The FastDay Forum

Fasting today. It's 11am and I am going well with only a cup of coffee inside me so far.

Caught up with a 55 year old friend today who announced he is going in for lap band surgery in the near future. I have another friend who had the same operation a few years back and passed away on the table. I suspect his BMI is in the high 30s or low 40s. He has said, in the past, 5:2 was too difficult to even attempt it. So now he's opting for surgery. Thoughts? Experiences?

Hope your fast is continuing well, @fat_teacher

I have a friend who had some sort of gastric surgery to help with weight management - not sure if it was a lap band or something else. Anyhow, she had major complications and nearly died. A year later, she had to have more surgery to deal with some of the damage from the original surgery, but that went ok. She did lose a lot of weight and I believe she has kept it off, though I haven't seen her for a few months.

Personally, I would avoid all surgery unless there really was no other option - and the person's quality of life was so poor that it was worth the risk.

I know that some people who are very overweight just can't seem to find a way of eating that helps reduce their weight over a longer term. I guess I have trouble understanding why this is the case. Not from lack of empathy (I hope!) - I really would like to have more insight into why this is.

I'm fasting today for the first time in a long time. I hope I can do it! I have another busy day and I have a can of chicken soup for lunch, if I need it. For dinner I'll be having my leftover shrimp fajitas from the other day. They will be quick to prepare, which is good on a fast day! I'm hoping one fast day a week in addition to my eating windows, will help counteract splurging that I do on the weekends!

Yeah, I'm not sure about the surgery. It does work for some people. But I've seen others who gain the weight back. The thing is, you still have to change your eating habits if you have it done and also figure out the psychological reasons why you gained so much weight. While I"m overweight, I'm not so much so that it's really difficult for me to function or life threatening, so I can't totally put myself in their shoes!

Have a great day everyone!

I'm in. I had planned three in a row this week because I messed up so badly last week. But then i realized that was crazy, so I'm doing MTu, ThF instead. Still a bit crazy, but this is the price I pay for my sweet tooth.

Good luck, Thursday fasters!

I'm fasting today too after a long weekend of indulgence which saw my weight go up by 3lb in 4 days!
I had an egg salad for lunch and will have a salad with some left over roast beef for dinner.I need to get this back on track, last Friday I saw a low weight I hadn't seen for 18 months and was feeling really pleased with myself. Hey Ho

I'm not fasting today - far from it - but just thought that I would poke my head in and say 'Hi' to anyone who might remember me! I was shocked when I realised that I hadn't been here since last October - just before we went on our last cruise probably, apart from a brief visit in January.

it's good to see that not everyone has abandoned the site and it's lovely to be back!

Yes @Cblasz and @Sassy1, I agree it is hard to put oneself in the shoes of someone who is so obese that their day to day health is severely affected. He said to me yesterday, "You know me. I've been fighting this my whole life. I was overweight in high school." Which is true. He is on a hundred medications, has a sedentary job, and can't even enjoy golf anymore because his weight restricts him. He said he longed to walk around the course again instead of being restricted to a cart. Losing weight is hard. God knows I've been up and down for twenty years. Surgery is not for me but then fasting is not for him. To each his own. Just surgery is so risky- especially when so very obese.

A good fast on Thursday. Down to 106.1kg on my post fast weigh in. Yay!

Nice to see other people coming back to the forum like @Stowgateresident and hardcore fasters like @Maryann. Four fasts in a week!?! Good luck to you!

Hi @fat_teacher

That is so sad about your friend. As you say, I really can't imagine how life must be for him. Has he had a team of health professionals, including a psychologist and dietician, and a lifestyle coach perhaps, working with him to help find ways to become healthier? As cblasz says, even if he has surgery, he will need to make other lifestyle changes, and that won't be easy. It's great that he has you as a friend, does he have other support networks?

Many overweight people have cycled through ups and downs with their weight over the years. I do believe that, unfortunately, in most cases "diets make you fat". Unless you are lucky enough to find a way of eating that works for you and is sustainable, and allows you to address the reasons you were overweight in the first place, then this cycle may well keep happening.

Obviously there is no easy answer to weight management - otherwise we would all be applying it!

You must be pleased that fast days are working for you and you are coping with them. Good luck and best wishes for continuing success.

@MaryAnn That sounds like a lot of fasting! Good luck!

RE: 4 fasts in a week

Well... 3 is standard for me, but I only did 2 last week. AND I had too many wa-hey days.
Also, I'm not so super-strict on cals these days.... I probably have 600-700 on fast days.

So it's probably not as impressive (insane?) as it sounds. haha