The FastDay Forum

Hey everyone,

I have been on the 5:2 lifestyle for over 3 years! I loose weight I can eat what i want but still feel great.
Lately I am struggling to get my 2 fast days in without over eating, I'm not sure whether its stress or just the cold gloomy weather Melbourne has been having.

Is anyone else finding this a struggle?

I have been overseas and fasted without a care but this winters I really am worried why I just cant seem to get my head into it 100%

Hope to hear from some people soon

[Tracieknits]

I haven't really been able to get into in 2015. I know some of it is medical, but some of it is -- well, I don't know. Maybe diet fatigue? I've had an awful lot of stuff going on with my thyroid, but my thyroid seems to have leveled out. Now that I'm hypothyroid and supplement with hormone, the trouble for me is that about an hour after I take my medicine, I am ravenously, deeply hungry. I have to take my meds first thing in the morning, to mimic normal human production of thyroid hormone, and it's not smart to change that to accommodate fast days.

I know it works. I've lost 50 pounds in two years, which is fantastic. I don't know why I'm just being a stubborn fool.

@livelovelife I am in a similar position at the moment and have decided to take a planned break from 5:2 to avoid a sense of failure and a slow drifting away from a very good WOL.

I am convinced that our bodies and psyche need change. I started 5:2 straight after the Horizon programme in 2012 and lost most of my weight by Christmas. In January 2013 I stopped because I felt I was too cold to fast through the winter and started again in June 2013 by which time I had put on about 7lb in weight again (1lb gain per month). By Christmas in 2013 I was at goal weight again and stopped again through the coldest winter months. When I started again last June (2014) I promised myself that I would never stop fasting do 5:2 for the rest of my life because I was tired of having to lose weight all the time. However I have been doing 5:2 for 12 months of which I have been maintaining for 7 months.

I the past months, I noticed that I started eating far more after or before a fast day, probably cancelling out my fasts. Something happened psychologically that I felt the need to eat even before a fast day, so I have formally given myself a 6-8 week break from 5:2 . I am hoping that this conscious break during the easier months of the year (summer here) will re-set my system, both mind and body, For me it is important to put a time limit to this break to make me not stray too far away.

I am lucky as over the past years I have come to skip most breakfasts (apart from after a Friday fast when my mind and body think I should have a fried breakfast on Saturday morning . Eating breakfast at midday or later is no big deal for me so I feel I have the tools to make these 6-8 weeks work for me. I have not fasted these last two weeks (although I had some attempts) and so far I have not been ravenous and managed to maintain my weight.

Experimenting is a key factor when it comes to our well being and diet and if we struggle, we should be kind to ourselves and allow ourselves freedom from self inflicted pressures at least for certain periods of times. 5:2 is a wonderful tool but I think like all tools we need to know when and how how to use them. We just need to work out what works for us.