day31 Cornwall UK. Now nearly 1am, I can’t sleep because I ache so much in knees and hips, arthritis is a bitch! Just catching up on the posts for the past few days to take my mind off and while the pain-killers kick in! I can’t believe that its a whole month Ive actually stuck to the 5.2 and I’m seeing the evidence on the scales and on the tape measure that it really is working!
I truely believe that without this challenge (thankyou coda), reading the posts and knowing that many are going through tough times as well, I may not have stuck it! You are all so helpful and encouraging! We’re still hanging on in there!! Well done to us all!!
This is truely changing my relationship with food, normally when I’m in pain in the night I go and make a big peanut butter sandwich with a large glass of milk – my comfort food. Tonight I’m not doing this because though I feel ‘peckish’ I know I really don’t need it!
Later today I’m going out with 2 of my 4 daughters for a pampering spa day, so I’ve got my swimsuit out and I do believe there are fewer bulges! So a steam, sauna and facial will be wonderful and hopefully help with aching joints!
Good luck to you all, wherever you are in this world of ours. Onwrd and downwards!!

Hi back2thefuture,

To answer your question. It is better to reduce or fast for say 2 days and eat normally for 5 days than to reduce your caloric intake evenly over 7 days. For example lets say your TDEE is 2000 cal per day. Its better to eat 0 cal for two days and have 2000 cal for the other 5 days rather than have reduced 1430 cals for 7 days. The feast/famine style of eating has been genetically programmed into us over thousands of years. The eating 3 meals a day plus snacks is a very recent phenomenon. Really only in the last generation. Go back just to your parents generation and it wasn’t the case. I remember even being told off for snacking…it would ruin my dinner was a constant catch dry from my mum.

Fung is basically correct and quotes lots of papers on the topic of metabolic rate. Fasting doesn’t slow down metabolic rate but continuous reduced caloric intake does. When Fung talks about fasting he means fasting (no caloric intake). You burn a combination off glucose, glycogen and fat ALL the time. The ratios change depending on your activity and what you have stored at that particular moment in time. Obviously if you are fasting your glycogen and fat percentage burn will go up and glucose burn will go down. Eventually you will be deriving the vast majority of your energy from fats (ketosis which is good and not to be confused with ketoacidosis which is bad. Ketosis is like a nice fire in a fireplace, ketoacidosis is when the house is on fire.)

You will not flip into ketosis if you have small carb top ups. Your body isn’t that stupid. Switching over to ketosis in 24 hours is optimistic if you are just starting proper fasts. When I first started doing fasts (I used to do 2 consecutive days of water fasting, so about 60 hours, now in maintenance mode so I do 6:1) I would just get to ketosis by the end of 60 hours. I measured this with a blood glucose/ketone meter (they are cheap to buy). Now that my liver is better at processing fats it takes me 24 hours to get into ketosis. Remember this just means the vast majority of your energy is coming from stored fats, but you are burning all three energy sources all the time, just in different ratios.

Fung is correct you have enough stored fats to last you for months!! I don’t think he or anyone sensible is actually suggesting to water fast for months though. I think he was just making a point.

Hope that helps answer your questions.

Hi bigbooty: Thank you for the reply and it was helpful! I am concerned about becoming a “biggest loser” as described by Dr Fung wherein my metabolic rate slows such that even lowered caloric intake goes to fat storage and regain of weight loss. If I have understood the 5:2 method I have been eating 1/4 of TDEE on fast days (one evening meal) and below TDEE on non-fast days In order to burn stored fat. In my first month I have not felt hungry for breakfast on non-fast days and have eaten below TDEE in two meals but I wonder if this falls into the category of “continuous reduced caloric intake”. I have lost weight by this method but will it all come back?

UK day 31 Parties,plumbers,ups and downs there’s a lot going on around the world, I really love reading all your posts

Really enjoyed the long weekend had lots of treats but stayed within TDEE now actually looking forward to fasting today and buckling down and giving it my all until the end of this challenge – I’m then going to Italy for 3 weeks and then I’ll be set for our July challenge

UK day 31 – NFD. ..only notable thing is (drum roll, please) husband noticed I looked slimmer this morning…without prompting!

Day 31– Colorado, USA

Incredibly long & busy work day ahead of me today… should make fasting fairly easy (won’t have a chance to even get near food.) May even try b2b fasts Tuesday & Wednesday.

Still feels very strange not hopping on the scale for a peek. Haven’t weighed since Saturday morning. I’m attempting to break my (slightly obsessive) habit of daily weigh ins. At least till the end of this Challenge.
Hopefully there will be a nice surprise number for me come June 11th!! 🙂

US, Day 31, back to work day…and a FD.

And I was right. My “vacation” scale is a pound light. So I put back 1+ but I will take it off quickly. My optimism on this way of eating/living far outstrips my annoyance at a weight gain. I KNOW I can do this and will CONTINUE to lose another 2 pounds to get to my goal by the end of JUne.

