The FastDay Forum

It is less than a week ago since I joined this forum (I have submitted one earlier post during that time just to introduce myself in addition to my blog which I have also set up to give some more insight into the progress that I'm making on the 5:2 diet). At the last weigh-in before then, I had gained two pounds of weight during the previous week, and 0.1 inches onto my waist size.

After buckling down to that during the last week though, I can report that I have lost just under two pounds (0.7kg to be precise). That takes my reported weight to 11 stone 10 pounds, and that has been enough to equal the previous record that I had beaten two weeks ago for my lowest ever weight for the duration of my adult life.

That also takes my BMI back down to below 25kg per square metre which means that once again, I have re-joined that sadly dwindling minority of people who are neither classed as overweight nor obese according to their BMI. However, the biggest loss has been in my waist size which has shrunk by a massive 0.4 inches during the last week.

That now takes my waist size down to 31.5 inches which once again, has beaten my all time record for my lowest ever waist size during my whole adult life. The 32" inch trousers which I am currently wearing have always been a tight fit for me and as my waist size has faced various peaks and troughs throughout this year, there has even been occasions where I have had to revert back to wearing my larger size 34" trousers.

However, I'm now finding that even these smaller trousers are getting looser on me and this is the only the first ever time that I have experienced that. That means that if my waist keeps on shrinking at this rate, it might not be long before I end up having to buy some even smaller trousers of a size 30".

A few people have commented that if I ever got as small as that, that would be a sign that I've actually lost too much weight which means that they would actually be encouraging me to deliberately regain a little bit of that lost weight. However, this is only happening as a result of me going onto the 5:2 diet and it may well be that I'm meant to be of that smaller waist size as the healthier option.

Hi Johncs, and welcome. Trousers are such a problem! I have worn 32 waist for forty-odd years but now being at my lightest ever as an (old) adult they were all too loose. A few weeks ago my wife ordered 3 pairs of 30s from M&S online for me but I find I am having to wear a belt to keep them up as sizing seems to have changed to cope with fat people...

Johncs. Welcome and congrats on your first week!

Not much to report this week. Lost 0.3kg to bring my weight down to 11 stone 9 pounds which equals my lowest weight so far on this diet. My waist size is also virtually unchanged as I have lost just 0.2cm from my waist size to bring that down to 31.4in. Nevertheless, that is still my lowest waist size so far, as last week's figures had set the previous record for that.

Well done John, you're going in the right direction!

It's a loss so take it. Well done

I guess that since my BMI is in the so-called 'normal' range, any weight loss is always going to be much smaller than previous such losses which means that of course, I'm happy about that. To that end, I have also just written my latest blog entry which goes into that in a bit more detail.

Hi John, I don't think being in a healthy BMI necessarily slows down weight loss - I started 5:2 with BMI about 21 (a stone less than you) and still lost weight briskly in the first few weeks...
Obviously, though, it has to stop somewhere!

Yes, and that is why in longer-term, I am planning to eventually switch to 6:1 for weight maintenance. Since I enjoy some alcohol on a Monday night either to celebrate a good result for a weigh-in or to drown my sorrows after a bad one (fortunately these have been very few and far between with this WOL), my Tuesday fast day would be the one that I would take out (by gradually increasing my calorie intake on that day until I stop losing weight) since you can't really be doing 36 hour fasts while recovering from that intake of alcohol (as I discovered from the various responses to one of my other posts on that subject).

In the meantime, I am still sticking with 5:2 in order to ensure that I don't gain weight whilst everything continues to settle down for me on this regime, although my Friday fast days will be where I will be doing my 36 hour fasts.

Weight up by 1lb (0.5kg) this week to 11 stone 10 pounds.
Waist Size up by 0.2 inches to 31.6 inches.

More details of that can be found both on my blog and on this post from earlier on today.

As from next week, the format in this journal will be changing as I will be reverting to daily weigh-ins to get a better handle on how my weight varies during each week. That means that I will be reporting the minimum and maximum weights for each week, as well as the average weight over each week.

This is the continuation of my blood pressure experiment which I have began as explained in this post, as I believe that this would be a more appropriate place to post my results on that. Basically, I was discovering that my blood pressure was going up over time despite my weight loss.Having sent the post which I have referred to above, carorees suggested that I do an experiment with coming off my BP tablets, and monitoring my blood pressure twice a day to see what happens. In addition to that, I am also weighing myself every morning just now.

The previous results for that experiment are shown in the post referred to above but from now on, any further results that I wish to give for that, will be posted onto this thread. Without further ado, I will therefore give you tonight's BP results which are as follows:-

Reading 1 (taken at 10:31pm BST): 151/88 (Pulse: 55)
Reading 2 (taken at 10:34pm BST): 157/81 (Pulse: 53)
Reading 3 (taken at 10:37pm BST): 147/80 (pulse: 54)

After showing some promise with this morning's readings of an improvement in my blood pressure, tonight's results don't make for very good reading, especially as regards to the systolic blood pressure readings (the diastolic blood pressure readings are all in the prehypertension range, and not so bad). These results have come despite the fact that today was a non fasting day, and despite the fact that I have generally feeling quite relaxed tonight.

