The FastDay Forum

It's hit a lot of us.. We are doing our fasting thing in whatever flavour you like, absolutely no change and boom... the scales dont move and the graph goes horizontal. Can strike at any stage in the journey.. In the middle, or the end when we are nearing our ultimate target

I thought we can gather the sufferers in this tent so we can explore ways of dealing with it. I'm not prepared to sit lying down letting nature take its course and just wait.

Please share your tricks for breaking the plateau quicker with either food consumption or exercise activity. If you have reached your weight loss goals, perhaps you can give us girls and boys some instruction.

A lot is talked about the "Set point theory" Please explain in the context of intermittent fasting.

How long has your plateau lasted?. So far i can say a good month for my own experience.

I know @Auriga recently started a thread about plateauing, so your thoughts are welcome here

thanks. and awaiting good news so i can reach the 69kg number again and then spiral down to the ultimate 68 and join you all in the Maintenance tent. My range is currently between about 70.3 and 70.9. This morning i saw 71.0kg but ill wait an hour, reweigh myself so I at least dont see that nasty 71 number. lol

Hi Juliana.
I haven't lost any weight since August, I've been doing 5:2 the whole time apart from one or two weeks. I'll lose a pound or two with each fast then re-gain it each time I eat normally.
I agree with the set point theory in a way. It must be to do with us not decreasing our calorie intake in line with our reduced calorie requirements as we lose weight. Doesn't make it any easier though and I've switched to 4:3 for a while until I start losing again and get down to my ideal weight. I'd rather add another fast day than worry about calorie counting on feed days

Hi Juliana.
I haven't lost any weight since August, I've been doing 5:2 the whole time apart from one or two weeks. I'll lose a pound or two with each fast then re-gain it each time I eat normally.
I agree with the set point theory in a way. It must be to do with us not decreasing our calorie intake in line with our reduced calorie requirements as we lose weight. Doesn't make it any easier though and I've switched to 4:3 for a while until I start losing again and get down to my ideal weight. I'd rather add another fast day than worry about calorie counting on feed days

Wow thats a long long time Jenny. The extra fast day should make a difference for you. I've started with 4:3 months ago so i can't add another day as thats just too much. So ideas anyone?

It is a long time. Too long. I've consoled myself wit the fact that on any other "diet" I'd have thrown in the towel a long time ago and probably regained everything that I'd lost but this is a WOL for me now and I'm content knowing at least I'll never be any bigger than this as I have the tools now
Since the new year I've greatly increased my exercise too, hoping this shows some benefits soon. How's the HIT going?

I have said it before on other threads and I'll say it here as well in case it helps anyone.

Krista Varady (the one M.M interviewed for his book and got most of his ideas for 5.2 from) suggests that if you get hit with a plateau you do 3, 500 cal days in a row and this will help jump start the loss. In many of her trials she says people had success with this approach.

Someone in a facebook fast group I am in tried this last week and had a 1.5kg loss over the 3 days - after having no luck at moving their weight in a couple of months. @Debs is also trialling this with her 3 days ending last night - just awaiting her weigh in results.

This could be the quick answer many of you are after..?

Please note this was only trialled by Krista in regards to the EOD fasting and not 5.2

Hmmmm! 3 lots of 500kcals? I may have a go at that if I stall again this week or put on again. I can't seem to get past this horrid carb craving I am suffering from. The 3 glasses of wine tonight won't be helping, but this is the first booze to hit my lips since the middle of January.

I LIKE the idea of re-feeding to kick weight loss again. Generally your body has gone into starvation mode, famine reaction, probably because you weren't eating enough on your feast days, causing too much of a deficit over too many weeks. So a quick burst of one weeks normal eating, up to and maybe a little bit over your TDEE should nullify the famine reaction/starvation mode and help you on your way. As long as you don't start under eating again.

A lot of people who have tried this also say that a week of normal eating makes you feel sluggish, ill, bloated and even causes pimples, so they are very grateful to be going back to fasting after the week. A temporary gain of 1 or 2 pounds is expected for the week.

[Debs]

Just posting this here too for you plateau peeps.

Morning all!
Well, I completed a three day fast and.....I'm still here, I didn't fall off the wagon, and I am at my lowest in quite some time. A BMI of 25 is beckoning in the distance, today it is 26.02.
The conclusions:
. I didn't die, collapse or faint after three days and in fact it wasn't too bad. Day 1 I ate about 500 cals, the secons 400ish, yesterday, nothing at all.
. I didn't suffer any brain fades, feel gaga or kill anyone! When I say that, it is difficult to assess whether I did get rattier than usual as I was already ratty from doing 21 days of work in a row, so I can't separate different degrees of rattiness
. I only had a couple of times when I was ready to kill for food, but I got distracted by work which helped. Last night was the worst as I decided to eat nothing.

I started on the 21st on 64.7kg, but I honestly think that was an aberrant weight as I was around 62kg prior to that, if I leave that weight out I lost 1kg. If I add it in I lost just under 4kg. My gut (ha ha) reaction tells me that isn't the case.

In conclusion, I haven't lost as much as I had hoped for doing a stint of ADF, but I am going to continue when I get back from break, during which I shall eat at will, inasfar as I can with a reduced appetite. I shan't hit my Valentine's Day goal weight which is a disappointment, but I shall keep on.
Incidently, I am getting my cholesterol tested on Tuesday when I go home, and as I stopped taking my statins I shall be very interested in the result.

How's the HIT going?

Don't ask yet. its one tool i have up my sleeves.

Are the 3 day fasts back to backm close to doing "extended fasting" which i think in early 2013 was shunned by @Moogie and the forum. I understand, like @Debs suggested, that you may not suffer fainting or other ailments but wondering if its shunned here generally as bordering on "extended fasting" as I would hate for people to read this thread and get sick or develop some eating disorder.

[Debs]

I would have to check what they originally said, but possibly. For me it was a one off to try and shake things up a bit. Time will tell whether it was a better strategy than refeeding, which I am going to do next week and I can't say I am an enthusiastic advocate of it. In fact as dedicated foodie, it isn't my favoured option any of the time!

From what I understood that related to near zero calorie extended fasts like the one MM undertook before doing 5.2

This in my opinion is quite a bit different as it is still inducing the calories of a normal fast day.

But if this is an area the staff would prefer not discussed that's fine by me

[Debs]

I also read in Brad Pilon's book that he advocates an extended fast of 48-72 hours once a month. I think mine went slightly over that, but I wouldn't be running around the forum telling everyone it is the bees knees.

Kudos@Debs for the one off 3 day fast! X

I may need more than a place to pop in, maybe more of a permanent residence. Still as annoying as it gets sometimes, it's not as bad as the steady weight gain that was happening before I found 5:2.
And @Debs good on you for getting through ADF and a 3 day stint.

[Debs]

Frustration does set i doesn't it? Especially when you have done well for quite a while. You are right though, at least it is going in te right direction!
Warm in the Blue Mountains today?