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 2012, 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.
I know a number of people lurk on this thread, as this is currently quite popular. Please just jump in and post if you're new- we won't bite. Well, maybe on a fast day. 
Here is a list of links to get you started with this way of eating. Please let us know if you find a new article or some other information online:
First things first, here are links to some of our previous threads: most recent one before that another one etc!
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.
Here is where I would link to the aforementioned Horizon programme, but it appears as if the BBC have finally noticed it on YouTube and have taken it down. If you have another link for this episode, please PM me with it, or post it to the thread and we'll put it up for the next thread.
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 all the links re-copied and back into one post.
Come join us, and tell us about your experiences with this diet!
Mumsnet hasn't checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. You may wish to speak to a medical professional before starting any diet.
Fasting / 5:2 diet
5:2 Diet Thread! 7 is our lucky number...
GreenEggsAndNichts · 19/11/2012 12:57
Well done welshmill!
Have entered the Christmas round of work dos and end of term gatherings so finding it hard to fit in 2 fasts a week. Thanks for the advice (cant recall who from) about just skipping breakfast on meal out days - I think that will help me keep in the zone.
Someone asked if I had lost weight today!! 
so feeling good.
I have now been on this woe for 4 weeks, I lost 7lbs after 3 weeks and for the first time in years I am now under 9st. Had a weekend of overindulgence last weekend but have remained the same weight as last week. I fasted yesterday and managed, easily, to not eat at all until dinner time, so had a big 500 calorie dinner, everyone is doing so well on this diet, I can see ww and sw getting worried 
WI and measure this morning. Lost another pound, so now at my lowest for years and years.
More importantly I have now lost 3" from my bust, 5" from my waist and 4" from my hips. 
I've also just calculated my body fat and I am well within the normal range at 25.6% (though my BMI is still a little high at 25.7)
Good luck to today's fasters.
awkwardturtle My advice to anyone who hasn't lost weight on 5:2 is to keep a food diary for a couple of weeks. It may be that you are overeating on eating days. Check out your real requirement (which is not necessarily the 2000 recommended) then be completely honest about everything that passes your lips.
I've just been watching secret eaters on you tube and it is a real eye opener. One woman couldn't understand why she couldn't lose weight, her food diary said she had about 1500 cals, but when they watched her it was over 4000 cals/day 
HI all . I agree about logging what you eat especially at the start When i started this after many years on WW I was amazed at quite what their 29 points a day added up to , especially when i worked out my TDEE.. no wonder id not lost any weight for over a year .. .
Now I generally log what I eat on fast days but occasionally on feed days if i feel that I'm getting dangerously near to going over, when ill go back and input all i've eaten that day.
Its the only way to do it i've found and there have been a few surprises which now have totally changed the things I generally eat. ..Now i know roughly what calories are in the things I like to eat , when I'm offered something I wouldn't normally ( like strawberry cheesecake and cream yesterday ) I can decide if i think its worth spending the calories on . (it definitely wasn't) . I decided to save my calories for a glass of wine I when i got home.. (this was the ever first dry Christmas lunch id been to, but then it was all social workers, health and care staff)
FF great inch loss stats.. the one brilliant thing i've found about this WOE is the loss of inches around my middle i've always been apple shape , still am of course because that's my body type but now a much smaller apple.. i've now lost about 6in of my middle, (though sadly i've also lost what little bum I had) and only about 2in off my boobs ( also annoying ) . But IF I stand tall and suck my tummy in . it now measures 29".. first under 30 i think since I was a teenager !
Moan alert...
BTW I'm all for treats , wine and lunches out etc. etc. and have had many more of those since i've been doing this WOE than I ever did on WW , but has anyone else had people say 'Wow! look at your weightloss', ask how you did it and then say that they simply would not be prepared to or miss a meal or go hungry for a short time, give p their treats . ? and not listen when you say that you are still having wine meals out etc etc ... And of course tell you just how dangerous missing meals is? ..(like we don't eat for weeks on end!!)
Then they moan about being unable to lose any weight..on a regular basis but still wont listen to the suggestion that perhaps they d give it a try for a week or so .. saying 'its easy for the likes of you' ( nope ive struggled with weight loss for most of my adult life and have finally found something that works and lo and behold its simply eating less!! ..)
Closed ears .. or 
?
Ah well if Dr Ms book becomes the next phenomenal diet , perhaps they will see ..
So glad i've got you lot to talk to about it 
And my lovely DH who's on board (he has been doing this naturally for years) because he can see just how its worked for me and how much more happier I am with myself)
....AND refuse to believe that you simply don't really like strawberry cheesecake or chocolate lumpy bumpy or christmas pudding and custard and so you therefore MUST be starving yourself? Grr ...... Rant over
.
