The FastDay Forum

Wildmissus,I so identify with you.
I have dieted for the 30 years.i lose the few kilos and then gradually back they come plus a little more.i did 5/2 a few years ago and really struggled but eventually the weight came off and then a few months later after a couple of wonderful holidays the weight started creeping back and now here I am trying again
Like you,I don't know what else to do.sorry I can't give you any helpful advise just a sympathy hug.
I think the only thing to do is just keep trying knowing it's the only way ...I certainly can't face those horrible diets I used to go on.

Onya for coming here and bringing this up - I suspect this is something many of us can go through when keeping this way of eating up long term.

I think the others have given good advice - I'm especially with CandiceMarie: good quality food and planned treats. The other thing I always look to when I find I lose focus on what I'm putting in my mouth is "mindful eating" - I take time to really focus on what I cook, how I cook it, how it tastes and smells and makes me feel as I eat it. It takes away some of the "panic" eating, and enjoying what I eat I don't need so much. It's slow and deliberate, and can be difficult when life gets busy and stressful and family demand constant attention, but for me it is one of those important mental exercises that help keep me in the right mindset.

I am curious: do people find that overeating on a non-fast day make fasting easier? I find the opposite to be true: I tend to wake up crazy hungry if I overdo it the day before. I don't think eating below my TDEE would be a good idea, but staying around it or just a bit over seems to work best for me, both in terms of weight loss and the ease of fasting.

One other observation (not pointed at anyone in particular): I think some of us have gone into this weight loss thing naively. We think 'lose the weight then we're done; as long as I don't overdo it like I did all those other times I put the weight back on, it will be fine'. The thing I hadn't appreciated is that you really have to change the way you eat forever. It's not just that you can't go back to eating the way you did before; obviously that will lead to gain. My TDEE is ~300 cals lower now than it was when I started. It might not sound like a lot, but to keeping your calories that much lower every day isn't easy. I think MM and Krista Varady have done their diets a disservice by saying you can eat whatever you want on non-fast days. It's clearly not true.

I think it might also be due to the initial excitement about losing weight has gone, which then helps on the non-fast days. That is the case for me at least. Some threats have made it back on my menu far too often lately, i.e. ice cream for deserts, sweetened yoghurt instead of the tasteless natural yoghurt, more chocolate, extra glass of wine, etc. I did my first fast in several months yesterday (as weight had krept up over Christmas) and I intend to be more careful on non-fast days. Daily weighing is part of that strategy. Not sure yet if I can bring myself on writing all food down but I might have to. Good luck!

If you can do the fasting 2 days a week and have proven you can do it for say 3 months, regardless of the result, I reckon it can be considered sustainable for most people as long as the motivation and belief in yourself is there. Somteimes our conscious wants to tell us "we cant" so we start to believe we cant. Can't is easy Can't means ill health and being unhealthy and overweight

daily mantra:

I want to
I need to
I can
I will

Oh I don't know Juliana. I can do Atkins/low carb easily for 3 months, but then I start feeling deprived. It's not sustainable for me in the long run. IF has proven much more sustainable than that, but still… I think fasting fatigue is real.

Oh I don't know Juliana. I can do Atkins/low carb easily for 3 months, but then I start feeling deprived. It's not sustainable for me in the long run. IF has proven much more sustainable than that, but still… I think fasting fatigue is real.

I guess i should have qualified before.. yes for some people, the sustainability of any diet, including 5:2 just isnt a reality. Just so scared to actually say it on the forum in case there are people that will give up. And the consquequences are really bad.

so i dont have the solution on this at all.

I wish we could say it's the answer for 100% of people and its just mind over matter.

Thoughts anyone...

Is it true that 5:2 dieting or other intermittent fasting just cant be sustained for some people?

... I eat too much on non fast days. I often don't feel full ... almost a 'panic' thing going on knowing that I won't be eating in a day or so's time. ... mindless eating ... if I don't eat some of the nice things ... I'll miss out!
... to get the non fast days under control ... self-sabotaging.

Hey, I've been there and done all of those! To me, these sentence fragments say that you're picking what to eat by looking into the fridge or pantry and sampling a number of tasty bits here and there BEFORE you have a good idea of the type of meal you want. This is THE snowball mistake that starts the avalanche.

