New to fasting

This topic contains 6 replies, has 4 voices, and was last updated by c702 6 years, 7 months ago.

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c702

7:59 pm
5 Sep 17
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Hello everyone,

My names Peter, I’m morbidly obese at around 265 pounds most of which was put on through depression, terrible job and I still stress eat/addicted to sugar these days. Get a craving in the afternoons usually and chug down litres of diet soda per day which may not have solid science behind its negative effects I tend to believe in the theories that it causes insulin spikes and confuses the bodies system.

Well anyway, I’m naturally a big guy, if I lose to much weight then I look anorexic. My goal weight is between 190 and 200 pounds or 13-14 stone. I’m a plasterer which means I’m naturally a little fit and the days I’m working and not caring for a terminally ill family member my caloric expenditure that day is quite high.

Now any kind of moderation has failed, usually within the same day. I’ve had success on a VLCD before but sticking to it fails and I’ve heard these expensive mini meals are actually loaded with crap (500 calories a day shakes/soups/bars cambridge etc.)

I can’t believe how badly wrong I got the science on actual fasting. I got here through googling after observing a youtube gamer do a 30 day fast (which is pretty crazy still to me) and lost about 60-70 pounds.

I’m not going to do that. I’m sitting her 22 hours into my first 24 hour fast. Sipping some carbonated mineral water and a slice of lemon (substituting out the diet soda…now not earlier ahem).

I’m going to break it at 10pm and eat protein and vegetables with a two slices of wholemeal bread. Then I’ll be having a 23 hour fast again. 2 days of plastering so I’m thinking I’ve burned a few calories today and will tomorrow on a big ceiling)

I’m not so good at routines as my life is hectic at the moment. I’ve got it in my head to do multiple 24 hour fasts as and when the fancy takes me, but keeping it logged and seeing what happens. Combined with a high protein/fat/low carb diet most days though there will be at least two days a week my carbs are pretty high (family meal day/beer night)

If I can do 3x 24 hour fasts per day hopefully I’ll lose my 70 pound goal weight. Does anyone else with a lot of weight to lose just sometimes see the goals as too big? 70 pounds is over a year at a pound a week…

dykask

1:52 am
6 Sep 17
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@c702 – Hi Peter,

If you are doing 3 24 hour fasts a week you could lose your 70 lbs in a year, but it might be hard. I would expect some success at first but then a plateau might happen somewhere and that could cause you trouble.

I think part of the reason diet cola gets a bad rap is that when heavy people start trying to lose weight they switch to drinking it. You can easily monitor your blood sugar and it might be worthwhile for you to start doing that. I can tell you for a fact that diet cola has no impact on my blood glucose. However maybe the sweeteners used in Japan are different that where you are. There are hundreds of artificial sweeteners. Also the theory about diet cola fooling people into eating more doesn’t seem to apply to me. I know I used to use diet soda to avoid eating at times. However, now that I’ve been fasting for over a year and have very little refined sugar in my diet, I find I’m drinking a lot less diet soda. Currently I mostly drink water, or sometimes I mix in a little club soda into the water. There is lots of junk in diet soda that can’t be good for us even if the artificial sweetener isn’t an issue.

Beer night sounds pretty bad for the weight. That could be an issue.

You might want to join into the monthly challenge that goes on. Lots of support and it helps to force you to monitor your progress.

simcoeluv

2:27 am
6 Sep 17
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Hi C and welcome:

The average weight loss over time on 5:2 is about a pound a week. You might lose more at the start, but the rate of loss will slow down.

Your initial goals should have nothing to do with weight loss. For the first month or so, your goal might better be to do two successful diet days each week. A successful diet day is eating 600 cal. or less each of the two days.

After a month or two, you can reevaluate and adjust.

Here are some tips: https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/the-basics-for-newbies-your-questions-answered/

Good Luck!

Big_Bill

5:35 am
6 Sep 17
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Hi C702,

I love diet cola (Pepsi Max and the new Coke No Sugar). I have given these up and switched to drinking more strong coffee (with unsweetened almond milk) to replace the caffeine. For me they definitely trigger cravings for both sweet and savoury foods. For people who aren’t affected in that way, I guess they can keep chugging away.

In terms of the goals seeming too big, I can appreciate that. It is best, in my experience, to set yourself shorter-term achievable goals. Maybe try to lose 8 pounds or 10 pounds in a single calendar month. For us big guys that sort of weight loss is achievable. And even if you only lose 4 pounds or even less, still give yourself a pat on the back.

I started out with the goal of losing 34 kg, or 75 pounds (although I probably really needed to lose around 40 kg). My first goal was 16 kg, which I achieved more quickly than I expected (about 3 months). I’m just back from a holiday where I ate and drank a lot, and I’ve set my next goal as a total loss of 24 kg, or another 8 kg, by the end of October.

The benefits of being slimmer kick in well before you hit your goal weight. When you hit those short-term goals you should be able to look in the mirror and see a difference, you will feel better, you’ll break less furniture, and people will start noticing that you are losing weight.

c702

4:50 pm
7 Sep 17
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Thanks folks, that last post you hit a lot of the nails right on the head.

I’m pleased to hear what has been said about diet coke, bad enough I have to fast than trying to give up two things at once. I’ll try and pay attention to cravings and get through them. A little mindfullness perhaps.

The 24 hour fast didn’t feel that bad, I didn’t get much in the way of sweet cravings and felt really full from the 1200 calorie meal at the end of it. I’m doing my second one starting tonight through until 10pm tomorrow.

c702

4:51 pm
7 Sep 17
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I don’t bother with a 600 calorie meal though I do drink a yakult and yoghurt protein drink in the morning which is a little bigger than a yakult.

c702

9:31 pm
8 Sep 17
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I weighed myself for the first time in a long time. I’m even heavier than I thought which is incredibly depressing. 272.5 pounds.

I’ve now got a target weight loss of 82.5 pounds