Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

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 Six! Now's the time to de-lurk and chat with us..

984 replies

GreenEggsAndNichts · 25/10/2012 12:49

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 in August, 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 started is a good resource for some of the links and tips that get lost in these big threads. In addition to sharing links, we try 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 mentioned BMR and TDEE often. Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) quantifies the number of calories you burn in a day. This measure is best estimated by scaling your Basal Metabolic Rate to your level of activity. TDEE is critical in tailoring your nutrition plan to desired fitness goals. Here is a link to a calculator to help you figure out how many calories you should be eating in a day.

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:
ThinkICan · 08/11/2012 01:52

Where do you all find your target/ideal weight? I am 5' 5', 57 years old and have a medium frame. What should I aim for? Thanks.

ThinkICan · 08/11/2012 02:12

A summary of Fuhrman's book is here: www.everydiet.org/diet/eat-to-live. Looks like vegetarians or vegans like Breadandwine will find it more useful as it asks you to avoid animal foods. He talks of tested results of 20 lb lost in the first 4 -6 weeks, ten pounds the second month and about a pound and a half per week thereafter.

MummysHappyPills · 08/11/2012 06:19

Eat the cake! (Or I'll come find your house and I will - it's a feast day!) Grin

Bordercollielover · 08/11/2012 06:48

Surely all rules have exceptions and chocolate is one of them. Eat it before Happy Pills sniffs it out!
ThinkICan, I don't think there is an arbitrary "ideal weight" it's just that , having once a certain weight a quarter of a century ago, I happen to know the weight which correlates with my optimum health and fitness. Hip : waist ratio is considered to be more significant than weight alone. To start with there is a fixed waist measurement for women that we should get below although I can't remember what it is!

NatashaMousse · 08/11/2012 08:09

Thanks for the link TIC. The comments were interesting and got me charged up to do some further tweaking of my eating. I may even try a strict regimen for a few weeks to see what it does for me. First, though, I want to do a few more fasts . . . and deal with that cake. Wink

NatashaMousse · 08/11/2012 08:17

"Surely all rules have exceptions and chocolate is one of them."

Actually it's not an exception but an oversight. Fuhrman - and plenty of others - have made the unpardonable mistake of omitting from their food pyramids and schemes the 3C Group: coffee, chocolate and cheese. We must not allow ourselves to be led astray by that error. Grin

lilacbluebell · 08/11/2012 08:51

morning allSmile

early night last night after fast day, and again sleep no worse than usual. Feel quite good this morning, and plan a boiled egg mid morning. Looking forward to a feed dayWink

hoops997 my stir fry was a Tesco value family bag of stir fry veg, I added a chopped green pepper and a can of bamboo shoots, stir fried with a blue dragon black bean sauce sachet. I divided it into 3 portions and added 4 (!) cashew nuts to each portion, served with boiled rice. It came in at approx 360 cal per portion. I suppose I could save some calories next time (for extra cashew nuts!) but using 5 spice powder and soy sauce instead of a packet sauce, I just wanted a quick meal without too much calculating!

I am going start a "special" 5:2 notebook, with recipes from the thread/links, and meals I've cooked, so I have a quick reference point to hand in my kitchen, without having to fight the DH/DC for the laptop when I need to plan! It is so liberating knowing I can have what I want today, that when I faltered yesterday I was able to accept there was no need to give up/cheat as it wasn't worth it!

Have a good day everyoneSmile

virginposter · 08/11/2012 09:12

mummyshappypills
I can strongly recommend Psyllium husks as I've mentioned in my last post. I was having bowel investigations (turned out to be nothing) but he highly suggested this for bowel health.
I take just 1 tsp per day in plenty of water, and to answer a post earlier the calorie content is 11 so is ok even on a fast day Grin

Laska42 · 08/11/2012 09:46

makehay No not referring to you or anyone ,was just a general observation and I thought maybe it was good to reiterate the wonderful simplicity of this WOE .

But as I said I was a bit tetchy last night (didn?t get a job I'd worked hard for ) and probably shouldn?t have posted in that frame of mind....

You are right, there has been some research suggesting that maybe fasting affects women's reproductive abilities.. (as in times of famine when it wasn?t great to get pregnant so maybe it may have put women at biological reproductive disadvantage). Being past menopause , I must say though Ive not really thought about this .

But there is not a very large body of verifiable real research done on humans yet. So WE ARE the research experiment! And only you can s decide if this WOE is right choice for you.. I wont be going back now though.. I reckon this is it for me now for life..thoughI wil be going to 6:1 soonish I think..