I had a wonderful long weekend with extended family. My older son brought his gf of 1.5 years to meet the rest of the my side of the family. They all liked her and she enjoyed herself. Son #1 is a happy guy.

Australia Day 31. FD and also celebrating one month of sticking to a weight loss regime, first time ever! My treat was a relaxing facial this afternoon. Already thinking about what my 2 month treat will be. I also watched the Dr Fung video and found it very interesting. I plan to do more research on the science of fasting and would appreciate any recommendations.

USA day 31: FD! Okay…I don’t like being thrown off my FD schedule. This morning I woke up and wasn’t feeling right so I decided to do my FD tomorrow. I made my espresso, with almond milk and decided to put in a little cream too. I started sipping it and it tasted so heavy…and I felt like “no, I need to do my FD today”. So I stopped. Don’t know how many calories that was..maybe 50 (rounding up, just in case). Will attempt to do FD then today…I usually don’t do espresso on my FD’s cause it’s the start of my breakfast.

The plan: FD today. Making some chicken in a crock pot and will do chicken salad tonight. Grocery shopping today (which can be tough on a FD, but ah well!) Hope I can stick to the FD today. Looking forward to getting back on my “schedule”. Memorial day threw me off. Not eating-wise, thankfully. I ate pretty healthy and enjoyed some treats but wasn’t excessive..and was able to get a nice hike in.

USA, Day 31. Fasting today.

US/Day 31 – FD today (ate well under TDEE the past two days but don’t feel like I had a “true” 500 cal or less FD). Light breakfast before workout, then busy day with fish and veggies for dinner. Have a good day all.

Shortly after my last post, I ate breakfast. Today is not a fast day. But will stay under TDEE and have my FD tomorrow. Moving forward.

Day31 California,USA. I managed to have a successful fast day yesterday. Has miso soup and salad for lunch during the potluck at work. My friend made a delicious peanut butter cake. I took a taste and brought a piece home in case I wanted it today, but probably won’t eat it. I just had the satisfaction of cutting a piece and knew it was there instead of depriving myself and saying no. My dinner plans fell through with my sister which helped me to maintain my fast day. I just had to retreat to my bedroom to watch the Warriors beat the OKC last night to avoid any mindless eating. Today is a NFD. Off to work now.

Wishing a great day to all!

Hi ABC1,

Wow this post moves alone fast. There is nothing magical about 1/4 TDEE. It was a compromise that MM thought most people could handle. If you think you can do zero cal water fasts by all means do it. I tried eating 1/4 TDEE when I first started and tried zero cals and actually found it easier, so that’s what I did. Everyone is different.

I use a Freestyle Optium Neo. It measures both blood glucose and ketone bodies. The unit itself is about $30-40. The glucose sticks are about 50 cents each and the ketone sticks are about $1 each. Shop around on ebay and you will find a good price. Heres an example from ebay Australia. Not sure where youre based but look up your local ebay, Im sure they will have listings

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/GENUINE-Abbott-Freestyle-Optium-Neo-5x-Boxes-of-Ketone-Strips-40-Cashback-/272216852697?hash=item3f616388d9:g:WVEAAOSwepZXTW-k

Sorry,’ daliries’ should be ‘calories’.

Day 31 USA (Minnesota) about 9:30 a.m.
FD today. I stayed well under TDEE yesterday with a small steak and veggie. I continued to drink fluids and this morning my weight was down 2 lbs since yesterday. I am so relieved. I must have been retaining plenty of sodium and extra water from my trip this past weekend. I’m still up about 2 lbs from last Thursday, but I’ll just keep on plan with my two fast days and hope for the best.
I’m a bit disappointed in myself for what must have been overeating, because I had a goal to meet for this Friday when I’ll see family and old acquaintances that I haven’t seen in many years, but at least I’m closer to my goals than I was a month ago! That’s the bright spot and I’m grateful for having found this WOL and this thread.
The positive attitudes here are contagious.
Thanks for the encouragement, Fishing Gran, and everyone.
Good luck everyone. Love reading your posts.

Edzecko, I blame my son for bringing in all that delicious stuff from Fromagination!

Thanks Merryme for your concerns. I am losing weight, that is not a problem. I had been curious as to why we have the quarter TDEE.

Thanks bigbootie for your explanation. I have since found a couple of You tube films featuring this with Dr Fung. I think I feel much happier knowing I can fast more if it suits me.

It is strange that such a tool has not been made available to us before, since the science was known long ago. I am a convert for sure after this challenge.

My friend in the USA has a terrible time with his weight because he is on insulin. This situation is explained so well by Dr Fung. What a pity diabetes is not managed better.

USA 31 of 42
Time to recharge, only 10 days left in challenge!

