The FastDay Forum

Following on from Shrinkingrose's thread wondering if she is too skinny, I'm having a similar dilemma.
I started the 5:2 diet with a BMI of nearly 21, and I wanted to get to 19, or even 18.5. I'm 5'8" and have lost 5.5kgs so far, still have a little way to go to get to 56 - 57kgs but now a couple of people have now told me not to lose anymore weight. My ribs and hip bones are sticking out perhaps too much now - but I don't think I look particularly skinny otherwise. So I'm still doing 5:2 just to see if I can get to my goal weight of around 8 stone 10. But perhaps it is time to stop and go on the 6:1 maintenance. Mimi Spencer was my inspiration, she wasn't overweight but went down to 18.5 BMI and looked great. Maybe it just isn't possible for everyone, and I'm no spring chicken at 47!

I'll have to admit to worrying about you.

Why don't you do maintenance for a few weeks, let everyone adjust, give your body a wee rest from losing and then re-assess? If you then want to lose a little more, then that would be something you could do easily.

Numbers on a scale bear little relation to how you would look and feel in yourself at that weight? It's really a suck it and see situation.

How'd you feel at the moment?

PS I think you'd have to see Mimi outside of a professional photo shoot to get a real picture of how she looks, probably good but if you had the same treatment, so would you??!

Hi Franglaise, I think BBT053 speaks some good sense. I am a little bit older (49) but not quite as tall. I think if I get down to BMI 21 I will start to look more my age whereas I usually get told I look younger.(Am BMI23 ish now) It sounds old-fashioned but I also think a pound or two protects you if you fall ill or have to cope with stress at work. I am also concerned about keeping calcium up for bone density. A big problem as we face our 50's.

Hi Franglaise et al. I am still earlier in my 40's (44) but know that when I loose too much I look older and my wrinkles are more pronounced. Don't they say that once you get past 40 you have to choose face or body!

I think you have to go with how you think you look and feel. I think the idea of doing 6:1 for a few weeks and seeing how things go is a good option, you can always go back to 5:2 if you feel you have put a bit on or wish to loose a little more.

BMI is a really blunt instrument. In science its main utility is in population studies, not for individual cases. You really shouldn't be using it as more than a rough guide. Different people will not look the same at the same BMI depending on body type as well as how much muscle they have. If people are saying that you look very thin, maybe it's time to do maintenance for a while as BBT053 suggests.

[carorees]

I agree with the above. I would ads that it is important to have some fat reserves to cope with illness etc. if you caught a tummy bug would you have enough reserve to be able to go without food for several days? If you had a fever, ditto? A BMI of around 16 is considered to be the start of starvation. The people doing the CRON (calorie restricted optimal nutrition) diet have a BMI around 20. And they are the experts at living at a low BMI.

This is the advice from a website all about the CRON approach:

Reducing caloric intake quickly does not allow the metabolism to adjust to the caloric deficit. Sudden calorie restriction can create major health problems. In particular, persons who have a Body Mass Index (BMI) below 22 should be very cautious. Calories should be reduced by less than 5% (less than 100 calories) and maintained for at least four weeks before any additional reductions are made. Weight should be monitored daily, and nutrition should be tracked with software like CRON-o-Meter to make sure that the diet provides 100% RDA of all vitamins and minerals, at least 1 gram of protein per kilogram of body weight, and sufficient amounts of essential omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. You should not restrict calories further if your BMI is below 19. On the contrary, you may need to increase your caloric intake to maintain your BMI within the normal range (from 18.5 to 24.9).

Thankyou for your replies, and the CRON advice, Caroline, which is very interesting. I think I set the target as a challenge, but can see that it is probably not wise to continue dieting, even b/f has ommented I'm getting a bit too bony. Although there are plenty of actresses/TV presebters who must be underweight according to the BMI definition and seem OK on it!
I like the 2 day fast the discipline it installs with food. I'll go to 6:1 as from next week and hopefully that will work as maintenance and I won't go mad on the other 6 days.
@BBT053, don't worry about me, I like food too much to ever develop an eating disorder! And what you said about Mimi is right, anyone can look good with a professional photoshoot. Maybe her ribs and hipbones stick out under her clothes.

Good, good. You sound sorted.

I think there are a lot of people (particularly women in the media) who really don't do ok but are needing to be too thin as their work depends on it.

The Louise Redknapp Size 0 documentary a while back was illuminating. She did look very good, very thin but she really suffered to get there and was not well at the end of filming.

Maybe some Pilates or weights, if you don't already do that sort of thing?

Susan - I have a similar problem, in that I have never been as light as my current 140 lbs/64 kg but I know there is still some excess fat, which is supposed to be expected at 62 years of age. Weight loss has become more difficult for me these last couple of weeks so I suspect this is where I should stop losing and start maintaining. I intend to continue the fasting process and have 2 24hr periods without food per week but not worry about portion size on any day, just being careful not to lapse into eating crisps and biscuits. I think you should pause where you are while people get used to the new you, and try 6:1 for the health benefits but chuck in a few extra calories on the fast day - see how it goes. Good luck!

Yes, it is the excess fat that I need to work on! Pilates might work for my tummy (2 C-sections) and I have fat at the top of my legs that running and walking doesn't seem to shift. Thanks for the idea, BBT053. I used to do them. If I keep dieting I'll just lose more from my bust and bum and there is sadly very little left in those areas!
Don't you think that 2 fast days is one too many not to lost weight, Pete? Congratulations on your weight loss btw. I don't know about you, but one strange thing I've noticed is that I don't run as fast as I used to when I was heavier. Not a lot of difference, but I'd have thought I'd run faster if I was lighter.

Might be you're losing some muscle too, losing power. Weights and Pilates will help with that.

Sadly, if you have wee bits of fat at the top of your legs, liposuction is the other option. Can't spot reduce with (without) general weightloss.

I'd do some toning stuff myself!!

5 foot 8 and 8 stone 10 sounds underweight to me. But then I said the same about Mimi Spencer and got shouted down. What are your bust/waist/hip measurements. They may be a better way of judging since some people may weigh heavier because they exercise a lot but actually look in better shape than skinny people who don't exercise and have no body definition or much muscle. I'm 5 ft 4 and can't seem to get under 10stone but I am a size 10/12 so happy with that at 61. If I were even 9 stone I'd look like a skeleton because I have a small frame.

I'm around 32-26-34 I think, in inches. One of my jobs is very physical and I run or walk an hour daily.Toning up to get rid of the flabby bits is probably what is needed. According to my Tanita scales I.m 5 which is standard average for muscle mass, maybe it should be a bit higher.

Susan- as regards running I thought this diet was going to be a miracle answer to generally poor performances recently - after 2 fasts I felt really good and ran my best performance over 5k for about 9 months. Since then I have hovered around 'average' until last week when I had a terrible run at about a minute off the pace. We shall see what happens this Saturday but since my physio told me to stop running last night due to osteoarthritis in my hips my competitive days are over. I just need to hang on until my parkrun 100 tee-shirt (another 3 months or so) then I will have to become a cyclist!

PS my wife is 5ft 6 and currently 9 stone exactly, and setting PBs for 5k runs, having lost about half a stone since Xmas, some of it doing 6:1
Maybe this would be best for both of us - I had hoped the anti-inflammatory part of 5:2 would help the hips but they might be too far gone already...

Is your wife planning on losing any more weight Pete?
I feel significantly weaker when I run these days, which I suppose means I've been losing muscle as well as fat?
I'm going to go 6:1 (fasting Mondays) as from next week. I think I'm down to 9 stone now (I was today) and I don't think going any lower would be sensible. My b/f has told me I should put on a kilo...