The FastDay Forum

Hi everyone,

As I have now reached my target, per-menopausal weight, yippee, I thought long and hard about how I would maintain this weight. Like the dishy Dr Mosley I have worked out what suits me and my lifestyle and going on a 6:1 regime did not appeal. After re-reading the part in his book (pages 42-44) about rats, I know, I'm not a rat but I have unfortunately known a few in my life, I decided that the 8 hour feeding window might be the way for me and guess what? So far it is working a treat. I'm not a fan of breakfast anyway so missing that is not a problem for me and I don't enjoy eating late in the evening so this sounded like a go-er to me. Whatever time I start eating, I never eat anything after my 8 hours are up and I do not restrict what I eat. I have had some quite spectacular blow outs during the last few weeks of doing this and my weight seems the most stable it has ever been in my life, wow! This seems too easy for words and it's early days yet but so far, so good. Most days I start eating at 12 noon which means I do not eat after 8 pm giving myself a 16 hour fast every day and never hungry, well, slightly peckish as I get near my first food of the day. I am sleeping better than I have in years and have loads of energy so for me this is the way forward, I know it may neither appeal nor suit some people but for me, so far, it is proving spectacularly successful.

Good luck to you all however you choose to do it, keep going, you will all get there in the end, honest,

Ballerina xx

Well done Ballerina,
It's brilliant to hear people reaching their goals and then meeting the next challenge which is maintaining.
Great that you found what works for you.

Did it take long for you to reach your target?

Thanks for your encouraging words, it took me about 2 months to lose 21 lbs and it is the best thing I have ever done and I fully expect to now live like this for the rest of my life,

Good luck

Ballerina xx

[carorees]

That's great news! It's really useful to know how people are managing maintenance as I'm sure we will be being asked about this a lot in future!

I am hoping to use this approach when we go on holiday, as the holiday involves socialising at lunch and dinner so I thought skipping breakfast would be easiest. If I could get away without putting any weight on in that time it would be marvellous!

21 lb in 2 months is quite impressive too, especially as you were nearing your target. Fantastic!

As well as losing 21lbs I also seem to have lost control of my brain, it took me 6 months not 2 months asI typed for some reason! I am sure you can do this whilst on holidays, lets face it, if little rats can do it so can us large, but getting smaller, humans, good luck,

Ballerina x

6 Months is fantastic
It shows that slow and steady wins the race, which I think is a very important aspect of how we approach the 5:2 lifestyle.

Glad you amended your post as I was thinking Crikey 21 lbs in 8 weeks, How is that possible? lol

Congrats again, it's inspirational stuff

Your post is soooo encouraging - great to hear there is hope for weight targets to be reached by those of us post menopause. Please keep posting to let us know how the maintenance progresses - sounds like you've nailed it

I have posted my odyssey and it can be found under ' Inspirational stories' not my choice of title but there are some really interesting things to read in there, good luck to you all,

Ballerina xx

Hi Ballerina,
What a lovely post, thanks for sharing this with us.
As Dhana says, it's very encouraging for all of us post menopausal ladies whose bodies seem to have slowed down so much! We know now, that it can be done.
Well done again.
Evie

Hi Evie,

Yes, the menopause is a real horror isn't it? I honestly never thought I'd get back to where I started. I actually went from 8st 7 lbs to 11st OVERNIGHT! Well, that was how it felt at the time, the whole thing was depressing, thinner hair, fatter waist, wrinkles, failing eyesight, actually the bad eyesight was a blessing as I thought I still looked OK. After years of struggling I finally shed some of the flab so by last summer when I decided that a sensible attitude might be the way forward I reckon I weighed about 10st. I was doing OK when the delightful Dr M entered my life and I've never looked back. The only, slightly, down side is that although I'm back down to 8st 7lbs and I can get into a lot of my old clothes, my waist is still not back to it's old size, but hey, who cares, only me, so keep at it, you will never regret doing this,

Ballerina xx

Around menopause, I had gone up almost a full 10 pounds from my normal weight. I was slowly (very slowly) bringing it down, but my efforts were frustrating. I was having to cut everything enjoyable out of my life. No more beer. no more wine or bread or pizza or fries. I was living like a monk. But than I learned about 5:2 and it all changed. My last pounds are melting off. I feel like I have full control of my weight again and I an fit into all my best clothes! What's even better, is that because with fasting you lose FAT, I feel extremely lean. I will continue fasting as a lifestyle for the health benefits at least once a week for the rest of my life.

Ballerina, I hope you see this post. Caroline referred me to you. (Thank you Caroline). My husband is starting the 8 Hour Diet, and I am doing it along with him.


May I ask a question or two?

Did you follow the 8 hour diet while losing weight or are you only doing it for maintenance?

Did you count calories while doing the 8 Hour Diet? There's no way I can count calories anymore. I just plan on being mindful of what I'm eating, being calorie-aware without really counting them up. Also, I'm in menopause, so I lose VERY slowly.

I am so hoping this can work for me. My husband is very impressed with the book, and I plan on reading it as well. Are you still doing it?

oops! I just reread your post, and it seems you did the 5:2 for weight loss. I hope the 8 Hour can work for me for weight loss. I look forward to reading your story over in the Inspirational area that you mentioned.

Hi Rainbow,

Nice to hear from you and hope I can help.

I started with the 5:2 and gradually evolved into my 8 hour feeding window on fast and feed days. It suits me and I never count calories, but like you, I am still mindful of them althoughI don't know why! Since giving up my fast days and going onto maintenance I am still losing weight which means that I shall have to increase my calorie intake at some point as I am now 7 lbs below my target weight. I may even have to force myself to eat breakfast occasionally to maintain, ooh, how awful is that? Actually, for me that will be quite hard, believe it or not.

I am sure you can lose weight this way if you don't fancy 5:2 and if I was to start again it is how I would go about it, you never know til you try.

This regime is not for everyone, my husband would rather eat razor blades than miss breakfast, but for me it is perfect, just skip breakfast and don't nibble late in the evening, job done! I have had lots of bread, potatoes and chocolate this week and I am none the worse for it. It seems that I can eat whatever I want and as long as it is within my 'window' it has no impact on my weight. No one is more amazed than I am as I just ballooned when I hit the menopause and for years I thought I was destined to live my life heavier than I was comfortable with. This has totally transformed my life, I have much more energy, feel wonderful and hope to reap any possible long term health benefits. Give it a try, it won't hurt and it may also be the best thing you have ever done,

Good luck with this and feel free to ask anything else you want to know, let us know how it goes,


Ballerina x

P.S. I forgot to say, Dr M mentions in his book, pages 41-43 an experiment on mice and a feeding window which is where I got the idea from, if it's good enough for them, it's good enough for me!

Ballerina,

I cannot thank you enough for your reply. Your story is so inspiring!

It is so good to know that you didn't count calories. I read about so many mixed reactions to intermittent fasting. Some say they count religiously even on feed days, some say they don't. The 8 Hour Diet book by David Zinczenko really appealed to my husband because you don't count ANY calories.

That study you mentioned is talked about in more detail in the book; my husband showed it to me. I haven't read the book yet, but I will!

I am definitely starting this way of eating tomorrow with him. You are a true success story. Congratulations on your wonderful loss. For me, having more energy (along with weight loss) is worth it alone. I've been on too many diets that leave me tired and feeling awful.

Thanks again for your reply. It's helpful folks like you that make this forum as wonderful as it is. It is so good to hear that this has literally transformed your life. As a fellow "menopausey" I can so relate. I just ballooned.

Well, I know I'm repeating myself for the third time...but THANK YOU!