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:
Would also appreciate any words of encouragement 💕
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.
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.
>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.
This varies with each person, but the human body is genius in its adaptability. So it will indeed adapt provided your routine continues.
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.
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.