5:2 Diet Thread! Number 9, welcoming the new year...

[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. This might be a good place to catch up with us if you're feeling a bit lost!

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.

B&W has found a new link to the aforementioned Horizon programme here. If you're keen to see it, watch it soon, because BBC has been quick to find these copies and shut them down online. We're hoping they'll re-play it again soon. I know these threads are popular, maybe they'll read my request.

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!

Hi Ezzza, yes and you quoted one of my favourit sayings . I quoted the calorific value because veg is so high in water that the actual weight you eat is not really taken into account it's more the 'how many calories in that serving etc.

On a 'normal' day here after fasting yesterday, so fasting again tomorrow. I've got to respect those who've broken bad habits with their eating on non-fast days. For me the habits, mainly grazing, is just as bad now as before I started this. One difference though is the type of food I eat while grazing, more soup, oatmeal, or crackers or toast rather than in the past when cheese, high fat meats, choc bars or crisps would have been on the menu. I know I've got to break the unhealthy pattern of eating but at least it's not doing the same damage now as before.

Good luck Filly, hope you get through the day. I think you hit the nail on the head though when you say it's not so much a physical thing more a battle inside our heads.

Have dieted on an off for the past 30 years and the 5:2 fasting regime is the most successful and healthiest so far. I only had 5 or 6 kilos to lose and have done this very easily and steadily since September by having one bowl of bran flakes with a sprinkle of mixed seeds for lunch with tea and coffees throughout the day. I fast on Monday and Thursday and break my fast at 10.30 the next day so it is more like a 40 hour fasting session. I will be doing this for life now. No more diets!

Food cravings on fast days happen to us all. Have really felt it today maybe it's the cold but looking forward to the end of my 24 hour fast at 8pm tonight!

Nearly caved earlier as my car was skidding everywhere & I thought to myself that I 'deserved' a bar of chocolate but the thought of having to fast tomorrow when I've almost made it today was too much.

So looking forward to my stir fry!

Aftereight, snap! Doing 24hrs from 8pm last night. Tougher than last week- woke up v hungry then neatly ate dinner w kids. Thank god 28 mins to go! Not that I'm counting ; )
Not advocating this necessarily my way for one of the fasts each week.

Hi there - been doing this since November, and although I missed a fast at Christmas through socialising, today for the first time, I started a fast, and I broke it!

Am half kicking myself. I think it's a couple of reasons - the cold, the fact I have a headache + under the weather, but MAINLY - and this is the killer reasons - because usually on a sunday evening I'll have roast chicken, lots of veggies with a few potatoes - but this Sunday we had risotto. I think that starchy refined rice left my blood sugar plummeting.

So my advice for newbies is, remember to eat a good protein rich (pref low GI) meal the evening before you fast. It will make the fast a lot easier.

Oh and I forgot to add, I broke fast horribly At 12.30 I had a wholemeal salmon sandwich + banana (OK, not so bad) then a bar of dairy milk, then a yumyum , then handfulls of dry cornflakes. Want supper now ....

I've had my battles with fasting, some days are bloody hard. Been doing this since August I have nearly given up a couple of times but I have a week off and then find myself returning. I know some people find it easy and look forward to fasting and that empty feeling, me - I like eating - fasting is a necessary evil.

Only a few more hours left for today, I have yet to eat....curry is bubbling away gently on the stove and awaiting the arrival of dh before I eat - could be 8.00pm but when it happens I'll be able to eat enough food to give me a lovely full belly.

greeneggs! Blimey mate ....over 400 messages already on this new thread . We predicted 5:2 would go mad after new year.. But once again .....Blimey

.. And relax ....... Laska has her assignment submitted to tutor before the start of Uni term - which for me starts again tomorrow - ( only 2 weeks late .. Ho Hum .. but hopefully they'll accept it ) I blame you lot .. OK..well I have to blame someone eh..?

Lucky its a food day ( I'm back on the old 4:3 this week (Sun, Tues ,Thurs) as want to see the final 7lbs off now before I go away for a big family 50th birthday party / drinking weekend in Copenhagen at Easter, so will be fasting again tomorrow..

But tonight I'm celebrating getting my assignment in (plus drowning my sorrows at empty nest ) with a h/m lamb kofta. hummus, salad and salsa and a glass or 2 of Oops!! sorry fasters ..

BTW who put their salmon back in the freezer? I would have had it with lots of stir fry veggies , Salmon is good slow digesting protein for a fast day ..

Btw new fasters checkout the zero calorie Shirataki noodles on Amazon.(and other places) Expensive , (and I have to say i've only ordered them once as when you get really into fasting you'll find it much easier ), but esp good when you are starting out ....

Here's an observation.. ..

Like many people in Western society I was brought up to polish off all the food my plate.. i.e eat everything thats served to you, and 'if you take it dont waste it'..

I dont do that now (she says looking at the remains of the very yummy meal on her dinner plate here) I've found that finally I can eat 'normal' portions and if there's too much on my plate I simply leave it.. but truly its a revelation and something i simply didn't ever think of . so just dont eat it if you are full .

But after 5 months on this WOE it happens most of the time .. it may be a very small bit but there is always something left now even if its only a bit of salad and half a potato .

Still fasting today.
Really could do with DH getting home so I can eat something. Lots of tea only goes so far!

Hi everyone it's my first fast day today (going okay so far) but I was just wondering how many calories I should aim for on "feast" days? I have calculated my bmr on fitness pal and it said mine was 1470 but I know that is how many calories u would burn if u weren't moving all day. Should I aim for about 1600 or the full 2000 or something between that? How many do everyone else use?