However, I was at the gym this morning. That does tend to raise the blood pressure, and I'm wondering if my blood pressure might not have come down fully from that. Having said that though, tomorrow is a fasting day which might result in higher figures due to the resulting increase in cortisol levels.

I am doing a bodystep (which is really just step aerobics) class tomorrow, and that will be the first real test of how I manage that on an empty stomach during a fasting day. Unlike earlier in the week though, I won't be doing a full 36 hour zero calorie fast this time, as that will then allow me to refuel the body a little bit after that fitness class in the morning.

I will however, be doing a 24 hour zero calorie fast which means that after finishing my evening meal at just before 7pm tonight, I won't be taking in any calories until my evening meal at 7pm tomorrow night when I will then be taking in all of my allocated 600 calories for that day.

Another Update on my weight and blood pressure experiment. Firstly, my weight is 74.0kg or 11 stone 9 pounds which is up by 0.2kg on yesterday's value but 0.5kg down on the last official value which I reported on Monday (So far this week, my weight has been 74.5kg on Monday, 72.5kg on Tuesday at the end of my zero calorie 36 hour fast, 73.8kg yesterday and 74.0kg this morning). Since I am now going into a fast day, I am hoping to record a lower figure than that tomorrow morning. Now for my all important blood pressure results which are as follows:-

Reading 1 (taken at 6:06am BST): 153/90 (Pulse: 65)
Reading 2 (taken at 6:08am BST): 147/90 (Pulse: 63)
Reading 3 (taken at 6:11am BST): 147/82 (Pulse: 60)

I have to say that these are really worrying figures now because the first two readings are full hypertensive readings with even the diastolic blood pressure coming out to be high. Indeed, it is only the last diastolic blood pressure reading that isn't high and that is in the pre-hypertension range. That now makes me really concerned about what results I will get tonight and tomorrow morning since I am now into another fasting day and since that is said to produce an increase in the overall stress on the body, I am reckoning that this figures will only get worse before they get any better.

It is therefore becoming increasingly clear that coming off blood pressure tablets is not such a good idea and so, I will be abandoning that part of the experiment and going back onto my blood pressure medication if these figures continue to deteriorate with that next two sets of readings. It has been mentioned that it might not necessarily be the BP tablets that are causing the problem and because of that, I could really do with some answers to what else could be causing my blood pressure to be high if it is not my blood pressure tablets.

As I said in a previous post, I will be discussing the matter with my doctor next Wednesday morning but in the meantime, I would be grateful if all of you out there who are knowledgeable in these matters, could dig into this topic even further with some further research so that I can at least get a better picture of what alternative theories might be out there for that.

[carorees]

It may be too soon to tell if the experiment has failed. Lisinopril has a half life of 40hours when you've been taking it for a while, which means it takes a day and a half for the concentration in your body to drop by half. Depending on the dose you were taking, it couldtake a week or more before you see a difference. Also, what are your evening readings like?

The peak in cortisol on waking causes increased BP in the morning, which gradually rises through the morning. BP should decrease in the evening. Also your worry about the reading can make it higher, so try taking more than three at a time to get over that initial tension. discard the first couple and average the next 3 or 4.

My previous BP Readings for this experiment is as follows:

Monday 14 October 2013 (With BP Medication)
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Reading 1 (taken at 10:36pm BST): 164/89 (Pulse: 51)
Reading 2 (taken at 10:39pm BST): 153/88 (Pulse: 50)
Reading 3 (taken at 10:41pm BST): 157/85 (Pulse: 48)

Tuesday 15 October 2013 (without BP Medication)
-----------------------------------------------
Reading 1 (taken at 4:37am BST): 151/82 (pulse: 62)
Reading 2 (taken at 4:39am BST): 144/74 (pulse: 59)
Reading 3 (taken at 4:42am BST): 148/76 (pulse: 58)

Reading 1 (taken at 10:16pm BST): 147/82 (Pulse: 64)
Reading 2 (taken at 10:19pm BST): 131/79 (Pulse: 60)
Reading 3 (taken at 10:22pm BST): 151/89 (Pulse: 59)

Wednesday 16 October 2013 (Without BP Medication)
-------------------------------------------------
Reading 1 (taken at 6:16am BST): 137/84 (Pulse: 64)
Reading 2 (taken at 6:18am BST): 141/89 (Pulse: 64)
Reading 3 (taken at 6:22am BST): 138/86 (Pulse: 61)

Reading 1 (taken at 10:31pm BST): 151/88 (Pulse: 55)
Reading 2 (taken at 10:34pm BST): 157/81 (Pulse: 53)
Reading 3 (taken at 10:37pm BST): 147/80 (pulse: 54)

With the exception of Yeaterday's readings, my blood pressure results are not following the pattern that you have described where the results are better at night and yesterday, it was actually in the morning that the results were better. I can also add that my normal daily dosage of Lisinopril would be 20mg per day taken as a single tablet, first thing in the morning.

[carorees]

If you can bear it, I'd suggest carrying on without the meds for a week. your readings are not higher than your last with meds values so I'd give it a few more days...