I’ve done ADF from September until Christmas losing 2 stone; I found it not too hard to do as knowing you could eat more the next day would help me manage FDs. Doing ADF is tricky over weekends though, so would occasionally have a weekend off, recently I’ve started fasting 3 days a week; Mon, Weds & Fri so I can relax a little a weekends, I’m near my goal weight & am now a healthy BMI. Personally, if I did 3 or 4 days in a row, then I think I’d overeat the next few days & would probably undo any good I’d done, I like the ADF way better, but we’re all different, so whatever works for you!

Hope everyone is having a good day! I am down 2 pounds after my fast day yesterday. I had coffee, water and a few cups of tea.

@michelemm1, lol! The name came from starting this WOE and cleaning out my closet. I told DH that I wasn’t keeping any more baggage in any aspect of my life, only my Hermes. 🙂

I’ve been playing around with calories on eat days, by design and because it has just worked out that way with dinners out and celebrations. In a beneficial way, I think the varied calories and macros have kept me losing. In general though, my intention is to keep my eat days at 1200 calories (higher fat, lower carb and moderate protein), which is my TDEE for my goal weight. As long as I’m continuing to lose, I’ll do that. When that pauses, I’ll change something–maybe do a longer fast, or a fat fast, or increase overall calories, or just have a “cheat meal” and eat something carb-y that I’ve been denying myself like pizza or pasta or some such thing. What I’m loving is that I have a range of options now. I feel good and my decisions about food are not controlled anymore by my poor raging hunger hormone response. I feel like my body has calmed down and I’m not constantly fighting with my physiology in some metabolic crisis. I am so grateful to Dr. Mosley, and to Dr. Fung especially, for assuring me that my weight is not the result of a failure of character, that it is the result of a very upset body. Now that I am partnering with my body and giving it what it needs to achieve health, I am in awe of its wisdom and amazingness.

Sorry for the novel! What do you eat on your eating days? Do you have a system that is working well?

Good for you KikiU! I like the routine of it, but I have to say that cooking for others can still be hard for me, even after 7 months!! I have teenage boys who are always eating, they work hard and til late in the evening, so 3 nights a week I cook for them at 9pm, that is really tough!!
OnlyHermes- following keto means on nonFDs I eat quite a bit of fat- cooked breakfast, avocado, cheese, nuts, lots of kale & spinach. For a treat I’ve weighed out 50g of strawberries & whipped up 100mls of double cream, mix in like an Eton mess without the meringues… I don’t count calories on nonFDs, but it seems to be working, lost another pound at the end of the week! My favourite keto meal is keto pizza- I’m so chuffed to be able to eat pizza again!
Michele-I’ve not got to the fat adaptation stage yet, so am still having 3 meals a day rather than OMAD, hope that the hunger will go soon! Hope your longer fast goes well!

Had a good Fd yesterday, liquid only… Michele, I’m waiting for a bit more energy before I do too much exercise, energy levels have been low since starting keto, but they’re gradually improving. 5 weeks Keto tomorrow…I am finding I’m still eating a lot on nonFDs too, I hope that tails off with fat adaptation soon also!
Well done you for doing those gym classes on a FD! Hope that the rest of your weekend went well!

Hi everyone! It is so fascinating reading about all of your experiences! Thank you for sharing!!! And congratulations on all your successes!

I’m currently alternating between 2 and 3 days of fasting per week. This weekend I’m hosting a party so I figured it makes sense to do 3. I’ll be good about my choices, but it’s my little insurance just in case :p

After reading a lot from Dr Fung, I have increased my fat intake and reduced my protein and carbs. Not quite Keto, but Keto-like in a way. I agree with all of you, experimenting with my own body and seeing what works has actually been a very appealing part of this.

@michelemm1, I have to ask… I’m thinking about adding some coconut oil in my tea at the start of my fast and at the end as well, but does it change the taste of your tea????

Hi, Congratulations to everyone on doing so well. I’ve read that article, @hedghogs, thanks for posting that. It is very interesting and helpful today. My understanding is that metabolism is mostly related to age, body weight and activity level–ie., TDEE, and unless one of those factors changes, metabolism doesn’t really change. As in, I’m not convinced that one can damage ones metabolism. Which was always the thing dieters have been threatened with. (Unrelated…Have you ever noticed that people criticize fat people, but then try to scare us away from dieting?) I’ve been so fretful about the mythical slowing-down-of-my-metabolism that I actually ate more than I wanted to yesterday on an eat day, because I thought I should. Which is pretty idiotic as I think about it now.

I think what Dr. Fung is saying is that fasting seems to keep the BMR higher because of the hormonal changes it produces, for one, less insulin and insulin resistance. But I imagine that in the end, pretty much any way we slice it, our need for calories is going to drop as our weight drops, unless we substantially increase our activity level and/or manage not to get older. 🙂 I think that to continue to lose, even on ADF, we have to continually re-calculate our TDEE with each drop in weight. I need to just stop fretting about it and stick with the program.

