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! :)

4th fast day yesterday.It was definitely the easiest so far.Didn't even wake at 6am starving which is a first.Have now lost 9lbs.I'm having approx 500 calories at the 16 hour mark then approx another 16 hours til my next meal.Weight loss is great but hoping the other benefits are kicking in slowly but surely.

Decided to give this ago, I'm a little bit overweight, thanks to 3 children and the pill, but also interested in the long term health benefits. Started today with half a ccup of tea, then slice of ham for lunch, raw carrot and some grapes. I never eat as much in the morning. The test will come when the dc are all clambering for after school snacks and I'm cooking tonight. Going to have loads of veg and some prawns.

Finding the calorie counting a bit of a pain though, not a seasoned dieter! My parents have a fairly low cal diet and are still fit as a pair of fiddles at 80! Hoping the every other day fasting will be easier to stick to then just the 'eat less' approach. I can be quite disciplined for short periods of time. This diet seems quite prehistoric in that cave people probably had some days when they caught something big and ate loads, and other days when they just had the local fruit + veg.

Do you bother to calorie count on your feast days? Please say no!

bunnies no counting or limits at all on non fast days ....

both DH and I woke up today feeling fine after yesterdays fast. I skipped breakfast but we both had a nice sarnie for lunch. Staying off the booze as much as poss though ....

I weighed myself this morning.

I thought I might be 95kg
I am in fact 99.1kg

How?
How did I let it get to that?

lula I just think it's easy for it to creep up without us really noticing. Half a pound here and there, a few pounds over christmas, maybe another couple with all the chocolate over easter - It doesn't seem a big deal at the time but over the course of a year, or two, or three it then has become a significant gain. That just crept up.

DO NOT BEAT YOURSELF UP!

The thing is that you're now aware of where you are and are making positive steps to move away from it. Maybe slowly, but safely and sustainably. You can do it!

"I'm enjoying the fact that there's no forbidden or good foods, not obsessive about calories consumed on feed days (just not going too mad)
I think I could easily adapt this on a permanent basis. Just reducing number of days when target weight reached."

That's exactly how I feel about it :) I feel like I can lose weight & have a normal life & I love that. I eat normal food with my family on feed days, no worrying about calories or points or food group exclusions or supplements. I don't feel guilty or rubbish because I've 'failed' & eaten a slice of toast. And on fast days I don't think about food at all - I have my couple of coffees in the morning then salad/veg & fish/eggs in the evening. It's usually about 450-500 calories & 30g of protein.

Lula, I was pretty much the same weight when I started & am now into (just ) the 80s. My ideal weight is about 60kg ... I think I'll get there ... I've given up feeling shit about weight. I've had an incredibly difficult 10 years & my weight is a consequence of that. Life's much better now & I think I'm able to use other coping mechanisms, but honestly I feel pretty good about having survived even if I did get fat!

You people have enticed me into ADF with your positive experiences and chirpy words :)

Started on Mon (technically, it was an eat-what you want day but I paid more attention than usual), fasted on Tues and got a mega headache, recuperated yesterday and am fasting again today.

The fasting is MUCH easier today due to the decision to eat a decent breakfast, but I'm feeling light-headed and my fingers are very cold! Possibly won't drive my kids anywhere today....

And Lula, that's my weight exactly! Come hold my hand, we'll show these metabolisms who's in charge ....

I heard somewhere that just eating one ginger biscuit a day over your daily allowance will add 1 stone over ten years, and I've had a fair few ginger biscuits. The main thing is acknowledging it and moving on. Am up to about 100 calories, going to eat more for supper so the children don't see me fasting. Will skip the potatoes though.

I love catching up with this thread and all your stories and tips! Makes a fast day so much more interesting and achievable. It feels like we're all in it together

Lula I started the year in triple figures (in kilos) it happens... My first goal is to get my BMI out of the obese range as its still the wrong side of 35 (so I am slightly closer to morbidly obese than overweight I was even closer to MO earlier this year).

The way I look at it is every bit I lose be it only 225g (0.5lb) is a step closer to better health. It took me years to get this big I am not expecting a quick fix.

What I am looking for is a way of eating that I can stick with long term that doesn't leave me feeling deprived and miserable. I like the idea that by being restrictive on two days I can be a bit more relaxed on non fast days rather than every day having to think about everything I am eating.

