The new 5:2 diet thread

[GreenEggsAndNichts]

The continuing thread for those of us following either the 5:2 diet or the alternate-day fasting diet. Both are two versions of Intermittent Fasting, which you can read more about here.

The 5:2 diet was featured on Horizon recently, and essentially requires you to fast for 2 non-consecutive days per week. The other 5 days, you can eat what you like. Alternate-day fasting is just how it sounds; you fast every other day. By "fasting", we mean that we keep our calorie consumption very low, around 500 calories on average, on those days.

Come join us, and tell us about your experiences with this diet! :)

Can I join? I just stumbled on this post and someone at work is doing this successfullywhich piqued my interest and reading this has convinced me to give it a try.

I'm 12st 5 and would like to get below 11st (would give me a BMI around 22.5). My plan is to fast on Mon, Wed and Fri. I reckon i could manage on a small bowl of porridge with berries midmorning then a lean protein plus veg for dinner. So, today should be a fast day but I reckon i've already had about 400cals (and wasted ones at that! so I'm hungry...) could I have a 300cal dinner and count it as a fast day? Or should I wait until Wed to start?

Also, does anyone manage to exercise on fast days? I'd imagine i'll feel quite weak/faint.

So, third fast day for me and I've had half an apple (20kcals) at midday and a milk coffee (50kcals?).
Then for lunch had a big plate of salad: lettuce, tomato, black olives, a teeny bit of cottage cheese and a teeny bit of avocado. Also had a thumb sized bit of chicken. Probably too many calories for me to have anything else today, what does everyone think? If I get desperate tonight I'll have some red pepper and cherry toms.
Started this last Wednesday and have been holding off weighing myself as I want to weigh once a week. Think I'll weigh tomorrow or Wed.

5th fast day for me after a really piggy weekend. I'm trying spreading my cals out today because I've only had 4 hours sleep and I'm not sure I can go hardcore on that little sleep. I'm just having a chicken salad for 200 cals. I have a horrible feeling my excesses at the weekend will have ruined all my hard work last week :(

Oh yes, and here I am on my fast day and I get a translation to do which is a recipe book.

Lagart - that's typical!

Fast day here - going well - have had about 100 cals so far

Fast day for me too, egg and toast for breakfast, Thai chicken and veg planned for tea, have been drinking water and peppermint tea, overall feel ok, slightly on-edge but that could be tiredness. Feel hungry but not craving anything. Planning to fast Thursday too

Fast day tomorrow so I'm going to make up some ratatouille tonight. I don't want to cook on my fast day again. Last fast day we were catering so I spent the day in the kitchen making Coq au Vin and profiteroles; it was torture.

Mind you if I can do that fast day this one should be a breeze.

I deliberately decided to cook with the kids on my fast day so I wouldn't be tempted to eat the goodies. We made banana flapjacks and bourbon creams - on a feed day my head would have been stuck in the bowl.

Screwed up at lunch time - thought I as eating fat free yoghurt but instead it was full fat - almost twice the calories...so no cups of tea and miso soup now

im on my 2 nd fast day of the week , feeling more hungry today than i did on my 1st one which was sat .. but i just wasted calories on biscuits : ( started drinking raspberry tea for the first time , trying to cut out coffee as drinking too much so using up too many calories !! wil have some homemade veg soup for dinner so that will be low cal

I've been doing the 5:2 for a few weeks and seen a very moderate weight loss (around 4lb) but I'm definitely losing weight overall.

However, I wonder if I've been doing it wrong by having breakfast?

Previously I was eating a meal at 8pm on feed day, then having a yogurt, lunch and dinner on fast day (obv 500cals only).

Should I be actually fasting until 2pm on the fast day so instead I'd eat a meal at 8pm on a feed day then not eat anything the next day until at least 2pm?

Cupcake I think the consensus here from the stuff we've all read is that it's probably better to fast through til lunch time, BUT you don't have to, the Horizon guy had breakfast and dinner, still got excellent results.

Lagartija, sounds to me like you might still have 100-150 cals left, maybe try working it out on myfitnesspal.

Soup was good at lunch, been feeling vaguely hungry all afternoon, but OK.

Had Pret A Manger mushroom soup for lunch today - twas lovely, can recommend. Poached salmon and salad for dinner.

