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Fasting / 5:2 diet

Talk about intermittent fasting and 5:2, including what’s worked for others. Mumsnet hasn't checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. You may wish to speak to a medical professional before starting any diet.

5:2 Diet Thread: Part Three. Come join us!

986 replies

GreenEggsAndNichts · 07/09/2012 15:51

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.

Here is a list of the links we've gathered so far about this diet. I hope I haven't left many out, but it was a 40 page thread! This is a good start for anyone, though:

First things first, here is a link to our previous thread, which we've outgrown. Lots of good support and ideas still to be found there.

Here is the link to the BBC article regarding Michael Mosley's findings, which was featured on Horizon.

is a link to the first part of the aforementioned Horizon, subsequent parts of that episode are linked on that page.

There is a Wiki article here which explains intermittent fasting and gives a short summary of some studies which have been done on it.

A blog post here gives some of the scientific explanation for why this way of eating helps you to not only lose weight, but improve your all-around health.

A Telegraph article which comments on the diet and gives a brief overview.

A study discussed here gives commentary specifically addressing the effect of this diet on obese people (both men and women), with regard to both health and weight loss. ("After 8 weeks of treatment, participants had an average 12.5 lbs reduction in body weight and a 4 cm decrease in waist circumference. Total fat mass declined by about 12 lbs while lean body mass remained relatively constant.) it also mentions "Plasma adiponectin, a protein hormone that is elevated in obesity and associated with heart disease, dropped by 30%. As did LDL cholesterol (25%) and triglycerides (32%).")

Important link if you are currently your ideal BMI: this appears to suggest the benefits for women at a lower BMI might not be seeing the same health benefits that are found on men at their ideal BMI.

And for those already fasting, here is a link to 100 snacks under 100 calories. :)

Another food link, here is a link to the BBC Goof Food site, with a list of low-calorie soups.

I will start a different thread just for recipe links, though, as there seems to be some demand for that.

A BIG THANK YOU to all who have been contributing, btw. Most of us are new to this diet. All of the links above have been posted by others in our previous thread, and they've been very helpful. Sorry if I haven't given credit where it's due, but it was just enough of a job getting them all in one post this afternoon. Wink

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

OP posts:
reddwarf · 12/09/2012 19:59

Nice try Wink unfortunately I'm only 5'2" and should be almost 10 kg lighter, thou I'd be delighted with 58kg.
I am def. overweight, and I cannot fit into any of my jeans, and the weather is turning.....

I was about 65.7 after the last fast and I was so chuffed to have got away from 66, and here I am, 66.6 Hmm Am trying not to read too much into that.

Is it important to eat 2000 cal on other days? Is less not ok? Not likely to be a problem, but would be good to know.
I
I find this easier in a way as I am very black and white, so I find it easier no not eat than to only eat a leetle bit iyswim.

Mind you I have felt so bad the last few days and ESP today. Dunno if it's the coeliac or this fasting, or maybe I'm just a total mean bitch. Confused

rachelblythe · 12/09/2012 19:59

Fast day for me.I've actually had about 600 cals today due to poor planning, but I'm not going to beat myself up as i only want to lose about another 4lb, I'm doing 4:3 and was already within a healthy bmi before i started. I have lost 10 lb in five weeks. I actually had lost that same amount in three weeks, haven't lost any in the last two weeks but had quite a lot of special occasions involving food and drinks over the last two weekends which i have thoroughly enjoyed without the guilt, which ordinarily would have gained me at least 2lb. So overall very happy :)
This is about my 14-15th day fasting and found it really easy. Definitely a long term WOE for me. It's the best 'diet' I've ever been on, with heaps of health benefits to boot. I have previously lost 2stone on SW and a further 1st on WW. Trying other faddy diets in between. This is great,i love it. Just got to start experimenting with cooking some meals for fast days and maybe freezing individual portions. You can make some lovely tasty low cal meals for around 400 calories, but i don't have time on my fast days as i am at work and need something that is quickly to hand. Will do some cooking this weekend i think, while I'm on an eating weekend

Laska42 · 12/09/2012 20:05

sorry reddwarf wasnt trying to suggest anything....

