Is 5 2 just a fad?

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  • MsPudding
    MsPudding Posts: 562 Member
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    Was it you who, some time ago put up a photo of your mum and she looked 50ish, not 70. May have been someone else with similar story. When/whoever it was was a lightbulb moment for me. I'd been looking for a way to get off calorie counting and I knew I needed days like your mum too but how to structure it was my problem.

    Yup that was me :smile:
    If I've learnt anything on MFP, it's to fully understand something before you dismiss it.

    Exactly! Fasting is not a new concept; indeed pretty much every major religion has some type of fasting in it and has done since for thousands of years.
  • MistleToeSter
    MistleToeSter Posts: 30 Member
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    Many people, many cultures have been fasting for thousands of years, so no, fasting is not a fad.

    I just got off of a major weight loss with the Fat, Sick juicing and I am looking to maintain the loss with 5:2 or some other sort of intermittent fasting. It appeals to me for a number of reasons. Among them the simplicity of the diet and the health benefits regarding insulin and IGF-1. Diabetes runs in my family, so I am on watch.

    I will NEVER NEVER be someone interested in the traditional diet approach of less calories spread around the day in 4 to 6 tiny meals. That kind of dieting seems to be prepping the body for insulin insensitivity.

    Plus I never felt satisfied. I have found it impossible to get excited about a piece of cantaloupe with fat free cottage cheese, or a salad with 3 ounces of chicken weighed in on the side. I would rather sit down to a huge salmon steak with veggies on the side and some basmati rice and eat all of it that I want 5 days a week but only a smaller version once a day for 2 days a week.

    Also, I think my mom was right by not eating after 7 pm. Constant grazing is not good.
  • MistleToeSter
    MistleToeSter Posts: 30 Member
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    Why can't people sustain it? Clearly some people have....
    It is not a fad, Dr Michael Mosely has been doing it for over 10 years, and it was he who made the TV programme that triggered the recent interest

    Ir is not a diet plan, it is aimed at health, weight loss is a by product

    There are 5.2 groups on here, have a search & take your pick

    its a fad diet that is not sustainable for the average person


    Why is that?

    If you follow the instructions to the dot, you find that your weekly deficit is exactly the same as the one marked by MFP. The only difference is that instead of choosing to create a deficit 7 days a week, you choose to do it on 2 days.

    Those 2 days? I call them "salad days" to my RL friends who I'm too lazy to explain this. I basically eat salads with LF dressing and egg white omelette by dinner. I'm not starving. But this way, if I go out to lunch with my friends (as today), I won't have to worry too much about eating out and the secret oil and eating salads every single day. When you travel so much, and you have so much time to explore different countries and cultures.. well.. this way of deficit works much better!

    Probably it'd be differnet if I stayed at home all day (as for me, being busy helps a lot).

    Overall, I've lost around 5 - 6 kilos in one month and a half (I exercise though) and I still enjoy eating out.

    So yeah.. truly it is a fad.. Just like MFP method I guess.
    yea because MFP restricts 2 days out of the week for you.

    The average person's lifestyle does not function like that. Most people cant sustain a diet such as that. You just started the diet and you only been on it for a month.

    My point exactly. You have no room to talk about why its sustainable.
  • DatMurse
    DatMurse Posts: 1,501 Member
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    Why can't people sustain it? Clearly some people have....
    It is not a fad, Dr Michael Mosely has been doing it for over 10 years, and it was he who made the TV programme that triggered the recent interest

    Ir is not a diet plan, it is aimed at health, weight loss is a by product

    There are 5.2 groups on here, have a search & take your pick

    its a fad diet that is not sustainable for the average person


    Why is that?

    If you follow the instructions to the dot, you find that your weekly deficit is exactly the same as the one marked by MFP. The only difference is that instead of choosing to create a deficit 7 days a week, you choose to do it on 2 days.

