Anyone doing 5:2, advice and experience?

Skinny_Beans

I'm interested in the 5:2 lifestyle diet, but getting a lot of different information out there. Would anyone with experience be willing to share that experience? Do you do consecutive 2 day fasting? What kind and how much do you eat on non-fast days? How does your exercise regime fit in? Do you drink alcohol? Did you/ do you do fasting for spiritual, weight loss, and or longevity? :flowerforyou:

Skinny_Beans

Oh hey Skinny_Beans, here is a helpful reply to your question! Said no one...lol

Debbiedebbiey

Bump....anyone ?

Skinny_Beans

BUMP :O

whyldebear

if anyone actually resonds to this i would be intrested to know too im starting to do this as of this morning x

fizzy123

I do I.F but not 5:2.

There is a I.F group here @ http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/49-intermittent-fasting.

Its worth a look.:happy:

stargalsal

Hi there. There is a 5:2 fasting group here which i just recently joined. To be honest, I'm only in week two of trying this out and so my experience is limited. I am currently researching most days to get as much information as i can. Personally, fasting for me is not a big deal as it is something my body is quite used to. That being said however, I am still worried about whether this will be counter productive to my goal to lose weight. I am still undecided in regards to how i think this will effect my metabolism. Having just begun to see some results as i have managed to stick with a new lifestyle, i am worried that fasting may slow down my metabolism and therefore slow my weight loss. The judge is still out. I have tried fasting for the whole 24 hrs...will also try spreading out the 500 calories over the course of the day (keep the fuel burning is my thinking here) and see if i notice any differences.

As far as exercise...i don't think its the best idea to do too much exercise when fasting....personally i don't think i will fast beyond the 24 hrs as i don't want to miss out on exercising two days in a row. Also, you definitely should eat something after a hard work out as the body needs fuel to repair.

i am probably not really that much help but hit me up if you have questions

ingies2011

I have just done my fifth day of fasting. I do it for both the weightloss and health benefits you get from fasting. I do two 24 hr fasts a week, usually from about 3 pm one day to 3 pm the next day, so that way you don't go without food for a whole day.

There are different types of fasting. The program from the BBC, Eat, fast, and live longer advocates doing 2 days a week (not consecutive) where you only eat 500 cal for a woman, or 600 cal for a man. This is for a whole day, not a 24 hour period. Brad Pilon wrote a book called Eat, stop, eat in which he describes going on a 24 hour fast twice a week, again not consecutive, where you eat nothing for a 24 hour period which can start at any time of the day that suits you best.

The first day I did the 24 hour fast I found quite hard, however the next ones haven't been too bad, maybe the body has gotten more efficient at burning fat (wishfull thinking). Hunger is not something that gets worse and worse, it kind of comes and goes in waves. I drink a very weak soup broth which has very few calories in it to keep me going and chew sugar free gum, and have twice had a few boiled vegetables for dinner. They say that doing light exercise (walking) is encouraged, and even weightlifting as Brad Pilon states that growth hormones increase during fasting, however the BBC program state growth hormone (IGF-1) decreases during fasting. I haven't yet worked out which is right as it seems contradictory- if anyone has an answer to this I would like to know.

Fasting for weightloss in the end is only as good if the total calorie deficit is maintained over the period of a week as if you hadn't fasted. If you go and overeat before and after fasting and on non fasting days then you will not loose any weight (though you may still get the other health benefits of fasting). If you don't eat about 1800 calories twice a week then theoretically you should loose about 1 pound a week. I calorie counted last year and lost weight doing that but did find I was hungry a lot of the time, hopefully this way I'll just be hungry twice a week, and can eat normally for the rest. So far I seem to have lost about 1 kg so far.

There is a lot of info on fasting out on the internet, and the different types of fasting. There is also a fast called leangains where you eat for an 8 hour period of the day and fast for 16 hours, you break your fast after you exercise and you do this every day, and there are many variations of this.

Fasting is not for everyone, but I am finding it helpful. Good luck.

IronSmasher

Did the BBC program actually advocate anything, or was it just one man's personal journal?

izzie2012

I've just started doing it, I really like it because it feels easier to just not eat hardly on 2 days, rather than constantly eat less :P it seems to be quite flexible. I have had 2 fast days so far, and 3 normal days, and lost 1.2 kg xx

beattie1

The BBC would not advocate doing anything - it's not a professional who has evaluated you and your needs.

I did the 5:2 diet for 3 months and found it helped me lose weight - which is what I wanted it to do. I only stopped as I'm working on a project that is very physically demanding and makes me very hungry. I'll resume it when the project is finished.

The 5:2 diet is a less drastic version of the Johnsons Up Day Down Day Diet. You fast on two non-consecutive days in a week, when you eat 500 calories if you're a woman or 600 calories if you're a man. On the other days, how much you eat depends on your objectives. If you want to lose weight you need to make sure that your weekly intake of calories is at a deficit overall or you will not lose weight. If you're at a healthy weight already and just fasting for the other health benefits you need to eat a bit over maintenance on the non-fast days so that your weekly calorie intake is enough that you don't lose weight.

I tried different ways of using the 500 calorie allowance - how you do it is up to you. For the anti-ageing effects you need to limit protein intake to 60g, whether you do that or not is up to you.