In general, all else being equal, a 5’ft, 40 year old woman who weighs 100 pounds is going to need less calories to maintain that weight than a 5’ft, 40 year old woman who weighs 180 pounds. What are your thoughts?

@michelemm1, after yesterday’s not-eating-enough panic caused me to eat more than I wanted, which then gave me heartburn, prevented me from sleeping well, kicked me out of ketosis and produced today’s somewhat reactionary and punitive un-planned water-fast day, I have made a decision. Lolol! Henceforth, until such time as I actually experience an “official” plateau, (in which I have not lost pounds, body fat or inches for 10 full days) I am not going to fret about it. Sabotaging my efforts and making myself miserable with the un-manifested worry of possibly lowering my BMR is totally nuts. If I ever actually reach an official plateau, I will deal with it then.

From now on (until such a mythical plateau actually happens) I am going to stick to my plan. Water/coffee/tea on fast days, TDEE calories on eat days. I will stop eating on eat days when I am full, regardless of the calories I’ve eaten. Part of this WOE is also to start training myself to have a normal relationship with food–eating when I am hungry, and not eating when I’m not. This is probably hilariously obvious to anyone besides me, but for me, if feels like a breakthrough. 🙂

Hi everyone! You are all inspiring, this forum helps so much. @michelemm1, what do you mean when you say your body freaks out when you eat various proteins? I can relate to everything you’re saying, and often think that (ironically, considering how much weight I’ve gained in the past 10 years) that I don’t really like eating either. I love beautifully prepared, fresh, organic food that is served and presented well, and admire some of the new, young chefs today. But eating at home is something I need to work at. I shop at Whole Foods and buy mostly organic, but I prefer eating simple things rather than cooking elaborate meals. Almost every day for lunch on my eat days I have full-fat cottage cheese with an avocado and a few pistachio nuts.

@hedgehogs, those muffins sound so good. My disfunction is that I would likely eat the entire batch in one sitting. 🙁 I so admire you for not having to do that. Aargh. Someday I hope! I hear you about the off-switch! Yikes, before this WOE, I could eat shockingly huge portions, but they were always carbs. I could easily eat most of a cake, or a huge plate of pasta, or a half-dozen doughnuts. There’s something about carbs and my biology that just don’t get along. It’s like sugar hacks my security system and over-rides all of my checks and balances. I’d love to understand why, but for now, I have to say, I have a “fear” now of simple carbs. I wonder if changing to this WOE will effect your metabolism in positive ways as time goes on. Dr. Fung seems to think it’s possible.

@kikiu, I agree with Michelemm1, for now do what is working. There’s nothing wrong with trying various methods, but keep in mind that no matter what you do, you’ll probably still have occasional days where it is harder or you’re hungrier, but you’ll have to assess whether that’s worth changing your plan. This WOE is easier than simple daily calorie restriction, but it’s still a change for most of us from how we were eating when we gained weight, so it may still be challenging occasionally.

Have a wonderful day everyone! 🙂

Hermes- I put way less sweetener in the muffins than the recipe says, I think that helped so I didn’t get the urge to eat the whole lot! I made some keto cinnamon buns recently for my son to try as well (he hated them!), now those I could’ve eaten the lot- sweet things are definitely my downfall, I had to freeze them in individual portions quick! I have been strict with the keto to limit sweet stuff, I am quite an all or nothing person, there’s no sensible middle ground for me! I read a post on another forum from someone who treats his sugar addiction like an alcoholic,, can’t even had one sweet thing like an alcoholic wouldn’t be able to have one drink- I can empathise with that!
I get the ‘fear’ as you say, I know if I slip on the keto, all will break loose!
Michele- I’m in the UK, just had a heatwave, but back to grey & chilly again as usual!! Brilliant that you can do so much exercise, I used to love kickboxing. Can you skip? I’m trying, it looks so easy when boxers do it, but I feel like a clumsy lump!
BTW- do you count any carbs in eggs? I hadn’t been, but read something the other day that they had 0.5g carbs, I’d seen before that they were 0? I do eat quite a few on eating days…
I had only black coffee on my FD yesterday- that’s such a change in tastes, I never could before, so I’m pleased about that. & didn’t seem to have gone up anything over the weekend, so that was a good start for Monday!
Stay strong everyone!

Good afternoon, I can totally relate to the effect carbs on my brain. Sugar is a bit like a drug in my brain too. One brownie and all hell breaks loose as far as self-discipline and thoughtful eating. lol.

@hedgehogs it’s wonderful about the black coffee. I’m working on reducing the stevia in my tea this morning. There are a few herbal teas, I can drink without stevia but I’m working on black tea so I can have my caffeine. Baby steps… Wish me luck 🙂

@michelemm1 I’m in North Carolina and we are hoping Spring will finally show its face next week. We’ve had a few beautiful days but each time we go back to cold and rainy.

