The FastDay Forum

Hi,
I know that its suggested that we can "eat what we want" on feed days but surely calorie awareness is still important?

I wouldn't expect to be eating Maccie Ds and KFCs on a regular basis and get away with it

I am very new to this regime and very interested in the science behind it (I'm a bit nerdy!) so I have found myself calorie counting on eat days too.

I am only 5ft (150cm) tall so my 'normal' calorie intake is only 1700 per day. This means that my fast day allowance is 425 cals. The changes I have made to eat days are:
- more veg less carbs
- baked crisps not fried
- if I want chocolate or cake I eat it!
- less bread

To me there doesn't seem to be a defined right way or wrong way, I guess the flexibility is one of the things that makes this work. I just don't want to do something wrong at this early stage and not gain the benefits!

First weigh in tomorrow will provide some facts!

Hi - I am only 5ft 2 and before starting 5:2 in September weighed 8st 13. I have calorie restricted for about 5 years using MyFitnessPal. I have 1200 calories a day but more if I'm exercising which was/is most days. Cardio and weights. I'm a right gym bunny but was getting frustrated that I couldn't lose the last 10lb or so.
My friend told me about 5:2 and I just have it a go without reading anything. I lost that 10lb in the first month and have kept it off. It's been great and relatively easy. I still count my calories EVERY day but don't feel guilty if I go over or have a bit of a "naughty" day.

[carorees]

Hi Lisa, oddly the study by Dr Krista Varady in which people fasting every other day were allowed to eat a typical American diet on their off days, showed that they lost the same amount of weight and had the same improvements in blood chemistry as those who ate a healthy diet!

It seems nonsensical! However, the every other day fasting means fewer days on an unhealthy diet than if we 5:2ers gorged on pizza and big Macs on the off days.

Mimi says in the book that the diet tends to naturally change one's eating habits so that you have smaller portions on the off days and tend to make healthier choices.

So my answer is, yes you are probably right but the extent to which you need to be mindful of what you are eating on the off days depends on your own body chemistry.

Let us know the results of your weigh in!

Mimi says in the book that the diet tends to naturally change one's eating habits so that you have smaller portions on the off days and tend to make healthier choices.

I'm thinking that the mindful-ness required of us on fast days tends to make us more-mindful on feed days, whether or not we actually go about trying to do things like count calories or select healthier foods.

Also, on fast days we experience the front-end of real hunger and deny ourselves food. This is good practice for only eating when you are hungry, and stopping when you are full, and that carries over to feed days.

Also, I think the fast days encourage choosing of healthier foods that are high-volume and low-calorie and also satiate the appetite while still being low-calorie. You develop a taste for healthier foods (and combine that with the fact that food tastes better when you are hungry), and now given the choice, you will probably seek out healthier options without really "thinking" about it.

In that video I remember something to the effect that the people selected to eat pizza/burgers/etc. on their feed days were actually disappointed because they were convinced they would get less benefits from the program. I think this disappointment says a lot.

[Tracieknits]

I was just watching one of the three videos Moogie posted "The Men Who Made Us Fat" (or something like that) and one thing really stuck out in my mind. They talked about a hormone we have that tells us "ok, stop, you've had enough to eat" and how the consumption of excessive amounts of sugar makes that hormone stop working.

It made me think about how much less hungry I am after a fast day -- I really seem to eat a lot less, even of things I thought I might want a bucket of! Hubby and I went out for Indian food last night, and while I think two weeks ago we might have put a considerable dent in our plates of chicken tikka masala and baignan bharta, we just didn't eat that much. And on top of it, even though I ate smaller portions than I would have served myself two weeks ago, I felt overful and honestly not very good for a few hours after the meal.

So perhaps we really don't have to think about it so much. What if our fast day is making that hormone work properly so that we eat proper sized servings of things? I think what I'm going to work on for my feed days is serving myself less food, reminding myself that I can always get seconds.

I am just starting and have now had 2 fast days and 2 post-fast days. I have definitely noticed that on my post-fast days my appetite was smaller, on neither day could I finish my evening meal which is somewhat unusual for me. So if my appetite decreases naturally on non-fast days, due to the fasting, all I will have to do is listen to and obey my appetite and I will naturally be consuming fewer calories.
Here's hoping that theory works out....