The FastDay Forum

Hi all
I did the fast diet a few months back and felt great and then holidays and work got in the way and I fell off the wagon.....and gained all the weight back.

I decided to try again and have completed 2 weeks and this week is the third week. I usually fast on a Tuesday and a Thursday but today I just dont feel like it....at all. Feeling uber guilty as I started out ok this morning but I just don't feel like fasting today. I am planning to do a Wednesday and a Friday fast instead....but I feel like I've failed myself. I struggle with the self control and have started to overeat on normal days...I usually leave my weekend and gym days free but finding it hard to be able to cope without the rigid routine. Any tips on adapting your schedule / coping with weekends would be good.

[janeg]

Course it's ok:D
You know this works as you have done it before.
You have an alternative plan for the week where you will do you'e 2 fasts so where's the failure there?
The lovely thing about this WOE is the flexibility. Make it work for you not against you. You control it!
The 'third' thing of new behaviour is always the sticky bit. Third day, third week etc. Once you get over that bit it seems that the behaviour change begins to be more like the normal/expected behaviour. So hang in there.
Lots of hints and tips on the board about coping with weekends, exercising while fasting, overdoing it on feed days, so you're not experiencing anything unusual. It'll settle down and no doubt many tips and bits of advice will be offered.

I agree, there is no failure. This is why it works so well you can be flexible. There may be some weeks where you only manage one fast but don't worry. This is not a race to lose weight it is a new way of life and it takes time to settle into it. Weekends are a problem for many and one solution is to do 16/8. You allow yourself to eat for 8 hours of the day. Or else try nothing between meals, if you want it make it part of a meal. I sometimes have a slice a cake after lunch just because I want it and have ditched snacking. It is still early days and you will find different things work for you. Well done for keeping going.

No no you havent failed yrself!
Its fine to change your days
Sometimes it just ISNT the right day to fast,so just put it back til it is
There is another F word for the Fast Diet..Flexible!

I cope w sat / sundays by allowing myself more at weekends
I have a lot to lose so i need to keep a rough cal count..2 weekday fast days and 2 weekday feed days i hold back on cals,stay a bit under my TDEE,so weekends i can afford a few treats x

i'll second what everybody else has already said and say absolutely not you haven't failed yourself!!

you can pick where you left and start again and it'll be just fine!!
chin up now xx

Hmm.., I kind of disagree, in what way is how you "feel about it" even a factor in such a decision? To my mind, what you do now, you will do again. But.., it's not my territory and you're probably right all of you.

Yes I agree with Michael. Saying "I don't feel like it" is what got you to this place where you now need to lose weight. I think if you've decided to fast on a particular day, then barring exceptional circumstances - of which "I don't feel like it" is NOT one - then you fast on that day, full stop. No ifs, ands or buts. If you decide to fast and then change your mind for no special reason, it IS a failure.

Suggest you revisit your original motivations for this WOE. Support is great, and I'm surprised janeg has not deployed the wet fish but you need to get your mind back to the right place before you pick this up again properly. The longer you leave it the harder it gets. Hope something clicks inside for you.

[Moogie]

So many of us have learned from other diets that we can 'fail' in a single day. That's the beauty of 5:2, we can fit it around our lives and not feel like failures. If you're not feeling it today, do it another day You haven't failed yourself, you haven't failed the method. You've just been flexible, which ultimately means you're happy with what you're doing and are still in control of your eating habits. It's all good

[carorees]

I wonder if you should ask yourself why you don't feel like it. You haven't said so we can't tell if your circumstances are such that 'not feeling like it' is understandable or whether the 'not feeling like it' is due to some kind of deep-seated motivation to sabotage your weight-loss efforts.

Swapping one fast day for a different one is not a failure, as the others have said. If you can pick yourself up and fast successfully tomorrow and Friday, then it's no failure.

thanks guys ( Michael,Tara, Karen)for adding another POV
i guess many people prefer to stay totally in control.Different strokes for different folks! X
For me,life is short,why be rigid in any habits..flexibility seems more healthy as in the long run, i think you get better results overall,long as you dont completely lose control,which often happens when we embark on strict eating regimes which dictate what,when and how we eat.