Just thought I'd pipe in re: eating days, as we've a few more new people around ! On your eating days, you are not meant to be dieting, so please check your calorie counting at the door. However, be sensible- don't go to McD's for breakfast, the Chinese buffet for lunch, etc. If any of you have watched Secret Eaters (just saw it for the first time the other night! That's a whole other thread entirely!), you know that some of us might have eating habits which we think are "normal" but are actually adding up to well over 5000 calories for a day.

I just wanted to get that out there. Eat normally, but have an idea of what "normal" is.

There are links in the thread which can help you find what your normal calorie intake is. FWIW, I don't calorie count at all on eating days, and I have been indulging on many occasions, and I'm still losing weight. So this isn't me being preachy, I just think it is possible to overdo it if you really try.

Herrena maybe go out for a walk or so, might help your circulation, if you're saying your fingers are cold? I've just taken my 3yo to preschool (about an hour round trip) and I'm definitely quite warm now. :) Tis a fast day for me, as well.

Good luck with it!

Thank you, MandaHugNKiss, phlebas, Herrena and ChazsGoldAttitude

I was/ am beating myself up. I have clearly got a sort of reverse body dysmorphia in that I think (thought) that I am not as big as I am

Hand holding gratefully accepted as I have been badly beating myself up and have gone into panic mode, severely restricting calories today even though I fasted yesterday, getting obsessed and I am only two days in.

I KNEW it would be a bad idea to weigh myself

lula its only a number not a comment on your value as a human being. My kids don't ask my weight before deciding whether or not to give me a hug, my boss doesn't check my weight when assessing my work.

Beating yourself up doesn't work, severe long term calorie restriction on a daily basis is virtually impossible for most people to do. Part of what I like about 5:2 is it normalises my relationship with food a bit, i.e. its ok to be hungry sometimes and its ok to have a slice of cake sometimes.

Greeneggs
Sadly true - Dr Moseley was able to eat "normally" because his BMI was already under 25.

For those starting with BMI over 25, feed days should NOT include the following

• more than two biscuits a day
• more than one small (100g) packet of sweets a week
• more than 100g of chocolate a week
• more than one 25g (thats the teeny ones) of crisps a day
• more than 500 ml of ANY fizzy drink a day
• more than 3 units of alcohol a day (12 units to the bottle of strong reds)
• more than one takeaway a WEEK

as that is what us under BMI 25 consider 'normal'.

So please, don't calorie count but DO think about whether you are eating because you are hungry or because you cannot think of something more productive to be doing at that moment

then the fast days will really work as your whole insulin / blood chemistry system will be getting a consistent message all week.

chaz that made me cry, but in a good way. Thank you x

Where did the rules come from Talkin ?

Having googled loads of stuff, it would seem that the starvation mode myth is just that.

Ah Lula I think I had that too, I gained 10kgs very quickly but was too scared to weigh myself, and still sqeezing into clothes much too small for me. Acknowledging there was a problem was the first step. Don't punish yourself by starving though, that's counter productive.

Mintyy
Not rules - just common sense that has been in EVERY healthy eating campaign / TV programme / piece of research for years and years and years.
If you don't like it ignore it.

Its not that I don't like it, it just looked like a set of rules that have been devised for this eating programme and I wanted to read more. All I have seen is the original tv programme and this thread. That's all.

One thing I have found helpful is to watch what the healthy weight people around me do. They generally didn't eat as much as I was, didn't eat as much sweet stuff and did more exercise. Yes sometimes one of them would have a chocolate bar but it probably was a once or twice a week and often on days when they had done a work out.

At some point I had to stop kidding myself that I was eating normally I was putting away as much food (or more) than a 6 foot bloke.

I don't think talkinpeace is talking about rules for the 5:2 diet spcifically, more a guideline as to what normal eating actually looks like.

I am calorie counting on my feed days at the moment, but only so that I can see what normal is. It is very informative, 2 days that I thought I ate a similar amount were different by 700 calories.

My wieght has been put on through a gradual increase over the years including 3DCs and several grieving periods after deaths of loved ones. It appears from my calorie counting that I don't over eat, I just need to loose the weight that has crept on, then make sure it doesn't creap back again.

A little patronising talkin and somewhat smug but thanks for enlightening us with BMI over 25