The FastDay Forum

I have discovered I'm pretty intolerant of bread since eating this way. To start with I really missed it & looked for replacements. However, it's easier to think what I can eat than what I can't so now I have oatcakes & cream cheese with avocado & tomatoes. Or scrambled eggs & salmon or coleslaw & cheese for lunch. Mainly meat & veg for tea.

It's easier once you get into it. I don't think limiting cals in = straightforward weight loss for women.

I eat similar food to my OH. Weight drops off him so often we have to modify meals to keep his weight up while it's a struggle for me & I can pack weight on quickly. So I sympathise...

Ok a lot of great replies......today is the first day of cuttjng bread and reducing carbs.....lets see what happens...
Thank you all.

Good luck HAPPHOLIDAYS !

Hello everybody.....well day 4 without bread over but its been frustrating....ideas please what to eat instead....its not easy for me to always have something using a knife and cork......whats the thoughts on crackerbread or rice cakes?
Must say though, no bread=no bloating.....it can only be good.:-D

[carorees]

Knife and cork??? Are you replacing carbs with wine??

Seriously though, have a look at @FatDog's thread on low carb eating...lots of recipes and ideas. Oatcakes and ryebread are possible alternatives to bread, though not exactly low carb they are less insulin triggering.

Its trying to think away from the convenience of a sandwich or wrap or chunk of bread with soup at lunch time that is hard. I now think of the meal and deconstruct it. Then I think to myself what could I do with whats left after I have taken the bread out of the equation. I usually come back to a salad bowl or soup without bread. I do like using a large lettuce leaf as the 'wrap' and smearing it with cream cheese, slices of red pepper and a good grind of pepper and rolling it all up. Yummy.

As for no breakfast, we mean NO breakfast. Nothing to eat for breakfast. The whole idea of 'breakfast is the most important meal of the day' was a propaganda exercise thought up by Kellogs many years ago and our parents swallowed it, hook line and sinker. But humans just aren't meant to eat heavy if at all at breakfast. How many people do you know that can eat a full meal size breakfast? Yes we can all eat a bowl of cereal and maybe a slice of toast. But a meal that is as dense as an evening meal, every day? We would all flounder or end up as heavy as one of the stereotypical truckers who do eat full english every morning. Try it out for yourself. Instead of waking up and instantly abusing your resting stomach, just have your normal tea/coffee etc and start your day, only eat when you actually feel real hunger, a proper rumbly tummy. I bet you will find yourself lasting till lunch time or very close to it.

Once you stop piling the carbs in first thing in the morning, it will be easier to control your eating for the rest of the day. Carbs in = insulin spike= blood sugar drop= hunger. If there are no carbs there won't be an insulin spike and there fore no unnatural blood sugar drop until a proper time to be hungry.

Thank yoh Juliaathome......leffuce wraps great idea...going to try it tomorrow....

[carieoates]

You'd be amazed at how easy it is to reduce your carb intake without even noticing.
A salad or soup instead of a sandwich, shredded cabbage instead of noodles. Aubergine in a lasagna instead of pasta. . It's just routine and habit which gets in the way, and try a gin or vodka instead of wine. Less carbs I've been told.

Just keep at it and be strict on fast days, with no white carbs and sugar. The rest of the time read around here and as the weeks tick by get an handle on you and your individual response. We are all responding differently to intermittent fasting. When it is a slower journey (it is for me ) just chill out I say and face your 2 fast days with determination and as positively as you can. They become the best days actually

the conundrum is the non fast days I find. It is ok to have treats but you will find what uses to be your way of treating changes and might turn into cheese on a stick of celery, or a small handful of nuts. As you progress over time your tastes really alter to the good. You won't want sugar and you crave clean foods not brought ready made with chemicals transfats and sugar

It is helpful if you go public with your details so people can help at a glance as to where you are. Get to know where the calories are. I agree with @callyanna make eggs your friends.

It is worth it to stick around and best of luck

Well here we are, one week on without hardly anybread ( had 2 bread rolls, small ones)
I have to say Im really pleased, I feel so much better and no bloating, its great!!
Tomorrow is my weigh day so lets see eh!!
I must have lost inches since I started cos a pair of summer trousers fit lovely now and before I couldnt fasten them so thats brill....
A lot of positive thinking this week, mind I do like my fasting days..
And the good tips and support from all you fasters..
Roll on weighin....

Yay!!! Its happening slowly as predicted by all of you with more faith than me...
Weighed in today and Im very pleased to report an upto date loss of 5 lb....about 2 kilos I think...Its slow but Im very pleased......And I feel much fitter.....fasting today so lets see what happens this week.......BRILL!!!

Brilliant, great to hear you've turned another corner.

Baumeister and Tierney give some useful tips in their book which rounds up the research on WILLPOWER. The main points I gleaned which are helpful to me...

1. If it's something you want but are trying to resist, give yourself permission to have it later. (IF scores big points on this one). Telling yourself 'never' is a major cause of willpower depletion.

2. If it's something you are putting off doing (eg exercise? a dreaded task?) limit the amount of time you give yourself to do it and set a timer. Then do that again after a break, the next day or whatever's appropriate.

3. Research finds that small achievable goals and monitoring do work. Recording what you eat, weighing regularly - blips are easier to deal with if you have a record of overall progress. (If you have a lot of weight to lose, try a smaller target to start with.)

4. Build in small and big rewards for your achievements. Success breeds success.

5. Progress on anything is easier when you pay attention to order in the whole of your life, paying attention to keeping yourself and your surroundings cared for, some routine, keeping finances in order etc.

6. Sleep matters so pay attention to your sleep hygiene habits and make sure you get enough. Tiredness depletes willpower.

It's an interesting read. Hope that helps.

[Debs]

That's really brilliant to hear!! See??!!!