The FastDay Forum

Hi all 5:2ers


I am a newbie. this is week 2 for me and 1st fast of week. I am finding it hard. My fast days are tues and thurs. But I found I was a little lost over the weekend and over eatung wrong things and I wonder if a weekend fast day is better I would like to hear others experience

Thanks x

Hi @nj1982 and welcome! You've come to the right place for encouragement and advice. What are you finding difficult? Are you drinking enough during your fast days and when do you eat? I have found that waiting until the evening is the best way and lots of peeps on here are the same. I often just have a ready meal, usually from M&S which are pretty tasty.

As for weekends, I have recently started the EOD diet (so I fast every other day) which means that I alternate between Saturdays and Sundays. So far I've found no problem with either day (although I miss my Sunday roast but then, hey, I'll have one next week!) in a way I'm lucky because I don't go out so am not tempted unduly by cake shops etc. it must be hard when you're working. When you're on a fast day, just remind yourself that you can eat what you want tomorrow!

Hope this helps. Don't give up, you'll soon get into the swing of it.

Bean

Welcome nj1982.
I have been doing 5:2 since last August and have lost about 20 lbs (well, that was before gaining 5 on a recent cruise but that's another story..) I have been doing Sun and Wed fasts since the very beginning and find it works well for me. Especially if you socialize on Fri and/or Sat. I live alone and don't usually have any Sunday dinner etc. commitments to interfere with my fasts. Give it a try. I know eating (and maybe drinking) on the weekends can get excessive, especially if you do it all 3 days.
Good luck on this WOE (way of eating) and keep coming back here for advice, commiseration, a laugh or whatever you need. It's a fantastic forum.

Hi @nj1982 And Welcome
I've been doing this WOL/WOE for 9 months now and to my surprise I've lost 50lbs with exactly 50lbs to go

I can't remember ever doing a "proper " fast over the weekend but quite often I do a semi/half fast on a Sunday by this I mean I fast all day until evening meal then eat + drink whatever I want knowing I'll be inside my TDEE some weeks I do two of these plus 2 x 500 cal fasts I use that method because I do eat out a lot and that saves me cals all day and also stops me getting the munchies and raiding the kitchen and fridge.
Practice is the only way to find what suits you but for me its evening meal only on all those 4 days because once I start to eat I actually become more hungry this may be happening to you so try one f/day at weekend or take the option I do and feed your face guilt free.
Hope some of this helps.

I've done the last two Sundays and it was great because I slept until lunchtime!

Thanks all

I think I will try something along the lines of sue. Q suggestion. I was thinking of doing that this weekend but by that point I had stuffed myself with Chocolate. My sweet tooth is a big stumbling block for me once I manage that 5:2 WOL should be easier. Thanks for the support I feel this week is more of a struggle to stay committed but this forum is great.

Hi @nj1982 and welcome, and congrats for starting this WOL!

Non-fast days can often be harder than fast days - on fast days you have a strict rule to follow, and leaving eating til as late as possible, and knowing you can eat whatever the next day, plus of course lots of non-sweet clear liquids, all help the day pass.

But non-fast days can be more tricky. As Sue suggested, not starting eating til as late as possible can really help, and also deciding that you will not eat after a certain time in the evening (not that that works for me!!). Keep as busy as you can on the weekend - get stuck into those chores you always put off!

However, don't despair if you do succumb to that block of chocolate. In my early days on this WOL I would do the same from time to time, but found I was still losing weight. Over time, I was less inclined to over-indulge as I saw the weight coming off, and didn't want to undo what the fasts were achieving, especially after having gone without on those fast days and having to put up with the pain of feeling hungry (which was harder to do then than now, tho fast days can still be a challenge at times!).

On non-fast days, try to fill up with good healthy foods - lots of veggies and good protein. I buy the smaller individually wrapped mini bars of chocs, which I find easier to limit myself on than a large bar. When you eat the choc, concentrate on and savour the taste, dissolve it slowly in your mouth, and hopefully you will not want to eat so much. Don't read or watch TV or anything else while you eat it. Same applies to all those less healthy foods. But, as I said, if you do stuff yourself one day, just accept it and move on - perhaps make the next day a fast day?

As many others have said in this forum, each day is a new day, don't worry what you did before, just try to do what you intend that day and if not, try again tomorrow!

Very best wishes on your journey
Sassy

I fast 3 days a week and unless social activities adjust it, its Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. I find fasting on Sunday good because otherwise id be eating and baking cakes lots because of the extra time on my hands. It really simplifies my Sunday when it comes to the kitchen, as generally speaking, fasting day meals are quicker and simpler to prepare.

I am thinking when i reach maintenance which this morning i think i said to myself it might not be till June, i might get back to Sunday baking but we shall see.

I always used to fast on a Monday and Wednesday because those are days when I work in the morning and then I'm at the yard with my horses in the afternoon so I'm kept busy for a large proportion of those days. However, because I also calorie-count, I was finding that on that little Tuesday, which was sandwiched between my two fast days, I was incredibly hungry and bad-tempered because I knew I had another fast day to come very soon.

I recently re-commenced 5:2 after being on maintenance since October (to remove my "festive layer") and I've now swapped to fasting on a Sunday.... something I'd never done before but I'm finding it works SO much better for me as I used to relax a little too much on weekends when my husband is around and the routine is slightly different. So I have to behave on one of the weekend days AND I get two days between fasts, which - it turns out - suits me MUCH better.

I think you need to experiment and try things to see what works best for you and your own particular circumstances. You don't have to fast on the same days each week either... just when it suits your life

Hi nj1982 I too have just started but I count calories (Using myfitnesspal) on my normal days as I know I would eat over if I didn't. I also have a sweet tooth ( and pretty much hate anything green) but I have worked really hard to cut down, today I had 4 matchmaker sticks after lunch and that's only 72 calories out of my TDEE and satisfied my sweet tooth chocolate mania. If someone told me three weeks ago I wouldn't have a bar of chocolate everyday I would have laughed and called them insane.