First fast day is Sunday…partly because it is a busy day and I won’t have much time to eat.
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Hi LittleL
Welcome aboard. I am in my second week and loving it.
One thing that I have realised is that if you plan what you are going to eat on your fast days a day in advance, it makes it so much easier.
I am a fan of eating 3 meals, so I can still enjoy the sociability of sitting and eating with my colleagues and also my daughter in the evening.
If you are after any hints, here is my day today.
Breakfast – 105 calories
15gm rolled oats
30gm low fat vanilla yoghurt
1/4 cup blueberries
Snack – 80 calories
Coffee – can’t go without this
Lunch -115 calories
50gm poached chicken
45 gm cherry tomato
20gm roasted capsicum
50gm kale
half lemon for dressing
Dinner
made a barley and lamb shank stew – a small bowl = approx 200 calories
Hope this helps
Cheers
AJDreams
Hi there,
Its lovely to read your posts as I’m a newbie (week 2, fast day 3 for me) and I’m keen to hear how others just starting out are going.
I’ve found it challenging, I can’t lie, and nearly didn’t start again this week, but the high BP is a great motivator. The fast days were not that hard, I had 3 ‘meals’ a day although I did find it hard to get to sleep the night of the fast day. The tough bit was the non-fast days particularly over the weekend, as it was like my body went into “I have to eat everything in sight” mode. I managed to stay on top of it (a few lapses 🙂 ) but it did concern me. So many people seem to experience a lesser desire to eat on non-fast days, or so it seems, but perhaps it comes with time.
Anyway, today is going okay too, I’m working and busy and about to have some vege soup for lunch. I only eat boiled eggs (2) and veges on fast days and it seems managable. My soup is about 80 cals, and I’ll do a vege curry with a few check peas in for dinner(125 cals). That plus half an apple and 10 gms of almonds has generally seen me through, but I’m not coming off a high base, experience-wise.
Keep posting how it’s going and hopefully we can compare notes – all the best to all of you 🙂
Thanks aJ for your reply. It’s really useful to know what people actually eat. I did lay out a rough plan but I’ve never calorie counted before so I will check out the apps. A lot of people seem to miss breakfast so I am trying that today and seeing how long I can go. My little boy is not a great sleeper and this is one of the reasons i have been overeating in the last two years and putting on the weight. Ive tried general dieting but I cant seem to get back to what I was before. This is my first fast day. I’ll let you all know how I get on. It’s good to be accountable! I can imagine being just like you are ensitu
and overeating on my off days. Time will tell x
Hey Little L, I was only having the conversation with one of my work colleagues today and was saying that I saw a video of myself feeding my daughter when she was about 1 and a half. It was amazing how much of her food i ate. I didn’t realise until I actually saw proof. Scary how you don’t think about what you put in your mouth sometimes.
Hope day one went well.
AJ
I’m starting tomorrow… Fasting doesn’t bother me tbh but I need guidance and maybe a few tips for planning. I haven’t got around to buying any books yet so I’m assuming I’ll need a good calorie counter (an app perhaps?) Any tips on the best / low calorie options to fill up on fast days… my first one will be tomorrow – aiming actually for Monday & Thursday but as today is a holiday I’m getting going tomorrow otherwise it will be another week… Advice please! Thanks you M.
MGT I use the My Fitness Pal app! I love it. You can find recipes here for low calorie meals. http://www.lavenderandlovage.com I however like to buy food that are already made or soups instead of cooking on my fasting days because I am one of those people who like to “sample taste” and those calories add up! Or I will make my fasting meals on Non Fasting days and have them ready for me so that I am not cooking a lot when my diet is restricted. A lot of it is knowing what your weakness is when it comes to food and overpowering it.
arobin1366 Thanks for your tips… I’ve looked at the my fitness app, I think I need to give it a little time, it seems to take forever to set up and get going :-/ I’m probably a bit old and slow! Also I found a lot of the foodstuffs are not related to where I’m from (Ireland) but maybe I’ll get to know it better…! I want to find a way that’s quick and simple to track my calories both on fast days and on other days. And I’m also trying to figure what sort of foods will be good for fast days particularly. I’m really determined but I know I’ll be put off quite easily if things get complicated…and I just won’t have time to do it all …
Well just completed day 1. Thanks to your meal plan AJ. It got me off to a good start. By 11am I was pretty hungry and that’s the time I usually have a cup of tea and sandwich with my little boy. So I started on the porridge. I did leave it a bit too long after my scrambled egg lunch to veg soup dinner though and felt really hungry and exhausted! planning definitely the key.
