5.2 Diet?

barbarahampton64

barbarahampton64

I'm on my second day too. Just been to the gym at dinner to do workout 3 of 30 day shred.
I am definately going to watch the Horizon programme. All of the comments are really usefull.

HotrodsGirl0107

Hi there all,

I am also on the 5:2 diet, on week 5. I fast at 500Calories Monday and Wednesday. I am pretty hungry as we speak but to be honest I dont find it too bad. I am also trying to follow a low GL plan for the rest of the week staying at around 1200 cals. I know the cal intake seems low but I am also on 5' 2" so actually, 1200 cals is quite satisfying for me. But when I add in a few treats at the weekend and a few drinkies too, it really changes the weekly calorie intake. I have consistently lost on this plan and to be honest i dont find the fasting days too bad!! They are kinda good for the soul if you know what I mean. I am also hoping to achieve some health benefits from it. I had a hight cholesterol reading a while back so I will get a re-test on that in a couple of weeks maybe after 8 to 10 weeks folllowing the 5:2 plan and that will be a real benchmark for me.

Without adding in your extra "treats" you are only averaging 1000cals a day. How many extra cals are you consuming? I thought the point of IF was to eat 2 lower calorie days and the rest normal while still giving your body a healthy amount of calories.

chrisiex1

I am in week 3 and this is the first week I'm focusing on good eating on non fast days. I think the eat 500 and then eat what you like I took to an extreme lol

This week I'm going to keep a food diary and eat well on my five days ensuring I don't over stuff with bad foods (unless weekend)

other tricks I found for me on fast days:

leave its as late as you can say mid day for your first meal because I found if I had breakfast I was very hungry by lunch time
I travel a lot with work so I buy a bag of ready cut carrots to munch great for a bored mouth
my nights away if on fast day I go for grilled fish and a huge plate of veg.
big win is to batch make home made soups low in calories but excellent for lunch time and filling.

so here goes ill see how I do focusing on eating good foods on eating days round about 1600 - 1800 cals.

Arismar2022

Bump

flic99

I think this diet is brilliant. I've followed it for for about 2 months and I've lost 14 bs. I use 500 calories 2 days a week and I go from 8am to 8 am, I just find that easier to plan meals. I typically have 30 g porridge foe breakfast made on water then soup for lunch, either veg or tomato and a plain omelette for dinner of 2 eggs. I drink water if I feel hungry. I find it really easy to do and I keep busy the 2 fast days so I'm not sitting around thinking of food. I'd recommend it to anyone.

Showcase_Brodown

I would say give it a try.

I don't do the 5:2 variety of IF, but I do a 2-10pm eating window every day. I have different calorie/macro targets depending on if it is a workout day or a rest day and I do my best to hit them.

I would caution you on eating "whatever you want." I think you understand the science of how weight loss works and that you still have to create a deficit over the week. If I told myself that I could eat whatever I wanted, I may easily consume 4000-5000 in a day, which is a problem. I'd recommend keeping track on all days if you aren't, so you know where you are at for sure.

Different strategies work for different people, I guess. I've noticed a lot of replies from people who really love to eat the same number of calories everyday and have good luck with it. Good for them. But don't be discouraged by the criticisms. You aren't going to be "starving yourself" or causing any harm on your low days. I see this diet (lifestyle, really) as something that can be easily sustainable. People who do IF, including myself, won't be telling you that it's absolute torture to not eat for a certain amount of time or that they are miserable. It works, and there are real health benefits that can come from fasting. Well, in this case I'd be more likely to call it "restricting," but you get the point.

Good luck.