Fasting days consecutive or split?

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  • Hey guys!

    I tried this diet months ago and it worked for a few weeks, however I had such a hectic schedule (and lots of engagements that involved free food/being taken to dinners) that it fell apart.

    I’m finally on track routine-wise but I’d like to know which approach works best for you: fasting two days in a row, so you can relax for the rest of the week, or fasting for a day with the knowledge that it’s only for 24 hours, and then repeating that later in the week.

    Wish me luck! As of day one my target is to lose a stone…let’s see.

    I personally do my 2 days consecutively on a Monday and Tuesday, mainly because that’s what fits in with my schedule best (OH plays footie those 2 nights leaving me free to eat a low cal.dinner in peace!) But also just because I like it over and done with at the beginning of the week so I can relax the rest of the time!
    It being at the beginning of the week sort of makes me feel like its combating any weekend excesses too!
    Like you, I am initially only trying to lose a stone (of which I’ve lost 9lb of in 4 weeks) but if I can reach a further 4lb I’ll be at my pre baby weight of 8st10lb and very happy indeed!!
    Good luck to you 🙂

    Hi emstar I’m doing 4:3 coz I’ve loads to lose + I do usually split days up but have done consecutive day easy but think most seem to do Mon+Thurs to split + leave weekends free but I’ve also done occasional Sun, whatever works best for you week by week, that’s the beauty of this WOE its so flexible. Good Luck.Sue

    Sue.Q, I have also been fasting recently 4:3. What are your thoughts about it? Has it made you lose more weight at the end of the week instead of the 5:2 approach?

    I posted this on a different thread earlier, but see my feedback and query may be more relevant here.

    I’m new to this (just started third week) so am still trying to wrap my head around the calculations, and am trying a few ways of fasting to see what works best for me in terms of how I feel/cope with the fasting. The first week I had two meals on just one day (couldn’t fit in a second that first week), finishing eating around 8 PM pre-fast day, then on the fast day I breakfasted at about 8 AM then dinner at 7 PM. Breakfast the next non-fast day was around 8 AM. That, I think, gave a fast including sleep time of 36 hours. Emstar, I lost 3 lbs that week.

    Last week I tried two consecutive days. I split my 500 calories into two meals (breakfast and dinner). I last ate pre-fast on Sunday at about 8 PM then had two fasting days, breaking the fast on Wednesday at about 8 AM. That, I think, gave a fast of 60 hours, i.e. between normal eating and including sleep. That seemed to go reasonably well, though I felt a bit light-headed and sluggish on the second day. In terms of weight lost that week Emstar, I lost 1 lb 6 oz.

    This week I am trying consecutive days again, but with just one meal (dinner) at about 7 PM. On Saturday I last ate something at 10 PM (I was eating out, so not a normal eating time for me – littlewing’s comment about addressing any excesses of the weekend was part of the appeal of fasting the next day!). I fasted Sunday, not eating anything until 7 PM. Today, another fasting day, I will eat at 7 PM, then will breakfast normally tomorrow at about 8 AM. That gives a fasting period of 58 hours, if I am understanding this correctly. I haven’t felt particularly hungry over these two days, and in fact feel full of beans today and have lots of energy. It may be that the one meal option works best for me (or the consecutive days). I weigh myself one day a week, Friday, so I will feed back on how this week has gone later. I’m next going to try one meal on two non-consecutive days to see how that works.

    My personal preference is going to be to fast on non-consecutive days, but domestic circumstances this week and last meant that it was more convenient to try out the consecutive days option (and satisfy my curiosity at the same time).

    Also interested in how Sue.Q and FastCouple’s 4:3 is working compared to 5:2.

    Hello

    I have been on the 5:2 diet for quite a while now, And i am not losing any weight. I wondered about doing 3 Fast-Days, Do you think that this will help at all?

    Also, i generally have 3 small meals a day. I was just wanting to check that i am doing it the right way!!

    I would appreciate it very much if someone could give me some advice on this!

    Thanks

    Hi there, I also am doing the 2 consecutive days as I enjoy being alcohol free for 2 days in a row and then cutting down rest of the week and Monday/Tuesday are relatively quiet
    I started off really well but have also reached a plateau and been on the same weight for the last 4 weeks now
    I don’t eat till lunchtime each day and generally have soup for dinner around 7 pm
    Any advice gratefully received too

    mariao

    when i hit plateaus

    i either go 4:3
    low carb
    or eat during the day on fastday
    on a 5:2
    switch up diets from paleo 2 medit 2 veg
    or average lower cals 4 the wk
    seems 2 work

    search plateaus & u will have a kaleidoscope of successes

    wish ur plateaus 2 break
    & keep on trucking down 🙂

    I tend to eat out a lot more on weekends, so I do my fast days early on in the week, following the weekend binge. I’ve done them back to back but could switch this if I needed to. That’s the nice thing is this diet can be very flexible, as long as you do your two days in the week. One of the things that really gets to me is all the junk food around the house: candy bars, chips, cookies, etc. I really wish there wasn’t so much of this around as it would help tremendously.

