5:2 diet

What would be "normal calories"? Would that be your maintenance calories for the 5 days?

AskTracyAnnK28 wrote: »

What would be "normal calories"? Would that be your maintenance calories for the 5 days?

Yes.

I recently started it. I found that trying to maintain a deficit everyday was making me obsess over food choices in ways I didn't like. Many people switch to 6:1 for maintenance instead of 5:2, so it can be a permanent lifestyle change--not just a fad.

There is currently (mostly anecdotal) evidence that fasting in this way is better for overall health but I'm not 100% convinced. It's just a different way for me to get my weekly deficit in.

I still count calories every day, and they're set at the maintenance level of my goal weight for 5 days and 500 calories for 2 days. I'm hoping that by doing this I can get used to eating at maintenance for the long haul once I reach my goal.

It works for me, but it ultimately depends on your schedule and your preferences.

Let's do a little math:

OPTION A:
5 days at 1500 calories per day = 7500 calories
2 days at 500 calories = 1000 calories
weekly total = 8500 calories


OPTION B:
7 days at 1400 calories per day = 9800 calories
workout 5 days a week and burn 600 calories per workout = 3000 burned in a week
weekly total = 6800 calories


As you can see, if you want to lose weight, you need to work for it.
Option A has you starving for 2 days, which most likely will lead to muscle lost, and a slower metabolism, which translates in a harder time burning fat.
Option B allows you to eat healthy, will raise your metabolism, which will make it easier to burn fat, and as a side effect you will feel better, and perform better in your daily tasks.

It's your choice, for me option B it is a clear winner.

Cheers.

Unless you plan to eat this way forever, I'd just pick a goal and stick to it. IF is about teaching your body to expect food/ be hungry at a certain time so you can calorie cut without the hunger aspect and so you can get control of which feelings are hunger and which are something else manifesting as hunger. As well as other reasons. If you're just in it to get to goal and don't much care how you get there, why take the extra complication? Eating a certain amount of calories EVERY day is gonna best set you up to continue doing that well into maintenance, just as IF will best prepare you to continue to do IF. Do now what you plan to do later so that later is easier. Don't be tempted to over complicate something that doesn't need to be overcomplicated. Do IF, but don't do it because you think it's a good way to lose weight, do it because you mean to do it in the long term for the many other reasons it's so popular.

My partner has been doing this for about 3 months now and it seems to work really well for him. He doesn't have a lot of weight to lose but it is going down gradually. He plans to switch to 6:1 to maintain it when he is at the weight he wants.

The only problem is on his non-fasting days he does tend to eat a bit more unhealthily than he usually would, feeling it's ok to treat himself on those days (sweets and coca cola etc.), so I don't know if it works brilliantly for an overall healthy lifestyle. He's aware of this though and sees it as ok as his weight is still going down overall. He doesn't find it particularly hard to stick to but I definitely would as I know I get grumpy when I'm hungry!

memo1974 wrote: »

Let's do a little math:

OPTION A:
5 days at 1500 calories per day = 7500 calories
2 days at 500 calories = 1000 calories
weekly total = 8500 calories


OPTION B:
7 days at 1400 calories per day = 9800 calories
workout 5 days a week and burn 600 calories per workout = 3000 burned in a week
weekly total = 6800 calories


As you can see, if you want to lose weight, you need to work for it.
Option A has you starving for 2 days, which most likely will lead to muscle lost, and a slower metabolism, which translates in a harder time burning fat.
Option B allows you to eat healthy, will raise your metabolism, which will make it easier to burn fat, and as a side effect you will feel better, and perform better in your daily tasks.

It's your choice, for me option B it is a clear winner.

Cheers.

That's not really a fair comparison. People who do IF still work out, so by your calculations of the same workout they would be doing 5500 calories a week. That's not how it works anyway.

This is how it works:
A hypothetical female has a sedentary maintenance of 1800 calories.
OPTION A:
5 days at 1800 calories + exercise calories (more freedom and choices) = 9000 calories + exercise calories
2 days at 500 calories (get used to them pretty fast) = 1000 calories
Total = 10,000 calories plus exercise calories

OPTION B:
7 days at roughly 1400 calories per day + exercise calories
Total = 10,000 calories plus exercise calories

Both options provide the exact same loss but one is easier for certain people than the other. For some people option A is easier because it provides more leeway in terms of calories to eat their favorite foods in non-microscopic portions, and 2 low calorie days per week are an acceptable tradeoff. For others option B is easier because they dislike having low calorie days, and smaller portions is an acceptable tradeoff.

I personally do every other day diet, where I go low one day and then high the next. After a couple of weeks those 500-600 calories get much easier than you expect. I barely ever feel hungry, even on low days.

Basically it's just a way people use to regulate their calories in a way that is easier for them, that's all. It's a good fit for some and a bad fit for others.

5:2 does not lead to increased muscle loss or decreased fat loss. It's just as effective as a regular deficit. Even if we assume muscle loss on fast days, normal days will counter the effect by providing a better muscle sparing effect than a regular deficit.

I've been doing 5:2 since November and lost a little over 10 pounds. I hate calorie counting and am terrible at it. Even logging everything in MFP wasn't helping which is why I decided to go with the 5:2. I didn't think I'd like it and I thought I'd be starving on fast days, but I'm not. I eat a bag of SteamFresh veggies and 4 ounces of protein or a huge veggie salad with 4 ounces of protein both are about 250 calories. Two meals a day like that and I'm fine. Not hungry, don't have cravings. I drink lots of water and tea. I've never been hungry on my fast days and even workout on those days. My non-fast days I eat normal. I have suffered no issues with weakness or loosing muscle, I've actually gained muscle/strength. I'm a runner and I've actually gotten faster, probably from losing weight, it's easier to run without the extra pounds.

I don't think 5:2 is for everyone, but it works for me. I'm so much less stressed about food and food choices that I don't binge like I used to and I don't feel guilty on non fast days when I eat "bad" food. In fact, I'm actually eating healthier on other days as well because I don't feel like eating a salad is an obligation (like I felt when I was calorie counting. Turns out I actually like salad and veggies!) I'm under 15 pounds from my goal weight and going strong.