Juliemoo1960 wrote: »

My fast day yesterday was slightly off as I ate my meal at lunchtime. My normal pattern is a 4:3 as I find that is a better fit with my lifestyle but normally try to keep to 700-800 on those days. I just found it was too hard doing 500. I know this works for me but everyone is different and I think we all have to do what suits us best.

May I ask what numbers you stick to on normal eating days? Doing this may work for me for maintenance in near future

mamainthekitchen wrote: »

Juliemoo1960 wrote: »

My fast day yesterday was slightly off as I ate my meal at lunchtime. My normal pattern is a 4:3 as I find that is a better fit with my lifestyle but normally try to keep to 700-800 on those days. I just found it was too hard doing 500. I know this works for me but everyone is different and I think we all have to do what suits us best.

May I ask what numbers you stick to on normal eating days? Doing this may work for me for maintenance in near future

Hi I normally eat 1600. I did try the 2 X FD but just found 500 was too low for me but this seems to work for me. Not sure it is true 5:2 in the purest sense but I think it is better for me to stick to this and manage it that to devour everything in sight when I get so hungry. I also found that i feel more balanced but still feel like I have fasted.

sanjoparolas wrote: »

Yesterday I ate more than 3200 calories and that is not untypical! So I need my fast days obviously . . .

Well in numbers Sanjo that seems like a lot, but you cycle lots, if I'm correct, so you need that!! But I suppose even if your exercise didn't account for that amount, fasting 2 days/wk is the route to go because I do believe it's a 'weekly' number we need to watch, not a daily total and by truly sticking with a fast day as they are intended, maybe that's more of a benefit....to eat more during a regular eating day and then really fast sticking to 500 cals! Hmmmm food for thought?

I didn't eat well yesterday.....at our daughters nursing grad (3hrs long) so I could've skipped dinner altogether by the time we got home, but instead, stupidly bbq'd 2 hot dogs at 10:30pm & washed those down with a glass of wine and a dessert of chocolate!!! Usually I do eat well and I eat enough, my appetite is smaller now. @Juliemoo1960 I have never had a problem with fast days but it's interesting to me that everyone can tweak a little here & there. I'll try increasing my calories to around 1400 since I'd like to weight train more and stick with 2 attempted fast days and not worry if I only get one in. (Crossroads are hard to walk when you're a Libra!)
Cheers everyone!

Mama and Julie, the desire to eat uncharacteristic and large volumes of food hit me hard yesterday. As a former binge-eater who evolved into something who just likes to eat a lot of food, this behavior is something that I hadn't experienced in a while. I've evolved out of it, certainly 5:2 has helped and even taught me to enjoy not being full all the time. However, yesterday, it reared its ugly head. I eat a mostly plant-based diet, but yesterday it was cake, pizza, toast, Taco Bell (nachos?!? Come on...), triscuits, a chickpea curry with rice, a few cheese ravioli, ending with brownies. I shudder to think of the calorie count. I would agree with Julie...I've learned that these kinds of days just happen. In a way, training our bodies to live on a calorie count closer to or below 3500 each week leads us to have occasional days of more-than-normal amount. I look at it as my body saying "hey...I've been pretty diligent with fasting and eating good nutritionally, I just need a day of unbridled eating". Since it doesn't happen very often, I'm ok with it. A little puffy this morning, but ok with it.

Sanjo, that's really the crux of it all. Eating mostly when not hungry. I believe it's a skill and one that takes a while to acquire. That's why when you have it, it feels odd to eat for other reasons. For me, 5:2 helped put hunger back into perspective. I can't say I always only eat because of ginger. Sometimes I eat because it tastes good. And as far as cravings, it depends on how you define that word. I associate a craving for something that I'm motivated to eat. Eating mostly plants has definitely changed what I crave!

Good news about the blood pressure FlossyRuby! I eat a plant-based diet also and I agree that a plant-based diet can be delicious, for sure! Every non-fast day I want to eat asparagus, sautéed greens, a banana with pumpkin seeds, bread, an apple with peanut butter, granola, pesto with crackers, one cup of coffee with sugar, soy milk and coconut oil, popcorn, salad with avocado (well, I often eat that on fast days too), potatoes, etc. This weekend I made veggie soup for weekday lunches and it is super yummy. Other weeks, I make Thug Kitchen's Pumpkin Chili. So, clearly I have quite the appetite and I am super grateful I learned about the 5:2 way of life!

Welcome, Reader, and of course you may join in! Congrats on your weight loss and maintenance success!! A few of us are near the maintenance phase, so any advice or suggestions would be welcome!

flossyruby1 wrote: »

Welcome, Reader, and of course you may join in! Congrats on your weight loss and maintenance success!! A few of us are near the maintenance phase, so any advice or suggestions would be welcome!

Thanks for the welcome I'm going to do Mondays/Thursdays for my lower calorie days so today is my first day back at it. Have my calories mapped out and I'm ready to go!

sanjoparolas wrote: »

Hi Reader, thanks for joining! FlossyRuby, that was meant to be two different things that I love to eat: popcorn, and salad with avocado. I am fasting today and send good wishes to all the other Monday fasters out there!

Haha...too funny. You never know!! The vegan community can be very creative (chickpea brine made into meringue, anyone?), so I wasn't sure. Perhaps you're on to something, though. Popcorn repurposed into a crouton mixed with avo and other veggies? Hmmm...