Teaching and fasting?

This topic contains 23 replies, has 5 voices, and was last updated by KJfastdiet 9 years, 9 months ago.

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Angelnina1977

7:11 am
16 Feb 15
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Hi,
I’m beginning my 3rd week of fasting today and have lost 6. The first week I was super good, leading to a 4 pound loss, then 2 last week. I feel this week I have let my feast days slide a little and know I will have gone over. Not expecting a loss this week. 1 would be great.
I actually find it easier to fast when at work as I’m so busy in the classroom, I don’t notice it. Find I get a dry throat though which isn’t easy with the amount of talking a teacher does! Half term this week so not expecting today’s fast to be easy! Husband joining in too, and Mum starting today!

Charliebear

9:35 am
16 Feb 15
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Hi!
I’m dreading half term week too as my fast days are the ones I do lunch duty on so I’m running around that much I don’t notice!
Also as I’m not at school I know I’m going to more sedentary than normal – backed up by the fact that for the last 2 days I’ve slept for 10 hours each night instead of my normal 6!!
Enjoy your break though x

Angelnina1977

3:13 pm
16 Feb 15
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It’s been a tough day! Getting lunch for the children is hard when you’re hungry. I’m looking forward to my scrambled eggs later!

MissMelsy

2:03 pm
17 Feb 15
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I completely understand! I’m a teacher in Australia and it’s definitely easier at school. I keep no calorie mints handy to help with dry mouth. I struggle during holidays because the routine disappears which is why I stopped doing 5:2 last year. Just starting again and gathering strategies to help when not at work. Anything that you find useful? Have a good week, Melsy

Angelnina1977

4:49 pm
17 Feb 15
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Hi MissMelsy,
Great to hear from a fellow teacher! I can only dream of teaching somewhere as warm as Australia! When I’m at work I drink copious amounts of tea with just a dash of skimmed milk. Or fizzy water. That seems to help. Yesterday was my first fast whilst at home. It was hard! I went for the hard-core approach in the end and ate nothing all day, saving my 500 calories for my evening meal. At work I tend to have no breakfast, then a 50 calorie soup at lunch.
Xx

KJfastdiet

6:56 pm
17 Feb 15
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I’m also a teacher and know how much easier it is to do a fasting day at work. I actually do three fasting days now. 2 at work and 1 on the weekend. The weekend one is much tougher without the distraction of the kids (though coworkers/students constantly wanting to celebrate things with food is tough too)!

I’ve been doing this diet for 7 months now and have lost around 28lbs. I increased the fast days because I plateaued for several months. Not the diet’s fault there. It was a tough time with my father having a stroke and me traveling back home several times a week…too much fast food on feast days will negate any overall caloric deficit. I installed a calorie counting app on my phone that has allowed me to get better control.

Anyway my advice to get through the day is to find a local asian market and get your hands on some shiritaki noodles. They are a zero calorie noodle that can fill you up. They are made of glucommmann (a fiber that expands with water). They might be called glucommanan, konjac, shiritaki, miracle noodles…You can order them from amazon too, but they are a lot more money. You can also just get the glucommanan powder. You can mix it into soup to make it more filling or add it to milk and vanilla to make a “pudding”. Or puree fruit and mix some in for a very low calorie “jam”. This product is perfect for 5:2. Too much of it can cause gastric distress, but every few days or three days a week doesn’t bother me at all!

