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jpplov. I would settle for 600 g. I have been off the regime for two weeks and have put on 7 lb – about 3 kg. In that time I have been to the gym and have have exercised more than I did when I was fasting. I would like to think that the gain is increased muscle mass, but realistically I doubt it. I am now 14 lbs, about 6.3 kg above target. Fasting today and tomorrow!
Justing posting a one off because I am definitely not a guy! Just wanted you to know that my husband saw my results and joined in in April. He has lost about 9 kilos. He started at around 100 and he is 5’11”.
I have been doing it since last November and have lost 11.
We were doing straight 5/2 for a while but I started to plateau and he wanted fast results so we have cut out our nightly wines and now just generally drink on social occasions. I found it really made a difference. I must admit to eating lower carb as well. My husband chose to do that because he finds it easy to overeat with bread etc
He is pretty disciplined. Fast days for him tend to be things like boiled eggs, tins of tuna and an eye fillet of steak and basic salad for dinner. He might have a coffee or a bit of milk but stays under the 600. We have travelled quite a bit in that time sothere have been complications.
He is 55 and the only exercise he really gets is walking to and from work about an hour all up.
I hope someone found this of use.
Hi jppiov
Congrats on the loss!
I am also doing ADF using the Every Other Day approach (Krista Varady)
Search my nick name, I have posted my results in this forum
I am only two and a bit months in and have a way (weigh :)) to go.
There are a couple of interesting things about maintenance
that are covered in EOD that don’t get a mention here.
They are a little depressing when you first read them but the
maintenance plan works around them.
Hi Guys
I have at last reached a normal BMI. The last few pounds just would not budge, so I did 4:3. They still didn’t budge. Was I cheating? Not on the fast days but maybe on non-fast days I waas having just a little more than 2400 cals. Soa friend suggested the Indian vegetarian GM diet. I tried it and in3 days I lost 7 pounds! You only do the diet for 7 days. After 7 days I had lost 9 pounds.
I now have a BMI of 24.3 for the first time in a couple of years. In future I will continue with 5:2 for as long as it works and when I put on weight I will do days 1-3 of the GM diet.
GM day 1 is only fruit, as much as you like (no bananas or tomatoes)
Day 2 is only veg, again as much as you like but no tomatoes (they are fruit)
Day 3 is fruit and veg, as much as you like, but no bananas.
That too is interesting. For me the only rule is to do what works. I drink very strong coffee – tastes as good as chocolate or even better and it keeps the hunger pangs at bay. But some health freeks say coffee undermines a diet. Well it works for me and I can drink it immediately before going to bed and I sleep like a baby.
I decided to get a DEXA scan and RMR test to have some accurate data. I received some good news and some bad news.
First the good: my RMR is 2246 calories, 37% higher than normal. So I should be able to easily stay below my caloric requirements. More good news is that my bone density is very good.
The bad news is that I have 28% body fat and too much visceral fat. The funny thing is I look pretty good but the hard facts are that I need to lose 19 more lbs of fat to get to my goal!
Diverdog – how did you go about getting those tests done?
jp – Congrats on dropping below that threshold. I had a similar experience just this morning; my goal weight is 140.0lbs and though I’ve reached it at various times, it has always worked out that on my actual weigh in day, I was higher. Thursdays are my weigh in day and this morning I was at exactly 140.0; so it was good finally to reach it on my weigh in day.
I’ve been thinking about getting the DEXA for a while to establish an accurate baseline so I can’t bull shit myself by saying “you look pretty good” when I look in the mirror. I’m in Park City Utah to beat the heat for a week and on a whim I googled DEXA and found that there is a center here in Salt Lake City(DEXA Body)that specializes in fitness testing. I got the DEXA and RMR test done for $139! Since they are not radiologists you don’t get a doctor to read it for you but the test and output you receive is exactly the same as one done in a hospital.
I’m heading home today to start undoing all of the crap I ate while on holiday! Decided to make today a fast day.
Thanks Phil
Now the trick is keeping the weight off. I actually want to lose a bit more weight but I’m not in a desperate hurry. I thought I was going to go back on to 5:2 but I did some research and I have decided to give alternate day fasting a try, having 500 cals on fast days (spread over 3 mini meals) and on no-fast days I will eat as much as I want when I am hungry but no garbage, just good vegetarian food. Once a week on a no-fast day I will eat the garbage that I might be lusting after – pizza, cake etc. This is new for me, so the diet may need tweeking as I go along.
It’s pleasing to see everyone gets results doing this. I’ve just started after months of exercise and not dropping anything.
Started at 94.5kg 2 weeks ago. Weighed in at 91.4kg today. Chuffed.
I juice a lot, very easy on fast days. Been to KFC, Burger king, fish and chips and had kebabs and it’s still coming off. Thinking about cutting back on nights out and the fast food though, and see if that speeds things up. Reckon I’ll also throw in a 4:3 every fourth week. Target is 80kg, and I know the slow down is about now too.