    I prefer to split my fast days to Monday and Thursday if possible. If something makes this unworkable I just change the days.
    I have breakfast(8am) and dinner (6pm) I am not sure how fasting 2 consecutive days would suit me but might give it a go sometime.

    look @ what these fasting scientists said from horizon
    2 this blogger

    http://feedfastfeast.com/2012/08/25/grabbing-the-bullshit-by-the-horns/

    Thanks wiltlnrUSA, interesting comments re plateaus and the research that you did. Arielle the only way to get around that is to not have any of that stuff lying around at home.We have no kids at home anymore but can imagine it must be harder when you do.
    I still get confused around the length of time in between the meals on fast days
    My last meal on Sunday is at 6.30 and the next day I don’t eat till 11.30 usually carrots and hummus with miso soup and then dinner is 6.30 which is usually soup and then I repeat it for the next day
    So my initial fast is around 17 hours, then 7 hours, then 17 again

    mariao

    here is a convo i had about that
    hope jeanius clarifies it for u

    still confused. anybody else?

    wiltldnrUSA

    12:02 am on 4 Jun 13

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    jeanius or michael or mimi
    eventhough i have been doing this since march 2nd and have lost 20 lbs

    i’m still confused over the fastdays

    if i eat @7pm sun a nonfastday
    then @7pm mon fastday 24hrs
    then tues a nonfastday @8am is that a doublefastday or 1 1/2?

    should i eat after 12am tues a nonfastday

    because i’m so hungry wasn’t b4 but now i am

    Jeanius

    7:29 am on 4 Jun 13

    Hello, wiltdnrUSA – On the schedule you quoted, Monday is your fast day, and you appear to be saving the whole of your calorie allowance until you eat one meal at 7pm, thereby having fasted for a full 24 hours (from Sun 7pm until Mon 7pm). Then, what is recommended is that you sleep overnight on the Monday, without eating anything more since the 7pm meal. Waking on Tuesday, a non-fast day, you can eat normally, breaking your fast whenever best suits you. Some people prefer to wait for as long as they can before eating on the Tuesday so that they can achieve another substantial period of fasting. (From 7pm Mon until 9am Tues, for example, is another fast of 14 hours.)
    I assume by referring to 12am Tuesday, you are asking if it’s OK to break the fast at midnight, on the cusp between Monday 23:59hrs and 00:00 hrs Tues. Of course, the choice is yours – and what matters is that you find a timetable that you feel able to sustain on an on-going basis – but it would seem a shame to waste that easier-to-fast-when-sleeping overnight period by eating at midnight before you sleep, from Monday night until Tuesday morning. Whatever you’ve been doing to date seems to be successful, as far as weight loss is concerned, but if you’re finding your chosen timetable a bit of a struggle now, maybe you could try different timings. But, then, perhaps that might be just too confusing? Best wishes for further success in your efforts, whichever timings you choose.

    Jeanius

    7:51 am on 4 Jun 13

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    Postscript to wiltdnrUSA – I am suffering the consequences of 50 years of eating just before I go to sleep, now having to take on-going high doses of drugs to not-very-successfully manage a damaged and painful gullet, so I really don’t recommend late-night eating. With all best wishes.

    mariao

    also found something by michael that might help

    http://thefastdiet.co.uk/different-ways-of-managing-your-fast-day/

    wiltdnrUSA your advice is great thank you. I logged on to see if two consecutive days is worthwhile as I have a busy social week this week and from reading the above and the article you quoted further up I can actually do two non consecutive days if I just have one meal. I have also realised that this is probably a better way going forward and might help my plateau. Thank you for being concise and putting all this information together

    I do two consecutive fast days. I eat NOTHING, all day Monday and Tuesday. I drink tea and water, and, sometimes, munch on celery, cucumber or lettuce. I works for me. I’ve lost a lot of weight, and I feel GREAT.

    Does anyone think I’m doing something risky or ineffective?

    EZ. Rider, I am not a doctor but I do believe your body would tell you if you did something wrong. I think we all have to tailor the diet to our own needs and as you feel great I would not worry.

