Any success stories using the 5:2 diet plan?

janeandmoses

Hi Nicola, I am on my first week, week my plan is to fast Mon and Wed but I had an extra fast yesterday as i'm away for the weekend and as well as food included I just. Know alcohol will be involved! You had.a great 1st week, I hope I do too. too Will fast again on Monday and weigh myself Tuesday morning, fingers crossed!! I have about 22 lbs to lose to enable me to get back into my clothes so about the same as you. Keep in touch. Jane

janemac65

Hi how are you all doing on the fast diet. Im starting Monday and hope to lose 21 pounds. What is the typical loss I can hope for?

Louise1247

I just googled it.. you fast for two days a week. no thanks. done with fad diets.

^^ I agree. I can't even go 10 hours without eating let alone two days!

10 hours? Haha more like 2. Maybe 3.

haha, but you do still eat

fionarama

I quite like this idea. Might try it, just do a apple fast a couple of days a week, will be a nice detox. haven't done stuff like that for ages but used to when i was young and it felt great.

Filletsteak

It seems to be different for everyone. I'm 49, have an underactive thyroid (not on medication). In one year on MFP, I lost 5 pounds. In two months on the 5:2, I lost 7 pounds. I've started it again - usually on Mondays and Thursdays and I eat breakfast, a reasonable lunch and light dinner - pints of water, orange squash or herbal tea in between with an apple or prunes - or a cuppa and a biscuit! I was eating any old 500 cals but am now trying to focus on protein, including Quorn and eggs.

A friend has been doing the 5:2 for a few months and she looks amazing - she's turning 60 next year but has the figure of a 20-something. She does her :2 days on Mondays and Tuesdays, eats hard-boiled eggs, chicken and salad. She eats most of her meals at work so can control what she eats. I haven't asked her if she's counting the calories but she looks great on it and is enjoying it.

So............ success? Yes. No two stories are the same. Some people lose pounds every week, it may take a while to kick in for others. I lost one pound per week and am going to stick with it until September if I can. Do what suits you and your lifestyle, sometimes I change the days around. Plan, plan, plan.

Best of luck!:flowerforyou:

latepaul

I've been doing it since November and I've lost 35lbs so far. It's working for me. However there are a few things I've come to realise/learn:

- it's slower than other methods. I used to do a simple reduced calorie+exercise regime and I lost 1-2lbs a week but it got harder to maintain and I eventually gave up and put a lot of it back on.

- a lot of people hear "fast" and think's it's a fad so I'm careful who I tell and how I explain it.

- the simple way to explain it - fast for two days, eat what you like/eat normally the other five - can be misleading. I still have to watch what I eat on non-fast days. Maybe it's not true for other people but I will overcompensate if I'm not careful.

- some of the health benefits may be overstated. I can't give cites for this because it was part of a radio discussion I listened to but it seems that the "extra" benefits from fasting versus the equivalent calorie reduction are disputed.

In the end I see it as a way of reducing calories in a more sustainable way. I know I'm never more than a day away from being able to indulge myself if I need to and that helps me keep going.

In terms of MFP what I've done is set my goals to 1lb a week and I use the daily calorie limit as a guide on non-fast days. I'll also eat back any exercise calories on non-fast days. I will allow myself to go over but I keep an eye on my average to make sure that's below the line (which is on the phone app but not the main site for some reason).

sexymuffintop

It just seems like a different way of creating a calorie deficit. Theres nothing special about it really is there? As long as that deficit is there you will lose fat. If it works better for you than cool but theres no pretending it is just another way of restricting calories. It's not a magic solution.

KarenJanine

I've seen it work for some, not for others. It is based on an average TDEE of 2000 cals for women, 2500 for men and it is calculated that you eat 1/4 of TDEE (I.e. 500 for women, 600 for men) twice a week and eat at maintenance the other 5 days.

Some people I know are doing well and consistently losing around 1 to 2 lbs per week.

Others found that they overcompensate and are extra hungry on non-fasting days and thus undo any benefits of the fasting days.

Michael Mosely did say that it is not recommended for people who are highly active or suffer with chronic migraines (as regular food intake can help control migraine).

As someone that exercises nearly everyday I could not get through the day and my workouts on just 500 cals. 1/4 of my TDEE would be around 800 but that would still be a struggle for me.

