The FastDay Forum

Hi Danalu here,

I am new to 5:2. My eating habits have been thoughtless and reckless my whole life. I overeat then try to exercise the excess off. But now I am in my 40s and the kilos have slowly crept on, year by year, and its getting harder and harder to exercise them off. I am now 20 kilos or so overweight.

I have always heard the saying "change your eating habits to lose weight and maintain a low weight". In other word, change yourself to eat smaller portions, eat more fruit & veg, etc.

I am curious to hear people's experiences with changing eating habits. Is your way of eating different now that you are on 5:2? How does your eating go on post-fast or non-fast days? Especially weekends? Do you feel it's necessary to actually 'change habits' or is that what fasting is all about? I.e., you don't/ shouldn't need to.

I think the book says that on post-fast/non-fast days you can eat moderately but don't overdue it. Eat normally but don't voraciously overeat... And also that the longer you do 5:2, the less you will feel inclined to binge. I haven't yet felt this transformation happen. Have you?

I am curious to understand if people's eating habits are actually changing - or not?

Danalu

Unfortunately, eating normally for me is to over eat. And drink. Possibly excessively!! 5 2 has not changed that yet, and I have followed the WOL for over 5 months. That said, my weight loss has ground to a bit of a halt lately so I am thinking about changing something on non fast days... watch this space lol.

Hi Danalu
Firstly, welcome to the 5:2 club. My partner and I have been on this for about 4 months now and are feeling so much better for our weight loss.

With regard to your question on eating habits on non fast days. One of the things that surprised us was that the day after the fast day we thought we would be ravenous and binge out but I have to say that hasn't happened. We are more conscious of what we are eating but when we want chocolate or wine then we have it without feeling guilty.

From what I read as long as you stay within your TDEE on non fast days then you should be fine. I have taken up cycling and try to do that twice a week which has helped me with any over indulgence I may have.
I would say overall we have changed our eating habits - even if it's only about thinking before whether we really want to eat that piece of chocolate or packet of crisps or maybe replace it with some fruit or yogurt.
It is a bit of a mind set but the way we have tackled it is to think that it's only 2 days we can't eat "normally" - that there's always tomorrow but... usually when tomorrow comes we don't want or need what we were going to have anyway - so somethings has changed for us!!

Good luck and keep checking the forum - it's very helpful.
Linda

hi Danalu

I am only on my week 2 and I have found on fast days I am really focused and nothing will make me ruin my fast, I do day dream about what I will eat tomorrow on a feast day, however, I know I am only in my week two, but when it comes to it I don't want to eat much the next day at all, Its a struggle to eat sometimes, I get full very easily, and tend to graze than eat a large meal. so far I am really enjoying this woe and I hope to continue.

good luck and keep going

lenny (jane)

Hi there

I have to say my experience was that during the week I was very careful but then at weekends I would go nuts. What I found was on a Monday morning my weight could be up as much as 3/4lbs undoing any good that i had done.

I used to have drinks thurs, fri sat & Sun. Through this diet I have cut out Thurs and fri. i went off this diet and continued without Thurs & Fri. I am now back on this diet to try lose the last 6-8lbs. I have decided to cut out having drinks Sundays as I tend to binge eat when I drink ( and the day after I have sugar/carb cravings). So I would say it hasn't come easily to me, but I try not to look to far into the future and get through one day of changing a habit.

for example, sometimes I set my stop watch on a fast day. The hours counting down I find make it easier and encourage me (not counting upwards. So from my last meal (approx 4pm today) I will set my alarm clock for 20hours as I intend my next meal to be 12pm tomorrow. I take each day as it comes as otherwise it's a mammoth task to change years of bad habits.

I have been told it takes 21 times to change a habit. So once you have counted doing something different 21 times, see how easy it is to maintain it. I have cut out most carbs for the last 3 weeks and genuinely don't miss them. I am following 4:3 from this week so the way I look at that is in 7 weeks time this will be an easy habit. But 7 weeks seems long, so I go into my gmail calendar and I have the weeks counting down inserted to motivate me

Hi Danalu and Welcome well for me personally I'm doing 4:3 simply because of the amount I need to lose :like the 4 other days I eat healthy meals/choices wine on 3 nights only, so I'm making different food choices than I used to I don't count calories at all now just guesstimate therefore giving me a little leeway later on to ''tweek'' my diet
Love doing this WOL and it is so working for me. Sue

[janeg]

Hello Danalu and welcome to the forum. Many people report not being hungry on the day after a fast, thinking they really want something sweet and feeling grotty after eating it, noticing the amount that they can eat getting smaller etc. So there seems to be some changes in eating habits which has to be a good thing.
Hope you get good results too. Do let us know how you get on

I've been doing 5:2 since January and I have changed my eating habits. I think you have to as you lose weight or the dreaded plateau is inevitable. I started off eating as normal and then realised I didn't need breakfast as soon as I wake up, now I have a later breakfast and I no longer feel ravenous by 10.30 on a non fast day. I also eat smaller portions and am more mindful about what I eat in general. I still have the odd overindulgence and I often do a half fast to keep my weight loss on track in a more consistent way. I have learnt that hunger isn't perminant and nothing to fear which is very helpful. All the changes happening as my weight decreases makes me more confident I can not only lose weight but keep it off in the future!

