The FastDay Forum

[Moogie]

Hi everyone, and a happy new year to you all!

With a new year comes new years resolutions and for some of us that will mean a fresh commitment to continue with 5:2 and reach our goals while for others it marks the beginning of a 5:2 journey.

You may recall we trialled an online fasting program in November and December of last year with a group of fasters, new and returning. The trial run was a resounding success, with almost two thirds of the triallists losing at least 3% of their start weight (in just 6 weeks!) and 83% of them rating the course as "Excellent". We're really grateful to everyone who took part, the feedback was invaluable and has really helped us make the program even better ahead of its official launch.

So, without further ado I'm delighted to announce that we are launching 'The FastStart Program' this month! The team has been working hard to develop the course content and the technical stuff. We've even been working over the holidays to make tweaks and improvements following feedback from the trial run - that's how excited we all are about this!

The website and full details of the course will be available really soon, but in a nutshell the online course has been designed to get you started with 5:2 fasting, guiding you through your fast days with meal ideas, support from your course leader, presentations, chat meetings and much, much more. By the end of the course you'll be a fully fledged, well informed faster with a group of fasting buddies who started alongside you.

edit: here's the official page! https://www.fastday.com/buzz/the-faststart-program/

The first 6 week FastStart Program will begin on January 15th 2015 and costs £40.
If you're looking to start fasting but are feeling daunted by the wealth of information available, the course will present it to you bit by bit and in an organised fashion to help you take it in - and more importantly to understand how you can apply it to your life. If you need to start fasting again with some extra guidance or if you know someone keen to fast but in need of a helping hand, FastStart may be just what you or they need!

If you'd like to know more just follow this link to register your interest:
http://eepurl.com/_SY7n

Although the first run of the program is based around GMT, international participants are welcome as there will be transcripts of the live meetings and q&a can be done via the discussion board

Please do pass this on if you have friends or family who may be interested too.

I'd like to reassure you all the that the free content on FastDay will remain free! The course is totally optional, please think of it as a booster for those who feel they need it, much like many apps these days are free but offer extra content or support for a cost. There is a lot included for the money, as you can see here:

About this program
Lead by an experienced faster, who will guide you through the first steps with intermittent fasting, FastStart is a comprehensive introduction to the FastDiet. You’ll have two ‘fast days’ a week during which you will have a restricted calorie allowance (starting at 750-800 calories and decreasing to 500-600 calories over the first three weeks). The other days of the week you can eat normally.

The program includes:

• Twice weekly meetings where you can chat with your fellow fasters and ask questions of your program leader
• A weekly themed presentation on topics such as the science of fasting and weightloss, monitoring progress and target setting, basics of nutrition, emotional and binge eating, adapting fasting to your lifestyle and planning for the future.
• A program dashboard with the program schedule, access to your progress trackers, details of the awards you have gained and more.
• Progress trackers to allow you to monitor your weight, waist size and body fat.
• A chat room which enables you to connect with your fellow course participants to encourage each other, share your experiences, and generally chat. Visit frequently, to both give and receive support. Scientists have found that this kind of online support can really help with successful weight loss.
• A question and answer board where you can post your questions for your program leader and read replies to questions from other participants.
• On fast days, there will be a virtual meeting in the chat room when your leader will be answering your questions, reviewing your progress and explaining what’s happening next.
• Calorie counted meal plans to make your fast day food easy to plan, prepare and satisfy you.

Comments from some of our triallists:
Such a great experience! I've lost 6 pounds in 6 weeks and now feel like I've maybe found a new way of eating long term. I'm feeling a lot more in control of what I'm eating and why I'm eating it.
Helen, Leicestershire

I am so pleased with the knowledge and weight loss I have achieved in just six weeks! It has certainly given me encouragement to continue and made me realise I can fit Fasting around my life style! The programme was run extremely efficiently and was made even more enjoyable due to our mentor Caroline who herself had achieved a great weight loss by this means so knew how we were feeling on the outset! It was good to have a lot of support easily available at any time of the day - questions were answered promptly, the tech guys ironed out any technical problems very quickly! They are a good team who work well together and are eager to get us all to our goal but not only that but to show us the health benefits too! A big thanks and well done guys! Intend continuing on this journey!
Terryl, Abu Dhabi