I think all in all it depends on you lifestyle etc as to whether it would work for you or not.

melaniecheeks

The weight loss is probably because of the calorie reduction, but the restriction to a very low level 2 days a week is supposed to make your body repair its existing cells rather than constantly making new ones. THAT'S what makes it different, that's why it has such an impact on cholesterol levels and other health benefits, not all of which are easy to measure at least in the short term.

beelox

I have been doing the Alternate day fasting version of this 5:2 diet, I started on 6th January and to date I have lost 30Kg or 66lbs...I started at 143kg and have just been weighed in at 113...I have lost 10 inches from my waist and 12 inches from my chest....

I have combined the diet with regular cardio exercise - 1 hour per day for 3 days a week...

I have tried many diets over the years and have never been able to stick to any more than a week or two and never have i seen such good results..My BP has lowered to normnal levels and my GP has taken me off one of my BP tablets, my blood sugars are back in the normal non diabetic range and again i have had one diabetes med withdrawn and another reduced....

as i say I do the 600 calories every other day and though i occasionally go over 600 calories the results are still there..I even abandoned it altogether for 11 days when i went on holiday and though i put on 4kg in that time it only took a week and a half to be back to where i was again...

I will try and dig out some before and after pics and let you see...

schtinkster

I've been on it five and a half weeks - I've done 6 weeks' worth of fast days, although I missed one fast day in Week 4 as I was away. I fast Mondays and Wednesdays and truly do eat (and drink!) normally on the other days. I've lost 5 kilos so far. My first fast day was Monday 28 Oct and now it's Thurs 5 Dec. This is by far the best regime ever. It's becoming a way of life for me. I can spend my whole weekend saying Yes, not No. And still lose weight, and I feel so healthy as well. I have been, at my worst, nearly 90kg (I'm a 172cm tall female, strong and muscly as I do heaps of sport, but still carrying way too much weight). When I started 5 and 2, I was 85kg, which I struggled so hard to get to. Now, after only five and a half weeks, I'm 80kg, with no struggle at all - just a bit of discipline on 2 days a week - to ignore a bit of hunger pain... always knowing that the very next day, you can eat normally. On my fast days, I've sorted out what suits me... Skip brekky, have a banana and an apple for lunch, and for dinner, I have 4 x 26 cal crispbreads, two topped with 1/2 slice cheese and tomato, two topped with cream cheese spread, plus a carrot. It feels like a banquet!!! That all works out at about 480 cals for the day. Easy. I say - the 5 and 2 is astoundingly good. Go for it!

dolphinmarine

Have been on 5:2 for about 4 months now (Tue & Thu). Have lost ~ 30 lbs. Was off for a month (vacation) - put on about 4 lbs. Back on 5:2 again and have lost those 4 + 1 in about 4 weeks. Body fat also has come down from 26.5% to 24.5% and much more to go. Have missed an occasional day here and there but as long as I am back on it, it doesn't seem to matter.

The main benefit I see of this "life-style" change is it makes you aware of what you are eating on a day-to-day basis. I am now more inclined to eat the enjoyable (hi-calorie) food and skip the junk (also hi-calorie).

Still enjoy my drinks (think more than ever!) on week-ends but the lbs keep coming off! Have also noticed a over-all sense of feeling good & healthier than ever before. It certainly is a life-style change for the better.

apriljen59

I started the fast diet on April 1st 2013 and am still going. So far I've lost 29 lbs with minimal and I mean minimal exercise. It was too cold and then too hot and my son got married in July so there was little time. Then it got colder and I got lazy. ( I walk around a school track. ) I've lost inches around my waist and arms and thighs and everyone has noticed. I fast Mondays & Thursdays. I tell my body that I can have the cake or whatever I'm craving when I wake up, and normallyI never crave that thing as much the next day. I plan to start walking again seriously. It's the longest time I've ever lasted on any diet and the one that has worked best for me.

fittyinthemaking

surely it can't be healthy, i go dizzy if i don't eat for 3-4 hours... if you cant see your self starving 2 days a week for the rest of your life don't bother, you'll gain weight as soon as you go back to eating 7 days a week... i don't understand why people don't just eat healthy and watch the pounds drop off!