The FastDay Forum

I started 8th April with weight loss in mind, but now it just feels so good. I know I am only 4 fasts in, but I have been astonished at how well I feel on those days and the day after. Not quite got to the point where weight loss is secondary (I have a lot to lose), but I love the energy.

I am on the 5:2 for the weight loss but not just that. I am already getting other benefits from it such as no longer being at risk of diabetes and having a lower cholesterol level.

I am in it for both. I would like to loose about 5 kilo's. And I would like to turn back the aging process a bit and feel healthier.

Yes and no.

When I am over a certain weight I suffer with knee problems, and terrible acid reflux/ heartburn due to a hiatus hernia. So, although vanity is a huge motivator for me and I want to look good in my clothes, I also want freedom from these medical problems.

I also have arthritis in my toes and carpal tunnel syndrome (they think, am being tested soon) and as both are inflammatory conditions, it makes sense to try a WOE that may help.

I gotta say it's 90% weight for me, and pure vanity. I was well within the healthy weight range for my height when I began (at about the mid-point, with a small waist measurement), but I was starting to notice my upper arms getting a bit thick, and my rather large behind looking less perky than in the past! THANKS GRAVITY! I'm about to turn thirty and am at that age where if I don't firm things up (I also started doing a lot of weights at the gym) my healthy-but-curvy body will start to flop and sag and generally go to seed. I'm not ashamed to say that being sexually attractive is important to me (because attracting people I'm attracted to is important to me), and I'm really not ready to give it up yet! So I want to lose about 4kg total such that I'm on the leaner side of the healthy weight range.
Although I'm doing this for vain reasons, I do care about my health - it's just that my main concern re: diets is that they seem to be actively harmful to health - I wouldn't bother even attempting 99% of diets because I know that the research shows they do not work and are actually harmful. I am only attempting this one because there seems not to be evidence of harm, and because I was already aware of some of the research on fasting. I'm still a *little* concerned but am going to see how I go. Five or six weeks in I'm finding it fairly easy, and it seems maintain-able, which is obviously critical. While I do get hungry and some mild negative side effects, I also feel some positive side effects in terms of energy levels and mood, which I take as a fairly positive indicator....

It is really interesting to read everyone's responses to this great question. I have always felt the need to lose weight to be healthy, but the Horizon programme and the book took my understanding of the potential benefits to a different level. Having lost several members of my family to cancer and heart disease, I now have hope that I may be able to protect myself to some extent by following this WOE. It just feels like a really positive thing to do for myself.

So whereas, in the past, my main focus has been weight loss, now, I have had a more healthy shift mentally, to thinking about the good this is doing for my body, weightloss will be a bonus and I feel a lot more cheerful.

I do want to & need to lose weight but it was the health reasons that drew me to this WOE. I have a chronic illness & worry what effect all my pain meds are doing to my body. My memory & concentration are bad, I don't much energy & have mobility problems so exercising is limited.
12 weeks in & weight loss is good but as I've said elsewhere on the forum it's the other effects that have been a revelation. I feel much better in myself & the difference in my energy levels is amazing & it's not just from the weight loss as I've lost weight on diets before & never felt like this. I feel now that fasting days are treat days - for my body.I look forward to them & get a real buzz from them.
I don't expect it to cure my chronic health problems but am hoping it will help me cope with it.

I don't mean to sound sanctimonious but I'm practicing the 5/2 lifestyle mainly for SPIRITUAL reasons. Prayer and fasting - no joke.

I am so absolutely doing this to lose weight....... I can't wait to be slim.....for me it would be a dream come true.....(lifelong dream) but I am absolutely doing this for the health benefits too.
I have had quite a few health issues in the last few years and I don't want them to get worse. Another reason is for my family, they are a pretty unhealthy bunch and if I can show that this WOE can improve health perhaps I can persuade them to give it a go too.

Another reason is because I work in health and I see women every day who have the same health issues as me, it feels rather lame sometimes trying to help others when I can't even sort my own health out. Once I have some good results of my own I can suggest to them that they research the potential of 5:2 for themselves.

Finally it just makes sense to me to give your digestion a rest, the more I read about fasting the more convinced I am.

After we saw the programme my husband was keen to try it as he is worried about his mind going so said he wanted to improve his synapses. Looking at him on a day of fasting though I am not sure about the benefits for him as he is usually ravenous and not feeling too good but he is losing weight and is down to 169 lbs this morning. He doesn't want to lose any more weight so I have to feed him up inbetween fasting days.

For me it is more about getting down to a 'normal' weight range on my Wii! When I got it in 2009 I was in the 'obese' range and through dieting (Eating Clean and Rosemary Conley on and off) I got down into the 'overweight' range and there I have sat for the last 9 months, going up and own a few pounds and unable to restart the downward line.

I quite enjoy my fasting days as it means I do not start eating until perhaps 1 or 2 p.m. when we have our first meal of the day and then dinner at 7 p.m. I always found years ago pre husband and kids that I did better if I didn't kick off the day with breakfast, so for me this WOL is manageable. I intend to keep it going and am just waiting for the appropriate recipe books to come out here in Canada so I can get some more inspiration/variation on evening meals.

Good luck to all.

It seemed to me that the main reason for IF is the health benefits, with the weight loss just a bonus if you needed to lose weight

Health benefits and weight loss for me. Both the original Horizon doc and subequent reading provided, to me anyway, compelling evidence of the health benefits of fasting, specifically the way in which it influences IGF-1 levels. I see the weight loss as an inevitable consequence of chewing on only 600 cals twice a week !!

The under-researched bit it the extent to which the body, in the absence of IGF-1, actually does go into some kind of repair mode. Yes, the evidence points to lower incidences of heart disease, stroke and cancer amongst those with low levels, but I'm not sure the actual mechanisms are understood.

If true though, that low IGF-1 levels are the secret to longevity and good health in old age, then surely every biotech company in the world will be researching this area in due course.

Nope, not just weight loss but I am sad to say that I wouldn't just do it for the health benefits if there wasn't weight loss involved. My BMI is 22.8 but I'm small boned and I'd like to get it lower for longevity anyway.

Confession time, I have a couple of health problems - chronic thoracic pain and pre-cancerous liver tumours. I had one removed in 2008 but 2 new ones appeared when I was pregnant. Thankfully they aren't growing quickly or at a size to be removed because if took me 12 months to recover from the first surgery. The confession part of this is that I smoke, just a little (flame me if you want), at night with a glass of wine once the baby is asleep. I am finding this nearly impossible to stop even though I did when I was pregnant and breast feeding. I spend a lot of time worrying about lung cancer etc so whilst I am not using this to lower my guilt, I don't smoke on days I fast so I can now foresee quitting. Which is important and necessary.

Health benefits are important but weight loss is brill x x

As an ex-smoker I know just what you are going through. It's really tough stopping smoking but you WILL do it. This WOL works its magic in lots of ways and when you are ready, which sounds as though it will be fairly soon, you'll be able to stop. Wishing you all the very best, and please keep posting on your progress!

My BMI is 20.7
I was drawn to this diet from the Horizon show regarding 'new brain cells'. I have MS so perhaps it might help...if it doesn't no worries I like myself with a BMI of less than 20. Still above the 18.5 healthy range recommend!