5.2 diet people - advice/tips/help thanks

XCHOCOLATECRAZYX

Hi everyone

A bit about me
I have dieted for 6 years!!! Had success with weight watchers twice but the counting points I got addicted too!! I then found MFP and lost a stone fairly easy but again got obsessed having odd day were I go in red in caloires means I really beat myself up and punish myself with a binge! So for past year done slimming world but eating too big portions I have tried 5.2 before lasted two week I found the fast days too hard mentally more then anything, I have heard longer you do it easier it gets! I bought the book 5.2 from tesco which was an interesting read, one thing I did find out from the fast days was I found on the feed days what real hunger was the difference between feeling hungry and actually been hungry!!
Reason why the 5.2 appeals to me as you only have to count on 2 days so really only two days of dieting the rest is just healthy eating with odd treat! I have been caloire counting in the past so know what a average day of food intake is like,

Just wondering what best tips are as I want to do this as in long run think it would be best for me,
my issue is at minute because I have been doing slimming world my portions are used to been big so am going to struggle with feeling hungry but I know that I'm eatin way to much so this is something I need to do sooner rather then later



Thanks for reading xx

bananabeannn

Hmmm, I've never heard of the 5.2 thingy, just curious if any others have done it. And if it is really necessary. I, too, can get obsessed with counting. I'm just curious what this can do for your metabolism, and also, spiritually/philosphically.

I hear ya with beating yourself up after going a little over, but I am trying my best to give myself 'love' whatever it is that I have done.

aniqa109

I have tried 5:2 and i liked how it made me feel. It helped me control my eating and understand true hunger...i also lost weight.
i started it after watching a documentary about it with its benefits.
it did help me lose weight but then due to some personal problems and stress i just gave up
when you start try eating 1000 calories on fast days and slowly lower it to 500 calories a day
try it out for a few weeks and see if it suits you.

SLLRunner

herrspoons wrote: »

You've tried it before and it didn't work. That should give you a hint.

From your post you seem to diet and binge and obsess too much. Just do what you did before, get to a stable weight, then just eat reasonably, but don't obsess over calories. Weigh yourself once a week. If you go up two weeks running, eat less the next week or two.

Yep. This.

kgeyser

I think you need to read more about 5:2. It's not "count two days and eat whatever you want on the other days." You still need to count on the other days to stay within your calorie goal in order to lose weight. And if what I've read here on MFP is correct, 5:2/IF is not recommended for people who have issues with binge eating.

Christine_72

You can eat whatever you want on normal days, just not how much you want.

SrMaggalicious

I do 5:2. It works great for me. The days you DON'T fast, however, you should be eating at maintenance calories. I incorporate this in with my Intermittent Fasting. been doing it since May. Feel free to see my before/after pic in my profile pics. But it's STILL about the math and putting in the work. And if you only plan on doing this for a short amount of time, don't bother. It's not a 'diet' for me. It's how I eat going forward until the day I die. I found what works.

Edited: Not sure why you think you don't have to count the other days you don't fast, but you most definitely do. Count every single day.

David1406

The only way to lose weight, and keep it off, is to regulate your eating and drinking habits accordingly. 5:2 is just another of these fad diets that has doubtless made its inventor/marketer a shedload of cash, but doesn't give you a long term eating and drinking plan. Just ask yourself...are you really going to be able to discipline yourself to stick to 5:2 for the next 15 years and beyond? You know you're not, so why embark upon it now. If all you want is a short term fix, make yourself ill in the process and lose weight that you'll doubtless put back on, then the 5:2 is the right way to go no doubt. Some people do claim that they plan to keep 5:2 going long term but they are a tiny minority, and until they have kept it going for 10 years or more, its a claim that can't be substantiated.

Christine_72

I definitely plan to incorporate fasting into my life forever. Once I get down to my goal weight, I'll fast one two days a week. Easy peasy

feisty_bucket

Yeah, you've gotta track calories and eat at TDEE levels on regular days if you're cutting. It's pretty easy to not lose anything if you don't. There are no tricks to get out of being an emotional/irrational eater. All you can do is correct those errors.

There's a group on here for 5:2 and it's fairly active, check it out.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/100058-5-2-fasting

There are at least three different types of Intermittent Fasting projects going on (16:8, 5:2, and 20:4). 16:8 is most popular in the bodybuilding communities and 5:2 is more common in weightloss circles, but there's no reason you can't incorporate a type of IF into any goal.

I've done 16:8 for a month, and then switched to 5:2 (also known as "Eat Stop Eat" for the past two months. So far, I think it's far superior to standard daily caloric restriction for fat loss.

As for sustaining with it, I don't see a problem. The things I've tried that work, I stick to.

WalkingAlong

Lindsey, since you've read the book you know you're correct that the authors of the book say you don't need to count calories on your non-fasting days, and they don't count themselves. Though I think many might choose to because they overeat if they don't.
http://thefastdiet.co.uk/how-to-do-the-diet/

The fast days do get easier in time and I agree, the battle is 99% mental, not physical.

amusedmonkey

With 5:2 you do need to count to stay at maintenance on eating days, as it is easy to overeat a 2 day's deficit throughout the week if you are prone to overdoing it. If you want to drop the counting altogether, the every other day diet may be a better fit, with pre-planned pre-counted meals on fast days.

I find it easiest to skip breakfast or have a tiny snack, then have a small lunch and a slightly larger dinner. Vegetables, soups, and lean meats are your friend, as well as coffee and tea.