The FastDay Forum

Introduce Yourself!

Our Frequently Asked Questions topic will answer many of your fasting & weight loss questions!

If you're new and have a question or need some advice, please give us as much information as you can about your situation in order for us to be able to help you as best we can. For example, it's helpful to know your BMI/weight, how much you want to lose, any medical conditions which might affect your weight and (if you've started fasting already) how you do your fasts in terms of splitting up your calories, what you eat etc. Thanks!

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Newbie on Week 4 of 5:2
14 Dec 2015, 12:15
I am on week 4 of IF and have been getting great information from these forums, so I wanted to introduce myself. Dieting in the past really messed up my relationship with food. Several years ago I vowed to never diet again. It was permanent change or nothing. I made some important changes four years ago that significantly improved my heath - main, discovering problems with gluten. At the time I remember reading a little about IF, but I wasn't ready to consider it. I thought it would trigger my dieting mentality. When I was finally ready, all the science out there told me that it was a healthy lifestyle.

I decided to give it an 8 week trial to see how I felt about it. I'm nearly halfway through and I am very happy with the direction things are taking. I really haven't even lost much weight - a little over a pound - but I've lost 3 inches from around my belly. My eyes are clearer, I'm more focused and calmer. My family has commented on the fact that I'm able to get through the stressful routines of family life more serenely than before.

I have weight to lose. A lot of it. But if that is the main motivator behind doing the 5:2, the Crazy Diet Lady that lives in my head will take over. No good can come of that. So on non-fast days, I'm not really denying myself anything. Any changes I make may be to add more vegetables or exercise. I do hope my weight comes down, but for me it's got to be just a side benefit of the lifestyle.

Thanks for all the information in these forums!
Re: Newbie on Week 4 of 5:2
14 Dec 2015, 13:40
Welcome to the forums and congratulations on your success so far!!
As far as the not really denying yourself anything, that can be the sticking point for most people. Thing is, we got to be overweight by not understanding how much we *should* be eating in a day. For 5:2 to work best and help you become completely free from dieting permanently, you do need to learn how much food is "normal". I have watched (and experienced) people saying "I'm not losing any weight" and it generally comes down to eating so much extra over your TDEE that the two fast days are just helping you not gain weight.

Since you mention the crazy diet lady, you might really enjoy the books by Dr. Amanda Sainsbury-Salis. I have "Don't Go Hungry For Life" and I think it's a really great book. She's an obesity researcher from Australia and after years of dieting and gaining the weight back plus some during her teens, she decided to pursue her PhD and find a cure for obesity. She lost 60 pounds and has kept it off, and her recommendations are great and not "crazy diet lady" at all. She doesn't suggest counting calories, carbs or fat grams, but she does recommend things like journaling, walking 8000 to 12000 steps per day, and eating at least five servings of vegetables spread over at least two meals. She also supports intermittent fasting, although that's not in her book, she's spoken about it elsewhere.

Good luck and welcome!
Re: Newbie on Week 4 of 5:2
14 Dec 2015, 23:36
HI and welcome@ottermoon. I don't worry about what I eat on non fast days, but like @Tracieknits, I subscribe to the 'Don't Go Hungry Diet'. which is not a diet. It's more a growing awareness of eating when you're hungry and knowing when to stop. So last night for example we went to a restaurant and I left a lot of food on the plate. Previously I would have felt like that was wasteful but now I know that my body is not the compost bucket. Dieting can give you that 'deprivation' syndrome so that you have to overeat when you can, to compensate for denying yourself food at another time. I have completely left that behind. Diets can do a lot of harm to your connection to your body signals and that's why I like 5:2 and the Don't Go Hungry Diet. Fasting helps me understand what hunger feels like and I think that's important. If I know what 'hungry' feels like, I know what 'not hungry' feels like. Good luck with 5:2 and I hope to see you around the forum.
Re: Newbie on Week 4 of 5:2
14 Dec 2015, 23:44
Hello, @ottermoon, love the name! You don't say where you live; I've been unable to get a copy of the Don't Go Hungry in the States (unwilling to buy, library won't get it), but recently read a great book, "Secrets From the Eating Lab" by Traci Mann. I also put together a summary of 5.2 for a friend; here 'tis.
5-2 et al.pdf
How I 5.2
(590.6 KiB) Downloaded 40 times


Note my signature; I too had given up dieting and was resigned to my size. But on 5.2 I've lost and kept off over 30 lbs...would LIKE to lose more, about 20-25lbs more, but as my knee and foot pain is gone, and I have more energy, I'm unwilling to "deprive" myself to lose more weight, that I might then not be able to keep off. As I like to say, why lose weight you can't keep off? (Not that it's an excuse to pig out...but pigging out once in awhile without guilt is...wonderful!)
Re: Newbie on Week 4 of 5:2
15 Dec 2015, 00:18
It's available on amazon.com. There's kindle versions as well as used versions as cheap as $6 ($1.71 plus $3.99 shipping) That's how I got mine.
Re: Newbie on Week 4 of 5:2
15 Dec 2015, 03:36
Thanks for the welcome. I'll check the book out @tracieknits! @sallyo - I love what you said about being able to feel hunger and not being hungry. I've noticed that there's an "open" feeling I have all the time, fast days, non-fast days - that I used to think was hunger. It's like I'm reprogramming my body. @ferretgal - I'm in western New York state, USA. Thanks for the pdf link! SO much useful info!
Re: Newbie on Week 4 of 5:2
16 Dec 2015, 22:30
Hi @ottermoon I was in the same position as yourself 3 years ago and had fore sworn any formal diet. 5:2 has suited me. I had a slow start with losing weight but 3 years later I am 50lbs lighter. Except for holidays I have stuck on plan and when I see what happens when I go on holiday I know that I am with this for life. I can still slowly lose weight when life is normal but I reckon it takes about 4 times as long to lose the weight as to gain it.I would recommend that you fill in your tracker and make it public. It is hard when you've had a gain but means you can't brush it under the carpet mentally and if you haven't acknowledged things going wrong you can't see them being put right again. For some of us this is a long slow journey but, for me at least,it is at last a journey in the right direction.
As regards the book I have just ordered a 2nd hand copy from Amazon today and quite a few of them shipped from the USA so you should be able to get it over there.
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