ALWAYS identify the major meal items FIRST! Then - and only then - pull out the ingredients to put it together. And on non-fast days always include a reasonable portion of a family favorite too. While you're there, avoid low calorie, low fat foods. Go for full fat instead. You will eat less, enjoy it more and be completely satisfied far quicker.

I can really sympathise @wildmissus. I've just put my current weight into the tracker and it looks like it has shot up but that is because I haven't put anything in since the end of November as I have been creeping up and my fast days have not been successful. There are some really useful points in this thread and I especially like @ADFnFuel's point about identifying the meal first. I have been leaving eating for too long then I' m really hungry and eat all sorts of things that I didn't intend to. So my plan is to make sure that I'm eating sensibly again, planning my food I have a TDEE of 1400 which isn't a lot to play with and then when I've got that under control to try fasting again. I am also trying to up my exercise as that helps me to stop feeling hungry. Will follow this thread with interest, good luck.

[carieoates]

Yes I remeber that Turkey picture. I don't know what yo say that hasn't already been said WM, but I remeber remember replying to one of your posts saying that I think you're a star for going cal free "liquid" fasting. So maybe a return to back 5.2 is in order.

@wildmissus. Thanks for starting this thread. Maybe we can use it to record our experiments to get us back on track. I have currently been conducting a small experiment of my own. I started only on Sunday so it is too early to report with confidence, but I have had lost quite a bit already this week without a)fasting b)counting calories or c)cutting complex carbs back. I did all three last year and to no avail!
As I say, it's an early experiment, but I will report in a week from now with my initial results. I actually wonder if all this is a little bit like exercise. Every so often, we need to mix things up again to keep our body on its toes.

Good news @rawkaren! Look forward to hearing more x
The thing about fasting in the 21st century... We're constantly surrounded by food...the folk many years ago who had times of feast or famine didn't have such temptations!
We all know its do- able, and more effective than the conventional diets we've tried over and over.
Which maybe makes us forget that,altho we achieve eating only 500 or less cals over a 36 hour period,actually doing that is unusual...we've lived all our lives NOT fasting. And many people reading our posts would think we 're bonkers to be doing this. So,all in all, and taking into account that cutting down on food and going hungry at times is stressful,it's not surprising that we often struggle with doing this. It would be strange if we didn't ! X

Thank you for being so honest wildmissus because I am also struggling at the moment to get back into fasting routine mode. I also am tempted to overeat on eating days & I'm trying to re-motivate myself by re-reading The Fast Diet Book. I think after Christmas indulgences it is very difficult to almost feel deprived by even slightly restricting food choices & I have 2 & 1/2 stone still to lose & never thought I would be entering my third 5:2 year still overweight! But the thought of regaining most of the weight I have lost is horrific & I have to keep going because this WOE fits much better into my life than daily calorie counting. I am trying to think of this as a daily choice that I am making of eating more carefully & will also try to choose more wisely on my eating days.
Good luck & don't give up now

I am with @rawkaren on mixing things up......

I was gutted to have gained 13lbs from beginning Dec to beginning Jan despite not being that naughty (or so I thought) over Xmas.

Anyway - this week I have gone back to doing a "fat fast" which I had done a few times last year. I have lost 6lb since Monday - not bad considering I have eaten lots of lovely cheese and am enjoying cream in my coffee.......

I know this isn't a long-term solution and isn't for everyone but it is helping me get back into the right mindset as I needed a kick-start.

Hope you can find your mojo again soon - you've done so well so far!

[wildmissus]

Thank you for all your responses, I knew this wasn't just about me!

Firstly I'm going to start with some of my stats - some of you will be bored, some will be interested and most of you will be shocked!

Height - 5'8" (173cm)
Age - 47
Very apple shaped
Heaviest ever weight - 14st 3lb (199lbs)
Weight I started fasting 7/1/2013 - 13st 9lbs (191lbs)
Weight at beginning of 2014 - 11st 10lb (164lbs)
Weight at beginning of 2015 - (11st 8lb) (162lbs)
Lowest fasting weight July 2014 - 11st (154lbs)
Target Weight 10st 10lb (150lbs)

TDEE from my tracker based on moderate activity - 2202
Therefore 2200 x 7 = 15400 calories per week to maintain my weight.
Lets say I'm putting on half a pound a week, ie 1700 cals.
So 17100 calories per week.
I zero cal liquid fast twice a week.
So my daily calorie intake is around 3420!!!!!!!