    Those 2 days? I call them "salad days" to my RL friends who I'm too lazy to explain this. I basically eat salads with LF dressing and egg white omelette by dinner. I'm not starving. But this way, if I go out to lunch with my friends (as today), I won't have to worry too much about eating out and the secret oil and eating salads every single day. When you travel so much, and you have so much time to explore different countries and cultures.. well.. this way of deficit works much better!

    Probably it'd be differnet if I stayed at home all day (as for me, being busy helps a lot).

    Overall, I've lost around 5 - 6 kilos in one month and a half (I exercise though) and I still enjoy eating out.

    So yeah.. truly it is a fad.. Just like MFP method I guess.
    yea because MFP restricts 2 days out of the week for you.

    The average person's lifestyle does not function like that. Most people cant sustain a diet such as that. You just started the diet and you only been on it for a month.

    My point exactly. You have no room to talk about why its sustainable.


    I never said people cant sustain it. I said the average person cannot.
  • pinkraynedropjacki
    pinkraynedropjacki Posts: 3,027 Member
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    Why can't people sustain it? Clearly some people have....
    It is not a fad, Dr Michael Mosely has been doing it for over 10 years, and it was he who made the TV programme that triggered the recent interest

    Ir is not a diet plan, it is aimed at health, weight loss is a by product

    There are 5.2 groups on here, have a search & take your pick

    its a fad diet that is not sustainable for the average person


    Why is that?

    If you follow the instructions to the dot, you find that your weekly deficit is exactly the same as the one marked by MFP. The only difference is that instead of choosing to create a deficit 7 days a week, you choose to do it on 2 days.

    Those 2 days? I call them "salad days" to my RL friends who I'm too lazy to explain this. I basically eat salads with LF dressing and egg white omelette by dinner. I'm not starving. But this way, if I go out to lunch with my friends (as today), I won't have to worry too much about eating out and the secret oil and eating salads every single day. When you travel so much, and you have so much time to explore different countries and cultures.. well.. this way of deficit works much better!

    Probably it'd be differnet if I stayed at home all day (as for me, being busy helps a lot).

    Overall, I've lost around 5 - 6 kilos in one month and a half (I exercise though) and I still enjoy eating out.

    So yeah.. truly it is a fad.. Just like MFP method I guess.
    yea because MFP restricts 2 days out of the week for you.

    The average person's lifestyle does not function like that. Most people cant sustain a diet such as that. You just started the diet and you only been on it for a month.

    My point exactly. You have no room to talk about why its sustainable.


    I never said people cant sustain it. I said the average person cannot.

    I'm an average person. I do 3 fast days a week eating 0 calories. I'd love to know how you came across that the average person can't. Going by your statement the average person cant sustain doing weights, running, walking, cardio, boxing, cycling.

    Big generalization considering you know nothing about any 'average' person.
  • red_road
    red_road Posts: 761 Member
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    I do 5:2. I like it. Don't judge it off of the people starving themselves on feast days. The average woman is supposed to eat 500 on fast days, 2000 on feast days. Averages one pound a week loss. Same as an average woman eating 1500 calories a day. Its just about what method works best for you, not necessarily that one is better than the other. I will say however that i notice less plateaus when doing 5:2 than 1500 a day.
  • honkytonks85
    honkytonks85 Posts: 669 Member
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    Why can't people sustain it? Clearly some people have....
    It is not a fad, Dr Michael Mosely has been doing it for over 10 years, and it was he who made the TV programme that triggered the recent interest

    Ir is not a diet plan, it is aimed at health, weight loss is a by product

    There are 5.2 groups on here, have a search & take your pick

    its a fad diet that is not sustainable for the average person


    Why is that?

    If you follow the instructions to the dot, you find that your weekly deficit is exactly the same as the one marked by MFP. The only difference is that instead of choosing to create a deficit 7 days a week, you choose to do it on 2 days.