Hi,
After a recent tense “chat” with my cardiologist – she had been inclined to not keep me on as a patient – ” . . bad patient . . .” – I opted for serious. Having heard about 5:2 about a year ago I have taken it up with a background of paleo and green blender stuff for the NFDs. Been bouncing around between 105 – 110 kg for the last few years. Giving up the grog and watching my carbs for a couple of months has given my weight loss some impetus but I wanted some logical structure/plan going forward. After a couple of weeks of FD was 100.2kg today. According to all the various models my target weight is 80kg!%*! With AFib (on and off) and 63 yo old rugby knees I plan for save the exercise (prob HIT-style) for the plateaus. Supplements and some targeted aminos seemed to have helped my heart and BP (now 120/65).
Anyone using aminos for muscle sparing?
Great to see the variety of ideas and supportive comments.
Go figure. I went on a short holiday for 5 days and I was very generous with my dinners enjoying ample food including deserts. No fasting at all. When I came home I dreaded getting on the scale but I was .7 lbs lower that my lowest recent weight (173 lbs). I was at a nice cool elevation of 10,000 feet and I walked for about 2 1/2 hours each day up and down big hills so perhaps the cool temps and exercise burned off a bunch of calories?
Back home and time to get back on 5:2
Currently up the west coast of Scotland. Mobile phone and wifi reception in the Highlands and Islands varies between patchy and none. On the other hand the whisky is splendid and a “full Scottish breakfast” probably contains more calories than my TDEE. I’m finally somewhere with wifi so I’ve seen Diverdog’s last message. I am hoping that the hills I have gone up and down will make my weigh in on return match his experience but after the breakfast I just ate, I doubt it.
I’m at a conference in Louisville, KY, where the food is good and the bourbon is flowing. I arrived on Tuesday and Monday is my first fast day of the week, so that was okay, but today, Thursday, is my second Fast Day and I don’t plan on fasting. I will try to keep my eating low, however. There’s no scale in my hotel room so I am having to skip my normal weigh in today.
I get back very late Friday so it is only then that I can weigh in and see what the damage is. I had reached my goal weight of 140lbs, probably a week or two of strict 5:2 and I’ll be back at it again.
I had reached my goal of 140lbs two weeks ago but last week was at a conference from Tue-Fri so I skipped fasting on Thursday. Monday this week I skipped breakfast and lunch and had a normal supper. This morning is my weekly weigh-in and I came in at 142.2 lbs. I skipped breakfast this morning and am also skipping lunch today but have dinner plans. I will try not to over eat tonight.
On Monday next week I’ll try to skip all three meals, hopefully I will succeed.
I don’t generally have any trouble with the fasting; come supper time I can usually not eat; but it is when there are social events that it is harder. Once the summer is over I think it will be easier as there are fewer social events during the week.
jp – congrats on dropping below the 81kg threshold; I am sure it is only a matter of time before you lose those last 900g.
Good to see there’s plenty of male support here.
I’m 34 and about 83kgs – I should be more like 72.
I’m fairly fit and active (HIIT, running and weights for the last couple of years) and have just ramped up my weights programme. So far I don’t seem to have any issues working out before, during or after a fast day (I’m doing Mondays and Thursdays) but I wonder if I should be using BCAAs or similar.
My wife (also a yoyoer) is on FD too, so it will be interesting to compare our results. I know men (especially with some muscle) tend to drop weight faster than women in general so I hope she doesn’t get disheartened by it if I do.
Today was my second fast day and it was FAR easier than Monday. Loving black coffee and my midday miso is my saviour. Just have to stay busy!
I’ve promised myself to only get on the scales once per week – it seems pointless to do it more often, especially when our water weight changes so often.
I’ve never enjoyed calorie counting but I’ve found caloriecount.com pretty useful. This seems like a good way to stay motivated, so I’ll try to check in with you lot regularly.
Heya Kiwi,
Welcome to the Fast Diet; usually the second day is much easier. I started this back in April of this year and am also doing Monday and Thursday. That first day for me was a real challenge, the second day was somewhat easier, and since then the fast days have been hardly a challenge. I find they are only difficult if I don’t get enough sleep the prior night. Without enough sleep my defenses are lower and it is easier to succumb.
My weigh-ins are Thursday mornings and today I came in at 140.2lbs, just 0.2lbs away from my goal weight of 140lbs. When I started in April I was at 150lbs and doing the Fast 5:2 Diet I lost the bulk of the ten lbs in four weeks. Since then I’ve meandered between 142 and 140.
Like jp, I’ve noticed a few things that are different about how I approach food and eating. I haven’t changed really that much what I eat, but on my non-fast days I really have changed how much I eat, consuming quite a bit less than I used to. Another thing I’ve noticed is that even losing only 10lbs, it seems that I may need to update my apparel a little bit.
I’m about halfway through today’s fast and so far so good!
Welcome Kiwi.
