5:2 Diet - Anyone out there doing this? x

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Replies

  • LBELL1606
    LBELL1606 Posts: 1 Member
    I have done this previously and was the first diet where I was able to keep the weight off after stopping. However, when the festive period struck, I did gain some weight (but who doesn't??). I am now restarting the diet; I always lose at least 1lb a week (more if i've been good on my non fasting days and motivated to go to the gym often). It is definitely the easiest diet for the best effects I have ever done, and is easy to stick to for a long period of time. I have however tried doing two consecutive fasting days and strongly advise against this, as it brings on a bingeing urge! Good Luck!
  • Itzli
    Itzli Posts: 78 Member
    I haven't started this type of diet. Considering tho. I see a lot of posts about headaches, fatigue, ect on fast days. Wondering if taking viatmin supplements is out of the question?
  • megiotto
    megiotto Posts: 7 Member
    I haven't started this type of diet. Considering tho. I see a lot of posts about headaches, fatigue, ect on fast days. Wondering if taking viatmin supplements is out of the question?

    I have experienced the opposite! Lots of energy and no headaches at all...
  • gallivantwcake
    gallivantwcake Posts: 1
    Also just started this (again after reading in the Sunday Times last weekend) - first fast day today and definitely got a headache. Focusing on what I can eat tomorrow to get me through though...
  • emmad2
    emmad2 Posts: 59
    I was here on myfitnesspal researching for tomorrow's fast day (military planning is absolutely necessary) and decided to have a lot at the forum. I know you wanted to hear from people that were on it for long, but this is only my second week in. I have found that so far it has been ok, you do get hungry and you fantasise a lot about food, but knowing that the following day you can eat normally helps a lot!

    As far as energy levels are concerned, mine have been great. I usually go to the gym during my lunch break (I work flexible hours), and have found that I could actually do more on my fast days than on my feed days, like today, when I had a big lunch and then went to the gym at 6 after work and just couldn't complete my running. I don't know how much energy I would have at six o'clock on my fast days, though, because that is usually when I get hungry.

    Someone else here said that it made him feel more conscious about eating only when you are hungry and I completely agree! I was quite shocked on my first fast day when I got hungry, because I didn't really remember when I had that feeling in my stomach of being really hungry, as opposed to simply peckish. It's still too early days to have a complete overhaul, but the idea of eating only when I am hungry is something that I want to bring on board of my day to day life.

    Anyway, been rambling for too long now. You have asked for meal suggestions and I started a blog around the same time I started the diet, so if you want to check it out, here it is: http://5and2er.blogspot.co.uk/

    There isn't a lot in there, it is only my second week. but I intend on putting everything I eat during my fast days in there and I hope it helps!

    Thanks so much for your reply and I'll have to check out your blog - had completely forgotten about this thread lol so please excuse me if I havn't replied to everyone but thank you all so much for your positive comments. I'm into my second week of 5:2 and although the weightloss in my 1st week was less than the first week where I was simply calorie counting, I feel absolutely fantastic!! I feel as though I have so much more energy, my skin looks so much better and I basically just feel fab. So it's definately something that I'm gonna be continuing with. I don't care if the weight comes off slowly because I'm in this for the long haul and I'm hoping that eventually, my whole attitude towards food will change. I'm already automatically making healthy, good food choices so I think it's really working for me :-) xx
  • lollyb2
    lollyb2 Posts: 9 Member
    Bump
  • Salma28
    Salma28 Posts: 2
    Just a little 'did u kno' fact...
    Ppl that follow islam r recommended to fast 2 days a wk-mondays and thurs. It is a choice tho. Wow.
  • fibechicken
    fibechicken Posts: 3
    Im going to start this soon (reading the book at mo) - any suggestions for good recipes? Ive found this so far... http://www.tinnedtomatoes.com/2012/08/52-diet-menu-options.html
  • caoimh24
    caoimh24 Posts: 5
    bump- started last week, 2nd fast day yesterday, think it could really suit me, just hope it works!
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
    i think you should do more research on how to get started with a diet like this. i feel that a lot of people do it as an excuse to binge eat a few days a week, and then they starve themselves to counter it.

