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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.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

5:2 Diet Thread: Part Five! Top of the Mornin' to you!

977 replies

GreenEggsAndNichts · 07/10/2012 17:53

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 a month or two ago, 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 we've filled several threads by now. Please share if you find something particularly useful, and we'll add it for the next thread.

First things first, here are links to some of our previous threads: most recent one before that another one.

Another thread which breadandwine has just started can be found here. We'll be trying to condense some of our top tips for fasting there. Keep in mind, we all do this differently, so these are just tips, not rules.

frenchfancy has a recipe thread over here, please post any low-calorie recipes there so they don't get lost in these bigger threads!

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.

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. We tend to favour lots of hot drinks during the day (count your milk if you use it!)

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

We often mention basal metabolic rate (BMR) here. This refers to the amount of energy (calories) a person uses when at rest; so, the basic number of calories a person needs to stay the same weight. This number is often quoted as being 2000 calories for the "average" woman, but of course is different depending on how tall you are, how much you weigh, etc. Here is a calculator which will easily help you to find out what your BMR is.

A BIG THANK YOU to all who have been contributing, btw. Most of us are learning this way of eating as we go along. All of the links above have been posted by others in our previous threads, 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:
BrigitBigKnickers · 10/10/2012 14:28

So am on my second fast day of the week-and really not finding it hard- have found the secret for me is to have a bi bag of cherry toms, carrot sticks and celery sticks which I graze on in the morning. Then a hearty soup for lunch (waitrose hearty chicken broth) and then an early tea with prawns and smoked salmon salad.

Have now lost 6lbs- not bad for three weeks!

Laska42 · 10/10/2012 14:32

BTW It says on that list 6-11 fist size potions of whole grains.. I WOULDNT have anything like that much !! I'm pretty sure that's a bad idea..

I go on all the time about DR John Briffas book ' Escape the diet trap' here (..and his blog) but I do recommend it for 'debunking' the way we have all been told to diet in the past ..
(Also he is very against too much in the way of grains and sugars .. I don't particularly low carb , but I have cut down a lot since reading this )

MikeOxardForHalloween · 10/10/2012 14:35

Bunjies - I'm flattered to be asked that actually (I probably have the worst diet on here because I don't cook!) but I am losing weight. I can learn to cook when I'm slim! Erm, for breakfast I have either a slimfast (ready made - they are more filling and delicious than you would think)! or I have a slice of nimble toast (51cals) with a slice of low-cal cheese and a slice of wafer thin ham, that's maybe 120 cals altogether. Sometimes I might fry an egg in fry-light and have that on top, so that's 200cals in total. For lunch sometimes I have weightwatchers ready meals for between 200-350 cals, depending which one you have. Evening meal I might have a jacket potato - just 1 potato and not a massive one at that, and I'll have half a tin (or a bit less) of baked beans on top, half a small tin of sweetcorn, and then a bit of grated cheese on top. I also have tea throughout the day, but I use 1% milk (not gross like skimmed, it tastes just like semi skimmed, but half the fat and less calories), and a probiotic thing (actimel), and sometimes a few squares of dark choc (4 squares are 125 cals). Sometimes I have something naughtier, lol, but I always regret it so I'm reigning it in now.

Greeneggs - That's fab, well done!

Fast day for me today. Just had a ww curry, delish. I'm decorating a cake with dd later, practicing trying to make a castle cake for her 3rd birthday coming up. I have swiss rolls and ice-cream cones for turrets, which I'm going to cover in melted chocolate and coloured hundreds and thousands. Someone smack me for doing that on a fast day!

Laska42 · 10/10/2012 14:40

MikeO consider yourself slapped.. you better let her lick the spoon and bowl..

mumofcrazynamedkids · 10/10/2012 14:42

mikeoxardFH smack

GreenEggsAndNichts · 10/10/2012 14:51

Oh you know what, I'll just say as a random tip. My first week or two doing this were spent eating very random foods on my non-fast days; I'm hardly going to pretend to be virtuous. Grin But I can say what helped was to make a project out of the things I was craving. So if I wanted something sweet the next day, I'd get out a recipe book I'd been meaning to use (but was always put off by because hey, when you're mind is in 'diet' mode, you don't consider baking often outside of special occasions). Those first couple of weeks I made cinnamon buns (er, something like chelsea buns, but an American version) which I'd never made before, for example. And when I wanted a proper meal of some sort, I'd make it from scratch. etc.

