Can i have some 5 2 diet success stories please?

Wow! I had never heard of 5:2 dieting. With all these stories I think it is definitely something I will try in the near future. Thanks for opening my eyes to something new

For some reason, if I eat less calories than expected in one day, I sleep REALLY well and only need 6-7 hours of sleep (versus a solid 8 hours) and when I wake up I feel like I've already had a cup of coffee!

Is this an effect anyone has on this lifestyle?

Yep. Unless, of course, I get woken by the children several times through the night, and then all bets are off :yawn: :laugh:

I had plenty of energy, no headaches, no hunger. I also have a healthier attitude to eating. I don't mindlessly snack anymore. 5:2 is awesomeness squared. My blood pressure, blood sugar, triglycerides, liver function tests, etc are perfect. My doctor even asked me what I was doing to suddenly get so healthy. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to lose weight and get healthy.

^^ and this

I started 5:2 back in March/April last year (before I found MFP). Now I maintain with a mixture of 6:1 and 16:8 (Lean Gains). I'm just not hungry for snack-type things any more. I do have them sometimes, but I'm not mindlessly sitting at my desk eating - I just don't want to.

In one month of 5:2 diet and p90x3 I have lost 16 pounds in a month abd body fat percentage from 31 to 28!

As for the rested sleep questions, I really found that when I incorporated the concept of a specific time window for eating (for me it's 2pm-9pm) my sleep really improved. I have a snack at midnight for the first time in a month and I totally regret it- I just felt icky and irritable all night.

This is a tool some fasters use to ensure a fast period of around 15-20 hours of fasting in; I know the traditional adage about breakfast being the most important meal of the day works really well for some people, but I find that eating breakfast doesn't prevent me from feeling hungry later in the day; in fact I've realized that no matter how early I wake up I'm never really hungry before noon.

I eat around 5-600 calories on fast days; I started fasting at the beginning of January at 170.8 lb and my home scale today read 158lb.

I've just started the 5:2 diet this week but haven't weighed myself yet to avoid disappointment and demotivation. It has been easier to stick to than I first thought, as previously I was spending most of my day at work snacking on biscuits and chocolate. It's been surprising how I haven't really craved these things as I have never fasted before. I've had a few light headaches although i'm not entirely sure if this is caused by my diet as I do work with computer screens all day, so this may be the issue. I'd say the only thing I'm struggling with is non fast days. Obviously there is a limit on eating 'whatever you want' on non fast days but i'm struggling to eat more than 100 calories as I feel that I may be ruining my progress and im not quite sure what my 'limit' is calorie wise, is this my usual 1,200 calorie intake?

I can't wait to see the results of this diet, I think I will weigh myself after two weeks

Also if anyone would like to add me, feel free I'm friendly I promise!

bump

I want to start doing this. I was doing ESE the dinner to dinner fast but kept coming up with excuses to put it off to tomorrow and tomorrow never comes. Will try for no breakfast, late lunch (300 calories) and then small dinner (200 calories) twice a week. Regular days @ 1800 calories.

I did it for 16 months, though i wasn't particularly carrying excess weight. People said I looked great, looked younger, and wanting to know my secret. I felt great, I enthused and thought about it regularly, wishing to tell everyone about it.

Over time I developed a problem with 5.2 which caused me to come off it, though I've just since started back on it again. The problem began around the time when trying to get below 11% body fat, it was essentially indigestion, causing a dead feeling in my guts along with acid reflux. I worked with it for as long as I could but coming off 5.2 was the only option. After about 8 weeks of stopping, all symptoms had completely disappeared, it was also over the Christmas period which was quite handy.

If you plan to do 5.2 long term, I recommend:
* On fast days, don't leave meals until dinner time - have at least 2 quality meals each fast day, ensuring plenty of vegetables and protein. If you need to really use your brain during the day, eat fruit in advance.
* Probiotic pills can help maintain a balance in your gut bacteria.
* As someone else has said, do some weights and exercise. If your blood sugar is low, your body will break down muscle to create sugars it needs to meet demand - particularly for the brain; this can't be done from fat. The last thing you want is to have lost 20kg with a significant loss of muscle, people with lower muscle mass are statistically more likely to get ill.
* Don't develop a need to binge on the other 5 days. As my body fat got lowish, my brain would tell me to stuff my face when it could. While I didn't put any weight on, the dramatic changes were what caused problems for me. Managing what you eat on those other 5 days is important too.

Hi-Ive been on the 5:2 diet for a few months now-have lost enough weight around my tum (unfortunately not off my boobs tho') what is a maintenance diet? Or can I just fast once a week now to maintain weight?

For maintenance you would do 6:1 fast. Fast just one day a week.

I`m a bit confused with all the information I`ve read on various websites regarding the 5.2 diet. Some say you can eat anything you want on your non fasting days while others state you still have to count calories and not to over indulge. I would assume the latter would be the case. I started the 5.2 diet last week and lost 4lb but did 4 half hour runs and consumed 2500 calories or less on my non fasting days. Just wondered what everyone else does on their non fasting days. Calorie count or just eat what they want?

I've been doing it for 16 weeks and have lost 56lbs Works for me!