The FastDay Forum

Good luck all you 36 hour fasters. I tried it for the first time last week - I failed at my first attempt (habit forced me to eat my 500 cal dinner!) but succeeded on my second attempt - zero calories in 36 hours and I was rewarded by a 3 lb weightloss after having maintained for 3 weeks. I felt light and energetic too. The only issue I had was that I was too hyper to sleep and then woke raring to go at 5am the next day. I am planning my second 36 hour fast on Thursday. I'm only a lb away from my target but hope to make my maintenance 6:1 as a 36hr/zero calorie fast.

Oooo..accidentally I've made it this far! Just kept putting off eating and now not hungry as dislike eating late in the evening! Think I'm going to make it! Thank you willdermiss (think I've spelt that right), you've started a craze! Maybe I can be hardcore after all! Haven't even succumbed to my evening hot choc!

Wildmissus even! Doh!

Bssh, wow that's a brilliant weightloss after maintaining for 3 weeks-well done!! I'm the same, the weight has stalled somewhat and I want to give it a little helping hand and shake things up a little! I'm very interested in how you get on with the 36 hour fast as your maintenance method, it'd be great if you could do that once a week and get it over and done with wouldn't it?? I know what you mean about the hyper thing, I feel so alert & awake now. Thought I'd struggle with feelings of hunger at bedtime not alertness!!

[wildmissus]

Well everyone I feel great!

I left the house at 5:45pm to go to pilates, having put the family's tea in the oven, that made me feel like I was missing out on something. I got home at 8:05pm. I had a brisk walk home along the beach and I met a couple of friends so we stopped to have a blether. Felt cold when I got home (I always do on a fast day) so had a soak in the bath. Just finished the ironing and now feel full of beans.

I had a slight wobble in my pilates class when I suddenly felt really hot but that passed very quickly, I thought I was going to get the shakes but it didn't happen.

On a normal fast day I often feel sorry for myself, like I'm missing out on something but today I feel really good. Yes, I have been busy and it has definitely helped starting this topic and seeing how everyone else is getting on. Almost forgot to say I don't feel hungry in the slightest.

I don't know if I would have been able to manage if I had been in the house when the family were eating. I think you guys who have had to cope with making the tea and seeing others eat are amazing and have done so well.

It really is mind over matter.

Suchard, if you don't feel like breakfast what about taking something to work like a couple of cheese and crackers which you could eat at tea break time or save for lunch.

Well done Wildmissus!! Thanks for starting this thread and for inspiring us all to follow you. I too feel great, really alert and full of beans. Kept busy tonight after making the family's dinner and their lunches for tomorrow and had a lush herbal tea and a hot shower to warm me up a bit (also feel cold on fast days). Am sitting in bed reading everyone's news and waiting to feel tired I have really enjoyed today with everyone on here, has really made the day fly so thanks one and all and good luck for a restful night.

[wildmissus]

Couldn't agree with you more Sarah. I never thought I would get people on board with me but its been an inspiration to me and the day has gone quickly. I'm off to bed shortly, hoping the fresh air will put me to sleep.

I caved in... but only slightly - 2 dry ryvita before bed, my stomach was making so much noise !!! Feeling lightheaded this morning so don't want to go to work feeling like this - so have had my usual early morning cuppa and have added a banana. Feel fine again now - so off to work and nothing else (another cuppa only) before lunch time. Looking forward to hearing how others did/how they feel this morning. Again - thanks wildmissus, you've inspired me to change my fasting days to a truer 'fast'

Thanks all for posting.... It's my fast day today so I am going to try it....

Already been for a 5k run and am now drinking black coffee

My plan is to stick to fluids only - black coffee, diet coke, herbal tea whilst at work, then another short run whilst the kids are at activities, and if I make it till then I stand a good chance as I won't get home till 8pm

[wildmissus]

I slept the same as usual last night. Felt a bit queasy this morning. It would have been easy not to have breakfast but I have - 2 pieces of wholemeal toast with real butter and apricot jam. I feel better and I'm full, nothing more until lunch. Although I feel a bit tired and stiff from my extra activity yesterday I also feel really good in myself.

Well done suchard, especially as you hadn't planned to do it.

