The FastDay Forum

I restarted this plan last week having done it for 3 months last year and only lost a pound. I did feel however that I had lost inches as some clothes started feeling better. I stopped for Christmas and then had surgery in January, from which I spent February and March sedentarily recovering. With that and a holiday in the winelands of South Africa in early April, I gained a stone I really didn't need. I'm really glad they are researching why some lose quickly and others don't, and as soon as I've been doing this for a month I will submit my stats to be part of it. I have found that the easiest way for me to get through the fasting is to have one meal in the evening, which will usually be an M&S or Waitrose lo-cal ready meal (which are rather good) and a "pudding" of something like an apple with a smear of peanut butter. I drink lots of water, diet Coke, coffee and tea through the day (I do add milk but take it skim wherever I can and subtract 50 cal from my daily allowance). I don't eat anything else during the day - like others I find that if I eat anything at all it makes the hunger harder to bear. I am also exercising now - at least half an hour a day - which I wasn't doing before. Fingers crossed this time I do lose weight - I don't know what else to do!

Dinner only due me. As with other posters, if I eat during the day, the temptation to eat more or feel hungry is too great.

The other reason I chose this option is the concern of finishing the day hungry. I feel if I can have a bigger evening meal, there is a greater chance of feeling full, allowing for a better nights sleep

I have an apple around dinner time and my evening meal around 6ish.

I get some calories in the morning from a measured amount of half and half in my coffee and tea. Then no more until I get home from work, where I do a small bit of yogurt with blueberries and walnuts. Then a small dinner-usually greens and a piece of fish.

I'm surprised by the results. So many have dinner only! I've only tried it once. I got to lunchtime and just had to eat. Even on feast days, I don't eat anything after dinner, and dinner is often light. (That's something I started years ago because I find I sleep better.) Maybe that's the reason. Still I admire people who do a full 24h fast.

I have half a cup of skim milk in the morning to take medication, then usually nothing till 6pm-ish dinner.
If I really need it I'll have a fruit snack of about 40cals around 3pm which carries me through till 5.30-ish when I start cooking dinner.
I always find that once I start getting dinner ready I don't feel very hungry anymore and can happily wait. Very strange what our minds will do.

Meant to ask Caroline, does one snack of 40 cals count in "snacks"

Just voted.only been doing this for two weeks.i like to go as long as possible without eating,eat really late lunch ,then smallish dinner and late evening snack.going to try getting to dinner without eating but not quite up to that yet.i make a veg soup so low in cals which I eat late afternoon....think I worked out its about 50 cals a cup ,lots of celery ,cabbage,cauliflower mushroom.also et greens as a salad for lunch ,not much cals there
Love this forum .thanks all

If I am fasting on a work day, which is usual, I have 'lunch' and dinner when I come home, only because I leave home at 6.10am to catch my train to Paddington. If I am working from home on a fast day, I have breakfast and dinner. I never eat snacks

I eat three meals and if I'm still hungry, I try to leave room for very low calorie snacks (like half cups of low cal fruit or sugar free jello).

I tend to have one 200 calorie meals, 2 80-150 meals, and like I said, snacks of like 5-35 calories.

I also drink, drink, drink, drink, drink water if I feel hungry. I typically have three and a half to four liters of water on a fast day.

I've lost 20 pounds in my first month of fasting, insanely (I'm like WHAT??) so I think I'm doing it right.

I have three meals - breakfast is an apple, lunch is a cup-a-soup with a few little bits of celery and cucumber and I have fish and veg or homemade veggie soup for dinner. I would find it too hard to try and do one meal per day. It seems to be working for me. I only weigh once a month and judge weight loss mostly by my clothes which are feeling much more comfortable - even too big in some cases

I'm finding it so hard to get through the afternoon that its making me wonder if I'm following the wrong routine. Currently having small breakfast (egg and tiny bit of porridge), apple for lunch then 300 cal dinner. Afternoons a real, real struggle, feel very weak and unable to concentrate. Any advice? Feel good otherwise.

Done

I either go for liquids only or evening meal ....

This is interesting but I believe mathematically the percentages are incorrect because you are allowing people to select more than one answer. A more telling way to do this would be to separate meals from snacks as far as the statistics are concerned. Thus, vote first for meals, then vote separately for snacks/no snacks.

I'm finding it so hard to get through the afternoon that its making me wonder if I'm following the wrong routine. Currently having small breakfast (egg and tiny bit of porridge), apple for lunch then 300 cal dinner. Afternoons a real, real struggle, feel very weak and unable to concentrate. Any advice? Feel good otherwise.

Try replacing the lunchtime apple with the equivalent calories in almonds. Should avoid the blood sugar swing of the apple :-