The FastDay Forum

Well done Dude! Stick with it and I'm sure your waist will start shrinking too.

Hi Dude thanks for the updates. You've been shy about your actual waist:height ratio (WHtR) but (as you may have read here already) this should be less than 0.50 (and above 0.40) - it's considered a better indicator for long-term health than weight or BMI.

If you are already at this level then you can relax about losing weight but if - more likely - you are not then the fact that your waist measurement is not coming down means you are probably a natural 'apple' shape (not a pear). So the visceral fat around your middle is going to shift more slowly, and you may have to lose a lot more overall to get your WHtR down to the safe level. If this apple/pear thing means nothing to you, do a Google custom search (on the left here) for 'Ashwell'.

Still you are well into this now after one month, making excellent progress (as you can presumably see from your Tracker, even if we can't!), and you've got a routine going. Good work!

Thanks for the well wishes. The set/WOL works. I know I am slowly losing, and that is more than I can wish for.

Dominic,
Agree, my waist:height ratio is no where near ideal and above 50%.

I have tried reading more about the apple vs pear body shape discussion on forum as well as off. From what I can see, the description app,use more to female body shapes than males. In fact, one source I read quoted the apple body shape being more male.

Trying to assess where I fit in the body shape stakes, I see the waist:hip ratio being an important measurement to assess how to classify body shape.

There seems to be consensus for the female ratio, with ratios above 0.8 being a problem for weight based health issues.

The ratio for males seems to vary based on source with different sources claiming different ratios. I have seen three sources with a range from 0.9 to 1.0 being the target. Anything above quoted ratio being a problem with health. My ratio is between these figures, so I need to assess which ratio is good as a reference.

Hi Dude, yes I too have seen different ratios quoted for waist:hips (WHR) for men, though 1.0 seems to be the one most often mentioned. That means no spare tyre I guess!

Hourglasses are definitely for women but I think the pear/apple analogy is meant to apply to both sexes. The basic idea, which I am sure you get, is that we focus on controlling visceral fat and stop worrying about subcutaneous fat. It may be that women are, statistically, better at storing fat subcutaneously than men i.e. tend more to the pear shape. Although this is healthy it may not conform to society's prejudices about an ideal body shape (women are more likely to be concerned about thunder thighs than we are).

There are people who although still technically overweight on a BMI measure are below 0.4 on the waist:height ratio, so should they be trying to lose more or not? Not your situation though (nor mine).

Congratulations, Dude. A wonderful weight loss for your first month! You are making great progress and this is due to your willingness to adapt this WOE to suit your own circumstances. Keep up the good work! Onwards and downwards!

Stowgateresident,
Thanks for the kind words of encouragement.

Dominic,
The lack of a spare tire on myself did not make sense. I will be the first to admit I do carry a spare in the midsection. Did more reading and found out I am measuring the hip too high. With the new calculations, I find I need to drop 7cm off the waist. but then again, it could be worse. Using the height :waist ratio, I need to drop 29cm, which would give me a classic hourglass shape?

So it's quite a long road ahead, but you've made a good start, and it is literally the road of life, so I echo StowgateResident's sentiments: Keep up the good work! Onwards and downwards!

End of the week (which in my calendar is Sundays), and time for anther weigh in update.

It has not been a great week overall. Was ill earlier on, and trying to fast at the same time is a struggle. The day starts of well, but it starts to unravel by about 4pm. Seeing as how isae all my calories until dinner at about 8 pm'ish, the final 4 hours seem like a eternity.

Festivities at the end of the week mean't partaking in cake! Had the most amazing oopsy daisy cake. A milk chocolate cake itch a peanut butter filling and vanilla frosting! Apologies to all for rambling about this on a dieters forum, but hey, this is supposed to e a WOE that allows us to splurge!

And food. Celebrations in our family is bout enjoying fine food. Tried a new restaurant that serves the most amazing dumplings ad had made noodles. Had pizza the same night, and the weekend has yet to run its course.

So, the results. As was expected, no loss on the scales this week. In fact, I put on 300g, which in my eyes, given the splurging is of no great consequence. Lost it once and will lose it again. Of greater interest though is that while there has been no loss on the scales, there is loss in measurements.

My problem is, up till now, I have been measuring the areas incorrectly, so I will continue measuring in the same locations, which are not too far from the usual places. Using these measurements, I had dropped 1.5cm from the waist!

With the waist:hip ratio, I measured my waist and hip in a different place, more in line with idealised locations. And even then, I have dropped 1cm!

So, no drop in the scales, but still a lss this week, just in the measuring tape

More importantly, this is also the first week some one has commented on the weight loss

The weight loss journey till now has been progressively down. Most of the spare baggage up till now has come from my shoulders, chest, legs ad face. Today is the first loss in the abdomen, a positive sign indeed.

So, the running total up till today is
4.8kg loss
1.5cm off the waist

Excellent a month in and sticking to a variation on the 5:2 theme
Way to go dude doing well

Well done, Dude. Good news about your waist measurement and it's always great when someone notices your weight loss! Good attitude to your temporary gain, as well! It's probably due to your recent high carb intake - but who would not want to eat cake, pizza, dumplings etc on special occasions? (or any time - come to that!) That's what I like so much about this WOE. You can eat what you want, without any feelings of guilt, and then just carry on as if it never happened!

