The FastDay Forum

OK strictly speaking I am not a complete newbie, as I did a version of the fast diet for a while about 18 months ago. I am starting again, and while I am not finding the fasting too hard, I think I know what did me in last time.

I think I wasn't monitoring enough. And I allowed myself to let my old thinking patterns dominate my eating on feast days. It really did become a feast. I have read round the forum a bit and the general advice seems to be to stay under TDEE on feast days, which for me is about 1900 calories. I have enjoyed the process of NOT thinking, stressing and worrying about what I eat on feast days, but I think this was my downfall as I gradually piled in empty calories in sugar and alcohol on those days.

I am trying to stick to a 2 day weekend, with only treats on Saturday and Sunday. But I've got this lifelong inner voice that goes 'nooooo, you can't tell me what to eat; I have to have whatever I want, or else I'll SULK. Go oooooooonnnnnn. Have it. You know you want to. Just one, or five, or twenty, won't hurt. After all, you'll be fasting tomorrow, won't you?"

It hasn't kicked in yet. Mostly, so far about 5 fasts in, I have found myself moderating somewhat on the days in between fasts. But I know, later this week when I am properly premenstrual, the bread and cake will be calling and the Inner Whinge will be full volume.

I can't be alone in battling it, so am wondering how others cope?

You can use the "I'll have it tomorrow..." mantra, then if you really want it you can have it on the next day. It does work.

The gremlins go away once the novelty wears off but that can take a while. I still need some environmental controls too. So if I'm feeling "cravy", I get my OH to hide the chocolate.

Thank you. Yes, the " have it tomorrow" trick does work on fast days. But it is overeating on feast days that was my downfall last time. I was just eating too many calories on those days. I then tried to compensate by moving to 4:3, and then that became too hard to sustain so I gave up. I need to be better at balancing my diet on normal eating days.

Hi and welcome:

One of the hardest things about 5:2 for some people is that they can eat any foods they want. There is no diet plan they have to stick to, no specific foods, no prohibited foods. For some, this is undoable.

5:2 requires some self control and individual responsibility. Those that complain they are not losing weight with 5:2 and at the same time say they will never count calories for any reason have a problem. Research shows that experienced dieters underestimate their caloric intake by almost 50% and even dieticians underestimate their caloric intake by 16%. Unless and until you actually know how much you are eating and drinking, you cannot know why any diet 'is not working'. And the interesting response for many people is to drop the diet (and continue with the weight gains that got them started on the diet in the first place).

The fact is that under 5:2 if you eat 500 cal or less two days a week and your TDEE or less the other five, you have to lose weight over time. If you are not losing weight, then a check on how much you are actually eating is in order.

So I think you may have discovered something - Good Luck!

Don't let that inner whinge make you binge!

I sympathise and empathise BlueBirdie! Inner whinge describes it soooo well! !
Basically i am greedy and food is my crutch when i am sad and my celebration when i am happy!
some people can eat fairly freely but not greedily on feed days,and that must make 5:2 the most liberating WoE ever!
For me and others who have quite a lot of weight to lose,we need to be mindful of our TDEE and to eat to it some days, a little under it other days..and ( the good bit) eat above it maybe once a week or so..to keep our bodies mixed up and to avoid the Famine Reaction kicking in.
Youve been on this before and you seem ok with yr fast and repair days?
you know you' ll start moderating soon and your appetite will get smaller so you know it will get easier..x
Remind yrself of how much you will enjoy being slimmer..and even more importantly of the health benefits you' ll enjoy...
Hang on in there! 1900 is quite a generous TDEE so you can factor in treat without going over budget..should be room enough to appease your inner whinge..plus dont forget you have a regular day where you can go over.
Read all the stuff on here which will help you keep focused..no weight loss plan will ever be easy..if it was, we'd all be slim! good luck x

But if it's a craving, postponing to the next day generally means it goes away so it does work on feast days too. I struggled with feast days totally, so I do empathsise.

Yes BBT053, I hadn't really thought of it this way.

Yeah, I think I am gonna have to plan for eating at or under TDEE 4 days a week and have only one actual feast day. But not go too bonkers then either. And CandiceMarie (great name: is it from the kids tv prog?) you're right, I also need to trust in the appetite and craving reduction potential as it's early days...

@Bluebirdie When I found and started this WOL
9 months ago I was 19 stone
I didn't become that weight by saying NO to all the types of food I love including the treats + chocolate and on all the diets out there you have to give up all the stuff you love on day one.

However this isn't a diet and you're talking about a 2 day weekend I'm doing a 3 day weekend from day one. BUT
although I don't calorie count and maybe I've been luck to get away with lots of stuff and providing YOU count you can have as much chocks, bread, cake, potatoes anything at all but all those things are carbs and carbs create cravings believe me I now know that to be true completely because I've just eaten my first veggie laden meal and haven't been this stuffed+ full in my life I only managed half a chicken breast to go with it.

More veg = less cravings = less calories= less weight.
there's hope for me to fulfill my signature after all
why don't you join me and also pop into the low carb tent.

Yes Sue.Q (must learn how to tag people on this forum!) I have also benefited from low carbing before but I want to try balancing calories for now. I am trying to cut down the carbs, in particular in the evenings, but if it doesn't work out I will reassess.

Spurred on by y'all, I have just reopened my MyFitnessPal account so I think I will log my food consumption on there at least so I can monitor things for a few weeks and tweak the pattern... And plan out my 1900 days a bit so I've got a better idea of what that includes...

@Bluebirdie I've has lessons on this site for just about everything so here goes click on tag above then type in name check on preview if name goes blue bingo.

like this @Sue.Q...?

exactly like that @Bluebirdie One step at a time that's how I do it at my age lol