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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:
saladfingers · 09/10/2012 16:30

I appreciate that the vast majority of people on this thread are using this WOE primarily as a diet to lose weight.That's great and it seems to work to varying degreees depending on how much you have to lose.

I want the weightloss benefits as currently have a BMI of 28,(that's after losing 2 stone already) however I primarily want the additional health benefits of intermittant fasting.

For those that are interested in the other health benefits check out these sites
Insulin resistance
HGH diet

Blondie276 · 09/10/2012 16:47

Hello all, and as has been mentioned by a few already- thank you for all the continued support. I must say reading other people's experiences and progress does motivate !
So week three of starting this week! After weighing myself and finding i put on a pound I've limited to a monthly weigh in as I know it can fluctuate unite a bit on this woe. I know that I have lost some though already as I got into a pair of jeans today that only a week ago were uncomfortably too tight- yippee !

I am starting to really feel better in myself and getting used to fast days- as others have mentioned I've started to look forward to them!
I've started to get a bit of a cold today though- the standard sore throat / headache/ ear ache blah blah blah- not sure if its a symptom of winter arriving or my body adjusting to lower calories but sure it won't last long ( I have made sure since I started this woe that I take daily vitamins though to make up for lost nutrition)
Looking forward to seeing the results after my first month- and thank you again to all for the posts - keeps me going as well as learning new tricks and tips !

ThatBintAgain · 09/10/2012 16:59

hello - marking place for when I get back on track. Have been having lots of lower calorie days due to being married to an arse which has put me right off for the last few days.

Breadandwine · 09/10/2012 17:04

I'm currently making a low-cal curry and so far, using onion, pepper, carrot and mushrooms I'm up to 71 calories.

Using your limit I would add:
Clove of garlic - 1 cal
100g of tinned tomatoes - 22 calories - so that makes 94; plus
50g cooked kidney beans - 47 cals - making 141.

A stock cube, some curry powder and a few mixed herbs will finish it off nicely.

That's if you've got those ingredients, of course.

HelgatheHairy · 09/10/2012 17:15

Hi all, on 3rd fast day ( not 3 in a row, just 3rd time having a fast day) and I'm finding it REALLY hard. Found the first 2 pretty easy but today I've been starving all day. I usually eat nothing till dinner time and have a good meal then but am sitting here thinking bout buttered toast!!

All in all I'm not going to be able to stick to 500 calories due to buggering up dinner by not planning ahead properly. But im not giving up on today totally, just realise it will be over a bit but still consider it a fast day. Will do next fast day Friday and be better prepared next week.

Breadandwine · 09/10/2012 17:23

Sorry, my last message was in answer to Disenchanted4. Smile

scattergun · 09/10/2012 17:35

I second everyone who says don't worry about occasional weight blips. I've been doing this for 9 weeks now and have had some big loss weeks and some no loss weeks, and I've been rigorous about the fasting and exercising. No idea why it's so uneven, but it's all downwards over time and I can definitely see myself doing this forever if needs be.

MikeOxard · 09/10/2012 17:47

What's up thatbint, you okay? x

Mintyy · 09/10/2012 17:48

I don't have scales atm and would never in a million years weigh myself in public unless a gun was actually being held to my head so don't know how much weight (if any) I have lost. But clothes feel a little looser and I somehow feel lighter and I am quite enjoying the fast days. Dh has gone down a notch on his belt. He has about 4 stone to lose (he is very tall), me about 2 stone 7.

Anyone fancy hazarding a guess at how much I might have lost? I am 5ft2", 50 years old, in the middle of the menopause, and have the metabolism of a sloth on tramadol. Started on 1st September, doing 5:2 with one write-off day so far (due to not being able to fast with hangover) but otherwise have stuck to the rules I think.

Place your bets Grin!

sarahcrowe · 09/10/2012 17:54

Just wondered if anyone on here has fasted from say 5 pm one day to 5 pm the next instead of within a normal day.
Thanks
Sarah

scattergun · 09/10/2012 18:09

sarahcrowe, I'm a 24 hour faster and do that most days. This means I have an eating window every day where I eat what I want and nothing in between. A few days a week I have the normal 3 meals a day, just to stay normal. I have found it very easy.

sarahcrowe · 09/10/2012 18:13

Thanks for that scattergun. Sarah

Laska42 · 09/10/2012 18:22

Right ! just had my carrot red pepper lentil tomato soup..

That's it for today!! but its six o'clock and ill be OK now until tomorrow.... but probably wont last until 10 - more like 8 , but I had over my 16 hrs this morning , so counting that

MFP makes it 514 cals today.... That'll do.. I still find it strange though how you get hungry and then you're not . I was ravenous at about 3pm , but not really once I got home and could eat ..

salad fingers I think lots of us are interested in the health benefits also . But of course we wont ever know if this WOE did make a difference to the length of our lives ..just hope it does. Thanks for the links . But of course the weight loss is a great motivator to continue and I've seem mine move downwards after a long time being 'stuck' (overall i've lost over 3 stone now, - 11lb on this) ...

