 2:1 which is 2 days normal and 1 day fast repeated (I don't do much socialising so weekends are fast territory for me).
This means that every other week I do a 3 day. But the 7 day length of a week is rather arbitrary in my eyes.

Interesting concept the 2:1 you bring up.. if it works for you thats great.

My problem is i would forget which day i have or havent fasted (unless i did a chart thing on the wall) and the day of the week thing is my instant reminder. I just know my Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays are fast days and dont budge it unless i have a dinner appointment or some other reason then will switch days for that week (which is rare).

I have been doing a sort of 4,3
Two full fasts and the third one may be a little over .i have done this nice the beginning as I only had a small amount to lose and have always struggled to lose wight
It's worked well for me but by that I mean I have lost about 500g a week as predicted ,no more
However,I suspect if I had done 5.2 I wouldn't have lost at all
I think I am almost ready to do 5.2 now to maintain....probably next week as I am going away for a short holiday.

Logically it makes sense that you will lose more doing 4:3, as long as it's not affecting your metabolism or causing overeating to a greater extent than 5:2.

I've been doing 4:3 since the start (23 March) with the intention of switching to 5:2. I've never been able to switch. Part of it is the rhythm, as HopefulHeart mentioned, and part of it is psychological (fear I won't lose on 5:2).

Many of the human studies on IF have been on alternate day fasting. I don't think you need to worry that 4:3 is extreme.