5:2 weightloss,pigging out and constipation!

This topic contains 12 replies, has 8 voices, and was last updated by fasting_me 7 years, 3 months ago.

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Scandimum

7:49 am
5 Sep 17
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44 year old Dane, living in Sweden. Always struggled with my weight. Have managed to get to almost ideal weight, several times,. Always by eating sensibly. But I am a sucker for temptation, once I start I can’t stop. So here I am. 10-15 kg overweight again.
Started 5.2 8 weeks ago, and already have great results.
But now that it is starting to feel like normal everyday, I know I will be more swayed by temptation, so looking to the forum for daily inspiration.

My experience with 5.2 so far:
Have lost 5 kg and several cm around hips and waist.
It really is much easier than I ever imagined on my fast days.
Non-fast days are a struggle, in terms of not pigging out. But mostly I stick to my max daily intake. But I do love cake, bread and cheese and icecream.
Constipation snuck up on me out of nowhere. Super annoying. I was actually doing fine not eating anything at all until afternoon time on my fast days, but I think that my bowel movements are very dependent on my daily breakfast of oats. So now I am trying to have my oats every day as usual, except on fast days the portion is alot smaller. So far still not back to my normal bowel movement, but hope to get there. Who would have thought I’d miss my daily shit!!
The above problem has meant that the scales did not move for 4 weeks! My measurements have though, so all is well.

Can feel my enthusiasm might wane over the next few weeks, so hoping that I can use this forum for inspiration to stick to it!

dykask

8:42 am
5 Sep 17
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I can’t give much advice on constipation as it is has been typically for me my whole life. However when you start “pigging out” it must go on for weeks! A bit extreme.

Maybe you should make a chart showing how long it takes to take off the fat vs putting it on? I do love and eat some cheese most days. Sometimes I let my self have some ice cream, however I’m slowly eating less and less of it. I’ve been avoiding added refined sugars for some time and my tastes are changing a bit. I now find many things just to sweet to enjoy.

Big_Bill

10:07 am
5 Sep 17
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Papaya really gets things moving, although I’m not sure how easily available papaya is in Sweden.

fasting_me

2:00 pm
5 Sep 17
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The constipation could be due to low fiber, as evidenced by your proposed link to lack of oatmeal some mornings. I find that eating a Turkish fig daily helps keep things moving. Some eat prunes or raisins.

Constipation can also be due to unhealthy gut flora. For that I suggest slowly adding some homemade] green smoothies to your diet. If you jump right into it, there will be indigestion.

Constipation can also be due to Pelvic Floor Dysfunction which creeps up in middle age.

On non-Fast Days, are you drinking water? This is an appetite suppressor.

Good luck, Scandium

Amazon

2:34 pm
5 Sep 17
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The best thing for gut flora is kefir and it helps keep everything moving too!

dykask

2:47 pm
5 Sep 17
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Actually in my case, constipation typically happens when I’m losing weight! Some people are just more prone to it. Fasting tends to encourage constipation. There are a lot of ways to cure it though I just don’t think most people would like it.

1) Run fast and hard, typically by the 4km mark I need to be near a rest room. Very effective but most people don’t like it.

2) I found that eating around a kg of watermelon works too well.

Seriously for me, just fiber doesn’t solve it all the time. On the flip side, I just end out only using the toilet a couple times a week. That is handy when traveling.

I love it that oatmeal works for some. I like oatmeal and I do add prunes and figs. Still doesn’t fix my constipation, I’m glad it works for others though!

Scandimum

8:34 pm
5 Sep 17
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Thank you all for responding, that really means alot to me 🙂

I’ll definitely give the green smoothies (at a slow pace) and kefir a try and I need to focus more on water on my NFD.

I used to live in Tanzania where I used papaya alot to keep my son “regular”, but not so available here in Sweden unfortunately. Water melon should be doable though.

simcoeluv

2:36 am
6 Sep 17
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Hi Scandi and welcome:

Many experience constipation and there seems to be unlimited advice on how to counter it.

One that has a scientific basis but rarely is mentioned is to eat more salt. When you fast, you eat less salt, and many try to limit their salt intake to boot. But salt encourages water retention, and you need water to process food through the digestive tract.

Here are some other tips: https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/the-basics-for-newbies-your-questions-answered/

Good Luck!

bigbooty

3:20 am
6 Sep 17
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Try some of these dietary tricks. Lots of water. If you like hot chili add these to your salads/meals. Eat a lot of cruciferous veggies. Eat an apple or two with the skin in tact. Eat beans/legumes, huge amount of fibre in those. Good luck.

Scandimum

7:44 pm
7 Sep 17
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Happy to report that a combination of oats, prunes and green smoothies seems to have solved my bowel movement problem.
Bonus was to discover the delights of a green smoothie. I had no idea that it could taste so good.

Extra bonus was the 1 kg ‘weightloss’ that ensued. I know that shouldn’t matter so much, but it really is a powerful motivator when the numbers on the scale go in the right direction.

Alijo

7:26 pm
10 Sep 17
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Thanks everyone for the posts, i did not realize that one needs to eat sensibly on non fast days… until now the 5:2was working but a few weeks ago got to a standstil… its discouraging. Recently started exercising and still no change. I will try to stop overeating on non fast days.hope that will get the ball rolling again.
I am also much more constipated eventhough i eat salads… will try fruit on non fast days.

Alijo

7:11 pm
12 Sep 17
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Its interesting that paying attention to what you eat on non fast days is easier when you space out the fast days . Paying attention to not overating without being ascetic on non fast days is a balance one needs to reach…still trying to get there.

Just bought papaya, its delicious. Also trying fruit for constipation…

fasting_me

2:30 am
14 Sep 17
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Alijo, you say that to deal with your constipation you eat salads. The reason that Green Smoothies work better is that the mashed-up greens are in a form that’s more accessible to your gut flora, thus more able to solve the problem. Salads really don’t do the trick.

Scandium, glad the Green Smoothies worked for you. Hooray!