The FastDay Forum

18 fasts and only 2 pound lost......its a hard slog......and on my no. Fasting days been really good...nothing else to give up all my treats gone.....is it worth it???

Are you eating enough on feed days? Whilst it varies from person to person, being too strict makes it a diet, not a way of eating which is more sustainable. Are you mixing diets?

You should still be able to have some treats on some days. Best to post more information so people can advise properly.

Welcome Happy holidays!

Fast diet is a bit if a misnomer. Fasting twice a week doesn't create that much of a calorie deficit, particularly if you eat a lot over your TDEE on nonfast days. You are losing, which is great! Are you measuring? Waist to height ratio is actually a better indicator of health than weight.

If you want to speed up weight loss, there are a lot of things you can do. Add another fast day, calorie count non fast days to ensure you aren't going over TDEE, low carb, etc.

Have you actually checked your TDEE and do you stick to that on your non-fast days? Do you eat a lot of carbohydrates (they are the culprit not fats). If you re-balance your normal days eating to reduce the carbs and increase the fats and protein, bulking out with vegetables you could see a difference.

My diet before I started generally was cereals or toast for breakfast, pasta or bread for lunch, and a pie with potatoes or a rice or pasta dinner.

Those days are now gone. If I eat breakfast , its now a high protein one, anything on the english breakfast plate usually. Eggs, bacon, sausage etc. A slice of bacon with some scrambled egg gives a great start to the day. The fats also help you to stay feeling full for longer.

Lunch is now soup without the bread, though occasionally I do allow a chunk of home made bread to appear as a treat. Or I have a salad or omelette etc.

Dinner does have carbohydrates on it, but less than half of what it used to have. If I have a pie for dinner (the pastry counts as high carb) I very often don't have potatoes, but pile on the vegetables.

The changes have happened slowly, generally with me being a bit more mindful and thinking to myself what do I want, a swirl of cream in my soup or a slice of bread?

You have given the fasts a good try, I would say if adjusting to a high fat lower carb eating still doesn't work then you need to see your doctor and get your thyroid checked.

I think its worth continuing. Did you put on weight over the silly season in 2012? A lot of people do but this year you could say you maintained over Christmas 2013 . if you hadn't been doing 5:2 at all the last 9 weeks I wonder if you be better off? I think 2 pounds off ( and hopefully cms??) is still a positive situation. It must feel really frustrating for you to not see more of a loss on the scales but I strongly believe that this is the answer to better health and losing weight but I don't want you to feel deprived you can have your treats ( in moderation) 5 days a week can't you? That's pretty good. Just rambling here but please give it another 2 months and then we can reevaluate. Take your measurements if you haven't already ( at least the narrowest part of your waist) and I bet that now as life gets back to a routine you may get results. Plus think of all the repairing your body has been doing! Best wishes,
Xxx julianna
p.s. have a look at the ' Inspirational Weight Loss Stories' section on the index page called 'Slow but steady' written by forum member @toad. It is inspirational and may help you.

[Moogie]

Hi @happyholidays, I can understand your frustration at 2lbs lost in around 2 months, it is somewhat below the average rate of loss, and about the same as my current loss 18 months in and almost at target weight.

Can I ask if you would please give us a little more info about your situation?
What's your height/weight/BMI? How much do you want/need to lose?
What is your TDEE and how much do you eat on your feed days?
How do you do your fasts? (ie, what time to you start, when do you finish, what foods do you eat, when do you eat etc).
What sort of foods do you eat normally?
Do you have any medical conditions such as a thyroid problem, diabetes etc? What's your age, could menopause have anything to do with it?

Any additional info you can give us will help us to help you

My initial thought is that maybe you're trying the 2pm-2pm type method and not the usual 36hour fasts or that you've got extra calories sneaking in on your feed days which you don't realise, for example in a favourite beverage (juices are very high cal and alcohol is pretty awful for its nutrient-empty calories!).

As someone else has mentioned, the holidays may have a role to play. My goodness, I've lost nothing in the last couple of months but am very glad to have roughly maintained, gained for a couple of weeks over the hols and then lost it again. Much better than the usual half stone or more that I (and the majority of others in the country, if TV & newspaper stats are to be believed!) would have gained over the festive period.

Tag me when you've posted some more info and I'll try to help!

18 fasts and only 2 pound lost......its a hard slog......and on my no. Fasting days been really good...nothing else to give up all my treats gone.....is it worth it???