Phil is right – it gets easier to eat less on the fasting days and your attitude to food will change. If I can only have one whisky, it is going to be a good one and the same goes for solid food. My own low cal days are Monday and Tuesday. I hit the gym Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings and the Wednesday after a two day fast is the day I feel a little low on energy. That may be good – there is a theory that exercise burns the easily accessible carbohydrate source energy, but if you are running on empty it burns fat. The first 20 lbs of loss were quite easy, but recently things have slowed down weight wise. I also have upped my weight training and the body is still changing shape – but muscle is denser than fat. New clothes needed here as well and I am still 10 lbs away from target!
With you on the Miso.
Just jumping in to speak about my husband again. He has lost 10kg’s and has just a few to go. I think the last few are the hardest but I know he will get there!
He isn’t a big drinker but we were having a wine or 2 every night but quite a while ago decided to cut back to just social occasions or at least just Frid, Sat, Sun.
We have fallen off that the last couple of weeks and he has noticed the lack of weight loss.
Good luck all.
After just over a week it seems I haven’t lost any weight, but, to be honest, I’m not too worried – I know it’ll come – having a bit to drink socially over the previous weekends probably didn’t help. I’m feeling great though on fast days – fairly energetic and sharp.
Today was my 3rd fast day and I started it off with a pretty intense leg workout. I felt a fraction light-headed for a couple of hours after that but I came right and really didn’t have any major pangs today.
I made a healthy ‘larb gai’ for dinner tonight which clocks in at just over 500 cal according to my calculations. If you enjoy thai flavours, I’d definitely check out a recipe – sort of a mince (chicken for me), vege and rice salad with plenty of lime juice, chilli, fish sauce and coriander/cilantro. Definitely filled the gap and satisfied the taste buds.
I really need to remember to drink plenty of water throughout the day. Trouble is I’m a teacher so I can’t just skive off to pee whenever I need to! Trying to compensate after work.
If I continue to maintain this weight, I’d consider doing 4:3 (mon, wed, fri). Has anyone tried this? Anecdotes please.
For now, I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing and I’ll check in again in a week or so.
Later.
Hey Kiwi, there are definitely some people in these forums who do 4:3 or alternating days. That would be too much for me as I’ve already lost pretty much all of the weight I can without starting to look gaunt.
My Thursday weigh came in at 139.6lbs, so I’m right around my goal weight of 140lbs.
The biggest change for me is having found a way to not over eat at my mother-in-law’s house. We (my family and I) eat there about once or twice a week and she (the mother-in-law) often prepares quite a lot of delicious food and often in the past I would find myself over eating. It’s been a few weeks now that I take a smaller plate, do not over fill it, and then do not get seconds. Lately this has made the difference between hovering above 140lbs to now being below it.
Good luck to all of the guys in the group!
My Thursday weigh in came in at 138.8lbs, so I’m still around my goal weight of 140lbs.
My wife started a diet plan and it is going so-so for her; she is finding it hard to get used to the reduced calories. That’s the difference between a foodie and a non-foodie.
How are the rest of the guys in this list doing?
Responding to PPlasma. Diet is going well. Unofficial start Jun2 @107.5kg, today 95.6kg. Avg weekly loss (according to one tracking app summary) = 0.95kg. 12.5kg to go to target. It has evolved into low cab high fat (LCHF)-IF 5:2 hybrid. Typical “Fast”Day KCals have gone up 1000<->1400 (just letting my body run the clock on the KCal at present – not such a fasting FD, is it? But I will look at that if the loss slows). The last FD energy source split was 75%Fat,17%Prot, 5%Carb. Obvious there is a food diary involved here. Trying to keep about that ratio all days. Trying to keep total KCals under 2200 on NFDs. Average incidental steps/day =11800 (Fitbit charge). No other exercise, but planned after interim target of 95kg. After the weight loss is done I will ditch all the technology/spreadsheets etc apart from the scales and go to 6:1. Hopefully I will learned what to eat by then and what exercise works! Loving the “Bulletproof” coffee!
11800 – that’s a lot of steps. On a day I do not put a concerted effort I usually only get around 4000.
Doesn’t sound to me like 1000-1400 calories on a Fast Day would be very effective, but whatever works for you to make this sustainable is probably the best thing.
Instead of moving to 6:1 after reaching my goal weight, I’ve been doing 18:6 on my two fast days.
Your idea of 18:6 is a good one. The 1400kcal is prob too high and will have to be reviewed. The diet is in flux right now til I find what works with this HF thing. Portion control, with such an energy dense food as fat, is key. Just a little drizzle more of oil is a sure way to overshoot. Thinking about Kojac noodles as a plate filler. Maybe smaller pans and plates might help the visual portion cues!
Just noticed another thread about increased BP and 5:2. My BP was tracking down nicely (150/95 to 120/70 as typical figures) but is now is starting to be more volatile with some systolic peaks at 135. Could just be normal variablilty but now it something else I can obsess about having read the other thread! Could be a small sensitive population, I imagine the majority have their BP improved by weight loss.
Anyone else seeing any of this?
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