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! :)

The science behind low carbing is completely sound, by the way ...

BIWI
I agree that the science of low carb is solid, its the ketosis and food grouping stuff that heads towards pseudoscience .....

TalkinPeace2

with a BMI under 25 anyway, toast and a bit of rice and pasta are part of a balanced diet ....

My BMI this morning was 20.5 and has been between that and the midpoint of healthy BMI for the past 18 months.

I very rarely (when there's no alternative) eat bread, rice, pasta, pastry, crisps, potatoes, cakes, sweets, chocolate, biscuits or cereals. And never fizzy drinks.

I exercise regularly - weights & cardio at gym, walking and cycling - and do eat a very balanced diet with carbs from fruit and vegetables.

What do you mean 'it's the ketosis and food grouping stuff that heads towards pseudoscience'?

Itwillend
My BMI is 22.5 and I'm a gym nut so we are in the same ballpark - thing is I love gastronomy which makes the first four on your list part of an excellent meal! My killer is wine but I'm being good for a bit!

Right...Gold: The 5:2 diet has nothing to do with low carb. The only rules are eat 500 calories two times per week (600 for men) and eat normally the rest of the time. The Telegraph article gives a simple outline of the diet. Experts on the Horizon programme actually recommend limiting protein.

Of course, what you eat on your normal days are up to you, but a healthy balanced diet is probably advised.

Meanwhile, thanks all who suggested my headache was caffeine withdrawl. Definitely going to have some of my normal tea next time

BIWI
Many moons ago there was a BBC documentary about Atkins where both he and many advocates clearly completely misunderstood what ketosis was and why it mattered - also his promotion of high fat is what leads many people to 'fall off' the Atkins wagon.
Same with food grouping : its good for selling books but the fact that such diets go in and out of fashion, but calorie restriction has come out of the research centres, speaks volumes.

Would also be grateful if we could not cloud the issue re. low carbing. There was no mention at all of it in the original tv programme afaik. There are some excellent threads on here about low carbing if that is what you are interested in.

Sorry Mintyy. Was interested in what TalkinPeace2 was saying.

For whomever asked: you do not have to worry about ketosis with this diet. You will, however, probably find it easier on fast days if you keep starchy foods to a minimum, as they do tend to make you more hungry. Mosley's fast days were mostly veg and a small amount of protein.

My fast days are almost purely veg, and a couple of coffees (or tea) with milk. Do be sure to count the milk you use in your drinks. :)

Well, I'm coming to the end of another fasting day , and I must say its been really easy this time, I had eggs and ham for breakfast ,a black coffee and then a big tuna salad for a late lunch at 3.30 as I knew I would be out this evening and wouldn't be able to eat (helping someone move out of a flat ) .... So that's it ...just had green tea and water since lunch and I'm feeling fine..

Out for a Thai meal tomorrow evening and really looking forward to it ..

Sorry Mintyy. I find it so interesting how we all eat so differently and how each individual has to find a WOE that suits their lifestyle and weight goals.

End of a fast day for me. Got to say, don't know how many calories I've eaten but would guys at about 500, had some homemade roasted red pepper soup that needed using up, and a tin of tuna. Then a fair amount of milk in drinks. Been and done the food shopping after put my little boy to bed, that was torture, lol! have got a nice looking prawn pasta salad to look forward to for lunch tomorrow on my eating day. Out for some drinks and dinner tomorrow evening with some friends, hoping to try and keep it in check a little.

I can only speak for myself here, and I do not mean this personally towards anyone here. I am well aware of LCing, and LC diets. I've not attempted one myself because I know I would not be able to maintain that style of eating. I'd go into detail but I don't think I need to explain the whys.

I know I'm not alone in the fact that I'm well aware of how effective LCing is, if you can maintain it. But the fact is, most of us are posting here for support and ideas with regard to 5:2 or ADF. I think if people have further questions, or a genuine interest in LCing, there are many threads on that topic where they can go for further advice. Hearing "I'm just trying to understand why you would not just LC, or not just eat fewer calories daily" (calorie comment added for comparison purposes- basically, why don't you just diet the way that I diet?) etc really just puts people on the defensive in a thread where they shouldn't have to feel that way.

I've had an eating day here. Spent a very busy day in town running banking errands etc for the lead-up to tomorrow's visit with the estate agent re: the house we want to buy. Have eaten a range of things, and had a nice meal at a cafe with my 3yo. He had a strawberry milkshake which they'd topped with whipped cream and marshmallows, and he just thought that was the best thing ever. It was lovely. :) (and that was before he even tried to drink it- he mostly played with the marshmallows!)

Fast day again tomorrow. Will be busy in the morning anyway, and have a lot of cleaning to do on top of that. I'll likely be posting a bit in the afternoon.

GreenEggs - my kids order babyccinos in Costa just to get the marshmallows!

I'm not keen on low carbing either.

Just been out for a nice meal with DH to celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary, fast day tomorrow for me!

Have done two days of fasting and found myself unable to concentrate and function at work so am having to knock it on the head. It has made me think about how this diet could lead to dysfunctional attitudes to food, if they weren't already there. Starving yourself and microscopically analyzing everything that you put in your mouth. Trying to function normally when your blood glucose is very low. Also have daughters and don't really like them seeing mum missing meals as very conscious about setting good example to them regarding eating good food at regular intervals.

My point, for what it's worth, is that the two are not necessarily mutually exclusive. And indeed, from my own perspective, as I'm really interested in the whole idea of fasting (be it intermittent fasting, 5:2 or ADF), low carbing could be positively beneficial.

I'm here, like everyone else, to learn more about the whole idea of fasting. And it's fascinating to read of everyone else's experiences with it. I'm not sure I'm brave enough to try it quite yet!

up thread somebody mentioned about the only meal being supper every other day - that would be pretty easy for me TBH - as I don't eat breakfast and lunch is just a snack

FWIW - DH found today REALLY REALLY hard. But he stuck at it and is looking forward to his breakfast tomorrow!

tumble oh I didn't know about those! I mean, I've seen/heard of them, but sort of thought it would just look like a cappuccino without coffee in it.

moomoo I think some others have also found it's not for them. I eat with my son, on my fast days I actually eat quite a decent portion of veg. So he wouldn't be thinking I'm not eating enough; actually he's usually more interested in what's on his own plate.

In all seriousness, I think the first couple of fast days were difficult for me, but they've become very easy now, and it feels natural to be fasting after a day of eating a normal (not diet or low-cal) day of calories. However, some people aren't finding that, and I think if you are truly struggling through fast days then you might be better off trying something different.

TalkinPeace2 I usually keep my calories to the evening, and honestly it's quite easy to have a fairly normal meal for around 400 calories (assuming I've had milk earlier in coffees, because I do!)

I am amazed how few of you have reported feeling weak and dizzy on your fasting days. I didn't feel my senses sharpened as suggested in the programme so I wouldn't have been very good at surviving if I was a cave woman !! I would have laid down with a large furry animal skin on me and rested...

Hi all it was a fast day today and it has gone pretty well. I did do a bit of a work out last night, but just before ate a bowl of cereal and thos seemed to make the pangs stay away more than usual.
Have had a chickpea and carrot salad a coffee then an apple and an appls at 6 then pea and ham soup and a couple of leftover oven chips at 8. Am not hungry
I bought new scales tonight which are better than my old pair, however, it tells ms I havent lost anu weight since last week. This is probably because they are better scales, but I am disappointed.
next fast and weigh-in is on Sunday, so hops for better news. Am considering adf if no change by next Weds.