The FastDay Forum

Hello,
I am new to 5:2--this is my 4th fasting day today. In a month I will be teaching college chemistry Monday thru Friday, so if I stick with 5:2, I will end up giving lectures two days a week while I am fasting (probably Mondays & Thursdays). I am concerned that I won't have the energy or mental acuity I need to pull off a good lecture. Any advice?

Welcome! I'm not a teacher but I am studying chemistry at the moment and need to feel satiated in order to think!
If you can't change your fast days, then you need to plan. Not everyone's thing but I like to eat alot of fat on fast days. It keeps me feeling full and the hunger pangs at bay. Bulletproof coffee is my choice. I can go all day on that. Others drink bouillon or broth. Salt is important when you are fasting and I always have a glass of water with some salt in first thing in the morning or if I'm feeling like I need food.

Good luck!

I'm also studying, and find that in the morning, I'm absolutely fine. Some afternoons though (not all, just some) my brain seems to go on holiday. Maybe try having most of your calories at lunchtime, something like a soup which you can pack with veggies, to get you through the afternoon.

I've been fasting for over a year and I'm a college teacher. I'm in class four days a week from 9 to 1, and usually have meetings every afternoon between 230 and 5. It takes some getting used to, but actually I'm at the point now where I just don't eat until after 5 o'clock every day. On my fast days, I have 500 calories and on my regular days I eat whatever I want. Rawkaren's point about salty drinks is true, they do make a big difference, so make sure you have something everyday. I have not tried bulletproof coffee. The five hour pattern is called Fast Five, there are threads on the forum to get others experiences. It's a different fasting pattern and its working great for me. Good luck
I'm also diabetic & fast 5'ing w/doctor support.

I give 2 hour marathon lectures on Fridays, and I tend to fast on Fridays. I eat a soft-boiled egg and drink a coffee before lecture. I'm pretty depleted afterward, but tbh, I think that's mostly down to the come-down from the adrenaline rush. I get it whether I fast or not. For lunch, I have another coffee and maybe 100g of cherry tomatoes or something small like that. And then a miso soup in the afternoon. Basically, like most fast days...

I think you just have to give it a try and see what happens. Have some low cal things to hand in case of emergency.

Fasting gets much much easier the more you do it, too.

When I was in grad school and teaching many years ago, I never ate anything until after 5PM because with my then undiagnosed blood sugar problems, eating anything with carbs in it would make me very sleepy. I wasn't trying to diet, but I dropped to my lowest weight since puberty.

Just be sure to drink fluids every couple hours. After a few weeks you should do fine.

Thank you for your comments, suggestions and encouragement! I am hoping I will just get used to it. Not there yet...I've got a headache now from fasting this morning.

[carieoates]

You'll be fine. We all worry about it at first.
Like already mentioned, a saly drink midday is very helpful. And I used to get headaches at first so upped my coffee/tea intake as I was prob needing come caffeine. But liquid in any form helps to be honest.
When I started nearly 18mlnths ago I was doing it alongside A science teacher colleague of mine (I'm a school science technician) who did struggle. A small lunch did help her out, many fasters save their cals till dinner so that they can have a bigger meal, she used to have an age and some tomatoes to keep her going. I like a cuppa soup, oxo, bouillon, or homemade veg soup at midday, but can equally go without especially in the summer.
Good luck plan and relax.

Hiya,
I'm currently a part time primary school teacher. 1 day I fast at home looking after my 2 yr old twins and the other day I am teaching. To be honest, teaching helps the day go sooooo much quicker and I don't eat til I get home. I am far more likely to give in to temptation at home with my fussy girls not eating all the lovely, tasty full fat food that I make!!!! Somedays that temptation is just tooo much!!!!

[carorees]

Fasting makes one more alert and improves brain function according to the scientists (well in mice anyway) so it shouldn't be a problem once you've adjusted.

It makes no sense that humans should perform less well fasted than when well fed, or how would a hungry hunter ever manage to catch the next antelope? We would have become extinct if we couldn't function without having eaten in the last few hours!

One of those big low carb studies found that during the first week or two of a ketogenic diet (which affects the brain much like fasting) there was a slight deterioration in performance, but this reversed over time. Nevertheless, nutritionists who have always hated and feared low carb diets because of their indoctrination into the low fat religion took that preliminary finding and told the media and patients that fasting or low carbing would cause their brain to fail.

The brain does adapt, quite easily. From what I've read, many of the headaches are more likely to be from caffeine withdrawal than anything food related. If you have been drinking 4 cups of milky coffee a day and give it up, you are likely to get a headache because you are, basically, addicted to the caffeine. Over time you will adjust to that, too.