I didn't scarf all the buns, we shared some with neighbours. :) My appetite did go down with time, as well. I just finding making foods from scratch helped me to do something with food, as well as think about what was going into it.

This having been said, I quite like cooking, and always have. It's the reason I doubt I'll ever low-carb long term; I enjoy baking bread and everything else far too much. But planning a fancier dinner than usual for the next day got me through a few of those grim first fast days.

(I still might do this sometimes, but now I don't always actually make the meal the next day. :) But I COULD, and that's why this WOE is so lovely)

OP posts:
GreenEggsAndNichts · 10/10/2012 15:02

MikeO your Halloween name made me laugh, only just noticed it. Grin

OP posts:
mrsminerva · 10/10/2012 15:32

Marking my place...

scattergun · 10/10/2012 15:51

Like others a few posts back, I can't believe how long I've been doing it for - mostly because it hasn't seemed like an endless struggle and I'm not longing to reach the end point. A good thing, indeed.

mommybunny · 10/10/2012 16:17

Hi all - checking in and seeing some great progress - well done all. I also see some disappointment and agree with all the suggestions about how to try to reverse it.

After my own disappointment yesterday (up 1 pound) I threw a little "food tantrum". DH was unexpectedly not home so I had no one to cook a "proper" meal for so I just ate what I fancied. A grilled cheese sandwich, a glass of wine, some dark chocolate and LOTS OF CRISPS. Felt a bit sick afterward if I'm honest. But I'm doing much better today - had some hummus and falafel and fried aubergine, which I LOVE and have always felt "when dieting" I couldn't touch, but I will have a small dinner tonight and then a good fast tomorrow. I took a walk at lunchtime and found a chop'd salad restaurant near my office where they have pre-made salads that tell you the calorie count. So I'm well prepared and no omelettes and toast for me this time!

I also do no exercise at all - I justify it by saying I have 2 DC and work FT with a long commute. My hours can be very erratic - every time I've started an exercise routine it's been blown out of the water by work commitments, and it takes me so long to get back on track even after the disruption ends. I also can't really run due to a minor medical condition which I won't go into. But I've taken steps today to rectify the medical condition, so that I can run, which is one exercise for some reason I had always liked doing in the past. I'm also going to look into spending the money on getting a personal trainer to come to my house a couple of times a week (maybe club together with some friends), as I do WFH 2 days a week. Maybe that will help me out of this rut.

TalkinPeace2 · 10/10/2012 16:37

Mommy
A personal trainer is a BRILLIANT idea if you cannot get to a gym. THey will work wonders with you - once you stop walking like Frankenstein's monster after a session!

littlemissstan · 10/10/2012 17:41

bunjies aside from the height, I could have written your post! As I posted a couple of days ago, I'm on my fourth week and so far have put weight on! Let's try and stick at it together - I have been having a think and unfortunately I do think I am binging on eating days, totally counterproductive and not helping my already fraught relationship with food...

marinake · 10/10/2012 18:19

Hi all,
Haven't posted on here for a long time, but have read all threads.
I've been following this WOE since august and am now at the point where old jeans have started fitting again :D Really glad about it and am having a lot of fun rediscovering 'old' clothes.
Have gotten my sister hooked on it aswell, so nice to swap tips and share the pain when a fast day is for some reason hard.

Had a fast day today, beetroot salad for lunch and fish, veg and mash for dinner. I live in the Netherlands and my local supermarket does great pre-packaged foods with the calorie amount on the label. So most fast days go like a breeze!

Can't say how much I've lost in stone, but it's about 6kg.

Good luck everybody, keep up the good work!

Piebaldrider · 10/10/2012 18:43

HI Laska 42

I don't think i wrote my post very well, i do eat my 500 calories on the tuesday ( or whatever day i am doing my little fast) but the point i was making to myself was that those 500 calories were spread over a period of 40 hours from my last meal to my next one with two periods of excersise in the middle . I just felt that falling off the wagon for a day wasnt the end of the world if you look at how long we do fast for. I think i was trying to justify it to myself and not get down about it . I did trip up but i am back on track and hope to stay that way with all the support we have here :)

ThatBintAgain · 10/10/2012 18:59

Quick question- would you continue to fast on a day when you feel ill? I'm coming down with something and feel rotten; I've made it this far on 400cals so feels like a shame to waste it but also feeling a bit lightheaded and awful...

