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! :)

TheCunningStunt wow well done her! :) Yes, I think those of us with more to lose (like myself) will post bigger losses than those of you trying to lose those last few pounds.

Hi everyone! Am on Day 1 of my first fast day ever and looking forward to feeling good and losing weight. Haven't told DH about this yet as he is somewhat sceptical about what he calls fad diets so will wait for the results to speak for themselves!

Welcome 2012fan :) I haven't told DH either, but I know he does a modified version of this naturally so he probably won't think it's too odd when I finally do tell him.

Good luck today!

greeneggs I think you are right about not restricting calories too much on a feed day ,i definately didnt eat enough yesterday as I simply wasnt hungrty and couldnt manage it ....so unlike me. ( and manged only 1190 on a feed day! ).

I have modified my 'semi-fast day' today as a result so as not to put myself in a starvation mode Just had an omlette (where i wasnt going to have breakfast today, ) ill just miss out lunch and have a normal dinner this evening now .

Its really annoying that many women (like me!) seem to struggle to lose compared to men (like my DH!) but thent hats just how we are made it seems.. Shame that when were done with reproducing (postmenopause ) our physiology doesnt go to more like men's though !

.. in fact my DH (who the same height and thinner than me) struggles to keep weight on.. GRRRRR....

.. I think that should be a good grounds for divorce .. (and for me getting the lot!!)

I am on target for a stone in 5weeks I think. Lost 8lbs in 2 weeks. I am bf though, so that is helping probably. I put on 4 stone in pregnancy, (size 8 to size 20ish!) and I think the idea in that biologically is so that it is then used up for suppling you with the energy etc for bf. I know some people say you need to eat extra while bf, but surely that only applies if you don't have plenty of fat stores you want to use instead!

Third and final fast day of the week for me today on my 4:3. I overdid the minstrels slightly yesterday, when i accidently bought a family sized bag! But was otherwise good, lots of salad!

For me this diet is mostly about losing weight as quickly as possible, as I am really unhappy this size and it feels bad and uncomfortable. Extra health benefits are a bonus though. I don't care if that makes it a fad diet in some people's eyes, my motivation doesn't have to suit anyone but me. :-)

Yesterdays feed day went fairly well.

I had a cereal bar for brekkie & an apple (160 cals)
Then prawn salad for lunch. - Say 350 cals
A Krispy Kreme doughnut - just glazed ring - 275 cals
Went out with work for dinner - had half portion of calamari and salad without dressing. A chicken caesar salad for main, with 5 chips and half a piece of garlic bread, we always share sides. Then Honeycomb icecream with an espresso over the top - Yummy. No idea how many calories, but was very full and I don't think I was too unhealthy. I know in the past I would have done for something stodgy.

Today is my third fast day this week. Will fas again on Monday next week. Am going with DH to a spa hotel for a couple of days (its our 20th anniversary) so will not calorie count at all and might even have a glass of wine!

good luck to all fasters today.

According to my admittedly rubbish scales I think I've lost 5lbs this week. It's first week so I don't expect it to continue along those lines.

Hello everyone! I am a newbie on here. I've started the ADF diet last Monday and have managed to loose 4lbs but nothing this week ..... I'm just wondering whether I'm doing this diet correctly?

I only drink water on my 'Fast' days & I Usually fast from 7pm one day (after dinner) to 7pm the next day, which means I am able to have dinner everyday:-)

RightBuggerForIt I agree entirely. I'm not too worried about how faddy other people may think it is, if it works, who cares.

Solar I have no idea if that works long term or not. "Fast" days aren't really fasting, you're meant to have 500ish calories on those days. I would think you could have dinner on those days if you were saving your calories all for dinner time. A lot of people are doing slight variations here, and only those who've been doing it a few weeks can really say what works for them, beyond that initial first week weight loss.

Laska grounds for divorce, indeed

Greeneggs, hasn't your dh noticed you not eating anything for 2 days a week?! Mine keeps trying to feed me on fast days! I've explained the diet but once i've had all my calories he tends to keep offering me stuff (snacks, small bit of dinner etc) and saying stuff like 'you have to eat something', 'just have a little bit'. I think he thinks I'm going to waste away - hahaha, fat chance!

had our weigh in last night, as we're away this weekend (weighing alternate Sundays generally)

I have lost 3lb in the last 11 days, making it 5lbs altogether in 3 weeks (Wii fit then grumbled that I might be losing weight too fast - I will NOT be lectured by a chuffing computer )

DH is very cross, has lost less than one lb in the last 11 days. But, he lost 5lbs in the first week, and we went out for a meal on Wednesday night, and he had cleared his plate, including a dollop of chips.