Onwards & downwards! Good luck for next week!

Another week gone, another weigh in.

So ends week six on this new WOE. First up, the results. Back on the wight loss trail again, and have dropped another 900g from the last official weigh in., making it 5.7kg lost in the dieting period. Finally starting to see the measurements reflect some of this loss. But of a startling drop this week, with 3.5cm down on the waist measurement, making it 5cm total loss, which is a little surprising. Had to measure this a couple of times to confirm the drop. However, dropping down the notches of the belt buckle is kind of confirming this.

Problem though, is that the loss is coming off the upper and lower abdomen first, making what is left look ever more like the proverbial spare tire But the mid abdomen is dropping, with a loss of 2cm there as well.

I am curious though as to where the loss is coming from. Muscle mass as a % of body weight is relatively static, dropping by 1% of body weight since the start. Body fat as a % of body weight has dropped about 3% of body weight. So, does this mean I am losing everything? Fat and muscle mass equally? Or losing water only?

With time, I am also learning more about how to fit this WOE to my lifestyle. It appears, if I am looking at active weight loss, I will need to consider 4:3. The 5:2 WOE appears as a good maintenance plan with very little loss. I guess I could cut down on my caloric intake on my feast days, but to be honest, the plan appears to be working at the moment, and I am finding things going well. Six weeks in, I have not changed my lifestyle too greatly and am still able to enjoy all my foods and going out to eat. Even fast days are not horrible, as there are no diet foods per se, just decreased caloric intake. The boosted vegetable intake on fast days I am sure is also better for me

So, week six over and week seven begins tomorrow!

Belated update this week due to long weekend. Scales report another routine week with a drop of 1.2kg!

However, this has to be taken with a healthy dose is skepticism. Suffered either a bout of food poisoning or a virus the night before and it may have affected the results. Not exactly my idea if great weight loss though as such, avoided the dreaded tape this week.

If greater concern this coming week is the mixed up week. Long weekend means day off on a fast day. With kids and activities, I can't see it being too successful. Aldo have Friday off, a rarity and hoping to spend sometime off with the family. Net result us a 4:3 week is going to be 6:1. Suspect the next update is not going to be as rosy, but if this us going to be a long term WOE, it needs to be able to survive variation.

Will update results next time!

In the meantime, today is my only fast day for the week.

You are doing brilliantly and I think that a 6:1 week is not going to cause any serious damage in your weight-loss 'journey'. The weight may not be coming off evenly from your body but the closer you get to your target the more likely it is to shift from the trickier areas. Have a good day. Onwards and downwards!

Stowgateresident,
Many thanks for the well wishes encouragement is always appreciated!

Well, my week off the WOE came to an end and I had the dreaded weigh in on Sunday. For most of the time I have been on a fasting diet, I have been doing a form of 4.5:2.5 version. Mondays and Wednesdays are strictly adhered to. While Friday is a day of reduced caloric intake, but I will digress a little for my evening meal due to social functions. Last week, through a combination of a long weekend and time off with the family, I ended up doing 6:1. While I probably could have stuck to the WOE, I opted for time off rather than go crazy trying to he food and spoiling the days off.

As a result, while I did fast on Wednesday, the rest of the week was feasting, possibly a bit more than usual with outings for dinner and coffee out..............plus cake............plus chocolate............plus snacks. You get the idea

Come weigh in day, Sunday, I was certain that there was a price to pay. And the scales reflected my week off the beaten track. Net result for the week was a gain of 1kg. Nowhere as bad as I thought. And if this 'gain' is similar to my other times straying from the diet, a good proportion of it will be fluid from my increased salt intake from snacks.

Oh well, what I gained, I can lose again

So, net result at the end of week 8, after a gain is -5.9kg. Not bad for a fairly sedentary lifestyle and a WOE that is not too restrictive. And I am not bored yet

On a side note, up until now, I have been very reluctant to discuss this WOE/diet with anyone not on forum. Just discovered sone friends who have been doing 5:2 for about the same time as I have. They are more than pleased with their results and were happy to chat more about it. Unfortunately time pressures prematurely terminated the conversation, but I would have loved to continue our discussion.

Another week, another update. And so ends week 9 on the diet, and back on the bandwagon after the previous weeks 'holiday'. Was much better behaved this week and back on track.

Net loss for the week thus time round is 1.5kg, making up slightly for the previous week. With regards to measurements, a slight drop of 0.5cm from the waist.

Ten weeks in, things are going well and thankfully, I have not gotten bored or frustrated by the limitations of the diet. The biggest issue being the constipation, although, it appears that magnesium supplements seem to finally manage that issue. Results of the weight loss is finally starting to become evident, allowing me to drop the belt buckle a couple of notches.

While things are flowing relatively smoothly, I cannot make the claim that I look forwards to fast days though. I know a number of members here do say they are at the stage that they actually look forwards to fast days, and my friends on this WOR claim the same. While I do not dread fast days, I cannot say that I look forwards to them either. It is just another day, no better or worse than the one preceding it, or following afterwards. Am I missing something?