The FastDay Forum

First post i have read and first post I have made so hello everyone I am Savannah. I have just signed up and keen to learn as much as i can. Think i am waiting for my proper ok or something. Anyhow if anyone does get this looking forward to keeping up with it all. Savannah by the way only started friday fasting and fasted monday and went out last night (wednesday for very indulgent meal) and woke up not hungry this morning so did not eat. Can anyone tell me whether i should really just be sticking to the 5 2 concept or if the fact i did not really feel hungry soo did not eat again on one of my delegated fast days (friday and monday ) is ok. Savannah x

Hi and welcome.

I'm not sure I understand.
You plan on fasting Monday and Friday. Fine.

You woke up on Thursday and did not eat. Do you mean you fasted on Thursday?

And your question is whether it is alright to also fast on Friday, making it two consecutive days of fasting?

You can fast on any two days a week, so they can change. If you fasted Mon and Thurs then that is fine.

While some people fast 3 days a week, for someone new, and if you fasted Thurs, I would suggest you treat Friday as a feast day and pick up your Mon/Fri schedule next week. Two days in a row is hard for many, especially those new to fasting.

If I don't understand your question, so my 'answer' is wrong, please help me with the facts and I'll try to do better!

Hello All,

I'm a newbie! I had my first fast day yesterday and this was one of the things I read before taking up the diet so thank you Simcoeluv!

After some research I decided not to have any food at all yesterday (so I wasnt to obessess over it all day). I still had teas with milk in and a glass of milk before bed so I did use some of the allowed calories.

I had 2 low points over the whole day, one at around 2 o clock when I got a bit shakey, and one around 6ish when I also got a headache but I took paracetamol. They both passed and I drank lots of water as advised to. This morning I feel great! Looking forward to my next fast on Monday

Teresa
P.S reading posts in this forum kept me going yesterday so decided to join today.

Thanks simcoeluv. This newbie has read and inwardly digested your helpful comments.

What a great post. It sums up my experience. The weight loss for me was slow at first but overall steady. I have lost 11kg in four months - but it was some weeks of losing nothing and others of something I recognised as worth the effort.

And I got used to being hungry and started to look forward to the fast days.

Thank you for posting such a useful (and amusing) article.

Thanks for the heads up. This newbie is on her way, so excited to start the rest of my life today. Now!

[janeg]

Hello and welcome to the form Tinaindubai.
Lots of very good info in this thread and on the board in general.
Are you doing your first fast today? Check out the fasting today thread for support and distraction.
Remember to drink plenty- it's still hot out there!
Good luck and please keep us posted as to your progress. You may want to put your details into the tracker - private or public and maybe let us know a bit about yourself - Dubai? You can put that on the info bit at the left hand side via the user control panel.

As a newbie this is a brilliant post ... thank you
I'm on day one of my first fast ... 3pm ... I'm enjoying the sound of my tummy rumbling .. haven't felt that in ages

As I have been 'doing' 5:2 for several months, and have been bouncing around this forum for about 3 months, I have come to the conclusion that the large number of newbies here (over 3000 since I joined, I think) need to be issued several warnings. All of this information is on this site somewhere (ie. not original), so I'm just trying to save you some time.

WARNING 1: Go to the top of this page, click on "5:2 Diet FAQ" and read. Carorees has condensed a huge amount of valuable information that most people want into a 5 minute read. Failure to read these FAQs can lead to unnecessary worry, confusion and general uneasiness.

WARNING 2: 5:2 is not a quick weight loss diet (in fact, it was not designed as a weight loss diet at all). So if you are here to lose enough weight to fit into that (fill in clothing blank) by next month, or expect to lose the weight you have put on over several years as soon as possible, you are probably in the wrong place.

