I think I did well for my first actual day, with some caveat. I’m still putting half and half in my coffee, but measuring to keep it less than a tablespoon (so under 20 calories, 3 times.) I met a friend for lunch, and had a salad that had dressing, and a little bit of avocado and eggs. I’m calling it about 400 cals. But hard to know. That would be it, but after my long drive tonight, I did have a small glass of wine. So maybe 500 or a bit over, but not sure.
However, it wasn’t that hard, and I don’t feel hungry now. Tired, though, but that might be unconnected.
check out Salad I Love and Boathouse yogurt dressings.
Yummy and 2 TBLS are 45 and 60 calories. One TBLS goes a long way.
I use them when I sauté veggies–
Don’t forget asparagus! Broccoli!
I do cannot eat poultry or whole eggs. Also never eat processed meats. But love 2 ounces of leftover steak or a few
ounces of leftover Prawns or fish for breakfast or lunch.
Currently doing the “less than 1200 and hope for 1000” diet as leaving soon for a trip. Will need to go down as I adjust.
Will try the 5-2 upon my return.
I rely on yogurt if I cannot sleep due to hunger at night.
So far so good and enjoy this thread.
Oh, cottage cheese with cucumber and tomato and heavy pepper…
@oregon101 , your mention of prawns made me think that shrimp cocktail with just a dab of cocktail sauce is a nice low calorie treat. I believe the key to the fast days for me will be choosing really tasty stuff so I don’t feel too deprived. (Salad with a squirt of lemon juice does not fill the bill–that’s more like a punishment for me.) And while I do appreciate asparagus and broccoli, etc., I cook so many fresh veggies as part of our regular meals that I don’t feel compelled to include them on fast days.
@garland , with the powers invested in me as OP of this thread, I am absolving you. I don’t think it’s necessary to agonize too much about how healthy each 500 calorie day is, so long as your entire intake isn’t comprised of, say, 7 glazed Dunkin munchkins (yes, I looked that up–I could ingest 490 calories in about 2 minutes with those babies, which is kind of terrifying) and you’re eating a nutritionally sound diet the other 5 days.
A Cheesecake Factory is moving into my town soon. If you’ve ever looked at the calorie counts on their menus (this disclosure is required in some states), you’ll know that they are mind-boggling. I figure just walking into the place and inhaling deeply would take care of 500 calories!
My next fast day is probably Sunday, another busy, work-y day for me that keeps me out of the kitchen and mentally occupied with matters other than food. For my main “meal”, I’m planning to have 4 oz. of Boars Head maple glazed ham (120 cals.) in a low-carb wrap (60 cals.) with 2 tsps. of Boar’s Head honey mustard (20 cals.) and some lettuce and tomato (I’m assuming there’s are calories worth counting with those). OJ and yogurt to start the day, almonds and fruit (to the extent they fit into the magic 500 calories) over the rest of the day. I have to keep careful count (I’ve set up a reference sheet) because I’m a terrible estimator.
By my third fast day, I think I’ll be ready to duplicate the soup/English muffin w/ peanut butter thing I did on the first.
Happy weekend to all my fellow fasters and to any skeptics/spectators who are just hanging around to see what happens (or watch us fail, as the case may be).
Fast day today for me. I have a new strategy. Last week I didn’t eat until dinner. For today, I planned out three small meals. I’ll see which I like better.
Me too today - sticking with late afternoon for everything. Beating myself up over my weekend eating - nothing terrible, just too much of it, too late in the evening, and I can’t wait until those Hershey Kisses are gone from this house.
Today I may go with a protein smoothie and maybe some raw veggies with almond butter, which I can’t believe I like. (I am allergic to peanuts). Also upping my exercise for the next few weeks.
In my case, having several small meals is the way to go. If I ate nothing until late afternoon, I’d be ravenous and lose all will power. But I can see how not focusing on food at all most of the day would work best for some folks.
Yesterday was a fast day, made much easier by the fact that we tried a new restaurant early Saturday evening and I apparently got food poisoning, which left me completely uninterested in anything other than weak tea until well into Sunday afternoon. (Now there’s an approach I bet none of the books have considered!) Once I was feeling better, I ate a 100 calorie light Greek yogurt, and since that sat well, a few hours later I had a sandwich of 4 oz. of Boar’s Head ham on a low calorie wrap with a bit of honey mustard dressing. A sandwich is a very normal meal, so to me it was psychologically quite satisfying. Rounded out the day with some almonds, 3/4 cup of blueberries and, as a late night snack, a 100 calorie Fudgsicle.
