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Hi marinaland
The fasting days CAN be consecutive.
It doesn’t matter if the fasting days are consecutive or not – it’s your preference. See the faqs. I assume M&M’s book would have more on this too.
I think most people find it easier to separate the fasting days tho, so that you know you only have to wait until the day after the fast to eat what you want (tho often once you get to the next day, that craving has gone).
Also, having the fasting days happening after every 2-3 days of normal eating, may help you from straying too far from healthy eating on non-fasting days.
But if you can manage the eating regime with 2 fasting days consecutively, go for it!
I’ve been doing 5:2 since mid-August and during weeks where I have overindulged at the weekends I have sometimes added a 3rd fast day on a Thursday – making Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays all fast days.
I haven’t found the Weds-Thurs consecutive days very easy – but as I eat my 500 calories as 1 evening meal on fast days – it is only really 10-12 hours fasting (i.e. deliberately not eating)on each of the fast days. It is do-able and means that I have lost at least some weight every week.
The other thing I have tried as an extra to the 5:2 is sometimes fasting all day on another day but not sticking rigidly to the 500 calories for evening meal – I think of it as a semi-fast day. I started this because I find that I no longer feel particularly hungry during the day (especially the day after a non-fast day) – so unless I feel particularly driven to eat, I fast but then have whatever I fancy in the evening. I wouldn’t do this in addition to a 4:3 though -it is just an antidote to a weekend where I feel I have exceeded my TDEE.
I just did two fast days in a row – because of the holiday season, my schedule this week involved lots of nighttime dinners so Tuesday and Wednesday were my only free days.
But I also did a semi-fast on Monday – low-cal breakfast and only had two pieces of fruit throughout the day as I knew I was going to a huge Christmas dinner that night.
I’ve been eating more than usual on my non-fast days – mince pies, chocolates – but still lost 0.8kg this week.
I’ve decided not to fast when I visit relatives tomorrow, so this morning when I didn’t fancy breakfast I decided to carry on fastng and give 2 days a go.
So far, so easy. Early 8 mile circular walk to an out of town supermarket and then prepped and started to slow cook a 3kg beef chilli for my son whilst I am away – smell of onions cooking didn’t effect me, so I must be really off my food.
There is a possibility that l might choose to eat this evening – I don’t like the idea of missing out on what looks like really yummy food, but so far I don’t need, or want to eat.
Hi! I saw in the FAQ that a fast day should be 36 hours and not 24, so two fast days in a week should total 72 hours of fasting per week. If I fast 2 days in a row, that only gives me 60 hours of fasting. Won’t that mean that doing consecutive days won’t be as effective as split days?
I want to try two consecutive days due to scheduling conveniences, but I’m worried that results will be negatively impacted as the total fasting time is reduced.
Thanks.
Hi Laney and welcome:
Two days in a row is fine. The key is to just eat your 500/600 calories during your waking hours each day.
Here are some tips: https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/the-basics-for-newbies-your-questions-answered/
Good Luck!
I like to do 2 in a row.
I have Monday as a 500 calorie maximum day, it’s usually more like 350 actually.I follow this with a liquids only day on Tuesday. I find I don’t get hungry on Tuesday, or if I do it soon passes. And when I wake up on Wednesday I am not that hungry … but very proud of myself.
It’s just my personal preference and it works for me. 3 months in I have lost 21 pounds.
Good luck everyone!
On a fasting day you drastically reduce your glucose level and it slowly replenishes over the next couple of days.
A very low glucose level is dangerous. Diabetics have to be very careful about taking too much insulin, reducing their glucose too low and having a ‘hypo’
So unless you are being supervised by a Doctor, it is advisable to:
1. Have a quarter of your recommended calorie intake on a fasting day
2. Have at least 1 normal day between fasting days
3. Avoid excessive exercise (eg running a marathon) on a fasting day.
You will probably be OK, but why risk having a ‘hypo’ ?
(I fast on Mondays and Fridays – I find that my weight (and glucose level) drops drastically on a fasting day and then slowly comes back up in the next couple of days ready to be zapped again by another fasting day)
@paulandcarol, be careful not to conflate ‘serum glucose’ and ‘glycogen’. The two are related, but they aren’t the same thing.
I’m doing 4:3 with my ‘fasting’ days being Monday, Tuesday & Thursday and it works for me – two consecutive days isn’t a problem and I only have about 320 calories on my fast days – I find sticking to my recommended 1600 calories on non fast days harder (probably as I like a couple of glasses of wine!!) but don’t have any less energy on the fast days and still manage my normal long walks
I totally agree that it isn’t necessary to eat continuous. Two ‘fasting’days in a week is just a mindset change. I tried the diet for a month, and had to stop because of the lack of concentration and headaches on the ‘fasting’ days. Five hundred calories cannot be enough to work on a high level, the whole day long, and that two days in a row. You only take 320 calories and 1600 calories on non fasting days? Can that be good, as nutritionists say that every healthy women needs at least 1800 calories every day?
500 calories is more than enough to work on, Laura. I manage to perform my manual job on zero to 100 cals every other day.
As long as youve got fat reserves to burn, you’ll be fine restricting calories.
I’ll probably do two days on the trot tomorrow and Wednesday plus half of Christmas eve in preparation for holiday over consumption.