    Those 2 days? I call them "salad days" to my RL friends who I'm too lazy to explain this. I basically eat salads with LF dressing and egg white omelette by dinner. I'm not starving. But this way, if I go out to lunch with my friends (as today), I won't have to worry too much about eating out and the secret oil and eating salads every single day. When you travel so much, and you have so much time to explore different countries and cultures.. well.. this way of deficit works much better!

    Probably it'd be differnet if I stayed at home all day (as for me, being busy helps a lot).

    Overall, I've lost around 5 - 6 kilos in one month and a half (I exercise though) and I still enjoy eating out.

    So yeah.. truly it is a fad.. Just like MFP method I guess.
    yea because MFP restricts 2 days out of the week for you.

    The average person's lifestyle does not function like that. Most people cant sustain a diet such as that. You just started the diet and you only been on it for a month.

    My point exactly. You have no room to talk about why its sustainable.

    I am a very average person.

    I did this for a year (though I don't call it 5:2, I call it IF or Eat Stop Eat). I stopped when I got pregnant. When I finish breastfeeding, I intend to start up again.

    Why does it work for me? Because I like to go out to dinner and splurge from time to time. I enjoy a beer after work with my work buddies. I don't like having to stick to 1500 calories per day. Most average people probably would find it hard to stick to 1500 calories per day for years to lose weight. Having a fast day just means you can have a deficit on 2 days a week instead of 7. I think it's way more sustainable than just calorie counting personally.
  • LibertyChamp
    LibertyChamp Posts: 71 Member
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    What's RL friends, is it Real Life?
  • LibertyChamp
    LibertyChamp Posts: 71 Member
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    From my lil Blog::happy:

    WHAT DOUBTERS DON'T GET ABOUT THE 5:2 LIFESTYLE
    Skeptics and cynics abound. Many times it seems that they are people that don't believe that dieting works. Perhaps in some cases because they have tried various diets themselves and did not achieve a wanted outcome. Some will say, “show me scientific proof that it works” and if you show them the many Clinical Studies and the abundant Statistical Data on populations that fast regularly, they seem to get even more dug in about defending their cynicism. As if their entire reality would crumble if they were wrong about their assumptions.

    What I often see is discrediting the 5:2 by saying that it is nothing new. It is just Intermittent Fasting or IF that has been around since the 1940's. And really, about this they are right. Actually, fasting has been around for Thousands of years in many spiritual traditions. My first blog has a link to a great article that talks about some of these traditions and the health benefits that people get from them, backed by Statistical Data.

    I think what many Nay Sayers miss is that the 5:2 is a refinement of Fasting, and of IF. What the refinement in effect does is make it bearable to get the benefits from fasting for many of us who don't want to feel like we are starving. It is relatively easy, and for this reason it has morphed into a way of life for many people. Lifestyle choices are abundant moment by moment and everywhere we turn, what the 5:2 delivers is a less intrusive framework that supports our transformation into more conscious living.

    I feel that I have more energy with less food now. While it is not necessarily easy to break up decades of overeating as part of old lifestyle programing, my commitment is more hardened to build up new programing over time. Food also tastes better. During and coming off my Lo-cal (Fasting) days, food actually tastes amazing. I am learning to enjoy every bite. Right now, as of this writing, I am only 1 pound away from my weight goal. People tell me I look really great. I am truly amazed that all this is really happening while only going to the gym less than 2 days a week. I feel really empowered and I may well live the 5:2 or the 5:1 lifestyle for the rest of my days!

    My lil Blog:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/LibertyChamp
  • LibertyChamp
    LibertyChamp Posts: 71 Member
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    I have asked this before, but didn't get a response on another thread :).

    I have to say I am not sure it is a fad, I mean as an ex cathoic we used to fast at certain times of the day/during certain festivals so this is no different.

    However did anyone get quite nasty stomach symptoms from it? The first time I fasted, I did have calorie rich foods the next day so I blamed my stomach upset on that. Every time after that I always had an incredibly bad upset stomach the next day and for sometimes up to 2 days after.