He is also reducing some medication he has been taking for a long time, and I suspect that chemical change in his body might be affecting the way his body reacts to intermittent fasting. I pointed out that he hasn't gained any, be positive.

Up to this week we had been having 2 consecutive fasting days, but after reading the article in the Telegraph last week, have changed it this week to Tues and thurs.

All in all, well pleased.

Right lol yes well, mine does a bit of this sort of thing himself. If he eats too much one day he compensates the next day. It helps that we don't really have dinner together on weekdays anyway. My fast days are Tues Thurs and Sat. I think since he sees me eating normally, especially on Sunday when we go out, that he isn't worried.

I'll let him in on it in a little while, if it seems like something I'll be doing long-term. I hate to "announce" a diet, though, then decide to stop it.

You've done really well though. I shall be keeping you as inspiration.

GreenEggs Thanks! I think I will start eating the 500 cals on my Fasting days ......

Greeneggs, i like all sorts of food, Chinese, Thai, Indian, Italian, but don't usually ever cook any of this type of food, it's seemed too complicated in the past, but finding making different foods really therapeutic. I like the sound of the focaccia breads, do you have a special bread maker?

Hi, just checking in, fast day for me and just having a mushroom cup a soup and a ryvita (95 cals). Definitely leaving it as late as possible works best for me. I've made up some sugar-free jelly for tonight later, Friday night treat haha!! Have a good day everyone :)

First ever fast day yesterday for me, thought I would struggle not having my usual gin and tonic or 3, but that didn't bother me a bit...but if I wasn't vegetarian i would have knawed my own hand off and barbequed it I was so hungry. It was only reading on this thread that it gets easier that kept me going, that and the thought of all the stuff I would eat as soon as my head rose from the pillow!

But, wasn't hungry this morning...didn't have anything till about 12, couple of crackers and cheese. Usually have jacket spud and salad with my mil friday lunch, put ususal amount on my plate and could barely manage half!!!

Got my dh to take note of all my stats on the weighing machine yesterday, as I don't want to know how much I weigh now, or what I'll weigh in a months time when I check again (previous eating disorder sufferer) but would like to be able to visualise the actual amount I've lost (bags of sugar, blocks of lard, etc) and how my % body fat has changed etc.

Great thread, lots of inspiration, thanks ladies!

Oh god, I just braved The Shop of The Death of The Soul (yes, IKEA) on a partial fast day. I got over the 'oooh yes I NEEEEEED one of those' stage and went straight to the 'I'm ready to napalm every living being within 2 miles of me' stage MUCH quicker than normal. Even DH, who likes to share the load of screaming in IKEA normally, was saying to me 'tell you what, I'll just take them to the kids' section and you can browse. Quietly. On your own.' while shooing my crying children away.

If I'd planned ahead, I'd have taken an apple with me. As it was, Warrington, I'm sorry...

Along with the odd bowels, that IS one of the side effects isn't it?

rachel I don't have a bread maker. I do often use the dough hook attachment for my mixer though, unless the dough really needs kneading. (I'm not naturally the sort of person who enjoys kneading, though I know a lot of people do!) And foccacia is often a bit more wet than a bread dough, so it's easy to make with a mixer and dough hook. I used Paul Hollywood's recipe (have made both his normal and his sourdough/lemon/rosemary version), here is the basic one. I have his book and am slowly baking my way through it. :)

Will IKEA is tough on any day!

For my own if looks could kill moment: DH today ate half the piece of cake I was carefully saving for today. A friend made it and I was really looking forward to it. A cupboard full of biscuits and chocolate and THAT is what he needed to tuck into! grr.

yes Wilfsell the trouble is I do that in places like lovely ,calm , genteel, John Lewis .. even on a normal day ... (but i put it down to menopause.. or just the wish to blast everyone down who isnt me or mine with an AK47..)

Yay, I'm an inspiration! :o

Dh said today that you can really see in my face that I've lost weight. And he was planning to get an Indian tonight, but obviously since it's my fast day we're gonna do that tomorrow instead. Veg curry for me I think. Yum. :-)

I am getting Ikea out of my system with a big glass of wine and some Graddfil & Lok Potatischips

Love 5:2...

Just checking in, I did my third day yesterday but found it harder than the others, just to buck the trend. But I saw it through. Thanks for all the links.

I lost 1lb this week as weigh in day today (when I'd weighed myself yesterday it was a gain of 2lb but that was post chips ). Today was a fast day. Next week I may do Monday, Wednesday and Friday as a 4:3 but not sure. The 5:2 works better in terms of dh and family meals. With the 5:2 are you meant to lose weight every week.