The FastDay Forum

My wife and I are going to start the diet as soon as the recipe book arrives but my main concern on fasting days is do I have to have up to 600 calories in meals or can I save some so I can have fruit etc later on in the evening as long as I don't go over my calorie amount.

Thanks

[janeg]

You can have your 600 calls however you like them! The first few fasts give you a chance to try things out - splitting it into lots of little snackettes, having three small meals, one big one. I would suggest going for what you think would be easiest to cope with, seeing howzit goes and taking it from there. Good luck

[Betsysgr8]

You CAN have up to 600 calories but you are not required to consume your calories for the day.

Lol, janeg beat me to it and said it better.

I'm a 500 cal girl & I save a bit for a 1/4 glass of wine to reward myself at the end of the evening

Thanks for clearing that up, we are looking forward to starting the diet, it seems a lot easier than Weightwatchers or Slimmingworld diets but I bet the fasting days will be hard at the start.

I don't know about Slimming World, Tynesider, but I've found the 5:2 so much easier than WW! I never stopped thinking about food then, got really obsessed. I know it's early days for me, just coming up to 4th Fast day tomorrow - but I just work out what I'm going to eat in advance and that's that. Then free for 5 days.
So you might want to work out so many cals. for breakfast, etc and leave over a few for nibbles - although I just tended to have a drink of some sort.
Mind you I'm the person who posted desperately asking how many cals a Danish pastry was! There were reasons for that looking back though. Excuses, excuses! Still managed to only be a little over my 500 though.
Best of luck to you and OH anyway.

[Betsysgr8]

Thanks for clearing that up, we are looking forward to starting the diet, it seems a lot easier than Weightwatchers or Slimmingworld diets but I bet the fasting days will be hard at the start.

You won't know til you try it. If it is hard at first, don't fret, it will get easier. There is always this forum to turn to when you get a bit hungry, reading here is very distracting. lol Also, there is always a "fasting today" thread going for those that are on a fast day to get and give encouragement. Enjoy! Looking forward to hearing of your progress.

What the others said - I prefer to keep my 500 cals for the evening and eat nothing in the day. I save 180 cals for and orange as dessert and later 2 squares of Lindt fleur de sel chocolat with a cuppa in the evening.

I never thought of saving a few cals for a tiny smidgen of wine. I like your style AnnieD x

Not as hard as you imagine them, honestly!

The thing to me that is so wonderful about 5:2 is its flexibility. So my first fast days were difficult until I figured out what worked best for me. I have to be at work or out of the house, and I save all my calories for the end of the day. Never been a breakfast or even lunch type person. My witching hours have always been between 4 and 7. So that is when I use my fast day calories. Now they are pretty easy.

Also, don't fret if you do go over. If you are in it for the long haul that would be a small blip or even a learning experience really.

The thing to me that is so wonderful about 5:2 is its flexibility.

Also, don't fret if you do go over. If you are in it for the long haul that would be a small blip or even a learning experience really.

This is so true.
I think that's the great thing about 5:2, if you go over or decide todays not a good day, you can just eat normally and try again tomorrow. Its not like a 'normal' diet where a failed day usually turns into a week... and then a month and so on.

Thanks for all the advice. Our 5-2 recipe book came today so we will have to sit down and work out how we are going to do this. We work different shifts so it's going to be difficult. I work 12 hour nights 7-7 so it's going to be difficult because once it's midnight I am now in a new day and it's hard not to pick when sitting at my desk. I'm sure we will sort something out though.

Thanks