    people that do it successfully ease into it. i think you should take a look at intermittent fasting first.

    http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2010/02/08/intermittent-fasting/

    http://www.leangains.com/2010/04/leangains-guide.html

    intermittent fasting does not mean to not eat for 24 hours straight, or for two days straight. it is not an excuse to go over your daily calories because the next day you starve yourself.

    simply put, intermittent fasting is skipping breakfast.

    at night you eat a large dinner. the next morning you wake up and you go about your day. the first time you eat should be about sixteen hours after you ate dinner. you have your lunch to break the fast. you eat all your daily calories in the next eight hours.

    you start off slow by first just putting off breakfast once a week, then twice. little by little you get used to not eating so early. (coffee and water are allowed).

    I find that my energy level is still high, and that i can work out in the morning very comfortably. I also like intermittent fasting because i can have larger meals, which i enjoy as opposed to small single servings.
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
    I've just done my second day, and so far it's going well.

    I know myself and I can't go without breakfast, and tend to be a grazer, so my 2 fast days have been as follows:

    1: Cottage cheese with berries, crackerbread with laughing cow light, salad (no dressing, spinach cucumber tomato), egg white omeltte

    2. Half banana/ egg white pancake with berries, radishes and celery sticks, 50 cal cupasoup and cottage cheese salad, stirfried veg with pastrami.

    I did find I was peckish last night so I nibbled on a dry cracker. I haven't noticed any headaches or change in energy levels, but I havent tried to exercise on fast days.
  • SRH7
    SRH7 Posts: 2,037 Member
    I'm not doing it myself but find the concept that it could really help health interesting. There was an article in the Sunday Times a couple of weeks ago which may be on their website (if you have a subscription). It's also featured in the Daily Telegraph, along with recipe ideas: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/9483381/52-diet-healthy-recipes-250-calories-or-less.html

    If I remember rightly, Dr Michael Mosley has said he mainly fills up on green veg on the low calorie days, which makes sense. Cucumbers, broccoli etc have very few calories but are really bulky to fill you up. And protein, of course, helps to curb appetite.
  • HapThompson
    HapThompson Posts: 48 Member
    If I remember rightly, Dr Michael Mosley has said he mainly fills up on green veg on the low calorie days, which makes sense. Cucumbers, broccoli etc have very few calories but are really bulky to fill you up. And protein, of course, helps to curb appetite.
    I mostly eat vegetarian on my fast days, because you get a lot of food for your calories! I find that stir fries and soups work well, and I've been experimenting with veggie recipes and using things like chickpeas, lentils and beans to get protein. Last week I cooked a spicy butternut squash Moroccan tagine type thing, this week I've made a layered potato and veg gratin, I've made vegetable curries, chickpea stews and might try vegetable and bean burgers next. It's a good way to gets lots of veg, fills you up, helps you eat healthily and keeps things low calorie. I occasionally add things like low fat creme France or cheese to give a bit of protein, and use the recipe creator to work out the calorie values of my meals. I have a tendency to cook 3-4 portions which will then feed me on my fast days for the whole week.

    This weekend I made fruity granola bars and I am obsessed! They were really good and were devoured by my work colleagues so I'm going to make more today and experiment with different combinations of things.
  • Vailara
    Vailara Posts: 2,467 Member
    I have had a couple of tries at it, once after Michael Mosley's Horizon programme (Eat, Fast, Live Longer) and once after buying his book. The first time I fasted night to night, the second time I tried fasting for 24 hours (as suggested in the book). I did lose weight fasting night to night. I didn't lose weight doing 24 hour fasts. I tried adding up the calories and I think that the 24 hour fast just didn't provide enough of a deficit to lose. The book claimed that I would naturally eat only 95% of my TDEE on the free days, but I suspect I was eating around my TDEE.