    I have stopped doing it because of this, although I felt less bloated etc. I worried I was losing the weight as I would be left with food poisoning style symptoms for a while and didn;t think this was particularly healthy.

    From my lil blog:

    Why would you get Queasy or get Migranes during your fast day? (Edit Post)
    Posted on 08/22/2013 by LibertyChamp
    Hi yawl, I can think of 4 possibilities of why your queasy or get Migranes toward the end of a fast, and they are in the order of likelihood:
    1. Did you drink your 1/2 gallon for the day? You should drink 8 x 8 oz. glasses of water or 64 oz.
    2. Hypoglycemia or low blood sugar- When fasting, most of us cut out the Carb's and the Sugars in order to maximize our quality calories. One solution would be to eat a good amount of fruit during fast. If I forget to eat fruit on my fast days I feel light headed at the end of my day also ( happened today).
    3. Vitamins and Mineral deficiency- As Tatiana says make sure you are getting enough of these, but if you are consuming ample fruits and veggies during your Lowcal days you should be fine.
    4. This one could be #3...Your Pregnant!:love: - Fasting while pregnant can be done but requires lots of precautions, supplements, and consulting your OBGYN. :)
    But really, addressing the top 2 should take care of it.

    My lil blog:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/LibertyChamp
  • DatMurse
    DatMurse Posts: 1,501 Member
    Options
    Why can't people sustain it? Clearly some people have....
    It is not a fad, Dr Michael Mosely has been doing it for over 10 years, and it was he who made the TV programme that triggered the recent interest

    Ir is not a diet plan, it is aimed at health, weight loss is a by product

    There are 5.2 groups on here, have a search & take your pick

    its a fad diet that is not sustainable for the average person


    Why is that?

    If you follow the instructions to the dot, you find that your weekly deficit is exactly the same as the one marked by MFP. The only difference is that instead of choosing to create a deficit 7 days a week, you choose to do it on 2 days.

    Those 2 days? I call them "salad days" to my RL friends who I'm too lazy to explain this. I basically eat salads with LF dressing and egg white omelette by dinner. I'm not starving. But this way, if I go out to lunch with my friends (as today), I won't have to worry too much about eating out and the secret oil and eating salads every single day. When you travel so much, and you have so much time to explore different countries and cultures.. well.. this way of deficit works much better!

    Probably it'd be differnet if I stayed at home all day (as for me, being busy helps a lot).

    Overall, I've lost around 5 - 6 kilos in one month and a half (I exercise though) and I still enjoy eating out.

    So yeah.. truly it is a fad.. Just like MFP method I guess.
    yea because MFP restricts 2 days out of the week for you.

    The average person's lifestyle does not function like that. Most people cant sustain a diet such as that. You just started the diet and you only been on it for a month.

    My point exactly. You have no room to talk about why its sustainable.

    I am a very average person.

    I did this for a year (though I don't call it 5:2, I call it IF or Eat Stop Eat). I stopped when I got pregnant. When I finish breastfeeding, I intend to start up again.

    Why does it work for me? Because I like to go out to dinner and splurge from time to time. I enjoy a beer after work with my work buddies. I don't like having to stick to 1500 calories per day. Most average people probably would find it hard to stick to 1500 calories per day for years to lose weight. Having a fast day just means you can have a deficit on 2 days a week instead of 7. I think it's way more sustainable than just calorie counting personally.

    and you still arent near your target weight.

    I dont think 90%+ of people would enjoy this lifestyle.

    You have to start this lifestyle in order to lose weight and is not sustainable for yourself. You are proof yourself
  • pinkraynedropjacki
    pinkraynedropjacki Posts: 3,027 Member
    Options
    Why can't people sustain it? Clearly some people have....
    It is not a fad, Dr Michael Mosely has been doing it for over 10 years, and it was he who made the TV programme that triggered the recent interest

    Ir is not a diet plan, it is aimed at health, weight loss is a by product

    There are 5.2 groups on here, have a search & take your pick

    its a fad diet that is not sustainable for the average person


    Why is that?

