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!

Musttidy if you find out your TDEE that will give you a starting figure. Multiply it by 7, subtract 3000 (more or less the deficit created by 2 fast days). Depending on your current weight you can subtract up to 4000 more (but only if you are in the very overweight category or above) and what's left, you divide by 5 to get a guideline figure for regular days. Does that make sense?

And yes, you will definitely slow down your metabolism if you eat too few calories overall.

Does anyone have any views on sweeteners? I like an espresso or double espresso but usually put a sweetener in it, does this add any calories? A double shot espresso is only around 10 cals I think.

joey it sounds to me that this could be a good solution for you. Just take your time and don't rush it. Far better to lose 1lb per week and keep at it in a sustainable way, than to lose 3lb per week and get fed up after a month.

Whilst I don't suffer from depression I have not always been super motivated. If you asked me 6 months ago if I was tired I would have replied "All the time". Since doing 5:2 that has changed. I feel better about life, I feel motivated, I feel good. Part of that is due to weight loss, but not all.

Well 2nd fast day of 2013 didn't go quite according to plan as woke up at 6 am with d & v. Think it was some oysters that I ate on Thursday - just read that 75% oysters are contaminated with norovirus! Anyhow I did eat toast and a banana yesterday , don't usually eat bread and was horrified to see its 122 cals a slice! Also 2 custard creams . about 450 cals amazing how crap food has so many calories! Slept for 22 hours (other 2 spent on loo - sorry prob tmi) and today very weak and wobbly but as its a non fast day will make myself eat as feel I need to get my strength up even tho not really hungry. Tomorrow is a fast day again for me and want to keep the pattern going so if I don't eat today I might be too hungry to fast tomorrow. Have had a boiled egg on toast (more bread - virus making me crave it?!) this morning. Have been doing 5/2 since last summer and its my first illness since doing it. No exercise for a few days I doubt which is annoying.

laska am sure drmm must have decided to let amazon send out book out early to catch all the 'new years resolutioners' who would otherwise have bought the only book that was available before - it is annoying about the website though.

joey deffo don't cut your calories too much on your eating days or you will find it too difficult to stick to long term. I think you will find you naturally begin to eat less on the non fast days as your stomach will shrink. If it was me I would really eat normally (whatever your normal is - just avoid bingeing) on the non fast days at least for the first few weeks and see how you get on. Then try and cut down once you have got into the routine of fasting as many people find the fasting difficult to start off with and if you add that to cutting down drastically on other days you may feel like throwing in the towel. But the fasting deffo gets easier with time. Slow and steady wins the race, this is a long term solution not a quick fix.

Re : breakfast - I def find easier to skip breakfast. If I eat breakfast am much hungrier later. Stave off hunger pangs with hot drinks and keep busy. I also think a bit of hunger is a good thing, once you have managed without breakfast you realise that hunger comes in waves, it does pass, and you will not faint. Once you've done it once, it stops you being scared of hunger . Some people say they actually enjoy the hunger - but I wouldn't go quite that far!!

Hi Losers,
All this talk of colds and flu must me spreading germs - I've got it now fast day for me and so far so good. Black coffee and hankies lol.

Welcome to all the new posters and lurkers and yes it really is that easy - just be patient and find what works for you. The key for me is the flexibility of this WOE and remembering that I am in for the long haul. If I screw up this week as I did over Christmas I can fix it next week I'm sure that you will all find your way to long term health and happiness if you can make it through the first couple of weeks. As many have said it does get easier as you go along and we are always here if you need us

Hello all again! And thanks a million Goofymom for posting the link to the BBC Horizon programme! I spent ages trying to find it and now finally was able to watch it..

I'm sure someone already posted this video on here as well, but just in case.. m.youtube.com/watch?client=mv-rim&gl=GB&hl=en-GB&v=mZZWOXhoFpo I found it very informative.

Looking forward to my second fast day tomorrow and just stocked up with some Baxter's soups in the shop.. Have a nice Sunday everyone!

I have made soup using 3 parsnips, onion, garlic, spices and chicken stock, would anyone have a rough idea of how many calories say, in a serving? I'm new to all this but I'm sure it will get earlier to work out :-)

BGerl - I use Calorie Count and assuming quantities of

300g parsnips: 225 cals
1 onion: 44 cals
1 clove garlic: 4 cals
500ml chicken stock: 21 cals

gives you a total of under 300. I like the way you can change the quantities on the site and see the impact on the calories.

Bgeri 3 parsnips 240 cals (ouch!) onion 40 stock cube 15 garlic 4 spices nil = 299 or thereabouts in whole lot. Might be less if your parsnips were tiny as myfitnesspal says 80 for a medium parsnip. Best to weigh them next time!!

fastfeeder you were faster must be the name - similar result though!

