Anyone who does 16/8 or 5/2 about for a bit of advice?

[mycatplotsdeath]

I'm overhauling my diet as of Monday.
I've at least 3 stone to shift and I'm thinking of doing 16/8 ,5/2... 1200 calories normal day
500 on fasting days.
Does this sound doable??

With 5:2 the aim is to eat your TDEE (Total Daily Expenditure- look for a calculator online) and then create the deficit by only consuming 500 calories on two days.

So if your TDEE was 2000 calories, the two days of 500 would create a 3000 deficit across the week to burn roughly a pound of fat.

500 in a day is not the easiest, but it's one day to focus on and there is no deprivation the next day. 1200 calories is likely to be below your TDEE (at 5ft 2, a sedentary lifestyle would put me around the 1400 mark). That is too low a deficit across the week and likely to be too difficult to maintain a healthy balanced diet causing disaffection quite quickly.

I've begun 5:2 for the first time since new year. My general diet is decent, but I've reached rein-in time. Being careful to focus on salad/ vegetables and some protein on fast days and avoiding any sweet insulin response is helping. I can handle that a couple of times a week!

I find it the most doable diet I've ever done. Am fasting today. Ha
Boiled egg for breakfast 60 cal
Boots shapers chicken and cous cous salad for lunch 200 cal

Supper with be a fillet of plaice with baked fennel and samphire. 300 cal.

Leaving 40 cal for a splash or milk or two in tea.

You get really used to it quickly and as you know you will eat normally the next day (healthy but not so restrictive) you just take the hunger on the chin.

Go for it. Get the cool books and experiment. I really enjoy it!!

You should read the new Micheal Mosley book fast800 it has a lot of new research and advice. There was a webchat on here yesterday and he answered my question

I would head on over to the 5:2 board for some advice and support, there's a long running thread that is extremely helpful and supportive.

I lost about 2 stone doing the 5:2 a year or so ago and have maintained pretty much steadily ever since on 6:1, although I gained a few pounds with too much Christmas indulgence so am currently back on 5:2! I found it a great plan once you get used to fasting and find what works for you, the major advantage is that there are no hard and fast rules about what you eat (no restriction on carbs for instance), providing you stick to calorie limits. This means it is extremely flexible, although many naturally find they gravitate towards good choices like plenty of veg and lean protein on fast days as the most satisfying for the calories, and you can then carry that over to your non fast days.

I would say depending on what your TDEE is, your plan may be too tough, at least at first. My plan when I was properly on it was as below, my TDEE is 1500 as I am short and fairly sedentary.

Mondays: Fast Day (500 calories)
Tuesdays: TDEE -10% (1350 calories)
Wednesdays: TDEE -10% (1350 calories)
Thursday: Fast Day (500 calories)
Friday: TDEE (1500 calories)
Saturday: Day 'off' (I wouldn't go mad but would allow a few treats and usually end up at about 2000 cals)
Sunday: TDEE (1500 calories)

On this regime I lost on average about 1lb a week although it wasn't linear, I would tend to lose 2-3llbs at once and then nothing for a while, plus the last few were the hardest to shift...

For you, why not start off just by adding the 2 fast days and not changing what you eat currently at all (other than perhaps making some easy healthy swaps), and see how you get on. For me, weirdly enough I found the day after a fast day the hardest (only time I got symptoms like headaches or nausea that some others report on a fast day itself) so it was important to eat well the day after a fast. Many people find they lose well with just the fast days and no other control, especially if they have a lot to lose or if their diet isn't too bad to start with...

Thanks everyone.
I'm going to properly read up on it and start with gusto on Monday.
Will pop over to the relevant board for a good read up