Three other observations to throw in ..these are totally non scientific and my thoughts only but maybe worth thinking about

  1. Re: the famine thing ( and this is just my observation) looking at recent famine disasters , whilst no one could say they were in anyway healthy .. there do seem to be a lot of babies being born...
  1. if you are a gardener you?ll notice that when a fruit bearing bush or tree is in trouble , ( drought etc ) It often flowers and bears a lot of fruit that year (i.e. producing offspring)...
  1. MOST (and I?m saying this very carefully!) western women and men.. when fasting a couple of days a week and eating well the rest of the time are probably not going to go into starvation mode..

From doing this (all of ! 3 months now so still part of unknown outcomes of the research project ) , and initially fearing the dreaded 'Starvation mode' plateau which has happened to me so often in the past or so I thought, I?ve actually come to the conclusion ,that its a Diet Industry Fiction .. , unless you really only eat a very restricted diet everyday ...

Anyway, Please accept my apologies for any offence caused.anyone .Thanks

I'm feeling much less miffed this morning,...Onwards and upwards ....At least I have a job .. (and a warm home and can fast by choice )

Fasting to day (and another pound off on SP this morning.. but the 'official WI 'tomorrow, and if that?s correct ill be 15lbs down now .. )Grin

In the sprit of friendship and common endeavour (ooh I've come over all Barak Obama!)

x

Laska42 · 08/11/2012 10:02

Ooh Man on Board .. hope you are not having too much trouble with all of the 'Top of the Morning': references on this thread!! LOL ..

TheCyclistist · 08/11/2012 10:39

Hi Skippy , yeah in answer to your question I think it was me who had the 'senior moment' as the link was not to an IGF-1 testing site as I'd thought it seems to be an advisory site that gives information on IGF-1 testing. That'll teach me to try and multi task i.e watch TV and operate a laptop.

A Fasting day for me today and woke up hungry but a Raspberry and Chilli fruit tea later and the rumbling has gone. The sun is shining here so off to try and find things to do to keep me distracted. Concentration is definiatly a problem for me when fasting.

Good health to all and I hope the day goes well be you fasting or feasting or whatever today Smile

Breadandwine · 08/11/2012 11:01

Interesting link, ThinkICan, thanks. I'll have a good browse tonight. Do you want to stick it on the other thread?

About bone loss associated with low IGF1 mentioned on the testing thread Cyclist posted:

"In adults, abnormally low levels of GH and/or IGF-1 may cause subtle, non-specific symptoms such as:
Decreased bone density
Tiredness
Marked changes in lipid levels
Reduced exercise tolerance"

The important phrase there is abnormally low levels! Whereas we're only trying to lower our IGF1 levels to acceptable levels. And then there's the word may in there as well.

As has often been said, we are the research group.

I'm happy to report that my wife is still losing 'significant' amounts of weight. Over the last two months there's been a steady downward trend - probably make a straight line on a graph!

I'm toying with the idea of getting another box of chocolates for her, to celebrate. Not Thorntons, this time, but a box of Roses or something. What do you folks think? She only weighs in every fortnight or so.

My weight goes up and down depending on how much I've been feasting. I now think I should include a 'Feast' day once a week - so I'll have to have an Indian followed by a bucket of ice cream once a week. I don't bother with scales these days - if I can't use the last notch on my belt, I'll just fast until dinner the next day. That's becoming normal for me - it's easier not to eat, plus it gives you more time!

If you think about it, our ancestors weight must have gone up and down all the time! The tribe would obviously weigh a lot heavier 3 days into a mammoth kill than after a week chasing the blooming thing! And they'd be doing lots of exercise on an empty stomach!

Laska you didn't get the job - but you did get the dress! (Hope you're not regretting not getting a size smaller! Grin)

mumofcrazynamedkids · 08/11/2012 11:04

Morning all, successful fast day yesterday, argued a bit with myself this morning about whether i was going to try and extend my fast til lunchtime, but for economy i made a smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel for lunch, and have eaten hald already, plus some fresh orange plus a yogurt drink, so bang goes that idea, and I have to stop beating myself up, because today is an EATING day!

wanted to say to laska that i didn't think your post was negative or offensive, nor did I see it aimed at anyone.

i agreed with you entirely, the simplicity is great, and the reason I am doing it and sticking to it, despite not a huge weight loss (weigh in day is tomorrow, but I sneaked on today, and have only lost 1 of the 2 pounds I had gained back last week, and was so hoping to at least be back to 10 11...sigh oh well, overall, i am still 10 pounds down to where i was 3 months ago, and It's really quite easy to do, I could up it to 4:3 but that just doesn't seem to fit in with children, so i will just continue, maybe it's more realistic to say that I lose 0.5-1 pound a week, and even that is fine as long as it continues, which i am sure it will.

and I have to remind myself that i have had 2 full on celebratory weeks during that 3 months, and so many days I get to eat and drink what i like, i do not ever worry about eating a certain level of calories. This is my new life plan - simples.

have a good day all, oh and welcome to all the new peeps!

mumofcrazynamedkids · 08/11/2012 11:08

breadandwine get her some lindt lindor chocolates, supermarkets do them and they are the ones that are balls, white, milk, hazelnut and dark )they are delicious!

tell her congrats from us!

