11st 3lbs and in 32″ jeans! woohoo

Me and Onzadog started doing this just after New Year and are pleased with the results so far. Fasting days are nowhere near as bad as I thought they’d be, and I’ve always been of the ‘eat regularly’ camp, have always thought about food and what I’d be eating next!
In fact, the last two fast days I’ve gone all day without food (just lots of herbal teas and water) and have one main meal of 500 calories about 6-7pm. Feel surprisingly good doing that. And in total I’ve lost 8lbs so far.

I’ve already had one comment just this morning that I don’t need to lose any more weight, but piffle to that. I’d like to lose another 9lbs to get to 10 stone, which would still peg me in the ‘healthy’ bracket for my height and I might even stand a chance finding some knee/shin pads that will fit over my ‘sturdy’ legs 🙁

Wondering how long the weight loss may continue

If you’re doing exactly the same thing each week. Then I reckon you will lose weight until you reach an energy balance. After that I’d expect you would have to create a different imbalance for your body to use up fat reserves ?.

EDIT:
I am not a Doughnut.

If you’re doing exactly the same thing each week. Then I reckon you will lose weight until you reach an energy balance. After that I’d expect you would have to create a different imbalance for your body to use up fat reserves ?.

This is what I can’t quite get my head around…shouldn’t the weight loss continue forever if you are in a calorie deficit position….or is it that the “lighter you” requires less calories to operate and this is where the balance occurs ?

If you are lighter you need less calories to maintain your weight. Also you may find your metabolism slowing which is why rats and mice put on very low calorie diets live longer than those allowed to eat what they like. No clinical trials to prove it will work in humans but also no reason to expect that it won’t

I’d like to lose another 9lbs to get to 10 stone, which would still peg me in the ‘healthy’ bracket for my height

are you 9 feet tall or a girl ?

If you are lighter you need less calories to maintain your weight.

AFAIK, this is valid. Having less living tissue to keep alive, your body will require fewer calories.

Thing is, you don’t really want to be losing muscle, only fat and only if you have an excess of fat, on board.

interesting thread. i missed this show, anyone know if its on iplayer or anything?

it would be really easy for me to adapt by diet to include 2 fasting days, mon-fri i’m almost there anyhow. breakfast 2 eggs scambled, lunch 1/2 tin baked beans, sensible dinner. no booze. may well give it a try.

interesting thread. i missed this show, anyone know if its on iplayer or anything?

Probably not on iPlayer anymore, but the main points are covered by Weeksy on page 1 of the thread.

…or the book I linked to above is only 3-4 quid on Amazon.

weeksy – Member
are you 9 feet tall or a girl ?

I was a girl last time I checked 🙂

Gav, you can watch the Horizon proggy HERE if you want.

Currently on my 10th week, gets much easier after a while and am feeling all the better for it. May not be the fastest way to lose it but I can still enjoy my beer

Hi
I’m into my 5th week. I was at the top end of normal
weight and want to lose about half a stone. I have not weighed myself at all, but I can tell by my clothes that O’m gradually losing weight.
I find the fast days way easier than I expected though I sometimes wake up in the early hours feeling ravenous!

cheers for the prog link and book comment guys.i’ll check em out.

I have two-three packs of bacon and 4 bottles of redwine a week.

Coldturkey day 2..

Has anyone used this successfully to cut? Gain lean mass and reduce fat?
Are you all losing fat and not lean mass?

Repeat of the Horizon exercise prog on BBC2 now

The research has shown that people following the 5:2 plan lose body fat, not lean mass.

i’ve just started 5:2 and have found the fasting days ok. i skip breakfast, have a cuppa soup lunch then something like beans on toast to make my evening meal up to 600cals. The problem i’m having is when the safety catch is off on the feast days it really is off and i eat it all back on. Anyone else find this?

Deepo, keep with it. As you get used to fasting, the feast days will become less desperate. The research shows that those who over eat on feast days do so by about 15%. That still gives a net loss for the week. As you start to reaslise that fast days are more doable than you thought, then you’ll eat less on feast days.

Thanks Onzadog thats encouraging stuff.

If there’s a sign up sheet – my names just gone on it.

Since new year, I’ve been using MFP to calorie count, trying to keep to 1600/day. I’m 6ft, and started off at 15st 3.

Barring a business trip to the states (I tried, honest, but American portions!) i’ve consistently been under my average per day on a weekly basis, ie some days i’m a bit over, some a bit under but over the course of a week the average is always there or slightly under.

Last weigh in I had lost about 10lbs, in 5 weeks – so above the target i programmed into MFP of 1.5lbs per week, but not massively so, and possibly attributable to the increased exercise I’ve been doing as well.

However – constant calorie counting is doing me in. MFP has been good up till now, not for the absolute numbers but for the 😯 moments when you realise exactly how much calorie content there is in a particular food (makes mental note that red meat is significantly higher than fish / chicken) – which will stand me in good stead in future for understanding better what my intake really is. And secondly – i do travel with work which means every now and then I need to go out for dinners which can be an issue.

Hence this 5:2 malarky looks like a better bet for me – along with the suggested health benefits, i can be extra careful 2 days a week when I’m not travelling, remain sensible for the rest, and if i have to travel I’ve got the safety net that it shouldn’t make such an impact. Sounds easier to me than thinking ‘I’ve got dinner out on Thursday, so for the rest of the week i have to stay under 1400 instead to compensate’.

Day 1 today. Porridge for breakfast, didn’t have enough (my normal bowl is 20g dried with 150ml skimmed milk = 125cals; mental note, have a big bowl of porridge!) and the plan was to go until dinner on black coffee. I haven’t got tyhe book yet, so to help me out today; is it important to fast right through to dinner as the Radio Times article plans all seem to propose – or can i have some carrots for lunch and keep the wolf from the door, as long as i knock the amount off my dinner allowance?

Sorry only just seen this – I guess as you posted this 10 hours ago you made a decision as to whether to eat the carrots for lunch or go through til dinner!

But as there’s no concrete evidence as yet about whether you’re better eating your daily calorie allowance all in one go or spread out through the day, the advice seems to be to do what works best for you!
When I started I skipped breakfast and had a little bit of lunch and a little bit of dinner, but increasingly I found that having a little bit of anything during the day made me want a little bit more, whereas if I don’t eat anything all day it almost seems easier to totally switch off from food and just look forward to a normal, decent-sized dinner in the evening!

Michael Mosely splits his allowance between two meals – breakfast and dinner.

I prefer to wait as long as possible, and usually make it til 2pm. At the moment the routine is a packet of ham, then a natural yoghurt later in the afternoon, then a tin of soup for dinner. Lots of liquids to keep you full – I find peppermint tea really good.

I’m really enjoying it! Usually feel tip top the day after a fast.

Cheers all. I got through to dinner after all, had a 450 cal dinner which was good enough, didn’t have hunger issues in the night as some say they get, now I’m on a trip in Holland enjoying a degree of freedom without going mad. This just might work for me (assuming it results in weight loss, of course)