The FastDay Forum

Yep. Jan@janpartly 4 pm is the low point of the day isnt it...thats the time for yr oxo or slimmasoup...lifts you up and carries you thru to dindins xx

I'm in today. Ate far too many Pringles amd peanut M & M's yesterday, so today I have to pay the price for my gluttony! Actually I would have been fasting anyway, as I try to head down to a new low. I had little trouble reaching the target weight that I chose myself but the extra five pounds suggested by the nurse is likely to be trickier! I'll give it a whirl though, even if I'm not really felling it!
Good luck, everyone fasting today. Stay strong and keep on keeping on!

I'm in! Thursday is my usual 2nd fast of the week, Tuesday being the first one. I did well on Tuesday so hoping today will be a good one too. Planning to have a rosemary glazed chicken breast on a bed of cooked cabbage, (yummy), for my dinner this evening. Nothing until then but black coffee and lemon water, maybe a cup of low sodium chicken broth about 3-4ish pm if I need a little something to tied me over til dinner. Off to walk the dog and then yoga. Have a great fast day today!

@golarne,@nadiaj,@GMH,

This is a really important issue--eating too much on nonfast days and the challenge it poses to maintenance. I'm going to open a topic about it where everyone, not just the people fasting on Thursdays can see it.

I'm in today too. Not had anything bar water and tea so far. Had my usual run first thing then came home to a long bath which helped pass the time! Going to have a mug of soup shortly as off to work till 9pm so will have majority of my 500 when I get home 2nd fast this week and for me I think not eating till as late as possible works for me.

I am fasting today, but am really struggling now.
We have had a beef brisket in the slow cooker all day and it smells gorgeous. We will be having it with leeks, shallots, cauli and gravy x

[quote="Golarne"]I'm in! Woke up early and have NOTHING planned to do today. Aargh, it might be a long one.

@Golarne I'm so worried about that for Saturday, my first non-work day Fast! I've got mall-walking, cleaning, grocery shopping, and cooking planned; hopefully that will keep me busy enough.

I have a dilemma. Recently I started seeing a dietitian and I emailed her a few weeks ago before I started IF. I didn't hear back, and I was a bit miffed, so yesterday I went to my regular doctor and asked her, and she thought it was a great idea. Later I finally heard back from the dietitian who thought it was horrible: I'd have all sorts of side effects, wouldn't get enough nutrition, my metabolism would slow down, there's no evidence, etc.
I normally like a lot more evidence than there is for IF (almost all evidence is from animal studies, and as I work in clinical trials, I'm well aware of the limitations of these), but in the two weeks I've been doing it, I've felt great: I have less preoccupation with food, which is a huge problem for me, and I have lost weight despite serious social challenges.
So I'm not sure whose advice I should follow. Obviously, I'm leaning towards my MD's advice, but I do have concerns. I just wish there was more evidence for IF!

Hang in there @karenm, we're almost done now . I'm feeling really hungry now, but in my head this is when the good fat burning is happening, don't know if that's true though . Going to have my salad soon. Weigh in tomorrow so I'll be sticking with it

[carorees]

@lizardline

There have been quite a few human studies into ADF and also into the two day diet (low carb fasting two days a week followed by 5 days of mediterranean diet). I have collated the evidence to date here: https://www.fastday.com/fasting/latest-research/ though I know there are a couple more studies to add to that article when I have time!

The fact that the dietician thinks your metabolism would slow down shows that she knows little about the science of fasting. Similarly not getting enough nutrition. If you cut out the carbs which contain next to no essential nutrients you can easily have your full daily recommendation of veggies and protein without going over your 500 calories. I am sure I eat far more veggies nowadays than I used to!

@lizardline

There have been quite a few human studies into ADF and also into the two day diet (low carb fasting two days a week followed by 5 days of mediterranean diet). I have collated the evidence to date here: https://www.fastday.com/fasting/latest-research/ though I know there are a couple more studies to add to that article when I have time!

The fact that the dietician thinks your metabolism would slow down shows that she knows little about the science of fasting. Similarly not getting enough nutrition. If you cut out the carbs which contain next to no essential nutrients you can easily have your full daily recommendation of veggies and protein without going over your 500 calories. I am sure I eat far more veggies nowadays than I used to!

Thanks, @carorees !

I have read that page, at the very beginning, but when I went off the site to find studies in peer-reviewed journals (I couldn't find the original articles on this site), I only found animal studies and two week studies, which are pretty much meaningless. Do you know if the original publications cited on the site are available that I could show the dietitian? I feel like there is SOOO much conflicting advice about anything pertaining to nutrition. I've read nutrition textbooks in the past, and found them interesting.
One other thing: I read that Paul Klugman, a famous economist, does IF, and I figure he's pretty smart, and all you folks are pretty smart and successful, so I feel like that's something to consider!

Liz

In today, had hard boiled egg and cheese salad for tea plus my two brazil nuts and ten almonds that I have most days. This looks like two successful fasts this week after several months of not doing so well. Glad I joined the March challenge it seems to have given me a boost

, because all or nothing is a characteristic of my personality.

@GMH

Yes, I have this problem too, which is why I thought IF would be so good for me! But I'm trying to count calories on non-fast days, too, to avoid total gluttony. If I can't do that (because of social events), I'm at least trying to limit eating to one meal.

Another successful fast day completed I have been under my tdee all week so I am hoping for a loss when I weigh tomorrow.
Glad I came back to the forum it keeps me sane

@janpartly, It helps to remember that when you lose fat it doesn't show up instantly. The instant weight loss is always water weight. In my experience, though, it takes about 2 weeks for actual fat loss--the kind that doesn't come right back-- to show up on my body. It's nice to see a drop after fasting, but my Tanita scale always reminds me that the drop is almost always because I end up dehydrated the next morning. And also because there is less weight of food in my digestive tract since I have eaten less.

Real weight loss should be happening, but don't judge it by the daily scale number!

@kelkelkelster, it's funny how different people are; my main requirement when first looking into 5:2 was that I could have my (very strong) black coffee on it. I knew that I'd never last if not. I've been very happy that I like coffee & tea without sweetener or milk/cream.

I'm in today; it's just after 7pm here and I got up noonish (yes, night owling), so just had coffee, tea, fiber, and broth so far. With the later rising, I generally eat my main meal (200-300 cals) 9ish or so, then have snackies closer to bedtime to ensure sleep! And carorees, I too eat a lot more veggies than pre-5:2, and that's considering I'm vegetarian!

I think that a lot of fasting fatigue is mental, which is one reason I started allowing myself late night snackies...after I had an evening of cheating (only about 150 cals, but it made an impression). I get the low cal popcorn (already popped, don't even own a microwave) and low/no fat frozen yogurt bars (portion control!). I think perhaps the dairy helps me sleep. And little snack bags intended for kids' lunches are good too...