Feast Days and Fast Days Diet
So here I am on day 7 of the Feast and Fast diet and it's going quite well. For those of you who read regularly you will know what this is all about and for new readers you can use the labels on the left hand side of this blog to find my original post about the Fast and Feast diet.
Briefly the concept is that you alternate 'Fast' days of eating only one meal of 500 calories with 'Feast' days of eating a normal 3 meals a day without worrying too much about the calories but without going overboard!
Rather than being too strict and religiously counting calories on my fast days I have had a large banana for breakfast (120 calories), a 400-500 calorie lunch and a small apple (80 calories) later in the day. So on a 'Fast' day I am actually taking in up to 700 calories. I started this way as I was a bit afraid that if I literally had one meal a day I would be so hungry I would give up. This was has been far better for me personally and am happy with this calorie intake on a 'Fast' day.
On a 'Feast' day I am trying to be very good and keep within 2000 calories as the whole point of this diet is that over a 48 hour period you should be eating less calories than the normal 4000 (2000 a day for women). To loose weight I should be looking at 3000 calories over 48 hours (1500 a day for women). I am having granola and yogurt for breakfast (500 calories), a 500-600 calorie lunch with a 200 calorie desert and a 400 calorie tea. This still leaves around 300 calories for a biscuit or two with morning coffee and a glass of squash or two!
Why not just eat 1500 calories a day you may well ask. Mainly because that doesn't allow any room for treats and although I am trying very hard to stick to a limit on 'Feast' days I can if I want to have a little extra. It means I can still plan an occasional visit to the cafe for coffee and cake, can still have my favourite pizza now and again and although I might feel hungrier than usual on a 'Fast' day I know it is just that day and that the next day I can eat normally again.
It has certainly helped me feel hunger again which before I didn't often feel especially while away working. With a big bowl of granola topped with yogurt for breakfast I was rarely hungry by lunchtime and would just eat it because it was the time for lunch. Having a main meal for lunch would mean that I wasn't hungry by 6pm tea time but again would just eat because it was 'time'. So now even on 'Feast' days I am becoming more aware of this and although still have a big breakfast and lunch am not really eating at tea time or at all later on.
The 'Fast' days are not too bad at all, a banana keeps me going during the morning although by lunchtime I am hungry. My lunch is pretty much the same as any other day except I will not have a desert and so I am actually pretty OK for the rest of the day with a small apple later on. I am usually hungry when I go to bed but not so much that it has been a problem and I find that hunger does come and go, it is not a constant feeling.
I weighed myself on day 5 and was 11st 6lb which is exactly what I was a month ago. In that month I was off work, had meals out, ate lots of cake and didn't really exercise so I am pleased I maintained that weight. Whether any had already come off due to the diet I have no idea. I have no scales and so only weigh myself once a month or so. I am hoping that in a months time I will be 11st 2lb as am aiming to lose a pound a week.
I haven't been doing much exercising since being back at work due to a few factors. Have had some car trouble which needed sorting out at a local garage (bear in mind I only get 2 hours off every afternoon in my job to do these things). I have had to go into town for shopping for things I needed and have had to do some things for my client in the afternoons. When that happens I have to take my break later or have some extra time the next day. I have also needed to catch up with some online stuff including deleting my Facebook account but that's a whole different blog post! On top of that the weather has been terrible and certainly not the sort that inspires me to get out power walking. Lots of excuses there, all genuine but some really just excuses but hey I am still motivated to loose weight and maintain my health to a decent level so that's the main thing.
It has been easy maintaining the diet at work, what remains to be seen is how I will find it once I am home for 2 weeks! I'll let you know that one! By the time I am back at work in March hopefully the weather will be a little better and I will be out walking again as well. I'll let you know on that one next time too!
Thanks for reading :) xxx
Briefly the concept is that you alternate 'Fast' days of eating only one meal of 500 calories with 'Feast' days of eating a normal 3 meals a day without worrying too much about the calories but without going overboard!
Rather than being too strict and religiously counting calories on my fast days I have had a large banana for breakfast (120 calories), a 400-500 calorie lunch and a small apple (80 calories) later in the day. So on a 'Fast' day I am actually taking in up to 700 calories. I started this way as I was a bit afraid that if I literally had one meal a day I would be so hungry I would give up. This was has been far better for me personally and am happy with this calorie intake on a 'Fast' day.
On a 'Feast' day I am trying to be very good and keep within 2000 calories as the whole point of this diet is that over a 48 hour period you should be eating less calories than the normal 4000 (2000 a day for women). To loose weight I should be looking at 3000 calories over 48 hours (1500 a day for women). I am having granola and yogurt for breakfast (500 calories), a 500-600 calorie lunch with a 200 calorie desert and a 400 calorie tea. This still leaves around 300 calories for a biscuit or two with morning coffee and a glass of squash or two!
Why not just eat 1500 calories a day you may well ask. Mainly because that doesn't allow any room for treats and although I am trying very hard to stick to a limit on 'Feast' days I can if I want to have a little extra. It means I can still plan an occasional visit to the cafe for coffee and cake, can still have my favourite pizza now and again and although I might feel hungrier than usual on a 'Fast' day I know it is just that day and that the next day I can eat normally again.
It has certainly helped me feel hunger again which before I didn't often feel especially while away working. With a big bowl of granola topped with yogurt for breakfast I was rarely hungry by lunchtime and would just eat it because it was the time for lunch. Having a main meal for lunch would mean that I wasn't hungry by 6pm tea time but again would just eat because it was 'time'. So now even on 'Feast' days I am becoming more aware of this and although still have a big breakfast and lunch am not really eating at tea time or at all later on.
The 'Fast' days are not too bad at all, a banana keeps me going during the morning although by lunchtime I am hungry. My lunch is pretty much the same as any other day except I will not have a desert and so I am actually pretty OK for the rest of the day with a small apple later on. I am usually hungry when I go to bed but not so much that it has been a problem and I find that hunger does come and go, it is not a constant feeling.
I weighed myself on day 5 and was 11st 6lb which is exactly what I was a month ago. In that month I was off work, had meals out, ate lots of cake and didn't really exercise so I am pleased I maintained that weight. Whether any had already come off due to the diet I have no idea. I have no scales and so only weigh myself once a month or so. I am hoping that in a months time I will be 11st 2lb as am aiming to lose a pound a week.
I haven't been doing much exercising since being back at work due to a few factors. Have had some car trouble which needed sorting out at a local garage (bear in mind I only get 2 hours off every afternoon in my job to do these things). I have had to go into town for shopping for things I needed and have had to do some things for my client in the afternoons. When that happens I have to take my break later or have some extra time the next day. I have also needed to catch up with some online stuff including deleting my Facebook account but that's a whole different blog post! On top of that the weather has been terrible and certainly not the sort that inspires me to get out power walking. Lots of excuses there, all genuine but some really just excuses but hey I am still motivated to loose weight and maintain my health to a decent level so that's the main thing.
It has been easy maintaining the diet at work, what remains to be seen is how I will find it once I am home for 2 weeks! I'll let you know that one! By the time I am back at work in March hopefully the weather will be a little better and I will be out walking again as well. I'll let you know on that one next time too!
Thanks for reading :) xxx
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