The FastDay Forum

I have not tried to exercise on a fast day yet and I shall try not to. I burn 500 cals in a class and I'm not sure about having NO calorie intake for a day!

I have dinner normally before a fast day then nothing til the morning when I'll have 250 cals then 250 cals at night then nothing til the following morning.

I thought I'd be dying to cram food in my gob that morning after but I'm not. Main side effects so far seem to be:

Weak/shaky/dizzy feeling
Constipation/hard stools

Need something to sort out the last one as its very uncomfortable.

[carorees]

Hi. 6th fasting day yesterday and still having real problems with excessive peeing late afternoon and all night. I seem to be woken at least every hour desperate for the loo. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Perhaps you are over-hydrated? Are you drinking a lot during the day and do you ever have a salty drink during the fast day? Do you eat a high carb diet on feed days?

I have found I don't need to drink so much now I have been following the diet for 5 months. I usually have a salty drink like vegetable stock/Bovril during the day which helps with headaches and hunger and may reduce urine production. If you have a high carb diet you will have high glycogen reserves which are used for fuel first when you stop eating. Glycogen releases huge amounts of water when it is burned for fuel so you create a lot of urine. When glycogen stores are low more fat is burned and that releases less water. Having a low carb evening meal the night before the fast might help.

Do you have to get up in the night on non-fast nights?

Hi Caroline. My diet on feast days is mostly low carb and I do drink Marmite and Miso soup on fast days.I do have a couple of gin's on feast days. Would that have an effect ? On non fast days I will maybe have to get up in the night ,usuallt once or at most twice.Strangely I have been going a lot more all day today as well.x

My only side effects are a headache on fast days but it does go if I have a cup of Bovril. I have felt dizzy on standing up but the longer I do this the less it is happening. What I am delighted with is that I feel so energised! The more the weeks go on the better I feel. I am planning to go and have my blood pressure checked as I am on medication for it and wonder if I need it now. I did not loose this week but don't mind that when I feel so good. Also find that my appetite is not what it was.

[carorees]

Hi Caroline. My diet on feast days is mostly low carb and I do drink Marmite and Miso soup on fast days.I do have a couple of gin's on feast days. Would that have an effect ? On non fast days I will maybe have to get up in the night ,usuallt once or at most twice.Strangely I have been going a lot more all day today as well.x

Well low carbing combined with fasting might do it as you will likely be producing ketones that can irritate the kidneys in some people. If your low carb diet is also high in protein that can also cause more frequent urination. You could try a small increase in carbs and/or decrease protein and see if that solves it. I doubt that the gin would have much effect on fast days though it might on feast days. Let's not consider cutting the gin out at this stage!

Do you have any other symptoms? Pain, urgency, leakage (I appreciate you don't want to post the answers to these questions here)? Are you excessively thirsty?
You didn't say how old you are (or if you did, apologies as it has passed me by), but after menopause these kinds of things can become an issue. If the answer to any of these is yes, then you should visit your doctor.

I have not tried to exercise on a fast day yet and I shall try not to. I burn 500 cals in a class and I'm not sure about having NO calorie intake for a day!

You might surprise yourself. I cycle to/from work including on fast days which burns around 500 calories and I was fine. I avoided fasting on days where I usually went to the gym since like you - I burn around 4-500 calories depending on which class it is and I was nervous about then having energy to cycle home. However, for the last two weeks, I have been going to the gym on a fast day in addition to my cycle home and surprisingly, it hasn't been as tough as I expected.

Thankyou Caroline. I have taken on board the carbo thing and will give it a try. Im 68 and dont have type 2 diabetis ( I have recently had a blood test. As I will be fasting tomorrow I had a wholemeal sandwitch lunchtime and will be having a jacket potatoe ,cauli and chichen for dinner.

My negative side-effects are:

Irritable/snappy (the worst side effect IMO).
Dizziness.
Bad breath.
Insomnia (on the night of a fast).
Constipation.

[carorees]

:smile: Thank you Caroline. I have taken on board the carbo thing and will give it a try. I'm 68 and don't have type 2 diabetes ( I have recently had a blood test. As I will be fasting tomorrow I had a wholemeal sandwich lunchtime and will be having a jacket potato ,cauli and chicken for dinner.

If that doesn't help, perhaps a visit to the doc is in order?

I have not tried to exercise on a fast day yet and I shall try not to. I burn 500 cals in a class and I'm not sure about having NO calorie intake for a day!

You might surprise yourself. I cycle to/from work including on fast days which burns around 500 calories and I was fine. I avoided fasting on days where I usually went to the gym since like you - I burn around 4-500 calories depending on which class it is and I was nervous about then having energy to cycle home. However, for the last two weeks, I have been going to the gym on a fast day in addition to my cycle home and surprisingly, it hasn't been as tough as I expected.

That's great news! Perhaps I shall start to be less of a wimp! Has is affected your weight loss positively by exercising on fast days?

Breaking out in spots but hoping that's a detox thing and they will clear up

I think I can honestly say that I've had no negative side affects at all! Hope I haven't jinxed it now :/

I have been on the fast diet for about 10 weeks now and have lost weight (very steadily and slowly) and found my eating habits on general feed days have improved. However, I still dread fast days and spend a lot of time before one thinking about food, what I am going to eat on a fast day...
Negative side effects are:
I am irritable after my main evening meal
I feel the cold much more than I did even on feed days.
I can't do exercise on fast days as I feel dizzy and more irritabe than ever.
I am very hungry at bedtime and often dream about/ fantasise about food.
I get tummy ache the day after a fast and hard poo!

However, it is working and it seems to have helped my attitude towards food. I am also not hungry the day after a fast and always manage to have a 16-18 hour gap between my last meal and my next meal unless there is a very good reason to eat sooner. It is very strange that I always go to bed feeling irritable and hungry but wake up not that bothered the following day.

I've just added a blog post (my first) about the side effects I've experienced in the 10 weeks I've been 5:2ing. The negative side effects all disappeared after about a month and in the last two weeks I've really been noticing the positives - feeling great and noticeable weight loss.

My advice for all the newbies is ride it out for a month and you will really reap the benefits!!

I am on 5:2.Mondays and Thurdays
On fast days:
I find it hard to get to sleep.
Headaches and shakiness and irritabilitly first few fasts, but just hunger now.
Slow brain, but increased mental energy!(Like I want to get on and do things, but just can't work out how!)
Feast days:
Nicely reduced appetite on 2 days after fast but feeling starving on 3rd!
Psycologically I miss my food treats on Friday and Saturday nights because I just don't feel like eating them anymore!From a health point of view I am very pleased with this.From an emotional point of view I miss the enjoyment of the treats!!(Silly I know - how contrary we humans are )It won't be stopping me though, this fitting into my clothes thing is marvellous.And on that note another negative effect might be cost,because if I keep going at this rate I'll be needing new clothes in a couple of months!