The FastDay Forum

My whole adult life has revolved around what I'm not allowed to eat and feeling guilty when I eat it. Now it's really bizarre that MFP is telling me I can have 1750 Kcals a day. After my planned dinner I am still going to have 500 left but because I have had a packet of Monster Munch and a Twix caramel slice (both of which I have included), I feel like I have ruined everything and been really naughty! I think these Feast Days are going to take some getting used to as I don't want to be counting every single kcal that goes into my mouth but I have been aware of them for so many years (how can we be so aware yet still end up so fat?! Lol!) it seems scary to stop.

I know! Those of us who have been on some form of diet most of our adult lives I think feel this way. I have been doing 5:2 for about 6 months and I think my favorite thing about it is the relief of knowing I can actually relax and quit thinking about calories 5 days a week. I can enjoy eating out and cooking again because food is not the enemy! Good luck

[Tracieknits]

It's crazy, huh?

First off, eating is a part of life. You are allowed to eat! You're even allowed to eat a sugary treat here and that as part of a nutritious diet, especially if you're counting/tracking your calorie count. If I eat all my veggies, I get my dessert! LOL Even on fast days I allow myself a small piece of dark chocolate for between 25 and 60 calories.

One key to eating on feed days: eat mindfully. choose mostly nutritious food, eat slowly and stop when satisfied, not stuffed. You are allowed to eat treats, just not all treats all day long! If you need to put limits on it, say 1 a day, x "junk" calories a day or "only after I've eaten my veggies"

Luckily I love veg so will always make sure I get my pudding afterwards!

@Babyfish Life's to short to go without certain foods so I don't I've not banned any foods or treats and I may have been lucky but I don't count on any days.
Obviously I'm aware of certain foods and there calorific value for my fastdays at the beginning so do tend to chicken breast or fish with massive salads or loads of veggies which I'm not a lover of but both do bulk up every fast day meals.
I put my trust in this WOL maybe you could try that for 1week to see just how you get on.

[Moogie]

You'll learn to trust in 5:2 before long and will realise that you can eat these things without feeling guilty.

It's a good thing actually to be calorie aware as if you were to keep going over TDEE you'd negate the effect of your fasts. Being roughly aware (rather than really strict counting) is helpful on your feed days, especially as your TDEE drops when you lose weight.

I love the idea of eating like this so yep, I definitely need to start trusting in it. I don't want to be on a 'diet' forever and this so seems the way to go.