Looking around, you will see that the average weight loss with 5:2 is about one pound a week. As that is an average, it means quite a few people are losing less than one pound a week. It is sad but true that if you are a short woman with only a few pounds to lose, your weight loss may be somewhat less than a pound a week. I guess it is also sad but true that if you are as fat a man as I am, you will lose weight somewhat more quickly. But the fact all of these slowly losing weight people are still here should give you a clue that 5:2 has something going for it that makes it more than your average 'weight loss diet'.

WARNING 3: Combining WARNING 2 with the fact the body retains water to varying degrees in various amounts at various times, your scales may give you a false reading on how 5:2 is working for you. You can do everything 'right', get on your scales, and see you have gained one or two pounds. On the other side, you might see you have lost three pounds (joy), but then go for two or three weeks without further weight loss (depression). If you like to weigh yourself often (more than every other week or so), get used to the weight swings (but don't give up).

WARNING 4: The people on this site are nice, knowledgeable, helpful and willing to share for the benefit of all. You are in the wrong place if this bothers you.

WARNING 5: 5:2 allows you to eat the foods you love, and does not require you to eat foods you do not like. If having the freedom to decide what foods you would actually like to eat today is too difficult to do on an ongoing basis, 5:2 may not be for you.

WARNING 6: You will get hungry on your fast days, but you will not die from that hunger. (The not dying part is a good thing.)

Many people that want/need to lose weight rarely get hungry, and it is a new experience when they do. Be advised that learning what hunger really is has certain long term benefits. On your feast days, you will come to recognize if you are eating because you are hungry, or for some other reason. Over time, you may slow down your eating for 'other reasons', and lose weight a little faster than you otherwise would have.

Lest you think only eating 600 cal. or less for a day is somehow 'dangerous' or 'bad for your health', check out this well written history of fasting:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/95722979/Star ... y-to-Vigor

This Forum does not discuss long term fasting (nor, in my opinion, should it), but it is nice to know a guy can not eat a calorie from food or drink for 54 weeks, 3 days (medically supervised, of course), and still be alive and kicking (and 276 pounds lighter). If that can be done, surely eating only a few hundred calories for only one day at a time is a piece of cake!

If I have not scared you away with all of these warnings, please enjoy slowly losing as much weight as you want, all the while knowing that when you reach your goal, you will know how to keep it off forever.

One of my favorite lines picked up on this site is "A year from now, you will wish you started today." Enjoy the ride!

I love that quote just as much as I love this WOE. Great post xx

Hi, I am a newbie about to start today, going to have my first fast day tomorrow, has anyone got any tips on whether its better to skip any meals or just split the 500 cals between brek, lunch and dinner please? Whatever keeps the hunger at bay best.

[Betsysgr8]

Welcome to the forum @Vickimummy! You are just starting, do your best. You will get hungry, accept that, have some water, coffee, tea, bouillon. As for splitting calories, I now only eat my 500 cals for dinner with nothing but bouillon to sustain me as I found that with practice I could wait longer. When I started I would wait as long as I could then I'd have a hard-boiled egg and dinner later. You will find your way but most of us have found it's better to not split the cals so as to not trigger the hunger-switch. Good luck with your first fast and the second and etc. It will get easier.

Brilliant post - only just spotted it Warning 4 - love it. Great post simecoluv

Today is my first fast day and I am not finding it too bad - though very much looking forward to dinner! Thank you for the article it was really helpful. I am one of those short women with just over a stone to lose who has been on countless diets, lost the weight and then put it all on again so I am hoping that here I have found a long-term solution. Thank you for the inspiration.

I think a lot of people on here (certainly me) have been in your situation - I've tried every diet under the sun and yet always been overweight or obese - but I am confident that this works and I don't care how long it takes till I get to a normal weight - this is not a 'diet' it's how I eat now; you just have to look at all the success stories from people on this forum to see how successful it is. The fasting does get easier too, I think! Good Luck!

Thanks for the advice. Just starting out and understand (I think) about the long journey.

First fast day and not feeling bad at all. Must be the distraction that my car is having a major overhaul with a major bill to follow!