Fasting doesn’t necessarily mean total abstinence from food. I do the 5/2, and so two days a week I eat very low calorie. For example, lunch today is miso soup with tofu. Comes in at about 98 calories and it’s very satisfying. And the rest of the time, I just eat lean protein, salads, veg. I avoid potatoes and rice and pasta, although I’ll eat brown rice in small quantities and pulse pasta, which is delicious. I limit bread, and it has to be good grainy bread. I have a sweet tooth and I just have to ignore that. I’ll have a fig or cherries or a mandarin instead. I make everything from scratch and never buy prepared, bottled sauces etc. No convenience food is allowed in my pantry. I can still whip up a meal in no time. But back to fasting - when I feel deprived, I just say, suck it up, buttercup!
Well Audrey.... Why not suck It up …………… but with the proper food... I find that fasting makes you super hungry and when you start eating again, naturally you overeat and the wrong foods.... Why not just keep on eating properly and try to cut back on the portions.. don't deprive yourself of food, but don't overeat either.. Personally, I don't believe in fasting but rather in eating good meals that are low carb..
I do eat normally, five days a week...so two days on rations isn’t too much of a sacrifice. I’ve actually never eaten large portions in my life, I’m the person who orders the entree instead of the main meal. I’ve never been technically overweight but I put fat on my middle, nowhere else. No reason for this as I’m active and don’t eat fatty or high carb rich foods. One thing. The 5/2 does is lower my cholesterol which is high - runs in the family, all skinny with high cholesterol, go figure.
I do not deliberately fast unless I am having blood work or surgery or whatever. But if I am hungry, I'll eat and I eat what pleases me. If I am not hungry, well, I just forget about eating altogether until I am hungry again. Sometimes this can go on for a few days at a time. However, I do have to drink juice as my blood sugar tends to plummet.
Lois... When you sort of skip a meal, how does you blood sugar take that ?? It would drop very low I would think..
Never did a colonoscopy and get all lab work done non fasting, and I kinda graze since retired, eat when I want a snack. Small portions not plate fulls.
I have done intermittent fasting. But I can't seem to get into a long fast. 30 hours is the most I can go, I think. I do find if I fall off the wagon or eat a high carb food, I crash and then I crave sweets, pasta...anything that is not nailed down. It is not that I deprive myself but it is nuts to stuff myself with foolish snack foods non stop, so, I try not to start by eating high carbs. I make a chocolate 'treat' with heated coconut oil, rum, almond flour, real cocoa, stevia and a tiny bit of salt. pressed into a container, The rum evaporates out as it dries a couple days. An occassional spoonful gets rid of my craving for chocolate. Otherwise I would be hitting the emergency bag of chocolate chips I used to keep in the cabinet.
Key is don't have that tempting stuff, sugar fixes, in your house. Don't BUY them. Learn to satisfy your desires in other ways.
I will try to measure the next time I make it. Sometimes I am just a mad scientist. It is definitely not a candy bar, but it does the trick.
In my younger years I chose to fast one full day each week, it was of benefit to me overall, wish I could get my mindset to do it faithfully one day each week again..
We've been fed so much info over decades and we believed so much. Thanks to the internet and more info, I have no desire to fast my body. Sleeping the good hrs I sleep is plenty of Fasting. I too eat smaller little portions thru my day.