Post-fast hunger

This topic contains 9 replies, has 8 voices, and was last updated by wyson9 10 years, 9 months ago.

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beebop

1:06 pm
3 Feb 14
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Hi all. Became a 5:2er last week and on day 2 today. Well done to everyone else on here, there’s lots of reasons to 5:2.

I’m a classic 40 something Male TOFI (thin outside, fat inside) – people say I don’t need to do something this ‘extreme’ but I know for sure, I have too much fat and like most of us, have been conned into thinking hunger is bad and means my body is about to cannabalise itself!!!

As a result of this, whilst I’m quite fit/active, I have a bit of a spare tyre because I snack a lot.

I do need a bit of help please – after day 1 I was ravenous and were it not for the fear of undoing what I hope I achieved on day 1, I would have eaten much more.

Does this subside or do you just learn to deal with it?

Also, it is the done thing to try and avoid mid-meal snacks on non-fast days??

Any further help or pointers very gratefully received, I need motivating !!!!! thanks to you all

msxjsds

10:14 pm
3 Feb 14
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Hi bebop, my husband and I are both participating in this WOE, and have been for only a few months. I agree, the day after a fast can be the most challenging – but your thinking is correct – why undo all the good work you did the day before. The only advice I can give you is to (a) eliminate the temptations, if you must snack – snack of vegetable sticks or something light (b) stay mentally strong – it is hard, and yes there will be days which are better than others, but that’s ok. We are human – not machines.

Drink lots of water regardless of fast day or otherwise. It really helps.

Good luck on your journey.

Oh as for the nay sayers – I too, don’t need to lose a lot of weight. I am doing this for the health benefits and also to support my husband. I actually enjoy doing it, and I know I need to be accountable for the stuff I actually ingest. I have no one to blame for my weight fluctuations but myself – and I can help myself by following this – so I CHOOSE to. If people choose NOT to, then that’s ok to.

TracyJ

1:58 pm
4 Feb 14
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Hi beebop, I’ve been on 5:2 for about 1 & half years now, so a bit of a longterm perspective. I remember it being especially hard early on in the lifestyle on the day after a fastday. I quickly realised that, for me, I was sabotaging myself by eating breakfast and kicking off my digestive system too early in the day.

Once you start eating the day after your fast it is roughly a billion times harder to stop than it is to just not start in the first place until you’re actually hungry. That’s been my experience anyway. I sat back and really analysed myself one post-fastday morning and decided that I was planning to eat just because it was breakfast time and not because I was actually hungry. So I put the bowl back in the cupboard and haven’t had a breakfast on any day (other than the odd B&B holiday) since.

I don’t suppose everyone would find my eating pattern comfortable or want to do it themselves but I’ve found that waiting as long as possible to eat on every day (not just fastdays) means I’m less likely to have an absolute blowout, as I have less time to cram in the excess calories. I also try to be mindful of my TDEE and only calorie count very roughly but definitely stay under it. I get better with my discipline as I go on.

10eke

10:15 pm
4 Feb 14
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Very recognisable! I’ve been on the program for 4 weeks and weight loss is great, fasting is fine, but boy oh boy the day after is hard! I’m using the my fitnesspal app to ‘rationalise’ my eating pattern. If the app calculates that I have eaten a normal portion of food then my stomach must be wrong.

sylvestra

11:39 pm
4 Feb 14
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Yup! @10eke. It’s your stomach! 😀

ghostgirl

3:54 am
5 Feb 14
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On your post fast day try to slow your eating down and actually pay attention to what you are eating while you are eating it. I don’t wake up ravenous but early afternoon I often feel like I could eat everything in the cupboard.

Paying attention to the food helps me know that yes there is plenty and I don’t need to eat it all before it disappears on me. It also helps you know when you are full so you don’t over eat.

NatashaD

8:20 am
5 Feb 14
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Hi Beebop,

I couldn’t agree more with TracyJ – once you start eating on a non-fast day the floodgates are open and anything edible within reaching distance is fair game! It took me a while to get my head around it but I started realising that I could cope quite easily with a hot drink for breakfast on a non-fast day (that’s my fast day breakfast) and then I didn’t really feel properly hungry until lunchtime. By then, having fasted the day before and all night and morning, my stomach fills up pretty quickly and I end up eating less than I would normally. It took me several weeks to understand the signals my body was giving me about when I was really hungry and when I was full up, and I am still getting used to listening to them and not my nagging brain. You will get there Beebop, just hold tight and enjoy the ride!

beebop

8:54 am
5 Feb 14
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thanks to everyone for the input, that’s really useful and glad I’m not alone! I’ll try to delay breakfast and see if that helps.

Its early days and I was naively hoping I would only be obsessed 2 days a week (about being hungry) and not really think about food/diet for the other 5. I’m in danger of becoming obsessed 24/7 lol 🙂

The thing that sticks out from everyone is the need to hang in during the early days and it becomes easier and a way of life. Thanks again

TracyJ

2:03 pm
5 Feb 14
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As you can probably tell by the fact that there are a few ‘old’ fasters like me still on here. You do get pretty obsessive about this way of life as a whole and it doesn’t really go away. Once you figure out your own body’s signals and find a way that works for you, you do tend to get a bit evangelical about wanting to pass on the knowledge, in case ‘your way’ will also work for someone else. 😀

wyson9

10:54 pm
6 Feb 14
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I have the opposite problem. I find I feel fuller much more quickly after a fast day, and find it hard to consume more than 2000 calories. My portion size creeps up gradually until my next fast day however. There is always a dull sense of hunger, but I know this isn’t real hunger (perhaps its the sensation of the body in ketosis) and its something that is easily ignored.