The FastDay Forum

Hello people, I am looking into this diet, because I fear that when I go to my diet club this week I will not have lost any weight despite doing it100%. I have been stuck for over a year.
I have about 1.5 to 2 stone to loose, all around my middle, I have lost about 3 stone. My big fear is that with food I am either "on" or "off", I can either restrict my intake, or am out of control with my eating. If I slip up once on a diet, it is always the thin end of the wedge, I tell myself I have blown it, and use that as an excuse to eat all sorts of other things I barely want.

I feel stuck and scared. Is there anyone else with a chaotic , compulsive relationship to food who is on this eating plan? Having read through some of the guidelines I realise that eating "normally" for 5 days is what it is about.

I would love to think less about food!I would also love to do this eating plan, it sounds sane, healthy and body friendly.

Please reply if you have any insight.

Thanks so much.

[Tracieknits]

I have lost weight on Weight Watchers, but I feel it makes me a bit insane about food, thinking nonstop about what I can eat and when. That's why I don't stay with it, I find I become obsessive and miserable.

Now a bit of family history - both my mom and sister have a history of severe eating disorders. My mom has been hospitalized for anorexia when I was a child and my sister was so bulimic she's had a host of health problems, including severely damaging her esophagus.

Sooooo, just being fat means I am the "healthy" one.

I can say that I have been doing this eating plan for 2.5 months now, I have lost 9 pounds and I do not feel at all obsessive about food or this diet. Really the only times i really think about it are on Sunday, when hubby and I plan our week, the day before a fast day when i make sure I have what I need for an appropriate dinner for fast night and then during the actual fasting. And honestly, I don't even think about it all that much then!

I also feel so much more in control. I am able to eat more slowly, listen to my body and stop when I'm satisfied, instead of stuffed.

If you are seriously concerned, I think you might want to talk to a counselor about it. But my personal experience with it has been very positive.

[carorees]

I think the usual diet process of restricting what you eat every day makes people obsessive about food. As soon as you are told you mustn't have something of course you want it and badly and then you get miserable. If you have enough self control to go one day on very few calories twice a week, then this diet should work for you. You might experience a bit of bingeing at first just because you can, but that settles down and you find your appetite decreases anyway.

I really agree with Tracieknits and Carorees, any time I have dieted or joined weightwatchers I felt miserable about what I couldn't eat. Lots of us in this forum (me included) have dieted and sabotaged ourselves or fallen off the wagon in some way before and nearly always regained the weight lost. Just fasting a day at a time, knowing you can eat what you want the next day, is a world away from that. I would say try it, it really seems to be a new way of eating/living!

...and everyone's very supportive and friendly also!

Hi Herewegoagain! I am a bit of an obsessive about food too- when I try to restrict what I eat my brain just zooms in on food and I can't think about anything else! I have only done two fast days- and can truly say- it's like your brain gets reset. The days of fasting weren't too bad because there was end in sight and it was just around the corner- and when I got around the corner, despite thinking I would eat everything on the planet- I was actually not too fussed about food. It's your call-but I reckon give it a go, set a limit, maybe 2 weeks and reassess. If you are like me, things couldn't get much worse, so you have nothing to lose!

Fasting a couple of days a week, and knowing that is all I need to do, has helped me stop obsessing about food. I have tried calorie counting and weight watchers, but I find I go fine for a few weeks, but then the constant thinking about food becomes oppressive and obsessive and I can't keep going. This is very different. I've only been doing it about 4 weeks, but already I'm so much more relaxed about food.

Fasting is easier than I thought it would be. I'm not afraid to be hungry anymore. The place I'm losing weight is my stomach - which is exactly the place I normally never lose weight (and the worst place to carry extra fat). I've only lost a few kgs, but have lost cms around my waist, which is what matters most, and I'm also feeling great.

The other interesting thing is my weigh fluctuates so much over a week now, that I've stopped obsessing about the scales too. It must be to do with water retention and how much food is working its way through your system.

Thanks so much to everyone who has replied, you are so supportive. Juliet I like your idea of a time limit, I may give myself a month on this plan as my hormone cycle has a lot to answer for with fluid retention.
I am not so worried about fasting (restricting my food intake is a hobby of mine , it's more what will happen when I take the restrictions away.....

I am going to have a look at the recipes and think through how I will fit this into my week/family life.

Thanks again.

