The FastDay Forum

I only started this WOE on Tuesday, but I am finding it a struggle already to stick to my TDEE of 1907 calories on non-fast days. I had planned to follow Slimming World on my non-fast days to make sure I was filling up on healthy foods, which I am doing but I'm tracking calories too. I did have one small treat yesterday (a Galaxy Ripple at 174 cals) but I still felt I was using up my calories very quickly! I'm obviously much more of a pig than I thought.

This is what I ate yesterday and it came in at 1992 calories according to MFP, including everything like stock cubes, herbs and spices used in the recipes:

Breakfast: 30g porridge, 200ml skimmed milk, medium sliced banana (270 cals)
Lunch: Homemade three-bean chilli, portion of rice (514 cals)
Tea: Homemade pasta bake with roasted veg (599 cals)
Snacks: 3 x coffees with skimmed milk, 3 x apples, Galaxy Ripple (609 cals)

It didn't seem like that much at the time and if I hadn't been calorie-counting as well as following the Slimming World rules I probably would have had more fruit (I don't eat meat apart from fish so tend to pad out meals with a lot of fruit and veg).

Does anyone else struggle with TDEE on non-fast days? Has it affected your weight loss at all?

You will still lose weight! I think you did ok.

Thank you Kookaburra! It's the weekend I'm really worried about, as the wine is bound to come out. I'll keep tracking calories though, and try not to go too far over TDEE.

I've also decided not to weigh myself. If I don't lose much I'm worried I'll be disheartened and give up. I'm going to track waist measurement instead - I'd rather lose inches than weight!

[Moogie]

Galaxy Ripple is around 175 calories isn't it? Can't imagine you've used much more than 100ml of skimmed milk in your 3 coffees, so that's about 35 calories. 3 apples? Around 50 calories for an average (100g) apple, so that's 150 cals of apple, 35 cals of milk and 175 cals of chocolate so more like 360 cals of snacks, not 609! So you'd be under TDEE for that day by my reckoning

I'd say your lunch sounds quite big for a lunch, but then your dinner was what I'd consider a small dinner so the two balance out fine calorie wise. Maybe a bit too carb heavy overall if you're having a portion of rice and a portion of pasta in the same day? Just a thought. You should still lose weight though based on the calories, and I'm not an advocate of cutting out entire food groups!

Well I totted it all up on My Fitness Pal, which reckoned 130 per apple (they were big ol' Red Delicious!) and 15 cals per coffee with skimmed. So I fear the estimate is accurate. Need to get myself some less sugary apples!

I tend to split calories quite evenly between lunch and tea as my long commute means I don't eat till late so it stops me snacking too much in the afternoon. Usually have breakfast around 6.30am just before I leave for work, lunch at midday and tea at around 8pm. Yes, quite carb-heavy too - complex carbs do tend to take the place of meat in my diet, with mountains of veg to pad it out. That's why I've always been attracted to diets like Slimming World which allow you as much as you like! I do like Quorn too but OH won't eat meat substitutes (plus quite pricy) so it's only an occasional treat.

He won't eat eggs either. Blummin' picky eaters!

[Moogie]

It may seem really anal, but try weighing your apples next time to get an idea of the most accurate calorie count They must have been pretty blinkin' big apples to be 130 cals each! Would you enjoy munching on celery instead, perhaps with a dip of some kind?

Defo would suggest working on swapping a couple of those apples out for something else. Air popped popcorn? A punnet of berries? A yogurt? (helps fill you up, aids digestion and it is believed to curb appetite in some way apparently)

Not a celery fan but I love carrot sticks. I'm planning on whipping up some low-cal houmous for next week to have with carrot crudites. They're lovely to have on a platter with a few olives and strips of pitta as a light lunch.

I'll be back on the Granny Smiths next week - the RD are really far too big and tasty to have around! I go for apples because they're cheaper than things like berries, which can be £3 for a little punnet. Clementines and pears are pretty good value too though.

Popcorn's a good idea, thanks for the suggestion. Can it be popped in the microwave?

@Tinsel81

I had a similar problem on the 1st day after the fast, I now do the below and have lost 10kg in 12 weeks!

2 fast days a week (I personally liquid fast for 36 hours, ie two sleeps)
2 "post fast days" the day after each fast day when I eat lots typically 300 calories over my TDEE
3 Normal days when I eat about 300 under my TDEE

I call it the 3:2:2 variant!

It allows me to satisfy any cravings I want and be really naughty on the days after fast day, and then to compensate equally the day after. It means I still average my TDEE for non fast days over the week and I dont feel guilty when I have a pig out after my fast day!

Thanks for the advice superfluity. Not sure I could manage a liquid fast and still get through work though. Do you just have water or is it any liquid? If soup is allowed I could probably manage! I have been doing fast days for around 34 hours: e.g. had my evening meal at around 8.30pm last night and will now only have 500 cals until breakfast at 6.30am tomorrow. Ideally I'd have tea earlier to do a full 36 hours but I don't get home till 7.30pm, sometimes later.

I was curious about the apples and I only get just over 100 cals for a large apple. I don't like MFP myself and use Calorie King.

[Moogie]

Not a celery fan but I love carrot sticks. I'm planning on whipping up some low-cal houmous for next week to have with carrot crudites. They're lovely to have on a platter with a few olives and strips of pitta as a light lunch.

I'll be back on the Granny Smiths next week - the RD are really far too big and tasty to have around! I go for apples because they're cheaper than things like berries, which can be £3 for a little punnet. Clementines and pears are pretty good value too though.

Popcorn's a good idea, thanks for the suggestion. Can it be popped in the microwave?

If you've got a brown paper bag, apparently it can
http://www.getnatured.com/2013/01/micro ... pcorn.html

I've only ever done it with oil in a pyrex dish in the microwave, but I wonder if it would work in a dish without oil?

Maybe I'll invest in an air popper!

My advice would be to try and wean yourself off the snacks altogether or just plan for one to look forward to at the end of the day. Having one mid morning or mid afternoon and then saying 'I'll skip the evening snack', generally doesn't work .

I think it's the snacking that does the damage and the root cause of being overweight for many. As a previous SW member, I think SW is good at steering us towards the right foods, but in my opinion is not good at portion control or helping us to just stop eating!!

We were not designed to graze all day, we can cope with periods of non eating - this is the most fundamental thing I have learnt since I started 5:2 in January. I still eat too much now and again (mostly at weekends) but have learnt that previously I mostly ate out of habit/ boredom rather than real hunger.

For my first six weeks I used to have coffee in the morning and water through the day until 7pm when I would have a massive steak and salad or fish and salad (within 500 cals)

For my second six weeks I moved to two lattes (very milky coffees) first thing in the morning, then in the afternoon I have a couple of mugs of Miso soup made with 20 Calorie Miso soup paste sachet. Otherwise, just tap water - lots of it until breakfast the next morning.

For me any kind of solid food triggers my appetite. If I get a hunger pang I drink a pint of water. It soon goes after 20 mins.