My Fast800 then 5:2 Journey

[silvershell]

Hello Everyone,

Thank you for everyone who has shared their journeys on the WOE, it has helped give me the confidence to get back into it after a year of not caring much (thanks SSRIs).
I had posted on another thread, but I think it would be better if I made my own for this journey. I'll repost what I posted for Day 1.

I did well on 5:2 a couple of years ago, but I had an episode of depression which led to medication that made me care less about what I was eating. I gained 1.5 stone in 2 years. I am 5'75 and at the higher end of healthy BMI for my height, but my body fat is 31.5%!!! Never in my life has it been that high. But I know its what I was shovelling in my mouth and possibly also a minor effect of the medication messing with insulin. I am now 3 weeks off the medication, so I'm ready to sort myself out!

I started Fast 800 today, and would love to be around others also in this WOE. I am doing the 16:8/800 calories for 2 weeks. Then dependant on weight loss, continue F800 or move to 5:2. Clean fasting with electrolytes. Oh, and I'm ovolacto-pescetarian (is that even a term??) - basically I am vegetarian, but eat eggs and fish :)

Day 1 (yesterday)

Food
250ml soya milk
Bowl of homemade lentil soup
250g salad
2 boiled eggs
1/2 an avocado
200g Soya yogurt with small amount of crushed walnuts
1 Cadburys highlights
= 808 cals
= 81.8g carbs

Fast window opened at 9pm-1pm.

Feelings
Even though my carbs were higher than recommended, I didn't actually feel hungry which is always nice. I need to have a look at reducing carbs though, as it may get harder when at work (yesterday was my day off).

Not sure when I will weight yet. I'd love to not weight for the 2 weeks, but I doubt I will manage that, I tend to weight daily or every few days.

How tall are you @silvershell ? I’m 5’5”. I wanted to lose when I hit 11st3 but instead carried on eating everything in sight.

Welcome to the journey @judgemenotnow !
Your plan sounds great and faithful to the guidelines :)
You many not need 12 weeks of Fast 800 depending on how much weight you want to lose. Have you thought about how to work your maintenance phase, e.g. are you transitioning with a 5/2 phase then moving to 6/1, or some other pattern?

Yes, I understand about the calorie counting. The 2nd phase of this WOE helps to curb that a bit. It was 5/2 I did in the past. Because you are eating TDEE on non-fast days, you can get an idea quite easily of how much to eat without counting once you've done it for a few weeks. What you eat can help, e.g. it's very hard to overeat salad, above-ground vegetables and raw foods. So if this make up the bulk of your food intake along with fruit and good quality protein, it's unlikely you will gain weight. Basically, eating non-processed food in any amounts can manage your weight. I once ate somewhere between 2000-2500 calories of mostly raw, unprocessed food and I lost weight from a normal weight of 10st 7 (I'm 5ft 7.5). And I may add, I had boundless energy and mental clarity.
You don't have to be hungry on maintenance!

I'm 5ft 7.5. I tried to lose before I reached 11st 5. but my body resisted for a few weeks. I think when we have been overeating our bodies forget how to process sugar and manage insulin properly because we have been feeding it too much and likely many foods that have high sugar like processed foods/carbs. But nothing resets my weight quicker than fasting, probably because it directly targets insulin resistance. Once that is sorted, you would probably lose weight just fasting a couple of times a week (I did previously), but just at a slower rate than the Fast 800 phase.

@silvershell I need to do a bit more reading to figure out what my maintenance will be, as in any diet that has been my downfall, loose the weight stop doing what I was doing and weight goes back on....5/2 does sound good to me though.

Weigh in this morning and down to 134 so 3lb in two days.Fast weight loss is very motivating.

Weekend is looming where I have more free time so need to plan to busy myself up to prevent mindless eating...

Today I was 11st 9 so right direction. I usually eat home made meals just too much plus snacks. I’ve lost all sense of portion control. March 2020 I was 9st 12 (which I’d maintained for 2 years) about to run a half marathon. I have hung around the 10st 8 mark and been okay with that but spiralled in the last 3 months due to work stress (NHS). It’s still stressful but being overweight is making me feel worse.

i find week one is the hardest to get through so am very focused and determined!

It is motivating! Well done you :)
The new 5/2 is totally doable. I did the previous one where you could only have 500 kcals on the fast days and while I managed it, it was hard. Michael Mosely found that you can get the same health and weight maintenance benefits with 2x 800kcals fast days - so I'll take it. If we can do EVERY day at 800kcals we can totally do 2!

Keep posting, a couple of us may end up on the 5/2 phase around the same time and we can support each other :)

That's awesome, well done! Homemade is best :) I can relate, I come from a family of big appetites and sweet teeth! But it really is a challenge to eat huge amounts of fruit and vegetables, so if these are the bulk of your meals it limits the damage. Throw in some protein and you're stuffed - and you haven't overeaten in terms of kcals.

I'm sorry to hear about your stress at work. When you are drained it is harder to take care of yourself, and the cortisol release from stress makes us crave sugary carbs. It's tough, but you obviously know that you will feel better when your body feels better. I believe in you! I am at the end of the first week, if I can do it, you can do it :)

Day 6 Food

200ml soya milk
1x carrot, 4x celery, 4x baby plum tomatoes + 90g hummus
340g mixed salad + 100g hot smoked mackerel + 60ml teriyaki sauce

= 825 kcal

Wow! My protein, selenium, vitamin D, all B vitamins and omega 3 are off the charts! I forgot how much of a super food mackerel is, even if they are a bit whiffy and my cat is practically in my bowl.