Charliebear

8:17 pm
17 Feb 15
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Hi all
It’s funny to see that we all find fasting easier at work – think that speaks volumes about how manic school life is! Today was my first fast day in a holiday, normally although I’ll get a few hunger pangs as I drive to work I don’t notice the rest of the day whereas today was like water torture! I was starving all morning so in the end I gave up and went to school to do some catching up which did the trick. I forgot all about food until tea time (i don’t eat anything until the evening on my fast days)
Hope you are doing well x

Angelnina1977

6:44 am
18 Feb 15
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Hi all,
Thanks for the tip re the noodles. Are they really 0 calories? Wow! I’ll hunt some out and try them.
I face my second fast of the week today. Not looking forward to it. I often feel quite unwell by tea time, almost like I have a cold. I’ve woken up feeling like it today but will still go ahead. I have a day of baking planned for tomorrow with my Mum and my 4 children. There is no way I could fast through that! I maybe am getting a cold, pretty typical for teachers in the holidays anyway!
I think I’m just going to try and keep busy, ironing, marking assessed writing and running around after the kids should help. Tried it Monday though and it just wasn’t the same as being in the classroom.
I too am considering a 4:3 when I go back to work just to give the weight loss a real boost. Seems a good idea when I find it easy to do at work. Think I’d do 2 36 hour fasts on a Monday and Wednesday with 500 calories, then a 24 hour fast on a Friday with 250.
Xx

KJfastdiet

5:24 pm
18 Feb 15
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They are not quite zero….but they are under the threshold that the government has for required reporting of calories so the company gets to list them as zero calories (at least on Miracle Noodles which are specifically marketed as a dieting product). If you are going to the asian market and getting shiritaki noodles, yam noodles, Konjac or other Konnyaku, it’s the exact same stuff. You might see a higher calorie content on the stuff from the asian market (10 or 15 calories)but that’s because the serving sizes are larger. The product is exactly the same if you check the ingredients (glucommanan, calcium hydroxide, and water). The price is just lower if you buy it from the asian market…that’s because there it’s not a speciality diet product in asia, just regular everyday food. Miracle Noodles with tofu have a few more calories. Some people like the texture better. I personally can’t stand it. Just be prepared that the noodles are not like regular pasta. They are very chewy. They also come packed in calcium hydroxide (pickling lime) which needs to be drained and rinsed off. This his a slightly fishy odour…but with enough rinsing goes away. The noodles are very healthy…the low calorie content is from them being made up of mostly water and fiber. Much better than drinking diet soda or eating weird processed diet foods. I find those highly-processed chemically created foods give me headaches and make me feel awful. The noodles are fantastic as a rice replacement, in stir-frying, pad thai, “ramen” noodle soup, etc. You can even whip up a super simple tuna casserole by throwing on low-fat cream soup with tuna…Or make a mock lasagna with cottage cheese and pasta sauce. My noodle meal usually totals about 100 calories and makes up my lunch. Then I have the rest of my calories for dinner so I can make it through the night without waking up hungry. Plus then I get to have the same dinner as my husband.

On weekends I even make a “bread” out of the glucommanan powder so that I can breakfast. Or I invest a few extra calories in the morning and make oatmeal and eggwhite pancakes (nothing to do with glucomman or the noodles) just a delicous recipe.

Charliebear

9:26 am
20 Feb 15
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Hi all
I hope you plan to make the most of your last day of half term, although it’s raining here :o(
I can’t quite believe I’m saying this but I’m looking forward to going back. I’ve found fasting at home a nightmare, although I have stuck to it, it has been horrendous with blinding headaches and hungry all the time. I havent felt this bad before so I’m making the assumption that it is because I’ve had time to notice whereas in school I don’t have time. Alternatively it could just be my willpower is on the wain as this is the longest I have stuck at a healthy lifestyle (won’t say diet)
How have you all found the week ?

