The FastDay Forum

I am on break from my teaching job this week. I didn't go away, but have been home from work. I've gone out a few times for dinner with friends.

I haven't fasted this week. I planned on it, but decided to take a break from that this week too. Next week I am planning to get back on track AND I'm planning to start reducing my carbs.

So, I've found myself doing that thing I always do on a diet. I've ordered things at dinner or eaten things thinking "I should eat this this week, because next week I get back on track."

This thinking has been such a bad cycle for me. It is supposed to be different on this WOE, but I still can't shake it!

Anyone else find that they still think of this as a diet?

I can't get out of the whole 'diet' frame of mind either. My particular problem is that I find it hard to eat normally on the feed days, consequently I've lost quite a lot of weight (10 pounds in 3 weeks) but feel that I need to get a better mindset to make this a sustainable way of life.
I envy people who seem to be able to just fast one day then eat normally the next without guilt!

I find it takes a while to change from dieting to just living in a slightly different way, in my head. I'm OK with it now but I do understand how you feel. Like everything else in life, the longer you do something the easier it becomes and you also change your mentality. Don't forget.......this is NOT a DIET....it's a DO.....IT!

Ballerina x

Thanks for bringing up this subject @cblasz i 'm doing exactly the same as you
I did think i was out of that mind frame at last..its so destructive and has caused me over many years to be far heavier overall than i wd have been if had been free from this habit.

Thanks everyone!

The thing is too that I haven't lost weight easily on this plan so far. It started out good, but with this week I'm really back up. I've lost hardly anything. So, unfortunately, I find that on non-fast days I have to count calories (although it's more calories than if I weren't fasting) and I've decided to reduce carbs, which shouldn't really be that painful. I don't feel deprived when I'm following this WOE, but I still feel like there's an on and off mode. And clearly my off mode is not good, since i'm up almost a pound today.

I need to just try to eat more healthy all the time. And I'm working on it!

Have you ever read "The diet survivors handbook: 60 lessons on eating, acceptance, & self-care" by Judith Matz and Ellen Frankel? It really helps me on a day when 5-2 is tough, when I feel that diet mentality starting to kick in, it gives me the perspective that 5-2 is helping me take care of myself, and has long-term, lifetime health implications. it really adjusts my perspective. it's a great great little book. you can read the lessons sequentially or just open the book to any lesson that at that time particularly resonates with you. I know how you feel. good luck

Thanks Mary Lynn - I'll check it out!

I envy people who seem to be able to just fast one day then eat normally the next without guilt!

Just consider eating normally at a non-fast day as a regular and essential part of 5:2. In order to make it sustainable as a way of life you must have these days where you can relax and feel good about the food you eat. If you don't see it this way you will surely get to a point where you get motivational problems.
So, in fact the issue of possibly feeling guilt when eating normally at non-fast days is a 'non-issue': how could you feel guilty when you are doing exactly what you are supposed to do

Thank you - that is a better way of looking at it!
I suppose initially all my focus was on fasting days and getting through those successfully. Three weeks in I'm now pretty comfortable with them so I think I probably need to make sure that I am considering 5:2 as a 'whole'.

I know what you mean, I'm kind of the same except I think I've found it easier since I've bean fasting every other day. The thing I'm worried about is my two-week holiday. Will I go crazy and make up for lost time? Do I incorporate a fast? Who knows! The thing I have found is I CANT eat as much as I used to., for example, I used to binge on bowls of cereal and have three bowls in one sitting. Now, I still get the craving BUT I can only eat ONE bowl!

Good luck with this WOE. It is pretty good in the whole scheme of things

Bean xx

Thanks @MLCDzi got a free Kindle app,then downloaded a sample of the book you mention..and its really good! Food for thought indeed..x
Ps just bought it on ebay..£ 10, free postage

I know as well about the non fast days being harder to handle than the fast days. The fast days are structured and you just follow the rules you set and when you are seeing the results in the early days that motivation carries you on.

In my early fast days I posted to that the not fast days were the hardest for me. With the wisdom of hindsight you do need to enjoy the opportunity to just eat as you normally would but in a healthy way. These days are your replenish days as fast days are basic fuel only and not sustainable. P-JK says it as it is, eat on your non fast days. But do agree with Ballerina as well it just take a bit of getting used to

I do think this is a great WOE still and I'm not giving up on it at all. But, I wish I could change my mindset to not be so obsessed with it and to not still think that there are "good" foods and "bad" foods. If I could remember that I can treat myself!

Unfortunately I can't just eat "normally" on non-fast days and still lose weight. I need to count calories or I will eat more than I should and it's not going to work. I do eat less calories during the week so that I can eat carefree on the weekends!

I downloaded a sample of the book too and am going to check it out. And maybe when I get back on track this week with fasting, I'll do better!

@cblasz I do understand what you are saying but I feel there is also a down side. I was a product of too much calorie counting and fasting and I ended up long plateau and with 'famine effect'. Am just back from an enforced break off 5:2 for a couple of months where I only did 6:1 to try again. There is much still going on which we truly don't understand for those of us who lose more slowly, but I still feel we have to have what I now call blow out days where we relax and forget about the whole thing and just eat what we want. I am not talking binging but say 3 decent sized healthynmeals eg breakfast, lunch and dinner

Hi Gillymary,

Thank you! And I agree with you. I pretty much let myself eat whatever I want on the weekends. I only count calories on week days (fast and non-fast) and I don't eat super low calories. My TDEE (if I'm sedentary, which I think is debatable, but most people say that you should go lower not higher) is 1700. So, I eat 1500 on non-fast weekdays and probably close to 2000 on Saturday and Sunday, so it should even out.

I don't know. There's so much conflicting information here, I guess because different things work for different people. I don't feel deprived with my 1500 calories. Having done WW for a long time, it seems like plenty.

I'm going to try reducing carbs a bit and see if that helps with my weight loss. So, I really need to keep counting calories, so I can track the carbs too.

If I continue to struggle to lose weight I might change things up somehow.

Are you starting to lose weight again now?