The FastDay Forum

We all know these strategies and it all sounds very simple and do-able BUT I think it really helps to read through and see everything clearly in black and white. I, for instance, should definitely cut back on alcohol as mentioned in the last section. The section on fruits, veggies, nuts, etc. just makes so much sense, as does concentrating on one small change at a time.

Any other tips, anyone ????

https://www.yahoo.com/health/the-small-diet-changes-that-can-add-up-to-big-120459638378.html

Hi @lovemyparrot, thanks for the link.

I do like the idea of small - or simple - changes. Although a different approach to that suggested by the article, I think the reason 5:2 appealed was that it was a small change (in one sense) - 2 days a week you eat a lot less, but 5 days a week you do not have to make any change. Very simple.

I do wonder if, for some people, when they (initially) combine 5:2 with other changes, that it may end up being too much and they give up after a while. I feel that it may be a safer path for many to stick to the basic 5:2 until comfortable, then start making other (small) changes such as reducing snacking or changing to healthier snacking, changing refined grains to whole grains, replacing starchy carbs with other veggies, etc. And not increasing the actual fasting period until you feel able. Or the number of fasting days.

Of course, some people do fine by making big changes all at once - as the article also says - but this approach will not work for everyone. Based on our own experience, we may be able to work out which approach is more likely to work for us.

I am a strong supporter of the first point - eat lots of fruit and veg! And also of the second point of not having artificial sweeteners. But I am not a fan of dark chocolate, although I understand how others can be - I love the creaminess of (good) milk chocolate too much!!

The idea of replacing bread/wraps with lettuce leaves was suggested to me a while ago by forum members (carieoates or rawkaren I think) and I have used that successfully. However, I also realised that there are times when to have the bread/wrap may be appropriate - eg if I am doing a lot of exercise (eg a long hike) then the carbs seem to satisfy my fuel needs and keep me in a better frame of mind than, say, protein bars.

Don't think I have answered your question about other tips tho!!

Hi, thanks @lovemyparrot for sharing a really interesting article. Although I hadn't read it before, I've been spending the last few months making many of the changes suggested in it. A big one for me has been upping my fruit and veggie intake to around 2 portions of fruit and 5 veggies a day. This helps 'crowd out' junk from my diet. I've been trying to reduce white crabs, though my OH isn't a massive brown rice fan, so an alternative I came up with was to mix half white rice half lentils just to make it feel more satisfying. I've been trying to eat more nuts and seeds as snacks, but I find portion control quite hard as I can crunch my way through an awful lot of nuts quite fast if I'm not careful!

One other tip to go alongside the 'no sweeteners' and 'less booze' tips is that more generally I try not to consume many calories from drinks (except when I do drink alcohol, which is no more than twice a week) as drinks don't fill you up. So no juices or squash, and for me, as little milk in tea and coffee as I can stand. The rest of the time it's plain old water...

As @Sassy1 mentioned, I am one of those who found it too hard to do 5:2 and make other dietary changes. For me, I lost weight on 5:2 but was still eating bad stuff and not feeling all that great despite the weight loss. So I have stopped fasting completely while I try to introduce better eating habits. As a result, I am eating way better stuff, have better skin and loads more energy. I am slowly putting weight on though . My aim is to go back to intermittent fasting in some form when I am confident that my better eating habits are firmly established.

I must admit that when I started 5:2 in April I decided to go all out for results. I already avoided the major starchy foods so that wasn't a problem but I do like chocolate so I cut it out completely for about 4 weeks and have recently introduced it in the form of 85% dark chocolate - an occasional square as a treat. I was expecting to wake up my chocolate cravings, but it hasn't happened - before I would have polished off the whole bar in one go as I had no discipline and I knew it was in the fridge whereas now I am happy to leave it another 4 days. On a Fast Day if I see anything tempting I say to myself 'Not today as you're trying to eat healthy food - have it tomorrow' and when tomorrow comes I've forgotten about it. This is what I like most about 5:2 I can still eat all the foods I like but I decide when and how much I am going to eat them.