It's been a really dull day weather wise, the decorations are all down, children going back to school (and those of us in education heading back too) - it's okay to feel in need of a bit of a boost. I'm planning to watch some comedy with dh this evening to give myself a bit of a kick.

Ok.... have adopted today as my first fast day and has not been too bad. That said I am now feeling the hunger pangs. I have had three rye cracker bread with really thin spread of butter, two rice cakes and an apple as my calories for today. I think it is going to be easier to do my fast days during the week while I am at work and have my down days at the weekend. I managed to stay away from the creme eggs while in Tesco today (my absolute weakness) I now must NOT cave in to these hunger pangs

litererygeek I get days like that too sometimes - I find it helps to keep busy. I think others have said that they turn out cupboards and catch up on cleaning, so that might help. But one of the most satisfying things I found is to try on old 'big' clothes and see whether you can recycle them or sell them on eBay. Even if they are only a little big on you, it might give you the boost you need to stick to the fast?

I've also been at the same weight since the beginning of December - mostly because I found it difficult to fit the fast days around so much eating and visiting relatives. But I'm looking at that as a bonus - I didn't put weight ON over Christmas! Could you look at it like that?

And I know others have had long periods without weight loss from time to time - maybe change things around for a bit? Do 4:3? Change the days you fast?

Anyway, hope you can stick it out, but if you don't - tomorrow is another day!

Thanks Erik think I have it sorted. To create a deficit of 3500/ week, to lose 1lb per week, I need 1600 on a non fast day, giving
16005 +1000(2x fast days) = 9000
TDR = 1800
18007 =12600
12600-9000=3600 deficit.

The maths is right! Your TDEE is quite low, are you certain it's correct? Of course you could be 4'11 or a size 8 in which case it's probably right :)

5ft 2, 126 lbs moderate exercise? Thinks that's right?

Size 8? I wish

I've seen some requests regarding how many calories to eat on non-fast days, so I'd just like to point out the links in the OP. Where it mentions TDEE, that is the amount of calories your body needs to maintain its current weight. There is a calculator there so you can put in your information and it will give you an estimate. It's not 100% accurate but it will get you closer than just going with the average.

It's also just a guideline for your non-fast days. Sometimes you'll eat a bit more, sometimes less, but it's something to keep in your mind so that you learn how you ought to be eating. :)

Hi all , well for possibly only the 2nd time I abandoned a fast for today , though not gone too much over - probably still only about 750 .. I think its because I'm finally back at work tomorrow and not looking forward to returning to the routine , and DH is also back at work so that means he's left for the week . .....Feels a bit glum around here then....

.. So found myself clearing out the rest of the leftover festive food from the fridge. ( most of it made it to the bin - but I ended up eating quite a lot of the cheese ends rather than chucking them ) oh well, the great thing about this is I can fast tomorrow , and will now ..

Have just made a pot of my red cabbage and beet borscht (on the recipe thread) and intend to do back to back Monday / Tuesday ..(unless i get REALLY xxd off with being back at work . and have a glass of !.

Absolute80s You say ' I am now feeling the hunger pangs. I have had three rye cracker bread with really thin spread of butter, two rice cakes and an apple as my calories for today'.

Just my opinion, but you've had some pretty high carbs there and rice cakes and apple are not that filling. I reckon you can get way more food for your 500..

. I've found that lower carb does help with the hunger .. I think if you can have something like eggs for breakfast and something like soup or fish or chicken and veggies later on you'll get more for your 'money' and feel fuller longer . Lots of us eat a big pile of veggies as we feel it works best and also make things like , stir fry or veggie curry and chilli.

Have a look at French Fancies recipe thread ( link above) if you'd like some ideas.. I really recommend my roasted carrot , red pepper and tomato soup and the baked cauli with lemon and cumin recipes , and there are also chilli non carne and veggie curry recipe people have posted (amongst others!)

yy Laska, I have found that if I am hungry and eat a boiled egg it helps (for not too many calories), or a big pile of steamed veggies - if I eat more carbs it just triggers me more.

Hope your monday blues aren't too bad Laska. DH works a lot away from home and I know that sense of melancholy!

laska
Oh for fucks sake. I have just eaten the WHOLE packet of rice cakes. Seriously... How pathetic is that
Still.... still less than 850. I will look at the recipes.
I have bought some soups that I can have to.
I need to stop being so flaky and really do this

lol laska I did exactly that last night with festive cheeses finished off the open packs of blue and goat's cheese - made inroads into the stilton but resisted the still unopened brie!

I've been better today - resisting the has helped!