The FastDay Forum

My wife doesn't really do forums which is why you got me on here doing all this "my wife" stuff. What I didn't tell you is that I have lost a few pounds, I'm back in the tens after a few years of being eleven-something. I'm eating much the same things on feed days which sort of proves the "eat as you normally would" thing. It's working great for me but I'm not the one with three stone to lose.

Insx, you are right with all you are saying.

It does only work if you stay below your TDEE on most of the feasting days.

But then if eating normally is above your TDEE what you are actually doing is getting some health benefits ( yet to be proven ) learning to control your hunger, becoming more aware of what you eat, and how many calories are in them, but most importantly you are not putting ON so much weight.

Your wife has had 6 weeks of eating what she likes for 71% of the week, and lost 1/2lb, she's saved £30 on slimming world, and hasn't had to sit in a Church hall with 30 post menopausal women slagging of there un-supportive husbands, I say she's done really well!

I do agree the "eat what you like for 5 days" is a lie. If like me you "like" to eat chips, clotted cream, and Trifle, whilst quoffing pint after pint of Cider, you arn't going to loose weight by just restricting yourself 2 days a week.

I hope you work it out, take Carol up on her offer, you seem so supportive, and loving of your wife, there will be an answer, and this basic framework of loosing weight is excellent in my opinion.

Good luck Mate.

Fantastic post, boboff.

I'm wondering if your wife, after following a SW diet, is over compensating on the feast days. Can you calculate how many calories she eats per week on this way of eating, and compare it to how many she was eating on the SW plan?
If, for example, she was on 1200 a day (as an arbitrary figure), that would be 8400 per week. If she is now eating (again, an arbitrary figure) of 2000 for 5 days and 500 on two, that would be 11,000.

Just a thought...

Maybe the problem is that we don't drink

Well there is your answer !!!! LOL!

I would love to know what her typical non fasting day eating consists of - just out of interest.

So, should she eat more or eat less?! Stay below TDEE or eat pizza every day? So confusing.

Hi Insx,it must be very discouraging for your wife, but if it was me I'd give it longer, stick to my TDEE on normal days.
I'm no expert but it must have something to do with being on WW for so long!....also I never realised it cost so much a month on WW!!!
Do what mr Bob says and fill in Carols form...wishing your wife

So, should she eat more or eat less?! Stay below TDEE or eat pizza every day? So confusing.

I am just wondering if her body is going into some sort of starvation mode if she is now fasting and not eating that much. I have noticed a few people mention that their weightloss has slowed when they are not reaching their TDEE.

The only way to tell is to give us an example of her food intake on a non fasting day.

Personally I think it has got be a case of eating too much or two little.

Hi Insx, personally I have been following this plan for the past 7 weeks and overall have lost 4 lbs, now that may not seem much compared to a lot of other members here but I have an underactive thyroid so losing weight is a very slow, tedious process for me even with daily thyroid medication.
If your wife is not overeating on her feast days and following the fast days to the letter then I would maybe think about a visit to the doctor to check for any underlying thyroid problem??

I have a real loathing for slimming clubs, the only result I have seen in many of my friends that have joined is that they now have a very abnormal attitude to food and feel constantly guilty - that is not even taking into account virtually no weight kept off and paying for the privilege of attending a 'meeting'! I really hope your wife can jump off that very expensive bandwagon.

This WOE is completely the opposite and I truly hope it works out for your wife. Btw well done on your own weight loss!!

Re comment of boboff about 30 menopausal women in a church hall, discussing unsuportive husbands !!!!!! Im a post menopausal woman and have spent the last 30 yrs or more in church halls in either ww or sw classes, we never talked about unsuportive husbands Just food !!
I did rather chuckled at the comment, Im so glad ive ditched that way of life now, lol.
I was dissapointed with my lack of weight loss this week, but am determined to carry on, and enjoy the freedom of Not dieting.
Im glad to be part of this forum and this WOL ,

PennyForthem, it's hard to say what she was eating, calorie wise on Slimming World as it isn't a calorie counting diet. She has filled in myfitnesspal a few times so I could probably post a fairly typical day from that but a typical weekend involves having a chinese or going to Pizza Hut. This is bringing on the frustration again though, the whole point was not to be endlessly calculating calories, weighing stuff and worrying about what she was eating but I understand that it would be helpful to know.

I've only joined this forum and started the diet today but felt compelled to respond to this post.

As a bloke who has spent most of his adult life overweight to differing degrees, I joined WW 18 months ago and lost 3 stone fairly easily. Due to a job change with lots of travel, hotels and dinners, I've managed to put almost half of my weight loss back on and am really disappointed with myself.

