5:2 diet - first fast day

alilarmour
alilarmour Posts: 32
in Health and Weight Loss
Thought I'd give this a go as it sounds interesting, I only started yesterday and am trying to stick to my 1200 calories on my 5 days and exercise those days too. I'm going to fast Tues and Fri and not exercise those days. So far today I'm on my 3rd pint of water and had 2 scrambled eggs with 2 slices of ham for brunch. I'm having a low cal cup a soup soon and have prawns and veg for tea which brings me in at my 500 calories. I'm not actually hungry at all but keep thinking about food and being tempted to nibble on something any time I'm near the kitchen!!! I think it is really showing me that I do actually pick at things and don't count all those little nibbling calories throughout the day even though I'm not hungry and don't need them.

Replies

  • IronSmasher
    IronSmasher Posts: 3,908 Member
    Where does it say to eat 1200kcal a day and exercise?
  • tricksee
    tricksee Posts: 835 Member
    Ohhhh myyyy is your life going to change dramatically when you get into the swing of this 5:2 diet sh1t.

    You're going to be a fat burning machine when your body adjusts and actually starts working THE WAY IT WAS DESIGNED TOO!!

    your plan sounds good to me!! This is going to be fcuking awesome if you stick to it. In 6 weeks youll be wondering where the hell the pounds are going!!!!

    from yours truly,

    the fasting extraordinaire!!!

    BOOM!!
  • alilarmour
    alilarmour Posts: 32
    Iron Smasher - I don't know the actual rules so thought I'd just stick with what I've been normally eating on my 5 days which is 1200 cals though I won't be as strict. I exercise 4-5 days a week too so will make it on my non-fasting days so I've more energy.

    tricksee - thanks, you've really encouraged me :-) I'm off on a girls trip to NYC in 4.5 weeks so will stick at it religiously til then in the hope I see some results then get straight back into it after the trip if it's working out ok. I really like the sound of it as some days I am happy to eat very little and other days I need a little extra treat :-)
  • nikkicancilla
    nikkicancilla Posts: 17 Member
    Hiya I'm on my 2nd week of this diet. I dropped 2pounds last week so happy!!!
    I exercise 5 days a week so eat 600 cals on fasting days and about 1500 on the other days. This week I'm fasting on wed and fri and hoping for another good loss.
    Good luck with it!!
    Nikki x
  • SOOZIE429
    SOOZIE429 Posts: 638 Member
    This is my 2nd week and I really like it. Dropped 5 lbs last week. I do what to say however that 1200 calories is much too low for feast days. You should be eating closer to your TDEE. Are you very petite?

    Also, it may be easier for you to not snack and just have one meal in the evening. Dr. Mosley suggests to try and fast for 24 hours. This is where the big health benefit comes in: slowing aging, lowering blood pressure, lowering your IG-1 hormone which is key. Have you seen his documentary or read the book?
  • alilarmour
    alilarmour Posts: 32
    This is my 2nd week and I really like it. Dropped 5 lbs last week. I do what to say however that 1200 calories is much too low for feast days. You should be eating closer to your TDEE. Are you very petite?

    Also, it may be easier for you to not snack and just have one meal in the evening. Dr. Mosley suggests to try and fast for 24 hours. This is where the big health benefit comes in: slowing aging, lowering blood pressure, lowering your IG-1 hormone which is key. Have you seen his documentary or read the book?

    I should really work out my TDEE and intend to get hold of the documentary or the book. I just decided at the weekend to try this and so am just finding my feet. I ate 1500 calories yesterday as I 'earned' 300 from exercise. I used to not really use my exercise calories but will be more likely to eat them now. I'm not petite - 5'4" and currently at 158lbs. I'd love to be down to 150 before my NYC trip with the girls so trying this is more realistic than counting calories every day as I have 3 big birthdays to go to at weekends in the next 3 weeks. I figure I will fast tues and Fridays and Saturday will be my bad feast day and I'll try to limit myself calorie wise o the other days. I am very open to advice though as I'm really just reading snippets here and there and working this out right now.
  • SOOZIE429
    SOOZIE429 Posts: 638 Member
    Here's the link to the documentary:

    http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xvdbtt_eat-fast-live-longer-hd_shortfilms#.UOOjXKz47XS

    It's only an hour long and very interesting.

