The FastDay Forum

Ok, I will be doing my Crossfit on a fast day every Wed.

I was a bit flummoxed about what to eat this morning. Happy with two meals a day but class is at 12.30 so bang on when I would normally eat.

I'm currently just under 14stone and today's work out was:

2000k rowing,
jumping on a 20in box 150 times
chucking a medicine ball up a wall 150 times

split into 5 rounds all in 30 mins, so fairly hard going.

I react badly to eating too soon before exercise and this is pretty full on. I would be happy to eat nothing at all but advice or suggestions would be very welcome.

I approached exercise very gingerly when I first started IF and soon found that it didn't affect my performance or how I felt. I don't enjoy breakfast so don't usually eat on any day until lunch time. On the day AFTER a fast day I might have an apple or a banana an hour before a hard morning session at the gym but only because I am 64 and trying not to be too stringent. Quite often I forget to have one with no ill effects nor do I really notice any more if a Fast Day 12.30 lunch has been delayed for an hour. Just take it easy to start with and listen to your body.

I don't have any problems with fasting and exercise, it's just as it's getting ramped up, should I be eating something (more whether it should be protein, fat or what) in the morning.

I'm not a morning person so missing food then is never an issue!

I always exercise very first thing in the morning, a routine of get out of bed and work out - is the only way I've found to avoid talking myself out of it with excuses. This means I never eat before exercise, I do sometimes find the morning after a fast I have a little less ooomph, maybe 75% of my usual energy, but I figure a full workout done with 75% less ooomph is better than no workout.
Interestingly my hubby who is also doing 5:2 finds the opposite, he also works out first thing and finds he has more energy, not less after a fast also without eating first.

I love smoothies pre- and post excessive. I just had a big smoothie now after spending a few hours outdoors with the dogs. Dr. Mosley says smoothies have a lot of sugar, but I think it depends when you put into them. For me, it is a way to eat a lot of berries, which are good for you. (I find them easier to buy frozen!) I make my smoothies with a little fresh squeezed orange juice, lots of plain yogurt, blueberries, strawberries and mango. Sometimes I had a half a banana. It is so refreshing and so easy on my stomach.

Cool.

That was what I was having but read the thing about not having smoothies so it put me off. Mine was handful of oats, yoghurt, kiwi and banana.

Will invest in some berries, I think.

I train on a Monday evening on my first fast day of the week, been doing it for a month now with no problems/- this week I ate one meal (veggy curry) about 234 calories at 6pm, trained at 730, then had a cup of Oatly hot chocolate afterwards - I found I needed something after to help me sleep! However, I'm not seeing any movement on the scales, but I got an old pair of skinny jeans on this weekend- well chuffed!
The crrossfit sounds hardcore! Are you enjoying?

Ta. If I ask this on a CF forum, they wouldn't understand the woe.

It's good fun. They scale the workouts for me. Penny dropped this evening that I'm the only woman who goes that's bigger than 10 st & I think I'm overestimating their weights at that.

Great gym tho, lots of encouragement. Good exercise.

On fast days I go all day on just fluids and minimal cals, and save it all for a nice dinner in the evening. I still come home, go do my exercise, then come home to eat. I thought it's be detrimental to my exercise, but I actually find that the fast day workouts are often my best ones. (And there was I worried I might pass out from starvation / exhaustion).
My fast day classes tend to be the more aerobic ones as well - esp Body Combat, which supposedly burns between 500 and 700 calories for an hours class. (I really enjoy that chicken salad when I get home as well!!)

Agree with Lucky7 - give it a go without eating (but perhaps have an emergency banana to one side) and you'll probably surprise yourself. I ended up fasting today rather than Wednesday and had a 1 hr Body Pump class booked. Got through it with a couple of weight additions and tough tracks... and then cycled home into a 15mph headwind. That bit was less fun but think it was the wind rather than the legs slowing me down! I took my banana to the gym just in case I needed it for the ride home but it's still there. I did enjoy a lovely 3-egg omelette for dinner though.