5:2 Advice

shaytuck

I am interested in 5:2 but had a few questions/concerns and hopefully someone can help me out. I've used the search button but most of the discussions on this diet seem to be amongst ppl who have already started it (and then of course the convo goes towards IF - arguing ensues on which is better and ain't nobody got time for that).

Currently MFP has me set up on a 1200 calories. Should I stick to that 1200 calories during the other 5 days or can I increase it? - I ask this because on one of the boards I read someone literally brag about eating whatever they want on those days but fasting on the 2 with okay results. In my opinion it seems counterproductive but I haven't tried this so idk.

Have some of you found it easier to eat throughout the day or save your 500 calories for dinner?

What should I eat on the fast days? (Should I still be sticking to my lowER carb diet)

Does anyone have any links to great 500 calorie dishes? I don't want to wait all day for a chicken salad I eat enough of those on my 1200 days.

ACSL3

Personally I eat at my maintenance levels on the 5 days of non-fasting. So for me, maintenance is 1800 - I eat 500 on M/Th and 1800 on Tu/W/F/Sa/Su. People talk about eating whatever they want, but if I do that then I know I'll eat over 1800 and negate the deficit I create with eating 500 on those two days. Some people do fine without logging on non-fast days. It's totally up to you.

I eat all of my 500 calories at once, for dinner. Others split them up into two meals. I tried both and found that eating them all at once works better for me.

I try to eat something higher in protein. Usually I have some sort of fish/beef/chicken and then a salad with lots of veggies and a low calorie dressing. That works well for me as the protein/fat in the meat makes me feel full without going over 500 calories.

Can't help you as much with the last one. I live on a ship and don't cook for myself so I don't have any links for recipes, but hopefully someone else can give you some good ones

kcd1961

Doing IF/5:2 on MFP works "best" if you set your goal for maintenance. That's your target on non-fast days. The weight loss (calorie deficit) happens on the fast days. The trick is to do whatever works. So here's what works for me:

1. Set MFP for maintenance
2. Eat back half of exercise calories on non-fast days
3. The 600 for men is a bit restrictive for me. I can get away with 630-680 on Fast Days
4. Night time snacking has always been my downfall, so on NFD's I save most of my calories for Dinner/Supper
5. On fast days I make the deprivation enjoyable, even though the amounts are smaller than eating a bucketload of celery - so a small cappuchino in the morning and a low calorie ice-cream at lunch are part of the plan. A lower calorie soup at night (eg home-made pumpkin or cauliflower). A cup of Jarrah Hot Chocolate for supper.
6. Do not eat back exercise calories on fast days.

• If you are losing too rapidly, adjust your NFD calories up or eat more exercise calories back.
• If you are losing too slowly, lower your NFD calories by 50-100 per day or eat back a smaller percentage of exercise calories.
• Keep adjusting till it works.
• Readjust if something changes.
• If 500 for women is too restrictive, find a number you can work with and adjust your NFD calories to compensate.

If nothing works - see if strict weighing of food helps (it usually does).

Hope this helps.

flumi_f

You probably ser weight loss to 2 lbs per week. ..then mfp gives you 1200 cals. That says nothing about your actual stats.

I'm in line with ACSL3. Except for the cal split. I do a small lunch and about 350 cal dinner.

How you split your cals is a personal choice.you need a bit of trial and error to see what suits you. I stick to high protein / low carb on fast days because grain carbs make me hungry.

You can combine 5:2 with low carb or other dietary needs or forms of IF. Don't overrestrict on non fast days. Eat what you want = eat want you want within reason. Some people do that automatically. ...not all...not me....

I was fat all of my life because my portions were too big. Thus I counted cals on all days and stayed around my TDEE on non fast days. The shorter, lighter, older, less active you are, the lower your TDEE, the lower the deficit over the week. Keep that in mind. Do a few weeks and adjust accordingly. 5:2 isn't a quick fix, but it works for many in the long run. And it is a great maintenance tool for foodies like me.

sijomial

shaytuck wrote: »

Currently MFP has me set up on a 1200 calories. Should I stick to that 1200 calories during the other 5 days or can I increase it? - I ask this because on one of the boards I read someone literally brag about eating whatever they want on those days but fasting on the 2 with okay results. In my opinion it seems counterproductive but I haven't tried this so idk.