First fast day going well so far. I had a banana for breakfast, a cup of soup and two Ryvita for lunch and I'm having a couple of eggs and some cherry tomatoes for dinner. I've been hungry but not unbearably so. :)

cupcake Do it how it suits you best. I don't function well without breakfast, so have generally been having breakfast and then either lunch or dinner. The day I tried no breakfast but lunch and dinner, I did feel better in the evening (more full) but had lost less weight than usual the next day.

< a carrot, beetroot and chick pea salad with a bit of balsamic>

That sounds lovely (and filling) rowingboat, I'm going to try that myself one of my fast days.

Just had 2 raw carrots, a tomato, 4 strips of red pepper (raw) and 2 rice cakes (30cal each) with a smear of philadelpia. That's me done til the morning. Not feeling too bad. That's m 3rd fast day since Weds so will be a 4:3 week and, although I haven't been on the scales I feel a bit lighter.

Hi all,
so that's me for the day. I had my soup a couple of ritz crackers, a weak diluting squash drink and then a sweet. Couldn't resist nasty little sweet!!

Lajarti its hard to say how many calories that was. You can usually have a carrot though, whatever you have eaten and they take ages to digest.
I did the guess the calorie on my second fast and was starving.
Since then I have been weighing things because I want to be sure I get absolutely every calorie. Not a calorie has escaped.
If you aren't at home it helps to buy pre-packaged food because it almost always tells you how many cals are contained.

Rosemary it was quite tasty and did keep me going for longer than my usual 2 egg omelette at lunchtime.

Laksa well done on fitting into the jeans. Is the skirt fitting better now?

So normal day tomorrow, plan to have a couple of biscuits. Yum!

Was at ochestra practice last week where someone remarked that I apparently lost a lot of weight! Couldn't stop grinning!
Today tried on a pair of pants I haven't worn for 3 years and they're almost alright.
I think I lost about 3 kgs so far, been on 5:2 for about 4 weeks. Very pleased and I know I can keep this up.
For me it helps to skip breakfast and really plan lunch and dinner well.
Good luck to everyone fasting tomorrow, mine will be either wed or tues. Still in doubt, on wed got an old classmate coming over for some crocheting help, tues first night at new archery-club...

Another fast day done and dusted for me.

Mamageek, I exercise sometimes on fast days, but I do it first thing in the morning and I don't really do cardio, more strength stuff and I'm fine with it. Some people manage cardio but I think it would be likely to make you hungrier afterwards, or weaker during. I guess you just have to try it and see what happens.

Back on the wagon after a bit of a rubbish start. One great fast day, then 7pm to 7pm fast day blip (misunderstanding) and a missed 3rd fast day, and had been feeling a bit fed up. However, my sister is doing this, too, and although she's 120 miles away, we are doing it 'together' over the phone, planning what to eat on a fast day, swapping ideas, etc, so that has cheered me up. Also have got myself back into the mindset of 'it's only today', so if I'm craving anything i can tell myself i'll have it tomorrow.

Fast day today. Nothing until 2, was busy doing shopping and errands, then had a ww wrap with a smear of superlight mayo, 2 slices Quorn ham and and entire bag of watercress. 177 cals
Just eaten a veg stirfry with ketchup, soy sauce, chinese vinegar and madras curry powder, with a Quorn fillet, and am having 2 light rich tea and an options hot choc before bed. Adds up to 500. The stir fry was tasty and filling, as was the wrap.

Find it important to keep busy on fast days so I'm not thinking about food all the time! Can't say it's been easy, but I've managed it, and feel less hungry than I have done on other fast days.

Keep it up, guys.

Well done marinake!

My first fast day went fairly well - made it to 2pm before I had anything, since then I have had porridge with skimmed milk, a bit of the kids' fish pie , a little bit of chocolate and homemade carrot and leek soup. Drank loads of water. I haven't felt too hungry but I do feel really really tired - is that normal?? Early night for me!

I've crashed and burned 4 weeks of fasting without so much as an ounce lost, I decided to call it a day, it was making me grumpy and irritable...dh is going to continue, good luck to all of you.

Hi, I am going to read all the threads (if I can) and then join in.
Woohoo, I feel like this might just be something I can do (oh please please please work, and please let me have the willpower to do it) x

Just done second fasting day and it was lots easier than the first one. Lots of skimmed milk for coffee, watermelon and Dukan oat biscuity bake late morning, celery and cottage cheese in the afternoon and made pea soup this evening (frozen peas and marigold stock blended..surprisingly yummy and filling.)
DH did his first day and is weak, feeble and grumpy but I could get used to this!!!