The FastDay Forum

I'm at a real impasse and would value some opinions please. I've been doing the fasting for around 5 months now. Over the past 6 weeks I've not lost anything. I've only 2kg to go and then I intend to go to once a week. At my target I'll have lost 10% of my body weight as suggested. I've had 2 breaks of 1 week over this period when it didn't fit into my lifestyle to fast.

Have had a good read of the information about why it is thought we plateau and other people's ideas before posting this, but still feel I can't find the right thing for me, apart from perhaps reducing my carbs on my days off and exercising more. I understand now I weigh less I need to eat less on my non fast days, sadly!

Although I feel I've stuck with the programme I can't say I've found it the walk in the park others seem to. I've tried every which way to mix it up, but I still feel weak, grumpy, headachy and HUNGRY on my fast days. Quite unpleasant, but ultimately 1 ugly day out of 7 seems feasible.

Thanking you in anticipation.

I don't know if anyone is going to have the golden answer. I too have hit the dreaded plateau for the last 6 weeks or so and am trying to be patient. The last two weeks I wasn't as active and I was fairly careless on my non-fast days. I'm hoping my body will respond when I kick it back into gear this week.

I wondered if the plateau causes the mental slump, or if 6 months is just some other significance to our bodies.

Calliope, It's difficult to advise you because while you say you only need to lose 4 more pounds, we don't know what that really means for you. For me, 4 pounds comes and goes with a day and a night of eating/drinking. Do you really need to lose 2 more kg or would you just like to lose 2 more kg? I think you should just try maintenance with 1 fast day a week and see how it goes. I understand that the closer you get to goal the slower it will go, and I've seen from others that are at maintenance that they continued to lose a few more pounds before actually stabilizing.

If you find the fast days 'Ugly' then perhaps 16/8 is more your cup of tea? Try it and see how you feel, it maybe the program you need to maintain what you've lost and perhaps a couple of pounds will go with it.

I know plateaux! I have been on 5:2 for about 6 months and a lot of that has been on various plateaux. Then I lose a kilo and stay on a new plateau. But my weight has gone down and down in steps.

I think the thing to do is find a way of making the fasting days less unpleasant. I started off having a light breakfast and a light dinner, then I tried giving up on breakfast and having a miso soup in the middle of the day and then having a reasonably good dinner. I now find some days, I can go without the miso soup. I have learned to deal with the hunger. Hello Hunger - I see you there. If I start to get shakey, I have a miso soup. That is marvellous stuff. I now don't mind the fasting days at all. Have faith, just keep on keeping on. Either you will lose those 2 kgs or you won't. Is there another diet where you could lose weight and keep it off? If there is, I don't know about it. It takes longer than we would like, but if we keep at it, the weight will shift.

Hi GoLinda Ah, a comrade in arms! It made me feel a lot better to know someone else is going through this at the same time as me, although quite frankly I wouldn't wish my fast days on anybody. Thank you very much for responding and I hope your weight loss drought ends in a deluge. It seems pitiful to try so hard and put up with the unpleasantness with no result. Gill

Betsygr8, thank you for taking the time to think about my problem and reply so extensively. I feel you have allowed me to give myself permission to go to one day a week! Very clever of you, because that's what I now realise I really want to do, sooner rather than later. I presume 16:8 means one day on, one day off? The thought of that sends a wave of cold dread down my spine, haha. BTW how do I show my statistics please?

Hang in there fellow fasters, we all seem to experience these dreaded plateaus and some fast days are a lot harder than others. I've been doing this fasting for nearly 6 months and on the difficult days I go easy on myself. If I want something so badly I have it (within moderation) and I am still losing weight long term. As has been said before, this is a longer term solution to weight control and not an overnight fix. Even if the scales aren't showing lower figures, your shape will be changing for the better.
Isn't this forum just a great place to share experiences and ask questions? So supportive and I'm sure a lot of us wouldn't be where we are are now without this help.
All the best Calliope.

Sallyo, thank you for your lovely suggestions. I totally agree with you about Miso. I sometimes turn it into a really nice Thai-miso fusion concoction. It's great you are able to be mindful about your hunger. I find it engulfs me at times because I feel so physically unwell with it. I'm fasting today, as you may have guessed. Twice now and perhaps this evening also I've vomited after my evening meal. Today all I can do is lie down and wait for the day to pass.

Susiewong, your response has brought cheer and hope to my sorrowful condition. Thank you and I agree with you about the support. It is immensely helpful to know you're not alone. The people who run it are very giving of their time. There is a wealth of useful information on here to.

Calliope wrote: Betsygr8, thank you for taking time to think about my problem and reply so extensively. I feel you have allowed me to give myself permission to go to one day a week! Very clever of you, because that's what I now realise I really want to do, sooner rather than later. I presume 16:8 means one day on, one day off? The thought of that sends a wave of cold dread down my spine, haha. BTW how do I show my statistics please?

Hi, no, 16:8 means just keeping your eating to within an 8 hour window and thereby extending your every day overnight fast to 16 hours. If you search the forum for 16:8 or #sixteeneight you'll get loads of info. You don't even have to restrict your eating to 8 hours every day if you're maintaining. I find skipping breakfast easy, so I skip breakfast most days and don't snack after dinner...simples!

To show your statistics, go to the progress tracker, choose edit settings and choose the radio button that says to make your stats public.

That's terrible, to feel so unwell. I don't know what to suggest now. Maybe, cutting down to 1 day a week is after all the way to go. Any way, 2 kgs? That's nothing! You don't say how much weight you have lost already and what your BMI is. If it's in the healthy range, I'd definitely go for one day a week. !6:8 is about fasting for 16 hours and eating what you like for 8. So you miss breakfast,have a late lunch and dinner. You could do that, instead of a fast. Some people say it's easier and it works as well. I haven't tried it because I love breakfast.

Thank you Carorees for your very useful comments. I am, in fact already a 16:8 girl, but didn't know it!! I've been doing this most of the time. Am now proudly displaying my stat's also. Interestingly my waist size has hardly changed even though I've lost 5kg.

Sallyo, don't worry I'll be fine tomorrow. As long as I lie down and do nothing I'm okay. Anyways tonight I've had loads of support and I feel very comforted by that, so a big thank you for contributing. You should be able to see my stat's now. As you can now see my BMI isn't too bad these days. You're doing very well too I see.

Please may I ask you Calliope if you count daily calories ingested at all? Just a tiny thought that you may be limiting your food intake on feed days too much, which can throw your body into a bit of a tiz.
Have you worked out your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) or read it on your progress tracker?

I wish that was the case Azureblue! Unfortunately the opposite may apply, as I don't hold back on my non-fast days. I'm supposed to be on around 1533. Thank you for taking the time to comment.