The FastDay Forum

Each fast day, my 500 cals are precious and accounted for (yummy carbs). I don't have any protein at all on a fast day. Am I at risk of that 'muscle wastage' lark?

I don't work out on fast days (I lift weight on non-fast days and make sure I eat protein on those days).

Hope I don't receive the answer I desperately don't want to hear

As a fairly new 5:2er Pip i can only think its allowed to have whatever you want for yr 500 or less cals on a fast and repair day but from what ive read,its better to have protein and some veg. :0(

I know, i love my carbs too! And tend to be carb heavy on all 7 days..but as i havent been doing this very long and have still got a lot to lose having now lost 15 lb in about 10 weeks,I am going to start weaning myself off carbs soon...
No doubt someone will be along soon and able to give you some more scientific answer but my gut instinct,no pun intended,is it wont be the answer we both would love to hear..Carbs ARE yummy! X

Go ahead and eat all the carbs you can get your teeth into for 500 cals on your fast day - it's ok to do this.

There that's the answer you want But there's always another point of view.

Protein helps you to feel fuller for longer so fast days with protein and veggies for one meal at least should help keep you going until your next carb fix. But your body works all the time not just when you're lifting weights so would have thought a steady stream of protein would be better than an on/off switch, so to speak.

Ps
Pip,in addition to my previous reply and to what Annie said,i just saw this ..Carorees wrote in reply to another topic..

If you ever track your calories on my fitness pal or calorie count or any of the many other apps and trackers, you should get a figure for carb intake. For most people (though of course everyone varies) it is much harder to lose weight if your carb intake is over around 150-200g per day. The way fasting works (apart from reducing calories) is to allow insulin levels to fall (insulin is the hormone that is released in response to eating carbs). Insulin packs all excess carbs away as fat and prevents fat from being released from your fat stores for use as fuel. If you want to boost the effect of fasting, restricting carbs is a good way to do it and prevents the need to cut calories on your feast days.

Try to keep carbs below 150g per day and see if that gets results!

But does muscle-wastage occur within the first 24 hours of a fast as some sources suggest? Even Mosley gives a whooley answer. He says:

"If your protein intake is adequate, and we actually recommend an increased protein intake on fasting days, then you are not going to get 'muscle protein breakdown'"

Okay, sounds bad, but then he goes on to say:

"In fact the evidence from human studies clearly point towards intermittent fasting being better than standard diets when it comes to muscle preservation".

http://thefastdiet.co.uk/does-intermitt ... eficiency/

Hi Pip. I think I read on other threads that <30g of protein on fast days is perfectly ok and on feed days 0.8g/kg of weight, especially if you are trying to keep IGF-1 levels down. So I would say plenty of room for your carbs. Sometimes I have steak and a plate of greens but today I'm on green juice which is only 15g of protein according to MFP.

I don't think it would matter since you are getting protein on your non-fast days. I tend to see my general nutrition as a whole not on a single day. What I mean is that if you are getting all the nutrients you need during a week (considering a week as a "cycle"), then you should be fine.

The reason it concerns me is that I recall MM saying that your body cannot store protein longer than 24 hours?

I prefer to use my 500 cals for yummy protein and veggies or salad, no idea about the science side of it, but it fills me up more than carbs do.

The general idea behind any diet is that you stop adding energy into the body so that the body has to turn to the fat stores to provide energy for the body to use. By adding carbs you are stopping or at least slowing down the process whereby the body needs to switch to fat burning. take away the carbs and there is no ready source of energy, so the body switches to fat burning.

I have very little carbs on a fast day, preferring protein and low carb veg.I am also cutting down on carbs where and when I can (a bit of a sugar frenzy lately that I am trying to get back under control).

The general idea behind any diet is that you stop adding energy into the body so that the body has to turn to the fat stores to provide energy for the body to use. By adding carbs you are stopping or at least slowing down the process whereby the body needs to switch to fat burning. take away the carbs and there is no ready source of energy, so the body switches to fat burning.

I have very little carbs on a fast day, preferring protein and low carb veg.I am also cutting down on carbs where and when I can (a bit of a sugar frenzy lately that I am trying to get back under control).

500 calories are 500 calories, right?

Pip, they are, but for me I get more out of my 500 cals if I ditch carbs on a fast day. (by way of background I was doing low carb, no weekday alcohol, prior to starting 5:2. This WOE has allowed me to ease up on that, and still lose weight).
In the end they are your 500 cals so entirely your choice how you use them.

If you eat a clean, low carb diet, the theory is that you burn fat and lean down. I used to eat a high carb diet and I think switching has made a difference. But it's up to you what you eat, everyone is different.

If you eat a clean, low carb diet, the theory is that you burn fat and lean down. I used to eat a high carb diet and I think switching has made a difference. But it's up to you what you eat, everyone is different.

I'm addicted to carbs. I think I have a carb problem

Is there a Carbaholics Anonymous around here?

Yep, your brain basically has a hissy fit when it doesn't get a carb hit.

Think of crisps, you get a sugar, salt, MSG, starch & flavourings hit, no wonder they're addictive.

Read around about how these foods affect your hormones too and it'll all start to make sense. I've changed what I think about food a lot over the last year. I'm not perfect, I eat cake, chips, battered fish and chocolate and have done so the whole time I've been losing weight. However, getting the understanding of it and why my brain was not working with me has helped.

Robb Wolf, Whole 30, Mark's Daily Apple and the other paleo-type resources are helpful. I'm not planning to go fully paleo but in many ways, a cleaner diet is suiting me.

I'm going to ignore the egg custard tarts I ate yesterday here but they did set off my rosacea!!