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I don’t need 3 meals on a fast day, I know that for a fact because one day a week I have a no food day. However, I enjoy sitting down to 3 mealtimes with my husband, we have a nice chat even though we eat very little on normal fast days, it’s just something we like to do.
I love the flexibility of this WOL, we can each adapt it to what suits us best. And it works!!
Good luck everyone!
I am still trying to work out my fast days. As we have changed our last meal time to 17.30 and then just a cup of tea or coffee even on non fast days, if I start the Fast Day the following morning , that is 6hours till midnight then 30 hours till breakfast 2 days later so I find if I start my fasting from midday to midday the following day easier…..is this cheating or just slowing the weight loss process…I am open to suggestions and comments …please.
Hi and welcome:
Diet day meals are always a question. Many find that eating one high fat/protein meal in the evening is the best.
I suggest that you move toward eating nothing at all on your diet days. You will get a similar result to 4:3, and gain other benefits.
Here are some tips: https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/warnings-to-newbies/
Good Luck!
I have just started and this week is my second week. I find I do need to eat throughout the day, but I can still stay under (or around) the 500 cals. I delay eating for as long as possible and have been having a yoghurt mid-morning. For lunch I had a can of soup on fast days last week, but today I had some tuna with couscous and veggie. This still leaves me with around 250 cals for dinner, and I’ve been having an omelette with veggies plus I found a couple of recipes online for bean burgers and cottage pie that were 250 cals or less per serve 🙂
Yes. I need 3 meals on fast days. On a fast day I would usually have a small serve of porridge made with water (no milk added) (around 110cal), around 11am a miso soup (15cal)and around 2pm a small apple or boiled egg (70cal). I then normally have dinner around 6:30pm of 80gms protein (fish or chicken) and enough veg to make up approx 300cal.
I have experimented with the timing of this since starting last year. This seems to help me avoid embarrassing mid-morning stomach grumbles and lack of concentration in the afternoons, as well as not feeling too restrictive. I like the fact that I am not missing the habit of sitting down to eat 3 times/day. And most importantly it is working for me – on the scales and around the waist.
I needed three meals per day because I was sure I couldn’t manage otherwise.
It is only on the last four weeks that I’ve gone for skipping lunch. That does mean I increase my calories for breakfast and to my amazement I can manage this. I did have to be on the diet for seven months, however, before I had the courage to go for it.
If you need three small meals a day, I think that’s fine. Personally I don’t think it makes any difference to the level of weight loss, that lies in not overeating on the normal days.
Hi stephmcc I’m also trying to still get my fast days sorted in my mind – I call them ‘eat less days!’
So, I haven’t eaten anything since last night 11pm,(apart from a peppermint tea (1 sweetener) black coffee (1sweetener) and water I say that’s 6calories from my 600 allowance today.)
That is 14hrs fasting, now I know I can have 600calories today, so I’d normally go as long so I can w/out eating anything and maybe break the fast with a miso soup – say, 3pm that’s 16hrs after I last ate anything.
I’ll minus the 6cals from drinks +miso 44cals= 50cals from 600 allowance and I now have 550cals to have tonight for dinner…
Does this make sense? I lost 14lbs over 6 weeks doing it roughly this way…since 05/01/15
I certainly eat three meals on fast days. Although it should be “meals”. Since I started in January I’ve discovered that if I eat something with protein three times a day I don’t feel unduly hungry and I lose weight. I allow myself 150 calories in the morning, 150 in the afternoon and 200 at night. Yoghurt is my protein at breakfast, usually an egg or some feta cheese at lunch time, and fish or chicken at night. And heaps of salad vegetables – lots of crunch and fibre for very few calories.
I tend to eat for comfort and to relieve tension. Trying to notice that and find other outlets for both, but recognising I still need the stability of regular meal times and the comfort of eating something. I am more than content with a slow weight loss of 500g a week, especially seeing it seems to stay off even with a holiday from the diet while we were away recently.
Hi! I definitely eat 3x a day while fasting: plenty of milky tea in the a.m., soup in the afternoon, and, since I can’t fall asleep when hungry, a protein shake in the evening. I could never get by on one meal a day and latest research by Dr. Varady says it doesn’t matter when you eat your fasting meals. Thank goodness!
Let me know if you want me to post the link to that research paper!
Just going to take an opposite tack to everyone else. My advice is just suck it up – embrace the pain and torment of going without a proper meal for a day (well, actually 36 hours if you add in sleeping time). If you want to lose weight it’s going to take some resilience.
Also, watch your maths – people who ‘have 3 meals’ on their fast day are pretty unlikely to be staying under 600 calories, especially if you chuck in eggs, beans, cheese, tuna, yoghurt and milky tea or coffee. You’d be surprised how quickly they add up.
On my ‘fast’ days (i.e. severe calories restriction days) I drink lots of water, black coffee or black tea, no sweeteners, then early afternoon (or ‘lunchtime’ as some people insist on calling it, which IMO is not a good idea on a fast day) I juice up some kale, carrots and tomatoes, which keeps me going through most of the day. A couple of hours before bedtime (or ‘dinner’ as some people call it) I’ll eat a couple of poached eggs to line my stomach so I don’t stay awake through hunger. That alone is 400-500 calories, so I don’t get how people can throw in cans of soup, beans, cottage pie, yoghurt, cheese, tuna and milky tea and still think they’re under 500 or 600 calories.
