The FastDay Forum

Started the 5:2 last week and was pumped and ready to go!! Week 2 and already I am looking at opportunities to 'move' my fast days around - wondering if this is really a strategy to move them so much I avoid them . Anyway, I had aimed to fast yesterday and was going great guns until I decided that going out for dinner was a good idea and that Tues. would become my fatst day! Aiming for Tues and Thurs this week so fingers crossed I don't 'accidentally' allow obstacles i.e. dinner dates etc. get in the way of my fasts. I think I came into this thinking 2 days is very do-able but I am now realising that maybe a bit more planning is required. Anyway good luck to all and as always any handy hints/tips are always appreciated for a newbie.

See how you go this week, making changes to your days and whether you then stick to the changes - and learn from it.

I've learnt that for me, right now, I need to keep them to Mon/Thurs . Last year, I could switch days with no problems, and still fast twice a week. This year I've had other things going on, and have really battled to get back into a solid 2 fasts a week - and now I just have to stick to my days to make sure I do them.

But everyone is different, and you may well be okay switching them around. As long as you reflect and figure out what works for you, you'll be just fine

I have found that not changing my mind on a fast and finishing it works for me, and I decide which two days on the preceeding Sunday (based on commitments, work etc) and from then on out, I don't change.

One reason is, having done the hard yards of fasting all day til dinner, I wouldn't want to start again.

Thanks KataMac and NZNicole - much appreciated - I'll let you know how I fair this week!!!

I agree with nznicole--I've kept myself on a fast by realizing how much work I'd already put in, and how mad I'd be at myself for blowing it late in the day. You do have to be careful about those "special cases," 'cause every day can become one. For the dinner out example, I'd do that only if a good friend from out of town that I hadn't seen in a long while was dropping in and had only that evening to see me. Dinner out always sounds good, especially when you haven't eaten all day!

I think for me it would depend on the nature of the challenge. If I thought I was just looking for an excuse not to fast, I probably wouldn't do it. I went to parties on fast days and survived in the days when I still had a lot to lose. If, however, the dinner or whatever seemed like an opportunity I didn't want to miss, I would switch around my fast days. It's supposed to be flexible, after all.

I've settled into a MWF pattern lately, but probably every 4th week or so, I end up doing TuThSat. This last time it was because I woke up on Monday morning (after a half-marathon on Sunday) and didn't want to fast. I think I would have been miserable if I had tried. My Tuesday fast was fine…

p.s. I think it's pretty normal for it to feel tougher after the first few fasts. It's not new and exciting now, but you're also not that experienced at it yet. It will get easier.

I have tried swapping my fast days around but I have realised that i am just setting myself up for failure by doing that. I know a great deal of people here say that is the beauty of this WOE being able to be flexible but for me I have to have set days and stick with those. I have read a few internet articles where people have a lost a great deal of weight using eating windows mostly 19:5 or one meal a day, and in every article i read where they have been successful the main piece of advice they give is to stick to a routine and NOT break it or change it in anyway.
For me I just have to tell myself its only one day you can eat tomorrow or have the cake tomorrow.....
Good luck with your fasts this week

[carieoates]

I'm afraid that only you can help yourself here.
Planning is the most important thing in my experience. I've even stuck with 4.3 so that I don't have three feast days in a row over the weekend. This minimises my wine, chocolate and takeaway opportunities. .

I stick with the same fast days (Mon and Weds) and it is a routine now. I also tend not to abandon fasts half way through because the thought of having to do another day and 'waste' the day I've already started puts me off. I've been doing it so long now that fasting on those days is just a way of life. I think you're right though - and you may be unconsciously looking for a way to get out of fasting altogether! I (and shoot me down in flames if you like) have never found fasting difficult - I know a lot of people who have started 5 2 and then given up because they say they can't do it because of the hunger/they feel faint etc but I actually LIKE fasting (especially on a Monday) and it is no hardship to miss meals. But that's just me.

I think in the beginning you need to be organised. Have your food ready, get your head around the routine AND MAKE A COMMITMENT to stick to it. Or look at how life will be staying the same.

Another vote for planning ahead, figuring out exactly what you are going to eat, making sure that food is available, and sticking to your plan.

I find that when I have had to move fasts they were much tougher. When I fast on my usual M/Th schedule now, after many months of doing so, my body is used to it and the fasts go very easily. When I move them, they feel like fasting the first time, and I have to get through bouts of hunger.

Speaking as someone who just abandoned a fast yesterday evening, I can tell you planning is everything and don't whatever you do go food shopping and buy something you really like to eat. Though there is a lot to be said about frame of mind, and yesterday I woke up and I was starving from the get go but I stuck with it thinking I could get through the day with shear determination. I failed
Today on the other hand has been easier, may be its the guilt from not completing yesterday, but mentally I am doing better with it.
So, all that to say, for me planning and being in tune with your goals and why you're doing it works ... and it does get easier, this is my second time around and I had also gotten to the point where I could fast two days in a row and it wouldn't bother me.
Stick at it, be patient and it will pass ... and you know, you can always eat that"insert craving" tomorrow

Good luck!

Thanks to all for your comments and advice - quite reassuring - pleased to report that yesterday's fast was a success and looking forward to Thursday's challenge

I haven't read all these posts, but I believe in sticking to my plan. If I am going out for dinner on a fast day, I just eat low calorie - no wine, no dessert, but protein and salad or veg - like fish and salad or steak and no chips, that kind of thing. I scan the menu and make a low calorie choice. It's possible. I've done Chinese and just not had rice. It's not the same, but then, it's a fast day. So you have to make allowances.