Anyone try the 5:2 Fast Diet?

You can try these groups mate:

https://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/49-intermittent-fasting

and specifically:

https://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/8005-5-2-fasting

For me sticking to 1400 is hard enough without further restricting myself to 500 :sick:

Good luck though!

I tried it for a couple of weeks and didn't really get on with it. To be fair, it was a really half hearted try and I don't think I really gave it much of a chance. On the 500 calorie days all I wanted to do was get through them as quickly as possible so I could eat the next day. When I knew I had a 500 cal day coming I would be miserable and dread it.

I've been on it for about 5 weeks now and only occasionally struggle on a 'hungry' day. Cold cooked turkey with buckets of salad is my friend!

I've lost around 7lb now which is a great start - however, a word of caution. My loss has been around 1/3 fat, 2/3 lean mass so far. I'm monitoring this carefully as it might stabilise, but according to my trainer this is fairly typical of diets that force the body to burn its own reserves.

BUT - and this is the important point - muscle can be rebuilt over time, and quite frankly I'm just delighted that I'm losing weight overall... as a regular cyclist it's great to know I'm dragging a lot less of me around!

I did it for two weeks and was fine - not saying the 500 calories days were easy, but got through them. However, I just couldn't continue for some odd reason after that. On the fast days, I would have the shakes, I was so ravenous!

Not saying I won't trying it again at some point though.

Has anyone tried to combine this with the 30 Day Shred regime? I'm planning to start that next week, but am also keen to try the 5:2 approach (my parents have seen success on it alone - and they're really not very strict on non-fast days!!) but I'm concerned I wouldn't have the energy to do the 30DS on fast days.

What do people think is best?
30DS with calorie controlled high protein diet throughout. Or 30DS alongside 5:2 diet. I could take rest days from the exercise on the 2 fast days, but I'm worried I won't see the results other people have been able to achieve if I don't do the 30 days straight through...... Any advice much appreciated

Started this week....we'll see what happens.

I've been on it for about 5 weeks now and only occasionally struggle on a 'hungry' day. Cold cooked turkey with buckets of salad is my friend!

I've lost around 7lb now which is a great start - however, a word of caution. My loss has been around 1/3 fat, 2/3 lean mass so far. I'm monitoring this carefully as it might stabilise, but according to my trainer this is fairly typical of diets that force the body to burn its own reserves.

BUT - and this is the important point - muscle can be rebuilt over time, and quite frankly I'm just delighted that I'm losing weight overall... as a regular cyclist it's great to know I'm dragging a lot less of me around!

Honestly, that ratio sounds pretty bad. I've been losing weight for 6 months now and lost barely any LBM (even losing weight at a similar rate).

Yet another reason I'm not keen on this diet.

I've been on the 5:2 diet since March. In that time I've lost 16lbs, which I am very pleased about. I've been away on holiday and not worried about what I was eating whilst away and just started again when I returned. I eat 500 calories on my fast days, which are usually Monday and Thursday, then on my non fast days I eat around 1700 calories ( my TDEE is 1958), if I go over at the weekend I do not beat myself up about it. I am 63 and have been on diets ever since I was 30 something and this is the best way of eating that I've ever come across. Read Dr Michael Mosley's book and if you can watch the British TV programme Horizon which was aired last year ( I think there is a link on the 5:2 group on here, to see what other health benefits this WOE provides.

Interesting article...

The Hype of Calorie-Shifting Diets
by BERKELEY WELLNESS | APRIL 16, 2013

There are always new weight-loss diets out there—or old ones dressed up as new—and one of the biggest recent fads is “calorie-shifting” plans. Proponents promise rapid and easy weight loss, which is always a warning sign, and cite theories and research that may sound convincing. Here’s a look behind the hype.

The problem with crash diets
A fundamental problem with crash diets is that when you drastically cut calories for more than a few days, your body compensates by lowering the rate at which you burn calories when at rest (its basal metabolic rate), which makes it hard to keep losing weight and then even harder to keep the lost pounds from returning. Calorie-shifting diets alternate calorie intakes—and sometimes types of food—from day to day. Their advocates claim this tricks the body into not adapting to the reduced calorie intake so that your metabolic rate won’t drop.

The diets offer a variety of calorie roller coasters. The Every Other Day Diet and the QOD Diet (a medical acronym for “every other day”) alternate days of normal eating and days of nearly fasting—just 300 to 500 calories a day. The UpDayDownDay Diet calls for eating no more than 500 calories on “down” days and all you want on the “up” days during the induction phase. The latest entry is a British import called The Fast Diet, which involves eating just one-quarter of your normal daily calories (500 to 600 calories) two days a week.

