Anyone doing 5:2, advice and experience?

I do I.F but not 5:2.

There is a I.F group here @ http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/49-intermittent-fasting.

Its worth a look.:happy:

I have just done my fifth day of fasting. I do it for both the weightloss and health benefits you get from fasting. I do two 24 hr fasts a week, usually from about 3 pm one day to 3 pm the next day, so that way you don't go without food for a whole day.

There are different types of fasting. The program from the BBC, Eat, fast, and live longer advocates doing 2 days a week (not consecutive) where you only eat 500 cal for a woman, or 600 cal for a man. This is for a whole day, not a 24 hour period. Brad Pilon wrote a book called Eat, stop, eat in which he describes going on a 24 hour fast twice a week, again not consecutive, where you eat nothing for a 24 hour period which can start at any time of the day that suits you best.

The first day I did the 24 hour fast I found quite hard, however the next ones haven't been too bad, maybe the body has gotten more efficient at burning fat (wishfull thinking). Hunger is not something that gets worse and worse, it kind of comes and goes in waves. I drink a very weak soup broth which has very few calories in it to keep me going and chew sugar free gum, and have twice had a few boiled vegetables for dinner. They say that doing light exercise (walking) is encouraged, and even weightlifting as Brad Pilon states that growth hormones increase during fasting, however the BBC program state growth hormone (IGF-1) decreases during fasting. I haven't yet worked out which is right as it seems contradictory- if anyone has an answer to this I would like to know.

Fasting for weightloss in the end is only as good if the total calorie deficit is maintained over the period of a week as if you hadn't fasted. If you go and overeat before and after fasting and on non fasting days then you will not loose any weight (though you may still get the other health benefits of fasting). If you don't eat about 1800 calories twice a week then theoretically you should loose about 1 pound a week. I calorie counted last year and lost weight doing that but did find I was hungry a lot of the time, hopefully this way I'll just be hungry twice a week, and can eat normally for the rest. So far I seem to have lost about 1 kg so far.

There is a lot of info on fasting out on the internet, and the different types of fasting. There is also a fast called leangains where you eat for an 8 hour period of the day and fast for 16 hours, you break your fast after you exercise and you do this every day, and there are many variations of this.

Fasting is not for everyone, but I am finding it helpful. Good luck.

I've just started doing it, I really like it because it feels easier to just not eat hardly on 2 days, rather than constantly eat less :P it seems to be quite flexible. I have had 2 fast days so far, and 3 normal days, and lost 1.2 kg xx

I too do this diet, been on it since end of August and have lost just over a stone. For me it was easy as I wasn't a big eater anyway. I eat no more than 500 calories for 2 consecutive days each week (this suits me). For those days I tend to stick with lots of vegetables; my main meal usually consists of either stir fries, roasted or raw veg to nibble on etc or fish steamed. Definitely black tea or coffee (no milk to keep my calories down for those days). I tend to eat late in morning, so actually a brunch rather than breakfast then lunch. Then I have a dinner early evening. I started the diet to lose weight as it started to creep up over the years, according to the programme (eat, fast and live longer) it also has other health benefits not just the weight loss but obviously I cannot vouch for this... maybe it will be beneficial over time.

Like beattie1 says, this diet is not recommended or ideal for everyone. Like every diet if you are unsure it is suitable, if you are pregnant, having or previously have eating disorder or diabetic, this isn't for you or at least check with your doctor.

As said I think this diet currently works for me, so will continue until I feel comfortable or I've had enough.

Good luck if you are giving it a go, but be sensible if you feel unwell or have strenuous work or fitness regime, avoid it... you need to keep your energy levels up.

I do 16/8 it works better for me. There are some groups listed if you search intermentent fasting and the 5:2 will come up.

I've been doing it about a month and am pleased with the weight loss. I've struggled the last week or so with energy levels when working out, so the jury is currently out on whether I'll continue. I want to lose weight, but I also want to get fitter, and for that I need to fuel my body properly. If I can do both, I'll be thrilled. If I can't, I won't and I'll do a more conventional watch-daily-calories and exercise regime.

For me is is easier to be thoroughly deprived two days a week and pretty much free-but-monitoring the other 5. However, I've stopped getting hungry, which is what led to my energy failures at the weekend - I simply didn't want to eat. The only reason I realised I should was shakey legs and trying not to pass out every time I stood up. With a mother with a borderline eating disorder and a bunch of unhealthy inherited attitudes I'm trying to change, having my body give up being hungry is a route to disaster for me.

I have been doing this since August and plan on keeping it up permanently

I do the two days on Monday and Thursday. I only eat one meal in the evening but have one coffee with milk when I get up and several in the evening, so my meal is about 380 cals.

I started this because of the potential health benefits. I had high BP and had previously had Cancer, I reckoned this could only help. I have read the health benefits are likely to decrease age 70 years, so maybe I will give this up in 20 years time.

I also incorporated it into loosing weight. I had lost over 20lbs before this and have continued to lose. I am hoping this will enable me to successfully maintain in the future as that is not something I have previously achieved, lost weight yes, but kept off, no. So I eat 1500 during week and 1700 at weekend. When I am at target weight (2lb s to go) I will increase my cals
As for exercise, it makes no difference that I can tell.. I swim every morning and I run 4 days a week. Normally I don’t run on a Monday or a Thursday, however some days I swim and run on a fast day and it makes no difference. It might be different if I did weight training or ran for more than 3 miles, or did a physically hard job, but I don’t I sit in an office.

I am a vegetarian and have been for over 30 years, I haven't drunk alcohol for 6 years.

Hope this helps.