The FastDay Forum

Hello!

I'm new to the 5:2 diet and in fact, this is my first week...but I screwed up last night (surprise, surprise) and I have a few questions!

A little about my diet history first! I've struggled with my weight since teenage years and am now 38. At my lightest, I was 10 stone (Slimming World)and at my heaviest, I was 17 stone (eat-all-you-want!). About 10 years ago, I got my teeth finally stuck into a good healthy eating plan and got down from 17 to 12 stone, but then over the last 2 or 3 years, a couple of stone crept on and I am now 13:10. I am only little (5.1) but oddly, I seem to carry it really well. When I lose half a stone (and get down to the early 13s), I can just about get away with not being seen as 'fat'.

ANYWAY, the problem that I have is being stuck in a silly cycle. I have a really busy job so during the week, I have no problem eating well. I exercise, I don't drink and I eat good fruit and veg - I usually need to, just to survive the stresses and busy'ness of life. However, come Friday, once I get home and hit my sofa, trouble comes! I nearly always have a few glasses of wine on Friday night and I eat a 'treat meal' which is usually something super stodgy like stuffed pasta and garlic bread. I am a carb junkie! I then top it off with a great dessert...but of course, the next day, despite being determined to start Saturday really well, I am usually a bit hungover and then I graze right through to Monday - thus undoing all the healthy eating I do during the week. How crazy, huh?

So, I read about the 5:2 diet and this week (apart from Friday) was really good. I found fasting not too bad, simply because I think my body is already used to eating really well during the week. By the end of the week, using 5:2, I had dropped 4lbs and then last night, I blew it. I was determined not to...and I planned to have a feast day, but budget for my wine and have a good dinner, of around 600 cals. I was hungry, got to the supermarket and somehow ended up eating bagels and cream cheese and a whole lot of chocolate. I added up last night's horror dinner on my fitness pal....and dinner added up to (with wine!), a whopping 2500 calories!!

And I paid for it, because this morning, last night's little 'feast' netted me a 3lb weight gain.

So, I wanted to log on here firstly to confess (ha ha!) but also to ask for some advice. Is it possible to 'repair' this damage by eating say 1500 cals, today, tomorrow and Monday (before my next fast day on Tuesday). I figure if the diet is based on weekly calorie intake, in theory, this MIGHT be possible, to balance it out? Not ideal, I know! And the other question is, what do you do, to help you break any bad food cycles? I feel like Friday is my 'reward' for a crazy week but I know that I need to learn to think differently. Any tips would be great!

Overall, I'm really pleased to have found this diet - it fits in well with my life. I just now need to crack my Friday night drama!

For what it's worth, today I'm making low fat leek and potato soup and tend to have a really good day, with lots of water hydration.

Well done on trying a new WOE. You will not have ruined your weight loss for the week by over-eating on one day, so if you stick to a reasonable number of calories over the weekend, then you should be fine by your next weigh-in. The 'weight' caused by last night's binge will be temporary, due to fluid retention caused by your quite high carbohydrate intake yesterday and the weight of food currently working through your digestive system.

Good luck. Keep us informed on how you get on. (Perhaps try going food shopping when your not already hungry?)

I am also a life time dieter. Although I am not losing weight at the moment I am learning to control food! For the first time. I fast 24 hrs on Monday and Thursday with no problem. I then eat what I like the other five days. I treat weekends as treat time, mainly Sunday as I have wine and a proper pudding with Sunday roast. Try to get away from having treats all in one sitting, spread them out more. The wine will always make you lose control so think about maybe restricting that to one day. With the carbs do try to limit but never ban. Over a whole week if you have done two fasts one blow out should not be a problem. It takes a while to adjust old habits, be patient and keep going.

I think that I must be your long lost twin!!! I am just the same. When I am good I am very good but when I am bad .......

On my eating days this week, I seem to be eating more than I normally do but I am hoping that I will learn to control this very soon.
Wine is my downfall, because I soon as I have a glass it just seems to trigger something that makes me eat and eat and eat!

The answer about cutting down the rest of the time is yes though.

Don't worry about a night having what you want, if it makes you happy then great! You could also consider doing a fast on Sunday, and eating normally the other two days? I say this as it's what I am doing! It works for me.