    If you follow the instructions to the dot, you find that your weekly deficit is exactly the same as the one marked by MFP. The only difference is that instead of choosing to create a deficit 7 days a week, you choose to do it on 2 days.

    Those 2 days? I call them "salad days" to my RL friends who I'm too lazy to explain this. I basically eat salads with LF dressing and egg white omelette by dinner. I'm not starving. But this way, if I go out to lunch with my friends (as today), I won't have to worry too much about eating out and the secret oil and eating salads every single day. When you travel so much, and you have so much time to explore different countries and cultures.. well.. this way of deficit works much better!

    Probably it'd be differnet if I stayed at home all day (as for me, being busy helps a lot).

    Overall, I've lost around 5 - 6 kilos in one month and a half (I exercise though) and I still enjoy eating out.

    So yeah.. truly it is a fad.. Just like MFP method I guess.
    yea because MFP restricts 2 days out of the week for you.

    The average person's lifestyle does not function like that. Most people cant sustain a diet such as that. You just started the diet and you only been on it for a month.

    My point exactly. You have no room to talk about why its sustainable.

    I am a very average person.

    I did this for a year (though I don't call it 5:2, I call it IF or Eat Stop Eat). I stopped when I got pregnant. When I finish breastfeeding, I intend to start up again.

    Why does it work for me? Because I like to go out to dinner and splurge from time to time. I enjoy a beer after work with my work buddies. I don't like having to stick to 1500 calories per day. Most average people probably would find it hard to stick to 1500 calories per day for years to lose weight. Having a fast day just means you can have a deficit on 2 days a week instead of 7. I think it's way more sustainable than just calorie counting personally.

    and you still arent near your target weight.

    I dont think 90%+ of people would enjoy this lifestyle.

    You have to start this lifestyle in order to lose weight and is not sustainable for yourself. You are proof yourself

    Actually my target weight was 65kg..... 10kg ago. That was almost a year ago. I decided to keep going. Target weight was reached a year ago. Only through 5:2 (4:3 for me) was I able to continue,

    I am proof it works. I been doing 4:3 for a month. I had no need to lose weight at all.
  • DatMurse
    DatMurse Posts: 1,501 Member
    Options
    Why can't people sustain it? Clearly some people have....
    It is not a fad, Dr Michael Mosely has been doing it for over 10 years, and it was he who made the TV programme that triggered the recent interest

    Ir is not a diet plan, it is aimed at health, weight loss is a by product

    There are 5.2 groups on here, have a search & take your pick

    its a fad diet that is not sustainable for the average person


    Why is that?

    If you follow the instructions to the dot, you find that your weekly deficit is exactly the same as the one marked by MFP. The only difference is that instead of choosing to create a deficit 7 days a week, you choose to do it on 2 days.

    Those 2 days? I call them "salad days" to my RL friends who I'm too lazy to explain this. I basically eat salads with LF dressing and egg white omelette by dinner. I'm not starving. But this way, if I go out to lunch with my friends (as today), I won't have to worry too much about eating out and the secret oil and eating salads every single day. When you travel so much, and you have so much time to explore different countries and cultures.. well.. this way of deficit works much better!

    Probably it'd be differnet if I stayed at home all day (as for me, being busy helps a lot).

    Overall, I've lost around 5 - 6 kilos in one month and a half (I exercise though) and I still enjoy eating out.

    So yeah.. truly it is a fad.. Just like MFP method I guess.
    yea because MFP restricts 2 days out of the week for you.

    The average person's lifestyle does not function like that. Most people cant sustain a diet such as that. You just started the diet and you only been on it for a month.

    My point exactly. You have no room to talk about why its sustainable.

    I am a very average person.

    I did this for a year (though I don't call it 5:2, I call it IF or Eat Stop Eat). I stopped when I got pregnant. When I finish breastfeeding, I intend to start up again.