    I am also a fan of switching things around. I do not follow the same routine every week, at least not for now. I am still keeping an eye on the calories I consume on non-fasting days as I do not want to consume too many without knowing it.

    I also made some drastic life style changes such as giving up drinking Coke and putting sugar in my coffee. In fact I gave up drinking coffee altogether…not easy!

    Good luck with it!
    Stef.

    Why does everyone not do 2 consecutive days then 5 eat normally?

    Because it is just too hard!
    The only thing that keeps me going on a fast day is knowing that I can eat normally the next day.

    @silverman – as annette says some people find it too hard to do back to back days but if you want to do it that way and it works for you then that’s fine.

    Michael Mosley’s suggestion of 2 non consecutive days is because you can tell yourself ‘I can eat that tomorrow’ and it will make this WOE more sustainable.

    As has been said many times….it’s what works for you.

    Because I want it to be a sustainable lifestyle for *me* and not a short term fad. Making it non-consecutive means I can fit it into my life and it’s my life I’m trying to change.

    If it works for you, and is sustainable you can make that choice. (you can make the choice regardless, it really is whatever works best for each individual)

    I think too many people are focusing on the amount of weight lost. On other diets it is easier to lose weight at least in the short term, however a large percentage of the weight lost is water and muscle mass. While on the 5-2 a much larger percentage of any weight loss will be body fat which for not only aesthetic but primarily health reasons is the most important end goal.

    I am fasting every other day hence doing 3:4, non fast days on Sat and Sun. Will this be as effective as the 2:5?

    Also, will my body get used to the routine and adjust accordingly so consequently hinder the weight loss?

    Hi Lion and welcome:

    Not sure about your description – 3:4 would mean you have four diet days each week. If Sat. and Sun. are non diet days, that would mean four of the five weekdays are diet days. Sounds pretty hard to do, but I guess if you want to, go ahead. Alternate day fasting (ADF) is every other day and works out to 4:3 one week and 3:4 the next. If you look at number four in this post (on TDEE) you will see the numbers on how much additional weight you might lose by doing one or more extra diet days each week: https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/the-basics-for-newbies-your-questions-answered/

    The quickest way to lose weight is to eat nothing. Research and experience show that if not eating, weight loss continues until a person dies. So weight loss is not hindered as long as calories are restricted.

    As you are eating, what does happen is your TDEE decreases as your weight falls, so your weight loss will slow if you continue eating the same amount of calories as when you started the diet. You can counter that slowdown by eating less, or just becoming more patient. It is not a race to the bottom, and when you get there, you can’t go back to eating like you used to or you will regain all of the weight you lost.

    You simply will have to get used to eating a lot less food than you used to eat.

    Good Luck!

    Hi, Sorry I didn’t explain the days correctly. Non fast days are Sat and Sun, Fast on Monday, Non fast Tuesday, Fast Wednesday, Non Fast Thursday, Fast on Friday and then back to Sat/Sun non fast days. 3 fast days and 4 non fast days, 2 of the non fast days are back to back.

    Thanks

    I am thinking of doing the 4:3 M, W, F and having Sat and Sun ‘Off” is this the same as every other day fasting?

    Hi running:

    No.

    One is 4:3, the other is alternate day fasting, or every other day fasting.

    My fast days are Sundays and either Wednesdays or Thursdays. Sundays are best for me because I can relax more and therefore, don’t crave foods as much. Also, I can fully concentrate on what I eat on those days: I make fresh fruit/veggies smoothies, drink lots of hot tea with Stevia and non-dairy milk, etc. During the week, while at work, I cannot devote so much attention and time to the program but still am very careful on that second fast day what I eat (and the night before prepare all the smoothies and foods to take with me to work). I cannot fast two days in a row; just cannot do it! I need a couple of days in between.

    I don’t think its healthy not to eat anything on fast days: the author advises to eat 500 cal for women and 600 for men. Also, if people stay on fast more than two days a week, they will be just too hungry and wont be able to maintain this program for long. There should be less focus on the amount of weight lost and more on eating more healthy and sticking to the program.

    Hi Marla1000.
    I am on the program from January. What is good about the program, that it could be adjusted to anybody’s needs. You like to eat up to 500 cal on fasting day, and it is perfect. I (and many others) cannot stop eating only 500 cal, so for us it is easier not to eat at all for fast day. If you read other threads, there are a lot of experienced fasters that fasts 2 days in a row because it works for them. Still it does not mean that we/they are wrong, or that we/they cannot stick to the program.
    Flexibility is the key, and everybody can find the variation that works for them. that is the reason why the program is so popular.
    It is great that you find the program that you like and that works for you. Good luck and happy fasting.

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