Headaches, a screaming baby, and a sabotaging husband?

Yesterday was a reduced calorie day--my new term for those two days a week I greatly slash calories on my modified version of the 5:2 diet.

I'm still tweaking it into something that works for me.  Between 1 p.m. and 8 p.m. I ate two bananas, a cup of blueberries, and two meals of salmon and asparagus.  But my head started hurting around 6 p.m. and just got worse and worse with each passing hour.

Though fully aware that it was my "diet day", my husband ordered pizza, and then asked if I wanted to go out for cupcakes.  I said no.  So he proposed ice cream.  What the fuck, right?

I went to bed fairly grumpy at 10 p.m. and told myself I'd feel better in the morning.  Then the baby, who normally sleeps peacefully from 9 or 10 p.m. until about 8 in the morning, woke up SCREAMING and could not be comforted.  I could not figure out what was wrong, but I got her back to sleep after about 20 minutes.  An hour later it happened again!  Crying worse than before, and we could not get her to calm down.  We were actually a bit scared and I texted my mom, who's a nurse (and a mother of five).  We never did figure it out, but she eventually wore herself out and slept again.

That second time did me in.  I was on hour 6 of that damn headache and stressed and I went for the pizza.  Three slices of cheese pizza, a hot cocoa, and two Excedrin later, I felt physically better, albeit disappointed in blowing my plan at midnight, just as the day was coming to a close.

I don't think I drank enough water yesterday, simply because I wasn't tracking it.  And I waited until too late in the day to eat my first meal of fish and vegetables. Hence the headache.  Furthermore, I should have asked my husband to wait on the pizza and let him know that his ice cream and cupcake proposals were really bothering me.

I'd say he is sabotaging me, only...doesn't that usually start to happen once someone is visibly LOSING weight?  I'm not even there yet!  Seems too early for that sort of thing.  I think it's more an issue of him not taking my diet seriously, because he's never seen me embark on one in a serious, prolonged fashion.  Maybe he's testing me.  Whatever it is, I don't appreciate it.

While eating breakfast this morning, I realized I wasn't actually hungry and didn't need to be eating yet. I was still reacting to the night before.  That's one good thing about this 5:2 plan; it helps you see more clearly when you are overdoing it and eating for reasons other than hunger.  I don't always stop, but my awareness has been improved, and that's a start.

I'm doing another reduced day on Friday, and between smarter timing of meals, more water, and more assertiveness towards my husband, I hope I can avoid a headache and feel more resilient in the face of midnight baby screams or whatever else life has in store for me!

How embarrassing--ALREADY adjusting the 5:2 diet

It took me two full days to recover from Monday's fast.  I felt so bad that I have decided to tweak the plan a bit, and eat two 500-calorie meals on "fast days" instead of one for while.  It will still be good protein and green vegetables, and given my normal daily caloric intake, I do believe that bringing myself down to 1,000 calories/day two days a week will result in a pound or so of fat loss each week.

I simply cannot feel that weak, tired, and lightheaded 4 days each week while taking care of my baby (Monday while fasting, Tuesday while recovering from Monday, Thursday while fasting, and Friday while recovering from Thursday).

Today I've had a salad made with mixed greens, turkey breast cutlets, and carrots and I'm happy to know I will have salmon and asparagus before bed.  And I won't feel awful tomorrow.  Perhaps my body will become adjusted to fewer calories and more hours between meals over the next several months, and then I can do the 5:2 diet as written without it being such a shock to the system.

My second fast

June 3rd was my second fast. This time, hunger sensations and the psychological desire for food wasn't as bothersome as during the first fast, but I felt weak and more tired than usual throughout the day. By bedtime, my muscles felt sore even though the most physical thing I did all day was go for a short stroll in the park with the baby.

I ate at 5 pm and then continued fasting until 9 am this morning. It's now 10:30 and my body feels a bit better but all I really want to do is go back to sleep. I could use 3-4 hours of solid sleep!!

Before breaking the fast, the scale was down another 2 lbs.

Notes on my first fast

My first fast was Friday, May 31st.

I tried to fast on Thursday the 30th, but I messed up in the morning and simply decided to try again the next day. I didn't have that old desire to wait until Monday to begin (translation: binge Thursday through Sunday night and then start anew on a magical, mystical Monday morning).

The fast went fine. I found it easier to deal with the hunger pangs before eating my one meal than I did after eating. At 4pm I had cottage cheese, broccoli, and salmon. I was hungry a few hours later but made it through the evening by drinking water and staying busy.

I wanted to wait until about 8 a.m. Saturday morning to eat again, but caved at 2 a.m. while up with a fussy baby. So that's something I will have to guard against in the future: emotions and fatigue getting the better of me. Nevertheless, I met the goal of eating only one 500 calorie meal in a 24 hour (and then some) period.

The scale is down 3 pounds as of today, but I'm not taking that too seriously at this very early stage.

My next fast is tomorrow. Mondays and Thursdays are my planned fasting days.

Anyone else out there doing some form of intermittent fasting?