Anxious during the 5 eating days

This topic contains 6 replies, has 4 voices, and was last updated by Ceci 11 years ago.

Viewing 7 posts - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)

Ceci

5:20 pm
6 Nov 13
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I am now into my fourth week of the Fast diet. I am finding the two days every week when I eat 500 kcal or less absolutely fantastic. I feel strong, motivated and happy. It feels wonderful to have a couple of days when I really need to make no food decisions (as all is planned ahead of time and I just need to execute the plan). I am however feeling ‘anxious’ on the ‘eating’ days – I don’t want to undo the benefits of the fast days and I am probably eating less than I should be (usually less than 1400 kcal/day). On the whole I love the life style. I was just wondering if anyone else has experienced anxiety about the eating days and what they have done to reduce it.

laurenone

8:39 pm
6 Nov 13
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I feel the same. You almost don’t want to eat because you feel you will undo all the hard work.

I actually find the fasting days o.k I just never know what is best to eat on the non fasting day!!

Is it just about calories or how they break down in the body??

I don’t not appear to have lost any weight and I have just started my third week, although I did get on the scales yesterday and seemed to have lost two pounds but I will weigh myself again and have put the weight on!!

Other people just seem to loose all the time, not sure where I am going wrong. I feel if eat normally on the non fast days the weight will back on and some extra.

I am 5ft 2 and weigh 9 stone 3 I will like to loose approx 8 pounds so I fit into my jeans and look normal!! I am 44 and if I don’t do it now I never will.

I feel a bit disheartened as I thought I would see faster results.

Sassy

9:05 pm
6 Nov 13
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Hi Ceci
Congrats on being 4 weeks in and it’s fantastic that you are feeling so strong, motivated and happy. I hope the body measurements are also doing the right things – are these as you would hope as well?
I think concern about what we eat of non-fast days is a fairly common experience! As you say, the fast days can be planned exactly, but even though one of the premises of 5:2 is that you just eat normally on non fast days, I think many of us do worry about undoing all the good we have done (and suffered for!!) by fasting. I guess those who have the problem of over-indulging/ giving into cravings on non-fast days may envy those experiencing the opposite; but neither situation is good or what this WOL is advocating.
Taking some uncertainty out of the non-fast days may help control anxiety.
Could you try also planning your food consumption for non-fast days, at least for a while?
Work out roughly how many calories in the sort of things you normally eat, so you know what combinations you can have on any given day for your TDEE.
Write down everything you eat, so you can keep track and then add in some extra healthy food if you feel you have not had enough to eat.
Decide that you will eat x meals a day, and have y healthy snacks. Allow yourself one treat a day, if you really want it.
It is a case of learning to work out what your body really wants – hopefully this does get better with time.
Apart from the anxiety, is the under-eating a problem for you – are you feeling hungry? Are the scales and other measurements doing what you want? If you are not feeling hungry, and you are losing the weight you want (are you losing more than you would expect, if you are under-eating on non-fast days as well?), then the less calories may not be a problem.
I have suffered from similar anxieties, especially initially, but when my measurements were continuing to get smaller, I did stop worrying about it most of the time. (Tho I did tend to yoyo between days of being over-careful, and days of over-indulging!!)
Not sure how helpful my thoughts will be – I am sure others have some practical tips!
All the best
Sassy 🙂

Sassy

9:23 pm
6 Nov 13
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Hi laurenone
We were posting at the same time 🙂
Very sorry to hear that things aren’t going quite as you had hoped for the start of this WOL.

People’s experiences are actually very varied when they start, some people do take a number of weeks before they begin to show results. Perhaps because you don’t have a lot of weight to lose compared to many, your loss may be slower. But I understand your disappointment 🙁 The general recommendation is to give this WOE at least 6 weeks.

Try not to weigh yourself too often; I recommend once a week, in the same situation. Take body measurements as well, tho I only check these monthly. Some people prefer to weigh less often, or not at all, just relying on how clothes fit. Chose the method that is most affirming for you 🙂

On non-fast days, the 5:2 theory is that you can just eat whatever you were eating before (assuming you were at a stable weight). Some find this easy; but this is not the case for everyone, as you have both found 🙁 Perhaps the suggestions I made for Ceci may also help you?

It is not just about the calories – ideally in time you will end up eating more healthy foods on non-fast days – but initially the idea is to try to just eat what you normally would, and gradually (often quite naturally) changes will occur. There is lots of discussion in this forum for changes to food intake that you may like to make (eg less white carbs, more protein, and of course lots of veggies).

Try to stick with this for another few weeks, and do use the forum for help and support.
Best wishes
Sassy 🙂

laurenone

9:36 pm
6 Nov 13
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Thanks for your words of wisdom and support I am not going to give up yet as I really want to make a change to my weight and lifestyle xxx

Nika

2:27 am
7 Nov 13
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I think your motivation is solid Lauren, and if you keep at it you will start losing weight, no doubt.

Ceci, I think it’s a matter of listening to your body as others have said. If you feel like you have enough energy, aren’t hungry and don’t get lightheaded or something you’re most likely on the right track food wise. Sometimes the body can trick itself however, in times of scarcity, by rerouting glucose to your brain so you keep sharp to look for food (little thing that was very handy 10,000 years ago). However if you are really eating too little, this will let up and you’ll start feeling weak.
I myself actually try to eat 1300 cals on my normal days and 0-500 on my fast days. And I’ll just see what my body tells me… so far it’s happy 🙂

Ceci

7:37 am
7 Nov 13
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Thanks Sassy, Laurenone and Nika for your responses. Very helpful! I do keep a food diary and daily calorie count on all days – so planning on nonfast days is already in place. I will try to just listen to my body a bit more. I do find undereating easy and can do it for long periods but then become vulnerable to a binge episode. My calculated daily requirement to maintain 53kg is 1700 so I will have that as ceiling for my normal days for now and not worry if it is well below that.
I haven’t got a lot of weight to lose. I have just been losing and regaining the last three kilos for years. Get rid of them and then have a binge cycle and regain. The plan with the 5:2 is to get rid off them again and then maintain. I have lost just over two kilos in the last month. I plan to weigh myself again in a month’s time and hopefully will be there. I then just plan to carry on with the lifestyle.
Big thank you for your input. Today is a fast day and I am feeling great!