5:2 Diet Thread! Number 8, fast away fast away fast away all!

[GreenEggsAndNichts]

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. You'll find a lot of support here.

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. Here is a link to the programme's page on iPlayer, which features a couple of clips, and might have updates eventually. Let us know if you find another site hosting 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. 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. (This is a new calculator to previous threads, this one seems to give me approximately the same results the last one did, but without the virus warnings on my browser!)

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!

I'm amazed at how additctive and therefore damaging sugar is. I try to follow a lowish carb diet but have a hard time resisting the chocolate biscuits. I wish we could go back to the times when we had an individual butcher, baker and veg shop etc. Fresh food is the key. I feel much better now after my horrible headache this morning. I hope I can keep it up. :)

so who has thrown out/ given away their 'big' clothes? Part of me thinks but what if i put it all back on, the other part of me doesn't want that to be an option.

Can I join please...just downloaded the 5:2 ebook for 99p and think this is going to be a much more sustainable way for me to get control of my eating that the usual WW/SW etc. I am doing the London Moonwalk full marathon in May so as well as the training am hoping this will help me lose just over a stone. Am shopping tomorrow for a start on Mon - oh and any other vegetarians doing this?

First fast day yesterday and it went pretty well - was quite hungry however but got through with herbal tea and water. Had a veg and lentil soup for lunch and sea bass and beetroot & feta salad for tea all totalling 454 cals. Also weighed myself and have just over 3 stone to lose as am 12.3 when I should be 9st.......

I've been reading through early threads to try and learn as much as possible without asking too many of the same questions.

I want to make some significant progress pretty fast on 4:3 for a month and then after a bit go to 5:2. I'm hoping I might lose 2lb a week but am starting to feel like this is a bit too hopeful from reading back. I can but try and maybe after a month or so I will see what is possible for me..... do you think this is totally unreaslitic??

Anyway thanks ladies....hope I can keep us the motivation for this and adopt it as a WOE for long term. We shall see!!

Could you link to that ebook please?

Hi happyglamper - welcome to you and everyone else new to the thread!

There are a few veggies on here - and I'm a vegan. I've been IFing since Feb last year and I'm thriving on it!

I think it's easier for veggies, TBH!

Check out the recipe thread for my chilli non carne!

becbro I say go for it.
mamamoomin I think you have a good plan and 2lb a week is definitely doable especially on a 4:3. Good luck and stay strong.

No to a facebook group for me sorry ill stay here .. I'm not on FB nor about to be thanks..

Hello More newbies. too many to say hi to individually ..

Do take a look at the hints and tips thread where you will find lots more information about this WOE and some FAQs we have put together .

I wouldn't bother about any 99p 5:2 book if I were you.. you probably wont find any more info than we have amassed here , though I do think Dr Ms book The fast diet is worth a punt if you are new especially if you've not seen the programme .
But you done need a book really unless you want to see all the science ( and we have linked a lot to it on the hints thread anyway) .. Just remember its simple ..

mamarun I have also noticed an 'acidy' feeling, but it's not at all like indigestion (which I have had). It's much milder and I just put it down to not having much in my stomach. Its so mild that I generally ignore it and carry on with my fast.

hello everyone .. im eating today , and just popping in to see how we are all going . had another long walk and pub lunch yesterday .. will be taking it a bit easier today ,and fasting again tomorrow . Also planning this to be my last day on the for a few weeks . And then back to work Monday , which I'm NOT looking forward to

TIP2 Oh dear that ..doesn't sound like a good ending to your hol . hope you get back home without too many further delays

I was reading a 'New Year New You diet supplement today and was just thinking .... Has anyone else looked at these and just thought Nooooo! why are they peddling the same old tired stuff - which simply does not work? (i.e. The USUAL ....that you should eat 3 good meals a day , never let yourself get hungry , regular snacks to keep your blood sugar up ?)GRRRR!

Holy Nora! How glad I am to have found this WOE..

BTW I notice Dom Joly saying he had lost 2 stone onthis WOE ( it was tucked away in amongst a lot of the usual 'healthy eating' advice and not expanded on )

BTW DR MM has tweeted that The Fast Diet will be on Kindle on 10th Jan

Looks like more people are getting on Dr M's bandwagon. Have just bought Woman & Home and they have an article on 'The New healthy Fasting Diet' which is written by 'top nutritionist' Patrick Holford. It says it is a low-GL plan which is a 'smart' spin on the new fasting diets.

He recommends not exceeding 800 cals per day and fasting every other day for 4 weeks, then switching to 2 days eating normally and 1 day fasting.

I would find this too extreme at the beginning - I like being able to plan my fast days when I know I'm not meeting friends or eating out!

And the article says you can lose up to 14lb in a month, presumably to get the attention of those who want a quick fix. I'm happy with a slower sustained weight loss with something I can keep up.

However there are a few ideas on there for low-cal meals that I might steal, although I suspect Holford's on the bandwagon because of his book. Or am I just an old cynic...

Non fast day - and I've had a lie in with the papers and TWO bacon sandwiches (yes 4 slices of bread) .

