considering trying this but have always physically struggled with not eating

[irregularegular]

Is this something that will improve, or is fasting just not a good option for some people?

I've never dieted before - I've always been one of those lucky people who could just eat as they wanted and stay fairly slim. I'm still not overweight now, but have recently put on nearly a 0.5-1 stone and I want it to stop!

Anyway, the idea of 2 days on and 5 off does appeal, but I know that not eating has always affected me quite badly. I've never been able to comfortably skip lunch - in fact, I'm usually desperate for lunch by mid-morning. The afternoon/evening is not so bad - I can often cope with a late evening meal.

When I'm hungry I get light-headed and really pretty useless. I just had to eat a banana now as my lips were getting that slightly numb feeling. This is after having had an OK breakfast at 8am. So would 5:2 be doomed to fail, or will it change??

I suspect it would be best for me to have my main meal around the middle of the day, but we always eat together as a family in the evening and don't want to skip that.

Try drinking water whenever the lightheaded feeling hits, before reaching for the food. You may find, after a good drink, the feeling passes and you no longer need food

When I first started the FD was awful, tired and lightheaded. But I made sure I started on a day when I was at home and could have a lie down if I needed it.

I'm doing ADF and I don't feel too bad on a FD anymore. I still sometimes have an afternoon crash but always make sure I have carrot sticks or celery at the ready.

PS - I agree about the water as well

Hi irregular, I wish I had known about 5:2 when I was as slim as you. Should suit you well as you've not had to diet until now.

Yes to drinking plenty of fluids, much more than you would normally as you're not getting it from food.

Most would say the first fast is the worst. Us westerners are just not used to going hungry. Our bodies are so used to regular top ups they go all squirly at the merest hint of starvation. But its gets easier with each fast pretty quickly.

Try pushing back breakfast until later initially. Then have something protein based, slice of lite cheese or boiled egg, plain yoghurt. No fruit. Fruit does make you hungry later as it raises your blood sugar.

Aim for 500 cals but don't stress if you go over. I do every time! My first fast was 800 ish.

Thanks all. I think I will spend a week or two getting information and ingredients together then give it a go. I may not be able to cope with it, but I can try.

Has anybody successfully lost weight on consistently more than 500 on their fast days -600-800 say?

I think you'd be better off limiting portion sizes, OP. You know that skipping meals screws up your blood sugar. Keep to the pattern that has always been successful for you just cut the portion sizes.

You might well be right. But cutting back portion sizes is really booooring! I've sort of being trying to do it for a while but it hasn't helped.

You know that skipping meals screws up your blood sugar

However, if you can do 5:2 you may find it actually helps stabilise it - I started doing it after a borderline high glucose test, within a few months it was fine.

It is something that gets easier as you do it. What darkhorse suggests is a good way to try. Many of us find that what works is to just drink through the morning (including caffeinated drinks if you usually have them), then a very light lunch (actually I only have miso soup now) and then a ~500 cal dinner, mostly protein and veg.

The other thing that you may want to consider is exercise - people find that some form of HIIT (high intensity interval training) is most effective and doesn't take long.

Skipping meals only messes up blood sugar if it was too high in the first place.

If you have a healthy diet with lots of slow release nutrients, there are no peaks and troughs for anybody with a functioning pancreas.

Fasting has been around for thousands of years - in fact all but the very rich did it regularly until around 150 years ago - its called going hungry.

OP
90% of the time when people think they are hungry, they are in fact thirsty.
A pint of water or a mug of tea tides the system over, using those spare calories around the hips, until the next chosen time to eat.

I did 900 cal FDs for the first several weeks, because I had splitting headaches when I first tried 500 cals. Probably because I'm a gym bunny who was used to 6 small meals per day for years.

I still lost weight; however I have a high (2400) TDEE, so still a big deficit.
You need a weekly 3,000 deficit to lose 1lb, so if your TDEE is much under 2000 and you don't manage 500 cal FDs, your weight loss would be very slow.

I persisted, because I had read the science of hormesis and was excited by the potential health benefits of fasting. Now I do 600 cal FDs easily and enjoy them.

What helped FDs:
. Drink loads, start each day with 1pint water
. Delay breakfast a bit more each day, until you can skip it
. Eat protein & veg,
. No grains or starches, except a little potato
. No fruit
. No yoghurt
. No chocolate, bikkies or any other junk whatsoever on FDs
. Remember "you can have it tomorrow"
. HIIT exercise stops appetite for a few hours, but moderate intensity increases it

No yoghurt??

Not even plain yoghurt?

Why?

Still dithering - I may try one more month of cutting down and healthy eating first. I've not been eating between meals for a few days and that's been easier than I thought.

irregular
On a fast day it is much much easier to go for high protein or vegetable type foods
on the other 5 days you can have all the plain yoghurt you fancy

start with cutting out all snacking
then make sure that nothing gets eaten after supper until the morning
then skip breakfast - just have lots to drink
( bingo, you have just done a 16 hour fast )
then try having a really light lunch - a bowl of vegetable soup
and then for supper LOTS of vegetables ans maybe some fish or chicken
( bingo you have just done 24 hours on 500 calories )
and then if you resist the urge to snack till the morning its actually 36 hours on 500
because two lots of 8 were when you were asleep!

Simple carbohydrates have only 1 or 2 sugar molecules and are absorbed quickly, so you are hungry sooner.
Examples:
Table sugar, honey, sweets, fruit, fruit drinks, none-diet sodas, dairy incl. plain yoghurt

I have definitely found yoghurt wakes my appetite, even though I only eat the plain kind.

Thank you - this is all useful "food" for thought. I think it might suit me best to make some small changes that gradually move in the direction of 5:2 eating. There is no massive rush. And just some small changes may well stop my weight gain, which would've good.

A little bit of dairy eg a couple of cups of tea with milk or a dollop of plain yogurt on a curry may be OK.

I think it might suit me best to make some small changes that gradually move in the direction of 5:2 eating

Yes - some people jump straight in, others ease themselves into it. You may find that just cutting out snacking and swapping some carbs for more veg does what you need.

Once I got used to fasting, I found I could be less strict about the content.

Maybe because I found it so tough initially I had to be more strict than most folk.
My 2400 TDEE, compared to about 1500 for Errol may mean FDs are a bigger shock - or probably I'm just much greedier !

When I began IF, I lost about 8-10lbs between March and August 2012, when I went down to half my calories on two days a week. And I wasn't trying to lose weight.

I just had to eat a banana now as my lips were getting that slightly numb feeling. This is after having had an OK breakfast at 8am.

Irregular Many of us find that it's actually having breakfast that makes you hungry later on. So we miss out brekkie altogether. The advice to keep pushing your breakfast back later and later is good, in that you'll be able to check this out for yourself.