The FastDay Forum

Hi all,

This is the beginning of week 4 for me, and overall I've gained 4lbs! Not at all what I was expecting .
I struggled with the first couple of fasting days and maybe ate more than my 500 calories, but since then I've found it much easier, and have a routine which works for me, and the anticipation of the feasting to come has become a real pleasure.
In week 2 I lost half a pound, but gained 2lb the following week, then this week I am somewhat alarmed to find I've gained a further 2 and a half pounds. I appreciate that this WOE is primarily for the health benefits rather than the weight loss, but since I am already overweight and my health is suffering as a result, I can't really afford to keep getting heavier! It also concerns me that if I'm gaining weight then maybe I'm not gaining the promised health benefits either.

I understood that by fasting for 2 days a week, then I don't need to watch what I eat on fest days, but perhaps I need to be permanently 'on a diet' for this to work?

Oh Stephie63 try not to give up hope yet... maybe there's a few things to tweak?

My experience has been that my weight loss got better when I stopped trying to spread the 500 calories across the whole day and instead dropped breakfast. So a typical pre fast and fast day will look like this: good homecooked dinner the night before around 7pm (like a roast with pudding!) then on the Monday I drink normal tea, herbal teas and water until about noon when I have a 100 calorie cup a soup and a rivita (40 cals). Then more water, coffee, tea in the afternoon (getting rumbly now!!) and then a real big plate of either a stir fry or whole fish with lots of vegetables and maybe a very small portion of rice or boiled potatoes. I find leaving myself about 350 calories for the evening meal helps me sleep better at night (dreaming of the amazing breakfast I'm going to wake up to!!).

I don't calorie count at all on my other days (my second fast day is Thursday) but I have found that as I have gone along I fill up quicker on my normal days so am probably eating slightly smaller portions as a result.

I weigh myself on Saturday morning before breakfast - same time every week - as my weight fluctuates A LOT during the week. Also I don't always lose weight but my trousers are hanging off me now after starting on 2nd Feb.

Best of all someone at the school gate noticed on Monday - YIPPEE!!

Keep going a bit longer and see what happens - I wish you lots of luck x

Don't give up!! I found that my 25% of TDEE was only 450 calories, so that is my fasting amount, Mondays and Thursdays, I don't eat all day, except pre portioned milk in my coffee, and save myself for a nice dinner. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday I limit myself to 1500-1600 calories which still weight loss mode but not extreme. My maintenance level would be 1850 to keep weighing what I do, which of course, I want to lose weight. On Saturdays and Sundays, I don't count at all but I can tell you most of my calories come from dinner and drink. I usually just eat a bit of toast for breakfast on the weekend. I am losing around a pound a week which is perfect for me. I'm happy with that and don't feel deprived in any way. So, I guess the point to this is rather than have 5 days unlimited, have 2 fasting, and 3 lowish calorie and 2 whatever days and see if that works any better for you.

You don't need to watch you eat, assuming that you eat sensible and stay around your TDEE. Have you calculated your TDEE?

[carorees]

What they said! Plus, if you're not already, try to keep carbs to a minimum on fast days (i.e., no sugar, fruit, bread, rice, pasta, potatoes etc). This will help with getting the fat used for energy. Also have you measured yourself? Often people see a loss of inches but nothing on the scales.

Don't give up yet!

Thanks for all the encouragement, I don't plan to give up, I'm just concerned I'm not doing it right.
My TDEE is 2007 so 500 is about right for my fasting days, I tend to keep the bulk of it for my evening meal, with a 40 calorie options hot chocolate for breakfast, oxo 'soup' for lunch, then either a big salad or stir fry veg with chicken or fish for dinner. Apart from the 8g of carbs in the hot choc the rest is pretty much low/carb free.

I think I'll try NikkiN's suggestion and have 3 days of sensible eating on the feast days, I know I tend to go a bit mad with the 'eat whatever you want' rule so I'm probably going way over my TDEE on the feast days. I don't think Dr M took my chocolate addiction into account when devising this diet!!

I know that I overcompensated last week so trying to be sensible this week as well. Hopefully we will both see a difference.

Let me know if that works better for you. I'll be curious. We are all so different!

Stephanie,

A couple of ideas. First, try limiting your meals on fast days to one or two. It is easier to control the calories and the hunger. When you start snacking on fast days -- having a lunch or hot choc for snack -- it only makes most people hungrier. Your body says, "Oh, there's food available? I want more!"

Feast days, as others have indicated, are not really feast days. They are feed days, so if you start overcompensating, you will gain weight in the long run.

I look at fast days as a boost, to make weight loss happen faster.

Keep with the diet. It is hard work re-adjusting your eating habits, and it might take a couple months to figure out how to make the diet work for you.

It depends where you started your diet. Perhaps you were at your lightest - see links below about weight fluctuations.
If you didn't stick to you diet day allowance, less than 500 cals, it was not a proper fast and it doesn't count.
Don't give up, refine your technique...
All best wishes,
Peter

2000 is a lot of calories, could you do 1800 for two or three of your non-fast days?

I disagree I don't think 2000 is a lot of calories. eg., on a feed day if you ate one Mr Kipling lemon slice, which goes nowhere & is tiny, it racks up 134 cals. Let's not kid ourselves that we are never going to eat cakes & biscuits when it is cold in the UK. It will be easier in the summer if we ever get any warm weather.

I don't think 2000 is too much either, however to have any weightloss you need to eat a little less than that, say 1800 calories on feast days.

Now, I'm just guessing by what I've read that you're not tracking any of what you are eating, even on fast days. One thing that many of us have trouble with is portion sizes and a skewed sense of how much we eat. Try tracking everything you eat for a couple weeks (www.myfitnesspal.com is a great place) and I think you will be surprised and encouraged to make more change. Measure your foods, I might think I'm pouring an 8 oz glass when measured ends up being 10 oz. All those little extra calories add up! Yes, it feels like your on a diet within a diet in a sense, but it will help you learn what's sensible and what's too much. That's just based on my own years of experience. Good luck!!

Stephie, it depends how active you are. If you're not particularly active then I have to agree with TML13 and say that 2000 cal seems a bit high. It would be for me anyway and my BMI is similar to yours. I probably eat around 2000 cal per day on weekends but less than that on non fast week days. I don't find that restrictive but it depends on what you're used to.

I rarely exceed 1500 calories and I eat breaky, lunch, dinner and a snack or pudding. To me, 2000 without going out for a meal is waaayyyyy too much.

Anyway, each to their own I guess but if you want to lose weight you have to do some sacrifices and with 5:2 the sacrifices are so tiny that one doesn't even notice them!!!