5:2 Fasting

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roseml6792
roseml6792 Posts: 30 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Has anyone tried doing the 5:2 intermittent fasting? I was wondering what kinds of results people had. I'm considering trying it but I wanted to hear from some people who have actually done it.
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  • twink44
    twink44 Posts: 34 Member
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    I'm doing a version of it. Fasting from 11-6. Total calories averaging out at 950 daily. Saturday I go off my diet but not crazy. Week one down 4.8 lbs.
  • MikeAV8s
    MikeAV8s Posts: 85 Member
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    Intermittent fasting is fine if you like it and it works for you. As an aside, 950 calories per day isn't healthy to do everyday, at least generally speaking.
  • roseml6792
    roseml6792 Posts: 30 Member
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    Thanks
  • thankyou4thevenom
    thankyou4thevenom Posts: 1,581 Member
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    Read Eat Stop Eat and Lean Gains for a full understanding of how IF works.

    Now as for the 5:2 I do it mostly because it suits my lifestyle. Some fasting days are harder than others. You'll be colder on your fasting days and sometimes it takes me a lot of coffee (black) to get through but mostly its fine. You just need to distract yourself.
    One piece of advice is to have a breakfast planned for the next day. If I wake up hungry the next day and have something good to go it prevents me going all out. Most f the time I don't wake up hungry but it's there just in case.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    edited March 2016
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    Let me define 5:2 - 2 days at 500 (women) 600 (men) - 5 days at maintenance.

    Your entire deficit for the week comes from 2 days of dieting. 5:2 is NOT an excuse to eat a very low calorie diet (VLCD). Twink44 - promoting VLCD's is against MFP guidelines.

    Here's the MFP group for 5:2 users:
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/100058-5-2-fasting

    I've tried 5:2, the 500 calorie days were too hard for me. Now I zig-zag my calories differently. My lowest days are 800 BUT my average for the week is 1400 calories a day. Normal paced weight loss, but I can relax a bit on weekends.
  • Hell_Flower
    Hell_Flower Posts: 348 Member
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    It's working for me.

    5:2 helped me break a 10 year cycle of EDNOS, whilst reducing my body fat percentage but keeping my muscle mass, without being all over the place.

    Now I'm just trying to lose my last 7 vanity lbs, it's coming off between 0.5 - 1lb a week. Couldn't be happier.

    The fast days I find fairly easy - I find if I have a super hectic day working day then 5 small bananas throughout the day and a bunch of black coffee gets me through. If it's not too hectic, I'll eat my main meal at lunchtime. It's flexible.

    I also work out on fast days, but in the morning because a heavy cardio workout leaves me not hungry until much later in the day. Working out in the evening I find too tough.

    NB - I don't do fast days on the two days before and the first two days of my T.O.M because my energy is usually pretty low anyway and leaves me faint and dizzy these days if I restrict under my TDEE.

    That's my experience anyway.

    There's an interesting BBC Documentary that I watched recently called "Eat, Fast and Live Longer" and while I don't 100% buy into everything they say about IF giving a longer life, there are some fairly valid points in there that make sense to me.

  • roseml6792
    roseml6792 Posts: 30 Member
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    Thanks for the advice. I'm gonna start next week I hope.
  • abbietaylor1
    abbietaylor1 Posts: 31 Member
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    If you had asked me about 2 years ago I would have whole heartedly recommended 5:2. I managed to lose 2.5 stone incredibly easily (within about 7ish months) On the 5 days of normal eating I was still having takeaways, treats, pints in the pub and doing no exercise. The weight just kept dropping off no matter how bad I was on my non fast days. HOWEVER, I didn't learn anything about healthy eating and so once I stopped 5:2 the weight piled back on....and then some :( I am now on MFP to lose weight the old fashioned way - eat a bit less, move a bit more and using MFP to track calories etc. To me this is a much healthier way of losing weight because it is teaching me things like portion control and really the importance of keeping things for treats. And I KNOW I will be able to keep this up for life because I am not really on a diet - I am just trying to take care of myself and why would I not want to do this forever? Incidentally, I am currently losing slightly quicker than when I did 5:2. Up to you though - I know a lot of people manage to do 5:2 and keep the weight off by doing 6:1 once their weight was down. I would seriously recommend fastday.com - they have a great weight loss tracker and loads of forums specific to 5:2 which helped me a lot.
  • roseml6792
    roseml6792 Posts: 30 Member
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    Thanks
  • eldamiano
    eldamiano Posts: 2,667 Member
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    Couldn't think of anything worse than starving myself for over 25% of my life.

    Don't believe in these diets. They are designed to make money. They tell you ' it has worked for millions ' and then forget to mention the amount of people who put it straight back on when they have left their new unsustainable lifestyle
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
    edited March 2016
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    I found it very good - far easier for me than every day calorie restriction.
    Also supported a very heavy exercise routine very well.
    Side benefits were being more creative with food choices / recipes and recognising what real hunger signals are - as opposed to habitual eating, boredom or just plain greed.

    It's not for everyone but was great for me.
    By the way you don't have to do it for life, as you are eating at maintenance five days a week you should know your maintenance calories pretty well and be used to eating at that level by the time you get to goal.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    eldamiano wrote: »
    Don't believe in these diets. They are designed to make money. They tell you ' it has worked for millions ' and then forget to mention the amount of people who put it straight back on when they have left their new unsustainable lifestyle

    Unfortunately that applies to all weight loss approaches. Long term success is rare.
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
    edited March 2016
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    eldamiano wrote: »
    Couldn't think of anything worse than starving myself for over 25% of my life.

