5:2 fasting diet anyone?
Replies
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The reason a calorie of one item of food is better than another is because of what your body does with the food. I was 163 pounds and thought I was eating alright and not over eating. I got P90X the home workout program and started that. I followed it almost to a T with the nutrition and workout program for 40 days. The only day I didn't do was yoga and in 40 days I lost 14 pounds. I was eating 2200 calories a day! I wasn't eating 2200 calories of bread and pasta or big macs and fries. I was eating Lean meats, veggies, fruit, some dairy and one serving of complex carbs a day. THIS is the only way I know for FACT that the type of food you eat makes all the difference in the world! I'd rather eat TONS of the good food and loose weight then eat very little of the bad food and go no where. If you want to do a cleanse that is healthy try a week of eating NOTHING but lean meat, fruits and veggies. You can have no sugar other than what is naturally occuring in the veggies and fruits you eat. You can have vinegar and oil for dressing on salad. Drink lots of water and in one week I'll bet if you really stick to it you will loose between 4 and 7 if not more pounds. Oh and you can eat AS MUCH of those things as you want!
After a week add back a good source of complex carbs like beans and whole grain rice, whole wheat bread, but limit your intake to one serving a day of those carbs and you will be amazed how fast the pounds fall off:) 0 -
I am not doing this 5:2 diet, but have read a lot about it.
Also - here is the link to the Horizon documentary -
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xvdbtt_eat-fast-live-longer-hd_shortfilms#.UOOjXKz47XS
lots of medical evidence that fasting can be good for reducing risks of heart desease, cancer and diabetes, by reducing certain hormones, as well as weight loss.
If you want to try it, just try it. I doubt te people vehemntly forcing their negative opinions on you, or questioning whether you bunderstand basic principles of weight loss, have any medical or scientific knowledge.
The principle of the fase is eat what you want for 5 days (most people don't overeat, and in studies the group who had a high fat diet on 'feeding' days actually lost more weight than their low fat counterparts), then you stick to 500 cals on fasting days, but reducing protein to c50g is key.
I hope this helps - do your research, then do the diet if you want to.
There are plenty of people to support you on MFP, not just give you a hard time because they have a different opinion.
Good Luck.0 -
do you get to eat whatever you want on the 5 days? Then I don't see how you would lose unless your average intake is at a deficit..0
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Just because you can eat whatever you want on a feed day, doesn't mean you won't be in deficit. If you cut your calories to 500 for 2 days, that's still a lot of calories to catch up. Most people wanting to lose weight won't be stufing themselves jus because someone says they can.
The 5:2 concept is not really about weight loss anyway. weight loss is a happy side effect - it's about changing the way way your body metabolises and reducing the levels of the IGF hormone (which is known as the aging hormone and impacts likelihood of cancer, diabetes etc)0 -
Hey there,
I have been on the 5:2 diet since the 7th of January and I have lost 5 kgs (11lbs) so far. Altought less than a month on it doesn't make me a specialist on the matter, I have found it not exactly easy, but not really difficult. I have lots of energy on my fast days, I go to the gym and swim, run, bike and even do 45-minute boxing classes on those days and have not been moody either. I love food and I wouldn't have gotten to the weight that I was on the 7th of january (90kgs in a 1.64 body) if I hadn't. But, for me, the fast days don't bother me at all, because I know that the following day I can have " whatever" I want (I always stay within 2000 calories, though).
See your doctor, do your research and have a go at it if it suits you. Personally, it has been great because it fits around my life and not the other way round. I have started a blog and take pictures of my meals on the fast days, have a look if you want (http://5and2er.blogspot.co.uk/).
Even though I lost 5kgs already, I fully expect that this trend won't hold and the weight loss will slow down. I have been spending a lot of time at the gym, I got myself a personal trainer and I am training for a sprint triathlon, so I guess I'll try not to worry too much about the scales and concentrate on body fat % and how well I fit into my old clothes and how I feel.
Either way, good luck! And whatever you do, it is always best to see a doctor and do your research!
I checked out your blog - it's a really good idea. Good luck with it.0 -
Hi,
Started the 5:2 diet a week ago and have lost 3 pounds!
Any tasty ideas for fasting days? So far its been soup and soup.
Cheers,
Jan0 -
My diary's open so you can see what I eat. I usually fast Mondays and Thursday, and I write in the notes section that it's a fast day.0
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Hi everyone.
I have just started the fast diet - second fast day almost complete. I am basically doing night to night, so have last food at 10.30pm ( or whenever I have had last snack) and then fast the next day until I am hungry the morning after that. Hard to explain. anyway, I was so hungry on the first day that I had blurry vision and shakes. I basically sat on the couch all day reading a very good book to distract me, and drank lots of water. Today I feel less hungry and shaky but have a bit of a 'craving' for rubbish. I know I don't need it, but I 'want it' if that makes sense.