Excellent introduction to fasting. Plenty of information, prompt answers to a variety of questions. Great support from a knowledgeable leader and group. Would recommend!
Wendy, Scotland

I have always had an overeating issue. Not just the wrong things but the volume always seemed much more than was normal. I clung on to the warm safe full feeling after meals and snacks, never allowing myself to go hungry. I could not keep eating this way and expect to be healthy as I got older so for me this programme has taught me that being hungry isn't life or death. And that nothing bad happens to you if you miss a meal. It's not been easy but with our leader’s help I have stuck at it and turned my way of eating around to feel satisfied with less volume and adapt my stomach to want less on my non fast days. I can now go without a meal and not panic. That doesn't mean I'm not thinking about it, but I now have the tools and knowledge to cope with it whilst still feeling safe. It's a strange phenomenon and naturally thin people don't understand this need for food. But I'm sure there's plenty out there that do and if you are looking for a way to break this hold that food has over you, then here's where you should be.
Cheryl, Nottingham

Thanks for reading and for all your support - we've been a community almost 2 years now and the last 12 months have been particularly eventful. Here's to an exciting 2015 for FastDay and all who sail in her!

Moogie

I write this and await being shot down in flames but I find myself disappointed to read about the online course for which payment is required - one of the things I always liked about this forum was the fact that it was a sharing of knowledge that people had gained through their own attempts at fasting (without purporting to be experts or part of any big organisation like WW) and I have found it invaluable. The idea of paying for what amounts to the same thing to me makes it all just like WW or Slimming World etc which makes me a bit sad.

@loversghost do not fear! As far as I understand Moogies post, nothing will change, this is just an extra for anyone who needs more of a guiding hand. I stand corrected if I am wrong, but that's the way I understood it.

[carorees]

That's right @Wendy darling @loversghost, the forum will not change in any way. The program is for the nervous new starter who would like more guidance and support. I think we all know people who have said they would like to try fasting but are too afraid to try. Self-starters are always welcome here!

Thank you @carorees I thought so. @loversghost is so right, there is a wealth of information, support, friendship and laughs here all for free but often friends have congratulated me on my weightloss and asked me about my method and when I have told them about 5:2 and its derivatives they have said that they had heard of it but didn't know how to do it. I think the extra support idea is great, particularly if it is £40.00 for a 6 week program and that is all. It's a bargain if it aids new habit setting. I don't know much about the other types of paid programs, never having used one but I imagine that the cost is ongoing and not just for 6 weeks. Looking forward to seeing lots of new joiners and fallen off the wagon fasters here on the forum.

[Moogie]

Indeed, I'd like to reassure you that all the free stuff here will remain free! We've done our best to ensure the course offers great value for money and have put it together for those who want to start but just don't know how or can't digest the masses of info we have here. There does seem to be a demand for this extra helping hand to get folks on the right path. It's certainly not compulsory, nor here to replace the forum and FastDay resources, but we hope it will be well received and as highly praised as the trial run

Brilliant initiative @Moogie and for those not wanting to pay the free stuff is still here. Sometimes you value things more when you pay. and that may make people focus more. The amount is tiny compared to say Michelle Bridges 12WBT program which is I understand over $400 (Australian) over an 12 week period (dont quote me)

The benefits for your health and life and for your family's health and life is.. as they say in the ads.. priceless. \

I write this and await being shot down in flames but I find myself disappointed to read about the online course for which payment is required - one of the things I always liked about this forum was the fact that it was a sharing of knowledge that people had gained through their own attempts at fasting (without purporting to be experts or part of any big organisation like WW) and I have found it invaluable. The idea of paying for what amounts to the same thing to me makes it all just like WW or Slimming World etc which makes me a bit sad.

Well said that girl, that was my gut reaction too. It's the first time I've seen blatent money-raising here. The adverts are more subtle & can be ignored, but this ......... I have to reassess

I get you @loversghost and @AnnieD.
I also trust @Moogie and team researching and reaching out in the great way they do.

