The FastDay Forum

Hello! It's a beautiful bright but crisp morning in Melbourne, and I have just come in from the garden (bit wet and soggy tho) for the first black coffee of the day.

I am having trouble shifting the holiday gain... It's been 3 weeks since our return, so I should give myself longer when I know I have at least 2 inches to shift from everywhere, but I am not a very patient person!!

I do wonder if my initial successful loss on 5:2 was in part due to the novelty effect of any diet, and the fast day strategy perhaps does not work so well if you do subsequently put on a few kgs of fat... Time will tell... In maintenance I have struggled to keep the kgs off, but this last holiday has been my biggest gain yet...

Best wishes and good luck to today's fasters!

Hello everybody

It is a lovely morning here in Melbourne, thanks for starting us today @Sassy1 - we had to head out early this morning, and on our way home stopped at a local shopping centre car park, and when we got back in, my car wouldn't start!

Whilst waiting for the Mr. fixit man - I stood at the front on my car, bathed in glorious sunshine! We also shouted ourselves to a cup of coffee, my OH had a ham and cheese toastie, but I resisted the temptation even though I was feeling quite 'stressed' by our little hiccup.

I have discovered I am definitely in the category of 'emotional eater' and the last few weeks I have been 'testing' this theory, and not caving in when I am feeling stressed by things. Whatever I am doing it's working, between watching the carbs, starches, sugar and processed food, together with Fasting two days, the scales are going down.

Sassy1 - you will get there, it's just taking a little longer - be gentle on yourself.

Anyway, have a great day today where ever you are, and take care.

cheers
Maggie xx

I hate to be a "wet blanket" but I actually think no diet works so well "the second time around" - and I have plenty of diets under my belt, so to speak. I really think our bodies get used to it - many here will not agree with me but, on the other hand, many are finding it difficult after all this time !!

Hi all, I'm in!

I have been absent for quite a while, not because I've given up 5:2; far from it. Life has been busy and I've barely been keeping up.

Happy fasting everyone!

Hello fasters, just popping in to cheer you on. I did not fast today as we had to go to Launceston for OH to see the lung/sleep specialist and I have done that a few times on a Thursday. There is a cafe next to the specialist's rooms which has a wide variety of delicious looking cakes and I have started researching those cakes and it always distresses me when I'm there on a fasting day and I can't continue with my research. So I decided to fast tomorrow instead. I won't tell you what kind of cake I had today, and simply say it looked better than it was. As for comments about the diet not working 2nd time around, I think we always understood it to be a life time change, not a diet that started and ended. My weight loss as you know has stopped but if I continue regular fasting I can expect to hold the loss steady and not gain. @Sassy1, how much did you put on?

@Lovemyparrot, I think you are just being a realist!! and thanks @Maggiee for your confidence in me - and I am so pleased that you are continuing to do so well! Welcome back @chinchin - hope you were good busy!!

I have mentioned elsewhere that I found 5:2 excellent for losing weight the first time, but it did not help me address the reasons I was overweight, which is why I have put on weight since. Some of these reasons I have been able to address reasonably well - I have reduced my evening eating my keeping busy knitting; and I have tuned in better to my feelings of satiety. However, I have found that if I can't fill up on veggies (eg sometimes when I eat out or am on non-self catered holidays) then I find it very easy to overeat - the "I'm full" signal does not work with carbs OR fats for me without veggies to bulk things up.

Any ideas anyone has for how I can feel full when veggies aren't available (when traveling) would be much appreciated! I have tried eating cheese (no crackers) but that doesn't work. Nuts are too more-ish. I am not sure I could stomach consuming oils/ cream without veggies or fruit.

@Sallyo, just saw your post as I was about to post this. I don't know how much I have put on in kgs, but I have increased my hips and waist by about 2-3 inches, based on how the jeans (don't) fit! I think that equates to 3-5kg. I don't plan to check weight until I fit my clothes better. (OH has been recording my weight for me tho, so I can reflect later - one bonus of poor eyesight is that if I stand on the scales without my glasses, I can't see the numbers!!)

Re "way of life" , I think fasting can be a way of life, but not sure that I want fast days to be the way. That is, if I need 2 fast days a week to maintain, that means I am overeating other days. I want to be in a space when I eat according to my body's needs on all days - a la Amanda S-S. My preference is for fasting to be done once or twice a week by having 16+ hours with no food, but then eating roughly a normal day's amount of food.

Good luck Thursday fasters, I'll be fasting tomorrow instead as I'm off to our annual picnic (work) at Regents Park for the whole afternoon!

Checking in for today.. happy fast day everyone

I have been wondering the same thing, Sassy1. About eating the right amount every day. Clearly, it's something I'm not good at, or I wouldn't be in this mess in the first place. And while fasting worked brilliantly for weight loss, I'm frustrated that I fast so much, and don't really maintain well. Why am I overeating so much on non-fast days? I keep blaming my mood/stress/emotional eating but I wonder if fasting is the problem or part of the problem. I don't dare stop, though! I might turn back into a whale!

Anyway I also fasted yesterday. It was easy because I was crazy busy. Good luck for those of you in other time zones!

I'm in today, just had my first "food" (broth) of the day (almost 5pm here).

Re: 5:2 as a Way of Life--I suppose I sound like a broken record; I didn't know/think this at first, but over time have found 2 light days a week eminently doable; for me, unless I actually get too thin (yeah, right!), I'll continue with that pattern the rest of my life. I like to eat; I'm not a binge eater, a little bit of an emotional eater, but I love me my food, particularly I enjoy eating without assessing the macronutrients in every mouthful! In fact, I consider that akin to hell. I can do that 2 days a week (though I have standard things I almost always eat on light days, so I seldom have to think about it), but if I couldn't have a pastry or a beer on a normal day, this WOL would go out the window with all the other "diets" I've tried over the years. I do believe you just need to make up your mind that this is how you'll eat for the rest of your life. I think that not making exceptions has helped me to stick with it; while I'm sympathetic to not wanting to fast on vacation, I have not missed a fast day since Apr 24, 2014. (Subbed only a couple of times.) Making exceptions is a problem for me...

Wow @ferretgal, I am in awe of you continuing to fast while on vacation! I have managed to fast sometimes when on self-catered vacation, but when I have minimal control over the catering, I don't seem to be able to stop myself enjoying a big breakfast, and then it is downhill (!!) from there. Once I start on (non veggie) carbs it seems ...

@MaryAnn, have you tried following the Amanda Sainsbury-Salis approach? It did help me tune into my feelings of satiety much better than I was doing before and, when I have a range of whole foods available to me, her approach does seem to work very well. But, as I have said, my problem is when I can't access the veggies I seem to need.

Managed a good fast, and am enjoying food today!! Best wishes to those of you still fasting.

I'm with you, @ferretgal.And it's not just about weight loss. If we stop fasting what about all those other benefits of reduced chances of old age disease? I know it's not 'scientifically proven' yet, but I'm holding the faith. I'm going through a rough patch with fasting at the moment, but I am in hope that it will pass and I will reach that place where fasts are easy and do-able. I am inspired also by ferrtgal's holiday fasting and intend to try to keep it up while I am in Sydney for a holiday in the first week of August, whereas before I read that, ferret, I was planning on having a break. It's just a matter of skipping breakfast and making wise choices for the rest of the day: salads and protein, not cakes and wine. There's always tomorrow.

Thanks, @Sassy1. I should definitely get her book.