5:2 fasting diet anyone?

fbmandy55

I appreciate peoples comments, but unfortunately as we all know - diets, like clothes, are not "one size fits all" and I find this kind of diet far easier and sustainable than anything else I have tried.

To sum this up, all I can say is that you are terribly misinformed that 500 calories a day anytime is sustainable or even healthy.

Our bodies are not that different when you base a diet off of TDEE and BMR, anyone can have success by eating the right amount of food, not by starving themselves.

adozenunholyowls

Fasting has actually been part of religious and cultural tradition for centuries, and when you factor in that we are all here on MFP because we regularly eat FAR TOO MANY calories, it makes sense to me that one or two separate days a week of eating less (it is important that the two days are not consecutive) won't kill us.

I say go for it butterbeanz x

ashby00

Fasting has actually been part of religious and cultural tradition for centuries, and when you factor in that we are all here on MFP because we regularly eat FAR TOO MANY calories, it makes sense to me that one or two separate days a week of eating less (it is important that the two days are not consecutive) won't kill us.

I say go for it butterbeanz x

I agree! Our bodies are not really designed to cope with a constant barrage of nutrition (until relatively recently, most of us did not have such easy access to food) and studies show people who fast are less susceptible to colon cancer and may live longer. Have a look at some of the research online, I can derive from the studies that a little fasting does work.

bcattoes

I appreciate peoples comments, but unfortunately as we all know - diets, like clothes, are not "one size fits all" and I find this kind of diet far easier and sustainable than anything else I have tried.

To sum this up, all I can say is that you are terribly misinformed that 500 calories a day anytime is sustainable or even healthy.

Our bodies are not that different when you base a diet off of TDEE and BMR, anyone can have success by eating the right amount of food, not by starving themselves.

Eating 500 calories a day for 2 days a week is hardly starving oneself. In fact, it would be possible to do this and still eat TDEE minus 20% if you averaged the week. Calorie intake does not have to be the same every day to lose weight healthily, and what is sustainable is completely personal.

PixiePickle

Has anyone else tried this diet, where you stick to under 500 calories a day (for women) on two days a week, and eat normally on the other days?
How did you get on?
I am just starting on this as I am having trouble losing anything so far, and thought it might kick-start things into moving.
Would love to hear other peoples experiences, good and bad. Thank you.

I'm starting the 5:2 this week & it's my first time! So you can add me for support, or just if you just want to check out my diary to see how I'm getting on, if you would like?
:flowerforyou:

justagirlgeek

I was IFing unknowingly for years before I came across the site.
This is what my body seems to want, so I oblige.

I'm a 18/6, which means I fast for 18 hours a day, and eat/snack for the remaining 6 hours. I stay within my 1400 calorie allowance in that 6 hours.

I was able to maintain a healthy weight for 2.5 years doing this.--but I was eating 2000-2200 calories.
Then I quit smoking (last April) and put on 50lbs.

I dropped my calorie intake to 1400, added more fruits and veggies, less processed crap, exercise regularly, and throw in a full day of actual fasting (no food for 24 hours) here and there when my body tells me to.

I feel great. Lots of energy, I'm not constantly starving and I'm losing weight.

It works for me.

pb1968

A colleague of mine watched a documentary on Fasting and the medical benefits of it. She was saying that instead of your body MAKING new cells, Fasting encourages it to repair the ones we already have. She was going to give it a go because it has been proven to be successful. Good luck

megiotto

Hey there,

I have been on the 5:2 diet since the 7th of January and I have lost 5 kgs (11lbs) so far. Altought less than a month on it doesn't make me a specialist on the matter, I have found it not exactly easy, but not really difficult. I have lots of energy on my fast days, I go to the gym and swim, run, bike and even do 45-minute boxing classes on those days and have not been moody either. I love food and I wouldn't have gotten to the weight that I was on the 7th of january (90kgs in a 1.64 body) if I hadn't. But, for me, the fast days don't bother me at all, because I know that the following day I can have " whatever" I want (I always stay within 2000 calories, though).

See your doctor, do your research and have a go at it if it suits you. Personally, it has been great because it fits around my life and not the other way round. I have started a blog and take pictures of my meals on the fast days, have a look if you want (http://5and2er.blogspot.co.uk/).

Even though I lost 5kgs already, I fully expect that this trend won't hold and the weight loss will slow down. I have been spending a lot of time at the gym, I got myself a personal trainer and I am training for a sprint triathlon, so I guess I'll try not to worry too much about the scales and concentrate on body fat % and how well I fit into my old clothes and how I feel.