I have not been eating 'anything I like' on my normal days either, as I was eating far too much generally. I am trying to keep the calories to about 1200 - 1500 on a none 'treat day'. My treat days tend to be the weekend and involve alcohol and take away so I figure, if I don't binge during the week, it won't do as much damage at the weekend if EVERYDAY bar fast days are what I used to consider normal. I also swim about 1,5km 3 times a week and am relatively active walking dogs and cleaning out various animals. Stupid though it sounds, my jeans already feel a bit looser which might just be the psychological part of not having eaten much the last few days but did you all find it comes off quite quickly at the beginning? Hubby is also doing it and I expect with him being a lot heavier and taller than me, it'll be a bit faster for him too. I hope so as I need him to see results to stick with it! Sorry for the long post.0 -
Hi everyone.
I have just started the fast diet - second fast day almost complete. I am basically doing night to night, so have last food at 10.30pm ( or whenever I have had last snack) and then fast the next day until I am hungry the morning after that. Hard to explain. anyway, I was so hungry on the first day that I had blurry vision and shakes. I basically sat on the couch all day reading a very good book to distract me, and drank lots of water. Today I feel less hungry and shaky but have a bit of a 'craving' for rubbish. I know I don't need it, but I 'want it' if that makes sense.
I have not been eating 'anything I like' on my normal days either, as I was eating far too much generally. I am trying to keep the calories to about 1200 - 1500 on a none 'treat day'. My treat days tend to be the weekend and involve alcohol and take away so I figure, if I don't binge during the week, it won't do as much damage at the weekend if EVERYDAY bar fast days are what I used to consider normal. I also swim about 1,5km 3 times a week and am relatively active walking dogs and cleaning out various animals. Stupid though it sounds, my jeans already feel a bit looser which might just be the psychological part of not having eaten much the last few days but did you all find it comes off quite quickly at the beginning? Hubby is also doing it and I expect with him being a lot heavier and taller than me, it'll be a bit faster for him too. I hope so as I need him to see results to stick with it! Sorry for the long post.
Hi robinmobile,
I have just started this with my man too, and I'm feeling exactly the same as you've described. There does seem to be an instant effect on the waistline, it may be it's just water loss, but it is great as an incentive to keep going! I find it quite hard to stick to the calorie curfew and end up going over 100 calories or so, but I think that will become easier, perhaps as the body gets used to a bit of fasting. My partner is taking to the diet like a duck to water; the fast results and promise of 'feast' days must be appealing - and both of us have not felt the need to overeat on the days off which makes me think fasting a little resets the system - eating for nutrition as opposed to the many other reasons we reach for the fridge Good luck! 0 -
Not wanting to jump in off the bat and ruffle any feathers with the regular posters but I have read an awful lot of drivel in reply to this post. Firstly, we are human beings who have evolved into being overweight/obese. As a base animal, our bodies are not designed for this. In fact they are designed to much better operate in a intermittent fasting scenario. In the modern world we have visual stimulus, smell and other input which fools our brains into thinking we are hungry. In the inception of mankind, when we were leaner, faster and stronger we hunted for food and generally gorged our bodies on our catches then went several days before another meal. After all, it can take several days for our bodies to breakdown a large meal.
Fasting for days on end can be dangerous but fasting for a day is not. It is simply mind over matter. Eat enough the day before and try to ignore the visual stimuli and hunger pangs associated and you will soon realise that 500-600 calories is easy. For instance, a delicious breakfast/lunch of 200g of cucumber and 200g of tomatoes with a little balsamic vinegar is around 70 calories, very filling and full of nutrients. Black unsweetened coffee, best made with freshly ground beans is around 4 calories a cup, so 5 cups of that a day is around 20 calories. This leaves a good 410-510 calories for an evening meal which is easily achievable.
Fasting doesn't have to be hard! I've found a few 400-500 calorie meals in the Jamie Oliver '15 minute meals' book that are both delicious and filling.0 -
Hello
Yes, on the fast diet too.
Michael Mosely's programme certainly explained the benefits.
I guess I'm doing this principally for the health benefits - want to lower my blood pressure, lower risks of diabetes etc
And lose weight in the process.
I'm a scientist and I'm afraid despite all the 100's of diets and regimes, it is still calories in v. calories out!
Hopefully by following this I'll get healthier and lose weight too.
