The FastDay Forum

Hi guys I'm back again ( I think) with my tail between my legs. I've done 5.2 twice before with great success. I generally need to lose a minimum of 21lb's not much in the great scheme of things, but I'm just over 5 ft tall so it shows instantly when I'm over weight. I admit I have little willpower and love food ( all the wrong things) I know what to do and have proved I can do it, but once I reach my goal I can't maintain. So I now find myself overweight and unhappy but I wonder if 5.2 is for me as its supposed to be a way of life as opposed to a diet. Should I try again or not?

Hi Jan * big wave!*
Fab to see you again! I remember how well you were doing but we are all only human and we can fall off our hosses and do so ( in my case) with monotonous regularity
I often ask myself,is all this trying to lose weight/ fast etc any use? Specially coz we sometimes read how futile it is to try to lose weight,how it goes back on etc etc ....perhaps just give up and sit by the fire with a tin of biscuits ( my idea of heaven some days)
Like you i am short so i look awful with extra weight on..so i guess i keep attempting to lose inches one way or another
When it comes to fasting, i know i can only achieve it when i' m in the right state of mind..lets face it,its not as hard as some people think,but it still takes effort and willpower for lots of us...but only YOU know if youre in the right place to start fasting again
If its any help i' m fasting Monday and prob a few others will be signing up,so if you feel its a ' doable'
day for you,why not saddle up,clippety clop,see how it goes? If nothing else it gives yr body a chance to rest and repair xox so nice to see you again and ps ..with a lovely face like yours,you could never look frumpy! X

Aw Candice thanks for the support and compliments xx
I've been out this morning and stocked up with good stuff to eat and I'm going to try today to eat sensibly with a view to doing my first fast tomorrow.
I really have got to get a grip before Christmas comes with all that temptation! I must say I am very impressed and encouraged when I see all the familiar user names, you are all so dedicated.

@Janpartly - I think @CandiceMarie has said what needs to be said!

Good luck

Hi, @Janpartly, I remember you and how well you did. The fact that you bothered to come back suggests that you know the answer to your own question - of course you should give it another whirl!
I was a serial dieter for forty years before I discovered 5: 2 and I have now been maintaining for over two years. I have had blips over those years, often gaining seven to ten pounds when I go away on holiday or visiting family, but the secret for me is .... Firstly - get straight back to fasting as soon as I return, Secondly - keep visiting this forum even, no - make that especially, when I have put on weight. Thirdly - accept that I am human and never beat myself up about gaining a few pounds. Fourthly - don't have any foods that I don't allow myself to eat - just try and eat them in moderation. Actually, I could go on but everyone has to find their own way through this Way Of Life and I'm sure that you will. Good luck - and keep reporting in - you know it makes sense!

I think you have to figure out what happens after you reach your goal weight. It sounds to me like maybe you use 5:2 as another diet to get some weight off and then maybe you go back to your old patterns of eating? If that's the case, you have to change the way you think about food. I've gained and lost huge chunks of weight several times in my life. I've never been skinny skinny. That's because once I get down to a comfortable weight, I just go back to eating the same crap that I used to eat. It wasn't until I discovered 5:2 that I am finally understanding that this is a lifestyle change, not just some temporary diet to get some weight off. I have been losing weight very slowly, but I think this is good for me. The faster I lose weight, the faster I usually regain it. For me, I've realized that I cannot maintain 5:2 for life. Instead, I have better luck with eating windows. I never deny myself anything. If I want something, I have it. But only a little but of it. Or if I have too much, I make sure to eat sensibly the rest of the day. You just have to find something that's going to work for you for LIFE. That's the key.

[wildmissus]

@Janpartly, what other way is there to lose weight? I've tried many of them but this has been the most successful. Yes, I have put on quite a lot of the weight that I lost but I have never stopped coming on the forum which as @Stowgateresident also mentioned is a biggy. Had I not stayed with the forum I'd now weigh more that I did when I started 5:2. This does work but it does take effort, so get your finger out and get on with it , gosh I wish I'd said that to myself before I started putting the weigh back on again! Anyway, take a look at my tracker and you'll see that I've recently started losing weight again because I started putting in the effort. When we are overweight anything we lose is a good thing. This time I'm not going to get too caught up on target weights....my target it 150lbs .

[wildmissus]

[tagJanpartly][/tag], what happened to your lovely avatar?

Welcome back @janpartly and good luck

We can give you encouragement, support and advice (and excellent advice has already been given), but we cannot give you motivation. Only you can motivate yourself to lose the weight and then stay there. So while the pounds are dropping off, why not read some of the discussions about maintaining and be thinking ahead to what you might do differently this time so as,not to undo all the hard work?

Thanks for all the kind messages everyone. I've done OK this week I've tried to make sensible choices and have had smaller portions, I am guilty of eating like a horse although I don't snack too much. I'll weigh my self on Fridays and hopefully the scales will be going in the right direction.
I will come on the forum more for support I think it does help.
Wildmissus l will put a new avatar on soon that photo of me was about 3 years old

The only advice I will give you is to listen to your body. 5;2 is a way of live but it's also kind of a diet and it means willpower which also means that it's not as easy as some people think.

After nearly 2 years of regular (and I mean like clockwork regular) successful fasts and after reaching my goal weight and maintaining for more than a year and after a traumatic event (my dad's passing), I couldn't fast any more. I always tried, 2 days a week, but couldn't. However it wasn't all bad, I did some kind of a 16/8 or a 14/10 so it wasn't a fast but it was a restricted calories day. Even if I gained a bit of weight during that time (5 kg), I never lost faith in it and ALWAYS tried.

So,may be you could try to do some version of it beginning with a 14/10 for example and slowly trying to do a regular fast ?

Most importantly, try to relax and not put too much pressure on yourself, your state of mind is a big part of this process