Running on Fast 800?

[ritzbiscuits]

Hi all, I'm thinking of starting Fast 800 with my DH when back from holiday. He has at least 1 stone to lose, probably more TBH. I've got 1/2 stone to lose, some lockdown pounds but I'm generally quite slim.

I'm currently doing C25k 3 times per week and am used to running in the morning after having a peanut bar or banana. I presume both of these are a no go, but feel I need to fuel up before a run. Running is helping me massively with a chronic pain condition so it's my priority to keep this up. Weight loss for me is less of a priority, though absolutely not for my husband.

Any advice/thoughts on what I should do? I potentially thought about eating one of those as normal anyway? Or is it going to have massive issues with me being able to manage the rest of the diet?

I don't think fast 800 is designed for people who are already slim / just need to lose half a stone.

You'd be better sticking with what works for running & pain management, then tracking cals in MyFitnessPal or similar. Or just gently cut back - eg eat the same evening meal as your husband on fast 800 but didn't follow it the rest of the time.

I run three times a week on the diet with no issues, I always run on an empty stomach first thing, and manage it fine with the evenings dinner fuelling me :) you probably don't need that bar/ banana, unless you are doing a long 10k or half marathon run!

Having said that you are already quite slim, so having a banana probably won't hurt, just will slow down your weightloss 👍 you might not reach the ketosis stage if it takes you over the carbs

Thanks for your thoughts. @nephrofox yes I don't need to do anything drastic but need to come up with a hybrid way of getting my husband onto Fast 800, while I part do it. For me, maybe cutting down on carbs and stopping drinking will be enough to drop the pounds I want. As you say maybe I can just join him with the evening meals.

@wrensandrobins I think my snack before I go is my crutch! I'm getting to the longer distances now so I don't want to fail!!!

I did the BSD in 2016. I lost 2 stone in the 8 weeks, but then wanted to start running. It just didn't work for me. I ended up moving towards a Joe Wicks sort of thing where I ate carbs in the meal after I'd run. I can run 'fasted', but was too hungry. I carried on losing weight at the time.

Thanks @ohthegoats I've got a couple of Joe Wicks books but never taken any notice of which ones you are/aren't supposed to have after exercise. I think I'll have to put husband on low carbs and I'll have some, the better ones.

I think if you are going to do a diet like this, it needs to be a whole lifestyle change and something you can sustain long term. The 'on a diet, off a diet' is damaging and will make you put on more weight in the long term. (Research set point weight). You need to focus on small changes that you can do all the time. Especially if you are already fairly slim.

The best thing you can both do is concentrate on being as healthy as possible - by eating well (not dieting) thinking of it as fuelling your body. Do this by cutting out sugars, processed foods and limiting alcohol. Exercising more will help with this too. The weight loss will be slower, but more likely to stay off.

It's just a mental thing. You definitely don't need to fuel up before a 5k. Try it on an empty stomach, you'll be fine. I never eat before I run and go up to 10 miles.