The FastDay Forum

I did Slimming World during 2011 and yes it works but....it just got so damn boring; hence I started slacking and of course the weigh loss stalled and I never got to the weight I wanted to be (in the meantime still handing over a fiver each week...). So, started 2012 thinking, I'm not going back to SW but I will continue the plan on my own. FAILED!! Couldn't do it without the discipline of knowing I was going to get weighed at class every week so put a stone back on. Started 2013, discovered 5:2 and hey presto find that it's a plan I can 'self manage', I'm losing weight on and I can eat the foods I want. More importantly I can cook the foods in the way I want them cooked ie. roast potatoes in lard thank you very much, not 'dry roasted' for god's sake!

nice one! i've done WW before too, prepare to buy yourself nice rewards with the money you'll save doing this and shedding lbs, i'm 3lbs away from my first stone off, 5wks of the 5:2, i find it easy really. i don't hop on and off the scales, tempting i know,
but don't! stick to one weigh in a week, straight after your 2nd fasting day.
keeps you focussed during the week too. Happy losing! =)

I've also cancelled my WW subscription too! Although I did lose weight following the ProPoints plan, I don't feel that it's sustainable as the thought of counting 'points' for the rest of my life seems pretty daunting. I find this a much more relaxed way to lose weight and can honestly see myself continuing with this WOL for a very long time

I too have kicked WW into touch. Just deleted them from my favourites on my computer at work literally 5 minutes before seeing this!! Just thought I wont be needing that again. My positivity with this WOL knows no bounds. Have done WW on and off for years but for most of 2012 started on Monday blew it by Wednesday and was just fed up with same old cycle of deprivation and misery. This is a sustainable WOL

I feel totally the same weight watchers was the only thing that ever worked for me 11 years later my metabolism and life was rock bottom struggling to lose 0.5 lb feeling like I couldn't live. Now enjoying a croissant with my costa gives me the biggest smile. My mum can't believe the change. Me and my husband went our for impromptu meal on sat because we could! It's just brilliant xx

Hi all, I am after some advice from those who did WW previously. I switched from counting points one week, to 5:2 the next when I had about 3 lbs to lose. At first, I did 2 days at 500 cals, 3 days counting points, and then ate what I wanted at the weekend. After 4 weeks I hadnt lost a thing and read on one of the forums for 5:2 that I was probably consuiming too few calories on Non fast days.
So, the following week I upped my calories on Non fast days and still didn't lose any weight, even doing 3 days of fasting because I was about to go on holiday.

Granted, I relaxed on holiday, although I would'nt say I binged. I then came back, did x2 fasts and weighed myself to find I had put on 3lb, which I was ok with, even though I was now 6lb over where I wanted to be. For the next week I did 4:3 to try and shift it, and for 2 of those days I was away at a wedding, so couldnt cook or prepare anything myself. I have no idea how many calories there were in anything I ate. But, I didn't binge, just ate until I was full, and assumed that this would be ok as that is the point of this diet after all. After that week, I weighed myself and had put ON 2lbs. So, I know I have swapped and changed the diet around a bit, but I'm so depressed to be 8lb heavier than I was before, that I am seriously considering going back to WW. I haven't been this heavy in 18 months, and have been maintaining at 8lb below this weight since Nov 2011. I want to know if anyone else experienced a gain when first making the transition from WW to 5:2. I understand that if you go from eating 2k calories a day to just eating 500 on 2 days that you will lose weight. But I was probably having 1500 cals per day (more at weekends), so might now actually be consuming more than I was before....I checked my TDEE as advised by another member, and that says I should have 407 cals on a fast day and 1626 on a feed day. So, I am now counting calories every day to stay within this limit, which is not the point of why I did this diet. If I am still counting every day then I may as well go back to WW which I know works for me. Please let me know if you experienced similar gains in the transition between WW and 5:2 as I am getting to the end of my tether and think I will quit soon. I dont necessarily mind staying the same weight and losing inches, but I certainly didn't start this diet to put weight on!! Sorry for the war and peace but I needed to explain the whole situation.....

[carorees]

Hi Ellabella and welcome to the forum!

I understand your frustration, but never fear...I'm sure we can sort it out! You don't need to keep counting calories in the long term, but to get an idea of what is going on it is helpful to do so for a couple of weeks. Did you check your TDEE using our progress tracker? When you have a couple of weeks of staying within your TDEE (on average so it's fine to go over some days and under on others) plus the two fast days per week you will have a better idea as to what your actual calorie needs are. WW and 5:2 both work on the principle that you eat less calories than your body needs to maintain its weight. However, as you lose weight a host of mechanisms come into play to try to prevent you from continuing to lose....your daily energy requirements (TDEE) go down, your hunger goes up, you become less active and your brain tricks you into underestimating how much you have eaten. (Please read my post about why dieting makes us gain weight for the technical explanation!) By counting calories for a little while you will be able to work out what your body is needing to maintain itself and we can go from there. Increasing your activity can help burn lots more calories (i.e., standing up more, walking around more).