Australia Day 32 FD – I blew my non-fast day yesterday and am so angry with myself. I had had a successful FD on Monday and then ate lightly at breakfast and lunch yesterday as we were going to dinner and a concert. But we ended up having dinner with friends and it was very small so I arrived home at 10:30 really hungry and took to the fridge. Am having my 2nd FD a day early to try and make up for it.

USA day 31, today is my fasting day, I did not do well on weekends days saturday and Sundays because I overate in them as a result of work stress,I wish I can do something to avoid weekends overeating,I discovered I eat when I get stressed, it is just when I have stress at work or anything else my body can not tolerate another stress which is feeling hungry, anybody have any idea to avoid overeating under stress situations?thank you
wish everybody wonderful day.

Aus day 32. Another planned fast day.

Québec, day 31
FD and it went well.
Still on board wirh you all.
I’m really looking forward to weigh tomorrow morning.
Bye bye

Australia, day 32, nonFD,

Down another 800gms on the graph on this weeks weigh in. So happy with that. I am just finishing 4 weeks on 5:2 weight loss again after my decision to maintain during a number of capital L life stresses all coming at once. 800gms(400gms is my usual) is a big weight loss for me in a week, and I’ve about 4 kgs to go now. I would be very happy to get there by the end of winter when I can get winter clothing in my final size at end of season prices.

On my FD I was aiming for 375cals, and did 360. Later realized I’d under counted the number of portions in the seafood soup I’d made and my cals were actually 270. Now I’m getting closer to goal weight I much prefer to use 1/4 of my TDEE. Because I’m sedentary my TDEE is quite low and my FD cals are 375 at the moment. Some people use 1/4 of their TDEE goal weight from when they start 5:2, and they lose faster. I prefer to adjust my FD calories down as I lose weight.

ABC1 and bigbooty – the written word does not always carry the exact intention of the writer. I’m sorry if there was a misunderstanding here. I was not intending ABC1 ignore ketosis. I cannot comment on ketosis, having not looked into it yet (other then the indelicate subject of my urine smells different on FD afternoons and nights). My interest is in the psychological, emotional, socialogical, even epidemiological facets of 5:2. Bigbooty is absolutely right – there’s no magic in 1/4 TDEE on FDs or the < 500/600 cal average. The genius of 5:2 though, is that it makes it available to almost everyone., and has brought intermittant fasting to the notice of medical and health professionals worldwide. It makes a healthy lifestyle available en masse, to all of us in our ‘lost’ world of overabundance of food/overprocessed/over sweetened food and our unnatural fat enducing lifestyles. 5:2 has also introduced us to HIT exercise, another breakthrough.

NonFDs are confusing sometimes to people new to 5:2. They see “feast and famine” and “eat what you like” and confuse quantity with type of food, and then wonder why they don’t lose weight. Some give up because of it. Others, like me, had to learn that, even if the right cals count, if I ate starchy carbs and sugars my weight loss stalled every time.

People on the forum are getting healthy on various regimes – 5:2, 4:3, b2b, water fasts, and on nonFDs sometimes 16:8 or 19:5 appears in individual regimes. This is forum is an amazing sociological tool. It’s up to each of us to work out how our bodies and minds operate individually, and I will be grateful for this opportunity as long as I live.

I wish you both well. I’m glad you are normalising your weight ABC, and big booty thank you for your knowledge.

Onwards and Downwards,
Merry

Good morning from South Australia Day 32

It is the first day of summer in the northern hemisphere and the first day of winter here in the South. Happy new season to everyone.

Back2thefuture Dr Fung’s book ‘Obesity’ covers a lot of science and specific details and questions which other people have already answered since my last post.

A Fung fast has no calories at all except lemon slices in water. He suggests water, teas without milk, and bone broth. He has a recipe in the book for bone broth. He says just water is absolutely fine but you can have the other things, coffee, tea and bone broth if you want to.

Dr Fung does not have a 5:2 Official Forum like this one where we have a maintenance forum and people can write freely about whether the 5:2 diet is sustainable long term or not. It makes interesting reading and is well worth checking out although I must admit some of the posts are a bit weird but that is part of it’s strength as well. It helps my skepticism when everyone can contribute.

So I follow 5:2 because it is not too extreme and it works really well for me. If it stops working I have Dr Fung’s advice as back up but so far I am doing what works.

Dr Fung’s scientific theories sounds great but as yet they have not been proved with scientific practice over the decades of human real life. As he himself says we thought Doctor Atkins had it all sorted out a few years ago. I really hope we do find the solutions because the current obesity figures are terrible in both rich and poor countries and our little children are going to find it harder than us.

Today is Weigh In Wednesday for me and I have lost another 300 grams this week so that is 1.1 kilos altogether since the start of our challenge which is great. I have now lost over 15 kilos since I started this WOE 36 weeks ago.

All the best to all you Fabulous Forty Challengers and Onwards and Downwards