Fasting 5:2 approach to weightloss

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Shazamablam
Shazamablam Posts: 20 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey,

Has anyone here tried the 5:2 fasting approach to weight loss. This is when you eat normally for 5 days and for 2 days you restrict yourself to 2 days of 500 calories for a female and 600 calories for a male. These days are completely up to you when you choose to do them.

I am looking for any advice from people who may have done this and what their thoughts are!

Replies

  • NutellaAddict
    NutellaAddict Posts: 1,258 Member
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    There are countless threads on that, even a group I believe...just have to look around....good luck.
  • RVfrog
    RVfrog Posts: 213 Member
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    why not eat normally within your calorie limit for weight loss and not worry about cutting calories for 2 days.
  • SuffolkSally
    SuffolkSally Posts: 964 Member
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    I'm giving it a trial this week. I'm interested in the supposed health benefits, and also wanted to shake things up a bit!

    The bit I wasn't sure about was the idea that I'll naturally eat less on feeding days, lol. My plan is to use MFP logging to ensure that my overall weekly calorie intake reflects my MFP weightloss goals.

    I have a big bithrday celebration which is going to mean I don't concentrate much on calories next week, but after that I'm intending to try it consistently for 4-6 weeks as so far it it's been surprisngly easy. My diary's open to friends, so send me a request if you'd like to have a nose!
  • MsPudding
    MsPudding Posts: 562 Member
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    I do it 5:2 fasting. I've had 2 weekly weigh-ins and have lost 10lbs so far (initial 'quick start' as I have a lot to lose)

    The reason I chose IF is because of the research that's coming out about the benefits of short-term fasting. It is categorically not unhealthy as some would claim - just like animals, our biology evolved to deal with periods where food is readily available and periods where it is not. During periods when it is not, the body repairs cells.

    As it stands, human studies on IF are limited because, although fasting is an age-old idea in many religions, in health circles it's the new kid on the block. The studies done so far on humans look very positive and the studies on animals (obviously more of those) are very exciting. A summery of studies on alternate day fasting can be read here:
    http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/86/1/7.full.pdf+html [url]
    It's worth mentioning that research is also showing that even one day a week fasting can have benefits.

    Anyhoo, on the 5:2 you keep to 500 a day for 2, non-consecutive days, for women and 600 for men. The other days you eat normally. Do you stuff yourself? Oddly, no. I've been logging my fast days and last week I went into a flat panic when I hit 2,500 on one day - however IF is working on weekly averages. When I averaged out the week's calories it came to 1,400 a day.

    The bottom line is that you do what suits you - 5:2 suits me because a) I'm persuaded by the health arguments for it and b) it suits the way I naturally eat. I find it easy to shun food on a fast day until the evening and I enjoy the freedom of not having to give up some foods I love when they fit easily into a 'feed' day.

    Have a Google to see if you can find the BBC Horizon documentary 'Eat, Fast & Live Longer' which goes through all the very latest research being done in a user-friendly way.

    My diary is open if people are interested....today I'm on a feed day, yesterday was a fast day.

    Good luck.[/url]
  • TwelveSticks
    TwelveSticks Posts: 288 Member
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    I'd say it's definitely worth a try. I'm in my 5th week of 5:2 and its going great so far. The fast days are way easier than I expected. The only thing I'm not sure about is how much to eat on the non-fast days (what some people refer to as "feast" days). My gut instinct was to stick to the suggested MFP plan on those days, and to be honest I'm not fining that hard - what some people say about your appetite being reduced overall seems to be true. So I'm treating those days as being "normal" (as in "east normally on the other 5 days".

    I'm also interested in the supposed health benefits of doing these fast days, but as ever with diets, I'm taking those with a pinch of salt too (though not literally!).
  • Shazamablam
    Shazamablam Posts: 20 Member
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    Thanks for the replies!

    I have been following a calorie controlled diet and been working out too and have become stagnent, Hence why I am keen to give this a go to see if it will shock my system back into working. I am also keen to see if the health benefits I have read about are true.

    I am doing a reduced calorie day today and so far it hasn't been too bad. So planning to give it a month to see if i notice any real benefits.
  • 3laine75
    3laine75 Posts: 3,070 Member
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    i tried it for 2 weeks - no weight loss. i watched the bbc programme and liked the health benefits but i have no patience.
  • dxtra30
    dxtra30 Posts: 498 Member
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    Great Program.. First week is hard as you are restricting calories on your fasting days (non back to back).. I find this great as you can eat normal on days and then just restrict on 2 days.. Others have thier own opinion so do what you want..

    Here are the groups on MFP , feel free to join!

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/7953-5-2-fasting
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/8576-5-2-diet

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