Been doing this since August 2012, lost most of my weight by Christmas that year - slowly and steadily.
Nibbled a few extra pounds off here and there in 2013 to get where I am now, 34lb loss. Lighter now in my 50's than I've been since my 20's.

I've maintained on a 5:2 pattern too but find 6:1 suits me perfectly to maintain - gives what feels a natural amount of calories 6 days a week.
Adherence was far, far easier than any of the everyday calorie restrictions I've ever tried over the last 20 years. Fitting your low and high days around your lifestyle and social events is a big factor for me in making this an enjoyable way of eating rather than a chore.

The way it supports a very heavy exercise routine far better than a constant deficit was a real bonus.

On a fast day keep the thought "I can have that chocolate tomorrow" in your mind. It's a powerful weapon - deferring a treat rather than excluding a treat.

Hmmmm YESSSS!! For me at least! Only sustainable way for me to go.

I lost 29kg in one year. Hit a normal BMI for the first time in my life in January 2014.
Pics show me in May 2013 compared to May 2014 and November 2014. I've been maintaining since May 2014 and am now attacking my last 3kg in 2015. BMI now 23-24 / 5'1 1/2''.
Still fasting twice a week, but had higher cals on non fast days during my maintainance phase.

Thanks, bburg86!

Slow is fine. I lost quickly at the beginning and it slowed the less I had to lose. Thus the long maintainance phase. I'm still getting to know this new person and I know without 5:2, I wouldn't have gotten to this point. And 5:2 is my tool to stay at a healthy weight for the rest of my life. Daily restriction was just never for me. Made me crazy.

My experience is pretty much the same as @sijomial, @melaniecheeks, @flumi_f, and @bburg86. Very consistent weight loss, easier to be on week to week because the 5 non-fast days have a higher calorie level than a traditional diet, and the fast days have actually changed my prospective on food. Not a quickie diet. I have lost 12lbs in about 6 months but there have been no frustrating plateaus (which have driven me mad on other eating plans). And I know that if I go on maintenance and start to gain weight, I can always through in a second fast day to return to my maintenance weight. Not a diet for everyone but those who fit this plan LOVE it.

If you haven't already, I recommend watching the Mosely documentary on 5:2 fasting. It will give you lots of good information on this plan. You will find a link to the documentary and other resources under the Announcements on the main 5:2 Fasting group page.

@flumi_f - you can really see the confidence increase between the first and last picture. Beautiful to see.

In my 5th week and down 6 lbs I know that this will fluctuate for various reasons. But 5:2 works for me as on fast days I do not have to think about food at all untill the evening.
6ft 5ins 110 kg on the 1/1/15 and now at 104.9, but that is after the first fast day of the week, it will go up, but the trend is down. I read the book and it made a lot of sense, without techno bable.

5'7", 103kg to 83.6 over 18 months (including a 12 month plateau before I started logging.

I'm 160 cm (5"3) and 56,4 kg (124 lbs). 5:2 broke my almost 1 year long plateau in September 2014. I lost about 15 kg (33 lbs) since then on a combo of 5:2, 16:8 leangains and LCHF. In active dieting weeks, I've lost about 1 kg a week (2.2 lbs). I'm now 3 kg away from original GW and basically recomping.

5:2 helped me stop bingeing as much. It also helped me realize that being hungry now and then is NOT something to be afraid of. IF'ing also kickstarted the slow process into healing my metabolism.

Give it a shot, if it doesn't work for you, no harm done. It's very flexible and it's not as psychologically taxing as a constant daily deficit calorie counting.

Make sure you get enough salt and water on fast days. Good luck

Edit: Oh, forgot to say that the fluctuations are naturally bigger on 5:2, so measure yourself. The scale is only one metric tool.

I'm 5ft 3 and currently weigh 161lbs. Using 5:2 last year by the summer, I got down to 151lbs which was my lowest, and my ultimate goal is 140. I put a LOT of weight on when we bought our first house (an investment job) so we spent our days working and evenings eating takeaways. I went right back up to 170lbs from September to January. We're now very settled and I'm able to cook (thank god!) so I'm very much back on it, with a 9lb loss in 5 weeks and on my 10th fast today. I would like to reach 150 by April, however recently I have found I have some sort of illness/condition which is yet to be diagnosed. This is causing me to continuously bloat, have various aches and pains in my lower abdomen and lower back - but is nothing to do with 5:2. I'm going for tests at the Doctors tomorrow. This WOL is the only thing that works for me, and helps my relationship with food. I would ideally like to reach goal by the end of the year, however I'm happy if it's slow - as long as it's going in the right direction.

MrsBailey149 wrote: »

I was afraid that doing the fasting would cause me to binge more, but it hasn't been the case so far.

Great!

Do you workout on fast days??

Nothing substantial. I just go for a walk, which I do pretty much every day but no weights or sprinting or anything hard.

You might wanna check out the leangains info for exercise things. 5:2 is just a food protocol really and doesn't cover the fitness. Leangains is a different schedule of Intermittent Fasting but the info's focused more on frequent (daily, short) fast issues and exercising.
Some people combine the two systems. Though it's probably best to start with one or the other and get it down before you think about messing with stuff like that.