Either way, good luck! And whatever you do, it is always best to see a doctor and do your research!

melaniecheeks

Great advice Megiotto.

I've just left a comment on your blog

Snoozypaws3000

Sent you a PM
Sky

snoland81

The reason a calorie of one item of food is better than another is because of what your body does with the food. I was 163 pounds and thought I was eating alright and not over eating. I got P90X the home workout program and started that. I followed it almost to a T with the nutrition and workout program for 40 days. The only day I didn't do was yoga and in 40 days I lost 14 pounds. I was eating 2200 calories a day! I wasn't eating 2200 calories of bread and pasta or big macs and fries. I was eating Lean meats, veggies, fruit, some dairy and one serving of complex carbs a day. THIS is the only way I know for FACT that the type of food you eat makes all the difference in the world! I'd rather eat TONS of the good food and loose weight then eat very little of the bad food and go no where. If you want to do a cleanse that is healthy try a week of eating NOTHING but lean meat, fruits and veggies. You can have no sugar other than what is naturally occuring in the veggies and fruits you eat. You can have vinegar and oil for dressing on salad. Drink lots of water and in one week I'll bet if you really stick to it you will loose between 4 and 7 if not more pounds. Oh and you can eat AS MUCH of those things as you want! After a week add back a good source of complex carbs like beans and whole grain rice, whole wheat bread, but limit your intake to one serving a day of those carbs and you will be amazed how fast the pounds fall off:)

MsEllaSimone

I am not doing this 5:2 diet, but have read a lot about it.

Also - here is the link to the Horizon documentary -

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xvdbtt_eat-fast-live-longer-hd_shortfilms#.UOOjXKz47XS

lots of medical evidence that fasting can be good for reducing risks of heart desease, cancer and diabetes, by reducing certain hormones, as well as weight loss.

If you want to try it, just try it. I doubt te people vehemntly forcing their negative opinions on you, or questioning whether you bunderstand basic principles of weight loss, have any medical or scientific knowledge.

The principle of the fase is eat what you want for 5 days (most people don't overeat, and in studies the group who had a high fat diet on 'feeding' days actually lost more weight than their low fat counterparts), then you stick to 500 cals on fasting days, but reducing protein to c50g is key.

I hope this helps - do your research, then do the diet if you want to.

There are plenty of people to support you on MFP, not just give you a hard time because they have a different opinion.

Good Luck.

wilsoje74

do you get to eat whatever you want on the 5 days? Then I don't see how you would lose unless your average intake is at a deficit..

MsEllaSimone

Just because you can eat whatever you want on a feed day, doesn't mean you won't be in deficit. If you cut your calories to 500 for 2 days, that's still a lot of calories to catch up. Most people wanting to lose weight won't be stufing themselves jus because someone says they can.

The 5:2 concept is not really about weight loss anyway. weight loss is a happy side effect - it's about changing the way way your body metabolises and reducing the levels of the IGF hormone (which is known as the aging hormone and impacts likelihood of cancer, diabetes etc)

MsEllaSimone

Hey there,

I have been on the 5:2 diet since the 7th of January and I have lost 5 kgs (11lbs) so far. Altought less than a month on it doesn't make me a specialist on the matter, I have found it not exactly easy, but not really difficult. I have lots of energy on my fast days, I go to the gym and swim, run, bike and even do 45-minute boxing classes on those days and have not been moody either. I love food and I wouldn't have gotten to the weight that I was on the 7th of january (90kgs in a 1.64 body) if I hadn't. But, for me, the fast days don't bother me at all, because I know that the following day I can have " whatever" I want (I always stay within 2000 calories, though).

See your doctor, do your research and have a go at it if it suits you. Personally, it has been great because it fits around my life and not the other way round. I have started a blog and take pictures of my meals on the fast days, have a look if you want (http://5and2er.blogspot.co.uk/).

Even though I lost 5kgs already, I fully expect that this trend won't hold and the weight loss will slow down. I have been spending a lot of time at the gym, I got myself a personal trainer and I am training for a sprint triathlon, so I guess I'll try not to worry too much about the scales and concentrate on body fat % and how well I fit into my old clothes and how I feel.

Either way, good luck! And whatever you do, it is always best to see a doctor and do your research!

I checked out your blog - it's a really good idea. Good luck with it.