Hey mgt I set up my fitness app today and it took me nearly all day. Apparently it gets easier and faster to do. These things are always slow to start. Don’t be put off, a little time invested now will be worth it. You only have to read the blogs….
Well done on completing a day… I’m heading into my first tomorrow. I’m quite eager at the moment but I’ll probably falter by midday!! I spent quite some time with my fitness app and then discovered I had set it up 3 years ago, when I completed one day of calorie watching (but not on fast diet)… clearly that time I didn’t get too far!!! Think I have the hang of it now and I have my menu of 500 cals planned for tomorrow… I did weight watchers years ago with great success and you could eat as much fruit and veg as you liked… are they as free on this diet? Seems they count for quite a few calories when you list them…. 🙁 Day #1 of many to come…
May I join this conversation too? 🙂 I decided to start this week and Tuesday and Thursday are my fasting day this week.
LittleL – I was up to 176lbs 5 years back when I was first became a mother! Sleepless night made me ate. (All my life before that, I was 120-125lbs at 165cm tall) 5 years later, I am stil 141lbs 🙂 my target is to go back to 120lbs! Let’s work together!!!
I have planned my menu for today and can really see miso soup is really handy!
Breakfast – 2 cups of coffee with total 100ml low-fat milk (45kcal)
Lunch – Protein bar (216kcal)
Snack – one whole cucumber 330g (50kcal)
Dinner – miso soup + 50g chicken cubes + swedish fiber crisp bread (20kcal + 85kcal + 35kcal= 140kcal)
That would be total 451kcal. The final 50kcal, i will see if I will need them for another 1-2 cup of coffee during the day.
Hi there !
This is my second week,yesterday was my third fasting day ! I´m doing quite ok.Even if I eat salads and rye bread I have this problem that my stomack doesn´t work so well..It propably got aschock as I started this 5:2 diet.
Anyone else with this same problem ? And I drink alot of water ,like 4 liters a day .I´d lke to hear your thoughts !
Have agreat day everyone 🙂
I am living in Denmark so I am one hour ahead of most of you. Now it is 10:15am of my first fast day. I must say that I sometime might just miss breakfast becasue I am too busy. Today, I simply paying too much attention to the fact that I am fasting so I have not eat anything until now.. 🙂 stupid me.
I’m going to be starting today too. Making my fast days Wednesday and Thursday this week and then Monday Wednesday going forward. Not sure what to eat as yet. I do use MFP, so will track there as I have the app handy on my phone. Any tips on meals would be great. Are you all doing 2000 cals on your non-fast days? Look forward to the progress and motivation in seeing it working.
Wow, so much going on! Thank you all so much for sharing the reality of this diet. While I’ve found lots of great advice on other threads, this is at a level I can relate to as a newbie 5:2-er.
Well done LittleL, ajdreams, Mgt and Grey Star on successful first fast days. I have to agree 100% with arobin1366 about having the food ‘ready to go’ and to cook on non-fast days. If it wasn’t for a serve of soup already in the freezer I really don’t think I would have fasted on Monday but I sort of had no excuse!
Mgt, as far as I’m aware, veges are unfortunately not ‘free’ on 5:2 and for me that’s one of the weird things with this diet. I lost 20 kg about 2 years ago on WW and loved the free veges, but now I find myself tossing up between cauliflower and broccoli as the latter is 10 or so calories more per/100gm. Weird 🙂 Monday I made a great curry with lots of celery (14 cal/100gm) and aubergine (15 cal/100gm) and left out the carrot (a WHOPPING 41 cal/100gm hahaha)…
I’ve settled into a bit of a routine and will stick with the 3 meals (slightly stretched out) for now:
Breakfast: I always start the day with 2 boiled eggs, so I’m having just one soft-boiled egg for breakfast and taking the other (which I cook longer) to have when the hunger really hits about 11 am (I leave for work about 7 am for an hour commute). Eggs are really ‘expensive’ at about 90 cals each (I have chickens in the backyard and their gorgeous eggs average 65gm) but they are SO satisfying that I can’t give them up. I don’t eat carbs on fast days, or at least I haven’t yet.
Lunch:I have a serve of vege soup (80 calories) about 2 pm
Dinner: A vegetable curry I’ve already cooked, or throw something together when I get home around 6:30 – 7 pm. No rice or noodles, but I need to see if I can source some of the ‘zero noodles’ I’ve read about on other threads.
