simcoeluv – from the very link you sent me “Only during periods of prolonged famine would it make sense to slow the metabolism down, wait for better times to come.” – just to clarify I was talking about calorie restriction during non-fasting days. I completely agree that fasting days will not have an impact (only a positive one!) but I would not fast back to back & I am being careful with not lowering my calories too far (<1800) on my non-fasting days. Hope that helps!

I’m starting my 2nd fasting day today! I once again have been rather unimaginative/unprepared but have a good amount of watermelon to get me through the day which to be honest, in this heat, is much needed!

2fast2furious – good point! I did not think about height..!

So 2nd fast day today, I was a little more grouchy/more hungry & watermelon (again!) was not going to cut it this evening so I’ve made myself some soup – it was great to recognise that I can add in SO many more veggies/ingredients/have a lot more soup (2 massive bowls for 240 cals!) to eat when I make it myself because even a splash of olive oil in supermarket soups would have knocked me over the 500 cal limit.

I’m not sure if it is the new diet or also that I felt very bloated earlier in the week but I have also lost 5lbs (starting weight 140 lbs, 5ft 5) from Monday. I reckon it will all plateau out next week but we’ll see – good incentive to continue anyway..!

Hi Everyone,

I’m not proving to be a prolific “poster” but I am going to post my progress once a week, to keep myself on the straight & narrow if nothing else!
STARTING WEIGHT: 13 stone 8 lbs (BMI 33.7)
CURRENT WEIGHT (@ 4 WEEKS COMPLETED): 12 stone 9lbs (BMI 31.4)
PHASE 1 TARGET WEIGHT (@ 11 WEEKS COMPLETED): 12 stone 1 lb (BMI 29.9)

I started the 5:2 diet at the very end of June so this is the start of week 5 for me. I originally had 4 stone to lose which seemed too daunting as a target & so I set myself a phase 1 target of 21 lbs in 11 weeks (I go on holiday in week 12) which would just squeak me under the BMI range from obese to overweight. Then hopefully I’ll be back to lose whatever I put on whilst on holiday plus set myself another target to meet before Christmas.
I’m doing a slightly more boot camp version of the diet in order to lose 2 lbs a week and have managed 13 lbs in 4 weeks so just one more lb to reach that magic first stone marker. I still look in the mirror and see a very fat person (as you would expect from someone who is still 3 stone overweight)but I can definitely feel the change in the way my clothes fit me.
I seem to have chosen a slightly different approach to fast days as I eat breakfast (porridge) and then just drink clear fluids through the day so that I can eat a reasonable (300 cal) meal with my partner in the evening. On other week days I tend to eat porridge for breakfast, fruit through the day and try to keep my main meal below 500 cals (my TDEE is only 1700 cals). On weekends I kick back a bit more and just try not to over eat (or east rubbish!)
I started exercising last week to try to keep the weight moving and after a good walk (well more of a route march really) yesterday involving several steep inclines I am struggling to put my heels on the floor today as my calves are so tight so I know I need to work on my fitness levels!

Brilliant Dotty!
You can do it. Very wise to set a smaller achievable goal. I started at 85kg (similar to you) in April 13. I also lost 1kg a week for many months. I kept reaching my goals and resetting. I am now 58 kg (just over 9 stone) and basically maintaining by still doing 2 fasts a week. This is a way of life for me now. And fabulous. Wait until you get to replace your wardrobe, twice, as your body shrinks. It is MAGIC!
All the best PVE

Hi all, great to see everyone doing so well. I’m back from my hols, had a really great time but put on a not so great 6lb (too much red wine and fresh bread!). However, did a fast day yesterday and will fast Wed and Friday this week to get back on track. Keep up the good work all!

With a week gone I have now done three days of fasting and have lost 6lb. Not bad I suppose as I have had chips and kebab meat once and chips on another occasion.

Just started today. First fasting day. Wish me luck!!

Hi everyone, looks like we all deserve a bit pat on the back this week which is great. Thanks also to PurpleVegetableEater (great name!) and Mamamoo for sharing experience and longer term success with us as that’s really motivating to people like me who have a long journey ahead of them. But as Confucius once allegedly said “It doesn’t matter how slowly you go as long as you don’t stop”

Hi Dotty
Good Confucius line! A bit like the hare and tortoise? 🙂 PVE

Welcome Toffebearsmum!