Happy to befriend anyone trying the same and has similar profile to me!0 -
To sum this up, all I can say is that you are terribly misinformed that 500 calories a day anytime is sustainable or even healthy.I appreciate peoples comments, but unfortunately as we all know - diets, like clothes, are not "one size fits all" and I find this kind of diet far easier and sustainable than anything else I have tried.
Our bodies are not that different when you base a diet off of TDEE and BMR, anyone can have success by eating the right amount of food, not by starving themselves.
I think fbmandy is missing the point - you only reduce your cals to a quarter on 2 non-consecutive days - normal for the rest of the week, which is the real motivator. Only having 600 cals for a day is not unhealthy and it is sustainable for 2 non-conec. days a week. In fact it is natural! We feast on the big kill then when it's gone we forage for berries until the next big feast. We have evolved into a must-have 3 meals a day, every day and we're getting fat & unhealthy. Have a look at the Horizon programme:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xvdbtt_eat-fast-live-longer-hd_shortfilms#.UOOjXKz47XS
It seems to be working. It's not a diet it's just a way of living.0 -
I do lean gains 18/8 ....skip breakfast...20% of cals at lunch then largest meal is post workout..I still eat about 2400 calories a day.
www.leangains.com
I started three months ago and have gone from 16% body fat to 13% body fat....
If you feel comfortable with doing the 5:2 then give it a shot for four weeks and see how it goes...I prefer IF 18/8 because I can continue to eat normal calorie/macro intake during the week and do not have to have a 24 hour fast day or low calorie day..but that is just me...0 -
Actually, doing that will put you behind, not kick-start anything.
Calculate your TDEE and eat a 15-20% cut from that. You have to fuel the furnace to keep it burning strong.
meal timing has nothing to do with metabolism...this is the biggest myth out there.....I used to buy into this line of thought too, but it is not true. You get a small metabolic burn by eating six small meals or whatever...but you can get the same burn with one high calorie/high protein meal because four hours later you body will still be breaking down protein which is what causes the increase in metabolic burn in the first place...0 -
...but I still don't really understand how a calorie of one thing is better or worse than a calorie of another?
I live of 1200kcal a day, and I can tell you that eating HEALTHY is so important.
You can go to Maccas and get a meal that is close to 1000 calories and has very little nutrients that is good for your body - your body doesn't function on simply X calories, but rather, functions on nutrients etc. It is so SO imperative people have the correct nutrients for a healthy body and healthy life, so simply counting and eating 5 chocolate bars a day is not the way to go.
If you wanna see my diary feel free to add me as a friend I have had a reasonably healthy lifestyle as a kid (always home cooked, always veggies at each meal, never takeout until university) so I am very much so in the rhythm and simply refining my life style.
What also concerned me is you say 'diet'. You should never diet. You should change your lifestyle. Live for your body and your health, not 1month in the year when you fast and play with your body, but in the long run!
Anyway, good luck with everything - just try not to fast too much, don't see it doing any good, I just imagine you starving your body of vital nutrients. Especially if all you will eat in the day is a sandwich and banana
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We have just started on the 5:2 diet and with very careful planning it's not feeling too restrictive. A lot of research shows that our 'normal' eating patterns are all wrong, our bodies haven't adapted to our ever increasingly inactive lifestyle. Apparently it takes a few thousand years to make small changes, this is why it is easier to hold on to weight than it is to lose it. The 5:2 diet sounds more severe than it is; for five days every week you eat a normal diet and the other two you eat a couple of low fat, high fibre, lean protein meals. This means that the fasts are only a few hours long. The body is designed to cope with this style of lifestyle, no one is proposing that you go for very long without food it isn't really a true fast.
So far we normally have some porridge for breakfast; made with water and seasoned with salt, at lunch time usually it's fat free 100% vegetable soup with spices and fresh herbs to pep it up, maybe a small piece of fruit when I get in and for dinner something like grilled chicken with roasted veg or steak and salad. All in all it's a very healthy diet with no processed food. Dr. Michael Mosely's book and the documentary that went with it were really interesting. Obviously this lifestyle won't suit everyone and it isn't just a short term quick fix: the research is worth checking out. It isn't as drastic as it sounds and it does actually give you quite a lot of freedom.
The results are proving that for us it works and it many ways it is less restrictive than calorie counting 24/7. One thing we have found on your non restricted days is that you don't go mad. During the first week My 20 year son thought he would have a few treats, so for elevenses he had a mocha and a chocolate croissant and then when it came to lunch time he struggled to eat his packed lunch of a ham salad roll and a lowfat yogurt with a piece of fruit- he's 6'2" and is into weight lifting so it wasn't eaxactly a huge lunch anyway.