The hardest part for me was that I cooked dinner for the rest of the family and didn’t get to eat any of it.
Funny about cottage cheese. It was always the mainstay of diets in the old days (it seemed every restaurant offered a “diet” plate of canned fruit and cottage cheese arranged on a lettuce leaf), so I associate it with feeling deprived and haven’t wanted to eat it for decades.
My next fast day is Wednesday, and I plan to duplicate what I had last Wednesday, only varying the variety of Progresso Light soup and maybe the kind of fruit, which keeps things simple.
I’ve discovered Ready Pac Bistro premade salads. I am just awful at portion control when I am really hungry—I have one of these waiting for me when I get home and find that just one fills me up! (available at Costco and Smart and Final)
I came down with a totally crappy cold saturday morning and I’ve been suffering with it ever since. I’m leaning towards not doing the fast tomorrow because I don’t know how the body reacts to being sick and not getting a lot of calories, and I don’t have the luxury of finding out it doesn’t work well because I have 11 hours of classes tomorrow. I’m going to bump it out to Friday-the girls want to go clothes shopping and I bet it’ll be way faster if mom’s a total crank. ;0
Thought I would check in and report my progress. I’ve lost 4 pounds in two weeks of religiously following the 5-2 diet. Right in line with the 1.5-2 lb. per week loss that I believe is usually considered reasonable. I haven’t had any problem complying with the fasting days. I think carefully planning out exactly what I’ll eat in advance and spreading out the calories over the day have been important aspects for me, as has timing my fasts for days when I am particularly occupied. And the knowledge that “I can have that tomorrow” is very comforting when passing up a temptation. The only thing I really miss on fast days is coffee, because I only like it with a splash of whole milk and choose not to use up any calories in something that goes down so easy and doesn’t assuage hunger in any way. My biggest calorie “bargain” has been a wrap made with 4 oz. of Boar’s Head pastrami turkey or honey maple ham with a teaspoon of Boar’s Head honey mustard on a Tumaro’s Ancient Grain 60 calorie wrap–very filling and very tasty.
I find myself a little hungry in the waning hours of the evening, but one silly trick I’ve used from my old dieting days is flossing and brushing my teeth after my last bite on a fast day. Somehow this is a signal to my mind that the eating part of the day is over. Maybe it’ll work for someone else.
I really like the fact that I’m not counting calories or points or otherwise obsessing over every bite–i.e.,. not dieting–the other 5 days. Of course I’m not bingeing either, but if I want a second helping of something, I have it, I have no fear of salad dressing, and when I go to the movies this weekend, yes, I will get popcorn.
Similar results here. Strangely enough, I look forward to the fast days. I mentioned earlier that I eat the pre made (so pre measured) salads at Costco for dinner on fast days. I look at this system as a “re tooling” of eating habits. By fasting on Monday and Thursday I am more in tune with what real hunger is and on the 5 “normal days” even though there are no restrictions I am a much more mindful eater. No more snacking. Another odd result—I have almost completely lost my taste for sugar. That includes non caloric sweeteners. I like to talk about ice cream, but really…I’m off it and have lost that sort of craving. ( My doctor had told me that it was a great way to loose the sugar habit.)
Going on two weeks for me, and three pounds lost. Weirdly, like @musicamusica said, I look forward to the fast days, though getting through them can be a challenge. I can keep to the fast fine, but i think about food and eating, or not eating, all day. I’m hoping with more time, that will go away.
That’s worked for me for a long time, I’ve lost 50 pounds that way, with exercise. I also gained back about 20 over the past year or so, so it was time to get back to it when I saw this thread.
I am doing a sort of reverse 5-2.
5 days I keep calories low - like 900-1000, then 2 days I eat about 2500 (my maintenance amount is about 2100, more if I run or bike that day).
On the low cal days I eat a TON of veggies and fruit. Our farmers market started recently so I have blueberries, strawberries, sugar snap peas, beets, greens, cukes, bok choy, broccoli. I add a little protein (an egg or some chicken or fish) and I feel good.
It’s been about 10 days and I’m down 6 pounds, but I always have that kind of big loss at the beginning, presumably from water loss. Still, it’s a good start and the clothes are looser.
