The FastDay Forum

Just been reading the Protein bar thread and someone said that they combatted the afternoon hungry hours by eating lunch and then they don't feel hungry for the rest of the day. This is a interesting idea so I thought I would start a thread to explore it more. I do find myself really hungry from about 2pm onwards and it is really hard to hang out until dinner time. I do find myself sneaking little bits of this and that. And it is difficult to concentrate on anything other than waiting for dinner. Who eats lunch? How do you find the rest of the day? And when I say 'lunch' I mean a decent 500 calorie type meal, not just an egg or miso soup. The other option would be to try eating an early dinner - say 5pm. OH wouldn't like it, but I could make something that would keep and we could eat separately on fast days. Interested in other's experience of this question.

Lunch for me!

Dinner at around 6pm. I struggle more on a Thursday than Monday but prefer a larger evening meal so Im not so hungry when I go to bed.

@rawkaren: can you expand on that?

Hi @sallyo. I have got myself into a modified Fast-5 routine. It's modified because I drink bulletproof coffee in the morning before I break my fast and my food is low carb. I have a couple of cups of BP coffee and then eat a very large lunch between 1 and 2pm which opens my 5 hour fasting window. I normally close it with a couple of squares of 90% dark chocolate. Every 4 days I mix it up and have a carb re-feed at night.

I realise this does not work for everyone especially those who have social commitments in the evening. When that happens to me, I just switch it around, drink BP all day (BP decaf in the pm) and eat at night.

Oh and this is a daily routine as I have stopped dropping to less than 500 cals twice a week. The window method seems to suit me right now.

Thanks. So you can eat for a 5 hour window? Is that how you do it? Is it working? Do you feel as if you are 'on a diet'?

Late lunch for me, as a fast day is usually both a work and exercise day, so it just feels right with that going on. I lunch around 2pm and save enough calories for boiled egg, or coffee with milk as a snack if I want it. I sometimes get a little hungry at night but who doesn't with fasting.

[carieoates]

I'd like to add my experiences here.
I do usually need something to eat during a fast day, I now don't feel as if I'm cheating, failing by doing this. As long as I don't go over my calorie allowance its fine.
Some examples of what I have; some salad leaves and prawns, slice of bread and butter, a boiled egg, sometimes raspberries. A mug of homemade low carb soup or cuppa soup.
I can get very brain fogged and restless about 3pm so if I'm working out that eve I will have my meal around 5pm Which pleases my daughter who's always hungry it seems.
But I very rarely eat before midday now EVER.

I'm presently having lunch instead of dinner. Mainly because I found a salad that completely satisfies me for the rest of the day. Half an advocado, crayfish, lettuce and french dressing. It is a nice change for the moment.

I've almost always had dinner only on a fast day because I was always hungry as I was preparing their dinner and it meant I could eat with the children as I didn't like the idea of dieting around them. However that went out of the window during school holidays! Nowadays I tend to mix it up depending on how hungry I am at lunch time, if I don't feel like I can last til dinner, instead of suffering all afternoon I'll have a light lunch of homemade soup or salad or something and I won't have any dinner. I still only have one meal on a fast day (sometimes a little snack accidentally falls in my mouth such as a few nuts or a child's leftover potato LOL)
Today I'll be having a lunch as I have a homemade leek and potato soup for us all as the kids are on half term, they'll have bread with theirs though!

As a daily window proponent I never eat breakfast. About half the week I eat only one meal and that is usually about 3 p.m. or later with absolutely no calorie counting but fresh whole foods. When I feel up for it on Mondays I do a liquid only day and this makes me feel wonderful, energised and light. If I eat twice in a day then lunch is any time from 12 noon onwards and my window then becomes variable, 3 hours, 5 hours and sometimes the full 8 hours but never longer. I just mix and match as the mood and social commitments take me, it is all very relaxed and doable, at least for me. I rarely eat bread, potatoes, rice or pasta but that is not the same as NEVER, if I fancy it, I have it, just nowhere near as often as I used to. I think we all need to find our own 'Holy Graille' but once you have then you will never look back.

Ballerina x

[janeg]

I'm still on one meal on a fast day and try to hold out until 7 ish.
I think I've been doing this for so long now that 'hunger' doesn't really register!
Ha ha ha - autocorrect changed 7 ish to fish! The wet fish is rearing it's head again!

I eat dinner as soon as I can on a fast day usually between 5 and 6. I also sometimes need something during the day - a banana with peanut butter or a yogurt. But I still try to stay within the 500 calories.

I have been eating nothing but herb tea until 4:30. Then I have a cup of Hershey's cocoa made with almond milk and artificial sweetener. I use a mix of erythritol and DaVinci german chocolate cake flavored sugar free syrup. That takes care of the hunger that develops towards the end of the day.

I start preparing soup for my dinner at 5:30 and eat around 6-6:30.

I'm 8 months in now and fasting has gotten so easy it is almost spooky. At the same time, I'm finding I get filled up really fast when I eat, which didn't used to happen, and makes it harder to overeat.

@Sallyo I think it was me who made that comment. I think it depends on your schedule a lot, I eat Kate lunch.early dinner. Much better for hunger I have found. Now that I'm on maintenance I eat breakfast about 30 mins after I get up, protein bar about 5 hours after I get up and lunch about 9 or10 hours after I get up. Not hungry after that, but I usually eat about 300 cals in that meal. Then a cup of tea or 8 cal hot chocolate made with water and bit of milk from daily allowance, later.