5:2 Diet

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sjenkin6
sjenkin6 Posts: 34 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Does anyone have any experience with the 5:2 diet? I know crash diets are absolute nonsense but the concept of this diet seems to make sense. Starving yourself only twice a week and burn additional calories without putting the body into starvation mode sounds like a winner to me. Has anyone on here tried it? If so, please share the pros and cons.

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  • camperchick64
    camperchick64 Posts: 146 Member
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    Search the groups - there's a lot of information in the 5:2 Fast Group.

    I've been doing it and have lost consistently and I love the lifestye it gives me.
  • LozziiRawrr
    LozziiRawrr Posts: 3
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    I wouldn't consider it starving yourself, just for those 2 days devote yourself to vegetables and soup, you'd be surprised how much you can actually eat below 500 calories. My friend's mother tried it and lost 15lb in 4 and a half weeks (she was 213lb when she started it) And she felt absolutely great!
  • odddrums
    odddrums Posts: 342 Member
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    I have never heard of this, but it sounds awful. Any diet that involves not eating for a day or anything like that puts up a big red flag for me. I'd stick to eating less with each meal and snacking more, but that's just me.
  • SairahRose
    SairahRose Posts: 412 Member
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    I have never heard of this, but it sounds awful. Any diet that involves not eating for a day or anything like that puts up a big red flag for me. I'd stick to eating less with each meal and snacking more, but that's just me.

    This for me, too.
    Even at the end of the diet it says "you should only HAVE to starve yourself once a week instead of twice.
    On total rest days, people shouldn't eat less than 1200 unless they've got other medical conditions that require that - or they're really short.
    Anything that promotes losing weight 'fast', is just a crazy scheme that's very rarely sustainable in the long run unless that scheme is continued forever. Eating normally again isn't going to happen.
  • gublercullen
    gublercullen Posts: 89
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    I started this a few weeks ago; five days of healthy, high protein, low carb eating and two days liquid fasting. It isn't as bad as it sounds! You get three smoothies over the day and each one requires 250g non-fat greek yogurt and protein powder to bulk it up. As well as two fruits and up to four servings of veggies. You're also allowed to have a small portion of soup if you're really hungry. I found that I couldn't even manage the three smoothies, they were so filling (and about 250-300 cals a pop!).

    I've lost 8 pounds so far but moving onto just a general restricted diet with limited carbs for now, I was struggling to pay for all the fresh fruit and veg haha.

    It's worth a go, especially if you fancy a detox.
  • amann1976
    amann1976 Posts: 742 Member
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    the question is not how much weight you can lose with that... the question is how much weight will you put back on if you decide to stop doing it.

    you want to get your body right for a wedding or a trip or whatever this is something one should try but if you are looking for something that you can sustain over a "lifetime" i dont think this will work well
  • camperchick64
    camperchick64 Posts: 146 Member
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    You don't starve yourself. Its not a quick weight loss scheme either. Read the info. The OP is way off on their description of the plan - that's why I referred them to the info in the group. You fast - not starve - most of that time you are sleeping and then you eat low for that day, the next day you resume eating regular, not binging and not low. Its really no different than doing a zig zag method of eating your calories over a weekly allowance.
  • amann1976
    amann1976 Posts: 742 Member
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    You don't starve yourself. Its not a quick weight loss scheme either. Read the info. The OP is way off on their description of the plan - that's why I referred them to the info in the group. You fast - not starve - most of that time you are sleeping and then you eat low for that day, the next day you resume eating regular, not binging and not low. Its really no different than doing a zig zag method of eating your calories over a weekly allowance.

    no offense if i had to limit myself to i think the mans numbers are 800 calories a day i would be literally ready to gnaw my arms and fingers off.
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
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    There's a lot of misinformation and assumptions in this thread.

    It is called "the fast diet", not because it promises quick results, but because it is based on the principles of fasting. Having said that, it is not a total fast, as you are allowed up to 500 cals on the 2 down days each week. Those can be made up whatever way you like, there's no need for special smoothies or any particular amount of fruit and veg required, nor do you have to only have liquids.

    It is very sustainable long term, as there is more freedom on the other 5 days a week, so evenings out or dinners with friends are very manageable. The 5 days should be around maintenance level.

    Intermittent fasting is nothing new, and many people find it works for them.
  • gublercullen
    gublercullen Posts: 89
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    You don't starve yourself. Its not a quick weight loss scheme either. Read the info. The OP is way off on their description of the plan - that's why I referred them to the info in the group. You fast - not starve - most of that time you are sleeping and then you eat low for that day, the next day you resume eating regular, not binging and not low. Its really no different than doing a zig zag method of eating your calories over a weekly allowance.

    no offense if i had to limit myself to i think the mans numbers are 800 calories a day i would be literally ready to gnaw my arms and fingers off.

    I eat under 800 a day (around 500-600) and I can honestly say that I don't get hungry because I eat a fair amount of protein. The version of the 5:2 diet I'm doing is pretty much my own way of learning to restrict what I eat and control my portion sizes. But on the other hand, my job doesn't involve ANY physical activity and I don't do any heavy exercise outside of my roller derby team, so I don't need to worry about eating back calories etc. It works for some people.
  • sjenkin6
    sjenkin6 Posts: 34 Member
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    thanks for all the info. I've searched the topic and so far I haven't found anything negative. On the contrary, it seems to be beneficial from a medical standpoint as well. Will try it out and report back in a few weeks.
  • Keiras_Mom
    Keiras_Mom Posts: 844 Member
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    There's a lot of misinformation and assumptions in this thread.

    It is called "the fast diet", not because it promises quick results, but because it is based on the principles of fasting. Having said that, it is not a total fast, as you are allowed up to 500 cals on the 2 down days each week. Those can be made up whatever way you like, there's no need for special smoothies or any particular amount of fruit and veg required, nor do you have to only have liquids.

    It is very sustainable long term, as there is more freedom on the other 5 days a week, so evenings out or dinners with friends are very manageable. The 5 days should be around maintenance level.

    Intermittent fasting is nothing new, and many people find it works for them.


    Absolutely agree with this. There's so much disinformation about fasting. It's healthy and sustainable, and how I've lost all of my weight and how I choose to maintain.

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