I've been doing the 5:2 for about 3 months now, and its been a give and take process. I am more aware of calories for different food. Since I like to get the most food for my calories I've become an avid fan of green beans, okra and potatoes. I've nearly cut out all chips and replaced them with "air-popped" popcorn. I'm constantly looking for things to make me feel full while being low in calories. I look forward to not having to think about what I eat, but I've got a long way to go still. After a lifetime of bad food choices it will take some time to change my eating habits. I have started a daily walking program and have been thinking about biking or jogging sometime in the near future. Need to work both ends - calorie intake and calorie burn per day. Good luck to you!

Thanks everyone.

It is so cliche but it is a journey. Having posted this last night after fasting all day, today I am still feeling mixed feelings - extremely good about the fast (feels surprisingly and refreshingling GREAT not to eat so much!) and so-so about my food choices today. Its not that I have splurged so much, but I feel full and having just fasted for a day, feeling full feels funny! Not good or bad, just strange.

I am hoping, like many of you mention has already happened for you, that eventually, by trial and error and osmosis and evolution, that I will lose the habit of eating thoughtlessly and recklessly, lose the blasted weight, and keep it off!!!

I haven't really changed my eating on non fast days - so yes, I still can overeat very easily. At first I was more mindful but now life has got in the way and I'm back to binge eating chocolate or other sweet carby treats too often. I liquid fast twice a week, and generally find that easy. I haven't put on weight in spite of a lot of overeating, but I also haven't lost any weight for 2 months, so my slow-loss has very much ground to no-loss. So now I've decided to go back to being mindful, only eating 3 meals a day with no snacks, and steering clear of processed carbs. Not fanatically (because to me the point of 5:2 is that it's sustainable, so I don't want "banned" foods) but hopefully enough to kick off the weight loss again.

Hi there, newbie here.
My eating habits aren't so bad on non fast days.. until the weekends and then it goes out the window.
I've done about eight fasts now and they always go OK (always under 500, sometimes 100 cals under), then the days during the week where I eat are normally ok, but as soon as 5PM Friday hits I'm instantly in wine mode (OK, vodka, gin, cider anything mode if I'm honest).
Then the next day I normally have a hangover so you can imagine what happens then. It's Saturday night again before I know it and I'm back out partying again.
Arghh. Fed up of this rut but don't want to give up my wine and carbs all the time. Feeling a bit ugh, this is not the miracle diet I was (stupidly) expecting. I know I can't have everything and get skinny But any tips?

Non fast day today will be:

Coffee with a sweetener and a dash of skim milk (20)
Decent sized bowl of porridge with chocolate soy milk (approx 250-300)
Herbal teas and water throughout
3 boiled eggs (180)
Pumpkin and butternut squash soup (180)
2 fun size twix (160)
Tuna in brine (65)
Probably pasta/salad with salmon/sushi for dinner (not sure yet but I'll aim for it to be about 600-700 cals)

So at most it will be 1600 which I don't think is bad. I weigh 159ib, and am a 5'8 female.

But as soon as we get to Fri/Sat/Sun I'm easily having 2000-2500 a day which means with the fasts I probably won't gain but I want to lose.

I know I need to be stricter I just find it so hard.

Anyone else like this?

Hi LilSmiler,

From what I understand about nutrition, you actually may not be eating enough on non-fast days. I think 1600 is low; it should be around 2000, I think...?? Maybe if you ate a little bit more during the week, you wouldn't crave so much on the weekends. My partying days are pretty much past me (thank God) but I know when I do overindulge in the libation, I do overeat, so can't help you there much... I also know how it feels to eat too much on the weekends and not lose the weight after the fast days during the week. Its like a self-sabotage. I know that road too well. All I can say is "I hear you!".

Anyway, its good to post your frustrations and your wins on the forum. I'm actually posting a lot more because I find the communication and support are invaluable. So keep posting!

danalu

Thanks Danalu for your prompt reply.
What I was told to do was get my TDEE which is 1800 and multiply that by seven so I know what I need to maintain = 12,600
Minus 3500 (what you need to minus to lose a pound a week) = 9100
Minus 1000 (fast days)
Divide by five for the other days = 1620

Does that make sense?

LilSmiler, the calculator in your progress tracker will do the work for you. It does seem right. The alcohol will really push your calorie allowance up through the roof.

One way to go is cut right down on the alcohol, especially as for most of us, as soon as you have one or two the willpower goes out the window and 2 drinks turns into 6 or 8.

The other way is to have 2 or 3 fast days. Two or 3 restricted days of only 1200 kcals, then give yourself a bit of freedom at the weekend.