For a snack I have 10 gm of almonds and half an apple (can’t believe I’m splitting fruit either!)
Lots of water and a splash of very low-fat milk in coffee and tea.
Fast days on work days seem to go so much better and I couldn’t imaging being home all day without eating… I’d need to be restrained… I have real respect for those of you home with little ones. Btw I’m in Australia, so you’re probably all asleep as I write this, but its great to log on and see all the activity and support on this thread – THANK YOU 🙂
~ Ensitu ~
Well done everyone for starting yesterday. Enjoy your non fast day. Getting ready to do my second fast day tomorrow. I usually write down my stats on a Tuesday and I know I’ve only done one days fast but I couldn’t resist! I lost a pound woohoo! I know it’s probably water weight-still encouraging. Of course Gerrystar contact me whenever you like if you need support as we go along and anyone else. I know I will. I’m good at starting things but not always good at keeping on, if I don’t see results. My little boy is teething again now so up again at night. This always makes me want to eat more and I want to restart my strength training and Hit again. So I really need to get more sleep as well. Not enough hours in the day.
Hi All,
I hope the wee one’s teething settled down LittleL, being up all night is one tough gig.
And I can relate to the rumbling’ tummy GerryStar and I’m grateful that I don’t share an office so I can make all the noise I like (and also I don’t have to see colleagues eating!).
I’m coming to the end of my 4th fast day and actually feeling okay. I made a HUGE vegetable curry when I got home tonight (no oil, no carbs) and put the whole thing on my plate which made hubby laugh, so I divided it in 2 and found it was enough. Now I have dinner for Monday and I’m amazed how satisfied I can be on so little on a fast day… wish I could say the same for non-fast days 🙁
Overall, and I know it’s very early days, I think 5:2 is easier than dieting for me (and I’m an expert, having been on one diet or another for 45 years). I’ve had many years of success but also many of not doing so well, so I’m keen to test the longevity of this approach. It seems that it’s psychologically significant or important for me that ‘tomorrow’ will not be so restrictive, and I seem to be able to fool myself that I can do anything just for a day.
Keep up the good work, and thanks for the support.
~Ensitu~
Wow that’s great that you have completed 4 fast days Ensitu. I did my second one yesterday. Due to unforeseen events during the day I found myself almost giving in as I left it far too long between meals again. I managed to have just a rice cake and a scraping of hummous to get me through to dinner but I probably went over my 500 calls by at least 50. I’m sure it will get easier as time goes on and I agree with you Ensitu with how this diet works. I have never stuck to any continuous diet for more than a month but I feel I can with this one as like you say it’s only it’s only day at a time being restrictive. I really want to get to my ideal weight now, it’s been too long.
Hi LittleL,
thanks for starting your post, I have just finished my first week of fasting (Tues & Thurs) and I have taken different approaches on each day.
On the first day I had a small breakfast, lunch then dinner in the evening and I was sooooooo hungry. I also didn’t sleep particularly well and felt agitated the whole evening (poor boyfriend!).
Having a read through lots of the posts on this site, lots of people recommended not eating until lunch time- they said it made them hungrier if they ate in the morning.
With this in mind I tried not eating breakfast yesterday and seeing how long I could actually wait… I didn’t eat until 8.30pm and I felt great! no shakes, no scatter brain, very little hunger pangs. all I had was a cup of coffee, a coke Zero and a cup of veggie bullion, with lots of water and herbal teas in-between.
The best bit was that I got to eat a relatively normal dinner when I got home and have a low calorie hot choccy before bed.
I think the no food during the day approach is what I’m going to follow from now on during my fast days, it seems to work anyway!
May not be helpful to you as everyone is different, but I thought I’d just share my experience with you.
Good luck 🙂
Hi ModelBehaviour, Well I am certainly no expert on the matter but from what I have ready 36 hours is the fast that your body requires to start burning fat and for you feel some of the other benefits of the diet, during this period you can consume 500 calories.
In any case, I wish you luck with the diet and I hope you see some results 🙂
Hi All,
I thought I’d come here, rather than give in to the mad craving for whatever is not nailed down in the house…. 🙂 And welcome to N4M11S and ModelBehaviour – can’t wait to see your progress.