Don't feel guilty about a binge, that's the beauty of the 5:2 diet! You can just put it behind you and focus on the days ahead, Sometimes I'll go a bit overboard but I know in time it'll even out.
Good luck!

[carorees]

Since it would take an extra 10500 cals to put on 3lb of fat, clearly your "gain" is just food and water in your system. You have only over eaten by maybe 750 cal at the most on Friday. I would just look on it as one of your 5 non-fast days and schedule 2 fasts for next week. If you can cut down to 1500 cal for 3 days as you suggest, that will completely counteract the over eating on Friday and will not affect your overall weight loss. That's what's so good about this WOL...no day is a failure...just reorganise your week!

[Tracieknits]

Welcome to the forums!!

I just want to say I don't think it's so cut and dry as calories in/calories out. If it were as simple as some nutritionists like to say, then Weight Watchers and Slimming World would be more successful than they are. I have seen firsthand that why my thyroid is going too fast, I can eat loads and loads of food and lose weight doing it - because my metabolism is revved into hyperdrive. Conversely, when my thyroid levels circulating are too low, I can eat very well and not lose weight.

Human beings are such incredibly complex creatures, I simply can't believe that weight is as cut and dry as some would have us think.

This is why 5:2 intrigues me. I think that it might have something to do with resetting the metabolism or fooling the body. People talk about restricting their calorie intake and then plateauing where their body has learned to get by with fewer calories and their metabolism has become more efficient so they don't need as many calories for their total daily energy expenditure. 5:2 is supposed to get around that by only restricting calories *sometimes* so the body doesn't get too comfy.

So while I don't encourage binging regularly, don't beat yourself up about it too much and just try to do better this week.

Thank you SO much - I felt SO depressed this morning, as though I'd massively screwed it up! Anyway, got up, had two big mugs of coffee and some toast and I'm now just about to make up some low fat leek and potato soup. I'll have that for lunch and then probs a weight watchers meal for dinner and just cut down significantly today and tomorrow and see what the scales say on Monday.

Interesting too about the 3lb 'gain' being fluid and carbs. I didn't know that! I'll drink plenty of water today and flush it out of my system. I've also just been on a power walk for about 1.5 miles through the snow and that's made me feel more energised.

This site is really supportive - thank you so much for that, I feel like I can just view this as a 'blip' and not as a 'total, catastrophic failure' now!

Don't worry about it. I overate these two last weeks for reasons I've been stuck at home, it's cold and I have a silly habit to finish off sweet foods to get rid off them from the house if you know what I mean...
There will be weeks very good, good and bad...but average with the two fast days those weeks I still have an 1000 to 2000 calories under. I like those weeks I have 3500 cal sometimes more under but we're human and I just aknowledge that I needed to eat differently that week and looking forward to a healthier week (with some treats of course). Keep going! I see 5:2 as a friend

Went for another short walk and have finished off my eating with a low fat meal. Came in at just under 1500 cals, I think!

I felt really emotionally low today, probably because of the alcohol and also that sense of having let myself down....all stupid, I know! But I feel so much better now. Thanks guys for all your encouragement.

That's what's so good about this WOL...no day is a failure...just reorganise your week!

Don't beat yourself up about it - tomorrow is another day - this is a WOL not a "diet" - stick at it and it'll all come right in the end. Wishing you well - come back and rant as much as you need if it helps staying on the wagon !!!

Well, I'm feeling pretty excited because despite the blowout, I lost 3lbs last week. I have so far lost another 2lbs this week....5lbs in 10 days. A chunk of that could be water, I know, so I am not getting too excited, but it feels like this really works. Apart from fast days, I'm genuinly not hungry and my desire to eat 'bad' food has diminished already. Today is a 'feast' day but I found myself unconsciously veering toward 'good' food. Funny, eh?

It does work but you have to believe. One of the reasons it works better for someone like me is that adherence is good, particularly if you stay on it for a while. Much easier than starving every day!

I think 5:2 is a whole new world which I do not really understand but well done you. I wonder if the harder you try instead of just eating sensibly and enjoying the odd treat, the less you lose? Is this plan in complete contrast to every other diet plan we have all struggled with in the past. For me I think the more relaxed about my feast days the better...I know I feel heaps better, and I am losing the lbs which is the added bonus!!