Mintyy Thats dangerous talk that isGrin, I once REALLY upset a work colleague who asked me to guess her age , and I put her at about 10 years older than she was!! ( trouble is I think everyone is as old as me..) .. How about 6lbs? I'm 54 was 1 stone overweight and lost about 1.5 -2lb a week to start off with , but have slowed down now (and I think I'm done with menopause now )

SarahWithAFringeOnTop · 09/10/2012 18:49

Just been catching up on this thread... Do you really need to eat to the 500 calories on a fast day? Fast day here and have just worked out the calories in my proposed sipper(huevos rancheros, which is quite like the eggs in purgatory if anyone saw Nigelissima last week, but with a lot less olive oil!) and it only comes to about 320 if I've worked it out right... had a cup of tea this morning, but I don't take much milk, and Bovril at lunch, and everything else has been herbal teas, so I have calories "left over" - do I need to use them? I suppose at least I could have a cup of milky coffee after supper Smile

OHforDUCKScake · 09/10/2012 19:24

Ive really really struggled today.

I even caved just now and ate about 8 frazzles. Soooo hungry!

GreenEggsAndNichts · 09/10/2012 19:54

Sarah ah well, I often don't make my 500 calories.

As far as I understand from reading the articles, technically we're meant to be eating 1/4 of our calories for the day. 500 is 1/4 of the average woman's suggested caloric intake. Some of us are bigger than others (you can use the link in the OP to find your BMR, and from there there is a link to find out the number of calories you need per day given your activity level. If you're interested! So I take it to mean 1/4 of that amount. It's not always 500.)

As I said, though, I've been under my 500 calories on several occasions, with no changes to my weight loss. Some days I simply don't feel like having them all, or I leave them so late in case I want something later, then forget. :) I've been known to have a small glass of wine on fast days to keep up.

OP posts:
GreenEggsAndNichts · 09/10/2012 19:56

OHforDUCK I will give you the pep talk I give myself late in the day on difficult fast days: you don't want to mess it up now! You've come this far! A few more hours, you'll be asleep, and tomorrow you can have a cheese omelette for breakfast.

Or whatever floats your boat. :)

OP posts:
OHforDUCKScake · 09/10/2012 20:05

Thanks Greeneggs

Although I caved!

I ate two slices of brown toast

Ive never caved on a diet before and always managed the fast days relatively well, but today was something else! I wonder did I start with the wrong mind set today? Was I not busy enough? Has the baby been feeding more the last day or two?

I dont know but I buggered it up.

No hassle though, I'm back on it on friday and I'll come back fighting. Grin

GreenEggsAndNichts · 09/10/2012 20:23

oh well! I recommend getting some Ryvita in- each piece is surprisingly low calorie, and helps me if I get a bread craving on a fast day.

OP posts:
OHforDUCKScake · 09/10/2012 20:24

Thats an excellent idea, thank you.

TalkinPeace2 · 09/10/2012 20:28

MORE COFFEE NEEDED :-)

Laska42 · 09/10/2012 20:30

ducks its ok .. draw the line now and its not too bad .... so you had 700 instead of 500.. i've had days like that and still managed a loss overall..

If you are feeding I imagine its hard enough and maybe the baby has had more I don't know If I could do it I was BF..

Good luck for Friday and dont beat yourself up

Well I'm off to bed already (as I often do early on a fast day) with pot of mint tea and book

Was talking to work colleague who is also doing this today and we were saying about what we fantasise for food days and then never actually eat it! (I was thinking apples and custard earlier ....)

Mmm.. but cheese (and mushroom) omelette.. there's a thing ....

TalkinPeace2 · 09/10/2012 20:33

For various reasons I'll only be able to do one proper fast this week
so am doing 5 x 16 hour (as normal) and then two x 800 calories : which adds up to the same but does not make me look rude at business lunches when I'm one of the people who HAS to eat in the evening.

ShortLass · 09/10/2012 20:35

It's been a while since I posted and I've been 5:2 on and off for a while, recently off Shock. I was very hungry on feed days and ate loads. So not really any good news on the weight loss front Sad

I also go running and tried going out for a run the morning after a fast day, and after breakfast, but felt hungry and stopped after two miles to eat all the blackberries off a hedgerow Blush. Also, I didn't feel I had any energy in the run, like the glycogen had depleted in my muscles - I'd had this problem when I tried Dukan too.

I like this WOE and have decided to try 6:1 with fasting on the Saturday, as I don't run at the weekend (ie, fast on first of two non-running days). That seems more do-able to me. Then I'll still get a bit of the health benefits of IF, but have energy to do my running.

That's the theory anyway! Grin

ManOnBoard · 09/10/2012 20:42

Oh4DC It's at times like this I realise the difference between the genders, GE&N says all of the right things I would have said suck it up, are you a man or what? Just turn this week into a 6:1 with a very low cal day included and back on course next week.

Of course we all feel hungry(?) on occasion but it is only fleeting and more so if you can distract yourself. Whenever I feel peckish I have something to drink and have found orange squash or barley water are low cal but the liquid tricks the stomach and the sweetness the taste buds, also have it warm sometimes as I tend to sip it. Toast and Frazzles, having some of that tomorrow.

On the 25% as long as you are sticking to below 500cals it should get easier, as your weight drops your BMR decreases and 500 is proportionately more????

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