Now What: What to do when you have met your goal weight?

This topic contains 22 replies, has 18 voices, and was last updated by Roblynne 5 years, 11 months ago.

Viewing 25 posts - 1 through 25 (of 25 total)

Arielle

2:26 pm
11 Sep 13
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Of course I’m not there yet! I have lost about 7 pounds in roughly 7 weeks on the fast diet (plus trying to stick to 1200 calories the rest of the week). So far, so good. What I wonder about is when I’ve met my goal of roughly 135-140 pounds, then what? Do I continue down this road of weight loss? Do I decrease my fast day to one day a week? Do I stop all together (and perhaps gain weight back)?

For those of you who have met your goal or challenge, what have you done at that point?

is this a lifestyle shift, a permanent one-or a temporary weight loss option for you?

StephB

2:56 pm
11 Sep 13
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I’m also not there yet (a measly 3 lbs off in 3 months but I’m ok with that – honestly!) but my understanding is that you reduce your fasts to one a week in order to maintain your weight and continue to enjoy the other health benefits of IF.

Well done on your weight loss so far, Arielle, you must be really pleased! Let us know how you get on.

wiltldnrUSA

3:03 pm
11 Sep 13
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we will all get there look @ this new

recently posted hidden in one of his replies
by Tobias Karlsson

dr mosley discusses the future of fastdiet & more

http://www.svt.se/nyheter/vetenskap/5-2-dietens-mosley-gor-film-om-mental-halsa

Nick3011

3:03 pm
11 Sep 13
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I’m probably about 2/3 of my way thorugh where I want to be, lost just under 2 stone since end of June. Will probably do 1:6 to maintain once I am where I want to be.
Good luck.

rockyromero

10:52 pm
11 Sep 13
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I’m where I want to be in weight and energy.

Somehow, I want to improve even more. I’ve been on the 5:2 for a month & find the fasting as an affirmation & more disciplined process of what I had done before.

By embracing the 5:2 lifestyle, I can have a consistency of my feeding & fasting behaviors that is also teachable to others. My wife started last week as a result of our discussions on this. She is also intent on making the 5:2 fit into her lifestyle.

Except for snoring, my health is in good shape, and I can now improve even more so.

Now to eliminate that snoring and maybe allergies that I’ve had over many years.

This is a discovery path for me & probably for many others also.

Now what? Do even more of the same.

➰

Arielle

3:31 pm
12 Sep 13
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Thanks everyone for the encouragement! I am ordering the book, so I can get all the details. I like the idea of seeing if it works to cut back to 1 day a week, as a good challenge to maintain the weight loss. We’ll see if that works, if not I will continue on two days. It has been a good mind/body experience for me and very challenging but rewarding. This week I didn’t lose any weight but most weeks, I tend to drop a pound, maybe 2 at the most. That is the part I need to remind myself that I cannot keep looking at the scale every week and expecting miracles. It is however more weight than I’ve lost in years on just exercise alone.

Arielle

3:19 pm
26 Sep 13
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I am now down 10 pounds and lost an inch in my hips and waste! Very excited about the quick results. Again, I have lost about a pound a week. My goal weight may be in the 130 pound range, which is where I should be for BMI. I am under the recommended for waste measurement at 32 inches but I still need to lose some weight. Continuing to do light weight lifting 3 x a week, zumba 3 times a week (even on fast days) and walking/jogging on off days. I am also trying to stick to about 1200 calories on non-fast days. This appears to be working pretty well for me. I’ve read both the book and the recipe booklet. I like hardboiled eggs, oatmeal with berries, and salads/soups on fast days. This appears to be doing the trick. I eat a lot of pre-made lentil soups, split pea soups, salads (even at Subway) and I prepare my food in advance typically, so I’m ready for a fast day.

Regis

10:54 am
29 Sep 13
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Now that I’ve reached my target weight and done the 5:2 for a year, I’m doing the maintenance 6:1 with a full 24h fast (6pm Monday to 6pm Tuesday).
Surprisingly I’m still loosing weight.
I now need to look into gaining muscle weight though.

garypatt

3:12 pm
9 Jan 14
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I have been on Fastdiet for 6 Mos now. My weight went from 184 to 173 (my goal). I am very active, and that helped me lose the weight. I have not achieved the body dimensions I wanted though. I did find my fasting glucose and cholesterol level went down into normal range – a major goal. Thanks Dr M! I have been less active since cold weather arrived here in Tennessee.

I stopped the diet twice for about 2 weeks during the 6 mos. Fishing trip with family (loved the fried fish and beer! etc). At Christmastime – ate all the goodies etc. Mt experience was that I gained about 2 or 3 lbs each time, and subsequently lost all gains within two “diet” days.

Has anyone else had similar experiences?