I'm not surprised that my daily calorie intake is nearly three and a half thousand calories but I am disappointed with myself.

My breakfast is usually porridge (300 cals?), lunch is often homemade soup with either good bread and butter or cheese and crackers (700cals?), evening meal is often a Hairy Dieters meal (700 cals?). Total meals = 1700 cals. The other half is coming from 'treats' - biscuits, crisps, chocolate eaten with my meals and in between.

Secondly, thank you so much for your responses - I am enjoying your tips! I know there are more of you who have the same problem and I suspect we have lost a few forum members for the same reason. I hope we will be able to get ourselves through this. I am really hoping that @peebles and @ssure will be able to give us some insight into this (no pressure) and we can work a way out of it.

@Bracken, you are so right, I cannot go back to the way I was and I am hopeful that we can find a way through this.

@CandiceMarie, I hoped you'd be there as I know you've had a difficult fasting year so value what you say.

@banksia, I was also a size 16 (UK). I no longer have any size 16 clothes in my wardrobe and I'm not going there again!

@carorees, I buy better quality food than I have ever done - no low fat or low cal stuff in our house. When I buy meat I buy it from the meat counter at the supermarket or local butchers. The irony is I combine all this good stuff with junk food which is where my carb intake really takes a hit. My meals are much lower carb (but not 'low carb') than they used to be and my meals haven't really changed much from when I was losing weight while fasting.

@LizBean, I remember the lose a bit, maintain thing and most of the time I have been trying to lose in small chunks. It has only been in the last week or so that I decided to give myself a target weight. Maybe, however, I'm getting impatient.

@Wendy Darling, thanks for reminding me about the turkey photo, that was much fun and put a big smile on my face.

@Azureblue, I used to buy fruit and put it in the bin as it would go off then buy more. That is something I've stopped doing. I might occasionally buy apples and I do buy berries to put in my porridge or have with cream. I haven't looked at Marks Daily Apple for a long time, thanks for the reminder.

@Juliana.Rivers, a huge kick up the backside is what I need and I agree that anytime away from fasting could make it very difficult to getting back into it. I weigh daily and record it in a notebook then record my weight weekly on the tracker. I am a great one for coming up with plan or things I am going to do and rarely succeed at because it is easier to fail than succeed.

@Lil, I know what I write about panic eating and seeing the family eating the good stuff is absolutely nuts, especially as I work on the deli counter in Sainsbury's! I'm in a supermarket 4 times a week for goodness sake .

@MaryAnn, I'm not eating because I'm hungry, I'm not even eating because I have cravings. I think I'm eating to keep myself full all the time. I am finding the evenings of my fast days can be quite difficult and I think that might be because I am eating too much on my non fast days at the moment. I also think that it can take 2 - 5 years at maintaining our new weights to 'naturally' accept and eat to the new lower TDEE.

@Sarahg, @Loulou51 (good to see you back), @Isis, @Madcatlady, I am really hopeful that more comments will be made on this thread so we can all benefit for it.

@PeonyBlue, you must also be tall as your stats are very similar to mine and you look so slim in your wedding dress. I have practiced mindfulness before and I think that has contributed to me feeling happier and more content so today I downloaded a kindle book from Amazon on mindful eating -

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mindful-Eating-Compassionate-Overeating-Mindfully-ebook/dp/B00LDOMCVC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1420731213&sr=8-2&keywords=mindful+eating

It is only 60 pages long but it gets 21 5star reviews - got to be worth a read.

@Wmr309, I think you are right. I don't pay much attention any more to when I stop eating the night before a fast and my overeating probably did start by sneaking in the odd biscuit whereas when I first started I did everything by the letter.

@ADFnFuel, you sneaky man, you've got a spy camera in my kitchen, that is exactly what I do. However, I plan my meals on a weekly basis so that when I do my weekly shop I've got the ingredients but I just go into the kitchen and mooch for something else and then another something else. Mind you, I only really plan my evening meals and lunch time is when the overeating tends to be at its worst.

@rawkaren, I can't wait to hear what you have been trying.

I am so sorry this post is so long but I am hopeful that by being honest about me other people might come forward with similar problems and others might have comments that might help us all.