The FastDay Forum

Hey there,

I just have some general questions about the diet and juicing on fasting days.

As a whole, we already eat pretty healthily. We're vegan and we try to make homemade when we can. Problem is with snacking, which is why we're going to try the 5:2 diet - as it gives us something to work towards

In the past, we've completed juice fasts (max was 4 days before we caved in!). We didn't find it comfortable, but it worked. We lost a fair bit of weight and felt great at the end of it. On our fasting days, would we be able to just juice fast? (raw, cold pressed fruit - homemade. 100% fruit with nothing else! - not shop bought rubbish!).

General question about the diet:

When should we take our fasting days? Should it literally be 5 days of eating normally followed by 2 fasting days, or should we split it up into 3 days of normal eating, followed by a fast day, then 2 more normal eating days followed by another fast day?


Thanks in advance

[janeg]

Hello Ano and welcome to the forum.
I can't really say much about juicing as it's not something that I've tried. I haven't tried it as I would rather have the whole fruit and all the fibre etc that it has, rather than drink it! Fruit on fast days is also something that I don't do as it is usually quite calorific and high in simple sugar. This makes me more hungry quicker.
Some folk on the forum are juicers and I'm sure they can give you much more info.
Regarding how to do the fasts- any two days out of five! Some people do the two together, most tend to split them up. I have my dinner the day before a fast, and that's it until dinner time the next night when I have my 500cals. Nothing else until breakfast the next day.
Others have three small meals, or two. Many drift towards the one meal a fast as eating earlier can flick the 'hunger switch' and set off the need to eat more.
Have a good browse, especially at the FAQ bubbles at the top of the page and I'm sure you'll get many more replies too.
Let us know how you get on and do put your stats into the tracker.

[carorees]

Hi Ano and welcome to the forum!

Liquid only fasts are followed by quite a few members on the forum, but I'd echo what janeg has said and advise you to avoid using high carb/GI fruits for your liquid fasting. Having carbohydrates and especially sugar during your fast will tend to make you hungry, it will cause a spike in insulin levels which will result in a rebound drop in blood sugar making you hungry. You really don't want to do anything to increase insulin levels while fasting because for as long as insulin levels are high you cannot access your fat stores for energy (or to lose weight). However, vegetable juices (but probably not sweet veggies like carrot, parsnip etc) will be fine as will soups.

Regarding whether you should split your fast days over the week or do two in a row, it really depends what you prefer. I found that the more normal eating days in a row that I had, the more my appetite increased so it was better for me to have just two or three days between each fast. I think most people do it that way, but some like to just get both fast days out of the way at the start of the week. Just see what suits you best.

This is the diet that you adjust to suit you, so read around the forum to get ideas and then just try different methods to see what you like.

Good luck!

Hi @Ano and Welcome for me on my fastdays I avoid fruit and carbs because of the sugar and my cravings have vastly improved with carb reduction on all days now.
However this is a fantastic WOL and is totally sustainable for me and many others because you make it "fit" you and your lifestyle unlike all the other fad diets that we fail at the 2 month stage, you pick the days + meals. I've done two days back2back when needed no problem, others find it hard and won't. I'm doing 4:3 because I've loads of weight to lose I eat evening meal only because as said above eating even a fruit snack wakes up the hunger monster and the day is doooommmmed!!!
Its far easier to do than you believe at your start and as you can see below this WOL/WOE Works.

Welcome Ano. I'm the juicing queen. I used to be a raw vegan, but no more. I have really cut back on juices for the reasons others give. However I do have a fast day juice which is pretty low in sugars. It's the only one that blunts my appetite.

4 celery sticks juiced
1 large cucumber juiced
Knob of ginger
1 lemon juiced
2 small apples juiced
Couple of large handfuls of kale or spinach blended in, not juiced.

It's the chlorophyll that blunts the appetite, so use it all hence blending.

Good luck

I started juice fasting only a couple of weeks ago so I'm relatively new to this. I agree with everyone's comments about avoiding too many sugars, plus if you have too many fruits then the calories start adding up

I tend to mix it up with something sweeter in the monring and making it more green as the day goes by

For breakfast : one apple, a couple of carrot/beet root, a bit of ginger to taste and half a lemon lemon

For lunch and dinner a couple of handfuls of kale/spinach, 2-3 stalks of celery, half a cucumber, half a lemon, a bit of ginger and may be half an apple or carrots to add flavor.

You can add chai seeds or flaxseed meal if you wish to increase bulk though it may defeat the purpose of juicing, not too sure about that one

I have to be honest, I have more or less given up on juicing. This way of eating has changed my attitude to food. It's more sustainable for me to eat solid food and eat sensibly