I have been following the fast diet since the beginning of February 2013. I have found it surprisingly easy to deal with and only occasionally have I had to struggle (usually successfully) with midnight munchies on fast days.
What I find a little strange is that I have clearly lost width – clothes now fit comfortably and sit much better, some are actually too big – but have only lost 3 kilos (just under half a stone) in all that time and am still borderline obese.
There have been other rewarding spin-offs – much more energy with a noticeable quickening of pace and length of stride when I walk, BP down to 115 over 64 and cholesterol levels normal. And people keep telling me how well I look. However, it would be nice to get off this 3-month-long plateau. Any ideas?
Could it be that I was already eating reasonably healthily before starting the diet – fortunately I either actively dislike or can easily live without the usual fatty, sugary suspects and I rarely drink alcohol – so the effect of intermittent fasting is less dramatic? And could being 73 – although still working full time and studying for an MA part time -have anything to do with it?

Hi Vicki

Thanks for your ideas and your encouraging words. It’s great that 5:2 is working for you, too.
To be honest I’m not sure I could handle total fasting, although that’s what I do automatically if I feel unwell or too stressed out. I don’t do comfort eating.
Likewise lunch to lunch fasting. I don’t eat breakfast – for the last 20 years on the few occasions I’ve tried to eat breakfast (usually on holiday) I’ve felt so unwell – nauseous and dizzy – I’ve had to go back to bed for the rest of the day. Even after the midnight munchy feeling on fast days, by the time morning comes I can’t bear even to look at or smell food. I can’t eat until I’ve been awake at least 4 hours and even by lunchtime I can only manage something very light. The plus side is that fast day breakfasts/lunches of 150 cal or less are dead easy for me.
What I’ve decided to do from now on is on feast days to prepare the more calorific fast day recipes from Mimi’s great book – fortunately my one and only domestic skill is cooking – thereby keeping up the good work. I’m lucky in that Him Indoors is dieting with me so catering is no problem.
As for “weight doesn’t matter” – try telling that to a doctor. Fortunately I’m able to avoid face-to-face encounters and practically all consultations (I was about to say “confrontations”!) are over the phone. However, if the subject of weight comes up I’m treated to a lecture about not eating this and avoiding that – a complete waste of precious time as I very rarely eat the bad stuff and haven’t done for years. I think they imagine I live on cream buns with a few pork pies stashed away for emergencies.
As diabetes is one of the problems on which the fast diet has a beneficial effect, despite the fact I’ve escaped so far I decided to get a blood glucose reading after only a few weeks of dieting. Even though both parents were diabetic my own reading is 5.3 (which I’m told is fine). So even before I joined the 5:2 brigade I must have been doing something right.