The FastDay Forum

Hey folks,
I use forums for a number of different reasons and find them useful.
So I thought I would see if there was one for the 5:2 diet as well.

Today I am on day one. And at 2.30pm here is Brisbane Australia, my tummy is gurgling away telling me to feed it.

I am in my 30's and was quite surprised to find that my cholesterol was stupidly high during a recent blood test.
I was prescribed Lipitor that lowered it enough in 3 months for the life insurance company to approve my request for cover.
BUT - I want to use this as a catalyst to lose some weight and lower my cholesterol naturally.
I would like to be able to be an active dad to my kids for many years to come.

So here I am. Following seeing the Michael Mosley documentary I did some internet research and could not find any negatives to the 5:2 diet. And some benefits. So I am giving it a go.

I am going to try and keep my fasting days below 600calories. Today I am aiming for 5 cherry tomatoes, 1 celery stick and 1 banana, plus milk-less tea and coffee.
At 2:30pm I still have the banana, 1 tomato and one small piece of celery left. So should make it till breakfast.

Anyway, i am going to have a look around the forums and see whats what.
Thanks for listening!
BA Brisbane.

[Tracieknits]

Hello and welcome!!!

Sorry it took so long to get you approved @BABrisbane -- I was on holiday this past weekend.

glad you found us! How did your fast go?

If i might make a suggestion -- I would add more protein and eat less sugar (l would absolutely skip the banana). YOu'll feel more satisfied longer with some protein in your system. Many of us find it really makes a huge difference

No problems at all Tracie.
Thanks for the advice on the food selection. I started with little prep time, just grabbed something from the fridge to go to work.

I was doing really well, but when I got home I struggled a fair bit and over ate. I think I probably ended up at 1000calories.

But day one, not the end of the world. I am going to go for day 2 on either Wednesday or Thursday. This time I know my weakness is getting home to the family and all the yummy food, so I will prepare myself mentally before then.

All right. Trying this again.
Went n a 10km Outrigger Paddle this morning and sipping a black coffee right now.
I did not bring any snacks to the office today.
Going to try and make it till dinner time then have a 300calorie pre prepared meal.
Fingers crossed will power beats hunger pains.

Tempted however to go get some beef or chicken stock cubes to have a a tea / broth at lunch time.

Hello @BABrisbane from Melbourne, and welcome!

Incorporating fasting into your diet when you have a young family can be a bit of a challenge - as you say, a lot of yummy food around that you can't always ban from the fridge and cupboard that others of us can do. You also want to be ensuring your children learn good eating behaviour, and for them breakfast is important. At least only reducing your cals a couple of days a week means that most of the days you are eating normally!

It's a good idea to have worked out in advance what you will eat on a fast day. Helps stop you eating more than you want. It can be hard to keep the calories low if you are feeling hungry in the evening. Find evening meals, ideally ones that suit all the family, that are satisfying for fast days. I find that a small steak and LOTS of vegetables can be very filling (I still have some starchy veg, though most people won't), but there are lots of more interesting meals you can make. Soups and casseroles can be very filling - having water in the meal helps.

Drinking lots of water on the fast day - every day in fact - can help. Drinking a glass of water about half an hour before every meal can be a good idea. Also drinking water when you think you are hungry can defer hunger, and sometimes it is thirst not hunger you are really feeling.

What are your eating challenges? What foods or times of day cause a problem? Although the basic 5:2 approach doesn't require you to make changes on non-fast days, it is an opportunity to address some of the less healthy eating habits, if you want - often once you start losing weight, you feel motivated to make other changes.

Do you have time to do any exercise? Getting in at least 10,000 steps a day can help with your overall health as well.

You will probably find this forum quiet compared to the others you belong to, but generally someone will reply to your posts! Do take part in the "fasting today" threads, and start them if no one else has (generally in Australia we are the first to post on a day of course, so do start a thread!). And be active in the other discussions too,

Best wishes and good luck.

Your reply was posted while I was writing, so I didn't see it. Obviously you do get in the exercise!!

Yes, I do. I really enjoy it.
And in regards to my normal eating, it is actually pretty good. I just have issues with volume control. I am a big guy, not overly fat except when you consult a BMI calculator. Just big.
As such I can put away a large volume of food which is what I am trying to change on non fast days.

Hopefully the fast days help me drop some kg's. I am 112-113kg at the moment and would love to get to 100kg. But the BMI calculators all say I should be 86kg. If I was 86 I would be ill I think. During high school when I was training 10 times a week at high intensity I was 96kg. So I don't think they reflect my body shape?

Good idea with the fasting day threads. I have been looking around and found them. I will keep and eye on them and post into them as required too for support.

Hi again!

How tall are you? I believe that the standard "healthy" BMI range does not necessarily apply for tall people. If you do a bit of back reading on this forum, you will see I am not a fan of too much concentration on what the scales say. You know yourself what is a comfortable/ healthy size for you. Other health indicators are important - it is only your cholesterol that was a problem, or are there others? I am not a fan either of taking medication, but do understand it can be necessary, as in your case. Hopefully you can lower your cholesterol and come off the meds.

Your first goal to get to around 100kg sounds sensible - I have read that aiming to lose 10% of your body weight is a realistic goal. When you get there, you can assess what you want to do next.

I understand totally about being able to eat a lot! I have similar issues. My diet is generally pretty healthy but I am able to consume huge quantities if I let myself... Always have, even when quite young - though didn't have the same opportunity to do it regularly as I could once I left home... Which is when I put on weight...

Anyway... I suggest sticking with the basic 5:2 for at least 6 weeks and then review how it is going and what changes you may need to make. It can take that amount of time for a realistic assessment of weight lost - some lose weight quickly, others don't see much happening for a while.

I look forward to hearing how you are going.

Thanks Sassy,
Since writing that I found that the forum has a information on BMI and there are 3 charts relating to the circumference of the wrist. My wrist is 10mm larger than the minimum for the higher category which puts my outer BMI limit to 94kg. So my high school weight of 96 is actually probably pretty spot on. And if I can reach 100kg then I think my health will certainly benefit from it.

[Tracieknits]

Glad to see @Sassy1 popped in with some great advice and that you've sorted the BMI issue. I think the other factor is that you really, really do exercise and muscle weighs a lot more than fat. BMI is reasonably accurate for average people (average height, average or below average activity), but it's less reasonable for people like yourself.

If you're tall and heavier, you can have more calories. If you find a TDEE calculator (Total Daily Energy Expenditure), you can find your TDEE and aim to eat 25% of that for your fast day. With an average person, that's about 600 calories for a man, 500 for a woman. But being tall and active, and over 100kg, you are probably ok eating a bit more. So if you find 300 calories exceedingly difficult, you can consider a few more on fast days without issue.

I understand needing volume -- my husband likes an enormous meal. So aiming for lower calorie soup or a big plate of leafy green veg with some protein and a bit of fat are ideal fast day meals for him.