One of the sad things we discover when we get to know about calories and weight loss is how few calories our bodies actually need to maintain our weight (what ever it is), and how many more calories we have to cut from our diets to lose weight. The old days of eating like we used to (which caused us, presumably, to gain weight) have to go away and our thinking needs to be adjusted to appreciate that eating like we used to just won't cut it if we want to lose weight or maintain our weight loss.

18 fasts would have cut about 27000 calories from an average woman's diet, or almost 8 pounds worth. As you lost only two, I would have to guess you are either eating above your TDEE on your non-diet days, or over 500 cal. on your diet days (or both).

Here is how TDEE works - hopefully it will help. 5-2-diet-chat-f6/topic6600.html

And to answer your question, it is worth it. You would probably be two pounds heavier if you had not been doing 5:2.

Good Luck!

I am grateful for allur replys my stats are as follows....
Height........................5ft
Age 57
Present weight 146 lbs
Would like to be 135 lbs
Bmi.....28.2

Menopause finished 10 years ago
Have angina and on Bp and cholesteral medication( genetic not self inflicted)

I am calorie and fat aware so dont consider I am over thetop on my feed days....
WhT sbould I eat instead of bread? Is ryvita ok?
I am so frstrated with myself at not being able to master this, perhaps now my stats are up someone can give me a little more help.....
So for a start I will try no bread starting today.....
Again thank you all for your replys, I do appre iate them
:-D:-D
D

Hi @happyholidays Welcome I'm sorry to hear that you're still struggling but since reducing my carb intake both my weightloss and health are better for it my changes were cereals at breakfast dropped nearly all my days being 16:8 therefore cutting calories and carbs and from day one I dropped my lunchtime sandwich and have everything on a plate with loads of salads therefore again cutting carbs+cals.
My evening meals are now "bulked" up with either vegetables or salads and less potatoes for me these changes were just small + easy ones to make but my health benefits gained are enormous to me.
not sure if any of this helps you.

Thank you sue for your quick reply....
So.....no cereak for breakfast....what instead?
No bread....what instead?

Sorry this is not the answer you are hoping for
No breakfast on any day now = 16:8 days!!!
Working for me and many more but some people want/need breakfast for me I wake and now listen to my body saying not hungry so don't eat saving calories and loads of carbs and the carbs are the foods creating our cravings.

Hi and welcome:

Here are some tips for someone just starting 5:2: post68626.html#p68626

To answer your question, if you feel you need to eat breakfast, bacon or ham and eggs? Easily under 300 cal., leaving more cal. for later.

Here is a current thread that might explain: resources-links-f3/enjoy-eating-saturated-fats-they-re-good-for-you-t10796.html

Good Luck!

HI Happyholidays,

I spend a lot of time not losing weight, but since April I have lost 10 kilos. I never thought it would happen. I think feeling deprived and struggling is an unsustainable situation and no wonder you feel like throwing in the towel. Contrary to all the other advice here, I would advise relaxing your grip on non fast days. BE really strict on fast days, but on non fast days, eat what you want. It's a way of life, not a diet. You have the rest of your life.Trust it. What else are you going to do? Do you know of another diet that will work in the long term? I don't.

I don't know where you are, but if you are in winter at the moment, just congratulate yourself on not putting on weight. That was how I sustained myself over the winter months when I wasn't losing. I even stopped weighing myself because it was too depressing. Now it's summer and week by week the weight is dropping.

GO Happy Holidays. I believe it will work for you eventually.

If you need to eat breakfast happyholidays have a couple of poached eggs and fill your plate with grilled tomatoes and mushrooms, quick and filling!

I am grateful for allur replys my stats are as follows....
Height........................5ft
Age 57
Present weight 146 lbs
Would like to be 135 lbs
Bmi.....28.2

Menopause finished 10 years ago
Have angina and on Bp and cholesteral medication( genetic not self inflicted)

I am calorie and fat aware so dont consider I am over thetop on my feed days....
WhT sbould I eat instead of bread? Is ryvita ok?
I am so frstrated with myself at not being able to master this, perhaps now my stats are up someone can give me a little more help.....
So for a start I will try no bread starting today.....
Again thank you all for your replys, I do appre iate them
:-D:-D
D

Hi:

I compute your TDEE at 1550. Assuming you are doing your diet days properly and eating your TDEE the others, you are cutting about 2000 cal. a week out of your diet. That equates to a loss of around 2 pounds a month. Given the water weight ups and downs, you may be doing just fine on 5:2.

It is just so slow when you have a low TDEE like yours.

Good Luck!