    My reason for trying the diet was the possible health benefits and that it's claimed to be more sustainable. Personally, I find it easier to eat at a smaller deficit every day rather than eat at a large deficit twice a week. However, I might go back to it.

    I like cups of tea, so factored that in to my calorie allowance. I just had a little dash of skimmed milk in my tea. I did eat some green veg, but not a lot as I don't find it fills me up in the way that it does for other people. I preferred to eat a little compact meal. When I was doing the night to night fasts, I would save most of my calories for the evening meal so that I could just have a tiny portion of the family meal. I liked that, but it did feel odd to be eating such a small portion and I think it's a bit off-putting for other people who are watching you!

    There is some information on Michael Mosley's site, including links to recipe ideas, forums, etc. http://thefastdiet.co.uk/
  • SRH7
    SRH7 Posts: 2,037 Member
    This weekend I made fruity granola bars and I am obsessed! They were really good and were devoured by my work colleagues so I'm going to make more today and experiment with different combinations of things.

    They sound good - do you have a recipe?
  • fibechicken
    fibechicken Posts: 3
    Been doing about 6 weeks now and love it. I did start with straight daily calorie counting .... but been there before and its too much of a grind for me to keep up - 5:2 is the answer to my prayers!!!! just over a stone down, Hips and knees much better....feels very sustainable. There is also a group on facebook 'the 5:2 diet' which has lots of recipes etc. On 'fast' days I either have 2 small meals lunch and dinner or wait till son comes home from school and have all 500 with him. I'valways thought that I NEEDED little and often, but have been surprised how easy it is to ride through hunger and also to work hard (I've been doing lots of trench digging this week) on a 'fast' day. I try to go as long as poss with zero cals (no milk in coffee etc) before breaking fast , to give digestive sytem and insulin prod'n maximim rest and poke body into repair mode. Reading up about the body effects has made me reduce snacking. I try and eat more, less often on feast days.
  • etceteraqqq
    etceteraqqq Posts: 1
    Are there any tools here on myfitnesspal.com for doing 5:2, like being able to set different calorie goals for different days?

    Today's my first fast day! We'll see.

    I'm also thinking it's pretty obvious a guy came up with this diet, even if a woman co-wrote the book. The chances of my having a fast day the week of my period are approximately ZERO.
  • joygong
    joygong Posts: 10
    Are there any tools here on myfitnesspal.com for doing 5:2, like being able to set different calorie goals for different days?

    Today's my first fast day! We'll see.

    I'm also thinking it's pretty obvious a guy came up with this diet, even if a woman co-wrote the book. The chances of my having a fast day the week of my period are approximately ZERO.

    I set my calories to maintenance calories and just make sure i stay 500 and under on fast days.
  • fibechicken
    fibechicken Posts: 3
    Are there any tools here on myfitnesspal.com for doing 5:2, like being able to set different calorie goals for different days?

    Today's my first fast day! We'll see.

    I'm also thinking it's pretty obvious a guy came up with this diet, even if a woman co-wrote the book. The chances of my having a fast day the week of my period are approximately ZERO.

    Well Michael Mosely may be the originator - but Katie Harrison got her book out first - you might find it useful to read her book, there are lots of experiences in it and it is more from a womans perspective! The best thing is the flexibility - you can have your 500 cals as comfort food, whatever. Or if you feel particularly grotty - forget it and 'fast' the next day! I use MFP to count on fast days, take the earbashing it gives me when I finish the day at 500 cals and ignore it the other 5 days! Id only start counting my 2000 calories on the feast days if I wasnt loosing over a month or so (and therefore had a suspicion that I was feasting just a litttle too much!!!) Working brill so far and a sustaible life plan.
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
    You don't have to press the "diary finished" button, if you don't want to see the ear-bashing. It still keeps everything you've recorded. All that button does is post a message that your friends can read.
  • melmckay99
    melmckay99 Posts: 358
    I'm in my fifth week of doing 5:2. It gets easier with time. I am doing it for maintenance though, and not for weight loss as I have already lost all the weight I wanted to. The main reason for me trying this out though was so that I could be less of a drag to my bf and my friends. When I restricted my calories every day I would never have enough room to eat out with my friends or have that big lunch with the co-workers. I look at my weekely average of calorie intake now instead of just day by day.