So far I’ve had 4 pretty successful fast days (not easy, but doable) and they don’t seem to be the problem but… wow, the day or so after is now really hard. I’ve read so often on other threads that the fast makes it easier to moderate your intake on non-fast days, but I’m not finding that to be the case (at least not yet). It may just be that I’m an emotional eater at the best of times, and the fasting triggers something that kicks in the next day? Or maybe just the freedom is the problem, the fact that I’m ‘not dieting’ on the non-fast days makes me think I can go nuts? That’s not going to work I suspect! I’m doing this to lose weight and reduce my BP (and I have lost 2kg in 2 weeks) but I have to be able to sustain it.
Okay, well I feel a little calmer and think I can wait until dinner before eating anything else!
All the very best to all of you out there in fasting land. Btw I bought some of the ‘zero noodles’ I’ve red about on other threads, at an Asian Supermarket today. Very pricy at about $AUS4.50 for ??a meals worth, but they only have 25 kj or 6-7cals/100gms and are quite filling apparently. Will let you know how they go.
Many thanks for all the support ~Ensitu~
Hi guys, It’s great to chat to other newbies. N4 I was wondering about leaving it longer through the day to see how it felt. So it’s nice to hear how other people have got on. I think in my mind having 3 small meals gives me something to look forward to. But definately not eating till at least 11am really works for me and I do not want to create a state of deprivation in my mind because like Ensitu I am an emotional eater. This is really starting to become apparent.
I’m not sure where I heard it but I thought Michael Mosely said that fat burning may take place after 12 hours, for some reason that’s in my head. Maybe I just want an easy life!!!
On a positive note I can’t tell you how much lighter and better I feel within myself after fasting for just 2 days this week. I am definately keeping on with it, even though I am getting stick from some of my family.
I read a great motivational quote from a bodybuilder the other day. “The moment I stopped living my life according to others expectations of what I should, could or would be and started living a life true to myself, was the moment I found happiness.”
Do any of you do strength training?
Hi LittleL, I can really relate to feeling soo much lighter.I feel like a can actually tell what’s going on in my body.
At this start of this journey I was doing this thing called Beyond Chocolate which is an excellent approach to not dieting (www.beyondchcoclate.co.uk). It helps you to try and get you tuned into your body, eating intuitively, learning about your eating patterns along the way learning to stop eating when you are full.
The only problem with that was although the principles of it and psychology behind it is superb and brilliant for all of us who are emotional eaters, it isn’t really a diet and therefore doesn’t have any real rules. This means that I could not actually stop myself from eating, or rather had no reason to and means that I could not tell when I was full. I was just becoming more and more agitated with myself that I wasn’t loosing weight.
For me it felt as though I had a bag full of food and was just stuffing more and more food into it, but not having the strength or ability to listen to my body when is was saying ‘IM FULLL STOOPPP!’.
After fasting for just two days, I feel more connected to my body and protective of it in a way I don’t think I have ever felt. I can’t tell you all what a relief that is! I sincerely hope this continues.
This gives me hope for the future and hopefully those inches and numbers on the scale will start to go down soon.
“After fasting for just two days, I feel more connected to my body and protective of it in a way I don’t think I have ever felt. I can’t tell you all what a relief that is!”
Wow N4, your statement made me cry! What a wonderful thing to be able to say after just a few days fasting. Well done.
LittleL I can relate to that sense of feeling so much lighter when I’m fasting, and it is a good feeling, but I still need to work on the compulsive elements of my psyche on the non-fast days.
Just cooked a lovely veggie korma and enjoyed it with a crisp Riesling from Orange in NSW, so all is good with the world 🙂
btw I don’t do strength training, but I’m planning to go swimming in the morning (1km) and then cooking up my ‘fast-food’ ready for week 3.
~ All the very best to you all ~
Hi All-
So great to read all of your experiences as newbies, as I recently started the 5:2 as well. I started on August 1st and have had 3 fast days so far. The first two were challenging, as sadly it had been a long time since I’ve actually felt hungry. Once I embraced the fact that sometimes feeling hungry is normal, and it will pass, I was able to get through. The third day I tried not eating breakfast until around 11:00 AM and that really helped. Made it much easier to get through to diinner. I’m trying to do just the 2 meals a day.
I have a really challenging week coming up. I’m heading to Vermont for a week of business meetings and then an extended weekend with friends. I’m going to have to really be strong 🙂 The good thing is that VT is a very healthy state and I’ll have lots of good choices. I’m going to try to stick with fish and vegetables and make any carbs healthy ones. I have also been walking at least 3-4 miles a day, in addition to my regular walking. I live in NYC and don’t own a car, so I walk a good bit anyway.