Having read about this diet and spoken to so many people about how well it works, decided to give it a try.

I totally get where the OP is coming from and it isn't going to work for everyone, just like WW and SW doesn't either.

However, the maths behind this and any diet is very simple, if the amount of calories you consume exceeds the amount you burn, you won't lost weight. The reverse is also true so by creating a calorie deficit, you will lose weight.

Some of the terms used for this diet alarm me - a so called 'feasting day'. What's all that about?

I get the idea of normal eating between fasting but for anyone trying to lose weight, surely 'normal eating' is what has got us here in the first place?

I accept the body does odd things and you can lose weight when least expecting it but ultimately over a decent timespan, eating too many calories will lead to an increase in weight - I can vouch for that through personal experience.

I'm happy to try this for a month and see what happens, if the weight is shifting at a sensible rate- I've never been one of those who lost 4-5lbs each week- then I'll stick with it. But if like the OP's wife, it doesn't give the hoped for results, I'll first take a long hard look at myself and decide whether I've fooled myself with my eating or this diet simply isn't compatible with my aims.

A friend recommended that I watch 'Eat, fast and live longer'. I did and I thought it was just what my wife needed. She has been yo-yo dieting for years and this seemed to be the end of dieting. The clear message was "eat what you like on 5 days and fast for 2, you won't be able to over compensate anyway". I bought the book (fortunately it is cheap) and the message was the same, eat what you like on 5 days, fast for 2.

First of all, if your wife is on the diet, why is she not posting on this board? She needs to take control of her own weight and health, or not. I don't understand why you are pushing her into a diet and then posting her results on the board.

Second, generally if someone gains weight on the diet, it is because they are eating too much. THere is no magic. You lose weight by eating less food overall. YOu cannot go out on the other five days and binge and expect to lose weight. The diet says eat "whatever you like," but it does not say "as much as you like."

[carorees]

Hi there So Simple and welcome!

There is nothing wrong with the maths that you have to burn more calories than you take in, but the problem is working out exactly how many calories you actually burn because of the changes that the body makes in response to calorie restriction as well as the natural variation between people.

It seems possible that a constant day-to-day small calorie restriction (as in WW, SW etc) has a different effect to having a couple of days severe calorie restriction coupled with 5 days of no restriction. If we understood all the variables and could plug them into a proper formula we could just apply the maths but everyone is different. Even if your thyroid hormone levels are within normal limits this does not mean that they are not different from some other people's levels. Those at the upper end of normal may have a higher TDEE than those at the lower end but the online TDEE calculators cannot tell you about that.

The term feasting day is probably misleading and I usually use the term feed day to mean normal eating but I have found that the occasional feast seems to boost weightloss. Now whether that is some kind of psychological effect of not having to restrict food or because of some effect on metabolism I don't know.

I think that giving it a go for a month or two is a great idea and then you can assess whether it is for you or not. I'm glad you have a realistic expectation because our stats show the average loss is 1lb per week, so it is wise to expect the loss to be gradual.

A lot (most?) of the people here have tried and failed on other diets because we did not have the discipline and dedication required to make these diets work in the long term and this new approach looks like it could be sustainable. But only time will tell about that!

Good luck with your own journey and keep us posted!

[carorees]

A friend recommended that I watch 'Eat, fast and live longer'. I did and I thought it was just what my wife needed. She has been yo-yo dieting for years and this seemed to be the end of dieting. The clear message was "eat what you like on 5 days and fast for 2, you won't be able to over compensate anyway". I bought the book (fortunately it is cheap) and the message was the same, eat what you like on 5 days, fast for 2.

First of all, if your wife is on the diet, why is she not posting on this board? She needs to take control of her own weight and health, or not. I don't understand why you are pushing her into a diet and then posting her results on the board.

Second, generally if someone gains weight on the diet, it is because they are eating too much. THere is no magic. You lose weight by eating less food overall. YOu cannot go out on the other five days and binge and expect to lose weight. The diet says eat "whatever you like," but it does not say "as much as you like."

Rufus there may be no magic but because we cannot tell without using sophisticated laboratory measuring equipment how many calories we are burning on any particular day, even eating below the TDEE calculated by the online calculators does not guarantee weightloss. A previous history of dieting can result in a lower TDEE which the calculators do not take account of; variations in thyroid function affect TDEE, the mitchondrial content of your muscles affects TDEE, the amount of muscle to fat affects TDEE, how well you sleep affects TDEE. The calculators make it look simple but they are only a starting point.