5:2 diet newbie - suppport wanted please!!!

I've been doing well with 5:2 actually. I lost about eight pounds with it in quick succession. But due to hormones and *that time* I'm plateauing (just ten pounds to go!), so I'm just going to eat normally (not crazy) for ten days, take a break and go back on it again.

I don't really have any recipes. On my fast day it goes like this:

Breakfast: egg and unsweetened mint tea

Lunch: 1 oz almonds, as much water as I can drink

Dinner: My recipes tend to be veggie - like chickpea fajitas, or soups

On fast days I do try and go to bed early.

You can all add me if you like, and educate me as to what this 5:2 diet is about. I'll support you anyway, even if we're on different diets. We're all trying to lose weight.

I've never heard of the 5:2 diet before. What is it?

What is 5:2?

Never heard if 5:2

For those asking what the diet is - this is how wikipedia describes it - hope this helps!!

The 5:2 diet, also written as 5/2 diet, is a diet which involves severe calorie restriction for two days a week and normal eating the other five days.

The diet involves very low calorie restriction for two days a week and allows normal eating for the other five days. Although the amount of calories consumed on the two days a week is restricted it is up to the particular dieter how they divide it throughout the day, men can consume 600 calories and women 500 calories. A typical fasting day may be a breakfast of 300 calories such as two scrambled eggs with ham, water, green tea or black coffee and a lunch or dinner of grilled fish or meat with vegetables amounting to 300 calories. The Daily Mail said of the diet, "Gorging yourself on as many burgers, chips and cakes as you like one day then eating fewer calories than you find in a cheese sandwich the next might sound like a worrying eating disorder. But this regime of chomping away to your heart’s content one day, and virtually starving yourself the next is the latest diet craze. It’s known as ‘intermittent fasting’ or ‘alternate-day dieting’,and devotees insist the pounds just drop off."

o thats the only way i eat oatmeal!
with a little bit of cinnimon

I've got my second fast day tomorrow - I actually enjoyed my first on Monday - feel free to add me, but as I only log my food now on two days a week it might take me a while to get back to you! I found a great soup recipe here:
http://www.tinnedtomatoes.com/2012/08/52-diet.html#.UHUaQ03onZZ
which kept the hunger at bay, and there are some good groups on facebook for support. There are other good recipes on BBC Good Food - search under healthy and on advanced search, look for the calorie count you want. The daily allowance for fast days is 500 for women and 600 for men. The joy is knowing you can eat what you like tomorrow!
For anyone who wants to know more about the diet, watch the Horizon programme "Eat, Fast and Live longer" which is on Youtube in four parts - the healthy benefits are the main reasons for the diet but weight loss does seem to be a major side effect! I'd love to know how you all get on!
Lindsay

First fast day yesterday - it was pretty easy actually, I even squeezed a bedtime beer in there. Have magically lost 2lbs too, though I know that its water weight.

I feel clear headed and energetic. :-)

Third day today but have been rather naughty on the in between days due to a very social week. I am struggling with the fast days a little, I'm OK until I have my evening meal and then once I've eaten I'm starving all night. I'll have to try having my main meal later in the evening.

Last year I lost a fair amount of weight by using MFP to track food and exercise, but since last autumn/winter due to injury I've not been able to exercise enough to balance out my food intake. However, with this 5/2 approach, I'm on my 5th fast day in 3 weeks, and finding it the easiest diet I've ever done, because there's no real calorie- or points-counting, I just eat 'normal' food but less of it!

With only 2 fast days in a week, there's no need for planning or buying particular foods - just look in your fridge/cupboard and see what's there. I'm not stressing about keeping to exactly 500 cals, but using 500-600 as a guide. I am also still exercising but more like only 1500 cals/week rather than the 3500 I used to be burning through running.

Examples of what I've done:

1. Breakfast - delay until lunchtime - I'm more motivated to 'be good' in the morning, especially on a Monday. Instead I drink black coffee and lots of water to keep me feeling full.
Lunch - sachet of low cal cupasoup and half a pitta bread
Dinner - one-egg omelette, without oil, with fresh steamed carrot & broccoli
Snacks - apple, satsuma, banana

2. Breakfast delayed until lunch as above
Lunch - 40g porridge oats, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, made with water (I don't like the creaminess of milk)
Dinner - massive vegetable stir fry made fresh with 75g quorn pieces, thinly sliced ginger, a bit of soy sauce, garlic - all cooked in a tbsp or two of water rather than oil
Snacks - fruit as above

Other evening meals I've had:
a. 1 tin of low cal tomato soup, with a tsp of harissa to give it a bit of spice, and 30g chickpeas for protein & bulk
b. 2 x Quorn fillets, with steamed broccoli & carrots, with a homemade 'quick tomato sauce' (2 tbsp tomato puree, garlic, dried herbs)

I think the best thing about this is that you really can fit it around 'normal life' - I'm just picking the best days in the week as I go along according to work and social commitments.

Hope that helps.

Am trying this myself and currently on second day of fasting. I've made a v low calorie spinach soup, which looks slightly radioactive, but is surprisingly tasty. It's literally just frozen spinach, onion, veg stock and sautéed onions, pepper and salt. Apparently has only about 50 calories per cup and it seems to be keeping me going today. I do suffer from hyperglycemia so I need to eat little and often to stop myself getting very light headed, so being able to have a cup of soup every few hours is helping! (Oh the girl sitting across from me is currently eating, i kid you not, Chicken Kiev, Onion Rings, Chips, beans and coleslaw! I also had a meeting this morning filled with Pret Bakery goods.....Willpower required indeed!!!)

Does this really work??? How much has everyone lost the first few weeks. I'm game to try anything if I'll drop the weight.

5:2 fasting does work, if you do it properly, you have to educate yourself and do your research first. I quickly lost 6lbs in the first two weeks, but then started binging so now I have a 18/6 eating window instead, I eat around the same amount of calories a day and the binges are starting to decrease too. I have lost 3lbs in the last two weeks, I'm fairly small anyway so this is good enough for me:) Do what works for you, we're all different what works for someone else may not work for you. I personally I couldn't see myself doing 5:2 for life, it's not sustainable for my lifestyle.