5:2 is a plan for both the two fast days and the five normal eating days, your deficit is supposed to only occur on the fasting days.

It's also is not a rapid weight loss method so having two days at a massive deficit and five days at a very big deficit (1200) is definitely not the idea.

5:2 is also not prescriptive about what you eat. Low carb is a personal choice. How you split your calorie allowance again is your choice. I find breakfast easy to skip and have a small lunch and dinner. Others prefer one (relatively) normal sized meal. Worth experimenting to see what you find best.

mominstands

If you look at the announcements at the top of the message board there is a lot of links and good information. I have just started this week and have found it very helpful.

jennifer_417

On my off days I eat 1900 cals, which is very slightly above maintenance for me. On fast days, I'll eat my 500 cals for supper, as that seems the least disruptive to my family, and having a whole meal gives me something to look forward to.

shaytuck

flumi_f wrote: »

You probably ser weight loss to 2 lbs per week. ..then mfp gives you 1200 cals. That says nothing about your actual stats.

I'm in line with ACSL3. Except for the cal split. I do a small lunch and about 350 cal dinner.

quote]

What exactly is ACSL3? How do I find my actual stats because you are absolutely correct - I do have it set to lose 2lbs a week.

sijomial wrote: »

5:2 is a plan for both the two fast days and the five normal eating days, your deficit is supposed to only occur on the fasting days.

It's also is not a rapid weight loss method so having two days at a massive deficit and five days at a very big deficit (1200) is definitely not the idea.

Is eating 1200 calories a deficit? I increased it once to 1400 calories and found it difficult to reach that many calories while eating a low carb type diet. Now if I go back to eating as I did before (sexy French fries, sexy caramel frappes, sexy buffalo wings etc.) I can definitely reach that lol.

Thanks to everyone else for the tips....I'm not at a weight I'd like to maintain so idk what maintenance calories looks like for me. I think I'll just have to try it out and adjust until I get to a point where it's not a struggle.

flumi_f

ACSL3 is the name of the first poster that answered your questions

Unless you are very short and less than 60 kg, 1200 cals is a deficit.

Google tdee calculator and enter your stats or set mfp to maintaining weight. Then you will find out about how many cals you would need to maintain.

From your questions, I think you need to read up some more. Go to the pinned post and look into the links there.

There are higher cal healthy alternatives like olive oil, nuts, avocado etc.

shaytuck

flumi_f wrote: »

ACSL3 is the name of the first poster that answered your questions

Unless you are very short and less than 60 kg, 1200 cals is a deficit.

Google tdee calculator and enter your stats or set mfp to maintaining weight. Then you will find out about how many cals you would need to maintain.

From your questions, I think you need to read up some more. Go to the pinned post and look into the links there.

There are higher cal healthy alternatives like olive oil, nuts, avocado etc.

Oh LOL sorry ACSL3

I went on scoobysworkshop.com and it says I should be eating about 500 more calories...yikes! But I have been losing weight. Not going to lie it's been pretty fast and I know that's not the route to go if you want it to stay off. My weight has been on a yo-yo effect for the last two years so I think I'll increase it 100 calories a week until I'm losing 1-2 pounds a week instead of the 5 or 6 that I'm on now.

Thanks again.

flumi_f

That sounds very reasonable to me! High losses in the first few weeks of any diet are due to losing some retained water. However if you are not highly overweight losses of 5 - 6 lb per week are very high and you will probably start losing too much muscle along with the fat.

Slower is the way to go. Less loss of lean mass and more sustainable. A daily deficit of 500 cals gives you about the same total weekly deficit of 5 days at tdee and two fasts. And should give you an average loss of about 1 lb.

The beauty of 5:2 is its flexibility. Everyone can tweak it to their own lifestyle and needs. And you can enjoy your social life a little more than when restricting daily.

clairejeynes84

Agree with everything that's said! It definitely a personal choice as to what you eat and how often on your fasting days.
But on my non-fasting days I set my calories to 1400 which is below my TDEE but slightly above what was recommended by MFP. This is enough for me to keep me happy on my non-fast days and leaves me some room to be a little naughty if I want to, and I'm not starving on non-fast days. I initially was set on 1200 on non-fast but I found it too hard to maintain!
Trial and error!!