    Don't believe in these diets. They are designed to make money. They tell you ' it has worked for millions ' and then forget to mention the amount of people who put it straight back on when they have left their new unsustainable lifestyle

    How exactly does IF make money? I've never paid a dime to do it. Has anybody else?

    OP, I've done 5:2 on and off, with good results, for quite a while. It's not for everyone, but it's one way to create a calorie deficit. I really like it.
  • size102b
    size102b Posts: 1,370 Member
    edited March 2016
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    Me 6 weeks I did 4:3 4 days 500 calories 3 1500
    I lost week 1 4lbs
    Week 2 2lbs
    Weeks 3,4,5,6 0lbs was 100% logging weighing measuring so gave up
    In 6 weeks counting calories I lost 11.5lbs lost every week
    Fasting a good for us but didn't really work as I need to lose weight and 4 weeks at 6000 calories is low not to lose
    I don't think eating what you like in non fast days is good for people if they've had weight problems
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    size102b wrote: »
    Me 6 weeks I did 4:3 4 days 500 calories 3 1500
    I lost week 1 4lbs
    Week 2 2lbs
    Weeks 3,4,5,6 0lbs was 100% logging weighing measuring so gave up
    In 6 weeks counting calories I lost 11.5lbs lost every week
    Fasting a good for us but didn't really work as I need to lose weight and 4 weeks at 6000 calories is low not to lose
    I don't think eating what you like in non fast days is good for people if they've had weight problems

    what was your calorie intake when "counting calories for 6 weeks" out of interest ?
  • spacecadetz06
    spacecadetz06 Posts: 19 Member
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    I just don't eat after 1800 and breakfast is 10 am. Still manage my 2300 cals. Going to bed on an empty stomach I found was essential.
  • hopeandtheabsurd
    hopeandtheabsurd Posts: 265 Member
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    abbietaylor1 wrote: »
    If you had asked me about 2 years ago I would have whole heartedly recommended 5:2. I managed to lose 2.5 stone incredibly easily (within about 7ish months) On the 5 days of normal eating I was still having takeaways, treats, pints in the pub and doing no exercise. The weight just kept dropping off no matter how bad I was on my non fast days. HOWEVER, I didn't learn anything about healthy eating and so once I stopped 5:2 the weight piled back on....and then some :( I am now on MFP to lose weight the old fashioned way - eat a bit less, move a bit more and using MFP to track calories etc. To me this is a much healthier way of losing weight because it is teaching me things like portion control and really the importance of keeping things for treats. And I KNOW I will be able to keep this up for life because I am not really on a diet - I am just trying to take care of myself and why would I not want to do this forever? Incidentally, I am currently losing slightly quicker than when I did 5:2. Up to you though - I know a lot of people manage to do 5:2 and keep the weight off by doing 6:1 once their weight was down. I would seriously recommend fastday.com - they have a great weight loss tracker and loads of forums specific to 5:2 which helped me a lot.

    I've heard of 2 different kinds of 5:2. In one, you can eat what you like on the 5 days, on the other you stick to maintenance calories for the 5 days. It sounds like you were on the first plan. With the second, a person has 5 days a week to practice maintenance level calories, so transitioning from 5 to 7 days of maintenance level should be pretty smooth as long as the maintenance calories had been adjusted along the way to reflect current weight.
  • abbietaylor1
    abbietaylor1 Posts: 31 Member
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    hopeandtheabsurd wrote: »
    abbietaylor1 wrote: »
    If you had asked me about 2 years ago I would have whole heartedly recommended 5:2. I managed to lose 2.5 stone incredibly easily (within about 7ish months) On the 5 days of normal eating I was still having takeaways, treats, pints in the pub and doing no exercise. The weight just kept dropping off no matter how bad I was on my non fast days. HOWEVER, I didn't learn anything about healthy eating and so once I stopped 5:2 the weight piled back on....and then some :( I am now on MFP to lose weight the old fashioned way - eat a bit less, move a bit more and using MFP to track calories etc. To me this is a much healthier way of losing weight because it is teaching me things like portion control and really the importance of keeping things for treats. And I KNOW I will be able to keep this up for life because I am not really on a diet - I am just trying to take care of myself and why would I not want to do this forever? Incidentally, I am currently losing slightly quicker than when I did 5:2. Up to you though - I know a lot of people manage to do 5:2 and keep the weight off by doing 6:1 once their weight was down. I would seriously recommend fastday.com - they have a great weight loss tracker and loads of forums specific to 5:2 which helped me a lot.

    I've heard of 2 different kinds of 5:2. In one, you can eat what you like on the 5 days, on the other you stick to maintenance calories for the 5 days. It sounds like you were on the first plan. With the second, a person has 5 days a week to practice maintenance level calories, so transitioning from 5 to 7 days of maintenance level should be pretty smooth as long as the maintenance calories had been adjusted along the way to reflect current weight.

    I agree, however, the real appeal of 5:2 for me was that I only had to count calories 2 days a week and it did not change the rest of my week at all. I'm in a different place now and happy to track all the time so maybe the maintenance version would appeal now!
  • sarochka85
    sarochka85 Posts: 103 Member
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    Mosley sold a lot of books with that junk diet.

    He is now selling the Blood Sugar Diet to stave off diabetes... two months of eating 800 calories every single day.

    Ridiculous.
  • sarahmilner714
    sarahmilner714 Posts: 23 Member
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    I did 5:2 a couple of years back then went on to 4:3 I lost almost 2 stone. I've put some back on since stopping but no where near as much as I lost. I found it resonably easy. Keep saying I'll go back on it but finding it difficult since I moved in with my oh.

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