The hardest party of this WOE is...
EmmaOnTrack
Posts: 425 Member
the morning of the first day after a fast day.
As I don't eat breakfast my 500cal fast day can last up to 42 hours...which makes the time before 1pm on the day after go EXCRUTIATINGLY slowly. Thankfully I go home for lunch every day so always have something ultra delicious (and jolly quick to prepare) waiting for me.
That being said, 8 weeks in and this is the easiest eating plan I've ever tried, with the best results...so those few hours when I want to gnaw off my own arm are worth it.
What do you find the most difficult about 5:2?
As I don't eat breakfast my 500cal fast day can last up to 42 hours...which makes the time before 1pm on the day after go EXCRUTIATINGLY slowly. Thankfully I go home for lunch every day so always have something ultra delicious (and jolly quick to prepare) waiting for me.
That being said, 8 weeks in and this is the easiest eating plan I've ever tried, with the best results...so those few hours when I want to gnaw off my own arm are worth it.
What do you find the most difficult about 5:2?
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Do you skip breakfast on purpose or are you not the breakfast type? Or what keeps you from not just having breakfast on the non-fasting days? If you are really hungry? Sorry, maybe I got you wrong but I am confused :-D
Until now (one week finished) I don´t find anything particularly hard, but there might be something after a while. Right now I completely agree with you that this is the best plan for me.0 -
I always find the non-fast days the hardest..once I start eating I realize how pretty hungry I am and have a hard time staying within my TDEE. Maybe I need to delay breakfast a bit. I eat breakfast when I get to work at 7:00 am...maybe I should try 9:00 am instead
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I find not having supper in the evenings the hardest on my fast days. I have a lateish breakfast, a lunch and then tea. On normal days I have supper as well - often just a bit of toast, a piece of fruit or a yoghurt - or I feel really eaty and might head for something less healthy.
I always eat breakfast though. It sets me up for the day and stops me craving sugary foods at elevensies time.0 -
It's just me being stubborn really. I don't eat breakfast (except for occasionally at the weekend) as I'm just not hungry...and like to try and stretch the fast out as long as possible.Do you skip breakfast on purpose or are you not the breakfast type? Or what keeps you from not just having breakfast on the non-fasting days? If you are really hungry? Sorry, maybe I got you wrong but I am confused :-D
Until now (one week finished) I don´t find anything particularly hard, but there might be something after a while. Right now I completely agree with you that this is the best plan for me.
It's totally self inflicted as there's no reason whatsoever that I couldn't eat before 1pm after a fast...it's just a wee mental game I play with myself to exercise my willpower muscles. Doesn't stop me complaining though!
I guess not eating breakfast has me doing 16:8 by default...and I've been doing it most of my adult life without even trying.
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I have to eat breakfast no matter what I keep from working out at night. When I don't eat breakfast I don't have energy left. I tried it 10/23 and did 500 I got so weak. 10/27 same I had breakfast but still weak. But my 10/7, 10/29 and 11/02 I lost 4.3
Tomorrow I will do 4:3 again. Same my breakfast omelette then Ill have miso soup 2x a day. Dinner I haven't decided.
Bottomline I still do cardio for an hour. Fitness for me is essential.0 -
I always find the non-fast days the hardest..once I start eating I realize how pretty hungry I am and have a hard time staying within my TDEE. Maybe I need to delay breakfast a bit. I eat breakfast when I get to work at 7:00 am...maybe I should try 9:00 am instead
You might want to try doing an 8:16 on you NFDs. It forces you to wait until later in the day to eat. Another thing that helps me is that I'm doing Whole30 which, as I've said on other posts, forces my to stay away from crappy food on my NFDs
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I am just starting 5:2 but have fasted/cleansed over the past 25 years on/off - mostly way off since having kids. SLEEPING is the hardest for me. It really revs my system up at night. I can eventually get to sleep but I wake up super early. I don't feel hungry, just tired and revved at the same time.0
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Surfingbodi wrote: »I am just starting 5:2 but have fasted/cleansed over the past 25 years on/off - mostly way off since having kids. SLEEPING is the hardest for me. It really revs my system up at night. I can eventually get to sleep but I wake up super early. I don't feel hungry, just tired and revved at the same time.
