Social acceptance – Experiences?

This topic contains 7 replies, has 7 voices, and was last updated by panchkarma27 6 years, 6 months ago.

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june_

8:21 am
4 Jun 17
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Hi everyone 🙂

I have started fasting a couple of weeks ago and it has been working great for me. However, so far I haven’t been very open about it towards people around me (being a student, I have a quite irregular lifestyle, eat with others on a less regular basis, and therefore haven’t often had to explain). What reactions have you guys faced when first explaining to people that you simply do not eat a couple of days a week, or just little? Have people been understanding, or have you faced negative reactions (for instance sitting around a table with people eating and not accepting why you wouldn’t)? I especially wonder because, being normal weight, I am not fasting for weight-loss but rather for general health reasons, and I would really like to make it a long-term lifestyle. Does anyone have useful tips on how to explain and communicate the choice?

Thanks in advance for all advice 🙂

LJoyce

10:24 am
4 Jun 17
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I don’t tell people I’m fasting, because by the technical definition (no food), I’m not – and it can give people the wrong impression. I usually tell people I’m trying to eat less a couple of days a week as it helps me manage my weight. I haven’t had bad reactions to that. I’ve found that I’ll give more detailed explanations to some people that I’m closer to, but I don’t want to go into lengthy explanations with acquaintances.

I certainly aim to keep most social occasions to days when I’m not trying to stick to 500 calories. The only exception in the regular Sunday family brunches that I go to – they are too frequent to not clash with the occasional fast day, but my family know that sometimes I will choose to only have a cup of tea and they are now fine with that. (If I did it every week I know they would be worried and would try harder to tempt me to eat, but because it’s only sometimes it bothers them much less.)

bigbooty

12:31 am
5 Jun 17
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I just found it easy to tell everyone I fast. The reaction is overwhelmingly positive. I reached my goal weight in March 2016 and have been in maintenance ever since. I still water fast every Monday. Never skip it. Work colleagues even make allowances for my Monday fasts by bringing in a birthday cake on a Tuesday even if its their birthday on a Monday (office tradition of bringing in cake if its your birthday). Family social occasions everyone knows I don’t eat on a Monday so its not an issue. I can quite happily watch others eat and it doesn’t bother them or me.

Cinque

12:37 am
5 Jun 17
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I got to the point where I want to be a bit of an ambassador for 5:2. I generally say “I’m doing the 5:2 way of eating where I eat lightly two days a week” I don’t say diet because it sounds as if it is a short term change for weight loss, whereas I am talking about a longterm way of life for health.
Sometimes when I am out I’ll say “I’ll just have a coffee, it is a fast day for me” (even though I agree with LJoyce that it isn’t actually fasting). Never had negative reactions, not much interest either!

penguin

10:10 am
6 Jun 17
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If I am in company at meal times on fasting days, I just tell them I am fasting. The usual initial response is that it can’t be healthy and I will have no energy. I refute that by telling them that I go to the gym on my fasting days and that energy levels are not a problem. I have been fasting Monday/Tuesday for some time and those around me now accept this as my routine. The change of shape and obvious improvement in my health has converted a few.

Cinque is right – this isn’t a diet, it is a healthy life style – one with centuries of history and lots of recent scientific support.

june_

1:53 pm
7 Jun 17
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Thanks a lot for your stories and opinions, everyone! I have been telling some people and the first reaction I get is they think I’m crazy, but explaining a bit definitely does help. Also, as bigbooty said I have absolutely no problem watching people eat, either; I just hope people don’t have a problem with me not eating with them. But I guess I and everyone else will get used to it.

Big_Bill

3:20 am
8 Jun 17
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My week is Monday to Sunday.

Both this week and last week I have fasted (< 600 calories) on both Monday and Tuesday.

That way I don’t have to worry about fasting for the rest of the week. I might squeeze in another fasting day or a couple of lowish calorie days, but as long as I’m eating reasonably well and not bingeing it’s all good. If I overeat on a non-fasting day I will try to nip it in the bud by fasting the following day – otherwise a chocolate bar on Saturday becomes 3 chocolate bars and half a tub of ice cream on Sunday.

If I get to lunch time or dinner time on Monday or Tuesday and I find that I have a social occasion to attend or some food I really want to eat, no problem. I just cancel fasting for that day – I’ve got Wednesday thru Sunday to catch up.

panchkarma27

6:34 am
10 May 18
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It has been argued that behavioural models of technology acceptance do not serve equally across cultures. This study aims to extend technology acceptance model (TAM) to suit in a developing country context. The model attempts to identify the relationship between social norms, management support and moderating factors voluntariness and experience.