Down 3.5 lbs. so far. It may be water weight, but it’s keeping me on track, seeing a loss happening. The best thing is that I am so encouraged by the way I’m feeling that it keeps me on track on the non fast days. I don’t want to go back to my old habits.
Good luck to all! I have a friend who has done this for a year, and has been bugging me to try it, and I’m glad I finally have. It’s the most do-able diet I’ve tried in a long time.
Good luck with the fast day. I always find the first fasting day of the week is much easier than the second for some reason. Maybe I consume more calories on the weekend. Anyway it is definitely worth when you get on the scales. I started because my blood sugar levels are high at 6.1, two weeks later after following 5:2 diet there have gone down to 5:6 and I am delighted because it really frightens me that I am at risk of diabetes.
Hello fellow newbies,I know it sounds crazy but I’m almost looking forward to doing my fast day again tomorrow! I have allowed myself a few treats over the last couple of days because I’ve been so “good” but I know deep down this isn’t good at all.. I managed to lose about 4 pounds since the new year just cutting out the crap and adjusting my eating habits to healthier ones. I don’t want to go back to eating crap again just because ive been good for a couple of days. This is where the mind comes in. My subconscious fooling myself into thinking its ok to eat cake and ice cream later because I fasted yesterday. No I want to be healthy as well.
Thanks n4 I have looked at beyond chocolate and will try the free mp3. I know what you mean though about having rules. I like to have something to guide me. I’m an all or nothing person I have come to realise and this is why this diet is already working for me. I also feel that my stomach and digestion had a well deserved break when I did my fast days. Also like you said Rosalita allowing myself to feel hungry Is just fine. I’m not going to die. I can cope, I’m quite alright. In the past I would eat sometimes before I’m hungry so that I don’t get hungry-say what! What in case I starve lol. Interesting the mind isn’t it.
Hi guys – I have just decided to give the 5.2 diet a go as my husband has been using it for the last year and has managed to lose almost a stone with this diet. I have about a stone to lose I know not a great deal but when you are of the shorter disposition, every ounce seems to count !!! Think that my first fast day will be on tuesday this week. …
I’m with you Emalee – its definately the alcohol that I will find the hardest to quit …. and the evening munchies
Hi all!
I’ve just started the fast diet as I had a nightmare revelation that over the past 4 years I have steadily put on 2 stone… my mother always warned me about letting it creep up on me and much to my dismay she was right.
I’m tall (174cm) and currently weigh 12st 1lb (dress size 12/14) and unfortunately carry the majority of my weight around my middle (and now on my back…ew). I exercise quite alot and lead a generally active life style, but to put it plainly I eat and drink way too much. I’m hoping the fast diet will help me to shrink my appetite as well as my size! Current goals are: to be 11st by October, 10st by March, and consistently loitering just under 10 from there onwards.
Tired of feeling chunky and ungainly so now I’m thinking shrinking!
xxxxx
Hi guys,
ensitu, I’m sorry that i made you cry! Nice to hear you understand that feeling too though.
isn’t it so nice to have a network of people you can talk to about 5:2 without worrying that you are boring them or that they just wont understand if you are having a bad day? Makes this process so much easier.
litlel, id be interested to know what you think about beyond chocolate when you have listened to the mp3. Was a great starting place for me and lead me to here so that’s gotta be good!
i realise that this week i too am going to have to be a bit more careful on non fast days. I have to remember that my TDEE is not that much (1900ish) so i cant have wine with dinner every night. What i did manage to do today though (non fast day) is not eat until 1pmish and had a roast dinner with some family. I am full but don’t feel bad at all because i didnt have breakfast on top of it. I also went swimming and went for a run yesterday so hopefully I’m going to see some results by the end of this week.
i also went shopping all over town to see if i could find zero noodles, turns out there is another cheaper version you should be able to get in supermarkets- shiritaki noodles (not the ones with tofu though)apparently they are the same thing. Didn’t manage to find any though so may have to order online.
fast day no.3 tomorrow, wish me luck!
Just logged back into this forum – started 5:2 end of June, & lost 3lbs, a couple of inches but actually felt so much better in myself too, as had been much more ‘mindful’ about what I was eating every day.
Have been in Italy on lovely holidays for 2 weeks, fabulous food & drink, consciously decided I would do no fasting at all, but now back at home, back into work & study, have a really full on couple of weeks ahead in terms of deadlines, & feel sluggish & ready to jump back into 5:2. Feels like a fresh start hence posting on this thread. Good luck to all fasters today.
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