A quick question, as I find this quite intriguing – do the fast days always need to be on the same day each week, or can you vary them according to your plans that week?
Rosemary Kneipp
November 4th, 2015 at 5:08 pm
Hi Meg, you can vary them according to your plans. This week, for example, I am going to Paris for the day on Thursday and going out on Friday night so we are fasting today (Wednesday). I have written several posts in English on this topic if you’re interested – just click the “Dieting” category in the right column.
Our experience mirrors yours. We opted for skipping breakfast as the best way of lengthening the fast and making the meals more practical. I usually split the fast day meals into 150-200 cals for lunch and 300-350 for dinner. Our main difference from you is that we go for a variety of dishes all the time. I use various websites with good low cal recipes. We fast every third day, but are perfectly prepared to switch around to suit what’s on the calendar. We never fast two days in a row. It is much harder for Simon than it is for me because he is a much bigger person. 500 cals for me is just under half of my maintenance calories, but 600 for him is only a third of what he needs to eat to maintain current weight. So proportionally he is eating a lot less than me. As a consequence these days (after nearly 3 years) I never worry if fast days blow out to about 700 calories. This doesn’t happen very often but we can afford to be relaxed about it. The one thing I would like to get under control is Simon’s after dinner snacking. I think the idea of not eating after 9pm makes good sense in light of the way the research about fast periods is seeming to indicate.
Delighted that I could follow the gist of your post in French. So something of Sr. Brigid’s lessons has remained. Im sure Lyn would find this easier to read. Of course it helps that I have been trying to follow this plan so I could guess at some translations but it was good to try to read a post in “real” French as opposed to the schoolgirl version. Your results inspire me to keep going. It has become so much a part of your life, especially as you keep it going as you cycle through Europe.
Melinda
November 5th, 2015 at 6:39 am
Hi, I am from Melbourne, and love to read your blog. Todays blog was in French. I wondered if you have an English translation. Thanks so much for all your lovely updates.
We did follow the 5:2 diet and with reasonable results. Anything that reduces calories must be good. That was a year ago and we shall have to start again as we have had the upward creep!
I regret to admit that it is the wine that must be reduced, we are not actually alchoholics but a day without wine is hard. As we get older I am convinced that it gets harder to shift the extra kilos, even though I think that I am still almost as active as 20 yrs ago.
Sorry that I am not confidant enough to reply in French. (Excuse is having a QWERTY keyboard)
A quick question, as I find this quite intriguing – do the fast days always need to be on the same day each week, or can you vary them according to your plans that week?
Hi Meg, you can vary them according to your plans. This week, for example, I am going to Paris for the day on Thursday and going out on Friday night so we are fasting today (Wednesday). I have written several posts in English on this topic if you’re interested – just click the “Dieting” category in the right column.
Our experience mirrors yours. We opted for skipping breakfast as the best way of lengthening the fast and making the meals more practical. I usually split the fast day meals into 150-200 cals for lunch and 300-350 for dinner. Our main difference from you is that we go for a variety of dishes all the time. I use various websites with good low cal recipes. We fast every third day, but are perfectly prepared to switch around to suit what’s on the calendar. We never fast two days in a row. It is much harder for Simon than it is for me because he is a much bigger person. 500 cals for me is just under half of my maintenance calories, but 600 for him is only a third of what he needs to eat to maintain current weight. So proportionally he is eating a lot less than me. As a consequence these days (after nearly 3 years) I never worry if fast days blow out to about 700 calories. This doesn’t happen very often but we can afford to be relaxed about it. The one thing I would like to get under control is Simon’s after dinner snacking. I think the idea of not eating after 9pm makes good sense in light of the way the research about fast periods is seeming to indicate.
That food does look tasty.
Delighted that I could follow the gist of your post in French. So something of Sr. Brigid’s lessons has remained. Im sure Lyn would find this easier to read. Of course it helps that I have been trying to follow this plan so I could guess at some translations but it was good to try to read a post in “real” French as opposed to the schoolgirl version. Your results inspire me to keep going. It has become so much a part of your life, especially as you keep it going as you cycle through Europe.
Hi, I am from Melbourne, and love to read your blog. Todays blog was in French. I wondered if you have an English translation. Thanks so much for all your lovely updates.
Hi, I’ve written quite a lot of posts in English on the subject. Just go into the “Dieting” category on the right of the post and you’ll find them all! You could start with http://www.aussieinfrance.com/2013/06/the-52-fast-diet-fast-and-feast-and-still-lose-weight/.
We did follow the 5:2 diet and with reasonable results. Anything that reduces calories must be good. That was a year ago and we shall have to start again as we have had the upward creep!
I regret to admit that it is the wine that must be reduced, we are not actually alchoholics but a day without wine is hard. As we get older I am convinced that it gets harder to shift the extra kilos, even though I think that I am still almost as active as 20 yrs ago.
Sorry that I am not confidant enough to reply in French. (Excuse is having a QWERTY keyboard)