The FastDay Forum

I have had some good success with CR - started January 7, 2013 and lost 12kgs in about 8 weeks. I saw Dr M interviewed on a TV segment and was alerted to the 5:2. Hadn't seen the Eat, Fast, ... until recently (from a link on this Forum) - I'm in Australia and I don't think its been shown. I did see his Truth about Exercise tho and found it fascinating.
Anyway i bought the book, and have been reading just about everything on this site.
It was bought to my attention on the Skipping Breakfast topic viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2100&start=15
that i may not be doing the WOE as intended.

However, I am really fearful of eating TDEE as i don't think I'll lose weight (or very little) My experience on the odd occasion I have been out to friends or a restaurant for a meal, despite eating lightly in the early part of the day, and being careful with my choices, (choosing, BBQ, grilled, steamed etc. meats) NOT having desserts BUT having 2-3 glasses of wine, I find that I immediately put on 1 to 1.5 kgs the following day and it doesn't move for up to 5 days. (I know you might say i shouldn't weigh daily, which i am guilty of, however, i feel i need to monitor my weight closely)

I feel a bit trapped now and since Dr. M managed to lose 14 lbs in 5 weeks, I'm not sure why people say that this WOE will generate an average of 1 lb loss per week.

I lose more with CR however i did want to make this WOE work for the added health benefits as well as more freedom from CR. I'm trying to eat closer to TDEE (2.200) as in 1300-1500 cals, but with skipping breakfast i can't fit more healthy meals in.

I am in Obese category BMI around 38 - so have plenty to shift. I do some walking up and down steeper paths, (3-4 times per week for about 40 mins) and do two easy dance classes per week as well as a Personal Training session once a fortnight. (for increasing fitness, not necessarily for weigh management as this doesn't seem to be the answer anyway) I am about 5"3", I have just turned 60

I want to lose more than 1 lb per week as i need to have major surgery and don't want to spend a couple of years getting to goal - i would be happy to get to Overweight category around 11 stone.

Thanks for reading.

[janeg]

Hello Marie2mil and welcome to the forum.
I can understand your fear of changing to this way of eating- it takes quite a change in mindset!
Plenty of people on the boards are in the same boat as yourself and are managing to lose weight steadily.
When I first started, I couldn't see how you could eat 'normally' and fast so I kept to a calorie restriction on the feed days of 1200 cal. The weight did move, then I had a holiday and restarted at the begining of the year without CR on feed das. It is so much easier and less stress and I am still losing. I have a very slow metabolism, am now overweight rather than obese and am losing gradually.
Some people on the boards actually find that eating slightly over the TDEE on a coupl eof days accelerated the weight loss. There are lots of explanations about why this happens in the 'nerdy stuff' section.
You can also track your expected weight loss based on a similar profile to your own in the 'progress tracker'.
Hopefully, by reading through some of the info on the board, your mind will be eased and you can enjoy this way of eating and get the health benefits too. Be kind to yourself, ask any questions on the board- lots of really helpful advise freely available and do let us know how you get on.

Welcome Marie2mil, Sydney here. The Horizon programme is scheduled on SBS on 22nd April. It really is quite tricky to get your head around this WOE at first particularly if you are a long term dieter (like me!) but there are lots of good reports in the progress tracker section from people who have been doing this for 6 months plus and are having really solid long term losses. Good luck with your journey - these forums are really helpful and friendly.

[carorees]

I'm not sure why people say that this WOE will generate an average of 1 lb loss per week.

Our progress tracker is tracking weightloss from over 1250 users. The average loss per week is 1lb (well to be completely accurate, the mean is over 1 lb but the median is 1 lb)....I'd recommend you check out the progress tracker, it's really useful and you can filter the stats to see how people like you are doing!

Good luck with your 5:2 adventure!

MM did a lot of walking (as in a long distance path) too whilst also following this WOE.

Either calorie restrict or fast, don't double count as you'll end up starving and miserable.

If your health permits, I'd be trying to walk a lot more if I wanted to get fitter for surgery. Having a starved metabolism won't help with either.

Good luck and do have a look at the Tracker, it's illuminating.

Hi Marie2mil! I recognize the difficulty with allowing myself to eat not CR on feed days - however, there are studies showing that intermittent fasting with free intake on the oteher days works (at least) as well as CR, and preserves more muscle mass (i.e. loss is from fat tissue), as well as having a stronger positive effect on blood lipids. Basically, what you are doing is still full time CR. You'll find many posters here with similar stories, so take a look around at what their experience is.

Well done on your food choices, but also on the exercise! Agreed, exercise alone is not the way to lose weight; however, it helps to keep the weight off long term, builds muscles (which then use more calories ), and has other beneficial health effects like the fitness you mentioned. You really seem to have a good program going there!

Michael Mosley is just one person, and like someone else on the forum pointed out, he combined 5:2 with walking the Pennine Way... The data of many participants here on the forum give a better impression on overall loss (mixing men and women, ages, and starting BMI). However, as carorees has summarized in the post on average weight loss, the higher your BMI, the higher the probability of losing more than 1 lb per week. Other factors also play a role, of course. On the fantastic progress tracker, use the filters to only look at women your size (and age), that will give you a better indication on what to expect.

How about giving 5:2 with TDEE intake on feed days a try for a limited period of time, like 4 weeks? Then you can reassess at the end of that period how it works for you.

Good luck!

Dear people
Thank you so much for taking the time to reply; and for your thoughts, advice and support.
I will certainly look at the Tracker (which I haven't done so yet). I really do want to embrace this WOE.
Cheers
Marie