The FastDay Forum

Hello all,

I'm new to the forum but I've been trying the diet for 5 weeks now.

My first few fasts were well planned: 200 calorie breakfast, 100 lunch, 100-150 dinner and 50-100 in cucumber and carrot sticks throughout the day, but I found I was really grouchy in the evening and never felt satisfied after a measley evening meal.

So I've switched to one 500 meal a day, which is suiting me much better. It's definitely not as hard as I thought it would be; I drink lots and lots of water throughout the day (I've never been a tea/coffee drinker) and plan a delicious evening meal to look forward to (my faves include salmon / nut roast + veg and potatoes). When I first did it, I kept carrot sticks with me as back up in case I cracked and needed something, I think it was nice to have a saftey net and also to see if I could get through a day without using it! I didn't want to wake my stomach up unnecessarily!!

In terms of weight loss; I lost about 4kg in the first week, but my weight has been pretty stable since then, dipping perhaps by another kg. I haven't been measuring myself, by I feel as is my waist has shrunk as my clothes feel looser. Overall, I feel better about myself and I feel as if I have a much healthier attitude towards food. I seem to be in a better general mood, and more alert. I am however quite short 5'1 / 157cm, so I'm wondering if I need to alter the diet a bit if I want to see more weight loss results...

I only managed to watch the Horizon documentary last night as I hadn't managed to find a link to it before then. Thought it was really interesting, and I'm wondering whether there would be additional benefits to doing a longer fast say once a month/once every 2 months - eg a fast lasting 3-4 days, as Michael did in the documentary. Or whether the fast days should be a total fast day -eg eat nothing from the evening meal to breakfast the following day / 36 hours of fasting... I've seen a few people on here say they do that; I think I could try it, but do you eat all 500 calories for breakfast then? Or do you just have a normal day of eating? I don't think I'd be able to handle 500 calories for breakfast; normally after fast days I can only manage the smallest amount of breakfast! I'd be interested to hear people's views on that...

Anyway I think these forums are great; I've been dipping in and out, reading recipes, people's success stories and people's struggles. A friend and I are doing it together, so it's nice to have a "real life" friend too!

Hi Jolie and welcome. I fast all day and then eat a larger dinner. I find I sleep better that way.
Not sure about your other questions but someone on here is bound to have an idea.

I am new to the forum too! I have been trying various 'techniques' for the last 8 weeks. I hardly lost any weight for the first month, when trying the 2.00pm to 2.00pm or even the 7.00pm to 7.00pm but now I am trying one meal in the evening and 500 calories seems loads! The total fast is 36 hours as I am going breakfast to breakfast. I am feeling better but am I more active because the sun is shining more? I was nervous at first as I am on Warfarin and thought that irregular meal time might upset it. But I was tested after 4 weeks and my INR was spot on.

Hi Jolie ...and welcome!
I fast 36 hours
the evening before my fast day I eat my normal dinner at approx 6pm.
The next day (fast day) I have water or tea all day until I eat 450kcal meal at approx 6pm again (24 hours) then nothing until the next morning (36 hours) when I have my normal breakfast as this is now a feed day.
(I keep 50kcal from my 500 allowance for a little milk in my tea during my fast day although there may be some debate as to me breaking my fast by using milk in tea during the day?)
So in a nut shell...nothing from the evening before the fast until breakfast morning after fast except your 500kcal meal =36 hour fast
Hope this helps and good luck!!

Thanks for the replies!

Yes it is strange how 500cal can seem so much! I just checked out the TDEE and because I'm small I should probably be eating a bit less than 500 on my fast days so I might start taking that into account. I'm not sure I would be able to sleep if I literally ate nothing all day, although Dr Mosely manages a 3.5 day fast in the documentary! Something I'd be curious about doing maybe once to see if I could handle it...

I think the biggest change for me has been my attitude towards food, and that hunger isn't a bad thing. And also that given 20 minutes, hunger usually goes away again!