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Starting 5:2 and I feel shitty - help!

I’m in the second week of 5:2 (doing 500 calories on fast days) and I feel like garbage on the fast days.

I am doing no food at all until about 1pm, then I have about 200 calories (soup) and dinner is 300 calories of protein and a steamed veggie. I drink loads of water and usually 1-2 cups of Yerba mate.

I have an anxiety disorder though and my anxiety is really bad on the fasting days. I’m very irritable, a bit shaky, headache sometimes, and generally just feel a lot of anxiety in my body (eyes wide, muscles tense, etc). Sleep is also not very good on fasting days.

But I really want this to work, I am already seeing a difference in my body and my appetite on non fast days is reduced (compared to before fasting)

So I have questions:

  1. I assume this is normal? To have your body kind of freak out when you first start fasting…
  2. How long will this last?
  3. Any advice on how to manage anxiety / feeling shitty on fast days while your body adjusts?

Would also appreciate any words of encouragement 💕

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Answer

My suspicion is that your problem is what you are eating on non-fasting days. Any chance you are eating processed carbs on non-fasting days? This sounds a LOT like processed carb withdrawal. If that’s the case, you are torturing yourself by eating those processed carbs.

If that’s not the case, then I’m not sure.

Answer

5:2 is challenging because your body is eating for a majority of the week, then all of a sudden it hits a hard fast.

In order to help your body adjust and become more accustomed to the fasting, I’d recommend Smaller but more Frequent fasting windows. Try doing a daily fast, or a fast every few days few a certain number of hours

sounds to me like ur body just isn’t used to it, or that the 5 days of eating breaks your bodies routine of fasting, so it’s new every single week. Which can be tough.

The first few days of fasting are always tough.

Answer

>I’m in the second week of 5:2

Yes, as to your #1, so much of what you experience is to be expected as a result.

  1. This varies with each person, but the human body is genius in its adaptability. So it will indeed adapt provided your routine continues.

  2. I am not a clinician, nor are most of us, but I like to think of fasting as a method of training my self discipline. It really is quite empowering to take control. Focus on this aspect.

Answer

I struggled with this too. What helped me was I just fasted every other day for two months. Afterward, the 5:2 was much easier. Learning how to fast for 36 hours was hard but I always knew I was going to eat the next day. If I didn’t worry about eating or trying to stay in a 500 calorie zone, it was actually more freeing. Eventually the headaches went away and it became easier to not eat for a day.

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