The FastDay Forum

Poking around the web reading a bit more (as I said, I don't have access to the books), I found info about the "famine reaction," which I recall reading about on the forum. I have certainly experienced this, especially when on very restrictive regimens (Atkins, the Zone). However, I have not had that problem while on 5:2, even though I've plateaued (which I interpret as my body getting "used to" being at a lower weight). I think this may be because I DON'T restrict myself on normal days; I pretty much eat what I want. But since I've never been prone to binges, I guess I don't have an issue with that. Sure, I'll sometimes eat more ice cream than I really "need" (yeah, though we don't "need" ice cream from a physiological standpoint, psychological is another thing!), but I seldom stuff myself...just don't like being overfull! And as I've said before, as a vegetarian who eschews fast food (and HFCS, artificial sweeteners and colors and flavors....), my diet is pretty healthy. My point is, since I only "starve" myself 2 days a week (sorry, but it sounds like some of you do it most of the time), the famine reaction never kicks in. (And yes, I know this is an anecdote of one, not scientific at all....)

@Sallyo (and others of us who are "older"), have you read about the research saying now that a higher BMI (they say 27.5) is healthier for older women?

Just put this into practice for the first time when my husband insisted on buying a package of 6 individual apple pies. Told him to go ahead and buy it if he wanted to eat them but that I wouldn't have any.
1 Will this food feel good when I am eating it? NO
2 Will this food feel good once it is in my stomach? NO
3 Will this food feel good 1-2 hours after I have eaten it? NO
He came home and ate one, told me how delicious it was - there are still 5 left in the package!
Even though I know I can eat apple pie I just didn't fancy these - not only were they not freshly made, but they had an expiry date of October 2015 and the thought of all those preservatives made my decision much easier. Finally they were produced in the UK and I live in Cyprus so goodness only knows how they had been stored whilst in transit!

Thanks for the additional comments!

@Galexinda, glad to hear that thinking about whether you really wanted something helped! This is a great strategy, whatever way of eating you follow.

@Fancyacuppa, the second book does deal with the issue of fixed meal times. I think it was mainly about ensuing that the meals are wholesome and use serving size to address hunger levels, and having appropriate snacks (eg fruit and nuts) to tide you over if you are hungry before you can have a meal. Probably doesn't help a lot? @Sallyo, can you help here? In the "old days" when growing up, we had 3 meals a day at fixed times, and no weight issues. The main thing is to eat wholesomely with minimal processed food. I think if you regularly eat to a time pattern, the body can adjust to this and you just deal with degree of hunger by serving size. I guess that the body adjusts in similar ways for people who regularly use eating windows.

Sassy1 - I find that as I have got older my eating habits have reverted to those I went to school. We always had breakfast, then school lunch which was the main meal of the day, tea (bread and cakes) and maybe a light snack just before bed time. Sweets were reserved for the weekend and I remember My Dad used to share one Mars Bar between five of us! Each meal was satisfying and apart from a small bottle of milk or orange juice or milk at the morning break and an apple or orange in the afternoon there were no other snacks. At the weekend we ate traditional farmhouse food - homemade, healthy and wholesome. Then I went to London to live and work.! Eating on the run and 24 hour shifts, grabbing food when I could, created a different pattern of very unhealthy eating which continued for many years. Now retired, we prefer have a light breakfast and to eat our main meal at lunch time and the evening meal varies from nothing to something light and easily digestible. I just make sure I have eaten from all the major food groups every day. Looking back to this time last year I was eating lots of chocolate, biscuits and cakes, coca cola x 3, etc and experiencing sugar highs and lows on a daily basis, poor sleeping, lack of energy, flabby body - seems like a completely different person. Just shows what 5:2 can do - fantastic.

I ate regular meals when i was on the DGH diet. If you work and live with other people,meal times are set pretty much. So I didn't skip meals - which I do now if I am fasting - but I tailored the meal to fit my hunger levels, had smaller meals, left food on the plate, that kind of thing. I learned to wait before I went for 2nd helpings. Learning to leave food on the plate - throw food away even, was a major learning for me, brought up not to 'waste'. Amanda taught me 'my body is not a rubbish bin.' When I kept my success diary, I learned that I didn't eat enough fruit and veg too. Certainly when we were growing up, there were 3 meals a day and you didn't eat between meals - except when we were with my grand parents and then there would be morning and afternoon tea - a choice of biscuits and cake- all home made. I think we had much smaller serves. I think plates were smaller.