The FastDay Forum

I am at the 9 week mark! Fast day for me was a struggle today so can relate completely to your post. It is great to have the support of the forum and know that someone else is experiencing similar things. My loss has been steady at just over 400g per week - not fast progress but hopefully a long term solution. I am 1/2 way to my goal though in just 10 weeks so I intend to keep going. Knowing that I can eat normally again tomorrow seems to be enough to get me through - along with a bit of self talk and a lot of green tea. Hang in there!

Hi:

I don't believe 8 weeks is any kind of critical time frame. You just have to understand weight loss is a long term process (if you have a lot to lose) and that you are willing to take the time to lose the weight. It is up to you.

Here are some of the problems I suffered through - maybe they will help: post71147.html#p71147

Good Luck!

[carorees]

It always seems to me that the fast days that are the hardest produce the best weight loss so perhaps learn to embrace the tricky ones!

I have found that my weight continues to go up and down (I weigh myself daily). But thanks to the 5:2 diet, these days the trend is net downward so I'm pleased.

I have also noticed that fast days are harder if I've been eating more carb/sugary stuff on my feed days. Because on those fast days I feel RAVENOUS! If I'm eating lower carb overall, then I'm generally less hungry on fast days, which makes them much easier to do. The sugary stuff also swings my weight up quite a bit between fast days. Which is mentally discouraging.

I did have a bit of a plateau where I was losing/gaining the same few pounds. So I decided I was tired of that and cut out alcohol. I am also more mindful of the amount of sugary stuff and plain carbs I am taking in. I think that helped me push past that wiggle.

My husband has been doing this with me and is getting discouraged because he is not losing at all and is actually gaining. But on feed days he drinks a fair amount of wine and he's been eating out at many new restaurants (he switched to a new job which is in a new neighborhood, which means new places to try). He is also under lots of stress with the new job and I think that means stress eating (mindless snacking) as well. I've been trying to convince him to trim a few things (like cutting out the wine) to see if that helps. But it has to be his decision to do it.

[Moogie]

I certainly find mental preparation to be important, that is to say that a last minute change of fast does throw me a bit - as much as if a fast suddenly becomes a feed day due to unexpected family plans. But, it's just one day out of a lifetime so in the grand scheme of things as long as I live through it that's all that matters, fast or no fast!

Oddly enough some feed days I find myself barely hungry and feeling like I could fast until dinner without any thought of food at all - and it's all the easier for knowing that I can eat if I want to.

As my grandmother used to say, 'its all swings and roundabout'. Meaning its up and down or what goes around comes around.
Some fast days by lunch time I have to make sure the note on the fridge that says 'Are you really hungry? Have a drink of water instead' is prominent, and written in dayglo green, or the fridge would be empty of all 'easy' foods, namely cheese, fruit etc. But as others have said, I find these 'hungry' days usually follow a high carb feed day.

On the other hand, a low carb feed day will be followed by an easy fast day and sometimes an extra inadvertent 16:8 because I just don't want to eat the day after a fast

Oddly enough some feed days I find myself barely hungry and feeling like I could fast until dinner without any thought of food at all - and it's all the easier for knowing that I can eat if I want to.

Yes, I find this too, only occasionally I must admit!
It just shows what a mind game it all is.

On the times I have felt weakened on a fast day I must admit I sometimes clock watch, and it's amazing how quickly the time passes till dinner.
Alternately distraction, finding something time consuming either at work or home.

Well, I am somewhere near 80 weeks since I started 4:3/ADF and I just think there are some days that are easy and some days that are hard. I don't really think there is much rhyme or reason to it. Sometimes for me it is hormonal and other times maybe more mental. When I find myself really, really struggling with it; I usually will add a little more protein that one day. It never amounts to more than 100-150ish over my planned calories and I still count it as a fast day. Some days are just going to be like that and I would rather eat a little more of something if necessary than abandon the fast day and have to start over. Any distraction is always a good thing, too. Might be exercise, a nap, a movie, a chat with an old friend, knitting etc.