....... and zen out....
Yes Laska I had someone ask about my weight loss and react the same. They said no way could they go for a day without food (despite telling them they could have 500 cals) etc etc. Then I explained it all to them in more detail and they said they'd try it in the New Year as it would be too hard right now.
Imagine my surprise when they next tell me that they tried one fast day and survived and tried for a second but only managed a half day as unforseen events occured, but they weighed and had lost 1.5 lbs much to their surprise. We now have another 5:2er who is going for it after Christmas.
I'm on my second consecutive day today. Trying this for the first and hopefully only time as my daughter is coming tomorrow for 4 days and we are having a mini Christmas with the dinner and ALL the trimmings and she's bringing chocs which I have managed not to buy! So far had tea, coffee and water and tonight will have homemade bolognese with plenty of veg and a little pasta. Last week I made mince pies to freeze for her - big mistake as about 3 or 4 got stuck in the tray and broke when I tried to get them out. Guess where they went 
.
Good luck to all over the season and well done to all those lost lbs and inches.
Hi Laska , yeah I can totally relate to your frustration. Most of the people I have mentioned this to who have NOT seen the horizon programme have been very 'sceptical' or in other words patronising abot this WOE.
For me the over-riding draw was the positive impact this may have on your health. There's a lot of evidence to show that IFing reduces the risk of many of the modern day diseases ravaging Western and developing nations at the moment, and it is hugely frustrating when people (without having looked into the facts) voice concerns about the un-naturalness of this.
I reckon Dr MMs book and the many others about to hit the bookshelves will change a lot of opinions in early 2013 but untill then it looks like we'll be viewed by many as akin to members of a cult or the Flat Earth Society...albeit in ever decreasing clothes sizes
On the weightloss, can't see myself losing anymore over the Christmas period but tbh not really concerned about it as one of the great things (for me) about this WOL is that the short term really doesn't matter and 'parking' progress is easy to do as in the long term health and weightloss is very very likely. But with Dr Ms book coming out in mid Jan and the support of this Thread I know that any damage or stalling done over Christmas and new year will (probably 
anyway) be sorted by the end of January.
Have a great day all and thanks to everyone for all the inspirational and supportive posts on this Thread
Quite bro.. I didn't even manage to get onto the potential health benefits.!! . but I am hoping that this WOE will become more accepted in the general population though and not just for weight benefits though.. especially that the people I was with overwhelmingly are those who care for people who cannot make too many choices about their health and many of their clients live in residential homes etc. Also with exception of those who cannot look after themselves through their health or mental status a lot are there simply because they are old and have deteriorated in health either though bad luck or sometimes lifestyle choice
A lot of people in residential care are also very overweight through eating institution provided food coupled with a a lack of exercise and I think that any acceptance of a WOE which promotes good health in the future can only be good for keeping all but the most vulnerable out of these places for as long as possible.
cant see me losing any more over the Christmas period either, but thats fine.. I'm just aiming to still be able to wear my birthday dress for the new year party!
Oops.. making dinner (stuffed mushrooms with roast tomato red pepper and chorizo sauce and buffalo mozzarella and rosemary and olive oil bread (so who says im starving myself?) and heeded to open a bottle of white for a glassful to put into the sauce.. . Hmm guess who poured out 2 glasses ? Nothing wrong with a cheeky white on a Friday afternoon though I think . Happy weekend all. im fasting again Sunday.
See you on a new thread by then no doubt .. ..
oh yes, the Flat Earth Society...albeit in ever decreasing clothes sizes
Love it! I actually did LOL then
Once again we're closing in on the maximum number of posts a thread can have on MN (1000!) so I've started a new thread here with all of our links re-copied in the OP.
I've added B&W's link to the Horizon iPlayer page, and I've found a new TDEE calculator that didn't throw up warnings on my PC. I don't know if it's perfect or anything but it gave me approximately the same results the other one did. If anyone finds a better one, please post the link in the new thread. :)
I'd consider saying this thread is closed but I think that's TIP's job.
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Hope you're enjoying that 'start the weekend well' glass of white Laska .Yeah there are so many 'broken people' and people who never had the support they needed right from the start in this country (and others). So much could be be done for the nation if this WOL was part of the mainstream health/welfare etc etc system.
However while there are people like you within the system that are open to some of the benefits of some of the aspects of this WOL the more chance there is of good being done.
Gawd! I really do sound like I belong to a cult now...keep the Faith, keep the Fast
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