Yes, I am having the same problem! I just started the 5:2 a few weeks ago and everything has been going great for me, except the sleeping. I don't sleep well on fast nights and then my sleep schedule seems to get thrown off on the non-fast days too.0 -
When do you eat last meal on FD? Easier to sleep and not snack too much later in evening when I had dinner around 7-8pm. Do you light exercise during the day or take an evening walk? Might help too. Or find other routines that help you signal to body it's time. I think there's a reason for all those hot baths for toddlers as part of their bedtime routine
Trial and error FTW0 -
Foamroller wrote: »When do you eat last meal on FD? Easier to sleep and not snack too much later in evening when I had dinner around 7-8pm. Do you light exercise during the day or take an evening walk? Might help too. Or find other routines that help you signal to body it's time. I think there's a reason for all those hot baths for toddlers as part of their bedtime routine
Trial and error FTW
Thanks Foamroller, I will definitely try those things!
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I am trying the later dinners on the evening before the fast and keeping my 500 cals to a 24 hour window for now. Eventually as my body adjusts and if I am sleeping ok I will stretch it out to 36 hours if I can be civil and function. Even 24 hours of low 'clean' cals is great progress for me at this point to do twice a week!0
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Oh, I forgot to mention a very useful trick to me.
When I'm too wired to sleep or just need to wind down, I listen to "binaural beats", sleep or meditation as search words in youtube. Really like the Brainpowerwave channel, no fuzz, not too intrusive. I wouldn't take too seriously all the titles and their claims on what they're aiding.
Jody Whiteley is ok too.
Or you can search for nature sounds if you're into languid waves, silky rain and mountainstream, which I also like.0 -
foamroller - great idea! thanks0
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Another idea might be melatonin or even a decongestant/antihistamine. Not ideal but then again, not sleeping is a huge problem for me as it impacts the days around that one as well and my ability to make a living (I get very cranky when I get cranky). I am finding it hard to exercise on low food days but maybe that will get better with time which of course should help with sleep. I am cleaning my house more on my low cal days as I work primarily from home so that allows me to go at a pace that keeps me somewhat physically active between work sessions and helps to keep me alert for work.0
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These are all really helpful ideas! I am tempted to try the antihistamine but then again I already take a lot of antihistamines for my allergies so I'd like to avoid more. I will play with the hours when I exercise and the hours when I eat too, trial and error FTW.0
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+1 to the melatonin. I've been trying a thermogenic supplement at night which has melatonin...it's a little expensive so I think I might just go with melatonin alone.Surfingbodi wrote: »Another idea might be melatonin...
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Foamroller wrote: »Oh, I forgot to mention a very useful trick to me.
When I'm too wired to sleep or just need to wind down, I listen to "binaural beats", sleep or meditation as search words in youtube. Really like the Brainpowerwave channel, no fuzz, not too intrusive. I wouldn't take too seriously all the titles and their claims on what they're aiding.
Jody Whiteley is ok too.
Or you can search for nature sounds if you're into languid waves, silky rain and mountainstream, which I also like.
I have a weight loss hypnosis app that puts me to sleep as soon as she starts talking It's a good one because it just fades out at the end with music and shuts off. I sometimes wake up through the night with my headphones plugged in cuddling my iPad As a weight loss app, I'd say it doesn't work, but boy it sure does relax me! Maybe it would work if I managed to stay awake!! 
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These are all really helpful ideas! I am tempted to try the antihistamine but then again I already take a lot of antihistamines for my allergies so I'd like to avoid more. I will play with the hours when I exercise and the hours when I eat too, trial and error FTW.
I wouldn't use any medicine that is prescribed for another condition to alleviate something else, as a general rule. (Although the guys who did sildenafil before it was rebranded as Viagra, probably begged to differ when they were testing blood pressure and heart conditions).
