5:2 Diet Thread! Perfect number 10!

[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.

Michael Mosley has recently unveiled a new website to accompany his new book on the subject. Please go check them out, as he's the whole reason most of us are here!

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!

Thanks bordercollie and literarygeek. I think I just need to relax more into it and let it happen, when it happens. I've always been one to overanalyse things in my life, and this is no exception. In fact....that maybe the reason behind overeating/fake hunger in the first place! I am losing and feeling so much better. My OH has just told me that I look great and have a 'glow", so if ever there's an incentive to keep going...
...the other incentive was the poster (sorry couldn't remember who it was) who posted about PMT symptoms. I couldn't believe how light and how much less painful my TOTM was this month. And this is coming from someone who has been to see many a doctor about the pain and heaviness and had all sorts of medical procedures offered to me in order to help with them. To say I am incapacitated each month for a couple of days is an understatement, so if there is any reason to carry on, and well after my weight has shifted, then that is most certainly it!

B&W do you think it would be appropriate for me to put my story about my late friend with Alzheimers on the hints and tips? I dont want to be mawkish , but perhaps his words might n help someone else also .. What do you think?

Laska how lovely that someone you cared about was able to leave you a simple legacy of words that helped to change your life.
I hope you don't mind, but I am going to write 'Why eat if you are not hungry?' on a post-it and stick it inside the snack drawer.

I just got home from a three hour meeting around a table on which were two big platters of sandwiches, 2 packs of biscuits and 24 donuts spread out - between ten of us.
I had 1/4 of an egg on wholemeal sandwich when I had to leave the room but otherwise sat looking at the food - on an empty stomach.
When I got home I had my whole pot of vegetable soup (350 calories) and will now not eat till tomorrow lunchtime.

Hunger is ALL in the head. I could have merrily browsed 1500 calories in the meeting - others did - but I chose not to, so even though I could smell the jam in the donuts, my tummy did not rumble.

As one of the stalwarts of the threads - since I jumped in feet first at the start of September - I would really, really say that this is the best "diet" ever.

spiral skies your post is very positive - just do it! Like that. That's just what I need - but ALL the other posts are fab too. Very enthusing :-) Thanks all.

Betterlatethan almost cross-posted re. PMT symptoms there. I knew I'd seen another post about it upthread or on the previous one as well as the webchat question (which unfortunately went unanswered). Weird, isn't it... I would love to know whether there's a scientific explanation (literarygeek's 'cutting the crap' theory will do for now!)

spiral skies your post is very positive - just do it! Like that. That's just what I need - but ALL the other posts are fab too. Very enthusing :-) Thanks all.

Laska I think that maniac has answered your question! Go for it!

However, 'Why eat if you are not hungry? has its own dangers - in that you can switch your 'hunger switch' on at any time, by nibbling something - you immediately want more.

Bearing this is mind, maniac's post-it note is fine!

I was a serial over eater also I didn't get to 14&half stone by eating normally & I'm only 5ft 3". Since being on this WOE I've noticed over time that my view of food has changed I no longer get the cravings or feeling faint if I haven't eaten for 2 hours. I still get migraines though - you can't have everything.

I'd say try it & see how you get on but give it about 6 weeks for you to get used to it. I switched to 4:3 once I'd got the hang of 5:2. I didn't push myself & so it felt natural & now it's second nature to me.

Sorry should have said "fasting is second nature to me".

I have been posting since October and I think I have lost a little weight this week. It's coming off slowly but surely. Unfortunately my eating on non fast days sounds very similar to Laska's old ways of eating so thats no surprise, but I am beginning to make healthier choices on 'eating days'. According to MFP I should be having 1200 cals a day this means if I was doing 5:2 I would only bank enough calories to increase to about 1500 on non fast days to lose weight at a similar pace - I certainly have not been doing that so the fact I have lost 11lb is pretty amazing!

I had lunch around 2.00 today and have been fasting bar a cup of tea at 4.30 since then so on track for a 20 - 24 hour fast before having my 500 cals tomorrow afternoon/evening. Supposed to be going for coffee tomorrow hopefuly I will hold the latte and have herbal tea

TIP well done for staying in the zone and saying no to donuts!

There have been so many interesting posts thanks all, the sense of community really helps with this

I think my totm may be easier too actually will pay attention as due any time now!

