The FastDay Forum

Anyone else joining me today?
Tuesday's fast went well and I'm planning the same food for today. I just hope I manage to sleep better tonight than on Tuesday. If anyone else has the same problem on Fast days could they please pass on their wisdom. Thanks.

I am also fasting today. It is my maintenance once a week -fast. I have put on a kilo since I stopped my fasting regime last week.. So it is good to be fasting now.. I will not eat anything until dinner this evening. At afternoon tea I'll have a bit of milk with my tea. .
Two things that help me sleep better, even when fasting
1) setting the alarm, every morning at the same time Going to bed at a regular time as well. Even at week ends I set the alarm.
2) Every night, before going to bed, I warm up half a small mug of milk and put in half a teaspoon of honey, and have that just before going to bed.
Sometimes when I do not sleep well when fasting, I think that the body will get the sleep it needs, and I'll sleep better the next night!
We have snow and winter here now. It looks beautiful, since our house is surrounded by a pine forest on 3 sides!

I'm fasting today and planning an omelette and salad this evening for dinner. Sleep is sometimes a problem for me too but I'm not a fan of milky drinks so any other suggestions would be very gratefully received!

I'm in today, just having my pot 'o green tea. Re: sleep challenges--I've always had issues with sleeping, which have gotten worse since menopause. (Hot flashes, oh my! though these are getting better.) Being a night owl (to the point that I qualify as having Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome), I cannot sleep before midnight, which would be an "early to bed" time for me. And I have found that being either hungry or too full is a bad thing when it comes to sleeping well.

So on light (fast) days, I make sure I eat close to bedtime. In the last few months, I was having some difficulty controlling my snacky urges late in the evening on light days. So for the last couple of weeks, I've been changing some of my light day patterns, seems to be helping.

--Have my broth (first cals of the day) when I hit that first wall of hunger (not first twinges, but that first one that makes it hard to think about anything but food). I used to just say that was 4pm, but lately I've been letting my body (rather than the clock) decide that, and it's usually more like 3pm now.
--First real food, late afternoon snack, protein and fat (ideal is hardboiled egg).
--"Dinner" (usually 9pm or later): Emphasize moderate protein, tiny bit of fat, carbs only from fibrous veggies (such as broccoli). Keep calories down to about 200.
--"Reward" (dessert)/bedtime snack: I had been having this earlier in the day; it may be that the sugar was triggering more hunger, and that's why I was having trouble with discipline in the evening. Whatever the reason, it's working to have it late; perhaps because I waited all day for it, it feels decadent (why I call it my Reward), and I do think it helps me sleep better: Usually this consists of my light day version of a chocolate sundae: Siggi's vanilla yogurt (100 cals, and so rich and thick you can't believe it's fat free), some fruit (pears lately), and two squares of very dark chocolate, melted. Melting the chocolate is key, it has much more impact than two squares popped in the mouth! Oh, and one light day I found myself CRAVING fat and was having trouble coming up with something "legal"... I added a half teaspoon of almond butter to the chocolate. It worked! And was very yummy...

I've also been musing about the whole "finite willpower" issue, and thinking that keeping the hard battles earlier in the day, then allowing a bit of naughtiness later (when my willpower is depleted) might work... So far, so good. (And yes, some days I "don't wanna" fast, I do it anyway. I also don't want to gain back what I've lost.)

It is the 4th today. not sure where else to write. My fast day went OK yesterday and I lost about 600grams. I am now back to what my weight has been for some time, 55.9. This gives me a BMI of 21.84. So I am quite pleased about that.
It is lovely and sunny here now. But colder. About 5 Centigrade minus. But beautiful blue skies and the snow makes everything so much lighter.