Anyone doing 5:2/intermittent fasting?

I've been fasting Mon, Thurs, Sat for about eight weeks following the recent Horizon programme you have mentioned. My weight loss has slowed but is still a good steady decline. I fast from evening to evening, which sounds a lot but in effect is missing breakfast and lunch three times a week. At first my body's high insulin levels make my hunger pangs uncomfortable, but with in a few weeks I was used to it. A difficult day now is when I wake up thinking "eggs for breakfast" and then remember it's a fasting day. This is exactly what happened this morning. It's now 17.15 and i haven't really thought about food, and I've cooked a lasagne, sausage sandwiches and a cake for my kids!

Fasting is more than just weight loss, as you know from the programme. I have to say I really enjoy fast days, or down days now. There is something liberating about breaking free from the food cycle and I get more time to enjoy myself. For lunch today I went to the golf driving range instead of eating...

I work out a lot. One thing they don't mention on the programme is IF in combination with resistance training. It really works. When the body is in starvation mode it produces more growth hormone for muscle development. Before you think “oh I don't want to get big” - relax, as a woman you physically can't (unless you are taking steroids). What you can do is build good firm muscle that will increase your metabolic rate and assist fat burn, Here is a good article on the benefits http://firthfitness.com/intermittent-fasting-for-fat-loss/

And here is a good book to read http://www.eatstopeat.com/

Good luck

Adam

This way of eating has been discussed quite a bit on MFP - have a look for groups on 5:2 and Intermittent Fasting.

I've been doing 5:2 for about 8 weeks now. Like you, I like being able to eat more on Up Days and don't find Down Days too difficult usually. I'm getting better at cooking dinner with a rumbling tum, though it is hard not to snack then.

I normally skip breakfast on fasting days (forgot I was supposed to be fasting today & ate cereal). My diary is open - it's easy to tell which are fasting days. Sometimes I skip lunch as well, other days I have just a leafy salad or a diet cup soup or other low cal soup. I used to find I got hungry before the normal time for meals on the day after a fast, but this is less noticeable now, so I think my body is getting used to being hungry sometimes & can deal with it.

I don't fuss about doing exercise, or not doing it on fast days. I just go for what I want to do, or would normally do & find that there are no consequences - I've never got wobbly & it helps distract from tummy rumbles.

Overall, I've found it makes me more mindful of what I eat and how I feel - whether I'm actually hungry or my mouth just wants something to eat.

Good luck with trying this schedule for eating. It doesn't suit everyone but the only way you'll find out if it is for you is by trying it.

I just started IF this week at the suggestion of my boyfriend. In the past I thought it seemed dumb and I couldn't fathom not eating breakfast, but the more I've read about it, the more I like how it sounds. I'm doing it leangains-style except slightly modified, 14 hours fasting and 10 hours fed. So far, surprisingly, I haven't been too hungry in the mornings, and I like that when I do start to eat, I feel so full and satisfied all day.

I am planning to start the 5:2 next week. I need to plan fast days around my running so will do my fasts on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I am hoping this resolves my usual problem of being fine Monday to Thursday, then feeling deprived cos 'its the weekend!' and overeating, therefore not really loosing any weight. I seriously need to loose about 1 /2 to 2 stones, which will dramatically improve my running times.

Any advice gratefully received!

Hi, yes I watched the documentary, that was what got me thinking about it. Hopefully it will help me even out my weeks calories as you point out. You have done very well loosing 53lbs!!

IF group here.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/66-intermittent-fasting

First day of fasting, stuck to 1300 cals yesterday and did 7 mile run. Planning to have a banana at lunchtime then some soup at around 5pm. Hope it goes according to plan!

I really enjoyed 5:2 intermittent fasting and it is definitely something I will continue in the future. When I started the fast I was 10 ½ stone and 27% body fat. I ended seven weeks later having lost 16lbs and 4% of my fat index. I only fasted two days a week, didn't train during that time and didn't watch what I ate on my 'feed' days. If anyone is interested in reading my blog of the journey it can be downloaded free from our website:

Just to put this in reference for everyone. Of those 16lbs of weight loss, 7 lbs of it was muscle. This means, you are under feeding your body and not receiving the ideal benefits from interim fasting. This means, you will need more fuel on non fasting days to prevent muscle loss.

Yes it works really well because you only do 2 lower kcal days a week so on those days you just think that it's onnly for a day, I did it before and will start again. I'm just eating generally lower kcals everyday atm because I'm in the right mind set atm and I don't want to disrrupt my progress so far. But I'm going to reincorporate it when I maybe am tempted to break my new diet or if I plateau as I think its especially good for when you need to vary your calorie intake to up your metabolism again.

I lost 8lbs in a month on it, but I ate v well on the feed days and my friends dad has been doing it for 2 months and has lost a stone! Just remember it only works if you don't go over 110% of your recommended calories on your feed days (so for women this would be 2200kcals max).

Also for women it said on the programme that really you should be having 400-500kcals max, 600 was for men. If you type in on google news the horizon programme's name or something you should find some good articles on it, and I think it's the independant which has some low kcal recipe ideas too.