The FastDay Forum

Good morning from a sunny Sweden

I'm on my 6th week and has done 12 fasts so far. And lost 9 kilos! I think I might be going too fast? I really want my skin to keep up and I feel really fatigued on fast days.

I eat around 2000-3000 on non-fast days and 600+ on fast days.( TDEE 2500) I have around 5 more kilos to go but maybe I should try 6:1 for a few weeks and see what happens? Or could I up my calories on fast days or would I lose the health benefits?
I don't do any extreme exercise - just yoga and walks.

Of course I'm delighted with the weight loss but I don't want to lose this fast.....

Any thoughts?

[Betsysgr8]

After I get over my blue eyes turning green, do you have any medical conditions that might account for the rapid weight loss? Hyperthyroid? If you average 2500x7 =17500 and now are 2500x5=12500+1200= 13700 is a deficit of 3800 calories per week is well over a lb a week. Do you feel unwell at all? Or a bit hyper or manic? You might want to see a doctor to make sure nothing else is happening to contribute to the rapid loss.

[Betsysgr8]

Oh and good evening from me, lol I'm about to head to bed just waiting for hockey to end. Others closer to you will be awaking soon and give you some ideas.

Good evening and Thanks for that idea Betsygr8 - my mother has suffered from hyperthyroid and I know it's hereditary. But I thought I was in the safe since I'm now 41 years and it usually debutes earlier. But I'm probably pre-menopausal and any hormone changes can trigger it if I understand it right. But I actually didn't think about it in regards to my weight loss so definately something I should check. I have a doctors appointment in a few weeks time so I can ask her to run the test.

I don't feel hyper o manic, just really tired.

Nadiaj, it's not unusual to lose alot in the beginning and then for the weight loss to slow down a bit. If you continue to lose 1.5 kilos per week, you might want to cut out a fast day (or make other attempts to slow down the weight loss). But if it has already slowed down a bit, I wouldn't worry too much.

I'm jealous of your high TDEE. Are you very tall?

Thanks for your reply MaryAnn - yes I'm 185 cm ( 6 foot 1 inches I think it translates?)
And you're right about rapid loss in the beginning, this last week it was only one pound so maybe the "problem" solves it self.

Well that's the problem with the rest of us then. To quote Garfield - we're not over fat, we're just under tall!

Well done nadiaj. If I were you I'd keep going until you get to the normal BMI range and then ease off or see your doc if the weight keeps falling off.

Hello, this is my very first post but I just had to reply as I too am losing phenomenally quickly!
As of this morning I've gone from 84.8 kg to 72 kg since 8th April I've gone down 3kg this week alone.
I thought my scales were wrong but they are working perfectly. I'm starting to think something might be wrong with me. I'm in a FB weight loss group and feel like they must think I'm lying so I'm embarrassed to post my losses! (Ridiculous I know) I used to lose very slowly on other diets, like 1/2 lb a week, so I can't figure out what's happening here Any ideas?

Wow! I don't have that problem, but if I did I would probably try doing what you suggest and either eat more on fast days or fast only once a week. From what I understand you would still get the health benefits from fasting as long as you have a fast period (16 hours??) on your fast days.

Beena - have you got an idea of your TDEE? Are you eating enough on repair days?

Hi Nicky, my TDEE is 1724 but I take no notice and just have 500 cals on fast days and eat whatever I want on feast days. I do zero exercise-just housework.
My appetite has decreased since fasting but I think that's normal. I eat crisps, cake, chocolate I drink wine and probably consume more calories than I should so this massive weight loss is a mystery! One plus is that all my friends want to try fasting as they can't believe how quickly it's coming off me I'm going to keep going until my goal then will do 6:1 and see if I can stabilise.
I'm either very jammy or very poorly (!)

Maybe you're just lucky then! In any case if you feel ok and don't have any reason to believe you have a medical problem why not just carry on!

Maybe you're just lucky then! In any case if you feel ok and don't have any reason to believe you have a medical problem why not just carry on!

my thoughts exactly

I was thinking that too.
I think new newly rediscovered scales are broken I weight myself Tuesday for first time since starting 5:2 and had lost 6kg in four weeks
woke up feeling good this morning I though why not jumped on the scales they say i've lost another 4kg that surely is impossible nobody I know can loss 1kg a day.
I know ive up the exercise the last few days but that just does not seem right, now I'm wondering if I really have lost that 6kg to date that it said Tuesday , I'm just feeling very confused now and don't know if I'm losing too fast or not

Well it is great to hear people doing so fantastically well with weight loss! It is also puzzling!

Beena, have you been conscious of being any hotter than usual (physically I mean!) Maybe you are blessed with lots of active BAT (brown adipose tissue) that has been acting like a radiator and burning off lots of calories for you? BAT is located in upper chest and neck. If so it would be interesting to know what has triggered it (being in the cold might do it).

Tammz, without more info it is hard to comment except that the rate of weight loss does seem extreme!

Nadiaj, I notice that your waist:height ratio is already below 0.38 which seems pretty low. If this is really correct it makes me wonder how much more weight you really need to lose. Waist:height is considered a better health marker than BMI and such a low WHtR combined with your BMI must make you a natural 'pear' shape. (For more info, do a search for 'Ashwell shape chart' in the Google Custom Search box on the left here.) If you've already lost all your visceral fat you will now be losing subcutaneous fat or muscle mass, both of which are healthy to have.

More generally, the maths says that our weight loss should be roughly 0.13kg for every 1000 of calories we save over our TDEE. So for a normal person that translates into roughly 0.3kg per week on 5:2.

Our forum stats show mean loss of 0.57kg and median loss of 0.45kg but these are both skewed by the relatively large number of beginners with large losses in the first 3 weeks. The long run weekly loss as you can see in the chart 'Week by week weight loss in kgs over first six months' is not far from this theoretical figure. The chart also shows how weight loss is much higher in the initial weeks - especially the first - and declines until it reaches pretty much a steady level from about 3 months in. This extra loss is water. As you may also have noticed, your weight is liable to swing quite a bit between when you end a fast and when you start the next one - water again.

So star losers thank you for posting and do let us know more. Your huge losses are a puzzle and one which it would be good for us - and you - to understand better.

Beena - interesting that I'm not alone. And your loss is even more drastic! How do you feel over all? Are you fatigued as well?

Dominic - Thanks for the info on Ashwell, probably more relevant for my body type. I don't look overweight and I have a very classic hourglass shape. Broad shoulders and fairly broad hips with a rather tiny waist. My hips and bust are 100 cm and my waist 68 cm.
In my youth I weighed 70 kilos and looked really sick. 80 kilos and I look really slim. So I think My goal weight of 85 is reasonable but my current weight is probably healthy enough since my fat is now only on my hips. I will try to take the last kilos slower and the fatigue will probably go away.