Angelnina1977

11:20 am
20 Feb 15
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Hi Charliebear,

I too have found fasting very hard this week but I began to feel really unwell yesterday after starting with a cough on Tuesday. I seem to have a cold/flu type thing and have a temperature and feel yukky! I hardly ate yesterday and it wasn’t even a fast day.
I’m in a bit of a predicament next week as I have two nights parent’s evenings – Wednesday is my second fast day and my last parent is at 7.20pm! I’m normally home by then having had my measly omelette and then sit shivering under a blanket until bed time! I could change my fast day but I’m doing Monday and Thursday is also a parents evening day. I don’t fancy two days consecutively so think I’ll have to stick with Wednesday and just smile and tummy grumble my way through it ha ha!
I’ll let you know how it goes x

MissMelsy

1:09 pm
20 Feb 15
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Hello fellow teachers,

To those who seem to be coming down with colds and illnesses, I hope you get better soon; I guess if it’s holiday time there (is it???) then that’s the time we usually come down with things. SUCH a shame 🙁

Was so flat out today with departmental admin, parent phone calls, teaching classes, going to meetings with line managers, going on duty, marking, lesson prep, fighting with the photocopier, fighting with the computer, fighting with the data projector etc. in my classroom…well, who has time to get hungry?! heheheeh

I hope you all have a restful weekend, we deserve it! Good luck with your fasting and here’s to more fabulous results in the coming weeks.
x Melsy

Angelnina1977

1:47 pm
20 Feb 15
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Hi Melsy,
Yes it’s been spring half term here. I’m guessing your holidays in Oz are different to ours due to the differing climate. Back to work on Monday, and hopefully back to fasts that go a bit quicker! Just hope I can shake this infection off before then. I would be gutted if I couldn’t fast but not sure it would be a good idea when ill.

mathslady

2:05 pm
20 Feb 15
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Hello all – I am a lecturer at an FE college (ie teacher lol) ooop norf and am thinking about the 5 – 2 diet. I lost 2.5 stone with SW a couple of years ago, but it is creeping back on again. Is it just a matter of counting your 500 calories, or do some of you have structured meals etc etc. So many questions!

Angelnina1977

2:14 pm
20 Feb 15
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Hi,
I too am a northener! I eat 500 calories between 7pm ish on a Sunday and 7am ish on a Tuesday. So roughly 36 hours. Same again Tuesday pm to Thursday am. I tend to use my calories like so:
100 for half pint of skimmed milk (to use in tea and for my meal).
50 for a tin of WW soup at lunch.
150 for two eggs that I make into an omelette at teatime or scrambled eggs
100 for a toasted thin with my scrambled or quorn/veg in my omelette
107 for a kit Kat
I don’t eat fruit as I have an allergy. I drink fizzy water or tea or diet coke.
Hope this helps x

mathslady

3:08 pm
20 Feb 15
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Thanks, will have to get my thinking cap on!
Jane

Charliebear

3:32 pm
20 Feb 15
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Hi Jane
I fast tuesday and Thursdays and save my 500 to the end of the day so I wont eat after say 7pm on a Monday till 6pm on Tuesday when I normally have fish and veg, plenty of black decaff coffee, herbal tea and water during the day and then nothing until about 7.30 on the wednesday.
I find if i eat during the day my hungry sensors go into manic mode which is why I save my calories to have a normal meal with the family (although I avoid carbs on fasting days)
It does work, in 6 weeks I’ve lost 12lbs and hoping to hit that magic 14 on my next weigh in.

Angelnina1977

7:33 pm
4 Mar 15
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Hi all,
Well the first week and a half back has gone in a blur! Interesting parents evening first week back. It was on the evening of my 2nd fast day of the week. I’d had just 50 calories and had drunk water. I was very tired and I do experience some decrease in cognitive function, but I was surprised how much! I completely messed up one child’s practice SAT paper and then told her parents the wrong mark! I have never made errors like that before. It’s haunted me since as I’m sure they think I’m incompetent now. But I’m still fasting. Day two today. Hoping to lose when I weigh in tomorrow as didn’t lose a thing last week.
Hope you’re all well xx

Charliebear

9:54 pm
4 Mar 15
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Hi Angelina
Its now my turn to be ill, started with a bad cold last week and I know think I have laryngitis (lost spelling ability as well as my voice)
Its such a short half term thats its completely manic and so I did lose last week, not so sure about this week as I’ve eaten more because of being unwell and really feeling the cold. At least the staff are having a lovely quiet week with my voice gone ;o)