    You don't want to under-feed your body on feast days. You will run the risk of burning muscle and that's not what this is about. It's about health. Don't be in too much of a hurry to lose weight. 2lbs a week is the most in a week you'll want to lose.
  • alilarmour
    alilarmour Posts: 32
    Here's the link to the documentary:

    http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xvdbtt_eat-fast-live-longer-hd_shortfilms#.UOOjXKz47XS

    It's only an hour long and very interesting.

    You don't want to under-feed your body on feast days. You will run the risk of burning muscle and that's not what this is about. It's about health. Don't be in too much of a hurry to lose weight. 2lbs a week is the most in a week you'll want to lose.

    Thanks for that! I'll def watch it as soon as I get a chance so I do this properly. I'd be happy with 1.5lbs a week or even 1lb consistently every week but to get to 150 would be the icing on the cake for NY. I am realistic though and as long as I lose something I'll be happy. Slow and steady :-) Apparently my TDEE is 2012 which seems like a lot!! That's assuming only 1-3 times exercise a week. I've been used to 1200 and my normal meals are quite low fat. I'll have to try and increase the calories a bit without adding in junk for the sake of it.
  • fatsnacker
    fatsnacker Posts: 209 Member
    diets involving fasting as in 5:2 are about eating normally 5 days a week and having less calories two days a week. For a woman, 2000 calories a day is normal to maintain your weight and perform all the functions a body does, 1200 calories is not enough in my opinion.

    I have lost 10lbs in 5 weeks by eating 1800-2000 calories Sunday to Thursday and 1000 calories on Friday and Saturday.

    The fasting diet I am following suggests only 600 calories on the two fasting days but I am happy to lose the weight slowly and not have it all return if or when the going gets tough.
  • HF35420
    HF35420 Posts: 20 Member
    Here's the link to the documentary:

    http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xvdbtt_eat-fast-live-longer-hd_shortfilms#.UOOjXKz47XS

    It's only an hour long and very interesting.

    You don't want to under-feed your body on feast days. You will run the risk of burning muscle and that's not what this is about. It's about health. Don't be in too much of a hurry to lose weight. 2lbs a week is the most in a week you'll want to lose.

    Thanks for posting the link. Tried watching this on You Tube but it had been removed. Did my 1st fast day today and has been a lot easier than I expected.
  • alilarmour
    alilarmour Posts: 32
    I bought the book and have now completed two weeks and am loving 5:2. I lost 1.5lbs this week and I have not felt in the east bit deprived or like I am on a diet apart from these two fast days which are easy to get through when you know it's only one day. This is the best and easiest 'diet' I've ever tried.
  • MsPudding
    MsPudding Posts: 562 Member
    I'm doing 5:2 myself having watched the documentary, read the book and looked up some of the research intermittent fasting is based on.

    To the first poster: the one thing I would highlight to you is that if your 1,200 calories is what MFP set you to LOSE 2lbs a week that is not what you should be eating on your 'feed days'. You are creating the calorie deficit for the week by fasting on 2 days; the other 5 you should be eating what your body needs - around your TDEE level.

    On my 'feed days' I'm around 2000-2500 calories and this week I've recorded a loss of 3lbs. It *does* feel scary at times - I'm a woman in my 40s, have been overweight all my life and I've been on every stupid diet you can think of, up to and including a VLCD of 500 calories a day. On feed days I sometimes panic and think "Oh god....my weight is going to shoot up eating this much!" I was scared to death getting on the scales this morning as I've been away on business all week and having to resort to crappy pre-packaged food where I'd normally home-cook but nope, pounds have dropped off.

    All I can say is that is a very easy way to eat (for me at least.) On fast days I save my 500cals for one evening meal because I'm someone who finds it easy not to eat for long stretches of time, but when I start then I'm concentrating on where the next meal's coming from. Other people find it better to split the 500 between two meals - it doesn't really matter as long as what you do gets you through a fast day. My other tip would be to drown yourself in fruit/herbal teas and water on fast days.

    I'm on a feed day today and luckily back home again to cook; so I'm centering on lots of proteins but tonight I'm going to indulge in some chocolate and maybe a glass or two of wine.....two things that get most dieters throwing up their hands in horror at. The thing is to me, whatever you do it HAS to be sustainable because your weight-loss success is not measured by how many pounds you can drop in how short a time....but whether what you've lost is STILL OFF in 5 years time. I'm *great* at losing weight - I've probably lost my entire body weight several times over during my life; but what I've learned is that when I do it via too great a calorie restriction or too restrictive a food group choice, I quickly gain back what I've lost when I start eating more normally.

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