Hi, I think like some of the others that this will suit you really well, because if you want to binge - you can, but I bet you won't want to when you really get into this. Just take it steady, and don't be too hard on yourself - remember, it has taken a long time to get into your habits around food, so there is no quick fix. I have found that my obsessive thoughts around food have lessened over the time I have been on the 5:2 (started last September and have lost 1 stone 9 pounds). Food seems much less important now, and I am so proud of my new body (old lean body shape from my 20's and 30's has returned, although my skin isn't as taut!). Just let the 5:2 show you the way - healthy eating habits will slowly develop. Don't get me wrong, I can still feel 'greedy' at times and eat to satisfy mouth hunger, but it is getting less. I haven't cheated on fast days though, it is just not worth it, as I would be cheating myself and I want to continue this now for the rest of my life.

I followed weight watchers for a very long time losing and gaining weight. My attitude to food was appalling. I binge!
I am new to 5:2 but am so happy with it. At last I am enjoying food. I have ditched all the diet stuff and will never buy it again. I have real butter on my toast and full fat yogurts and really enjoy them. If I lose weight great but more important for me is my relationship with food. I eat in restaurants now too, without worrying. Give it a go, what have you got to lose other than weight?

Ok! Yesterday I bit the bullet! I had just under 500 cals, and really enjoyed it. I thought that my hunger would be unstoppable once fed, so I left it until supper,then divided that in two, to have half later in the evening when I had been out. Found coffee , water and chamomile tea to be great friends during the day, and got lots done, with no distractions!

Happily cooked for the kids, and made packed lunches with no slip ups. I loved the clarity and simplicity of it. Had amazingly concentrated and powerful meditation too (now I know why mystics fast!).
Because food is a struggle for me, life is certainly straight forward without it!

Today I am working on, and thus far succeeding with moderation. I have planned a meal for tonight I love (medium portion of course)and a glass of wine. Earlier I felt lots of anxiety around not knowing what "normal healthy eating" means, so went on line and added up my calories, and all seems good so far.

It does feel really important for me to loose weight, but my aim I would love to achieve is to be so in touch with my body that I know the difference between my eyes and my belly. My son, a natural skinny ,will stop in the middle of his fave meal when he feels full, and that looks like heaven to me!

On the techy side, I would like to make calorie counting easier, is there anything I can put on my Blackberry that would do it?

Thanks for listening kind people. I am cautiously very happy with this eating plan.

Wishing you all well x

Have you tried My Fitness Pal online?It's really very useful for counting cals. They have an app for Blackberries. here's the link - http://www.myfitnesspal.com/apps

I am so relieved to see so many of you with the same relationship I am having with food......when I am on a diet....ie Weight Watchers etc...I just obsess about it and stress myself out so much that I sabotage it and just say bugger it!.......this is what I am and what will be will be (is what I say to myself!).......but I know better as I have lost weight in the past and it was mostly from just walking and eating normally!.....and I have wondered why I put the weight back on!......I have since worked out that I am an emotional eater and that I want to eat/drink when I'm sad, happy or just tired and can't be bothered!....it is a constant struggle and I am putting my faith in this diet. I have only just started on Monday 18th March so will see how I go next week.....good luck to everyone and keep strong

Well done, Herewegoagain, glad to hear your first day was a succes! The good thing with 5:2 is also its flexibility - if it doesn't work out on one day, for whatever reason, you can instead do it on another day without feeling you've blown everything.
I hope you'll come to the point where you enjoy your food instead of obsessing over it - it has happened for many of us here!

[wildmissus]

Just to reinforce what others have said. You need to do it for at least 4 weeks. You will go through different phases.

I was a binger, like many folk here- I'm all right if I don't have any but if I have one I'll have loads. I've always been of the belief of why would anyone chose an apple if there was chocolate on offer!!!

I feel much more in control of my eating and generally much more in control of me. For a while now I have been able to listen to what my body wants and quite remarkably at the moment it is telling me I should be eating more veg. Don't get me wrong every feast day I eat chocolate and/or biscuits but in a more controlled way - I no long feel the need to finish the packet of biscuits I can just have two. I also have days when I overeat - you only need to look at my progress chart to see that. None of this bothers me any more as feel so much better, I'm losing weight overall, I have control and I just can't imagine not 5:2ing.

I've been on enough diets in the past so have a rough idea of calorie content so now I don't count calories at all, not even on fast days. This is very empowering.