We intend sticking with it as for us it works. Read more about it before you dismiss it as a fad diet. I admit the name is of putting and is a little misleading as it isn't really a true fast.0 -
do you get to eat whatever you want on the 5 days? Then I don't see how you would lose unless your average intake is at a deficit..
No, you eat normally for those five days. Normal as in a normal healthy diet, not normal as in big macs and pizzas as often as you like. I eat 1600 Cals on my feeding days as that's what I was eating before I started IF. You are right, your average intake would need to be in deficit to lose weight.
I'm trying it for health benefits rather than weight loss, although I do need to kick start my BF% downwards as that had stalled.0 -
Join the intermittent fasting group and red the faqs. Disregard must peoples advice here.0
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Join the intermittent fasting group and red the faqs. Disregard must peoples advice here.
I think most people can make their own minds up Chris. And although the 5:2 regime is a type of IF it does deserve its own group.
Dr Mosely's programme/book were well received and the science well tested.0 -
IF group, 5:2 group. Whatever Basically, asking for advice on anything IF is generally not a good idea on the main forums because of the misinformed masses. 0
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Hi, I'm doing the 5:2 or something similar. You seem to have kicked a hornets nest on here! For what it's worth I've been doing it for a week and had a good response all in all. We are all different and what works for one will not necessarily work for another. Its Whatever Works For You. It works for me. The 'fast' days I find I look forward to as there is no pressure to eat and balance stuff. I find I'm not constantly thinking 'What can I eat/what should I eat?' as I know the next day I can eat well. My body certainly likes it.
Feel free to friend me.0 -
I will be genuinely interested to see the results a year or two down the line. I won't be attempting this - I suffer with severe hypoglycaemia if I don't eat regularly and a decent amount - I did try a fasting diet a while back and was so ill after a few weeks of it that I had to stop - but that's me and my body. If it works then great - the whole natural thing though.... we have been farming for millenia and keeping animals, we are several hundred generations from cave man and hunter gatherer.... Yes, our bodies can cope, whether its healthy - I don't know, I'm not a doctor and only time and research will tell :-) I say go for whatever suits you, whatever works for you, and take what you can from other people but listen to your body - it alone knows you and what will work best for you :-)0
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I appreciate peoples comments, but unfortunately as we all know - diets, like clothes, are not "one size fits all" and I find this kind of diet far easier and sustainable than anything else I have tried.
I am fat, not stupid, and I have researched fasting diets, particularly for the health benefits. I am not advocating them for anyone else; was just curious if anyone else had actually tried it as I keep reading in the newspapers how popular they are. Although apparently not here!
I know just what you mean, its what works for you, that will work long term and is manageable and sustainable. I found a really supportive MFP link on here this morning but can't find it now, will message it to you when I find it!0 -
I find doing IF 16/8 daily a more stress free system and easier way to IF, Rather than doing it for solid days at a time, you can lose 1-2 lbs per week easily.0
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After seeing the BBC Horizon documentary I did 5:2 between August and October of 2012 and lost 10 kg in three months. I did cheat by netting 500 on fast days by doing a big cardio workout, rather than only eating 500 cals.. No problems training while semi-fasted. So in that respect I probably didn't get some of the other health benefits associated to intermittent fasting such as lower triglycerides and improved insulin sensitivity.
Pros: I lost weight more steadily than I do now at a similar daily calorie deficit. I liked having an extra buffer of calories to eat on the weekends for coping with social events. I thought that I would find occasional extreme deprivation easier to deal with psychologically than the constant low level deprivation of calorie counting. After all, if you crave something naughty you only have to wait one day to have enough calorie budget to make room for it.
Cons. I found the fasting days quite tough. I stopped while on vacation and never re-started.
I think the key is is psychological: Can you deal with occasional extreme deprivation better than constant low level deprivation? My GP used to fast one day a week whenever he noticed his weight creeping up, by the way, so I think it is a sustainable lifestyle. I never noticed any detrimental metabolic effects with this eating pattern. I even enjoyed that strange metallic taste in your mouth associated with ketosis, because it meant i was burning fat.0 -
I've been doing it since January and I love it, ignore all the know-it-alls on here (they are actually ignorant know-sweet-*kitten*-alls haha), like some have said, you can research it for yourself and make your mind up, I have found I actually look forward to my fast days now! My piece of advice which I tell EVERYONE whether they're 5:2 or not is to download the change4life app, it has some great meals on there that you can have on fast day as well. Also I find it is much easier to plan your fast days out in advance so you're not planning as you go and thinking about loads of different food! Feel free to add me, my diary is open and you can see my fast days for ideas!0
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