[Moogie]

I'm sorry you feel that way, @AnnieD. I wonder would you feel the same if we'd put together a few books and were promoting them? I know the course costs more than a book or two, but there is not only a huge amount of content and extra community features but also the benefit of a course leader who will be running the regular meetings, answering presentations etc. It's not cheap to develop and run the sites and the adverts honestly don't even begin to cover it. No, not everyone wants to do a course, but not everyone is able to find their own way without guidance and structure. I hope we'll get more newbies sticking around after doing the course though, as someone else mentioned often if you've paid for something you'll be more committed to achieving/sticking with it. Getting past the first few fasts is probably the biggest challenge of 5:2 and not everyone is blessed with the willpower. We really do want to help people succeed with fasting and I don't think the price is unreasonable for what is being offered. Perhaps I should have listed everything which is included, but I didn't want to make the post too long! Full details will be on the site soon for those who are interested -or for those who are curious whether we're offering value for money

In any case you are all welcome to your own opinions but please bear in mind it's impossible for us to please everyone - but our hearts are always in the right place.

Thanks@Moogie and a very happy new year to you - I'm a pretty good self starter in life, even with my first weight loss experience this time last year. But sometimes in life I'd value a little bit of personal support by introduction to things that feel beyond me - at that moment. So I like your leadership and mentoring programme.

I honestly think that any attempt to cover the cost of providing materials, whether it is in electronic or paper kind is totally legitimate and welcome and for me, expected. The books, if provided certainly will have a significant production cost.

Everything that is already here is still available at no "membership" cost and there would be no reduction in the enthusiasm by the "open source" community support we all give including me. I am forever grateful that the site exists and is hosted on probably no free hosting service and that enhancements are made by programmers who I imagine are also not providing services for free.

Just like the ads, the encouragement to join any fast-extra-support program at minimal cost can also be ignored if one feels happy with the free resources here. Indeed there may be newbies and re-starters who would be looking to make some kind of investment in their health and wouldnt mind replacing the money saved at the grocery counter over a few weeks with payment of things that have taken effort to put together. It's a bit like the wiki requests for donations you see from time to time. I actually do it every now and then to feel im giving back to preserve what i consume.

I say this as an "outsider" and user of the resources provided here.

I am just removing my foot from my mouth having posted on another thread about the excellence of this forum and the fact that it is free! The fact remains that the forum is excellent and has helped someone like me try something completely new and successfully lose weight when I had reached a point where I was starting to think bariatric surgery might be my only option.......

I have no axe to grind over the fee-paying course - I know some people really need the extra support and actually work harder at something if they have made an investment in it and I am sure that the £40 is in no way a representation of the cost involved to deliver this. I wish everyone who takes the course well and look forward to them joining us on the forum. I also hope that this in no way divides the forum population - I firmly believe that our strength comes from our diversity and have always felt that the underlying sentiment of the forum and those who administer it (note I do not use the word "run"!) is wholeheartedly to help everyone who comes here to achieve their goals.

Anyway - I shall climb down off my soap box now and hope I have conveyed what I am thinking!

Hey @Madcatlady - Yes, this forum is excellent and I understand the foot and mouth, I do that too Has that purple runt poppy showed its head this new year yet?
Now that I have entered maintaining I have spent the day - 6 hours reading the monthly maintaining thread conversations from Jan to Dec 2014 bugeyes: It was a great luxury! I read it all cos I'm back to busy work on Monday and need to learn about me from others before life is full and I don't have time to think/be mindful. I can now be mindful in maintaining, slow and steady. There is also great advice on the site for maintainers, the wonderful thing about reading peoples experience in maintaining is you can relate to where you fit - a light bulb moment. I did the same joining 52, read, read, read for 3 months!
So you are right - I too love the intimacy and diversity of the forum and how it makes me work very hard. I'd also like a personal home assistant, I can't afford that yet, never will but the thought makes me happy. So yes my thumbs up is to help people to 52 as I can see coordinating the forum is full on. To test an induction programme is good first step to real sustainability. xx

[carorees]

Not sure why you think you had a foot in mouth moment @madcatlady? The forum will always be free as Moogie said.