The FastDay Forum

Another maintainer here - since last October/November.

I'm with dominic in that it's not a lot different from when you're trying to lose weight.

Here's something I posted earlier today on the main Mumsnet 5:2 thread (well worth checking out, folks - much the same ethos as on this forum!):


"I've been successfully maintaining for about 8 months now - mainly on 6:1, but with mini-fasts later in the week if I've gone a bit mad at any time.

I do it because I feel so bloody good - absolutely full of energy.

But it's also the health benefits that attract me. For motivation, check out some of the links I recently posted at the end of the Tips and Links thread.

Reading all this stuff keeps me on track!

I ate very well last night, and I'm going for a 36-hour liquid fast today - saves a lot of mucking about. I'm planning to do one every two weeks - and keep the calories down to <200 on the alternate week.

Oh, and I've instituted a No Evening Snacking (NES) routine which has been largely successful. Eating late at night was always one of my downfalls - now I seem to be out of the habit.

Recently I'd put on about 5lb whilst we were staying for 10 days with my son and his family. I was back to normal within a week of returning home. "

The beauty of this WOL is that all the tricks you discovered whilst losing weight can be employed in maintaining. For instance, as well as the above, I'm considering cutting out breakfast - which will have the effect of giving me a 16:8 lifestyle. Given all this, I can pretty well eat just what I like the rest of the time, whilst still fasting, and gaining all the health benefits.

I've said many times about this WOL, that since I began it, I've never eaten so much cake/biscuits/chocolate, etc - without gaining weight.

I shall never let another week pass without a fast!

Cheers, B&W

Ps. I've just remembered a conversation I had with my dentist about 18 months ago. I was asking her if it was OK to eat chocolate. She replied that it was, as long as I had it as part of a meal!

At the time, I dismissed the idea out of hand - but now, it makes perfect sense. Once a day, have a meal, finish off with a couple of squares of dark chocolate - and then don't have any snacks at all!

Very Well Done on reaching your goal. I'm sure you'll be fine maintaining as this WOE is so different to all the diets we've done before. Are you going to do 6:1 or will you try 16:8? Whichever method Good Luck with maintaining.

Congratulations - a great inspiration. When you look at it and see an average of a lb a week, you think it's not much... but 23 weeks later and here you are!! I've just finished my first day fasting today so have 23 weeks to go! Here's hoping I'm as successful as you

Snap, I could have written your post. Lost count of the number of times I've lost and gained the same damned fat over the years but this time, not only have I (over) reached my target but I have now maintained for 4 months, this is an all time record, actually, there was no record to beat as I have always been unable to sustain any loss so, I am thrilled and I believe I will now sustain this wol and woe because it is just so easy,

Ballerina x

Hey Ballerina:)

How many pounds did you lose? Did you count calories on non-fast days? This is my 8th week I believe. I lost about 7 pounds in the first few weeks but I've gone back down to maybe 5 1/2 pounds over all and it seems I've been stuck here for about 3 or 4 weeks now. I do not count calories on my non-fast days as I hate counting anything and this is what intrigued me about this WOE in the beginning. I've been on WW on several occasions so I'm used to counting/portion control etc but to be honest I just don't see how I can do that for the rest of my life. I see where you have reached your target and have maintained so I was hoping you could give me a little in sight as to how your journey has been while doing this WOE . I appreciate all your input:). Thank you and have a blessed day

Well done . Quick question how often do you all weigh yourselves?

Hi Debnorris,

I have lost about 2 st and am maintaining vey comfortably. I didn't count calories on my feast days but then I was also careful to not gorge and eat rubbish either. I could not stand WW, it drove me wild and, like a lot of diets, I ended up fatter at the end than when I started so this is bliss for me, good luck, browse the threads as there is a wealth of great advice,

Ballerina x

Well done and I know it will stay off. We have 5.2! For life

Thank you Bread & Wine for your advice. This WOE certainly is different from anything I have done before and my attitude to food has definitely changed over the last 23 weeks, so I am very hopeful that maintenance will be as simple as it should be.

Megashelley: I am going to try 6:1 because I do enjoy my breakfast on non-fasting days, so I don't thank that 16:8 is something I would be happy with. I realise that my 'eating window' could be later in the day but I tend to be an 'owl' and am very rarely in bed before midnight, so I do tend to eat something quite late on in the evening.

Muftanza: Personally, I weigh once a week,on Sunday mornings, for my 'official' recorded weight-in. Many other people weigh daily and there are pros and cons for that too. There are lots of posts around this subject so, if you are really interested, you could use the 'Search' box to find out more.

I don't think that I could have reached my target without this forum to help me on my way - plus it's very hard to eat whilst typing in response to so many interesting posts! Once again, thank you all for your good wishes and support .