I lost nearly 30 lbs on the IF way of eating, but had problems with the non fasting days and over eating.

Like you, I found Paul McKenna’s emotional eating book/CD/DVD very helpful and continue to use them today. I have a couple more lbs to lose and then the even bigger battle to keep the weight off. I am hoping that using the conscious eating method will change things this time around.

Hi all I’ve been on 5:2 for about 3 weeks and lost 5.5 pds but as I had a birthday bash at the weekend I seem to of put it all on, I’m doing a fast day today an tmrw an nd to be strict as it’s my bday on Monday I need to b good when do people weigh an measure themselves

Hi again,
Julie Smart: love your ‘I will eat it tomorrow’ approach when tempted on Fasting Day. And of course, the urge usually goes away by the time ‘tomorrow’ arrives. 😉

I refuse to speak the word ‘diet’ as that mindset has never worked for me. I am finding this regime to be relatively easy to incorporate into my life. I fast for 24 (sometimes 23) hours, starting at 2 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays. During a fast day, I drink water with lemon, an occasional Coke Zero, and nothing else.

This seems to be working for me. I am free from calorie-counting, think more clearly, and weigh a bit less each Sunday morning when I bring out the scale.

On ‘feed’ days, I eat my bowl of porridge with fruit, salads (including from Wendy’s and McD’s), stirfries, or slow-cooker meals. I have some chocolate here and there — because I want to feel that I *can*.

I would appreciate feedback on the plan (non-plan!) I am following.

Thanks very much from pmhlb

You fast like me pmhlb, lost 3.5 stone + now using 4:3 with that method, 24 hour fasts and all and still going strong, also had my porridge this morning, banana, boiled egg and a few cashews this afternoon and a couple o blocks of chocolate as im not a robot!

Thanks, tombaron; feeling encouraged! What day became Day 3? A weekend day?

What a fickle creature I am!
Today is my 10th fast day & up until now I’ve found them okay. Today I was grouchy & hungry all day and was really not looking forward to salad with prawns & low fat cottage cheese for dinner. All the way home (I walk but it’s only just over a mile) my inner demon was whispering about the block of cheese in the fridge (savoury foods are my downfall).
I am sure I would have succumbed but when I got home the postie had left me a parcel. It was 2 new suits that I’d ordered in the next size down from my current one as my existing suit trousers are literally hanging off me. So I walked straight past the kitchen, up the stairs & tried them on. They are definitely a little snug around the backside and thighs but are fine on the waist, so a few more lbs and they will be a good fit. I am so pleased.
Suddenly prawn & cottage cheese salad looked really appealing and all cheese cravings have mysteriously vanished. What a fickle creature I am indeed!

Well done for resisting Dotty P!

I’m nearly 3 weeks in (or is it 4?!) on 4:3. 9lbs down as of today (weighed after fast day). I think I want to lose another 7. Can’t wait to be a bit less restricted on eat days and to switch to 6:1 to maintain, I do hate diets!

Have had some compliments on my figure (ok, from my husband, and he has to say it, but still – he looked like he means it)! I do feel much more comfortable and have lost a few inches from my waist. All my clothes were so tight when I started the diet, in fact not being able to fasten my work trousers was the tipping point of re-starting the diet tbh, and now I can get them on fine, so it is worth it. I just have to keep reminding myself of that!

Hi
I have been doing this since January, slow and steady is good for me I have now lost 45 pounds, I have completely changed my lifestyle and am doing more exercise, I do occasionally fall of the wagon especially on holidays, I am trying to jog!! and water aerobics is very good 🙂

Haha Dotty p, did you hear an earthquake about 18 months ago in the south west when I started walking? walking is a GREAT way to lose lbs when your not an athlete! I have done about 7 miles a day for 18 months and can contribute a sizeable chunk of 40+ lbs loss to the joys of strolling to work, strolling to meet friends and strolling for the sake of strolling! Although the first 3 months after I scrapped my car and commuted 5 miles a day to work, I had the worst blisters and could do nothing about them bar keep walking!

