Any over 70's out there still doing this?

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Any over 70's out there still doing this?

This topic contains 15 replies, has 6 voices, and was last updated by  Minka 7 years ago.

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  • I have just completed my first month and have lost a grand total of 1lb! However the good news is I have lost 1-1/2″ off both my waist and hips. Is this normal and how long before I lose weight? Hope there are others in my age group who can encourage me to keep going by their sucess.

    I’m almost 69 yrs old, does my opinion count?
    The weight loss is something we all look for as it is the easiest to measure, so I can see why you feel somewhat frustrated. But look at how your figure is shrinking! Wonderful numbers!
    As you keep this up, you will see weight loss.
    The other thing to consider is what you eat on Slow Days in addition to eating on Fast Days. Lots of carbs? Low on protein? You certainly in a great food nation! Jot down what you eat and when you eat it for about 2 weeks. Look to see what could be eliminated or substituted on Slow Days and see if that shifts your weight.
    Sometimes we eat a Fast Meal [a dinner or a breakfast] on a Slow Day, just to curb some calorie intake.

    Keep us posted and keep the faith.

    I’ll be 70 in less than 2 weeks and just started 5:2, although I tried it when it first was on tv a few years ago with little success. Trying it now as 3 meals a day seems ok now and I need some medication after meals 3 times a day. In the beginning only 2 meals were suggested for fast days and this gave me problems with medication.

    The first week I lost 2lbs. This week (2nd) I lost nothing. Disappointed but also remembering that weight loss is not the only benefit. I suspect I ate too many calories on normal eating days. I did find I craved everything sweet and stodgy on the day following a fast day. I will continue and hope to manage that better.

    Well done on the inch loss too. I still measure the same☹️

    How is it going, Fastinfrance? Have you begun to lose?
    Welcome to5:2, Fairyliketread. Nice weight loss after 1 week. Yes, be mindful of what you eat on Slow Days and that will help the weight to come off.
    I’ve been doing this for 4.5 years with very nice results. Am at my target weight but continue to Fast for the other benefits and to maintain my weight. And because we love the foods we save for Fast Days.

    Thanks for welcome fasting_me. Well done for doing this for so long and with good results. I had a strange experience today following yesterday’s fast day. I had to visit the loo so many times in the night to pass water I lost count. Lost lots of sleep too. I couldn’t help but notice I was also really really hungry. On rising this morning I felt off, and while I was making breakfast I almost fainted. Would have, except I sat with head between knees to avoid it. Even so, it’s taken me a couple of hours to recover. Was almost ready to give up but now feel I will use some calories until before bed as suggested on FAQ page.

    Have you ever felt faint following a fast day?

    Are you on blood pressure medication? Fasting naturally lowers your blood pressure. Your diastolic pressure may be slightly low. Getting up suddenly will exacerbate this.

    Going to the loo often is your body’s way of getting rid of toxic matter. So you were cleansing your system during fasting. This is common. This will reduce in time as most of the toxins are removed.

    I’m now a fan of knowing my own body composition and of tracking its changes as I go along my 5:2 journey. I sure wish I would have calculated my body composition prior to starting 5:2. I might have seen that I’d gained muscle, which is a marker of age reversal, even if the scale at home showed no changes.

    My doctor uses muscle mass percentages as a marker of biological age. Interesting to me that he does not use total numbers of kilograms or pounds on a scale.

    If I were to continually gain muscle and shed fat all while seeing the number on my home scale remain constant, I would realize how well 5:2 is working. However, the only way I would know for sure that this is what is taking place internally would be if I had measured my body composition prior to starting and then tracked it periodically as I went along. I’m now tracking mine every 6 months.

