The FastDay Forum

I don't know how you function on such little sleep coffee! Are you able to nap during the day?
It is 3 p.m. here and I'm about to have my first, low cal meal of the day, that oh so yummy tagine I froze. Really looking forward to it and hoping it will fill me up so I'm not tempted to eat and eat and eat. I really want today's fast to work out.
How are you managing? what did you eat for supper?

Well, I ate and I want to keep eating, the pita bread from the bread box and the crackers in the cupboard are calling! I will have a cup of tea. Crossing my fingers. Was it me who said the fast days are easy?

Hi steph. You are doing very well. I am so pleased, keep strong for me today. I was still not hungry after work and had some of DH's Chinese stir fry at about half past eight to prevent me from waking up hungry so that I can pull off my fast tomorrow. I bet your tagine was delicious and definitely a fasting help to repeat in the future.
Have you managed to get your car back?

Coffee are you OK? Did you have a good day?

Thanks Ieramul, just had a cup of tea and the eat me! eat me! carbs are much quieter now . Yup my lovely neighbour gave me a ride over to the mechanic's in her new - to - her car. Lucky lady, her 77 yo friend bought it for her. She is in her sixties and the friend was her late husband's best friend. He has taken her under his wing. She finds him irritating, though, but she's willing to put up with him. I would too! for a car and the gas he puts in it and all the dinners out, etc. Well, I'd probably feel so uncomfortable I'd want to distance myself from him. She is tied to him now. Anyway, my car is fixed but the mechanic said I'll be lucky if it makes it through to spring. The undercarriage is so rusty he had trouble finding a solid spot to put on the hoist. So, he didn't recommend I get anymore work done as the intake gasket that needs replacing would cost me over $300! he said, "save your money for a new car". Ha, easier said than done.
Well, time to have another cuppa.

We can do it Steph, you've got so far, have you reached 500 calories yet? I always try to have some to spare, it's that mind thing again, if I have them then I don't need them.
When I wake up in the early hours I usually make some tea if I can't get back to sleep. I make sure I have a text book by the bed that is not easy to read for too long which sometimes helps me to drift off again, if it's a 'good read' then it keeps me wide awake. Over the last few months I've read books about the big bang and how the universe came into existence, another called Genes, Peoples and Languages, an 'out of Africa' type book and at the moment I'm reading one about bacteria. They are all very interesting but send me to sleep after a few pages.

I'm OK Ieramul, I've had about 400 calories today. I had a sort of stir fry for dinner, and after that I had a few grapes and a tiny piece of dark chocolate - although perhaps I shouldn't have mentioned that.

I've just seen the message about your car Steph, at least it's fixed so that you can use it now but it must be a such a worry.

Hi you two, hang in there - whatever!!!
Coffee, 400 cals is great. You will feel so good tomorrow and then you can feel very sympathetic towards poor me and urge me on not to be stupid again. : grin:

Ouch, steph re condition of car. Your friend' friend is very kind but I don't think I could accept money, unless I could pay it back over time. A loan is a big enough gift. As you said, it makes you very obligated.

I am off to bed, don't have coffee's stamina. Like you coffee, I take a factual book to read so that I drop off to sleep. Unfortunately, often I only read about 3 paragraphs before I nod off. The next day it takes me longer to find where I left off resulting in wasting a lot of time re-reading to find where I got to just to fall asleep shortly after. Your books seem rather challenging and I am very impressed by your interest in science.

Well done you two today. Have a lovely evening/night and don't give in to the hunger dragon just before your victory. speak soon.

Those are some heavy books you read coffee! I wish I could say that I broaden my mind in some way but I just don't. Right now all I am reading are cookbooks. Way to go Coffee! 400 cals! amazing. I am feeling hungry now, purely psychological I'm sure as it has only been three hours since I've eaten. My stomach takes a good 4 to 5 hours to empty. But since my 3 p.m. lunch I've had 7 or 8 frozen raspberries a small slice of cheese, a tiny bite of the banana I just put in Adam's smoothie and am now drinking some bouillon. I am going to head out to the library after I do the dishes and then make some supper when I return. My lunch was about 150 calories so I can have something a bit more substantial for supper - an egg, salad and a small roasted potato. Really looking forward to it, but don't relish the thought of cleaning the lettuce. I abhor the task. Stupid of course LOL.
Sweet dreams ladies. Talk to you tomorrow!

Hi Steph, I'm still here but very sleepy, I was hoping to stay longer to keep you company but can't hold out much longer. It's nearly half past eleven, I don't know what the time is where you are but I think it's a bit too early to help you get through the evening. Try to do something to take your mind off food, perhaps buy some gum to chew next time? Some people clean their teeth soon after dinner which stops them eating or what works for others is to have an early night.
Good luck and I look forward to seeing how you got on.

I was just about to press the submit button and noticed that you have beaten me to it, I hope you can find an interesting book, that might take your mind off snacking. I'm off to bed now, hubby is growling upstairs, he's usually asleep at this time but not tonight. I'll creep past his door.
OMG! I should have sorted the recycling and put it out along with the rubbish and I didn't do it this afternoon as it was pouring with rain. I've just remembered. It's collected fairly early in the morning, just my luck NOT to wake up early tomorrow. I don't want to do it now, it's pitch black and still raining out there!

