The FastDay Forum

When I started doing 5:2 I thought I'd found the answer to my weight problem. I was around 170lbs last January 2013, and gradually getting heavier. I started fasting at the end of January and lost weight slowly but at last I had found a way of reducing my energy intake that I could stick to indefinitely. I reached my lowest weight, 156 lbs around the begining of August 2013. Since then although I have continued to fast twice a week except for a couple holidays, I haven't been able to lose.
My current weight averages around 160 lbs. For the last few weeks I have been doggedly recording everything I eat & drink on MFP and trying to find a way of cutting what I eat an non-fast days but I haven't found anything that works for me. I stick to something for a little while, lose a pound or two, but then give in & end up bingeing and putting it back on - I'm just like a yo-yo dieter on 5 days a week.
Easter weekend is looming, and I have decided to relax and stop recording what I eat for a while, except on fast days.
Perhaps I have lost as much as I can on this regime, and will have to be satisfied that I am healthier than I was and have maintained my lower weight for over 6 months.
If anyone has any thoughts, comments or suggestions I would really appreciate your feedback.

Perhaps an extra fast day or doing 16:8 might be a good thing to try. It would reduce the amount of calories you consume per week without too much hassle and perhaps help stop the binging. Well done on the weight loss that you have achieved so far @Joyful Janet. I hope this was useful.

[carieoates]

Unfortunately many of us encounter this frustrating time. Like Auriga says, 16.8 will help. I'm thinking about doing 16.8 over the weekend so that I can have a jolly time but not over do it. Also I think we need to eat a bit more every now and then to get that cal deficit we need to get the benefits of fasting again.
Hope you have an enjoyable Easter weekend and get back onto the way you want to be afterwards. Good luck.

Oh @Joyful Janet, I feel for you. I am a bit of a serial dieter myself ( though hopefully not any more!) And have hit plateaux in the past. It seems as if my body just goes into maintenence mode when I have anothet 8 or 10lbs to go. My WW leader says "if you do the same and eat the same you will weigh the same." You might need to change something for a week or two. Add in extra excercise, cut outbread or dairy, do 4:3 or an eating window, go onto skimmed milk or cut out sugar. pick something that you do a lot of. Also, weigh/measure and log everything - both food and drink. . Extra cals can creep in with guessed measurements, bites of treats hete and there or milk and sugar in beverages. Have a look in the scenic route tent for more ideas.

My sister was saying the other day that she had read somewhere that the best BMI for longevity was 25 - 27 . So if you are happy whrer you are just keep on maintaining which you are successfully doing. I am not sure I am ever going to get my BMI down to 25 but if I can get down to a size 12/14 and preferably with a 50% waist height ratio I will be happy. The numbers aren't everything.
My husband who has very broad shoulders, was a rugby player and now a regular gym goer always comes out as overweight on BMI but when they do a skin fold is not

Hi @Joyful Janet Well done on the maintenance
I do feel that our body does have a happy weight but if you aren't also happy then maybe a few more trials to see if you can get the weightloss kickstarted once again.
I've been yo yoing 5lbs for over 4 months and just maybe our body needs that rest especially for me as my first 8 month saw me dropping 50lbs so shock I assume then shutdown, like you I was beginning to despair each week no loss then another plan then no loss
+ another plan etc, etc, etc, etc
I'd already reduced my carb intake with amazing results on certain health issues and felt much better for doing that.
I then came across carorees advice to Debs to reduce carbs even further going very low = 20g per day for 3 days
What had I got to lose? Nothing but pounds.
Because I messed up the count I actually did 4 days coming in below 20g on two of the days, result.
Plateau busted ( hopefully)
Fri 4th weighed in at 99*13kgs = 218lbs
Fri 11th weighed in at 96*2kgs =212lbs
6lbs down and hopefully gone forever, carorees explained that our body sometimes stops fatburning and the by going low carb we force it back into the fatburning mode again.
Worth a little trial I'd say 3 days is nothing compared to the wait you've had check out the eating window tent and then read from page 17 for the advice. Good. Luck

As Lil says some of us may never get into lower BMI reading, I am definitely one of those peeps. So am size 12/14, under 50% waist while still read a heavy 27BMI. Ramping up more fasting didn't shake the kgs so I had a break and am now back to 5:2.

. Just experiment I reckon as WOL means you are in for long haul and caroees says it takes our bodies around 5 years to firmly retain new lower weight and not wack the weight back on. So it is a long-term project we are all on here. May as well settle in. That is why I investigate all differrnt options as cheerfully as I can

Many thanks to all of you for your useful support and suggestions. I'm going to take the next 5 days off and not count anything. I have tried adding 16:8, but I seem to eat more in an 8 hour period that I do when I eat 3 meals a day! Logging my food and drink over the last few weeks has shown that I tend to eat high carbs, and my diet may be low on protein, so I think I will have to try and adjust this.
OK - decision - after the Easter break I will continue to 5:2 and track what I eat, but I will increase my protein intake and lower my carbs on non-fast days. Instead of limiting my calories, I will try limiting my carbs to below 100g so I can still eat some & not feel too deprived.
Thanks again, Auriga, carieoates, Scubachick, Lil, Sue.Q and gillymary for your suggestions. Feeling much more positive now!

Have a lovely Easter everyone

How are you getting on @Joyful Janet?

Hi Auriga,

I started counting carbs instead of calories and am finding that I am eating lots more veg. I need to experiment for a while, while tracking what I eat. It's too soon to judge yet, especially as I have just had a very demanding and 3 days kayak training 'holiday' where you have to keep up your energy intake, so low-carb is not an option. Back on it today though. I also need to get fitter, as I found out this weekend! It was good fun, though cold in the tent overnight.

Thanks for checking up on me, I appreciate the support

Nice to hear from you Janet and your holiday sounded really exciting! Good luck with everything and I hope that 5:2 works for you.

I think eating lower carb really works - I aim to eat around 60-75g a day and certainly under 100g and I find that that means I am not feeling deprived - I can eat loads of veg etc, whereas if I went really low carb a la Atkins I'd really struggle. This is from a woman who once thought she could never live without bread

I agree with @loversghost reducing carbs (being aware of who they are ) has been key for me, and I don't miss them either. I've just found out today that one duck's breast is nearly one third over my daily recommended protein, so I'll up the veg and keep a beady eye on protein. What a great journey and education fast day is.