Good luck eckat, getting back in the house at 8pm was the key for me as it meant I only had another 2.5 hours before I went to bed. Keep posting here as we want to know how you are getting on.

How did everyone else get on?

I will definitely alter my routine to do the 36 real fast on Mondays but until I'm used to it I'll stick to 500 cals on Thursday with the ultimate aim of doing two 36 real fasts. The great thing about this way of life is that it is so flexible and easy to alter at any time.

Over the last few weeks I had got into the bad habit of weighing myself every day which I know was couter productive for me as all I was doing without realising was losing a lb and then relaxing my eating too much to put it on again and continuing that habit. I am going back to weighing myself weekly on Fridays again and feel really positive for this week.

Wonderful that you found the fast not too difficult and that you felt great - most of the time. First few times I did it I felt a bit odd/ occasionally nauseous, but you adapt very quickly. Bet your toast tasted delicious this morning! Feels great to prove you can do it even if you don't decide to keep doing it regularly! Very inspirational!!

Glad I did the 36 hr no food fast yesterday, thank you for the inspiration wildmissus. Feel light and energetic this morning, did my usual 30 day shred DVD at 7 am , didn't feel anything different than usual. Still not hungry , usually after a 500 fast day, I would have had my breakfast by now. Sleep last night was not the best, kept dreaming of food

Morning everyone Thanks for posting how you have all been doing/feeling. I feel absolutely great! Annoyingly so in fact. I haven't eaten yet, am going round till 1pm when I'm lunching with my sister & baby niece. That'll be 42 hours on water & herbal tea & I can honestly say I don't feel hungry at all. I worried that I wouldn't be able to sleep with the hunger last night but apart from feeling the usual fast day cold bones (I sound soooo much older than my 40 years when I say that don't I??) I slept better than usual-felt really relaxed this morning. Have been out on my 10 mile twice weekly run and walked the dogs for a couple of hours so as you can tell, I feel okay!! Wildmissus, I know what you mean about the weighing yourself too regularly, you know you are doing it and that its not a true reflection of where you're at but STILL we do it!! I try to weigh the morning after my 2nd fast of the week but then find myself hopping on there the day after, and after, and.....The other issue is time of the month weight, I KNOW I should stay off the scales as I'm carrying water weight but still do it to myself! Trouble is, I find I'm then harder on myself with what I eat on feed days & how much I exercise which then gets me down and contradicts the ethos of this woe doesn't it??? I like your thoughts on continuing the true fasts on a Monday and the usual fast on a Thursday for now-I wasn't sure what to do. I haven't got an awful lot more that I want to lose (have already adjusted my target weight down from where I started & start looking drawn in the face if I get too low) so wondered if to do the same as you just so that I have a "true" fast once a week. Keep me updated everyone, love hearing your news xx

Thanks to all for posting in this topic - I've been reading it with interest as I'm debating trying it but haven't had the guts to do it yet. My biggest worries are that I am the family cook so will have to prepare food for them and how I will sleep on that second night.

Hi All

thanks for the encouragement wildmissus.... I am fine so far... 1 x water with a dash of lemon juice, oodles of black coffee and just having a diet coke for lunch

Am in the office but once it gets to being lunch time and everyone else starts eating, I am planning to go for a walk, to keep away from food and take my mind off eating and drinking for a bit....

Got plenty of work I should be getting on with so hopefully this afternoon will fly by, then I shall aim to keep as busy as possible - you're right - being out till 8 should really help and I'll have an early night at around 9:30 so I am not tempted by the kitchen....

If I can get through today, then I'll definitely look to do this regularly too... I've been calculating TDEE and calories for weight loss as over the past week I'd gained back a couple of lbs, and whichever way you look at it, I don't have a lot to play with unless I have a no cal and low cal day, and do lots of exercise...

TDEE for sedentary (which my job is) is around 1400 ( a bit either side depending on which calculator I use) so

7 * 1400 = 9800
to lose a 1 lb = 6300 (I'd like to lose around another stone to bring me down to the mid/low end of healthy BMI)

so thats 2 no cal days and 1260 cals other days plus eat back exercise cals

or 2 x 500 and 1060 on the other days plus exercise cals...

either way, I need a lot of exercise to justify my wine habit plus nice food at weekends or I need to give up the wine