Some calorie-shifting diets involve complicated patterns—say, 1,300 calories on Monday, 2,000 on Tuesday, 800 on Wednesday, 1,800 on Thursday and so on. Fat Loss 4 Idiots maps out your up and down days via a software program. Some, like the Intermittent Fasting Diet, require total fasting on some days.

The explanations presented for the diets vary as much as the eating patterns. Some say the diet works by affecting hormones (such as insulin) involved with fat storage, or by activating genes that boost fat burning. Others say the secret is to limit hunger to single days, rather than prolong it for weeks. Some claim the diet won’t cause loss of muscle—another problem with crash diets—and will actually speed up metabolism. Proponents make general health claims, too, that the diets can help prevent chronic diseases by reducing inflammation, blood cholesterol and free radicals. Still others say the fasting days “cleanse” your body of toxins, which is nonsensical. Or that semi-starvation diets can prolong your life.
So far, there is no convincing evidence to support most of the theories, and none demonstrating any of the diets’ long-term safety and effectiveness.

Not so fast

There has been little good human research on the diets. Mouse studies, including one done at UC Berkeley in 2007, found that alternate-day fasting does not produce weight loss (the mice simply ate twice as much on the feasting days), but may have some potentially beneficial effects, such as improved insulin and glucose metabolism and shrinkage of fat cells. Some widely publicized animal studies have found that very-low-calorie (semi-starvation) diets can lead to increased longevity, but they did not use calorie-shifting diets or alternate day fasting, and these results have never been demonstrated in humans.
A small human study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2005 found that alternate-day fasting/feasting for three weeks resulted in a few lost pounds and lower insulin levels. But many people reported feeling irritable and hungry on the fasting days, and some experienced constipation, leading the researchers to conclude that most people could not stick to this eating pattern for long.

The most positive results came from another very small study in the same journal in 2009. It found that obese people who went on near-fasts on alternate days lost about 12 pounds after eight weeks. Cholesterol levels and blood pressure improved, as they would with any weight loss. But the study was poorly designed, and didn’t assess how the diet affected mood and quality of life.

Neither human study had a control group, so we don’t know how the results would compare to, say, a standard reduced-calorie, heart-healthy diet.

Bottom line: Obviously, if you eat little or no food several days a week and don’t eat like a ravenous mouse on the others, you’ll lose weight. And if you are in good health, there’s no harm in an occasional 24-hour fast or near-fast. Like any crash diet, such regimens may feel empowering the first week or two, especially as the pounds come off, largely thanks to water loss. But these diets are not long-term solutions to obesity and are not healthy ways to relate to food.

Despite the testimonials on the diets’ websites and book jackets, most people won’t feel good on calorie roller coasters, and most couldn’t stick to the crazy regimens. Very-low-calorie diets can cause fatigue, headaches, irritability and heart rhythm problems. Skipping meals can sometimes result in malnutrition and is ill advised for people with diabetes. Alternating fasting with gorging is especially risky if you have an eating disorder. And if you don’t have one, you’ll be eating as if you did.

Hi Everybody,

I started my LAST weight loss journey 5/5/13 and although I feel proud and blessed by my accomplishment of losing 13# we are getting dangerously close to August and it seems I have plateaued. I have not had any loss in almost two weeks. I admit, I am not great at excercising- per se. I have a day desk job but I waitress 3 nights a week and walk at a quick pace for at least two hours each shift. So shoot me if I need to rest for a few days. Plus, I read somewhere that weight loss is 70% diet and 30% excercise. But that's neither here nor there. I feel as though I need a shift. And I CANNOT eat any less everyday.

So, this has led me to the 5:2 died- or the Fast Diet. I am ready to try it but still feel some fear/ apprehension. Any positive feedback?

Just starting the 5:2 today and wow can't stop thinking about food lol! Planned out my meals for the fast and feast days and can honestly say I'm looking forward to eating well tomorrow - not just the old feeling of oh well better eat this sandwich I suppose. Hoping the fast days will get easier as determined to do this. A few friends have done it with great success.

Remember that hunger comes and goes in waves, it doesn't just build up and up. So just get through each wave.

Hi all! I just wanted to report that I finished my first fast and it wasn't that bad! I put it in my head I wasn't going to eat/ snack/ pick and I didn't! I even avoided my usual after- shift drink.

I woke up a couple of times last night... not sure if it was the hunger or my itchy allergy face but I do remember waking up feeling very hungry.

It's 8AM now and I'm just getting to my oatmeal. Not feeling ravenous but definitely ready for some food.

Yesterday is proof that I can do this.

Now, let's hope day 2 is just as smooth.