They do say that you need to go a few pounds below your target weight before starting maintenance as there is always a gain when you stop actively trying to lose. Part of that is simply filling your glycogen stores (which are composed of glucose plus a lot of water). Your glycogen stores are chronically depleted while dieting, when you start eating normally again (as on the 5 feed days) the stores refill and the water your body needs for that causes weight gain. Whether you go back to WW or continue on 5:2 you will need to bear this in mind.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

some links for further information:
viewtopic.php?f=27&t=1006
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=395
viewtopic.php?f=27&t=288
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=5055

Thanks Caroline, I will try and stick with it and count on all days for the next 2 weeks, hopefully I will start to see a loss. I accept that my body is probably just totally confused with all the changes!

Sorry Caroline, just one point for clarification. I checked my TDEE on the progress tracker, it says 1626kcal on a food day, and 407kcal on a fast day, IF I have a sedentary lifestyle. I have had a pretty sedentary lifestyle for the past few weeks/months for a number of reasons, but have just started to re-engage in some exercise now. To give an example of this week;

Saturday - Walked the dog, 1 hour
Sunday - 10k race for life run (walked some of it) - 1 hour 13 minutes
Monday - 20 min swim
Tuesday - no exercise
Wednesday - 1 hour personal training session
Thursday - plan on 30 mins swim
Friday - 1 hour private yoga session booked in

So, although my body is not necessarily used to exercise recently, I am doing a lot this week and in the coming weeks to change that. Usually have 1 yoga session a week, and have just signed up to 2 PT sessions a week, and will run, swim, use the gym etc, and of course walk the dog in between times.

The progress tracker said if I had an active lifestyle I should do 2007kcal on an eating day and 509 on a fast day, but last time I did 2000 it didnt seem to work? My gut feel is that I should be aiming for somewhere in the middle, say 1800 cals for example, but just wanted to get your advice?

I fasted mon and tues this week, eating today and tomorrow, fasting friday in preparation of the BH weekend when I am on sat, sun and mon. Back on the fast next tues. Does that sound ok to you? And sorry for all the questions! I just want to get it right!

**out sat, sun and mon I mean!

[carorees]

Sounds fine to me! I'm sure your gut feel is correct, 1600 sounds too little for the amount of activity you are doing/will be doing.

I don't think one needs to micromanage things...your body evens it out over time so that as long as you are overall eating less than you burn then you will lose weight. I aim to end up the week having averaged around 1500 per day (that includes the fast days) as my TDEE is estimated at around 1800, so that's 2100 down on the week. I'm losing about a pound a week at the moment, so clearly my TDEE is actually a bit higher than 1800. But I don't eat the same cals every feed day...some days I'm not very hungry and end up having only 1200, but if at weekends we have wine with our evening meal and a dessert and perhaps some nibbles beforehand and some cake with coffee in the morning then I'll have had maybe 2200 cals. I think that mixing things up works best and keeps your body guessing so go with how you feel and eat to satisfy your hunger...just track your calories rather than try to restrict yourself and see what it comes out like. After all, in the end we want to be able to go about our lives without always calorie counting so we need to get used to eating to satisfy hunger without overeating.

I gave weight watchers the flick when propoints came in and a glass of wine went frim 1 point to 5 points - forget it, I'm out of here!!!!!

I cancelled my Monthly Pass last week, I did also do it about a month ago but was talked into coming back. I originally cancelled my mp when I first bought the 5:2 book. Weight Watchers worked for me for many years, I lost over 30lbs when I was in my late teens and then over 50lbs of post baby weight. Then they brought in Propoints at the end of 2010. Looking back at my weight tracker I'm the same weight now (give or take a pound or two) as I was back then. It's a bit disappointing when you think how much I've spent on the diet, not including food, since then. 5:2 is the way forward IMO

I lost 2 1/2 stone on WW about 10 years ago - starting point was near 12 stone - heaviest I'd been till then. Lost the weight, felt fabulous, then life changed, couldn't keep up the points counting. 3 years later I was up to 13 stone and I've been yo-yo-ing ever since.

Sustainable weight management is the ultimate goal. Really hope I've - we've all! - found it now.

Weight watchers gone for me too just e-mailed them to cancel my subscription! I have lost more weight on 5:2 in 4 weeks (5lbs) than that have on weight watchers in a year!
And an extra £11 in my pocket too