reddwarf · 12/09/2012 20:18

I know. I didn't think you were? Did i come across as being funny? If i did i didnt mean it, honest. Thank II for your help:) if I were 6' I reckon I'd be perfect. Except my jeans still wouldn't fit me Confused

BIWI · 12/09/2012 20:22

I'm 5 ft 2 as well, reddwarf - I doubt you really should be 10 kg lighter than you are! I think with weight loss you have to accept that it's not just going to drop off, and that sometimes it does go up as well as down.

reddwarf · 12/09/2012 20:27

You're right and I guess I shouldn't be getting my knickers Ina twist. It's just I found an old record from exactly a year ago and I was the exact same weight 66.6 then. So I'm feeling extra frustrated I have re gained the little loss I did have. Feels I will be stuck here forever and I so want this to work for me. As well as the weight loss, I just want to feel well again.

Laska42 · 12/09/2012 20:28

No no you didnt red .. it just internet messages..

Well I cant eat those two sausages now, just found next door's cat in my kitchen.. ruddy thief!! Angry

Mintyy · 12/09/2012 20:43

Hi reddwarf, another 5'2" person here. I can quite understand why you want to weigh less than 66kg (so do I) but I do think people of our small stature probably need less than 2000 calories on non-fast days. If 2000 calories is the calorie requirement of the average woman - and frankly I'm even a bit dubious about that and think its on the generous side for our modern sedentary lifestyle - then those of us who are shorter than average are just going to need fewer. Sadly.

Having said all that, I certainly don't think counting calories down to the last cup of tea is a good idea on feed days!

Sorry, that's probably about as helpful as a chocolate teapot. Just my vague thoughts.

Laska42 · 12/09/2012 20:53

here you go,reddwarf you may not have seen this link up thread . hear is a link to a calculator to work out your Basal metabolic rate

[[http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/
Here]]

Then go next page to work out what you need to eat to stay at the same weight

Here

reddwarf · 12/09/2012 21:04

Thanks for that - interesting. It reckons to Maintain my weight I should be eating 1900 cals per day, and to loose I need to reduce that by at least 500 cals per day. So only 1400 on an eating day? No wonder I'm stil 66.6!

Sorry about your sausages btw :(

frenchfancy · 12/09/2012 21:12

No if to maintain weight you need 1900 your feed days should have 1900 cals and your fast days 25% of that, so 475 cals. Which brings your weekly average to 1900 x 5 + 475 x 2 = 10450 which is 2850 cals less per week than your wieght maintenance.

Does that make sense?

Laska42 · 12/09/2012 21:18

Yes but remember you are only eating 500 on the fasting days..so you need to work out the whole total over a week to get what you need for eating days. Im rubbish at maths ..but I think it should be nearer 1600/1700 on eating days.

.. You might be better than me at working it out or perhaps someone brainy could help? However lots here dont count at all and have had good losses ..

I was averaging only 1200/1400 on eating days (im 5'5) and found i wasnt sleeping and after reading the stuff above on women and fasting started thinking I was in danger of putting my metabolic rate into starve mode (not sleeping a classic sign) , so i'm making an effort to eat more now ..

BIWI · 12/09/2012 21:19
Laska42 · 12/09/2012 21:19

ok ignore my last post ..I told you i was rubbish at maths..Smile
thanks french ill go and work mine out now ..

coribells · 12/09/2012 21:28

so today is my second fast day. I feel ive coped better than on my first. I found it a bit difficult at work during the afternoon, was eyeing up the biscuit tin. it took all my might to resist. Had a huge plate of rataouille when i came , with a sweet potato and a sprikling of cheese. I think it came in at under 400 cals. It was very satisfying.
i think I am getting used to this hunger feeling and am ok with it. This is really good for me because my major problem with over eating has been portion sizes and second helpings.
Looking forward to tomorrow though, have taken some bacon out of freezer for breakfast, am planning big salad from the salad bar at work, and may make a fish pie for dinner.

rosemarysage · 12/09/2012 21:42

I did my 5 week weigh-in. I have lost 5 pounds in 5 weeks so I am very pleased with that. I had a normal BMI to start off with (just about! Grin , BMI was 24.9) but had a fair bit of flab so felt I could do with losing over a stone. My BMI is 24 now. I would like to get it down to about 22 but I'm not in a particular rush. I am hoping to do some blood tests next month, though I will have to compare them to ones taken over a year ago (at the same weight as before I started the fasting).

