The FastDay Forum

Hi everyone,

This is my first post, so I'll start with a little about myself. I'm 24 years old and weigh 150 kg (24 stone), I first watched Dr Michael Mosley's Eat, Fast, Live Longer when it was broadcast last year. I've been wanting to take up the 'diet' and I bought The Fast Diet as soon as it was up on Amazon, I got it so early I've got one of the early books with the web address wrong on the back.

BUT I haven't been able to get through a fast day yet, I keep giving in and binging on food by early evening. I suspect this is due to my weight; whether my body actually needs more than 600 calories (unlikely), or whether it's more a psychological thing (probably the reason, and probably the same thing that made me obese in the first place).

So to my point, is there much research on the 5:2 diet for the morbidly obese? Is there anyone on these forums that is/was significantly over weight and on the 5:2 diet?

Kronic

Hi there, you are not alone I too fall into the M.O catagory.
I have done 4 fasts so far and my last one on Sun I did something a bit different.
I missed breakfast but did have skimmed milk in my tea then for lunch had cereal and in the evening soup (home made).
So maybe if you experiment and do what's comfortable for you.
Think you may actually be able to up your callorie intake on fast days look on the F&Q it will explain about TDEE etc.
Just one more thing, don't let guilt creep in if you don't manage a fast day, just try annother way annother day.
Good luck.

Hi Bee,

Thanks for replying. Well done on your 4 fasts so far. Today is, I hope, going to be my first non-sabotaged fast day. I've had about 220 calories so far, and I'm hoping to make it to about 7 or 8 before I have my remaining 380, and hopefully I won't get too hungry at night. I eat A LOT after 10pm usually, so this is going to be quite hard to get out of, and I should probably try to get out of it on non-fast days too.

One thing I have noticed is that morbidly obese people have a higher average weekly weight loss on the tracker stats, so at least we've got that to look forwards to! I'm hoping being a man that has never dieted before may help me out a little too.

Kronic

Hello Kronic
Welcome to the forum. I am on my fourth week now so tomorrow will be my 7th or 8th fast & I am still a novice learning how to do 5:2. I have 5 stone to lose so I am certainly in the obese grouping. I found to start with that I had to allow myself to feel hungry & just go along with it. Being used like most people to eat anything when I felt like it relearning the sensation of being hungry was a little disconcerting, but I soon realised that often I was thirsty rather than hungry. So on fast days make sure you drink enough water, coffee or tea & if you add milk account for it in your calorie allowance. I also found the moment I ate food it made me more hungry so I save my calories for an evening meal & allow myself a hot chocolate before bed to help me sleep.
It may seem very counter intuitive thinking you can go all day just having hot or cold drinks but it works well for me. It is only one day & then next day you can within reason eat what you like! In fact I made the mistake of under eating on my eating days so you need to check your TDEE or BMR there are links in the FAQs section on here.
Good luck with your next fast & don't be afraid to feel hungry just treat it as a learning experience. We novices are all learning how to do this.

[carorees]

Hi there and welcome. You are certainly not alone.

How to avoid over eating on fast days? Well, I have, right from the start, saved all my calories until dinner time. I think that not starting eating is easier than limiting what you eat once you start. At dinner I have a really large portion of vegetables and a small amount of fish or chicken. This leaves me very full indeed and it is easy to get to bedtime without eating again.

When I am tempted to break the fast early (i.e. eat before dinner) I think, well I'll see if I can go another half hour or hour and see how I feel then. Usually the hunger has passed by that time. Also I remind myself that eating now means a smaller dinner (which I don't want) and that keeps me going. I had 5 stone to lose to reach normal weight when I started and have lost 2 so far (in 4 months).

Good luck

[Tracieknits]

Hi KronicSonic! With a BMI of 40.04, I am still technically morbidly obese. I have lost 3.94KG on this diet since Jan 8 and I fully expect to no longer be MO with my next weigh in.

Now I'm going to say things that others might disagree with, but here goes. I think with your weight, perhaps 600 calories is unreasonably low. Have you actually calculated your Total Daily Energy Expenditure? Perhaps your fasting calorie allowance should be a bit higher until you lose some of your weight? And you know what? it's not the end of the world if you go over what you're supposed to eat. If you are really only supposed to eat 600 calories, but you eat 800 on a fast day, it's still a huge improvement over what you would have otherwise eaten? Right?

Give it another go, and try not to put so much pressure on yourself. I personally find that it's much easier to simply not eat until 6pm. I have black coffee, water and herbal tea, then in the late afternoon I usually have a cup of bouillon. If I'm feeling weak, I might have two or three, although lately I haven't been needing so much. The first few weeks I did drink more. Then I have my dinner at 6pm. Usually, this is enough for me. But if I get really hungry after dinner, I will have a healthy snack, like an apple, even though I might have already used up my calories. I try to make sure it's really healthy, and not a huge amount of calories. I might get a bowl full of baby spinach leaves and add a couple of teaspoons of dressing, or have an orange. As long as it's a health snack of fruit or veg, I do not beat myself up for it. Then, my trick for going to bed hungry is to figure out what I'm eating in the morning. Sometimes I take croissants out of the freezer to proof overnight as my morning reward for being good. It really helps!

