The FastDay Forum

Hi all,
Would welcome some support.
The fasting days are going really well. But I am (over) compensating on feast days.

I know what I need to do from all the posts I've read ie. count calories on feast days, but every morning I wake up with the intention of doing that, and every day it falls by the wayside and I end up pigging out. I know that the book says things should settle down after a few weeks, but I'm due to weigh myself on Tuesday and I'm pretty sure I would have put on weight this week - I feel horrible, especially around my belly, from overeating.

Anyone had the same reaction. Feeling really disheartened and down on myself. Calorie counting has never worked for me, which is why I thought maybe the 5:2 would, so calorie counting on feast days feels like it's destined for failure. Maybe I should give up sugar, which is definitely my weakness? Or accept that 5:2 isn't for me.

Definitely don't give up. And don't be too hard on yourself for overeating on non fast days. Others will give you great advice about how to control calories on non fast days and tdees and so on, but I never did any of that. At first I over-ate on non fast days too, but gradually I naturally adjusted and now I eat much less overall without calorie counting or stressing about it. It took me a good 2 months to notice a change in not craving chocolate and sweet things. So stick at it, try a bit of calorie counting to see if that helps, but give it time and your body will adapt! Best wishes!

I'm not an expert but I feel that 5:2 is for everybody because we can work with it and around it in order to find what suits us best.

Now, there is a way to do it and not count calories. What is your TDEE?

Also, if you feel that you do well on fast days and it's the feast days that you can't control, why don't you try to do 4:3?

thank you both for your feedback - it's encouraging to know that firstly, other people have experienced similar things and secondly, if things don't get better, I can try a new approach.

Not sure whether to stick it out a couple more weeks at 5:2 or aim for 4:3 immediately... but thank you both for your support x

TML13 - Forgot to say, my TDEE is 1933 cals

OK, here's how I see it:
Any breakfast is around 200 calories.
-2 small eggs and some mushrooms
-2 slices of wholemeal toast and sugar-free jam
-1 low fat muffin
-3 digestives

Any carefully cooked plate of food (no fried things, not too much fat or grains) for lunch is usually under 700 calories. Either it's pasta with vegetables, protein with vegetables, pulses or just vegetables with a drizzle of olive oil it's not easy to exceed 700 cals.

Half of what you had for lunch, or some fruit with yoghurt, or a sandwich, or a salad will be around 350 calories.

A piece of fruit for snack is under 100.

So, so far we have 200+700+350+100=1350 calories. You've got 583 calories left to have a pudding and you will still have calories left for a glass of wine, assuming that you won;t overdo it with the pud...

Thank you TML13 - will give sensible eating on feast days a go.

I struggle with cravings once I've started - definitely and all or nothing person, can't have just one biscuit have to have the whole packet etc... I'm hoping this will pass.

In that case, don't have biscuits around.

Although... hang on a sec... I see that your BMI is 22.19. How can you have such low BMI and such high TDEE? Do you work out a lot?
I mean, my BMI is 24.22 and my TDEE is 1270...

That's what the result was when I entered my stats. Could be my height - 5ft10? I do and entered moderate exercise (3 days gym a week)... or have I got that wrong

There are many TDEE calculators around and I am sure that they are there to drive us insane!

After calculating my TDEE in ELEVEN of them and got results from 1269 to 1793, I decided to keep the lowest one as my guide but not to freak out if I go 100 or so calories above it.

Anyway, my lowest one (and more realistic to be honest), was from here http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

Comes out at 1980 or 1728 with no exercise, so maybe I'll stick to the no exercise figure

Since you are looking to lose weight, better to stick to the lowest figure. Which is still a lot. I eat around 1250-1350 and I'm not hungry. Real hungry, that is. Otherwise I'm always hungry for junk food and chocolate...

Just wondering -- did you track your calories on the days you're sure you've overeaten? If so, by how much?

Some people are surprised at the number once they've tracked it, finding they didn't overeat as much as they thought they had. (Guilt is a funny thing...)

Bruce, it happened to me yesterday. I thought I ate so much last night and yet today I found that I was at 1410 calories for the whole day...

[carorees]

Guilt need to be avoided! I think that with a bit of time the over eating goes away. The appetite seems to be smaller and the cravings go. I heard Dr M say on a radio show that if you break your fast on a fast day with vegetables and healthy foods, gradually your cravings for junk food will be replaced with cravings for vegetables and healthy foods. I think it's starting to happen to me. I like cakes etc still but I don't feel a particularly great desire for them. However, I think that if you constantly feel guilty about eating biscuits etc on feast days you will continue to crave them. I do think that cutting carbs on fast days also helps with cravings.

So my advice is to keep on with 5:2 or 4:3 but not worry too much about feast days...but do try only to eat when you're actually hungry...do ask yourself "am I hungry?" before you have that biscuit and if the answer is yes, eat it and don't feel guilty.