The FastDay Forum

Thanks @rawkaren - I've often wondered what "half and half" is!

[Tracieknits]

There's actually a legal definition: Half and Half is 10.5% to 18% fat. Light cream is 18% to 30% fat. Heavy cream is 30% to 36% fat. Whole milk is 3.25% fat. Yay Wikipedia

and wikipedia tells me UK "half cream" is 12%, and single cream is 18%

No, we don't have that. We can get full cream milk, and a plethora of lo fat products. And then cream: thickened or non thickened which is pure cream.

As for what we do on Fast days, I have to admit that today I have just had a thin slice of bread, butter and Vegemite. I don't normally do that but today is too tough.

Nothing new from me! Keeping busy is the key for me, preferably outdoors. And weak black coffee alternating with weak black tea (my usual drinks) plus maybe some herbal tea if I want a change. Commercial packet miso soup if desperate late afternoon. A carrot as I prepare dinner.

I have tried not to eat until late afternoon, but haven't managed to only drink water/tea/coffee because I'm too hungry. I usually have soup around lunch time. I try to have a light dinner around 5 p.m and that helps to keep the bunger away in the evening, but I'm often very hungry at bedtime which disturbs my sleep. I can't sleep on an empty stomach either.

Thanks everyone, I'm sure this will be helpful to many people, especially newbies.

I fast until dinner for the reasons you all say. My hunger definitely gets turned on when I eat. It's a lot easier to not eat when I haven't eaten yet in the day. My other big issue is that I can't sleep on an empty stomach. I need to have had a meal in the last four hours or so, or I find I can't sleep.

We are never in bed before midnight, so it is a long time between our evening meal and then! I always save a few calories for a low-fat hot chocolate in the evenings of a fast day and sometimes a piece of fruit as well. I don't always need them but it's good to know that I can have them if I want to.
@SusieKa, if you ignore the hunger pangs and drink a glass of water, tea etc, you may well find that they go away, as they seems to come in 'waves'. I used to tell myself that it was a sign that my body was having to use fat instead of food! It worked for me!

I think that I'm very lucky in that it is just not a struggle to wait until early evening in order to eat. I drink weak black tea, green tea or occasionally coffee with a little almond or coconut milk during the day. As long as I do this things are easy, but I now find that if I have any food at all before the evening, things fall apart a little. So, if for whatever reason I choose to eat something at lunch time, I have all my food then and go without food in the evening. That is harder for me.

I agree that it is easier when I am busy, whether at home or at work, but I can handle a day without food even when simply listening to the radio, which is what I often did when convalescing. Observing my somatic experiences has taught me that hunger pangs frequently diminsh and even disappear if I don't hang onto them. I name the experience to myself and let it go., rather than frantically trying to suppress what I feel. My meal time soon comes round and I just eat my meal without snacks or soothing drinks.