im so confused and lost

aniqa109

Should i combine 5:2 with a small eating window?
Should i do high interval training daily
will the scale go down or should i focus on measurements?

SofaKween

Hi Aniqa - no need to feel confused or lost. It may help to let us know what your goals are though. 5:2 is very flexible and you can work it into your life however best suits you. For most people it means eating a normal number of calories 5 days a week and eating low calories two days per week - although they're called fast days, most of us do eat - I aim for 500 calories. If your aim is to lose weight, then a large proportion of the calorie deficit comes from the two low calorie days.

The idea of a small eating window can be done alongside 5:2 but only if that's what you decide to do. On my FDs, I don't eat at all until my evening meal, preferring to save my 500 calories for a normal meal. So effectively on FDs, I'm also restricting my eating window. It's what I've found suits me - for many others they prefer to spread their calories out over the day as that suits them better. However, on NFD's I eat when I feel hungry.

Unless you're already very fit already, I personally wouldn't recommend HIIT every day; I say this because I know it's something that I would find too hard, I'd get demoralised and give up!

Assuming you eat fewer calories than you burn off, then the scales will gradually go down; if you exercise and swap fat for toned muscle then your measurements will slowly shrink.

Hope this helps.

jknight001

Start with what you think will work and make adjustments as you get results in. You will find those in this group who do a 16:8 plan and those who do HIIT and it works for them. Other have tried it and it doesn't work. So we say her, do what works for you. With the weight, the overall trend should be down. If it is not, over a significant time period like a month or two then it is time to make adjustments.

Foamroller

Listen to jknight

Don't panic. Pick one protocol like 5:2 or whatever and work it into your life. It's easy to get overwhelmed when doing too many things at once.

After a couple of weeks or when you feel ready, you can add more protocols if you're still stalled. Please make sure you're eating enough and that you have adequate intake of micronutrients.

This is NOT a crash diet. Here we try to practice real life eating, so try get away from all or nothing mentality

aniqa109

Thanks everyone for your responses. I am trying to lose 60lbs. I tend to read online forums and get confused with the differing info. I eat 500 cals but i eat small snacks throughout day is that ok? As i read you should push for a shorter eating window. I did 5:2 for 2 weeks without exercise although i lost i think i want quicker results and thought maybe adding Hiit would give me a bigger loss. I do a 10 mins hiit video from youtube 2 or 3 times a day and i dance. I think i was hoping for a quick result and got disheartened and confused when that didnt happen. I will start again from today! Wish me luck all:)

flumi_f

All of the above!

Also make sure the exercise you do, is something you like. Exercise should not feel like punishment. I like being challenged by some HIIT or strength sessions some days, but sometimes I feel like going for a long walk, a run or a bike ride. I go with the flow most days and I have a couple of rest days during most weeks.

Foamroller

It sounds more like you're doing aerobic cardio, it can still be quite strenuous, especially if you've been sedentary. High Intensity Training (HIT) into anaerobic zone is something that is very taxing on muscles and cardiovascular system. It's recommended that you do this max 1-3 x a week. After doing HIT you should feel intense panting for breath, unable to speak and a quite a bit of pain in muscles due to lactate buildup. And if you try again the day after or even day after that, you literally can't reach same performance level, because the muscles need to rest. If you don't get these physiological responses in body, you're doing aerobic exercise.

It's still good though. Don't feel bad, any exercise is better than none Don't get too caught up in labels, is my advice. Do what feels like slightly out of your comfort zone and you're on the right path.