Angelnina1977

10:02 pm
4 Mar 15
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Hi Charliebear,
Sorry to hear you’re unwell. I think that’s why I didn’t lose last week too as I ended up on anti biotics and also ate too much. I think it’s understandable when you’re feeling drained and poorly. Hope you feel better soon x

KJfastdiet

11:13 pm
4 Mar 15
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Hi Angelnina1977,

I take it by your earlier post that you are about a month into the diet? The beginning was the hardest. Give it time and the brain fog will pass. I work at a private school and part of my job includes teaching a part-time program twice a week (Tues and Thurs) from 4 to 6 pm after I already taught a regular school day. Those are the days I devoted to fasts because they offered the most distraction…but by the time that second program rolls around I’m pretty burnt out. I found that if I save 50-100 calories of protein to have right before the session starts (4pm), then it’s a lot better. I’ve been doing the diet for 7-8 months (32 lbs lost). I find my mind is usually sharper on fasting days now. You body will adjust. I’m going on an all-inclusive vacation next week so it will be a week off the diet. I’ll have to see if I have to start the whole process over again when I come back! I’m hopeful that putting my body in full-feast mode for a week will make the fasting days more effective when I come back. I’m finally down to that last ten pounds that seem so much harder to shake.

mathslady

10:46 am
5 Mar 15
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Hi all! Started the diet last week and found it hard on both days. I also over indulged in between with the result of nothing lost!
On Tuesdays I work at college for 12 hours, so that’s a good day for me to do it. This week was much easier psychologically. I save 100 cals for milk as I would find it really difficult to do without tea and coffee. A Slim a soup for lunch, apple in the afternoon, then another slimasoup before my evening class tides me over until I get home at about 8.45. I then ate 2 hard boiled eggs and a 100 cal yoghurt. With a cup of tea I was fine! Today is day 2, and will not be as easy as last week as I had a later meeting. Today I leave at 2.30 so will have more time to resist food! However tonight I will be having some prawns with a large salad and very low cal dressing. Amazing how low cal salad is!!!! So fingers crossed for weigh in next Tuesday morning!

Angelnina1977

5:56 pm
5 Mar 15
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Hi,
Wow! 32 pounds lost. I can only dream of getting there. I’ve lost 12 pounds and am just at the stage where people are beginning to notice and my clothes feel lose. I’m going to attempt my first 4:3 this week. Hope you’re right about the brain fog.
I love salad but can’t eat it as any fruit or salad causes me to have mouth ulcers. I stick with low cal soup and scrambled egg.

KJfastdiet

2:46 am
6 Mar 15
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12 lbs in a month is fantastic start! I think it’s important to keep in mind that even a pound loss per week overall is more than should be expected by most. My current TDEE is 1700 (damn being short) and now I do three fasts a week. -1200 calories times 3 = -3600 which equals a one pound loss. If I was still doing 5:2 it would be less. This also assumes that one doesn’t overeat on those other days which I’ve struggled with…but a calorie counting app on my phone has now become my lifeline. I find also that doing the regular Sunday fast helped me get through when I was on Christmas break from school. It seemed less daunting because I was already used to non-school day fasting when the holiday hit.

Is the ulcer problem with salad the dressing? Or is it high acidity veggies like tomatoes?

My favourite “fast” foods:
Roasted eggplant with salsa, a little low fat cheddar and slice of salami (like Mexican Pizza)
Grilled zucchini stuffed with low fat herbed cream cheese
Pan fried brusell sprouts with lean ham
Smoked salmon and creamed cheese on rice crackers
Roasted seaweed (dulce)
Chicken carnitas
Stirfry
Oatmeal
Tuna salad

Do you guys have any suggestions? Other than soup…I’m too lazy to make soup:) I literally started this diet because I googled the words “fast” and “diet”…luckily it turned out to be the perfect fit.