I don't bother counting calories on normal eating days. My diet is pretty healthy though I have had some meals out and some deserts on my non-fasting days. It has been great to be able to go out for a meal and just pick what I want, enjoy it, and not worry about it.

I had been stuck at the weight I was at for over a year and was finding it hard to get motivated to sit down and do proper daily calorie counting, and feel restricted every day. I much prefer this where I just have to count a few of the days a week. I do 2 or 3 fasting days a week. I will probably just be doing 2 days most weeks from now on.

I have made some nice lentil soup and divided it into about 300 Kcal batches in the freezer so I can have them on my fasting days.

Before I lost the few pounds my Basal Metabolism was 1412.65, and my daily calorie needs would have been a maximum of 1695 according to the links Laska gave (thanks Laska Smile ) though I think the second figure would be a bit of an over-estimate for me, because I would spend an "abnormal" amount of time resting and sitting (due to illness), and don't to some activities even "normal" sedentary people would do. This fits in with my own observations as I thought about 1500-1600 calories or so would be about right for me for weight-maintenance, which of course is nowhere near the 2,000 some programmes on TV go on about (I think they should qualify what they say more, though I suppose 2,000 would be about right for a lot of people). This probably explains why I found it so hard to lose weight before.

Had a fasting day today. Found it surprisingly easy. So much easier that that PMT fast dayGrin. Sorry for the long essay!

reddwarf · 12/09/2012 21:45

Tanks for doing and trying to do the Maths for me you 2 :) brilliant. I think hopefully that might be my answer to where I goo g wrong. So how do you know easily how many calories something has before I eat it? After reading on here I joined my fitness pal. Then I put I. I'd had (loads of) peanuts and nearly choked when I saw how many cals I'd just eaten. Will never look at another peanut again.

reddwarf · 12/09/2012 21:55

Sorry, another q - is that true about going into starvation mode? I thought it was another myth like the breakfast one?

I'm on my phone so can't scroll easily up trough this mammoth thread but we'll done mrs sweet potato. Glad you found it went well, and that sounded scrummy. Hmm bacon ( in homer Simpson voice) am jealous!

GirlWithTheMouseyHair · 12/09/2012 22:06

just been reading that link about starvation mode too. Goddamn it, really????

Thina · 12/09/2012 22:09

Ditto re starvation mode, I thought it was a load of sh*te, but maybe that's another one of the titbits of diet crap I should have taken note of. Oh dear. My head is also gonna explode Confused!

GreenEggsAndNichts · 12/09/2012 22:43

Most of what I've read about starvation mode has said that it takes you regularly eating 50% fewer calories than your body needs to maintain its weight for it to kick in. This is why so many of us keep stressing that you need to figure out your daily maintenance rate (Laska has helpful links above on this page) and eat at least that on your eating days. Eating less than that is not a great idea, as it will take your daily average very low.

I'm not saying you need to calorie count on eating days; a lot of us aren't. The weight-loss studies done with this diet (some listed in the OP) left participants to eat what they wanted on eating days.

If you're interested in doing this diet, I'd suggest just giving it a go, with those guidelines, and seeing how your body reacts.

OP posts:
TellMeLater · 12/09/2012 23:10

I've read that starvation mode does exist but your body fat needs to be pretty low before it kicks in - can't remember exact percentage but I think it was sub 10%.

HappyOrchid · 12/09/2012 23:24

Am almost 5'2" and currently weigh about 62kg. would like to lose minimum 5kg. if could be 54kg would be back to happiest kind of size.

Still fasting today, even though i made 2 apple & blackberry crumbles & set the fruit to soak for the crimbly cake that i will bake friday night.

GreenEggsAndNichts · 12/09/2012 23:32

TellMe ah yes, that as well. good point. :)

OP posts:
GirlWithTheMouseyHair · 12/09/2012 23:32

ah I see - ok that's a good idea though because the last few eating days I've struggled to eat much so as long as I'm eating my required minimum it should be fine? Never thought I'd have to calorie count to make sure I was getting enough!