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What can I eat on my feast/feed days?

PostPosted: 11 Jan 2013, 10:05
by Moogie
When you're not fasting, eat as you normally would. There's no need to calorie count - although if you're in the habit of doing that it may take you a few months to realise you no longer need to!

Fasting may change the way you look at food and change some of your food choices, but that doesn't mean you can't (or won't want to!) eat treats on your feast days.

Eat what you like. Fruit. Veg. Pasta. Bread. Chocolate. Ice cream. Crisps. Cheese.

It doesn't matter! Most people won't vastly overeat consistantly on their feed days, it's just not possible to consume that many calories more than normal on a regular basis. So enjoy your food, and listen to your body.

Just remember that 'feast' doesn't mean over-eat, at least not all the time. Treats won't hurt, but if you're eating lots more than you usually would you're not going to lose weight. On your 'feast' days try to eat how you have always eaten, whatever is 'normal' for you. You may well find this reduces with time anyway.

I find that having done 5:2 for 5 months, I'm now more relaxed about what I eat on my feed days - and I have just as good results as when I started on 5:2 and was still restricting to 1400 cals on my feeds. My body tells me if I've eaten too much, and I do notice that if I eat a lot of chocolate etc that I don't feel so good. But that's a good thing as it stops me eating it to excess ;) I mean, 3 bars of Guylian praline might have been too much in a row, haha!

Re: What can I eat on my feast days?

PostPosted: 11 Jan 2013, 12:42
by Roper
There is a bit of controversy over the use of the term "feast day". Doesn't Dr Mosley use "feed day" instead? Feast has an unintended implication of eating to excess.

Re: What can I eat on my feast days?

PostPosted: 11 Jan 2013, 13:46
by Harimad
I started this WOL back in September, but after a good initial weight loss, I found that my loss stopped - the only reason I can think of for this was that I WAS overeating on my 'feed' days - 2x fast days / week do not compensate for Bombay mix plus wine plus a meal plus chocolate 2 nights at the weekend!

So I would say that when they say 'eat normally' on your feed days, you don't eat whatever you'd like, but eat... normally!

Re: What can I eat on my feast days?

PostPosted: 11 Jan 2013, 14:24
by Moogie
I suppose the term 'feast' is as relative as the word 'fast', since it's not true fasting (totally going without food) it's not true feasting either ;) I used to say 'feed' days, but I saw more people using 'feast' on the facebook groups so sort of picked that term up. I guess if we're going to say 'feast' days we should call the others 'famine' days :)

Re: What can I eat on my feast days?

PostPosted: 11 Jan 2013, 14:32
by carorees
:lol: Famine days! Might just put a few people off, hmm? I saw someone refer to the fast days as "repair days" which I think is great and helps to remind us of the health benefits. Did I see in the book that Mimi called the feast days "off-duty days" in some places? Those will be the days that the repair staff are off duty ;)

Re: What can I eat on my feast days?

PostPosted: 12 Jan 2013, 00:03
by Tracieknits
LOL @ feast and famine. I do like the term "feast day" - sounds so festive! I can't wait to get my hands on the book :-)

Re: What can I eat on my feast days?

PostPosted: 13 Jan 2013, 10:38
by Pashcaline
Bonjour everyone. 5:2 helps me with being relaxed around food. Now I am learning to listen to my body instead of either must have that croissant or can't have that croissant. The thing is I have over a stone to loose. I get backache when heavier. But also I'm happy in my head and body with 2000cal on feeding days. For my height it should be 1800cal but on 5:2 I can add 10% so that's about 2000cal which makes me happy and still lose weight. I eat mainly healthy food but love my chocolate. If I go over 2000cal I have tummy problems so best not.Xx

Re: What can I eat on my feast days?

PostPosted: 26 Jan 2013, 00:43
by Gonewest
I like the term feast day, not so much because I think I can overeat, but because I can eat the things I like to, which are many and varied. I like good food in general, and I cook pretty much everything from scratch. Since starting this way of eating I, personally, am finding that because I am making savings on the food bill on fast days that I can buy better quality ingredients for my feast days. Whilst I don't have to stint on feast days and can include things I see as treats, feast to me means good things, nice things, not tons of things.

Now, I suppose I might have raised another issue by mention of treats. Here again treats, to me, are things we have occasionally not all the time. If we had them all the time they would become mundane and not treats at all, we need to have some things to look forward to.

So, anyway I'm sticking with feast and fast, because a fast day is a feast day just with a little bit missing.