Laura – you will soon get used to it if you stick with it. After a while you do not get headaches or reminders to eat from your body. I don’t recommend it but I can very easily go 72 hours without food (I drink water). It was just a self experiment because I wanted to see what “real hunger” was all about, but I never felt hungry and broke the fast just it case it was harmful.
I should add that I do not have any health issues.
Hi Laura,
It is not true that every healthy woman needs 1800 calories per day and I would have little confidence in any nutritionist who believed/stated so. The amount of calories anyone needs depends on weight, height, age and lifestyle. As we age our bodies require less calories to sustain us.
I have never had any issues with concentration on a fast day, and the point of only having 500 calories worth of food is to persuade the body to use up fat stores to provide the remainder that the body needs.
Headaches on fast days are usually caused by not drinking enough water and/or lack of salt. If I get a headache on a fast day which is rare, I have either a hot salty drink such as beef extract or take a small amount of salt and a glass of water.
I have tried 5:2, 4:3, alternate day fasting and consecutive days and don’t find any method more difficult than the others.
Ria,
Sounds like a little stumbling block, which happens to many of us. Don’t obsess over it, just use it as a learning experience and keep going. The next time you get the urge to eat junk food try to remember how you feel today; maybe you’ll only have 1 slice of cake or none at all because of it.
Wishing you great success with your fasting goals.
Bronx
I fast Monday and Tuesday. This is why:
I work on contract and so work 10.5 hours Monday to Wednesday. I like to throw all my hard stuff into those days. I have Friday off work.
Wednesday we often go to my Mother-in-law’s place for dinner. I don’t want to say “I can’t eat, I’m fasting.”
Thursday is pizza night. I make home made pizza for my hubby.
Friday I don’t cook – takeaway night. Saturday and Sunday – well I wouldn’t want to ruin my weekend!
I’m obsessive compulsive. I wear certain colours for certain days and so patterns work well for me.
Monday morning I say “At the end of today it will be Tuesday.” Tuesday I say “At the end of today it will be Wednesday”. That gets me through it.
I have done two days in a row twice now. While fasting I don’t eat but I do drink coffee and tea. I found the second day harder than the first both times but also on the 3rd morning I really don’t feel like I need to eat. I think from there a 3rd or 4th day would be easy, but I haven’t done that yet.
Some thoughts:
* It takes about a day to burn through stored up glycogen so the second day probably burns a lot more fat than the first day. Probably a 60 hour fast burns more fat than two 36 hour fasts separated by a couple of days.
* While the second day is harder it isn’t horrible. It is probably a transition time for my body going into ketosis.
* I have found that working out on the second day is more limited that working out in my normal fast days. It is a mild problem and probably I would adjust if I just keep doing two day fasts.
I have done two Fast Days in a row on a few different occasions.
It isn’t as difficult as you might think, but I did find that I kept nearly fainting when getting out of bed on the third morning. (Although I don’t see that as a massive problem as I never ACTUALLY fainted)
However, it is a bit boring and pretty hardcore having to do two days in a row! So I try to avoid anything that makes the 5:2 more difficult to do.
I used to do two consecutive fasting days, Mon/Tues, while I was trying to lose weight. I now only do Mondays as Im in maintenance. Initially I was taking about 48 hours to go into ketosis. I now take 24 hours to get into ketosis. So yes it is possible to get into ketosis after 24 hours but probably unlikely if you are still carrying excess fat. I measure ketosis with a keto meter. So it does get easier and faster to get into ketosis once you have shed excess fat and trained your liver to be more efficient at processing fat.
Hi , I was looking for some info on how others do their consecutive fasting days.
I am IF -ing since July this year (2017) because I am going through chemotherapy and have read research that fasting improved bloodwork results partly through the fact that the liver is not bothered with digesting food and also because of Autophagy.
My bloodwork was very bad a few months ago and since I have not really any options.
Chemo suppresses my immune system to stop it from liquifying my inner organs, but chemo changed my blood production so much to the worse that I was in danger to develop leukaemia ……. so die or die ….those were my options.
I started fasting and saw on my bloodwork that every time I fasted harder (at least 20/4) my following bloodwork was better.
Today is the first time in 30 years that I will try to go for several day in a row to fast completely (only drinking water , tea and coffee)
So any suggestions or experiences would be much appreciated.
Thanks
Perhaps do this in consultation with your doctor. Fasting does supress white blood cell production while you are fasting. Post fasting white cell production is dramatically increased. During fasting poorly functioning cells are preferentially killed off. Autophagy. If you have been doing 20/4 then it shouldn’t be too much of an effort to extend this to 36 hours. Youre really only incorporating an additional sleep before breaking your fast. See how that goes first before extending it too much. I tend to break my fasts with more protein than I normally eat at other times. Have your bloods taken after a few fasts to see if you are getting an actual benefit.
Drink lots of water, take a good vitamin B (helps liver function). Have coffee if you want. Good luck and be careful.
Thanks bigfooty, yes I am under constant supervision with my immunologist and she even suggested I should keep ding what I do (meaning fasting) since it had such good influence on my bloodwork results.
I also take a B supplement amongst other supplements.
Will see what the next bloodwork will tell me 🙂
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