I settled on no breakfast, a very light lunch (diet cup soup or lettuce & cucumber salad) and a modest (early) dinner. Drink plenty of water and black coffee or tea - anything with no, or next to no calories.

I found that I got used to feeling a bit hungry some of the time - pretend you're someone who lives in the third world & what you're feeling, transiently, is quite usual to them! It made me more aware on non-fast days of whether I was actually hungry, or if I just wanted to eat something - for the taste, out of boredom, or habit.

I found that the feeling of hunger doesn't last very long - ride it out and don't eat & you forget about it in a few minutes.

I found that I was "looking for my next meal" very promptly the next day but wasn't ravenous and wanting to eat to success.

The BBC programme did emphasise that this eating pattern isn't for everyone. If you're pregnant, diabetic, have a history of eating disorders, it's not for you.

You can always try it and if it doesn't suit you, do something else - there are a thousand paths to losing weight and lots of healthy ways of eating and this is just one of them.

MimaMia

I too do this diet, been on it since end of August and have lost just over a stone. For me it was easy as I wasn't a big eater anyway. I eat no more than 500 calories for 2 consecutive days each week (this suits me). For those days I tend to stick with lots of vegetables; my main meal usually consists of either stir fries, roasted or raw veg to nibble on etc or fish steamed. Definitely black tea or coffee (no milk to keep my calories down for those days). I tend to eat late in morning, so actually a brunch rather than breakfast then lunch. Then I have a dinner early evening. I started the diet to lose weight as it started to creep up over the years, according to the programme (eat, fast and live longer) it also has other health benefits not just the weight loss but obviously I cannot vouch for this... maybe it will be beneficial over time.

Like beattie1 says, this diet is not recommended or ideal for everyone. Like every diet if you are unsure it is suitable, if you are pregnant, having or previously have eating disorder or diabetic, this isn't for you or at least check with your doctor.

As said I think this diet currently works for me, so will continue until I feel comfortable or I've had enough.

Good luck if you are giving it a go, but be sensible if you feel unwell or have strenuous work or fitness regime, avoid it... you need to keep your energy levels up.

IronSmasher

Thanks, I've been looking for the source for ages.

http://www.johnsonupdaydowndaydiet.com/html/how-to-do-the-diet.html

ckmama

I do 16/8 it works better for me. There are some groups listed if you search intermentent fasting and the 5:2 will come up.

sijomial

My wife and I have been doing it since August, very good results and easier to stick to than I thought it would be.
Primarily doing it for weight loss rather than health reasons.
Shouldn't do the 2 fast days consecutively. I mostly do Mondays & Thursdays which normally fit in with my routine quite well.
I find it easier to hit my weekly calorie deficit target by having 2 very low days and 5 almost normal days.
Feel free to add me or PM me.

xidia

I've been doing it about a month and am pleased with the weight loss. I've struggled the last week or so with energy levels when working out, so the jury is currently out on whether I'll continue. I want to lose weight, but I also want to get fitter, and for that I need to fuel my body properly. If I can do both, I'll be thrilled. If I can't, I won't and I'll do a more conventional watch-daily-calories and exercise regime.

For me is is easier to be thoroughly deprived two days a week and pretty much free-but-monitoring the other 5. However, I've stopped getting hungry, which is what led to my energy failures at the weekend - I simply didn't want to eat. The only reason I realised I should was shakey legs and trying not to pass out every time I stood up. With a mother with a borderline eating disorder and a bunch of unhealthy inherited attitudes I'm trying to change, having my body give up being hungry is a route to disaster for me.

pjrbs

My advice...try it and see if it works for you.

People can tell us about their experiences but you are the one stepping on the scale in your bathroom every week.

After many many years of losing and gaining I have finally found my own combination of 5:2, calorie counting, treat days, JUDDD, IMF, whatever and exercise that is working for me.

No where on any of the forums have I found anyone doing it quite the same. I have lost just over 50 pounds slowly since May 2011 and , for the first time, am keeping it off.

Find what fits your lifestyle (it only took me 15 years!) and work it, work it work, it. Good luck to you. You can do it!

rubyjune27

I have been doing this since August and plan on keeping it up permanently

I do the two days on Monday and Thursday. I only eat one meal in the evening but have one coffee with milk when I get up and several in the evening, so my meal is about 380 cals.

I started this because of the potential health benefits. I had high BP and had previously had Cancer, I reckoned this could only help. I have read the health benefits are likely to decrease age 70 years, so maybe I will give this up in 20 years time.

I also incorporated it into loosing weight. I had lost over 20lbs before this and have continued to lose. I am hoping this will enable me to successfully maintain in the future as that is not something I have previously achieved, lost weight yes, but kept off, no. So I eat 1500 during week and 1700 at weekend. When I am at target weight (2lb s to go) I will increase my cals
As for exercise, it makes no difference that I can tell.. I swim every morning and I run 4 days a week. Normally I don’t run on a Monday or a Thursday, however some days I swim and run on a fast day and it makes no difference. It might be different if I did weight training or ran for more than 3 miles, or did a physically hard job, but I don’t I sit in an office.

I am a vegetarian and have been for over 30 years, I haven't drunk alcohol for 6 years.

Hope this helps.