Laska42 · 08/11/2012 11:08

Cyclistist Hi there! . I hate fruit tea.. but youve given me a thought. ....Franks n' fruit!
Is there no end to my depravity Grin

Laska42 · 08/11/2012 11:16

crazymum (sorry couldnt resist)
Lindor chocs..... Get ye behind me Temptress!! I am fasting today ..Sad but not tomorrow though Wink

Yes bread and Wine definately recommended... You'll be in excellent books with your wife if you get her those..

GreenEggsAndNichts · 08/11/2012 11:28

breadandwine I agree, get some Lindor or something a bit nicer. I think I've upgraded a few of our food items since this WOE, and we're still saving loads on groceries. Grin But if she's just having a chocolate or two a day on non-fast days, it might as well be nice ones. My personal opinion, anyway.

And, avert your eyes, MOB, but TOTM has come early again this month. I'm not sure what this means, really. My entire life I've been like clockwork, every 28 days, and this has only changed since starting this WOE. interesting. I know my best friend (since we were 8 or so, and we're 36 now, so I know pretty much everything!) has always been slim and she's always had erratic periods. It hasn't made her less fertile (she has two children) but it does mean she can't time when it's the middle of her cycle and all that. Something for me to think about, anyway.

Non-fast day here. I'm having more fast days in the middle of the week this week as I've got a party on Saturday and we'll likely be going out on Sunday..

OP posts:
squoosh · 08/11/2012 11:32

Mmmmm Lindor. Especially if they've been allowed to get a little bit warm.

Abra1d · 08/11/2012 13:11

Who mentioned Lindors! {Glare} I am eating a CARROT for my lunch and you are tormenting me.

Laska: empathies with the job. My husband has been going through this for the last 18 months and it is really soul-destroying to work hard and not get the job. Good luck.

TalkinPeace2 · 08/11/2012 13:45

makehaynotstraw
while having my swim this morning I realised what I do not like or trust about that whole Paleo diet stuff.
It is written for people who have access to Ocado and fridge freezers.
In the true paleo, you ate what you could find around your local area
so round here it would be roadkill and exhaust fume coated rosehips at the moment.
In the paleolithic era they did not do intermittent fasting, they did intermittent feeding!

The reality of food supply is that, all over the world now there is access to traded food and long storage food.
Lets just live with that but eat a bit less of it ...

Piebaldrider · 08/11/2012 13:48

Grin Grin Grin Grin Grin Grin Grin Grin Grin Grin Grin Grin

Shooby dooby doo bom bom , i went to the gym before work and i had lost a kilogram this week. I could not believe it and i am now under 14 stone so that has to be more than a stone gone now and i am happy and i am motivated. Plus i only did 5.2 last week and not my usual 4.3 ......

I think a few of us were feeling a bit touchy yesterday after reading through the posts. I am also a little emmotional today but i think its the combination of a hard work out on top of a fast and possibly a flu jab chucked in for good measure. I do find i am more irritable at the minute but i am also losing more weight so could all be connected . Got the afternoon off work too so going to eat some lunch and ride my horse. Smile

Hope you are all having a great day ... I'm on fast 3 tomorrow ..so may not be quite so happy...

TalkinPeace2 · 08/11/2012 13:55

By the way,
just made myself instant miso soup for lunch :
one veg stock cube/tub thing, one rounded teaspoon of miso paste, a few leaves of chopped perpetual onion from the garden
into a mixing bowl with boiling water.
stir
pop into bowls, dilute with cold water, more chopped onion leaves on top
NOM NOM
even DH had to admit it made him feel like he'd had a meal. Appears to be around 50 calories between the two of us ....

Thelittlestranger · 08/11/2012 15:34

If only I liked miso soup....

Well done piebaldrider! I stepped on the scales today and appeared to have stayed the same, but that's ok. I've had steady loss for the last four weeks, so I think it's my body finding its next maintenance weight. I expect (hope) it to start moving in the right direction again next week.

I couldn't say if my TOTM has been affected, as it's still not back from after giving birth. As my son is now a week shy of 5 months old, and I stopped breast feeding 8 weeks ago, I expect it to return very soon. Unless fasting has delayed it's return...

mumofcrazynamedkids · 08/11/2012 15:36

laska i thought you didn't like chocolate?

sorry for the lindor mention......Wink to anyone who wants to avoid temptation....but even if you are fasting, you can have it tomorrow!!! (except when tomorrow comes you won't want it!)

mumofcrazynamedkids · 08/11/2012 15:36

woop woop to piebald excellent news!

Swipe left for the next trending thread