TRE & Feelings
I clean fasted today from 9pm last night to 1pm today (16/8). I felt much better for a longer fasting window, even though I really wanted milk in my coffee this morning. The notion had passed by 11 and I felt fine and even though I was hungry by 1pm, I was satisfied on a small amount of food and a coffee with milk afterwards.

Weight
I was up just under 1lb this morning, but, weight fluctuates. I haven't had a fluctuation in a week, so I'm not worried about it. But that's why I did the longer fast, I figured my body needed a wee reminder of what we are doing here - going down, not up lol

I think I'll just do goals as I go along and I'll know when to stop when I get there.

So let's say...

Goal 1: Get out of the 160s (lbs) - done!
Goal 2: Get out of the 150s - 6lbs to go
Goal 3: Get out of the 140s
Goal 4: Get out of the 130s

And then we'll see how I feel. I liked how I felt at 126lbs, but at my height I could have done with better muscle tone (looked a bit scrawny), so I'm doing resistance every day this time (as of yesterday).

Well done! Another way of using goals to motivate yourself is also using kg as sub goals in between the lb goals - that way you’re achieving more goals all the time, so for example 155lb is 70kg, so in the middle of each 10 pound range is probably a big kg milestone. Hope that makes sense!

@Hollyhead good idea! I've never measured in kg, but smaller goals would really when weight loss inevitably slows down, so thank you for the great suggestion :)

Day 7

My period is due in under a week, and I always gain a bit of weight. So to avoid discouraging myself, I will stop weighing daily until after it is finished. I'll continue to log my food and calories though.

Hope all my Fast 800 buddies are doing well :)

I just bought the Fast 800 vanilla protein shake, as I think it would be a good lunch option. Hopefully I can get it down just mixing with water, as I hate milkshakes!

Has anyone tried the Fast 800 shakes at all, are they easy to drink?

No loss for me today but I’m on my period and have lost 4lbs since Monday. I’ve done shakes before but this time I’ve bought some Covent Garden soups for lunch - I need easy grab lunches - and we have another ready meal tonight. I’ve moved from the M&S ones to Asda as there were more options and last nights katsu chicken was really nice and filling.

drinking my morning black coffee. I’ve also bought almond milk to try later. I’m not convinced and don’t want to drop milk altogether but I’ve not tasted it before. Here’s to a good day @silvershell (tomorrow’s bbq with friends is going to be trickier but meat and salad should be okay. I’m taking dessert - any suggestions?)

@NeedAHoliday2021 that's fantastic, well done! I love soups when fasting, good plan. I like almond milk in coffee, but not tea, but it really depends on your taste buds. It is pretty different from cows milk, but I think almond and coffee go well together.

RE the barbeque dessert, you could make fruit trifle, meringues or light pastries, if you're thinking of things that won't be too high in calories? But at the same time, remember to enjoy yourself!

Day 7 Food

175g hummus + 2x chopped carrots
250ml soya milk
Vegetable stir fry with 60ml teriyaki sauce
200g strawberries
22g 70% dark chocolate

= 913

---- yes, I will be over, but I want the chocolate dammit :)

TRE
15 hour clean fast, broken with milk in my coffee at 11am. Then food at 1.30pm.

Feelings
Was rushed off my feet at work. And I'm getting some mild Chocolate Brain (thank you pending period). So I'm having 2 squares guilt-free. I've easily burned at least half of what I have eaten today.
I'm a bit disheartened about my approaching period because weight loss usually stalls for me or I gain a couple of lbs while on. But I'll just need to power through.

Won’t be making anything as still have no kitchen - it’s taking shape but not useable. No worktop until next Friday or following Monday.

@NeedAHoliday2021 uch that's a shame. Just have to buy something then 🙂

Yep, we’re living on ready meals trying to avoid takeaway.

Well done 😊😊😊

I was at my heaviest in march 16stone at 5ft 4. I'm now down to 13'10. I go to the gym 2 x times a week and have totally reassessed my eating. I used to eat at like 2pm and then wait throughout the day. Now I wake up needing breakfast and have my 3 meals but stretch dinner out until around 7 so I'm not hungry at night. Still have a treat when I want. Total hit a wall now with weight loss though aaaargh!

Ah I see. Well Happy New Kitchen when it comes 😃

Thank you. And well done you, that's a fantastic loss. Yeah, I think one of the things we all need to be aware of is when is the best time for us as individuals to eat. I have never been a breakfast person, so having a later eating window works for me. I have forced myself to eat breakfast in the past due to the myth about it being "the most important meal of the day". It was a double insult for me - forcing myself to eat when I wasn't hungry and then being rewarded with being starving all day for my pain! But some people like yourself do better eating earlier in the day, so that's great you are figuring this out.

Are you doing TRE, Fast 800, 5/2 or a combination? If weight loss stalls on any of these phases, moving to another phase can get things moving again :)

Day 8

I know I said I wouldn't weight, but...

I am still 0.8lb up (so 155.8lbs), however, I took a look at my muscle mass and it has increased - so this will account for some of the increase and I am fine with gaining more muscle (as long as I don't end up looking like the Hulk!).
I have been doing resistance every day, for about 3-4 days I think, so there will be some link there, plus water retention due to the time of the month. Hoping for a WOOSH after my period :)

I’m down to 11st 7 so a huge loss in 5 days which I know will largely be water but I feel less bloated, rings are less tight and my bras fit again. Tonight we’re with friends but won’t be a late one and I’m taking dessert so have a level of control on that. Sunday will be harder at my parents but it’s one day, I’ll try to make good choices but know dd2 made a cake with granny so I’ll be eating that. Back to it Monday.