The FastDay Forum

Unfortunately, I wake up really hungry every morning - always have, and if I don't eat within an hour of getting up, I vomit. Not very nice when there's nothing to bring up! So for me, breakfast is essential and the breakfast/dinner routine is still working very well for me.

I think breakfast fools my body into thinking it is going to eat normally for the day. I've tried both ways and find eating breakfast helps. I have Weetabix and that doesn't seem to matter either.

I see it like that:
I need coffee to wake up.
I can't drink coffee with an empty stomach.
If I want to wake up I have to eat.
I've postponing my blood tests for the past 3 weeks because I can't face going out without drinking coffee. I remember one time I was nearly hit by a car...

Nothing is magic.
In the Mediterranean diet breakfast is the most important meal of the day. All around Greece, the traditional breakfasts are full of all food varieties. People couldn't work in the fields all day with no energy... (but I guess that's what the ancestors of my side of the earth did, perhaps in Northern Europe it was different)

Always thought the Greeks put more emphasis on the evening meal, family gets together etc? That always seemed the way with our friends in Greece. They generally had coffee and whatever was quick and easy - early evening was the time to sit with family and drink wine, eat and talk.

If I could have any holiday home it would be there. We had a Greek Night at work last night & the Greek music and the smells of Greek food almost brought tears of longing to my eyes!

You were talking about ancestors. Greeks in the old days were working in fields etc. They had to start the day with full stomach and in full power.
If you go around Greece and stay at traditional guest houses (like B&Bs) you will be shocked by the size of the breakfast and the different foods that you will meet depending on the area and its local produce.
Still, the big family meal was Sunday lunch.
Things nowadays have changed a lot and the diet has changed a lot too. Most of the families don't sit down to eat together since everybody has different schedules and you can't expect a child to wait till one (or both) parent comes back from work before they have lunch or dinner.
When I was growing up, the most important meal was lunch. Dinner was something light like toasties, salad, yoghurt and fruit etc...

Just to let you all know I'm still reading!

I'm starting to lose the will to live!!!

I'm starting to lose the will to live!!!

Truth!

Sorry but i've not read every reply to this thread. I find the 'diet' 2 days a week and eat normally for the other 5 a bit misleading. It all depends on what an individual thinks is 'normal' eating. 5:2 has worked beyond dreams for me but I have changed my 'eating normally'. there's no point in fasting 2 days a week and then over eating the other 5 days. I kept within my TDEE for the 5 days and exercised (ok, walking home from work 2 - 3 days a week for me is exercise). if I'd fasted and ate as I did then i wouldn't have lost soo much weight. You can't fast for 2 days and then on the other days eat chips, pizza, ice cream etc etc etc and pig out and expect to miraculously loose weight. This is just my opinion and I don't want to upset or offend anyone. I think it should be fast 2 days a week and eat sensibly for the other 5.

Insx,

Is there any way you could convince your wife to read around and perhaps eventually post on this forum? It has occurred to me that this place probably takes the place of a diet club for a lot of us. We can weigh in and report our gains/losses regularly, chat about our successes and frustrations, get angry and have a laugh with a bunch of lovely supportive people. It's better than any diet club I've ever been to and it's free!

The thread has generated so much interest from people who want your wife to succeed and feel certain that this WOE is the way to do it. We can't all be wrong can we?

I've read much of this topic but not all although I think I've picked the key theme's though.

One key principle I live my life by is that "the mind and body are the same system".

So if the OP's wife has been generally trying to lose weight for the last 25 years (as outlined on the first page) then she's probably got very good, expert even, at how not to. My suggestion would be to combine a mental re-appraisal alongside a sensible 5:2 regime - realign the mind and feed the body appropriately. No point doing one without the other.

Hi, I can sympathise with your wife's lack of weight loss as the same thing has happened (or not happened) for me. Ive just completed day 12 of fasting, so have been with it about 6 weeks now. In the first week I lost 3lbs, but havent lost a thing since.
However, I was really sold by the science and health benefits bit, so have keep going.
Although my scales have stubbornly not moved after all my efforts I can honestly say that I feel better after my fast days, my skin is better, I have more energy and (probably most importantly) my body shape has changed significantly. Like many women, Ive always struggled with abdominal fat, normally I have to diet my arms and legs to sticks to begin to have an impact on my tummy - but with this fast diet my waist has gone from a size 14 to a 10! I do still find it annoying that Im not seeing the miracle results lots of people report, but I believe that however your body responds to this lifestyle, the effects will ultimately be positive.
Good luck.......

Size 10 from size 14??? WOW!!! Congratulations!!!

Hi Sophieh,

I hope you got my reply to you the other day, I'm not computerate so not sure if it went to you or not,

Ballerina x

I agree that the weight loss is less noticable than the shape change. I can get back into my 12 jeans after 8 weeks comfortably though my BMI (and I am not sure how much I agree with BMI) is still in the overweight range. I have a target weight but ultimately if I look and feel better and clothes are fitting better, then I don't see a problem.