The FastDay Forum

Hi there
I've been following this WOE for 4 weeks now and have lost 5lbs so far. I've found fast days to be ok and have generally followed a pattern of small low cal snacks if needed during the day then small portion of family meal + salad in the evening (can't sleep if I'm hungry!)
I'm a bit concerned though as during the last week I found myself feeling more and more tired and lethargic. I normally exercise at least 3 times a week (at classes such as Body pump, Spin etc) and have a fairly active lifestyle - gardening, walking etc. I could barely get through the class last night although I haven't had a fast day since friday. I was due one today but really can't face it! I just wondered if anyone else had found this to be a side effect of 5:2 - or if it's being caused by something else
Thanks

Hi There, I too have been doing it for 4 weeks, and yesterday and today I am exhausted - I think mine may have been due to indulging at the week-end and then fasting yesterday (Monday) was so tough, I did it, but had to go to bed a 9 ish !! I'm thinking the 2 extremes didn't bode well . I'm thinking too it might be due to my monthly cycle too :/ Keep it up x

My lazy self always wakes up on fasting days. That's mainly why I try to fast when I'm home all day and don't have much to do.

[janeg]

Took me forever to not be a serious couch potato on fast days. And I still haven't had the buzz of energy many people report. Could be your body just moving up a gear and holding on to energy or maybe you're in for something. Hopefully it'll pass.

I think you are right to pause, eat normally for a few days, and then try again with fasting.

What are you breaking your fast with? I have found I need to not eat too much to quickly the day after a fast, as I just want to sleep if I eat loads.

I also have fatigue on fast days and the day after is sometimes a little worse until after lunch. (I tend to have a smaller than usual breakfast after fast day cuz I don't feel like eating a lot.) Since I work all those days, I force myself to continue and go to bed early (or fall asleep in my chair). I also try to get in a little extra exercise on fast days (go out for a 30 minute walk at lunch), hoping it will increase energy (backward thinking, but it does seem to work). I have been doing this for 7 fast days/4th week, and it does seem to be either getting better -- or I am more used to it! Hang in there!

Definitely the day after hits me the hardest, & agree with Boboff that we need to look at what we break the fast with. I cld hardly keep my eyes open this afternoon.

I am on my 4th week and fasted yesterday. I felt very, very tired and cold. The worst fast so far and I'm wondering if it's because it is almost my TOTM? I just hope it will get better....

My wife is doing this too and she gets tired, but i think its (partly at least) because she's not drinking enough water.

We get more liquids from our foods than we think, so when fasting you need to drink a couple of litres of water to make up for it.

I think tireness is symptom of dehydration ?

I get tired too from about 2pm onwards...but I have have a pretty hectic life so am generally quite tired anyway but think on fast days I am more tired than normal. I always have a bottle of water on the go on fast days, probably drunk about a litre today so far as am fasting so maybe that's not enough?

Tireness is a symptom of dehydration but it is also a symptom of our electrolytes going mad because of too much water!

My worry is that I'm tired and lacking in any sort of energy all the time - not just fast days or day after. I'm usually pretty lively and find usually find exercising makes me even more bouncy! I drink loads on fast days - maybe not always enough on other days - or not so much water anyway.
Thanks for all the helpful posts

I have just finished my 16th fast and I feel full of energy! This is a fairly recent phenomena and it has just kicked in during the last couple of weeks. Up until then I found it quite mystifying that lots of people were feeling great, more energy etc. I dreaded my fast days for a few weeks. now I find them much easier and I feel much more energised, so maybe it's just going to take a little longer. If you still feel so drained in a week or two I would suggest a visit to the doctor is in order, just to rule out an underlying issue e.g. thyroid comes to mind?

Thanks dhana - sounds like good advice - hopefully it will improve but if not I'll certainly get checked out. It's clearly working for you!

Can't say I feel more or less tired. If I go out for a walk then I don't feel any different.

I guess it depends on metabolism. I get very cold hands and feet on fast days - unless I exercise. Tiredness is a way of conserving energy like cold hands and feet.

This might be a daft idea but I would try and do something and see what happens, perhaps your body is just trying to conserve energy and you'll change it's attitude and be ok.