The FastDay Forum

Hi ,

I've been using fasting as a WOE for almost 3 years now, I initially lost a good amount of weight(12Kgs) but that slowed to where I hit a plateau and my 5:2 just generally maintained a range. I have since put about 50% back on through disillusionment , holidays , trying different methods. I like this WOE as I also like to have a social drink (mainly on weekends ). I tried to work LCHF into my fasting regime but that had little effect. I am fasting today and I actually feel like I'm bloating up it's like my body is trying to fight the fast.

I used to post on Michael Mosley's forum back in the day but this website seems to have taken it to another level. I have been snooping around for few days now and I am very impressed with the level of information that is provided.

I have a feeling that my window may be too large as I have my first coffee(80 cal) at 6am but I generally try to avoid breakfast on my fast days and just eat a straight protein for lunch(Chicken)300cal. This is generally followed by a tuna and salad (130)for dinner at around 4.30pm.I have also had an boiled egg and a handful of almonds.(100). My normal eat days are probably a bit under my TDEE limit, I have a pedometer on my phone and I will generally do my steps within the day. I play golf religiously every Saturday and will skip breakfast but will enjoy a beer after the round(about 10.30 am!). I will generally go for a bushwalk with my wife on Sundays that entails some pretty steep hills and gets the heart pumping. Fridays are generally my let go days and I will be over my TDEE after Friday night drinks, I try not to over do it but as has already been stated the drinks come with the food


I have gone off 5:2 on a number of occasions in an attempt to shake things up but I generally just seem to put on weight which generally stays on. I was originally at 104kg and got down to 87 but have drifted back up to 95-96 range. At the beginning of the year of was at about 92-93. I'm determined to keep enjoying the things and brands of beer I like as this is the reason we go this way right ?

Welcome @Joestar. You'll find lots of encouragement on this forum. You sound like you have your plan going well, enjoying the good things along with this WOE. Look out for the Fasting Today posts to help get through your fast days.
Cheers

Cheers Merry Melb,
I actually decided not to have the Tuna and Salad dinner so my actual window finished eating at 12.15pm and recommenced with the coffee this morning at 6.00am (which is 18 hours), which begs the question, is that two fasts in one? I actually didn't eat anything solid till around 8am. I'm happy to say that I got that sharp drop in weight overnight that I used to get when I first started this WOE. When trying to explain this WOE to other people I often describe a ball dropping down a set of stairs with the imaginary line the ball makes as what your weight loss will look like.

Here's some good news, I have moved my eating window to suit when I work throughout the day. Generally means I don't have dinner, but I'm eating basically from 6am to 12.30 pm(Large Meal). I don't really experience any hunger until about 7ish at night but once I hit the sack it seems easier to deal with and I feel great the next morning. I have had some sharp falls in weight in the first couple of days but I do have some questions.
1. As mentioned earlier I had a 600 Cal 5:2 type fast day on Monday and then decided not to have dinner that night effectively switching to an eating window. Can you mix and match fasting types ?
2.Eating windows seem to be an everyday thing or can it be an ADF?
Reason I ask is that my 'let go day' is generally on a Friday night with drinks and nibbles, will that one day ruin the hard work earlier in the week or will my body just be better prepared to deal with the toxins?

Finally, it seems now that even on my eat days I'm not going close to my TDEE, how many days doing that is over doing it?

[Tracieknits]

It's hard - everyone's metabolism is different and figuring out your real TDEE can be difficult. The sites with calculators are offering an estimate, but your individual metabolism could vary from that.

For me, I find that alternating higher calorie days and low calorie days seems to keep my metabolism happy. So I'd say your Friday nights aren't a problem, unless we're talking half a case of beer. I generally have half a bottle of wine twice a week, for example.

An eating window on a fast day -- to be honest, most of us do that but we just call it a fast day. It's pretty dang hard to spread 500 to 600 calories over a whole day. So many of us have a few calories with our morning coffee or tea (I have 1 tablespoon of half and half, for example) and then simply don't really eat until dinner. I might have decaf coffee, tea or maybe even a cup of chicken broth (10 calories), but on a fast day, I don't eat until dinner.

Yes, you can use eating windows every day if you want to. And you can do eating windows every day but Friday if you want. In my opinion (just a dieter, not a doctor or scientist), having a day like friday helps keep your metabolism working better because it's not too used to too few calories.

I used to say "don't go too far below your tdee for too long!!" and really sound the alarm about it. But we have some people who have been having fantastic success with the Blood Sugar Diet (an 8 week program) and who don't seem to be having any sort of metabolism problems after doing it. So I'm not sure for how long you can go below your TDEE. I go below my TDEE 4 days a week, try to hit it on 1 and go over it on 2. I try to make this average, over the week, enough of a deficit that I lose weight.

Hope this helps!