    Why does it work for me? Because I like to go out to dinner and splurge from time to time. I enjoy a beer after work with my work buddies. I don't like having to stick to 1500 calories per day. Most average people probably would find it hard to stick to 1500 calories per day for years to lose weight. Having a fast day just means you can have a deficit on 2 days a week instead of 7. I think it's way more sustainable than just calorie counting personally.

    and you still arent near your target weight.

    I dont think 90%+ of people would enjoy this lifestyle.

    You have to start this lifestyle in order to lose weight and is not sustainable for yourself. You are proof yourself

    Actually my target weight was 65kg..... 10kg ago. That was almost a year ago. I decided to keep going. Target weight was reached a year ago. Only through 5:2 (4:3 for me) was I able to continue,

    I am proof it works. I been doing 4:3 for a month. I had no need to lose weight at all.
    quoted wrong person
    but regardless. most people cannot do this lifestyle.
  • JUDDDing
    JUDDDing Posts: 1,367 Member
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    BTW - in the past what I didn't find sustainable was restricting calories every single day.

    Yeah, I could not even imagine doing that.

    I've been JUDDDing (ADF) for almost 9 months and I'm down almost 100 lbs and my health and fitness have _completely_ turned around in this same period.

    Is 5:2 "just a fad" - who cares?

    Fad or not - a bit of fasting has, for me, accomplished something I never would have done any other way.
  • chrisdavey
    chrisdavey Posts: 9,834 Member
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    It's just another means of calorie restriction.

    I've tried it (well ESE before 5/2 was coined) and didn't particularly like it compared to Leangains 16/8 schedule because of lack of energy and being a clock watcher I guess.

    I think the major issue is that people join MFP, have their cal deficit number and then start fasting for 2 days a week and don't up the cals on their eating days.

    I personally don't think this method is optimal for anyone competing in strength sports. Total macros over time is more important than meal frequency but living on 500cals/day (whether you are 120lbs or 200lbs???) or 600 (150lb to 500lb male??!!) doesn't seem like the smartest thing to do for anyone looking to reach peak performance.
  • Snow3y
    Snow3y Posts: 1,412 Member
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    Yeah.. just another fad... Anything to sound 'different' or 'just so crazy it might work' these days pisses me off, just eat in a deficit and lose, simple as that.
  • meerkat70
    meerkat70 Posts: 4,616 Member
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    The science behind fasting for health reasons is roughly- when you constantly feed your body food, it is constantly making new cells. There's times this is a good thing- if you're still growing, or pregnant say. But for others, if you restrict calorie intake, your body is forced into repairing its existing cells before making new ones.

    That's the science theory behind the health benefits, which are long term effects.

    There haven't been enough scientific tests to back up this theory . Yet.

    this sounds remarkably unlike science....
  • Snow3y
    Snow3y Posts: 1,412 Member
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    The science behind fasting for health reasons is roughly- when you constantly feed your body food, it is constantly making new cells. There's times this is a good thing- if you're still growing, or pregnant say. But for others, if you restrict calorie intake, your body is forced into repairing its existing cells before making new ones.

    That's the science theory behind the health benefits, which are long term effects.

    There haven't been enough scientific tests to back up this theory . Yet.

    this sounds remarkably unlike science....

    ditto. Sounds like someone came up with some bogus crap to sound good, but anyone with a bit of logic can spot the bull****
  • andiebaco
    andiebaco Posts: 211 Member
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    Yeah.. just another fad... Anything to sound 'different' or 'just so crazy it might work' these days pisses me off, just eat in a deficit and lose, simple as that.


    That's the thing. I'm eating at deficit and I'm losing. But I chose to create a weekly deficit and keep it that way, instead of a daily deficit.
  • pinkraynedropjacki
    pinkraynedropjacki Posts: 3,027 Member
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    My eyes have changed from brown to blue since being on 5:2. Science that.