The FastDay Forum

Ihave about seven pounds to lose ,previously I was following the sw plan .I wanted to try this for health beneftis and hopefully get me to goal .I use mfp to track my calories but weekends i tend to eat what i want ,since I have started this WOE i seem to be craving all the wrong foods .I never used to crave pic and chocolate ,cheesecake etc but now all i want on my non fast days is rubbish .I seem to loose then after the weekend its back on again ,any ideas ,do you all count or hve treats etc xx

Hopefully one of the many more knowledgeable forum members will post a reply to you. I think it takes a while for your body to readjust to a different "diet" especially if you say you'd been doing SW before changing to 5:2. How long have you been doing 5:2, did you measure yourself at the start, have you calculated your TDEE and when you say you are eating what you want at weekends have you calculated the calories on MFP for this? It does work, I've not deprived myself of treats, still eat chocolate, cake etc and have lost 17lbs since beginning of March. Don't give up too quickly and hopefully you'll get some more informative answers from the experts.

[carieoates]

This sounds familiar. I find that I'm really good Monday to Friday with fasts on tue and thurs. then it all goes to pot at the weekend, especially sat takeaway and wine night. I think that using fitness pal all week long does help to keep an eye.

I have been doing it about 4 weeks now .I have lost some inches around my belly button ,nearly two but not even a pound .I have not been counting on a saturday but toehr days i do .I havent worked out my tdee as I have mfp set to lose 1 lb a week and I wera a fit bit so it adjusts my calories the more exercise I do .I think i will have to count every day .I was hoping that I would still lose it I didnt count ,but maybe until I can control my sweet tooth will have to count every day xx

A lot of us have gone through that phase at the start! As long as you are basically maintaining rather than gaining overall I would stick with it. Weight loss can be slow on this plan but most of us think its worth it as we are hoping to reap other benefits. Anyway, its easier to maintain in the long term.

You don't have a great deal left to lose and you were already dieting so you wont get the big chunk of water-weight coming off that people new to dieting get at the start. Having said that, what you do lose should be fat.

Give it a bit longer and hopefully the WOE will adjust your appetite and the novelty of eating a wider range of food will lessen. Many of us have been on plans where certain things were either totally forbidden or at least seriously restricted. You do tend to go off the rails a bit when you get the OK to eat what you want. The big thing is 'what you want' not 'as much as you want'. Try and tell yourself that you can have it any time now so you will wait and have it later!

thank you all ,so true about wanting things that were forbidden maybe i am craving them as on sw could not have them so steered away from then .i will keep at it .I do love my fasting days

It was a phase for me too. W/e's continued to be difficult for a while but now it's all settled down and I don't want anything particularly, which feels really quite odd/

I don't want anything particularly, which feels really quite odd/

Weird isn't it? You spend years literally battling against food and weight and suddenly its all so easy!

I think the other thing to get used to after being on a restricted diet or specific food group diet is that nothing is forbidden eating now! But the old adage is still true to lose weight you do have to eat fewer calories than you use on a daily or weekly basis. What normal eating is for naturally skinny people unfortunately for the likes of me who has gained weight through my "normal for me" eating means I needed to re-educate myself on portion control. Fortunately 5:2ing does facilitate learning to be hungry on fasting days that certainly helped me to tolerate this & learn that it feels OK. I also do still record the calories I eat because I am still keeping an eye on my intake. But the difference now is that I can eat what I like & go out for worry free & enjoyable meals.

You may need to do some carb control on feed days. If you start the morning with a high carb food, generally your average breakfast of toast, cereals, fruit etc. You WILL crave more carbs before lunch time as the insulin mops up the excess carbs and forced you into a sugar low.
Try having a protein breakfast instead, bacon and eggs, scrambled egg (no toast)for example, even a continental cheese and ham breakfast will be better. it should keep you from the boom and bust sugar cycle that causes these cravings.

Although I weigh myself far too often, it is only the weekly 'weigh in' I consider accurate. For me this is on a Friday morning.

Come Monday I will always be a lb or so heavier after the weekend. Today I was 1.5 lb heavier but I have lost another cm from my waste (also put in 2 15k cycles, so part of that weight may be muscle repair)

Thank you all some great help .I will definately put them into practice x