Janandmeg

Hi,
Started the 5:2 diet a week ago and have lost 3 pounds!
Any tasty ideas for fasting days? So far its been soup and soup.
Cheers,
Jan

melaniecheeks

My diary's open so you can see what I eat. I usually fast Mondays and Thursday, and I write in the notes section that it's a fast day.

robinmobile

Hi everyone.
I have just started the fast diet - second fast day almost complete. I am basically doing night to night, so have last food at 10.30pm ( or whenever I have had last snack) and then fast the next day until I am hungry the morning after that. Hard to explain. anyway, I was so hungry on the first day that I had blurry vision and shakes. I basically sat on the couch all day reading a very good book to distract me, and drank lots of water. Today I feel less hungry and shaky but have a bit of a 'craving' for rubbish. I know I don't need it, but I 'want it' if that makes sense.
I have not been eating 'anything I like' on my normal days either, as I was eating far too much generally. I am trying to keep the calories to about 1200 - 1500 on a none 'treat day'. My treat days tend to be the weekend and involve alcohol and take away so I figure, if I don't binge during the week, it won't do as much damage at the weekend if EVERYDAY bar fast days are what I used to consider normal. I also swim about 1,5km 3 times a week and am relatively active walking dogs and cleaning out various animals. Stupid though it sounds, my jeans already feel a bit looser which might just be the psychological part of not having eaten much the last few days but did you all find it comes off quite quickly at the beginning? Hubby is also doing it and I expect with him being a lot heavier and taller than me, it'll be a bit faster for him too. I hope so as I need him to see results to stick with it! Sorry for the long post.

ashby00

Hi everyone.
I have just started the fast diet - second fast day almost complete. I am basically doing night to night, so have last food at 10.30pm ( or whenever I have had last snack) and then fast the next day until I am hungry the morning after that. Hard to explain. anyway, I was so hungry on the first day that I had blurry vision and shakes. I basically sat on the couch all day reading a very good book to distract me, and drank lots of water. Today I feel less hungry and shaky but have a bit of a 'craving' for rubbish. I know I don't need it, but I 'want it' if that makes sense.
I have not been eating 'anything I like' on my normal days either, as I was eating far too much generally. I am trying to keep the calories to about 1200 - 1500 on a none 'treat day'. My treat days tend to be the weekend and involve alcohol and take away so I figure, if I don't binge during the week, it won't do as much damage at the weekend if EVERYDAY bar fast days are what I used to consider normal. I also swim about 1,5km 3 times a week and am relatively active walking dogs and cleaning out various animals. Stupid though it sounds, my jeans already feel a bit looser which might just be the psychological part of not having eaten much the last few days but did you all find it comes off quite quickly at the beginning? Hubby is also doing it and I expect with him being a lot heavier and taller than me, it'll be a bit faster for him too. I hope so as I need him to see results to stick with it! Sorry for the long post.

Hi robinmobile,
I have just started this with my man too, and I'm feeling exactly the same as you've described. There does seem to be an instant effect on the waistline, it may be it's just water loss, but it is great as an incentive to keep going! I find it quite hard to stick to the calorie curfew and end up going over 100 calories or so, but I think that will become easier, perhaps as the body gets used to a bit of fasting. My partner is taking to the diet like a duck to water; the fast results and promise of 'feast' days must be appealing - and both of us have not felt the need to overeat on the days off which makes me think fasting a little resets the system - eating for nutrition as opposed to the many other reasons we reach for the fridge Good luck!

cogginmr

Not wanting to jump in off the bat and ruffle any feathers with the regular posters but I have read an awful lot of drivel in reply to this post. Firstly, we are human beings who have evolved into being overweight/obese. As a base animal, our bodies are not designed for this. In fact they are designed to much better operate in a intermittent fasting scenario. In the modern world we have visual stimulus, smell and other input which fools our brains into thinking we are hungry. In the inception of mankind, when we were leaner, faster and stronger we hunted for food and generally gorged our bodies on our catches then went several days before another meal. After all, it can take several days for our bodies to breakdown a large meal.

Fasting for days on end can be dangerous but fasting for a day is not. It is simply mind over matter. Eat enough the day before and try to ignore the visual stimuli and hunger pangs associated and you will soon realise that 500-600 calories is easy. For instance, a delicious breakfast/lunch of 200g of cucumber and 200g of tomatoes with a little balsamic vinegar is around 70 calories, very filling and full of nutrients. Black unsweetened coffee, best made with freshly ground beans is around 4 calories a cup, so 5 cups of that a day is around 20 calories. This leaves a good 410-510 calories for an evening meal which is easily achievable.

Fasting doesn't have to be hard! I've found a few 400-500 calorie meals in the Jamie Oliver '15 minute meals' book that are both delicious and filling.