I am sure I need now to exercise more. I will read Dr M’s info on the subject. I think some of my weight loss was loss of muscle mass. I will be soon be 73 YO. Hope I can get back some of the muscle mass, and will not be concerned with any concomitant weight gain, and will hope my body shape improves.

What are your experiences on these things?

Sue Denim

3:00 pm
14 Jan 14
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I’ve been on it for almost over 18 month. I never did it to lose weight though I did actually drop a fair amount. I found most of the weight went in the first 2 months and then a little over the next year. I’m now stuck at the lower end of my normal BMI, which is fine.

Personally I would stick with the 5:2, but perhaps as I do be a little more relaxed on the 2nd day. I did think of going 6:1, but I am so in to the 5:2 routine now that I don’t even think about the fasting days. I would be worried about making it harder by having 6 full eat days in a row.

Personally, I think I just got to my level and its self managing. No need to adjust.

nigeyb

12:07 pm
7 Mar 14
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Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this topic so far. I found these replies interesting and helpful.

I am getting close to what I think of as my target weight and I am not sure whether to drop down to 6:1 or carry on with 5:2 – or do some kind of hybrid.

I am keen to continue to get the health benefits of calorie restriction and was unsure what effect 6:1 might have on this. If anyone has any information or insights please let me know.

My weight is continuing to reduce and I don’t want to get too skinny. I started at c13 stone (c83 kg) and I now weigh 11.4 stone or 72.5 kg. My BMI is 20.52, so theoretically I could continue to lose weight and still be in the 18.5-24.9 BMI healthy weight range for my height. I don’t want to go below 70 kg / 11 stone (19.8 BMI).

I think I might experiment with the approach that Regis suggests (see above ^):

A maintenance 6:1 with a full 24 hour fast (6pm on Monday to 6pm on Tuesday). This might suit me well as I find that not eating anything for as long as possible on my fast days works best for me and, after enduring some strong hunger pangs during my regular breakfast time, I forget about eating until well into the afternoon.

Once I’ve tried it for a few weeks I’ll post again if there’s anything interesting to report.

Stef.

4:22 pm
7 Mar 14
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I am very close to my target weight and now it starts to get tricky. My understanding is to up the calories ever so slowly to find the number that allows you to neither gain nor lose. I will then calculate my weekly allowance and distribute them as fit. I will certainly continue with one fast day to allow me a bit more freedom.

One thing that has been useful for me to get a pedometer from fitbit called One. It does much more than calculating steps. It shows me my active minutes and calculates my daily burned calories. This gives me a much better idea about my real TDEE than just calculating it.

Anyhow I will let you know how it goes.
Stef.

sivasankar

4:46 pm
7 Mar 14
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I will be reaching my ideal/goal weight in a 4-8 weeks.

My plan is to start with 4:1 and move up or down as I see fit.

I can’t imagine going back to eating a whole week without fasting. Feels like cheating.

Thanks for all your suggestions.

nigeyb

4:53 pm
7 Mar 14
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I’ve just been looking at the Fitbit One pedometer that Stef recommends. I concluded that for £70-80 it’s probably not worth my while – though many people seem to find it very helpful.

I thought I’d mention a couple of mobile phone apps that do something similar and which I find very helpful. One of them is mentioned in the 5:2 book.

– MyFitnessPal: this app is great for logging and tracking the number of calories I consume, and also gives good information on fat/carbs/vitamins etc. The barcode scanner has never yet been unable to identity any food I’ve tried. The app also enables me to log calories burnt during exercise, talking of which…

-RunKeeper: this app is good for logging runs and walks, and will show distance travelled and estimate calories burnt.

They both work well for me.

Arielle

3:36 pm
13 Mar 14
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I started in July, and I’m now down to 149 pounds from 166 start weight. I have found that FOR ME, I must not only stick to the fasting days (taking weeks off for the Holidays had me gaining 1-2 pounds or not losing anything). I also must stick to my regular exercise routine on top of that for best results, even working out during fasting days. I do Zumba for at least 45 minutes 3 days a week, lifting and walking/jogging or elliptical 3 days a week. I don’t work out on Fridays. It is my only day off during the week. I try to burn at least 300 calories per workout, but trying to increase that to about 500 calories would be best. Over time, the routine has become easier. I’ve adjusted to it, however the temptations are always there. It takes a lot of self-control when my son is eating fries and cheese sauce! :/ I’m sticking to eating light foods like oatmeal, salads, veggie soups and eggs on fast days. Pretty much focusing on a plant based diet on those days. The fewer refined carbs that I eat, the better! my body seems to balloon with carb and sugar cravings. All in all, I am pretty excited with my results. It is a very slow process, and I hope to be down to about 135 or so by summer.

PreciousBooBoo

7:24 pm
14 Mar 14
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Have a bloody great party Arielle!

