5:2 Lifestyle

katelynpelerson

Starting the 5:2 lifestyle today. You eat normally on five days a week and then 500 calories for two non consecutive days a week. Basically I'll be fasting for two days a week. I'm okay with this and I've heard that lots of people have success with it and carry it on throughout their lives. I'm trying to become aware of my hunger and when I'm actually hungry vs. just being bored. I don't think it'll be unhealthy since I'll be eating 500 calories worth of veggies/fruits/nuts on my fast days. And I'll be drinking a lot of water on those days, along with every other day. Any thoughts on this?

thavoice

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/7953-5-2-fasting

ALso some groups of facebook.

I have been doing it for 3 weeks, although I went to the 4:3 because to do a little better and it has worked very well for me.

I read a book eat.stop.eat that really made it all make sense and all the benefits of it. I had tried to do it before but failed unilt something clicked when I read it.

I go on 24 hour cycles and not a traditional 'day'. The book touts that around the 18-24 hour mark the burning is ramped up quite.
My example is this:
Sunday around 6pm I have dinner. Fast with only water until 6pm or so monday. Then I have a meal, 600-800 calories or so. Then on tuesday I eat 500 below my maintain weight up until 6pm/24 hours from the first meal. Each cycle gets me a depletion of 2200-2500. Do that 3 times a week and I have been losing 2.5+ a week with no exercise. On saturday I dont count but usually an conscience of trying to stay at my maintain weight, and sunday is go to a 500 def which is 2000, and start over again.

I know some and the 5:2 tout eating 500 on your down day. to me that is too restrictive so I use what the book called for...24hours of fasting to get that extra burn and then 24 of eating close to maintain.

It has worked well for me, and on days, such as today when I am fasting I dont feel restrictiv because I know for dinner at the end of that 24 hour fast I am having a pretty good meal!

pennyllayne

You will be very hungry on fasting days if you get all your 500 calories from fruits, veggies and nuts. You need to make up the majority of your cals of protein because 1. Protein is needed every day and 2. Protein is the most satiating of all the macronutrients. Fruit and veg contain important nutrients too, but one day without them or keeping consumption low will not cause any harm. Protein and essential fats are the most important nutrients so it would be a good idea to include some oily fish such as salmon, high fibre veggies and a bit of fat.

It's not any more unhealthy than creating a deficit on a daily basis as long as you are eating the right foods. There are many ways to create a deficit, such as the poster above mentioned with other fasting methods. It's just up to you which way you go and ensure you plan carefully.

sijomial

Think you will struggle on fasting days with those food choices.
Veggies - great.
Fruit - be careful with which fruits, berries work well (high taste and often relatively low calorie for volume)
Nuts - poor choice IMHO. Very little bang for your buck.

Where's the protein? Fish or shellfish work well on fast days as protein sources.
Take away the nuts and would also be asking where's the fat?

Worth getting some 5:2 recipes either online or books.
For me high volume, high taste, high'ish protein worked best as well as making the meals into an "event" you concentrate on and not just snack mindlessly.

Experiment with meal timing and frequency as that's a very personal thing for satiety. I can skip breakfast without noticing, my wife prefers to skip lunch. Two meals a day worked best for both of us but others prefer a single meal.

There's two 5:2 groups on here.

strong_curves

good luck.