The FastDay Forum

I thought I'd check in here. I have just ended week 3 of the 5:2 diet. This week I ended up doing 4:3 instead because my dad decided to try and join me on a fasting day, so I did an extra one with him for moral support.

This week I have lost a steady pound and almost another inch off my waist. So that is 5lbs lost and 2 inches off waist since I started eating the 5:2 way 3 weeks ago.

I'm very happy with that. I had already lost 3 and a half stone just through my own efforts of calorie counting and sensible exercise, so I expected my weightloss to slow up at some point. What this new way of eating seems to be doing though is getting me through the plateau that I'd been stuck at for months.

If I can lose another 5lbs I'll have lost 4 stone throughout my whole weightloss journey (approx 2 years)

One thing I am noticing is that although so far I have allowed myself to eat naughty things if I want them on normal eating days (on Friday for example I ate half a pizza and some icecream over the course of the day - but also a very healthy salad and light breakfast so it was still an OK day in terms of calories) - I am finding that I regret it afterwards and realise that I didn't really need to eat those things after all. And I notice a difference in the way I feel physically afterwards too, a bit sluggish. So then I start looking forward to my fasting/reduced-cal days!

It's like my body wants me to fuel it sensibly. So it seems that I am naturally becoming more mindful of what I am eating. I hope this continues. And of course, I'm not afraid to give myself the odd treat. But this is an interesting development, as I have always been a comfort eater. If this really does help my habits to change, that can only be a good thing.


Oh - and my dad had lost 2lbs when he weighed himself this morning. That's not bad at all. Whether or not he'll join in with me again, I have no idea. He complained of boredom all day yesterday . It's amazing how much we use food just to kill time

Well done! It sounds like you and your Dad have both made a great start

Hi Whitelily + Dad glad you're doing ok on this amazing WOL
I could have written your feelings with the way you feel when you've eaten certain foods, and I'm finding my tastes changing I don't eat pizza any more just find it so stodgy, have massive salads with same ingredients but without the dough, much better for you, I'm sure you will get rid of the next half stone soon. Good luck Sue

Thank you both!

Sue, that sounds like a great idea - I may have to try that . I am hoping to reach a point where I don't 'give in' to my cravings so regularly. The fact that I'm beginning to regret it afterwards is a good thing I think - it's a start! No idea whether my dad will carry on joining in with me - but I;m trying to convince him that it's the easiest 'diet' to implement as we don't have to buy in anything special. We'll see

I feel sure that 5.2 change your eating habits for the better. It has mine, but I wonder how much of that is down to all the forum posts which are so informative about food, the tips and good recipes, and how much is the actual act of fasting a couple of times a week?

And not to mention the accountability factor of posting here LOL

I make my pizza's using the cauliflower pizza base. Much more tasty and healthier to boot.

http://www.theluckypennyblog.com/2013/0 ... pizza.html

Thanks Julie,

Yes, I've heard of the cauliflower pizza base. It does sound nice. Another thing to try! I have a bit of a wheat intolerance anyway (although that doesn't stop me from occasionally eating things containing wheat - I just suffer for it afterwards LOL) - so this would be a good substitute.

Week 4 weigh-in and I've gone up by 2lbs in the scales. This was what kept happening when I was plateauing at over 14st so I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a teeny bit worried.

But to look at the positives - that's still 6 lbs lost in total since I started. I've now also lost another solid inch off my waist - that's 3 lost so far. So that's good.

The extra inch gone off your waist seems to poo-poo the few pounds you gained. I know lots of people just don't bother with scales at all since so much can affect it.

Week 5 update, 11 fasts done.

Thanks Miss Lemon! Yes, scales aren't the best indicator although as I am still at the lower end of the obese weight range for my age and height I do hope to see some downward movement over time. I will just try to be patient. I've already lost a lot of weight by myself before starting this way of eating so it was inevitable that things would slow.

I've had the same thing happen this week - 1 lb gained in weight, nothing lost off waist but 2 inches gone off hips. So there is still some good progress happening.

I may try to eat a bit healthier this week though as I wasn't terribly healthy and went a bit heavily on the treats this week. I don't know if I went far over my TDEE, but to be fair, a) I wasn't counting on those days and b) I was eating very naughty food. Burgers, chips, etc. LOL. I guess this WOE is so unlike a 'normal' weight-loss diet in that nothing is technically forbidden that I still need to learn to curb my cravings on normal days. I am definitely an emotional eater, and I have had two years of losing weight by calorie restriction and avoiding treats...so I need to re-educate my brain I think. And of course, perhaps it's hormonal eating LOL. So many variables.

I love my fast days though. They are getting a lot easier and really feel like good 'reset' days. I do eat very healthily when I fast.

I hope I'll learn to balance things out as I go along. Still early days, really.

2 inches off your hips!! Well done! That's pretty super!!

Also I think you're doing right on your feed days, I mean you're meant to eat normally, not like me, ihave no appetite after a fast day, so a feed day becomes essentially another fast day, which in the long run won't be good for weight loss!

Well, I certainly feel like I have no appetite on a feed day - but am rather too good at pushing through it. LOL.

Whitelily77 wrote: Well, I certainly feel like I have no appetite on a feed day - but am rather too good at pushing through it. LOL.

That's what I must do today!

Best of luck!!