Hi everyone,
It’s really great to read everyone’s different perspectives here – what I love about this way of eating is that it’s not prescriptive, it’s not a one size fits all approach, it allows you to find the approach that works best for you. I really dislike the idea of ‘dieting’, but I love the feeling of being in control of my body! I find it easiest not to eat at all on my fast days, I just drink lots instead. That said, some days where my energy levels are really low I’ll have some eggs in the afternoon/evening….I just play it by ear. I also weigh myself every day, which some people find discouraging but I like to track the variations and identify patterns, it keeps me interested! I still have 10 lbs to go to get to my target, but I have just stepped across the threshold between overweight and normal BMI, so yay! Once I’m down to my pre-baby weight then it’s time to start trying for the next (and last!) baby so that’s motivation to keep going. I’m probably going to have the challenge of managing gestational diabetes again so will try to be really proactive from the start, zero-tolerance for sugar in all its forms….so will enjoy my slices of cake at the weekends while I can!

Weeks doing IF: 10
Starting weight: 12st 12lbs
Current weight: 11st 10lbs
Weight lost: 16lbs
Target weight: 11st

tombaron, yes I know, I was sceptical wasn’t I. It amazes me now that even on eating days I don’t crave food as I did. I can sit down and watch TV without needing food in my hand. I thought that I was bad yesterday as I had a very large Toby Carvery breakfast and then sandwiches for an evening meal. Yet, and here I go again, keep saying I won’t, I weighed myself this morning and another pound had gone.

I’m not daft, I know it can’t keep falling off at the same rate, but as I say, I am not craving food the same way I was and I am now believing that I can do it after the doctor and I had almost decided that a gastric band was the only way forward.

THe advantage is Jacaru, we havnt evolved to be over a certain weight and have an abundance of food, our bodies store fat like any other mammal. To provide a back up storage of energy for when we cannot access food.

I hypothesise, that when you go without food for a certain period of time regularly, you break a very un natural addiction to food (look at ghrelin and leptin) and a natural balance is restored.

When that balance is restored you feel no need to eat excessively, with my stats I have a tdee of about 2600
If I was 25 stone I would have a tdee of 4000kcal

If I was 25 stone and had been for a while I would have eaten over 4k calories to get to 25 stone then eaten an average of 4k calories to maintain that weight. If I started eating 2600 a day I would be net 11200 down a week or nearly 4lbs of fat worth a week.

This is the advantage you have. By fasting you have generated a MASSIVE tdee deficit on two days a week, with fasting also keeping your appetite down, your probably generating a big deficit on the rest of the days too.

Work out your TDEE if you havnt already here:
http://thefastdiet.co.uk/how-many-calories-on-a-non-fast-day/

and remember, on the occasion, you can still eat that odd kebab meat and chips!

Ill add also, very well done, that rate of loss will continue as long as theres a considerable gap between your food input and tdee!

Thanks luckylucy, it’s nice to know someone understands! Safety is definitely an issue. With regards to changing that, morning is impossible because he leaves for work at 5.30 and he can’t come with me in the evenings because of the kids (age 1 & 4). I never thought about him possibly thinking I’d feel like I’m too good for him. Previous talks have resulted in him just telling me to shut up (he does that a lot). Things are fine and we enjoy our weekends together, as long as I don’t talk about food or exercise! At the end of the day I’m just trying to get to a healthy weight so I can avoid diabetes (my mum has type 2) and high blood pressure, high cholesterol and heart attack (my dad has recently had a heart attack). The scary thing is my dad is skinny as a rake 6 feet tall and under 11 stone yet he has high cholesterol and until recently high blood pressure. My mum is overweight and on statins and metformin. My great aunt was skinny but still got diabetes. I’m so worried about it! Hence my ‘obsession’ with losing the extra weight.

Jacaru that is very interesting to see such a huge difference between people. Goes to show the governments stock daily values are utter bulls**t! They wonder why people are unhealthy and I’m sure it’s because their guidelines are wrong. All these years I’ve been overeating by about 200 calories a day then. I’m only just under my “normal” weight. Here’s my stats:
Your BMI is: 26.2
Your BMR is: 1327
Your TDEE is: 1824 calories
So on fast days I should be eating 456 calories.

Your BMI is: 22.3
Your BMR is: 1723
Your TDEE is: 2670 calories
.realistically my tdee is higher again as I do a LOT of exercise.

But gov figures are just a guideline. I guess a rough average of the population