Do you cook? Perhaps next time you could make a big pot of a low calorie soup, and simply gorge yourself on it your next fast night. You can make a cabbage soup that is satisfying and filling, and eat 10 bowls of it for 500 calories.

Thing is, even if you blow it, try not to be too hard on yourself. Yes, there are days I have gone over my 500 calories. I get it. It's hard!! But pick yourself up, dust yourself off and recognize that it's still better than what I would have done if I weren't attempting the diet

Just a thought and I may be seriously missing the point here but the 600 calorie figure for men was meant to be around 1/4 of a daily amount needed. Perhaps if you're struggling with just 600 calories you should work out what you have on a normal day and try a few days on 1/4 of that amount to try and get used to it.

Part of the problem I had initially was that I had to work out what feelings were hunger, what was appetite (I have a prodigious appetite, and what was greed (I have plenty of that too). After a few efforts at reduced calorie days I have begun to identify which are which. I have discovered that when fasting I only get hungry for two to three short 15 minute periods per day. My appetite on the other hand gives me grief for an hour or two... Over the last month I've learned to control the appetite and the hunger I cope with by distraction

James

[Tracieknits]

Oooh excellent post! Thanks JamesM

[wildmissus]

Hi Kronic, the only thing I can add is that it takes time to get used to this new way of eating, as least a month and even with that I'm still adjusting things. I think this is my eighth week and I'm now beginning to 'hear' my body. I'm sure as time goes by I'll still be making adjustments.

I have my 500 cals at tea time but I now know that I am full up but it doesn't stop me wanting to eat in the evening (cravings/psychological). It is hard but I don't do it because I can do it tomorrow which isn't that far off!

Kronicsonic I just want to say we are all here for you.
I find browsing on here on a fast day really gives me the encouragement and inspiration to keep going.
Like carorees when I'm hungry I think I'll see if I can last another half hour/ hour, have a nice drink, come on here and before I know it an hour at least has passed.
My one bit of advice would be to save all your calories until the evening. Most of us find that if we eat anything on a fast day it makes us want to eat more.
Good luck kronicsonic I'm rooting for you.

Stick with it! Keep trying, you'll be happy you did.

I have one meal a day on my fast days too, at dinner time. I find it much easier to put all thoughts of food out of my mind entirely for the day instead of trying to think of what I can and can't have that day.
If you're craving something specific, tell youself you can have it in the morning. Chances are you'll wake up proud of yourself for fasting the day before and not want to go mad the next day.
Try to visualise yourself suceeding in what you're trying to do, feel proud of yourself Good luck.

Hi,
I'd say stick with it too.
I used to split my 500 cals into three tiny meals then cut down to two and just recently have started having just one meal of 500 cals. I decide to try this because when I start eating I want to carry on and I had read on here that other people found one meal worked better. I think it works for me too.

The other thing is - its taken me a while to get used to eating like this and although I can usually stick to the right number of cals on the low cal day I have over eaten quite often on the "normal" days. I am doing this less but I still do it now and then so I would say - keep trying as you do get used to eating differently.

Good luck.

Love your post Jenny.

Hi there I am in my first week of this diet and I'm on my 2nd fast today. I am m.or to (after having my daughter at 18 the weight creeped on through snacking on junk instead of proper meals, I'm now 22). I have tried both days to wait until at least 6pm before eating a meal, just having water or a cuppa rather than food. On my first fast I caved at ate a banana at 2.30 then vegetable soup at 7pm then a yogurt afterwards (I went to bed starving) today I lasted till 7.30p before eating and all I had was 1 slice of toast and a small can of baked beans coz I just wasnt hungry. That was only 252 cals. I used another 49 on 100ml of milk throughout the day in my cups of tea. I am looking forward to breakfast tomorrow but I'm definitely not as hungry as I was with my first fast. I think it's all about trial and error really, try one way and if that doesn't work try something different. Eventually you'll find what routine works best for you. Don't give in and good luck xx

...I haven't been able to get through a fast day yet, I keep giving in and binging on food by early evening. I suspect this is due to my weight; whether my body actually needs more than 600 calories (unlikely), or whether it's more a psychological thing (probably the reason, and probably the same thing that made me obese in the first place).

Hi Kronic

Welcome to the FD forum - you've come to the right place.

I began this WOL 6 months before the Horizon programme, and simply divided each meal in half on two days a week (so around 1200 calories, although I didn't count them) - and I still lost weight. I began at 10.10 and lost 8 pounds - without even trying. After going down to <600 calories I lost a further stone.

I've just posted all I've learned in the last year about how the appetite works - hope it is of some help:

http://www.52fastdiet.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1499

Best wishes, and, as others have already said, you're not alone - we're all here to help.

B&W