Hi, it's my first time on mumsnet and started 5:2 today....am currently absolutely starving!! I read about the diet in sunday times and don't get the timings. I last ate at 8pm last night and have stuck to 500 cals since then. Will I start eating normally tomorrow morning or can I have a cheeky snack at 8:30pm tonight? Also, I'm still exclusively breast feeding my 5 month old baba, should I take this into account? I want to lose 3 stones

Kay - look up your TDEE (link in Greeneggs OP)
soomcgoo - there are several people fasting while breast feeding - they will know. But keep your fluids up to reduce hunger.

Am stuffed.
Half a pot of Waitrose minestrone with extra cooked rice left over from the kids stirred in and a slice of bread and butter.
Now nothing till tomorrow lunch.

Re the carbs discussion earlier today. The more I learn , the more I conclude that no single eating plan suits everyone. There seems to be a group of people whose blood sugar does not behave as it should, though are not (yet) diabetic. For them the avoidance of grain based carbs, whether refined or not, and sugars including fructose seems to be significant in weight loss. That does not necessarily mean that a "low carb" diet is suitable for everyone. The majority of people have no problem with any sort of carbs.
I am beginning also to think that a benefit of IF may be to reset some of these problems so that all foods can be eaten without trouble. Lets hope so anyway!

Well, I did okay until about 6pm and then had a choc chip biccy and a two cups of tea with milk to try and warm me up and keep awake! I had a terrible night's sleep yesterday after a fast day. In fact, all fast days have resulted in very poor sleep that night. I m going to try and take a herbal sleep tablet tonight to try and retrack

Second fast day for me. I have eaten an extra 80 calories today and I could kick myself. Also I have a headache again. I think it might be because I skip breakie. I mite try and eat earlier on wed. I wish I could say I love the empty hungry feeling and I'm that people do actually like it. It would make this a lot easier thats for sure. Have just eaten a lovely stir fry that normally I wouldn't even entertain. Roll on Tuesday.

Survived the gym - did mainly weights and kept off the treadmill! But surprisingly felt alot better after exercising! I felt so odd this afternoon that I nearly decided to eat something and try fasting again tomorrow - sooo glad I didn't as now its not long until breakfast and normal eating . Have just had a yummy Innocent Thai veg pot - 316 cals and can highly recommend!! And... still have 70 cals left - in the past that would have seemed a pittance but now seems loads!!

Laska - it was me who threw the salmon back in the freezer! I had had 200kcals for lunch, and another 50kcals mid-afternoon (after my grump on here I grabbed 4 kumquats....ate them really slowly and felt much better afterwards). Work then became incredibly busy this afternoon and I'm still at it now - so dinner seems less pressing. But how do I find out approx how many calories a piece of salmon contains? And is there some generic advice out there somewhere regarding which veg count as 'low cal' (been reading today's discussion with interest but am now clearer!) - I would assume lettuce is 'cheaper' than parsnips but don't want to mess up now :)

Sorry to sound stupid. I really want to do this, although some days I don't eat much I always end up having snack, more often than not bananas or tangerines but I realise now how high in calories they are. Especially when I can eat 5 in one sitting!

So I can eat more today. Have had 2 weetabix, 2 clementines, 2 apples and then a tin is soup. Crispy creme donut, birthday treat from nice man at work. Tonight I had home made minestrone soup topped with Parmesan and 2 small rolls. Trying to decide whether to have cup of tea and another couple of weetabix just so can get through tomorrow. But I suppose I don't need it, won't make me feel less hungry tomorrow will it!

Thanks for the tip on working out calories of soup Ezza(sorry if have name wrong am on iPhone and whiz zing up threads difficult!).

Tomorrow will not eat till lunchtime. Lots of coffee and water (I presume no low cal drinks allowed?) and will have can if soup 188 calories, an apple and a satsuma and then a yogurt for my dinner at night or maybe 2.

Does that sound about right. Will go to gym tomorrow evening too whilst family eating so not tempted then come home and straight to bed.

You lot are so bloody inspiring. Better than the moaning Minnie's at slimming world!

Hello, 3rd fast day for me tomorrow and could be my greatest challenge so far: it's the only day of the week I can do my big food shop, arrghh! And DCs have specifically requested 'those chocolate brioches you got last time, mum, they were LUSH'
Just wanted to say thanks mistlethrush for soup idea, that sounds LOVELY and I will be adding mushrooms + lemongrass to the shopping list. Also thanks starlady for protein-the-night-before tip. I had veg pasta tonight and am already hungry so that does not bode well for tomorrow. Will bear that advice in mind on Weds.
Finally Iwearblack that is v. interesting - when I was a yoof I always used to find chewing gum made me hungrier, and I'm sure I remember being told that it's because masticating prepares your body for food, then it gets 'disappointed' if you don't provide it. Or I might just have made that up.
Good luck to all holding out today + fasting tomorrow...

filly you need to get a calorie counter, loads available online. Myfitnesspal is very popular and you can view it from your phone or your computer.

Cardiffmummy well done on the gym work - glad it turned out to be a positive experience.

BCL unfortunately I didn't find my love for sugar reset by fasting, I tried eating carbs and sugar over Christmas....if only! but that of course doesn't mean other people will not experience resetting. I eat more the day after a fast as I am usually quite hungry - ravenous in fact, especially if I have been exercising. I see it as my body working properly, it needs food!

at the end of the 4th fast day! I am famished, but reckon I can go to bed in 3/4 hour! I'm watching embarrassing fat bodies! certainly giving me inspiration to lose weight and not break my fast. those poor people.