The FastDay Forum

[janeg]

I have absolutely no evidence to back this up but am wondering...
returners to fasting seem to be having a lot of bother shofting the weight despite doing what they did the last time.
Is it worthwhile not doing it the same way hten. So , if you did 5:2, try eating window/4:3 or some other type
PLUS, look at what is being eaten usually, and changing that. For example, upping protein/ reducing carbs.
Just a thought...

Thanks jane g
I tried eating window but it's not working but am going to try ADF for awhile
Will keep you posted

I started 5:2 to lose just 12lbs a couple of years ago and after a slow start where no matter how hard I tried, there was no weight loss even though I was going to the gym 3 times a week. Then after 5 weeks it started to drop slowly ... only half a pound a week but that was fine, at least it was coming off. I reached my target weight and then went on a maintenance diet of one day of 420 cals and one day of 1200 cals with the others up to my TDEE. Of course there were the occasional binges but any weight gained came off very quickly.

Anyway .... we went to live overseas for 7 months and despite doing the 5:2 most of the time, I really wasn't sticking to my TDEE on feast days and the weight very slowly crept back on. So as soon as we got home it was back to the fast diet with a vengeance, counting every last morsel of food and drink and again going to the gym 3 times a week. Seven weeks later - Weight loss = Zero, Inches loss = Zero. Gutted!

Now the reason I'm writing this is because something happened that's really odd. There was this bargain holiday to Greece I saw online and I'm afraid I just couldn't resist it. After over 7 months living in Asia I really fancied some good Mediterranean food, so we booked the week away. I decided that as the weight wasn't exactly falling off me and I was still having to wear only elasticated clothes, I would eat and drink whatever I liked and deal with the consequences later! And I did! I eat next to no bread normally but I ate 3 pieces of toasted bread with butter and jam for breakfast, lunchtimes usually involved either an enormous filled baguette or something with chips, and evening meals always involved bread (it's delivered to your table always), Greek salads smothered in olive oil plus a meat or fish dish and not forgetting the complimentary desserts and a fair amount of alcohol. Every day.

I prepared myself for the worse when I got on the scales when I got home and was truly shocked. A weight gain of ...... half a pound! I honestly don't think there was a day in my week in Greece where I consumed less than 3000 calories.

Anyway, back to the 5:2 with a vengeance. That half pound went 2 days later but now back to the zero weight loss.

Tell me .... this really doesn't make sense, does it?

By the way. I'm post menopausal, 56 years old. My weight is 141lbs and I eat 1645 cals a day and 410 on fast days. I just want to lose 8-10lbs so that I don't have to go out and buy a whole new wardrobe of clothes!

Hi and welcome @Mizztraveller Wow that's what I call a result, I've returned from a holiday to Greece weighed in 3 days later after doing back2back for 2 days
With a 4kg gain
My personal experience has shown that a carb heavy day or holiday makes me gain because I've learned from this forum carbs make us retain water and that's been my biggest problem water retention!!!
My guess is that's the answer you cut back on your carbs and had an unexpected small gain maybe that's the way to blow away any other weight.

I really relate to all this as I dance between 70-72kgs, desperately wanting to drop into the sixty-somethings.
I reckon whoever comes up with a working solution would make a mint!

Just read this on marksdailyapple site, what do you think?
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/signs-yo ... more-50186

[carorees]

Hi @mizztraveller
Our bodies have a tendency to resist weight gain and weight loss. I suspect that your body is doing just this, hence the lack of weight change in either direction.

At a weight of 141 lbs and your age your TDEE could well be lower than 1600cal/day so that you are effectively eating a bit over on most days and compensating for this on fast days. Add to this the fact that having lost weight results in a lower TDEE than the equations predict (so does being post-menopausal, being stressed, or becoming used to the exercise you are doing). It is always harder the second time around because of this. I think it likely that you are in perfect balance. To lose more weight you may need to change things up a bit. Maybe try adding another fast day or semi-fast day. Try a different form of exercise. Our bodies are very good at adapting to whatever regime you are following whether exercise or diet, in order to maximize efficiency. For example, In a study in which people who habitually skipped breakfast were told to eat breakfast while a group who normally ate breakfast were asked to skip breakfast, both groups lost weight whereas the two control groups who were asked to carry on with skipping/eating breakfast as normal did not! It seems that the change in habit made a difference. This might explain why your holiday did not result in as big a gain as you were expecting.

Carorees - I use the TDEE recommended for me on my tracker on this site. In fact, in comparison with other websites, this is one of the lowest numbers. What number would you suggest as being one that may work for me?

[carorees]

The equations used on this and all sites that calculate TDEE are just based on averages seen in a study population. Many people are not average. Losing weight can in some people drop their TDEE by 10% more than would be predicted by the equations. On that basis, I'd try to drop my intake by 10%. So that's 150 cals per day or 1000 per week, so an extra fast day, or skipping breakfast on a few days per week would do it (depending on the size of your breakfasts).

You could try it for a month and see what happens.

Thanks Carorees, I'll give that a try. I can't cope with missing breakfast because if I don't eat within an hour of getting up, I'm sick - always have been. I rarely reach my 1645 cal limit anyway so that shouldn't be too difficult.

[carorees]

You might like to read this article:
https://www.fastday.com/fasting/why-am- ... t-fasting/

One thing to keep in mind, is that if you have to severely restrict calories in order to lose, you will also have to restrict them significantly to be able to maintain, and the more you lose, the less you will be able to eat while maintaining. This may make maintenance too difficult. And the ugly thing about regaining after a weight loss is that you will have much more body fat (and less muscle) on you at the higher weight the second time you hit it.

I have certainly experienced this. I could wear a smaller size of pants the first time I weighted 150 lbs than I can now in the mid 140s because I regained a lot of weight after losing to 150 the first time.

So since you are already at a healthy weight, it might make sense to work on maintaining your current weight without gaining more, than to push for a lower weight you won't be able to stick at. If you can maintain for a year or two, you may find you naturally drop a pound every so often. But after menopause most of us find we will stabilize at a higher than wished for weight once we get into that normal range.