At a guess, I would say that around 50% of the fasters on this site water fast rather than restrict calories 🙂

Some find water fasting easy and others cannot tolerate it. I can do it but I prefer to have tea and coffee during the day with the addition of small quantities of milk. Others cannot either prepare a family meal or watch others eating without having something themselves. The flexibility of choosing what suits us on FDs is one of the things that make this plan so successful.

It isn’t possible to answer such a question.

5:2 evolved after research to see if IF could reverse T2 diabetes and lower cancer risk markers. The weight loss was coincidental and it has now developed into a huge weight loss tool as Michael Mosley realised it could be an easier way for many to lose weight for many as it doesn’t involve daily caloric restriction, no special foods or exclusions, and doesn’t cost anything apart from some willpower.

The majority of those who embark on it want to lose weight. For some that is all they want and others want to reap the perceived health benefits. Fitness is not always a priority.
There are also a percentage of people who fast for health reasons rather than weight loss.

So I can’t agree with your definition of what is successful, but I will say that for me it means losing weight, healthy eating habits, increasing health and fitness levels followed by maintaining the weight loss and the lifestyle gains.

Hello mvstorey and welcome to the forum. It’s good to know that you haven’t been on a water fast for many years! Although that would be interesting.

To be honest, I was tempted here by noticing diverdog’s name rather than the subject heading but, now that I am here, I’m fascinated to read Amazon’s response (hello Amazon, nice to see you as well; not long until that fabulous holiday!) that about 50% of the losers here practice water fasting. I must have had my head in the sand all this time, I had no idea.

I’ve only ever practiced a 24 hour fast in preparation for a holiday and that sometimes included the time spent on long-haul air travel since I felt I wasn’t missing much but declining airline food. Purists would probably argue that it wasn’t a water fast because I would allow myself 20 cals in almond & coconut milk for two coffees during that 24 hour period but nothing else but water.

Anyway mv, I consider myself ‘successful’. I lost 23kgs which I’ve kept off for 29 months (a record in itself). I rigidly adhere to 5:2 or 6:1 while overseas and have never skipped a FD. I spent decades in gyms, can’t stand them and now just walk 5-10kms per day apart from occasional kayaking and so on. I like to think there are health benefits in the form of cell repair from fasting – it keeps me going on a FD. I also agree with diverdog that’s it’s hard to differentiate between the benefits from fasting and the weight loss itself.

It is a mystery to me why people suddenly stop fasting. When they return to these pages, they often lament how much weight they lost while fasting, how much they’ve gained since they stopped, say they know it works, etc etc and then give an explanation why they stopped which never really seem like good reasons to me given what we learn along the way about this being a way of life and the need to eat for our new weight. I listen carefully to these people because I am fearful of waking up one morning and thinking I no longer want or need to do this. I hope not. This is my fourth year.

thin,

50% might be a bit generous, but not everyone talks about what they eat (or not) on FDs. I’ve noticed is that the majority of male fasters seem to prefer water fasting and quite a few people practice B2B water fasts.

I’m in the process of making my FDs food free as compliance is still an issue and I’ve just completed B2B with a splash of milk in teas and coffees and lots of water. I don’t think I could cope with water only fasts in the middle of winter.

It’s 4.40am here and I’m up watching Australian Open tennis

Amazon – did you mean that you have compliance issues on FDs because you tend eat too much when some food is involved or that you’re still in the process of trying to practice water fasting because you find it hard to comply with not eating anything? Sorry, I’ve probably made it less clear now.

mv, no I suppose it matters not. Other than when I wake up and momentarily don’t feel like fasting, the one thing that keeps me motivated is that the absence of food could be doing me some good other than just losing weight.

I forgot to say, when boasting about never skipping a FD, that NFDs remain a work in progress. I am still the same person I always was wrt food but now I have a few more tools to deal with it.

All the best anyway.

Hi Amazon – I like that last comment about not wanting to stop eating once you start. That and the fact that eating a little makes me more hungry than not eating at all for the rest of the FD is why I am trying the no food on fasting days approach. 1st FD completed at noon today and pleased to say I managed to stretch it out to 42hrs. Felt great untill I started to eat again and felt a little queasy but it passed after an hour or so. Next FD starts after tea on Wednesday till lunch time Friday hopefully!

That’s a considerable difference diverdog, isn’t it?

I do eat on FDs, aim for 350 calories but if I go to 450 I don’t worry since I’m no longer trying to lose weight. Agree with others – once I start eating, it awakens the hunger dragon. So I have my first intake after 2pm, the second at 5pm and that’s it for the day unless I feel really hungry before bedtime, then I’ll have a boiled egg or half a banana.

I’d like to try water fasting as a regular thing. Makes more sense than eating on a ‘fast’ day!

This week I’ve fasted without eating. I have a splash of milk in my morning tea and mid-morning coffee and drink approx 75mls of milk kefir which I have in the evening. I have found it so much easier than having 500 calories which were split between milk/kefir calories and a single early eveing meal.
I did 3 consecutive days on S/M/Tu due to this weeks social arrangements and was very surprised at the lack of hunger pangs. On W I found myself unable to eat as much as I would usually have on a non FD. I fasted again yesterday and today all I’ve had is tea and coffee and I’m not hungry yet. It would seem that this might be the answer to my compliance issues but it’s early days yet.

I eat less carbs than before. I’ve not been a huge consumer of processed carbs for many years and I cook from scratch 99% of the time. When I have bread, the occasional helping of rice or some cake I’m definitely hungrier the next day and if I have too much in the way of carbs I feel bloated and lethargic which makes it easier (most of the time) to limit them.

I agree that it is definitely not just a case of how many calories but which food group they come from.