On a darker note. Medicines are only clinically tested for which they were prescribed. Also, very often the body adapts to doses of medicine, thereby maybe reducing the effect it would have until you REALLY need it vs. allergies. A parallel would be the overusing of antibiotics that probably will make them inefficient as medicine in their present development in somewhere between 20-30 years time.
( http://www.bbc.com/news/health-21702647 )
Besides, most anti-inflammatory medicines, prednisol, antihistamines and NSAIDs (to a lesser extent) are said to be a last resort type of medicine. They reduce symptoms of inflammation, but you risk increasing inflammation episodes. So it CAN become a bad loop. Don't remember how this was explained medically, but I've read it many places. I had a really bad blood inflammation 4 years ago and I lost the ability to walk for some days, got hospitalized and was put on prednisol. It comes with very clear instructions it's NOT FOR PROLONGED USE.
I'm not trying to scare you. I grew up with a mom who had migraines, she used medicines heavily. I'm not opposed to use medicines or supplements to help. Just be conscious about the choices you do for your body and mind.
Edit: Sometimes I foamroll to relax muscles. It's very painful, so the body releases beta endorphins after.
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Foamroller wrote: »Edit: Sometimes I foamroll to relax muscles. It's very painful, so the body releases beta endorphins after.
I wondered if that was why you had that username- do you have suggestions of exercises on the foam roller? i have one, but not really sure how to use it?
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angela233Z wrote: »Foamroller wrote: »Edit: Sometimes I foamroll to relax muscles. It's very painful, so the body releases beta endorphins after.
I wondered if that was why you had that username- do you have suggestions of exercises on the foam roller? i have one, but not really sure how to use it?
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I don't only foamroll because of the added health benefits. It just makes me feel REALLY good:)
Skip this part if you don't want a health rant:
I'm a big believer in the theory that inflammation COULD be at the core of most diseases or things that often go wrong in our bodies.
Therefore I foamroll, hehe. It is said to alleviate bursitis, which is inflammation in the soft tissue that surrounds organs, muscles etc. By applying body weight pressure on the muscles and tissue, it is believed to "squeeze out" toxins and tension and make the tissue relax. This sounds logical to me. At any time there is a cocktail of hormones that regulate our systems (body and mind). More so when exercising or stressed. Most of the byproducts are "cleansed" through the normal back to the heart vein-muscle pump, but residue might be clogged up for a host of different reason.
I'm sorry this is turning into a lecture...
Anyway, when people have very tense muscles, which we all have somewhere, like in the neck or back, it literally is muscles doing "continuous contraction". They are in other words, holding it 24/7 instead of relaxing like they should do. If too persistent, you might develop muscle knots or pressure points. Poking a finger into it, and it HURTS. These muscle knots are not good for your overall health.
Foamrolling can help soften those knots or overall stiff muscles.
Start VERY gently, and work your way up. It's NOT dangerous that it's painful. Just be careful to listen to your body and don't overdo it. A lot of the tense muscles are often what literally "hold you together". Sometimes loosening up those defenses, can lead to very unintended responses in your system.
Health rant over.
Youtube is my go-to. I often foamroll in front of TV, watching movies or documentaries on youtube. For a deeper more introspective foamroll, put on some relaxing music and tune into yourself:)
There are a ton of vids on youtube for foamrolling.
Dr. Peter Percuoco is one of my favs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBxjD4aSI18
Percuoco on tennisball and lacrosse ball self massage for lower back pain and too tight gluteus muscles (yes, that's tight arsed)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDRURiy7Zx0
I really like using the balls for working on upper back, shoulder, neck area too!
Dr. Mark Cheng also has a pretty good series about foamrolling:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UQMLGvgf-0
Ashely Borden full body roll
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khC5J1lkC7s
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I'm sorry if I sounded scolding in the above post about medicines. Glee, you do whatever you feel is best for you:)0
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Foamroller wrote: »These are all really helpful ideas! I am tempted to try the antihistamine but then again I already take a lot of antihistamines for my allergies so I'd like to avoid more. I will play with the hours when I exercise and the hours when I eat too, trial and error FTW.