Good morning gals,
you'll be reading this as I am still sleeping snug in my bed. I am 5 hours behind. Thanks for staying up to keep me company Coffee . Did you brave the cold and rain to take out your recycling?
I got through the evening alright. Am still peckish now but will be able to sleep and I hope get through tomorrow morning at the school without feeling hungry. I eat when I get home at noon and I've decided I will pick up an apple, pecan, chicken salad at Wendy's, a fast food restaurant when I leave the school. It is a very tasty salad!
Time to get cozied up in bed. I hope your days are going well and that your fast Ieramul is going as planned. Only positive thoughts today!

Good morning buddy friends, I managed to lose 1.25 lb, I hope it doesn't go back on so quickly.
Well done Steph, I hope all your hard work will result in weight loss this time. I slept until 6.30 which wasn't bad at all, then got dressed and I sorted out the recycling, it's now outside our front gate with the rubbish waiting to be collected.
Did you sleep well Ieramul? I hope you have a successful fast today.

I love reading the science books, I don't always remember what I've read though. I didn't have a good education, I left school four weeks after my fifteenth birthday with no qualifications. Then after I retired from work I started doing Open University courses to keep my mind active and as I didn't learn any science at all at school I chose that to study. After a while though I couldn't do the maths needed, probably because of my age, so I left the OU and started to read the books - where somebody else has already done the maths and equations! Some of them are over my head, space and time is almost impossible for me to understand but I plough through them regardless and at least they send me to sleep.

The dog is running around and barking like mad, so the bin men must have arrived.
Time for breakfast now. Talk soon.

I've decided to follow your example Ieramul and not record my morning after weight, I'll wait until the second morning after a fast before entering it in the tracker, that way I won't be tempted to compare my normal/true weight to my morning after weight - and it won't seem so disappointing when I put a lb or two back on.
You wanted me to 'urge you on not to be stupid' today, so here I am urging but you are certainly not stupid and I'm sure today will be better for you.

Good morning (just). Thank you for your encouragement. Yes, today is fasting Monday - take 2.

Let me have a think what lessons I have learned from yesterday's experience?

First and foremost, don't make any sabotaging statements at the beginning of a fast.
Don't experiment
Don't brag before you have delivered
Stop eating when full

So, I am not going to predict anything today and aim to quietly get on with it. At the end of the day I will let you know how I am.
I hope you two can enjoy today, without falling into a massive binge to make up for yesterday's sacrifice. Remember it takes as much strength on eating days to stay within TDEE which is not necessarily easier.
Good luck today.

Thanks Ieramul, I usually manage OK the day after a fast - but not always. I don't take notice of the TDEE, if I don't eat the chocolate or biscuits - or polish off all the leftovers from the day before then my weight stays roughly the same. It's that discipline again, that's always my downfall because I have so little of it!
I like your 'not to do' list but the experiment was a learning experience so it was quite useful in the end. I know you won't do it again. I think the not eating when full is the most important on your list. That should be our motto!
Keep popping in here when you can instead of quietly getting on with it, it helped me yesterday.
Good luck

Hello, I'm up ready to go to the school to play with the little children. Ieramul I'm sorry for mentioning food in last night's post. And I second coffee, recognizing and stopping when you're full is the most important and is no easy task as we all know! It is good to make such a list as yours. I hope today goes well for you! Congrats coffee on your weight loss. I too will be recording my weight later in the week, I'm thinking Saturday or maybe it should be Monday as you do Ieramul. Not so sure I can get through the weekend eating properly but I can always try. I didn't weigh myself this morning, I don't want to have false hope and get discouraged again when the scales go up tomorrow or Thursday.
Glad you managed to get the recycling out and hope the weather is nicer there coffee. Will it be a less muddy walk with Maisy today? It is another gorgeous day here, I'm looking forward to recess at the school .
I've often thought of reading science books but it seems so daunting. I took science over 20 years ago when I was at university. I still find it interesting and love watching shows on tv ontario. There are a lot of British shows. On Sunday they have a series on right now chronicling life on a Tudor farm. Michael Mosely has also been featured. And many science shows.
Time to head out! I'll check back in when I get home. Have a good fast Ieramul, I'm rooting for you! you can do it!

Hi coffee, I take your advice and pop in. It is now 1pm and lunch hour. Just made myself a mug of boullion (nice and warming) and then off for my walk. Feeling a loooot better than this time yesterday so far.

I am the same, if it wasn't for bread and sugar I would be as slim as a butcher's pencil. I am not a foodie. I don't like going through cook books or plan meals. My DH is the opposite, he thinks of food all the time. As soon as he has finished his meal his mind is on what to cook next. I only think of cooking food when hungry or when I have to and then it is mainly a matter of opening the fridge and see what I can throw together (there is always a carrot, some brokkoli, potato, egg and cheese as well as something meat resembling in there. I am an excellent left-over cook. So if I didn't overdo the bread/pasta or sugar I would be OK, so this fasting keeps me in check a few days a week. The downside to this is that I don't plan anything so I can suddenly go off on the spur of the moment and eat what I feel like. If I had planned a proper meal, I would not have that issue.

I hope you are fine and still benefit from your fasting which is supposed to curb carb and sugar craving.