Hi all,
I read the posts but just 'lurk' usually. I have been fasting for 3yrs (wow) and lost a reasonable amount of weight (23kg) but now am increasingly struggling - the last 3 fasts I have done I have actually gained the morning after and I feel like something has really changed in my body - at one time I was around 62kg and could stay there with ease, even with the odd splurgy day, but now I am struggling to get below 66kg. I did briefly try the bsd after seeing the results and being inspired by the amazing success people have had on this forum. However it felt too much like a 'diet' to me and I found myself obsessing about food all the time so I'm afraid I didn't last that long. So now I have decided to give my body a break - I am not going to consciously 'fast' (because I am starting to hate it). I already eat pretty low carb (because of a FH of type 2 diabetes) so I am going to adopt their principles without actively trying to lose. I don't eat bread/pasta/rice/cereal/grains anymore anyway. I am going to eat 'real food' and no rubbish, and ONLY when I am properly hungry. See what that does. I am also menopausal which ( although not wishing to blame everything on that) I think has had a BIG impact on the weight round my stomach. People say to me I shouldn't worry because I look ok - well I do worry because I have always been a fat girl inside (and for most of my life, outside) and I have a fear of becoming that fat , unhealthy girl again. That scares me.

Just wanted to vent a bit really - but massive congrats to those doing so well on the bsd and other methods.

Have a good day everyone.

Welcome to this fab forum @Joestar! It sounds to me as though you really have things under control. I don't, however, know how you stop eating at lunch time. That must be a loooong old afternoon/evening. On a fast day I have always had my 500 cals in the evening. I guess I start eating around 6pm - and finish at 8pm. This way I get a great fast from 8pm to 6pm. I drink gallons of water and I love my green tea!

Unlike you Joestar, I didn't really bother about my non-fasting days (in the beginning) and that was definitely my downfall. I ended up doing ADF which I enjoyed for a long time. However, recently, I have bean eating just 800 cals a day (as per the BSD) and have cut out bread/pasta/rice/potatoes. The weight loss has bean astonishing for me.

So, in short, every day I do 16:8 and every day I only have 800 cals and keep my carbs below 50. Its working wonders and I highly recommend this method. I also have Fridays off!! I love my Fridays

Good luck to you Joe - Hope it all works well. Sorry you couldn't get on with BSD @loversghost. If you give it a chance it does get easier. Just ask Candy @Candicemarie - she has done incredibly well - and is still going!!

Bean

Thanks for the replies,

Traciknits, thank you for your encouragement it seems I'm far from being alone with the challenges that this WOE presents. The information you provide I find really helpful particularly with finding your TDEE. My let go days may involve probably 3 pints or the equivalent in stubbies, If I'm watching the footy I may go a few more, but generally never half a case ! Of course it goes along with eating the other 'crap' of chips nuts etc. but saying that I really enjoy that crap while having a beer ! I think the problem started with having a full cream coffee at 6am (cappuccino). Unfortunately that equates to around 100-150 calories which basically replaces a breakfast. In all honesty I could probably start my window at 8am if not for that coffee but there's a friendship that comes with the person serving that coffee.

Loversghost, I can totally hear you . First you get excited because you've finally found 'the secret' and then it's like your body tries to sabotage that secret. I too have had fast days where I have 'put on ' the next day, it's very discouraging and it feels like you're a bit trapped because you know there's no going back. All of a sudden you feel different and alone. It's good to vent and particularly on forums such as these. I guess in one form or another we get a bit obsessive with the way we do things and when we find something that works we may go a bit hard at the beginning. I'm sure for myself and you that it will be just a minor adjustment to the 'gameplan' to get things started again. As a matter of fact finishing eating at 12.30 yesterday seems to hold me in good stead for fasting today(Thurs). I don't feel at all hungry at the minute and I'll see if that lightheadedness reappears in some form or another, I'll keep you posted.

Nursebean, It's a horses for courses type of thing, Even though I've been doing this WOE for a long time I'm always trying to refine and experiment. That could be part of my problem ! Having a sit down job doesn't help but I generally get a bit lightheaded and headachy around 9am and I'm not much good until I have had lunch. Even on my fast days I would only have something small for dinner,more of a 150b ,300L,150d type of set up and would still feel the same affects of fasting after I had eaten something light for dinner.So I figured if I ate 250B, 350L on a fast day that I'm at least staving off the lightheadedness that I get from fasting and moving that to later in the day when I don't need to use my brain as much. The rest of the fast is while I'm asleep. It's currently working for me but saying that it's only early days so I'll have a bit better idea in few weeks time, it's seemed to have got things moving again but once again we'll wait and see.

Hi all,

Bit of an update, the weight loss hasn't come as expected, I have basically lost .9 kg in 19days. A loss is a loss but I basically have gone pretty hard in the last few weeks to ensure the fasts have gone well. One thing I think I can put it down to is that both my last Thursdays have been sabotaged, which don't count as fasts , so basically I've lost doing 6:1, which isn't a bad thing. I've decided to start my fast the day before , trying not to eat anything after 4pm the previous day. I'm generally a early to bed early riser so by the time I had my Latter the next morning I haven't had anything in my system for about 14 hours. I think I find the fasts easier as I feel like my body has 'clicked over' and is better prepared for the fast. I'm basically only having 2 meals a day (Fast and non fasts) particularly on weekends when I try to have something substantial as a late breakfast and an early dinner. I'm sure this WOE works best when we are digital i.e. on off on on off on on. I think my on days aren't as substantial as they should be , reason being is I feel so good after a fast and I generally feel I'm spoiling the good work of the previous day. Need to work on that.