Re: What can I eat on my feast days?

PostPosted: 26 Jan 2013, 08:01
by ~LynnO~
I so agree with you gonewest :P I try to cook from scratch and avoid processed foods, (if I can't understand half of the ingredients why would I eat it?)
For me a 'feast' day means I can use a good olive oil or a knob of my fave butter on my veg or have a couple of white wine spritzers, but I don't count calories on a feast day I just try to eat healthy nutritious food.

Re: What can I eat on my feast days?

PostPosted: 30 Jan 2013, 23:08
by pumpkin
It's only my 3rd fasting day tomorrow but like a lot of other people on here I'm almost..no I AM looking forward to it. I think that it's because by having a strict limit of calories I know that I can eat/drink on fasting days means that I don't have to plan once I have made sure that I have thought ahead and stocked up on the necessary foodstuffs, so that I think that I shall be able to concentrate on my work and not have to give any thought to food preparation and calorie counting (apart from at times I suffer any hunger pangs). However, I am finding the other 5 days a bit harder than I had imagined they would be; I made the mistake of weighing myself one evening this week and weighed more than at the beginning of the diet last week and am wondering whether perhaps I have been feasting a wee bit too much. I'll be weighing myself tomorrow as it will be a week after the start of my diet. I would be very chuffed if I found that I could learn to judge how much it was 'safe' for me to eat on feast days without having to calorie count, and still lose weight. Reading other posts on here I can see that quite a few other people have experimented with the strictness of their intake on feast days and it will be very interesting to see stats relating to intake and times of the day etc a few more months down the line :)

Re: What can I eat on my feast days?

PostPosted: 31 Jan 2013, 08:14
by Ch1ckpea
I love calling it a feast day!

My definition of the word 'feast' is a delicious meal that will fill up my tummy. Something worth waiting for and something very enjoyable'! A 5:2 Feast... I know that i must distribute my calories and not over eat.... that's just common sense when trying to lose weight.

I also have a 'last supper' prior to a fast, although i know it's not actually my last supper!!

Mmmm.... SO looking forward to my breakfast feast in a minute after my fast day yesterday :D

Re: What can I eat on my feast days?

PostPosted: 31 Jan 2013, 10:08
by WendyKenny
Government guidelines for a women are 2000 calories, so about that much. A couple of weeks being aware of the calorie value of foods is not a sin & will help with fast days greatly! But other than that, reason says veg fruit legumes pulses whole grains, in that order is a healthy approach to 'normal' days. Avoid processed foods because the fibre & nutrition is often reduced while the fat or sugars are increased.

Re: What can I eat on my feast days?

PostPosted: 31 Jan 2013, 10:59
by Witchy Wife
I do generally count calories but hadn't for my two feast days following my first fast.

I had wrote it all down what I had eaten so I entered it in to my fitness pal. Interesting I didn't think I had done much different on the two feast days, but the first day was about 2000 calories and then the following day was about 1500. Today is looking around 1500 too, so maybe that will end up being what I do. Over-eat a little on the first day after a fast, then eat more "normal" until my next fast. I didn't do it intentionally, but maybe I just work that way?

Re: What can I eat on my feast days?

PostPosted: 03 Feb 2013, 15:12
by sadamski
I'd say eat what you want on a feast day.
I've found that I can't eat a much as i did before i started the 5:2 so I'm not eating as much of it anyway.

Re: What can I eat on my feast days?

PostPosted: 08 Feb 2013, 21:09
by bev39
Hi everyone, I started the 5:2 this week with my first fast day on Tuesday and my second planned for tomorrow. I've changed my way of eating since new year as I have put on 2 stone in a year and had to do something about it. 2 years ago I had lost 4 1/2 stone to get me to my ideal weight for my height but I changed jobs for a year and had no time to continue my new hobby of running so combined with laxing my eating habits the weight began to go back on :( I've cut out the rubbish again and I'm running up to 10k 3 times a week so doing the fast diet is my way of getting my waist line back whilst also trying to live longer and fight off heart disease ect. I'm finding it hard to eat what I like on my food days as I can't see how it can work without watching calories? I've cut down on alcohol and caffeine and I'm not eating sweet or processed foods (which has really helped my i.b.s).I've made my daughter hide the scales as before I became obsessed with weighing myself so my plan is to weigh myself once a month. I'm going to allow myself a glass of wine with dinner if I go out and allow myself a treat once a month to.... Am I being to strict with myself? :?: