The FastDay Forum

How strange! Having been a guest on this forum for weeks, I logged in to write my very first post and it seems you've done it for me! I'm having exactly the same problem, so thanks for posting Similar BMI, exercise levels, height, length of time on 5:2, (which, by the way is the longest I've lasted on any diet) and experiences of fasting well but then binging on feast days. I hope the wreckless cupboard raiding will subside for both of us. Will try to consume fewer carbs on fast days and see if that helps. Good luck, let us know if you have any eureka moments. And hi and thank you to everyone here, your posts have been very inspiring. All the best xxx

This is such a great forum. I'm gonna mention you on my Facebook page right away! I love hearing all theses stories. If only I had the will power to do it myself

I find I binge on feast days too. I do calorie count, and I have an armband that counts the calories I expend in a day, and I often exceed my burn by 200-300 calories. The way I think of it is that I am at least not gaining too much... I mean, that is how I was heavier than I wanted to be to start with. So my thought is that on feast days I will calorie count, at least until I stop craving bad for you things, and perhaps I will restrict myself to goodies (my weaknesses are crisps and icecream) 2 days a week. Or alternatively work out what I will eat for the day, and carefully measure a small portion of the naughty things. The former is probably better, as I find that once I start eating crisps, especially, I can't stop and a 200g bag is gone in a blink!

Amazing responses, thank you.

Haven't a clue how many calories I've consumed on feast days but know it's a lot because despite the dreaded guilt, I just keep reaching. Daughter's birthday cake didn't help!

I started my Monday fast at 8pm tonight and it's actually a relief to know I'm not going to be eating tomorrow. I find it easier to eat nothing at all than I do to eat moderately. I'm going to try breaking the fast with healthy food as suggested (thank you), rather than with whatever's at hand this time to see if that helps.

I've got a lot of life stuff going on, looking for work, single mum etc. so I know that doesn't help, but I can't use that as an excuse, because by overeating it just makes everything feel even worse than it already is.

And hi rubysoho, great to meet you - will definitely post as the weeks go on and let you know whether things get better. Would be great to hear from you too x

Hi Giddy and Ruby

I find it easier to eat nothing at all than I do to eat moderately.

Most of us on this forum also experience this.

Here's my theory as to why this should be so, along with some techniques to help you get by:

http://www.52fastdiet.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1499

Cheers, B&W

Giddy,

First, get the bad foods out of your house. Don't have them around you and you won't be tempted by them. Go out and buy carrots, celery, almond butter, lettuce and surround yourself with healthy choices.

I was having a lot of trouble with binging for a few weeks, and I wasn't losing any weight. I packed up all the chocolate and junk and got it out of my home. I'm not binging anymore and the weight loss has kicked back in.

Stick with the diet. Change is slow. It takes a long time to turn the elephant around and get headed in the right direction.

Hi Giddy, this has been an issue for me as well. I've been stuck in this horrid cycle of constantly undoing all of my efforts and it's beyond frustrating! However, it is slooooowly improving. Getting rid of everything I'm likely to binge on has helped and also planning meals for non-fast days. I plan for the week ahead and shop for what I need for those meals. I've been doing most of my shopping online as well so that I don't get drawn in by bakery smells, shiny packets and those blimming BOGOF deals on rubbish!! I think as we continue with this WOE we'll inevitably get to a stage where we'll just naturally settle into it. I 5:2'd all last year and I did eventually settle into it, I just wish I hadn't have taken a break because I've had to start again.

Good luck

i really think that if you doing to do all of that re qorking out your Teed (?) rid the house of stuff you like to eat etc then you may as well just go on weight watchers or some other daily diet! From what I remember in the book/programme was that the did a head to head comparison of people on IF who ate a calorie controlled "healthy" lifestyle the rest of the week versu people who ate what they wanted - included fatty, junk food - guess what happened? The people eating what they want faired better - even in weight loss!! I have been finding I have been very hungry this week after my fast days - but as soon as I eat anything substantial I feel bloated and haven't eaten anything more for the rest of the day/no snacks - so as someone else has mentioned - I think guilt is a funny thing and maybe you haven't overdone it! Can I also say that a BMI of 22 is perfectly normal/healthy - and sounds like you do a lot of exercise too - so if you eat the full pack of biscuits - run an extra few miles!

I have the same issue, eating more on feast days. For the first three weeks I was doing fine and loosing weight. Now I am getting into chocolate, too much cheese, craving sweets. The only good thing about my eating is continuing to fast on Thursday (today) and Monday.
I feel a little "dark" these days. So my eating and mood are connected. I know what I need to do, but the chocolate calls calls and it won't shut up.
My friend says a lot of people are feeling "dark" as we have had such a long winter and so little sunshine. The snow has stopped, but now it rains.
Maybe just acknowledging the issue will help.
I'll ponder the rest of these messages too.

Quite a few of the struggling posts have the same theme - sugar. Your palate gets programmed to crave sugar as an easy energy source over years of eating much more sugar than we are designed to. We should only really stumble across it as fruit or honey in evolutionary terms. The good news is that the palate can be apparently be reset fairly easily. In my case, 5:2 has definitely helped with this, as it brought about the realisation of how pointless (at best) and damaging (at worst) the empty calories of sugar can be. I cut right down and over around 8 weeks my cravings disappeared. I might have a square or two of really dark chocolate once a week or maybe a pudding if I go out for dinner, but that's about it. The stronger you are initially, the easier it gets, to the point that I find milk chocolate or cakes far too sickly to eat now and am regul;arly turning down biscuits etc as they are not appealing at all.

So in the end I took two bits of advice from the responses to this post: I'm now doing 4:3 and I'm tracking calories on feast days and am averaging about 1400 cals per day across the week. Having put on a lb last week, I have now lost 2 this week - phew!

I have a healthy BMI so in fact the main reason for being here is because I carry a lot of my extra weight around my waist and I yoyo in weight (20 pounds up and down pretty much every year) which I don't think can be healthy and is also really stressful. The 5:2 fast diet promises to help with these two things specifically, so hopefully I'm in the right place and this can be a lifetime programme rather than my usual crash diets.

I don't want to cut out any specific foods as I have tried that before and then always ended up falling off the wagon. I once gave up sugar for 18months. The cravings did stop and my weight levelled out, however, all it took was one taste of something sweet and I was off again, and the 20 pounds were back on again! What I hope to learn is some balance on feed days whilst being able to enjoy all foods.

Thank you all for your support and for sharing your similar experiences - that, in particular, really helps x