Need to do a veg shop today but it's pouring down so I'm just malingering and even letting the dogs walk themselves by chasing the birds off the lawn . Might hit a charity shop or two while in town, got some brilliant size 12 skinny jeans the other week as I handed over the size 16's . Spoke to a friend yesterday who is down from size 22 to 18 - the charity shops must be doing well out of this WOE!

lorgie why are you waiting until 8pm to eat? I think I'm missing some information here (not that you asked me specifically!) I do wait until dinnertime on a fast day before I eat anything, but I usually end up eating by 6pm or so. :)

Welcome to all the new people! Yes, I think the FB group has a lot of traffic at the moment, and a lot of people asking the same questions over. I think this format works in that we have the links in the OP which help to give an overview. From what I read briefly on the FB group, they're doing a FAQ, probably to try to answer some of the questions in advance.

I think the problem I'm finding there (and why I should just stop reading it!) is one or two people are doing it a specific way and keep telling people that's the way they should do it. It doesn't work the same way for everyone. And I really disagree with the ones eating low-calorie on their non-fast days. I think it does a disservice to tell new people that's how they should do it, because I think the combination of low cal and fast days would be difficult enough to put people off if they're just starting out. I just have to sit on my hands and stop reading I think!

And stay here.

I am on the Patrick holford website distribution list and got an email on his low gl diet a couple of days ago and it is very much like the fast. Sounds like he's jumped in the bandwagon. But then if it helps to get the message out there then it's good. Also think that as more and more people health specialist publicly endorse this WOE the more it confirms that we're onto something good. Would be really great to see longer term studies on benefits of this on human beings - preventing disease, reducing medications etc

Oh and I too just left the FB group

"BTW I notice Dom Joly saying he had lost 2 stone onthis WOE ( it was tucked away in amongst a lot of the usual 'healthy eating' advice and not expanded on )"

Laska he had an article in the Independent back in November - link on the T&L thread - where he told of losing 2 and a half stone. Sounds like he had a good Christmas!

Also DR Ms Fast Diet web designer person is on the case .. thinks the website will be up next week ..( had an email , as they might be using a quote I gave)

I dont know for sure but I suppose it will probably for the books official launch on 10th Jan (I wonder why Amazon released it early? )

Mmmmm... catsrus....Bacon sandwiches.....

Hi laska - yes, I'm very relieved to have found this WOE too - its so bloody simple once you get the basic idea.

Those of you new to it, you will find what works for you. It's flexible so you fit fast days around your own life, you can be veggie, vegan or omnivore - your choice. You can eat junk if you want to, drink or not, do low carb if it suits you, have restricted eating times or not - But just stick to the basic rules that some days you eat very little compared to your usual WOE and you are likely to lose weight as well as gain other health benefits. The rule of 500 cals for women 600 for men is a good standard to aim for but it's not magic, slightly more or less will still work but slightly differently.

The crucial thing is to find what works for you and stick with it I think. For me that's a primarily plant based, veggie diet (but I do eat some meat and fish ). I now only have breakfast one day a week (sat) and try to do 4:3, eating only in the evening on fast days. This pattern has taken a few months to establish - but now I feel better on fast days with no food at all until the evening.

I really do eat what I want on non fast days - including cake, biscuits etc. but what I WANT to eat has also shifted - so I refused a pudding the other night because they sounded lovely but I knew I was full- by the time I got home a few hour later I did attack the blue cheese in the fridge though - with toast and that's fine (I've lost 22lb since starting in August).

I don't expect to lose any more weight in the next week or so, just not gain, until life properly gets back to normal in mid Jan and I get back to 4:3 again. But being able to eat as I have over Xmas and not put weight on is brilliant.

mamarun I agree that it's good that health specialists publicly endorse the WOE. And to get more people converted and therefore more healthy. I probably should have put a smiley face on at the end, as I probably came across more critical/serious than I intended.

I just felt that if I had started this by fasting every other day instead of 5:2, I think I might have given up before the 4 weeks were up. Other people may be able to stick to it. As everyone keeps saying on this thread - it's what works for you.

I agree! Go for it BecBro! I ebayed my large sizes and bought my favourite things back in the smaller sizes! It's positive thinking that it will all stay off, and I felt rubbish and as though my big clothes were wearing me, rather than the other way around!

Ditto on the fb group - I like the anonymity here and the fact we recognise individual differences and that this is very new and the science has not been fully done yet. We are sharing what works for us, not prescribing what other people should do.

I couldn't go all day without eating at the start of this and was at those who did the whole 16 hr fast thing - I still lost weight and began to feel great. I then found I was finding it easier to fast so started skipping lunch as well as breakfast. I now find it easier to not eat (apart from miso soup and tea with milk) until the evening - but if I'd been told I had to do that at the start I wouldn't have stuck with it.

Yes laska the bacon sarnies were lovely - with tomato ketchup too

Cats great post and great advice , I've just put it on the Hints and tips.. as its a good succinct intro I think ..
Thanks