@onlyhermes, your plan sounds great. It makes sense; 1600 cal would be more manageable long term and the long term is what matters. 1200 seems so little. My goal weight BMR (50 yrs old, 5’3″, 125 lbs) is 1156 and TDEE is 1387 (I use the sedentary TDEE number –I figured my workouts are just a bonus) so I try to stick to 1400 calories on my eat days. It has worked well but very slowly. I lose about .25 to .5 lbs per week, and I have wild variations in my daily weight ins between my “official” Monday weekly weigh ins. In one day this week I managed to gain 3lbs only to lose 2 the next day (I’m a water retention machine I swear). 40+ hrs fasts 3 times a week does sound like a lot… but I love your idea of reminding yourself that you can tweak things at will with this WOE. You can see what works for you specifically and adjust based on your own results.

I hope today was a great day for everyone!

Hermes- I don’t count calories on nonFDs! When I started keto, that was the advice, just to concentrate on keeping carbs under 20g, so I do that. I did have a spell of tracking with MFP, & it varied a bit, sometimes only 1400, which is a bit lower than my TDEE, & sometimes up to 2000. I think my appetite has eased a bit, so probably not the higher amount. When you’re supposed to fill up on fat, it’s hard to be too strict with the calories! Doing 3 x 36 hrs sounds enough to be honest, that’s what I’ve been doing recently, up until the last few weeks I did 24 hrs fasts. I do find I’m extra hungry the day after a FD, & often wake really early too! At the end of the day, if you’re too hard on yourself, then it’s just not going to be sustainable, & you could end up giving up. If it takes a little longer but is something that you can stick to, then that’s the best route I think! Virginia is beautiful, what a lovely place to live!
I have made a few fat bombs when I started keto, yum, but as they’re sweet, it starts me off… sometimes I’ve just mixed coconut oil with cacoa powder, & a few drops of vanilla, I like it, & not too sweet. There’s lots of recipes online. Being veggie my protein’s not normally too high, so I do eat cheese instead! Glad the cream’s not affecting ketosis! I’ve seen that it can cause an insulin spike in some people on a FD, but you’re obviously fine.
Emma- your weather sounds a bit like ours in the UK; we get a few nice days, now it’s chilly & showery… I’ve been to N Carolina many years ago, loved it!
Michele- how’re you doing?
Had a day out in Cambridge today, so many lovely cafes & food stalls, not good for a FD (or Keto), managed to resist, treated myself to a diet coke, which hit the spot- don’t normally drink soft drinks, so it felt like something naughty, did the trick!

Hello all, I’ve done regular 5:2 5:2 with zero calorie FD and ADF with zero cal FD. I lost weight quickly with ADF but some of it was muscle so I stopped doing it. Now I do a 5 day water fast once a quarter for health reasons. I find that eating keto works best for me. I’m quite active and I find I can eat <50 grams of carbs daily and still stay in mild ketosis. Almost all of my carbs come from non starchy veggies. Occasionally I’ll eat fruit in season like berries, apple or mangos. Fats are from eggs, gee, coconut, nuts, oily fish, olives, cheese from goats and sheep and grass fed red meats. On non workout days I get about 60g of protein and on workout days 110 grams. I do not eat cow dairy, wheat or quinoa as they are inflammatory to me. Occasionally I will go on a carb binge usually pizza. I do not count calories

I’m a 67 YO male 5’9″ 166 lbs very fit and on zero meds. BP and blood chems are stellar. I was 240 lbs at my most gravitationally challenged.

Good morning! @michelemm1, sounds like you survived your visitors and did well. Just being able to maintain was a huge success! @hedgehogs, thanks for all of the great information. It sounds like you have a very sensible and sustainable plan. I love to hear what everyone is doing, it’s so helpful. I’m guessing that I’ll have to lower my carbs as I lose in order to stay in ketosis. Right now, I seem to be in ketosis on fast days and most of my eat days, but I don’t worry if I fall out on eat days. Hi @diverdog, congratulations on your loss and maintenance. I loved hearing what you’ve done to make that happen.

That was the challenge for me the past few weeks, settling into a plan that my body finds acceptable! It really helped me to read Dr. Fung. Hearing that the reason most people fail on a diet is because their body basically won’t let them starve was a revolutionary concept for me. In the past, I always just thought there was something wrong with me–weak character, no willpower, etc. Now I realize that the response from my body was highly appropriate because it was trying to take care of me. I’m not treating myself as an adversary anymore. Now I realize that my eating plan must be body-approved or it’s not going to work. This has been a figuring-it-out month for me. I’m amazed to find that eating breakfast, and getting the right number of calories on eat days has encouraged my body to cooperate. I’ve always been so opposed to breakfast, now I find myself eating bacon and eggs and losing weight. Crazy.