Desperate newbie

This topic contains 4 replies, has 5 voices, and was last updated by bigbooty 8 years, 3 months ago.

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Lollypop75

11:54 pm
21 Aug 16
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Hi there. I’m trying to get to grips with the 5:2 as I need to lose 5 stone!!!!! My health is suffering as a result and it’s crunch time… However, having depression means it’s very difficult to get motivated. I can’t seem to get through one fast day at the moment.

jaadi

3:22 am
22 Aug 16
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Same here. Difficult to get down to it. Trying though. Hoping todays fast day is good. So far I have not been able to stick to 500 calories so technically I have not had a single actual fast day and i should be eating 400 calories not 500 as my TDEE is 1600. Wish you and the rest of us out there All The Best and hope we succeed!!

ETJ

4:21 am
22 Aug 16
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Hello Lollypop75 🙂 You just need to do it! Seems so simple but there is no magic way to start or complete it and once you wrap your head around that you will realise it too 🙂 Just take one day at a time. Start a fast day tomorrow. Aim to keep all your calories for one meal at night time. The worst thing that is going to happen is that you will be hungry. That is it. Think about what you are going to have – I have nothing on fast days, so it is pretty easy for me. I just have water/ hot tea and the occasional diet soda or diet cordial. I fast from after dinner, go through the entire next day and break my fast at break fast the following. Just don’t cave in. You don’t need to eat for that one day. Nothing bad is going to happen.
Once you get a few fast days under your belt you will realise that hunger is the worst of it and that you have had success. You have been hungry and not caved in and you can do it again. To lose a lot of weight you are going to have a lot of fast days. And if you keep putting it off you are going to wish in a months time you had of just started and stuck with it.
I started alternate fasting back in March and have lost 20 kilo’s since then plus an extra 5kilo’s since December. So I am 25kg lighter than I was in December. It takes a long time to lose a lot of weight. Once you wrap your head around the fact that the weight isn’t going to fall off and you start to lower your expectations – no you won’t get a kilo weight loss every week! And you adjust to actually feeling hunger, you will be half way there. The weight will come off, you just need to stick with it and be honest with yourself. If you are cheating on your fasting days and over eating on your non eating days, then it won’t work.

Good luck!!

Merryme

5:11 am
22 Aug 16
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Hi Lollypop53,

Well done for making the decision to start 5:2. That’s an important decision to make. Well done and congratulations for working on accomplishing a fast day ( FD). Despite the depression these are 2 really good steps you’ve taken. They’re also 2 steps a lot of people don’t make, and you have.

People do FDs in different ways.

1. Some people find it easier to not have any calories in foid or drink till their evening meal. For these people eating anything awakens what we 5:2ers call The Hunger Dragon. For these people whenever they first eat anything is when the hunger kicks in. They eat all their calories at 1 meal. I am one of these people.

2. Some people feel nauseous if they don’t have something in the morning. This group eat their 500-600 cals split between 2 meals, 1 in the morning and 1 in the evening.

3. Some people have fluid only FDs, with clear soups/stock or low cal soups, miso soup, tea, coffee, water, sparkling water.

4. Some do water only FDs.

I suspect that most people are in the first 2 groups and many fewer in the last 2. All of them work, and it can take a few weeks to work out which type you will be, and what works best for you. Remember that everyone had to get through their first FD and not all of them did it straight away.

What is happening when you’re doing a fast day? Let’s look at where you can improve and what strategies might work for you.

Merry

.

bigbooty

5:41 am
22 Aug 16
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Have to agree with ETJ. I also water fast for 36 hours. Dinner on Sunday night, then my next meal is Tuesday morning for breakfast. You say you suffer from depression. I cant think of anything better than doing a successful fast!! How good you feel at the end of that!! The absolute worst and I do mean the absolute worst that can happen is that you will feel hungry and you may get a headache initially. And if you do get a headache it only lasts a few weeks and then disappears. Just take some headache tablets and drink lots of water. Success doesn’t chase you, you have to chase success. Have a go. Drink LOTS of water and chew gum like your life depends on it.