Hello Fastdieters,
Rightgirl, hello. Yes, I’m the same as you. I’ve only just started the 5:2 and likewise, it does feel like a great lifelong fit with me. But yes I also need to eat 3 meals on a FD and I’ve also been clocking around 580 – 600 cals. I think this is okay for now to get me going with the plan as I’m staying under or around 1560 on my non FDs. My plan is to try to this and see if it works for me. if it doesn’t then I’ll wean myself down to 2 meals… eventually
Charlie, you might be right on the calorie count.
Because I fast back to back which burns more fat, I do allow myself a maximum 650 low carb calories on my fasting days. Actually, this makes it liveable for me. I hated doing 500 cals the last time I did 5:2. It’s amazing how satisfying those extra 150 cals are.
But be it 500 cals or more/one or three meals a day, the great thing about 5:2 is that we can tweak it to suit our needs. I read some people eat nothing on their fasting days! Wow, maybe one day I’ll get there, ha ha! So glad I came back!
I think you are talking a lot of sense Charlie. I know I can easily underestimate my calorie intake so on a normal fast day I aim for 350 calories just to make sure I am under 500.
I do back to back fasts with day 2 as a liquids only day, black coffee, water with a splash of cranberry juice, herbal or ginger tea, and a mug of bovril for tea. I really feel I am doing my body a massive favour by not eating anything on just one day a week. And it works, I have lost 20lbs since the 5th of January.
Applepie you have lots of willpower, I’m not sure I could fast one day then just drink liquids the next day.
When I first started I would have a boiled egg with couple slices ham at breakfast, then couple slices ham with some lettuce, baby tomatoes and cucumber for lunch then teatime would be a ladle of homemade lentil soup. Recently I’ve been skipping breakfast and trying to go as long as possible without eating, then having a yogurt early afternoon then a frozen meal (I know it’s not ideal because of high salt content. ..) at teatime. Sometimes even have enough cals left for a plain biscuit!
Shaza 🙂
irisblue, thank you!
Shaza, if I can do it anyone can. Why not try? I honestly do not get hungry on the liquids only day. Not even a little bit. Whereas I do get hungry on fast days and strangely I think I get even hungrier on normal days. It’s as if my brain doesn’t bother sending hunger messages on liquids days as it knows I won’t eat regardless. When you have calories left at the end of the day you could always bank them towards your next weight loss, just a thought.
Good luck everyone!
Hi Shaza,
Sorry to butt in.
Soup is very good for filling up the stomach for ages, scientifically proven. If you make some home made soup-chuck in a load of root vegetables-a parsnip will make it sweeter-boil them together for 10 mins and then blitz with a hand blender or food processor. You can portion up when cool and freeze.
I use soup a lot when it is cold. Homemade is far nicer than shop bought plus you know exactly what is in it.
That is quite a hefty target for a week, but best of luck. Remember, this is a marathon and not a sprint!
charlie1968, I’ve been doing this for 7 weeks now and it is possible to stay under 500 cals with a few snacks (I wouldn’t call them meals) throughout the day. I’ve been eating a yoghurt or an egg (60-75 cals), soup (110 – 160 cals) and this leaves me with enough cals to have some protein (tuna or chicken) and veggies for dinner (230 cals). This allows a little extra for milk – although I mostly drink coffee, water and herbal tea. So I think it’s doable. And it helps my brain stay alert too – with no food at all, I’m not sure I could function properly at work! I’m probably losing weight a bit slower but I’m fine with that as I don’t really count calories on my non fast days. I’ve lost about 3.5kgs, with 3 more to go 🙂
I’m starting 5:2 soon, and I’m hoping to do 3 meal fast days, mainly because I have a 15 month old who would be very upset if I didn’t eat with her! That means I also need to augment normal family meals to limit my calories without altering my daughters intake. I know taking out carbs is a good start, and loading up on vegetables, but are there any other things I can alter?
Dear stephmcc
try not to think that your breakfast will be 2 days later? having a meal at 5.30 is probably an excellent time for an evening meal, but even if you start your fast day breakkie at say 7am, your body will have been ‘Rebooting’ for an excellent period of time, so when you do eat( and what you eat)can only be using your body stores at an more optimum way.
Your mind is the most powerful muscle you have, and if you switch your mind-set from “going without for 30plus hours” to repair mode, maybe you won’t be feeling a little despondent. I’m no expert, but from personal experience having 3 small meals or fasting all day until the night-time meal is working. Some days I fast all day then have dinner using all 500 Cal ( my calculation is roughly from the previous meal to the fast day night meal 24 hours, but this month I lost another 3 kilos, and that was also having the odd wine on non fast days, out to a nice restaurant and enjoying myself. So chin up, and power on , every day you fast is repairing your body and mind. Good Luck Melanie ( NZ)
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