Roo like many here including myself, is struggling to find her own way of getting this WOL to work for her..early days yet..prob when she is a long-timer, these problems will have ironed out..
For now, just planning to change her fast diets which as far as i know is allowed..(and surely the health benefits are the same no matter what days we choose to fast and repair?) and reaching out for advice how to cope with need to overeat etc which we all know is a very common and tricky problem,and not totally due to lack of willpower as physiological factors play a large part,

My method is to have two days fasting in any seven day period (not consecutively) so if I don't feel like fasting on a particular day or start to fast and then go way over the 500 calories I just do it the following day or the day after. I have made 5:2 work round me and as such don't feel as if I have any restrictions. It's great being able to eat from all food groups and enjoy a social life!

Thank you all SO much for all the replies...it means ALOT. I can't pinpoint the reason I dont feel like it apart from the hunger just beat me today. When I am in the right place mentally, I can do it, I drink water or distract myself or have a tea and usually after 30 minutes I am still hungry but I can cope. Today I just needed to feel 'full' ...the thought this entire day feeling 'empty' was too much.

I have a complicated relationship with food and use it as a comfort, so to begin with I do need to apply discipline and routine to keep me in check and I am the first to admit I suffer from low willpower. This is also the case with the gym and exercise..some days I am in the zone and other days it is torture..however I believe I might be a creature of ROUTINE. I 'use' flexibility as an excuse to bend the rules sometimes with this diet and so until I am in a better place I think I really do need to try and stick to the days and plan my time around them as well as what I will eat. Funnily enough...as I live in Spain one thing that has been a savior on fast days is the simplest of things...a ripe Spanish tomato, with a teaspoon of good olive oil and salt. Its simple but it doesnt feel like depravation.... I think I should really use this forum for support as living here, life is built upon rich food and eating out and I struggle to socialise. That is why 'missing' my set days is difficult too...I ensure I have nothing social on those days a week in advance and leave all my socialing to the non fast days.

Thanks all.... i like hearing the miz of comments I have received.... it has made me think about my approach:?:

[carorees]

Hi RooRoo

I know what you mean about feeling hungry all day. I have noticed that I feel constant stomach discomfort if I have been under-eating for a few days before the fast day. It may be something to do with the 'famine reaction' that some experts talk about. If, for example, you have been dieting for a long time and/or if you are near a healthy BMI, this kind of constant desire to eat/hunger is more likely. Perhaps you can tell us a bit more about your situation? Are you signed up to the progress tracker? If so, would you care to make your stats visible to forum members...then we can see a bit more about your situation. The other thing to say is that by fasting through a period of stress that might normally make you turn to food for comfort, it breaks that link (food = stress relief) and so helps to reset your relationship with food. So, I think you are right that you should set a routine and stick to it come what may. It could be your 'not feeling like it' today is due to a desire to be comforted by eating (perhaps it is a stressful time atm?). Don't worry about today now...it is a non-fast day now...concentrate on fasting successfully tomorrow. Make sure you eat well today so that you start your fast day well fed (remember my comment above that being underfed before fasting makes life hard). Tomorrow, keep remembering the mantra, "I can eat what I want tomorrow". Come on here tomorrow morning and make a commitment in the Fasting today thread that you're going to fast, and then come back and tell us you've been successful. The more times you can fast through temptation, the more your relationship with food will be reset.

Keeping my fingers crossed for you
x

[janeg]

aha, now that you've told us a wee bit more about yourself and your situation we can be a bit more focused in advising you!
I tend to try and be supportive and work around what is being said. Then mention the wet fish approach as rawkaren hinted at
So, as Caroline says, maybe enjoy your feed day today and do not postpone tomorrow's fast. Commit to doing your two fasts a week, get into a routine if that's what helps you.
And remember the idea of a slap about the head with a wet fish
Good luck, use the board for support and let us know how you get on