    @minka. Are you actively doing a lot of resistance training? Walking, riding, gym? A good diet alone doesn’t grow muscle mass. If you are losing fat then as a percentage your lean composition will go up but it is very unlikely that the absolute mass of muscle has gone up. If anything your lean mass goes down slightly as you lose body fat. If youre lighter you need less muscle to move yourself around. If you are really wanting to know your composition you can get a DEXA scan. Theyre not that expensive. Having said all that don’t be too concerned about growing muscle mass. Longevity is associated with less muscle mass as long as you don’t substitute it for fat.

    I hve been doing this since 2013 and will be 76 in December.

    Fairylike: I have never experienced the symptoms which you describe. Could it be that you were coming down with something? a 24-hr bug? Coincidence is not causality, as my son says frequently.
    On the other hand, my ODH, who has low blood pressure and a family history of diabetes, sometimes feels ‘flu-ish’ on the morning after a Fast Day. I think that is because the morning after usually involves coffeecake or some other baked good for breakfast, giving him a sugar-spike.
    This has happened once? After how many Fasts? Keep track of it and see if there is a pattern.

    Hi, Tassulind. Good job on sticking with this since 2013.

    Minka, muscle mass and body mass are not equivalent to the overall mass/weight in pounds or kilos. Ddo you have a baseline weight for comparison? Our scale shows overall mass [weight] as well as fat%. Then the FitBit app shows me my BMI and fat/lean ratio. But mostly I rely on body circumference measurements and daily trips to the scale. I wouldn’t rely on my scale to tell me if I were building muscle.
    Building muscle at our age is important. Eating a high protein diet on a Fast Day helps, as well as cutting the carbs and sugars on a Slow Day in favor of protein.

    Big booty – no, I’m not on bp meds. My bp is usually normal but it was low when I was feeling faint. I think it was probably a combination of factors that made me feel that way. It is far from the first time I’ve felt faint, so I may be prone to it! Feeling fine today. I do visit the bathroom a lot when losing weight so I am hoping there will be a loss this week. It will be great if it settles in a while.

    Hi Tassulind. Reassuring to see you’ve been doing this for so long and you’re still glad to do it. Well done you.

    fasting_me – your son is right, I think. That seems to apply. I think the busy night, lack of sleep, hunger and who knows what other factors were instrumental. In fact, this happened only on this fast day. The previous 5 were ok. I will watch for a pattern though, just in case. Also going to have a late drink of milk as suggested on FAQ for someone who can’t sleep for hunger.

    How are you doing Fastinfrance?

    Greetings all. Glad to see there are other “not over the hill yet gang” dong this. Well I have persevered and have now done 6 weeks and todate have lost 3-1/2lbs. Not brillant, but at least it’s going in the right direction.

    I find I am not particularly hungry on Fast days, I tend to stick to the same thing every week. Monday porridge for breakfast, homemade vegetable soup for lunch and one slice of homemade bread toasted, with a small tin of beans and a thin slice of ham, plus a sugar free jelly. Thursday porridge for breakfast, a banana for lunch (eating on the go) homemade toast with two poached eggs followed by a sugar free jelly. According to my Fitnesspal these are under 500 cals.

    Good luck to everyone and keep that LBD in mind for Christmas.

    Fastinfrance good you hear you’re still on course and losing weight. It all mounts up even if it comes off is small amounts.

    Fairylike, multiple trips to the loo are an ongoing factor for Fasters. Michael Mosley says that calorie restriction causes the kidneys to create an enzyme which “provocith the urine”, as Gerard was won’t to say.
    Fastinfrance, you are making progress. Your meals are fairly high in carbs. Swapping some of them for lean protein might help the weight drop off faster. Plus Michael Mosley suggests eating protein to build muscle during Fasting. The LBD will be great for New Year’s Eve, too.

    Fast Day today for us: Smoked Salmon/Leek Baked Eggs for breakfast and Thai Butternut Squash Soup for dinner.

    Hi Big Booty, Been there done that. Had the scan. My body fat went down, my muscle mass percentage has gone up from when I was heavier. When heavier couldn’t exercise due to health issues. Yes, I exercise now. End of story.

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