5.2

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annobrien397
annobrien397 Posts: 4 Member
in Motivation and Support
Anyone doing 5.2 I'm starting today could do with friends please that follow it

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  • runsharon54321
    runsharon54321 Posts: 28 Member
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    Hi you got my curiosity....what is 5.2?
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    I believe it's 5:2 - aka "the fast diet", where you eat 500 calories two days per week, and "normally" for five days. It's neither faster than other diets or meals setups (if calorie deficit is the same) nor a fast, so the name is a bit misleading... It seems to work great for people who don't mind eating very little now and then and don't compensate by overeating later.
  • ryenday
    ryenday Posts: 1,540 Member
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    There is a reasonably active group of us — “5:2 Fasting”
  • consumone
    consumone Posts: 139 Member
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    Oh HELL NO - this is so bad for you - good luck with losing that muscle and not the fat.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    consumone wrote: »
    Oh HELL NO - this is so bad for you - good luck with losing that muscle and not the fat.

    No it isn’t. You’re only eating 500 calories two days a week. The remainder of the time you eat at maintenance. So if someone has a 2000-calorie maintenance goal, they would end up burning 3000 calories more than they eat, which would account for a loss of just under a pound a week.

    One day of undereating won’t do anything. If someone ate 500 calories every day? Then yes, there would be trouble.
  • MichelleWithMoxie
    MichelleWithMoxie Posts: 1,818 Member
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    I prefer 16:8 type fasting. Works very well for me. I don’t like only having 500 cals per day to eat at any time, I prefer to do the same thing every day.

    But good luck!
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    consumone wrote: »
    Oh HELL NO - this is so bad for you - good luck with losing that muscle and not the fat.

    Nonsense!
    • Muscle isn't a preferred fuel source, you are also going into fasting days fully fuelled remember.
    • 5:2 results in a moderate calorie deficit over the course of a week.
    • You are training and recovering from training 5 days a week at maintenance calories.

    I found it superior for supporting a heavy exercise routine compared to everyday deficit.
    It's certainly not for everyone but it's a valid alternative for some.
  • Forever_Primed
    Forever_Primed Posts: 8 Member
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    It's better than eating in a calorie surplus everyday I guess. Personally I feel the two 500 cal days are unsustainable in the long run. Not for lack of ability but for the inflexibility needed for it to be executed week in week out.
  • Forever_Primed
    Forever_Primed Posts: 8 Member
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    MichSmish wrote: »
    I prefer 16:8 type fasting. Works very well for me. I don’t like only having 500 cals per day to eat at any time, I prefer to do the same thing every day.

    But good luck!

    I adopt a similar approach in 18:6 for the most part. Always having a decent amount of food on any given day works best for me as I train pretty intense 4 -5 days a week. The only instance where I may end up eating ~500 cals or thereabouts in a day is if my appetite so happens to disappear the day after a splurge or what have you. I probably wouldn't suggest 5:2 to anyone new.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    Forever_Primed wrote: »
    It's better than eating in a calorie surplus everyday I guess. Personally I feel the two 500 cal days are unsustainable in the long run. Not for lack of ability but for the inflexibility needed for it to be executed week in week out.

    @Forever_Primed
    You only sustain it for the period you are losing weight - not for life so the "long run" isn't as long as some other eating plans. You can simply transition to 7 days at maintenance instead of 5, practising maintenance makes the transition easy.
    The flexibility comes from moving the fasting days around to suit your schedule or skipping them if you want to - that just impacts the length of time to get to goal.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    consumone wrote: »
    Oh HELL NO - this is so bad for you - good luck with losing that muscle and not the fat.

    Why is it bad for you?

    OP, I have a friend who loves it. I've thought about it, but for now prefer my current schedule.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    annobrien397 wrote: »
    Anyone doing 5.2 I'm starting today could do with friends please that follow it

    Here's a link to a 5:2 group.....http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/100058-5-2-fasting

    @consumone - 5:2 isn't an overly aggressive diet (if you do it properly) - it's just a way of zig-zagging your calories that allows for dieting just 2 days a week. Zig-zagging calories is not a new concept anyway.

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