The FastDay Forum

Hi there,

I've been on the 5:2 diet since February. All was going swimmingly so I decided to up the ante and try a month of 4:3 to really lean down for the summer holidays. The first week or so was ok but a few of weeks in and I'm going to have to return to 5:2. I just can't control my eating on feast days-it's insane, I'm like a crazy person. The psychological impact of fasting for 3 days in the week is just too much. In fact I'm paranoid that I have undone some of my hard work since switching to 4:3
I'm interested to hear if anyone out there had the same experience. I can't believe how much worse I coped on 4:3, particularly as I had no problems whatsoever with 5:2. I read somewhere that there is very little difference ultimately in the weight loss achieved on both these diets. I hope that's true.
Right I'm off to handcuff myself to a chair or have my jaw wired shut.

Thanks!
K

[Tracieknits]

Welcome to the forums, Kiki77.

I know some people on the forums have been doing or attempting 4:3. I think it's just too hard to incorporate into my lifestyle, myself I imagine I would need to get my jaw wired shut too! LOL

I've been doing 4:3 since I started at the end of March. I haven't had the problem you experience. I'm often in a state of confusion of whether I'm fasting or not, and don't tend to overdo it until I have three non-fast days in a row. The first fast after three days off is always really hard, too. I've sort of been trying to switch to 5:2, but have struggled because of that and fear that I will stop losing weight (I'm pretty sure this fear is just psychological, but somehow I still can't switch).

I guess everyone is different. I don't usually have so many social activities that I can't plan around it on 4:3. There was one really painful week a short time ago where I had to sit in restaurants or at a party and not eat much. Normally I would just switch to 5:2 for a week, but I had gained the week before, so that wasn't an option.

Like MaryAnn says, everyone is different. I've been doing 4:3 for 2 weeks now I think and on my feast days I can barely finish a portion of anything. My stomach (not my belly though, lol) seems to have shrunk significantly.

I have been doing 5:2 since January and I had a period of time where I binged for a few weeks, a few others have talked about the same thing, it may just be a phase which would've happened anyway?? Good luck switching

interesting, because most of the research has been in Alternate Day Fasting and didn't find particular overeating issues on the feed days.

[carorees]

I think mariposa is right, this phase happens anyway and wears off, hence the good results with ADF studies. Plus in the ADF studies the subjects did overeat on non-fast days but they couldn't overeat by enough to prevent them losing weight.

I have done the occasional 4:3 with no problem. You could try 4:3 with only a half fast on the last day (Friday?) whereby you skip (or have a v low calorie) breakfast and lunch but eat normally at dinner (so can include a dessert, wine etc). I've done this occasionally when I knew there was a heavy weekend ahead!

Thanks for the responses guys. Looking back, maybe I overestimated, or just panicked about what I ate. I might just stay with 4:3 but leave the third day as optional, or do a half day like carorees suggested, depending on how I'm feeling. I'm pretty near my goal-just looking to lean down so I suppose it's really important that I can sustain this woe as the last few pounds always take longer to lose.
Thanks for your words of wisdom!
Kiki

Plus in the ADF studies the subjects did overeat on non-fast days but they couldn't overeat by enough to prevent them losing weight.

True, that was one study of actual fasting alternate days. In one of the 25% calories on fast day versions ...

Dietary adherence on the fast day was high and stable over the course of the study (phase 2: 86 (sem 4) % adherence and phase 3: 89 (sem 5 )% adherence). Average energy intake was as follows: phase 1, 8104 (sem 748) kJ/d; phase 2 feed day, 7497 (sem 953) kJ/d; phase 2 fast day, 1725 (sem 351) kJ/d; phase 3 feed day, 6882 (sem 782) kJ/d; phase 3 fast day, 2460 (sem 192) kJ/d. Body weight decreased (P < 0·001) by 2·8 (sem 0·5) kg after 4 weeks and by 5·6 (sem 1·0) kg after 8 weeks of ADMF. BMI decreased from 33·7 kg/m2 (baseline) to 31·4 kg/m2 (post-treatment).

So in phase 3 - subjects at home, they ate 1646 cals on feed days and 588 cals on fast days (alternate days).