I wouldn't use any medicine that is prescribed for another condition to alleviate something else, as a general rule. (Although the guys who did sildenafil before it was rebranded as Viagra, probably begged to differ when they were testing blood pressure and heart conditions).
On a darker note. Medicines are only clinically tested for which they were prescribed. Also, very often the body adapts to doses of medicine, thereby maybe reducing the effect it would have until you REALLY need it vs. allergies. A parallel would be the overusing of antibiotics that probably will make them inefficient as medicine in their present development in somewhere between 20-30 years time.
( http://www.bbc.com/news/health-21702647 )
Besides, most anti-inflammatory medicines, prednisol, antihistamines and NSAIDs (to a lesser extent) are said to be a last resort type of medicine. They reduce symptoms of inflammation, but you risk increasing inflammation episodes. So it CAN become a bad loop. Don't remember how this was explained medically, but I've read it many places. I had a really bad blood inflammation 4 years ago and I lost the ability to walk for some days, got hospitalized and was put on prednisol. It comes with very clear instructions it's NOT FOR PROLONGED USE.
I'm not trying to scare you. I grew up with a mom who had migraines, she used medicines heavily. I'm not opposed to use medicines or supplements to help. Just be conscious about the choices you do for your body and mind.
Edit: Sometimes I foamroll to relax muscles. It's very painful, so the body releases beta endorphins after.
No problem, I agree that it's better to avoid taking medication unless they are really necessary.0 -
Foamroller wrote: »
I'm a big believer in the theory that inflammation COULD be at the core of most diseases or things that often go wrong in our bodies.
Therefore I foamroll, hehe. It is said to alleviate bursitis, which is inflammation in the soft tissue that surrounds organs, muscles etc. By applying body weight pressure on the muscles and tissue, it is believed to "squeeze out" toxins and tension and make the tissue relax. This sounds logical to me. At any time there is a cocktail of hormones that regulate our systems (body and mind). More so when exercising or stressed. Most of the byproducts are "cleansed" through the normal back to the heart vein-muscle pump, but residue might be clogged up for a host of different reason.
I'm sorry this is turning into a lecture...
Anyway, when people have very tense muscles, which we all have somewhere, like in the neck or back, it literally is muscles doing "continuous contraction". They are in other words, holding it 24/7 instead of relaxing like they should do. If too persistent, you might develop muscle knots or pressure points. Poking a finger into it, and it HURTS. These muscle knots are not good for your overall health.
Whenever I used to get deep tissue massages when I was younger. The massage therapist always used to tell me to drink plenty of fluids after my massages because toxins and other nastiest were being released and you could feel sick if you don't. So it makes sense what you said.
I also used to work for a Chiropractor (where they adjust the spine to fix subluxations [pinching of the nerves in the spine]) It sounds like the formroller could do both; release subluxations and workout the toxins in the muscles.
It is very interesting and something I had never heard of, but I'm going to do more research. Thanks for mentioning it.0 -
Foamroller - thank you for the advice - I will go check them out and let you know what i think. I started a few weeks ago just laying lenthwise on foam roller for a few minutes and was amazed how tight my muscles were.0
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@foamroller I am going to check it out too. My shoulders are always so tight I can barely lift 2.5 lbs with them. Would love to find something that would soften them up.0
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@foamroller. Thanks for mentioning using a ball on shoulders. I use the roller happily on legs and hips but hadn't found a way to get into my shoulder/upper arm.
I sometimes struggle to sleep on fast day but always save 100cals for a late evening banana so I don't need to go to bed hungry. Hadn't thought of the hypnosis cd...certainly have one of those that used to put me to sleep straight away (without the desired weightloss!) Like many other people, however hungry I think I am in the evening, I can easily not eat next day till early afternoon.
@flum. Great story, that's an inspiring loss!0
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