Hi,
I had a similar experience when I tried to do an AD fasting approach. The non-fast days were the problem – I couldn’t seem to stop myself eating too many calories on the NFDs. In effect the FDs and NFDs ended up cancelling each other out. I think that for someone with a high TDEE this might be less of a problem as they would accrue a huge calorie deficit on their FDs that would be difficult to counteract on the NFDs. Unfortunately I have a low TDEE of just 1400 calories. I found that it was all too easy to eat enough extra calories on the NFDs to balance out the small calorie deficit I’d accrued on FDs. (Basically 500 on FDs and 2300 on NFDs is maintenance for me.)

After a bit of trial and error, experimenting with AD, 4:3 and 5:2, I found that I need a minimum of 2 NFD between FDs if I’m to have any hope of not bingeing on every NFD. If I do that, the binging is occasional not regular. In the end I settled on a 3 day pattern of 1FD+2NFD. Over time this gives you a few more FDs than 5:2 but if feels pretty much the same as the gap between FDs on 5:2 is often also 2 NFDs. Like you, I also used an eating window. I stick to an eating window of roughly 16:8 every day. For me this means restricting my food intake to approx 11am-7pm, although it will vary by an hour occasionally. Although this doesn’t prevent me from binge eating on NFDs it does limit the damage I can do – especially as snacking in the evening was traditionally a problem for me.

I would suggest that you try another week on AD if you want to, but it you find your weight isn’t shifting then try something different. AD is challenging to commit to, and I think it’s only worth the difficultly if you get good results.

I hope next week is better for you.

The main problem I have with both alternate day fasting or FD + 2 NFDs is social. I’ve had to work at it to keep my fasting from interfering too much with family. If the fasting day is always changing that becomes a difficulty.

Also to curve the binge eating you might try eating really slowly and truly enjoying each byte or nibble to the maximum. For me it requires a very mindful approach, but I’m eating a few hundred less calories a day when I do it.

@finallythere – I hope you make through the second day. I find day 2 the hardest and after that it gets easy, at least for me. However my longest fast is only 86 hours, far short of your 5 day goal.

I hope you make it!

FinallyThere, I hit the wall on a couple of my early B2B fasts (just last month). Once towards the end of the 3rd day, once towards the end of the 2nd day. I got to a point where I knew I had to eat something, so I did.

Now I’m breezing through 3 day fasts (on 600 calories per day). I’m trying to stay low-carb on my NFDs, which I’m sure is helping.

There are a few members who are doing 4:3, which is almost alternate-day fasting. I’m going to try and fast for half the days this month, but mostly in blocks of 2 or 3 days at a time.

I did 5 day fasts last year about once every 8 weeks. Had to stop early this year because of an unrelated health issue.

It took me a few tries before I made it to 5 days, so if you’re only getting to 3 days keep trying and you may make it to 5. My experience was on the 5th day I wasn’t really hungry, but had no energy.

Bronx

FinallyThere, I’m sure it was just water weight that I’d been holding onto while fasting. Chocolate and KFC certainly wouldn’t have made me shed any fat. It seems like I’m holding onto water weight while fasting then dropping it when I come off the fast.

I don’t think I have enough discipline for alternate day fasting. One of the things that gets me through my fasting days is knowing that I can drop the fast if I feel like it and eat whatever I am craving. And just start again the next day. That’s what is working for me so far about intermittent fasting, not being locked into a limited range of foods or any sort of diet schedule.

I’ve recently switched from 24 hour fasting 2x per week to 36 hours alternate day (M/W/F) and already I find this kind of fast so much easier. Eating for me is like an on/off switch, so if I consume nothing it’s easier to maintain. Knowing I can eat at some point in the day just makes me hungry.

I fast in the pure sense – coffee, water and if I’m low on salt I have a cup of Bovril, but that’s it.

I find fasting really easy to work around social events, I just have to be flexible. Some weeks I’ll do three fasts, some weeks I’ll only be able to do two. Plus, nothing helps you recover from a massive night out on the lash like a good fast!

I do eat a lot on my feed days, I just advise to listen to your body. I hate going to bed feeling so full that I’m uncomfortable, so on feed days I stick to lots of proteins and fats mostly (but I do still eat carbs because OMG TOAST) and that fills me up without the uncomfortable over-eaten feeling. Avoiding heavy processed food, as recommended above, is spot on, though. If I have something sugary on a feed day I will not stop jonesing for sugar for the rest of the day. I tend to have a dessert treat after my final meal of the day to stop that.

I’m working my way up to long fasts and trying to kill my appetite and shed the pounds quickly. I’ve heard of people as overweight as me managing 30+ days fasts but the risks of that seem quite crazy. I’ve just done a 24 hour fast and I’ve had a 1200 calorie meal at the end now I’m not eating for 38 hours (sunday lunchtime) as my next meal which will be about 900 calories (sunday lunch). Just to see what happens. Hoping to lose 2 pounds of fat since the days have been active ones.

I’d like my default to be alternate days since I have 80+ pounds to lose.