    The first couple of weeks didn't go so well, as I just let myself eat whatever I wanted and as much as I wanted on my non-fast days. I quickly realized that doing this for 5 days a week was not going to help me maintain. Now what I do, which seems to be working well for me, is I fast 2 days a week with just 500 calories that day (Tuesday and Thursday), then on Mon-Wed-Fri I keep my calories pretty low (around 1200) and I eat very healthy and very clean. Then on weekends, Saturday and Sunday, I just go with the flow. I eat healthy when I can, but won't say no if someone asks me to go out for B & E, or all you can eat sushi :) .

    This is what works for me and I'm not saying it's going to work for someone else, and this can be said about any diet really. Just cause the 5:2 says you can only eat 500 calories (600 for men) on your fast days, doesn't mean that having 800 calories 3 days a week is the wrong way for someone else to do it!

    It takes a lot of time to find the best plan for your body. Trial and error my friend. Even though I am five weeks in, and seem to have found somethign that works, doesn't mean I won't be trying something new again next week :).
  • jumcadam
    jumcadam Posts: 95 Member
    It's definitely worth making sure you've read up about it! There's a couple of eBooks that have been really helpful at explaining the long term health benefits of fasting. The best tip I've come away with is making sure that I eat slower and chew my food more - you do need to savour every bite when you're having a 500cal day!

    I've been doing this for a month, lost half a stone and have been coping fine on fast days - the first day was the biggest hurdle! I've also set it so that my profile doesn't update when I click on 'complete this entry' for my food diary - but have always done this as I don't really need to be "cheerleaded" every day - each to their own though!

    The 5:2 FASTING group on here and the 5:2 Intermittent Fasting Diet Facebook group are both very helpful if you'd like some extra support and tips.
  • JUDDDing
    JUDDDing Posts: 1,367 Member
    You don't have to press the "diary finished" button, if you don't want to see the ear-bashing. It still keeps everything you've recorded. All that button does is post a message that your friends can read.

    You can also go to "My Home" then "Settings" then "Automatic News Feed Update Settings" and turn off " I have completed my diary for the day".
  • fatsnacker
    fatsnacker Posts: 209 Member
    I started in January and have lost 15lbs in 8 weeks. I fast on a Friday and Saturday but eat 1000 calories those days (half that of my normal days). Once home from work on Friday, I have 300 calories left and eat vegetable soup followed by two cups of coffee which is known to suppress the appetite. I tend to lie in on a saturday morning and will eat breakfast followed by a salad for lunch leaving room for a bean burger or savoury rice or soup later on. I am finding this really easy and feel a lot fitter already - my trousers were getting tight and my walk to work took 25 minutes whereas now my trousers are loose and I can do the same journey in 15 minutes.

    other MFP users say that you shouldn't fast on consecutive days and that a woman should only eat 500 calories on her fasting days but you have to find what works for you.

    good luck
  • emmalemon86
    emmalemon86 Posts: 1
    Ive just finished my 5th week and have lost 8lbs so far. Got a while to go to get to my ideal weight.

    Is anyone finding theyre reaching a plateau?

    I started on 3 small meals a day, but after 3 weeks, my weight loss stopped! A friend from work lent me the Michael Mosely book so I have changed my fast days so that I just have breakfast and tea, just water and peppermint tea or hot lemon through the day to control the hunger pangs. It started things up again! Great!

    Feel free to add me if your on this diet too - It good to see how people are getting on!

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