The FastDay Forum

Yeah, I'd happily weigh 100 kilos and fit in my size 8 skinny jeans!!!

Look they fit!

OH you are mean!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 3:)

To the OP. I wonder if your wife could do with getting a check-up at the GPs? You say that dieting for a long time has not helped her. I can remember my mother doing the same after my second sister was born, and boy did she struggle. Eventually it turned out to be an underactive thyroid (in her case, cancer) which at least explained things. Now, with neither a thyroid gland nor a gall bladder, she still finds losing weight tricky.

I don't want you to panic! It just might help your wife to find out if there is something underlying that is working against her best efforts.

I do think that some of the information in the book is confusing, and sometimes Mimi seems to contradict Michael. Mimi espouses some facets of other diets (such as having a huge downer on carbohydrates in some passages of the book, and still counting calories on the "normal" days). Michael seems to be more down to earth and laid back. Then again, Mimi did not need to lose weight from what she wrote, whereas Michael did, and he was also trying to avoid the threat of diabetes. Nothing like a motivator!

Best of luck to you both.

Insx,
The thread has generated so much interest from people who want your wife to succeed and feel certain that this WOE is the way to do it. We can't all be wrong can we?

It's clearly working for a lot of people but there seem to be so many opinions on how to do it. Meanwhile, frustration mounts.

[carorees]

For the majority of people, I think it's not so much that there are so many opinions on how to do it but that there are lots of options on how to do it depending on your circumstances and preferences (so lots of right ways rather than opinions on what is the one right way).

For people who struggle to lose weight, though, we hope our questionnaire may reveal something of use. It is possibly a case of cumulative gains though, so for example combining fasting with low carb with exercise with increasing general activity with improving sleep with medical treatment of underlying conditions might all create a small boost to weight loss enough to cause a significant improvement in speed of loss.

hello insx,,i too have struggled all my life with weight done all the clubs etc. and like your wife did sw a couple of years ago and lost a brilliant 5st. then after having a major operation gradually put all on again. i started this 5:2 on 8th april and so far have lost 8lb i had hoped for more BUT the amazing fact is my clothes are so much looser and i feel like i have lost 2st!! lol,,i have more energy feel better in every way,,but what i found for a while was on feed days prob eating way more than i needed because being ex SW your told to eat eat eat (free food) the two kind of mess with your head until you realise that on feed days you dont need that much i find now 3 meals is sufficient on feed days i fill up much quicker. in my opinion this way retrains the brain much more in portion control where as SW kind of has you eating all the time even when you probably dont need it. good luck what-ever route she decides to go

good luck what-ever route she decides to go

She has no clue what to do next. She has done this for 12 weeks and lost about 3 pounds. I dare say the next step will be going back to some sort of restricted calorie diet which may or may not include fasting days. She hates all that weighing and recording type stuff though.

Did she lose ONLY 3 pounds? No more inches? No loose skirts/trousers?

I would encourage her to do at least a thyroid check...

Did she lose ONLY 3 pounds? No more inches? No loose skirts/trousers?

I would encourage her to do at least a thyroid check...

About 3 pounds and 3 inches off the waist early on and nothing since. The thyroid check sounds worth doing - will doctors do this at the drop of a hat?

[Betsysgr8]

The thyroid check sounds worth doing - will doctors do this at the drop of a hat?

Most likely they will, thyroid problems, especially hypothyroidism (low thyroid) is an extremely common condition.

Since I live in Greece I know how things work here. If you go to your GP and you tell them that you are on a diet for an X period of time and are losing nothing and you want to check your thyroid and whatever else they think you should check then they will help you.
It might be worth it to see if she has any other symptoms which might lead to whatever is keeping her from losing weight, note them down and go to the doctor's prepared.

inxs,

I can relate with your wife. I have been on every diet under the sun. You name it WW, 17 day diet, South Beach, etc. I would lose but always gain it back. I think I've gained and lost the same 5 lbs 100 times. I've always worked out too...5 to 6 days a week and play tennis. I like my food so I guess this is why I've always gained it back. Then I found 5:2....this was different. I could have my cake and eat it too!! I don't go crazy on the non-fast days but if I want something sweet, I eat it and don't worry about it. I lost about 10 lbs initially and then I felt like I had to step it up. I entered a Biggest Loser contest at work and lost another 10 lbs. I started running (which I hate, but it really broke my plateau)...now I'm actually liking it. I also, do HIIT which also broke my 2nd plateau. I'm about 10 lbs from my goal so weight loss is much slower...but I haven't been at this weight since I was a teenager. I can't think of every going back to a diet that has calorie restriction again every day. I love that I can eat/drink what I want 5 days a week. I feel like I have to work 10x harder 5:2, working out/running/HIIT....to lose weight. I hope you're wife finds a solution.