The FastDay Forum

Ok so still nothing after completing 5 weeks, been over my routine and played with my TDEE! Should I give up?
I want to keep going but I'm feeling rather depressed on fast days because I'm thinking "why am I doing this if it isn't working?" How come it can work for everyone else, including people with less healthy lifestyles (sorry) and not me?? feeling very sad and useless. Love reading all the success stories on here too. Should I see a doctor?

hi,i dont know enough about this to give you any proper advice, just sending you a hug. im sure youll get loads of help from everyone, stick with it

Hi Betty, sorry to read your so fed up. If you wait a while Caroline or Moogie will get to read your post and give you some advice.

Calories on feed and fast days ? Eating pattern and food type on fast days ?

Betty,

I am surprised you are not losing any weight. I would recommend taking a close look at what you are easting on fast days and how often. You are probably taking in more than 500 calories on fast days. Typically, juice and sodas can pack on a lot of extra calories. Also snacking can add calories. On a fast day, try sticking to one or two meals a day. Are you keeping a list of everything you eat on fast days? If you share it here, I'm sure someone will offer more insight. Don't give up.

[Moogie]

Indeed, it would be helpful to know a bit more about how you do your fasts - 1 sleep or 2 sleeps? How do you split your cals? What do you eat and drink on your fast days?

What sort of foods do you eat on your feed days? Do you know what your normal daily intake is?

Do you have an underlying medical condition (for example a Thyroid problem) which could be causing this? Have you seen your GP to be tested for anything like this?

I would have thought that by now you would have noticed some loss given your BMI and that you seem to be sticking with it. If we can't work it out from your food intake then it would be wise to visit your GP.

Perhaps it would help to keep a food diary in the short term just to get an idea of how much you're actually eating. It could be that you're overeating on feed days and therefore only maintaining (at least, not gaining!) by fasting. Or perhaps you've lost but it's being masked by your natural fluctuations in weight as you've got several stone or more to lose and you may find that your weight varies by several lbs from day to day and it may take a bit longer before the loss is visible past this.

When I started the 5:2 last September, I was so dedicated and 'into' the whole thing and even on 'feast' days (prefer the term non fast days) I cut down quite a lot more than maybe others do. I think that is why I got such a good weight loss (averaged 2 pounds a week), and now a total of 1 stone 9 pounds. I don't believe that you can keep eating huge amounts on non fast days and you will get progressive weight loss. We use smaller plates and dishes now on non fast days, and I tend not to snack at all, as it gets me into habits I don't want again, which makes fast days harder. I believe that the discipline goes through my life now and this becomes a good habit. If you aren't losing weight, remember the health benefits from the fast days, and then maybe look at your overall food intake. When I watched the Horizon programme last August, I found it hard to believe that eating big Macs and stuffing your face on non fast days would lead to progressive weight loss - though I am not suggesting for a moment that you are doing that!

I would say keep a food diary too, write what you eat, why you eat and the calories. I always ate as I was bored, not hungry. I still do somedays too! Sometimes I find it helps to see it in black and white. Also write down your calorie intake allowances for each day. Make sure you aren't going "mental" on your feed day. I still use treat size fun size chocolate bars as a treat then (mainly as I have a mild soya allergy and can't eat normal chocolate often) but even with chocolate i can eat i tend to put my allowance in small bag and when it's gone, it's gone! Try dropping your snacks and increasing exercise even if you only go up and downstairs 30 mins to hour a few times a week, you don't need an expensive gym membership =) exercise will help you feel better too, or it does for me! =)

My wife is in exactly the same boat but I swear she is looking slimmer. I have nothing more helpful to say, seems it doesn't work for everyone.

Thanks guys.
I do 2 sleep fasts. If I get peckish I have a cuppa soup 89 cals then a main meal on fast days, mostly fish and veg then 40cals kept for a wee highlights before bed.
On feed days I tend to be around the 1500 cal mark apart from weekends it's closer to 2000 cals. I don't drink juice, can't stand fizzy drinks, only water/tea. If I snack it's on nuts, don't eat crisps. Chocolate is confined to weekends and small amount as a treat. I even upped my cals as per the tdee but not helped. I'm just unsure on how to proceed. I'm sticking to this 100%, even gave up the wine.

Hi BettyB4, I started this WOE in Jan and lost nothing for the first 4 weeks. Despite being fed upI stuck with it and now I am losing a pound a week. I am not doing anything differently perhaps my body just took time to adjust. Hope that helps. Flower

If you're not doing it already, have you thought about tracking your body fat too? That figure dropping, even when the scales don't, has kept my motivation going for 11 weeks (and only 6lbs off). Losing inches is a good indicator too

[carorees]

Have you worked out your TDEE? There are links to online calculators in the FAQ (link to FAQ in my signature)!

I've decided I'm going to stop moaning. Keep with it. I know I'm doing it right. I'm not stuffing my face on feed days, if anything I'm less hungry. I'm going to stick with it, keep up the gym/swimming/walking. Maybe it's just taking a while for my body to adjust, I've always struggled to lose weight. I feel better on this, my energy levels are up and I don't want to give up. I've had a really great fast day today. I feel good and ill weigh in tomorrow and also take my measurements. I might just weigh in one a month from now on? As long as I'm not gaining eh!

Hi! Are you counting calories of nuts as they are very high... I have recently realised this and have drastically reduced nut & seed intake.