The FastDay Forum

Emma,
Welcome! Having just started only a week ago, I gave to say, it is not as hard as I first imagined. So much so that I might consider 4:3 to accelerate my loss. The inky thing stopping me is my skeptical mindset which is urging caution in number of fast days

Susan Y,
Had that problem Monday. Was in a meeting with a rep who had brought some amazing gourmet sandwiches. In a closed meeting room, they smelled divine. But willpower held out. That plus I disguised the lack of food consumption with a mug of black coffee.

Hi Emma! How are you doing? It's also day 1 for you. Glad to hear about the coffee, thanks.

Hello everyone. I'm a complete newbie to this WOL and I've decided to take the plunge and do my first fast day today. I'm nervous!!! I just had a black coffee and decided to do a short workout, as usual. Is this a bad idea on a fast day? Everything I've read says that you can continue your exercise routine as normal.

Hi Mla5859 welcome and don't be nervous. Doing it is much easier than thinking about it. I always exercise on my fast days but do find it harder on my second fast day,Wednesdays. Other people on the forum have no problems at all.

Off to the cross trainer now and good luck to all fellow fasters.

Ps. Never heard to Graze boxes but guess that's not surprising for rural France, only just managed to get cottage cheese in,the past few weeks!

Welcome Mia5859, you should be fine with a short workout on a fast day but see how it goes. The first few fasts are the hardest because your body needs to adapt to fat burning, and this stage will come on faster (forgive the pun) if you exercise because your glycogen stores will get depleted. So it will probably be good, but if you 'fail' don't give up, just try another day without the exercise. Once you are established with fasting (after 2-4 weeks say) the exercise should not be a problem - as long as you are not marathon running. I often play squash on a fast day.

Hi Dominic, Your 10kg loss since Sept is impressive & encouraging. This is my first day, It's mid afternoon & I'm doing OK. Can you give any idea of how soon you begin to burn fat for energy. I realize it depends on how much energy you use but is there any sort of a guide anywhere?

I'm in, but not feeling as motivated as I did on Monday. But things to do out of the house which will help.

Good morning all I'm in again. I do enjoy my fast days and not having to worry about what to eat at lunchtime - I just don't have to take lunch to work any more!

About to eat my 500 cal dinner! Having it a bit early as my hands are tingling which is odd, so I thought maybe I better get some food in! Driving while hungry makes me very nauseous it turns out, which today was a bad thing because I did 3 hours worth of driving.

Morning all, I'm in today as well. Usually do Monday and Friday but change of plan as we are eating out on Friday. Hope to fast on Friday as well although not stick to 500 cal on the night This is my 6th fast and am loving the flexibility of it

Hi Dominic, Your 10kg loss since Sept is impressive & encouraging. This is my first day, It's mid afternoon & I'm doing OK. Can you give any idea of how soon you begin to burn fat for energy. I realize it depends on how much energy you use but is there any sort of a guide anywhere?

Hi Susan, delighted to hear it's going okay for you so far. I don't have or know of any guides about when we start fat-burning. Ketostix (which measure excretion of ketones through urine) do not work (I tried!) I suspect it varies by individual and it might also be affected by how you are consuming your 500 calories through the fast day - as well as by exercise. If you have several meals then you are topping up your glycogen stores and delaying the onset of fat burning, if you don't eat until evening of the fast day (as I have always done) then fat-burning must logically start earlier.

I wouldn't worry too much about it, but just have in mind that if you are finding it hard fasting, the more so the longer it is since you last had any calories, one reason may be that your body does have to adapt to fat-burning and it may resist. It gets easier as your continue fasting (I would say the adaptation for most is 2-4 weeks, some lucky people find it a breeze from the get-go, for me it took longer). Making that switch is a very good trick for your body to learn. (BTW it is not all-or-nothing, your body can burn some glycogen and some fat.) Endurance athletes train to acquire this ability - they have to be able to metabolize fat 'on the fly' or they wouldn't stay the course.

Hi fasting again today ... Love this forum and the support . I always get stuck for ideas re lunch . My lovely other half always cooks 350 cal dinner on fast days ... Any ideas ? X

I'm fasting today. I usually do Monday and Thursdays, but we have a team lunch tomorrow and I don't want to miss that. I've not done a fast with only one day in between before and I have a dance class tonight, so I hope I survive! Lots of water will be the key for me, a 2 litre bottle of sparkling is sitting next to me on the desk to keep me going. Loving the WOE, it's really working for me (despite a few regularity issues

Think I ate my dinner a bit too early. I'll be going to bed with a rumbly tummy me thinks :/

I'm fasting today. Was supposed to be tomorrow but then I remembered that I am having coffee and patisserie with a friend at our favourite restaurant. Everything is hand made and superb, and I would feel seriously deprived if I didn't have something yummy!