5:2 intermittent fasting diet

domeofstars
domeofstars Posts: 480 Member
edited November 17 in Health and Weight Loss
"With 5:2 intermittent fasting you eat normally five days a week and diet two days a week, cutting your calorie intake for those two days to a ¼ of their normal level. This means that on, say, a Monday and a Thursday you will eat 500 calories if you are a woman, 600 if you are a man.
If you stick to this plan then you should lose around 1lb (0.46kg) a week if you are a woman, slightly more for a man. Success also depends on not over-eating on your normal days.
You should not only lose weight but also enjoy a wide range of health benefits. Studies of intermittent fasting show that not only do people see improvements in blood pressure and their cholesterol levels, but also in their insulin sensitivity.
As one of the medical experts I interviewed put it: ‘There is nothing else you can do to your body that is as powerful as fasting.’"

https://thefastdiet.co.uk/why-fast/


Has anyone tried this diet? Has anyone experimented with intermittent fasting?

Replies

  • jelleigh
    jelleigh Posts: 743 Member
    Ya I have (and many more on the site - there is a group if you search for it).

    I find it much easier to stick to a few strict days and then have some room for more "treat" good other days , instead of being sort of strict all week. It really taught me to pay attention to my weekly goals which has been helpful. I've lost fairly consistently on it . The first few days is maybe a bit challenging but now I don't even notice. Keep tuna on hand and soda water. Quick low cal protein helps and the soda water keeps you feeling full. Also drink more water than you normally would in general.
  • 0121gucci
    0121gucci Posts: 7 Member
    Hi I've been doing the 16/8 intermittent fasting Where I skip breakfast then start eating about 1pm I usually have my breakfast then which is usually overnight soaked oats with raspberrys and a yogurt and maybe a piece of fruit Then have my evening meal about 6pm I don't eat or drink after 8pm maybe a glass of water. I do this everyday and I have so much energy and feel amazing
  • RaphaBianchi
    RaphaBianchi Posts: 51 Member
    The 5:2 diet can work as long as you don't go overboard on the "normal" days. If you normally eat way over your maintenance calories a couple of days of fasting per week won't make you lose weight, just slow the increase. For it to work you need to be eating at or below your maintenance calories on the 5 days, then the 500/600 on the 2 days. Too many people think they can just eat anything for 5 days and then fix it in 2 days per week. It's still CICO but creating the deficit over 2 days rather than a smaller deficit everyday.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    Yes loads of people - you can use the search function and you will find loads of threads and also two 5:2 groups.

    I enjoyed it and found it far easier than every day restriction.

    I've also experimented with the 16:8 Leangains style of IF but didn't enjoy it.
  • StealthHealth
    StealthHealth Posts: 2,417 Member
    I used it for about a year, enjoyed it but I switched to IF (and ended up naturally settling into a 14:10 type pattern) for most days.

    I think something that I learnt when using 5:2 was that I still needed to calorie count to ensure that I was (in the early days) eating enough or (in the later days) not too much on my "normal" eating days.
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