5and2fan

4:40 am
6 Aug 14
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I am thinking about trying the 6:1 idea. I have done the 5-2 for almost a year ; on and off for holidays and vacations. I lost 14 lbs and am at my desired weight and want to stay here. My husband still has 15 lbs to go. I do not want to discourage him but dont want to lose any more. (A unique situation in my life!)
I love this diet and find it easiest plan ever . Just need to discover how to maintain.

nigeyb

6:06 am
6 Aug 14
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HI 5and2fan. Since my post above I have been doing 6:1 exactly as I describe above – a total fast from dinner time on Sunday until dinner time on Monday. My weight loss has stopped but equally I have stayed at my target weight with no gain either – which is just what I wanted. Overall I am more disciplined about making healthy choices, and managing to do a reasonable amount of activity, so that must help too. Good luck 5and2fan.

TracyJ

9:29 am
6 Aug 14
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Hi 5and2fan, you could maybe try sticking with 5:2 (to support your husband by still doing the fastdays with him) and just flex your calorie intake allowance on non-fastdays to account for the ‘extra’ calories that you are now ‘allowed’.

So, if your TDEE is Ms. Average’s 2000 and you are doing 600 calories on your fastdays (to match what your husband is doing) then your calorie deficit per week would be 2800 calories. Split that between your other 5 days (the exact level for you may take some working out & trial & error), meaning that your new TDEE, until your husband can join you on maintenance, is 2560 per non-fastday. It’s a LOT of extra calories for you, not being used to it after all of your good work on 5:2 but that might be an option that works for you in the short term until your hubby can join you in maintenance.

Alternatively, you could flex your fastday intake too. If you’re not with hubby all day every fastday then you could up your fastday allowance by a couple of hundred calories and have a lunch or snack or something that he isn’t allowed out of his sightline. That would cut your calorie deficit a bit and allow your ‘extra’ allowance on non-fastdays to not be quite so huge.

Couple of things to try – best of luck with whatever you end up doing and good luck to hubby with his last 15lb. Let us know how you get on.

Koroviev

12:25 am
24 Nov 14
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Having lost 28 Kgs since June on 5:2, I am shifting to 6:1. Just had two weeks off, where I was able to maintain my weight eating just on or under TDee as calculated by this sites calculator. I also intend to up exercise, but shall report back on my experience of wether or not sticking close to TDEE on the 6 keeps my weight stable within a variance of about 1-2 kgs either side of my current weight.

nigeyb

9:50 am
24 Nov 14
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^ Thanks Koroviev – I’ll be interested to discover how that works for you.

In the last few months, and since posting back in August (see above), my weight has slowly crept up again.

This week I am going back to 5:2 until I get back to my target weight – and then of course the seasonal celebrations will probably result in few extra kilograms so I can see me doing 5:2 through until early January now.

maireaddy

8:55 pm
9 Dec 14
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Hi all, I’m in this position – I lost 11kg between March and August and since August have been doing 6:1 (or sometimes 1:13!) and and maintained since. I’ve just got back from a very foody fortnight in the US only putting on 0.9kg which I see as “not statistically significant”. Will fast this week on Thursday – I try to gaston an exercise day and I have Pilates hen (to which I cycle). I don’t count at all on my non-fast days – no TDEE or anything – but am certainly more aware of cals.

MMP

11:13 pm
14 Dec 14
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Hello, I have been doing the diet during the summer and reached my ultimate goal in shape, fitness and weigh. However, now that I am where I always wanted to be, I am lost! When I was dieting I knew how many calories I needed to consume on a feeding day and how many on a fasting day. Also, I knew how many fasting days I needed to do during the week, sometimes 2, sometimes 3. But now I don’t know how many calories I am supposed to consume on a feeding day. Is it the TDEE or the BMR number of calories for maintenance?
What I tend to do is eat as much as I want and then I have to pay the consequences with 3 days fasting during the week, which is not sustainable.
Please, if someone could give me some guidance, I would be extremely grateful!

nigeyb

8:05 am
15 Dec 14
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Hi MMP – there are so many variables that it’s impossible to give hard and fast guidance.

In terms of daily calorie intake, this calculator might help…

http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

General guidance is always eat healthily (lots of fruit and veg, little or no processed food, and sufficient carbs and protein), and stay active. I’d say if you’re at your target weight then just stick to those healthy guidelines and you’ll be fine.

Roblynne

3:03 am
12 Feb 16
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I suspect target weight management is an area where we are going to have to make our own decisions.
Here’s mine. I’d be interested in anyone’s opinion on it!
I am .2 kg off my target weight in the morning. However, my weight goes up and down during the day by half a kg or more.
For me, once I get below 62kg first thing in the morning, I am going to try shifting to the 6:1. If my weight goes over 63kg first thing in the morning, I’ll go back on the 5:2 till it’s below 62kg again.
If it drops below 61kg I am stopping fasting altogether till it comes back up again.
I think it’s up to us to set a band of weight we want to stay in. This range might be too tight for me; I may find myself yoyo fasting!