MikeOxardForHalloween · 10/10/2012 19:09

Thank you! If anyone wants to see the cake, I've uploaded a picture. It's my first practise for dd's 3rd birthday. It's crap, lol. I said to her 'Do you want a different cake, do you want to choose one from the shop?', she said 'no I want that one'. Aw, I can't give her a cake looking like that for her birthday!!

There was much licking of fingers but I think I'm still within calorie limits today.

GreenEggsAndNichts · 10/10/2012 19:10

Bint I did yesterday (I've had a terrible cough for weeks now but this week I've got some kind of secondary infection which has brought in a fever and achiness). I feel better today, yesterday was just terrible and long and all I wanted to do was sink into the sofa with bad telly I didn't have to think about. Of course what I did have was a 3 yo who doesn't have preschool on Tuesdays so, well, it was a long day. Grin

I did keep my fast day yesterday but it was perhaps particularly stubborn of me. I'd personally stick with it if you've made it to 7pm. 100 calories could get you a cup of soup or a hot chocolate or um, something along those lines. Something warm you can cuddle. :)

If you decide to break the fast well, it's not the end of the world. :) I'm just stubborn!

OP posts:
MikeOxardForHalloween · 10/10/2012 19:11

Thatbint I would probably give in tbh! Unless you are thinking to do it tomorrow instead in which case, no, don't waste it, just stick it out and go to bed ASAP. Hope you feel better soon. x

Sputnik · 10/10/2012 20:46

I would say that not fasting a day is totally not the end of the world, the way I see this is I'm in it for life, skipping a day is neither here nor there, as long as I go back to it.

GirlWithTheMouseyHair · 10/10/2012 21:18

Fast day today, my dad has catastrophically fallen off the wagon but I've managed ok so far - except we went out for lunch, I had salad with a few grilled veg, but drenched in vinaigrette - any ideas for calories?!

hoops997 · 10/10/2012 21:32

I've fasted today and only had 178 cals, I really haven't fancied anything else other than my leek and potato soup and 2 ryvita.

Going to bed soon, looking forward to eating day tomorrow Smile

TheCyclistist · 10/10/2012 22:21

Hi everyone, feeders,fasters,losers,gainers.

Fast day yesterday and found it very hard, funny how out of the blue things can suddenly jump up and bite you in the arse. Got through it OK but surprised how difficult it was at times.

About a month ago ordered the Alternate Day Diet book by James Johnson on Amazon and it finally turned up this afternoon, I think they were taken by surprise and sold out or something. Half way through it at the mo and to be honest most of the stuff in it has already been said on here or is sourcable by the links Greeneggs has at the top of the thread. If you haven't seen the Horizon programme then it might be worth reading but Mosely's programme says it well.

Fasting day again tomorrow so hoping things go bit easier. For me the thing that gets me through a 'fast day crisis' is the thought of how good breakfast will taste the following morning Smile Roll on Friday morning!!!!!!

Hope everything goes great for all tomorrow be you fasting, feeding or undecided Wink

awaywego1 · 10/10/2012 22:29

Only managing one fast day this week as I'm visiting a friend for a few days but have really noticed the past couple of days that my appetite has reduced so am feeling a lot more in control of my eating.
Going to try to eat sensibly whilst I'm away and plan next weeks fasts well.

TellMeLater · 10/10/2012 22:32

Another Fast day draws to an end. This one was very hard, usually I was incredibly hungry this morning, hunger eased in the evening but I think I probably wen over my calorie intake by 50 or there abouts - just really pleased I got through it.

Not lost much weight, maybe 2lbs over the 8 weeks but I am supposed to be in maintenance anyway, not much hope of me fading away so much that I need to shift it to a one day a week fast.

poachedeggs · 11/10/2012 07:15

Well that's me finished week 6, fast day twelve ( 11 of which were successful!). I can't remember my starting weight exactly but I know I've lost at least 8lbs, and I think it's probably more like 10lbs. An awful lot more to go but a great start!

I'm not posting much because my phone hates bigtthreads ,but I'm here :)