Me too Betterlatethan. Am fine on fasting days - no breakfast then half a pot of homemade veggie soup for lunch and the other half for dinner. No problems but feeding days I suffer. Very interested in your post BorderCollie. I had porridge for breakfast today and have been miserably lusting after toast and jam, cakes etc all day. Please could you tell what you eat on non fasting days?

lirael just to respond to your post, I havent read anything to say 5:2 helps with depression but I am not as well read as others on here there may be some research? In general people have felt that their moods have lifted and I have noticed I have been less anxious when driving on days when I am fasting but this could be coincidence or placebo affect i guess. There was a poster a few days ago concerned her PND had worsened but again it is very difficult to know for sure if the fasting was responsible.

talkin I love that 'smell the jam' - priceless ! :-)

yes, LOL - even funnier as I missread as smelt the jam but tummy didn't crumble!

betterlatethan to answer your question: I was not a binge eater in the sense that I would go order several burgers at McDonalds or whatever you see on TV, but I was definitely addicted to certain foods. Pizza (funny that Laska mentioned that one- it's a massive downfall of mine), or other savoury things like crisps, I just couldn't have crisps in the house because an open pack would mean I'd graze until they were gone. Cheese. Pepperoni pizza and/or nachos, aaah.

Nowadays, I couldn't physically eat the amount of pizza I might think I want to eat, anyway. As I've mentioned, regular fasting seems to have shrunk my stomach (the organ, though the outer stomach is definitely smaller as well!) to the size of a normal, non-food-addicted person. I will actually share a pizza with my son, or DH. I do actually have a bag of crisps in the house sometimes, which was unheard of previously. I had a bag of tortilla chips in the cupboard for days (not just me eating them ofc!)

I still probably eat too much of some things, but I can't think of an example at the moment. Alcohol isn't a downfall for me. As much as I talk up my homemade Baileys, I made a batch last week and have literally had one serving since then.

BUT- it's not a state of zen achieved immediately. I think my first week I alternated between fast days and "omg I can eat cheese" days. I did settle down after that, though, and much more so now that I know life is a series of tomorrows when I could potentially be having more cheese. The cheese won't disappear if I don't eat it all right this moment. :)

TIP's meeting post reminded me, I'm the same now, and it's shocking. Once I'm in the zone for a fasting day, I seem to be able to resist anything in front of me. (Not tried this with pizza yet. I don't think I'd be responsible for my actions)

betterlatethan I didn't fully answer the questions, but I guess I meant, yes, my crazy desire for finishing bags of crisps did diminish, but over time. And once upon a time yes, I suppose I was the type who would think "ah well I'm over calories, who cares now" but I'm not anymore.

Even if I mess up a fast day (one day I forgot to log something and went over by 200 cals) I just leave it there, especially if I don't realise until night time. I wouldn't make the next day a fast again, as I'd need the break from it. Having one fast day logged as 700 instead of 500 cals, in the long run, will not undo everything I've done so far. It also helps that I was 4:3ing at the time, there's a bit more wiggle room in terms of calories there.

spiralskies it's a good question. They might have left the thread when they didn't need the support anymore. I don't "need" this thread in the way I needed it when I started. All I could do was think of food, and I needed something to do with the spare time I had on fast days!

Now, I guess I still have lots of spare time, but I'm not gnawing my arm off and wanting to post about everything like I did then. And I've come to like everyone here so much that I just check this regularly now. :)

You're right about the Raynaud's, TIP. Fasting doesn't seem to help with it, at least not in my experience. Hands, feet and nose don't seem to feel any worse (how could they?!), but when I'm not eating, the rest of my body joins in with its own version of profound chill. I've done a fair bit of research (sometimes with gloved hands) and haven't found anything that's really effective. For several reasons I intend to have a go at a 3-day brown rice fast, which might be of some benefit. I just need to find a suitable time for the experiment. I keep delaying it because I'm in the groove with my 6:1 and don't want to interfere with that just yet. When I get around to it, I'll let you know if it's helpful.

Hello,
New here. Hope it's ok to join. I came across this thread on google and just had to join! Such an intersting read!!! Still on page 6 of 23! So many funny stories I can relate to.
I'm on day 21 of ADF. lost 10lbs. was 11.8 stone, now 11. It really does work! Clothes are looser & can see some ribs! Have come across anyone mention the "exercise" word. i'm trying to do a 20min workout every other day, but i'm a busy, working mum and find it hard to find the time. Anyone working out regularly?

betterlatethan My biggest downfall was supper - I'm talking late night snacking. This is very much a habit I've brought with me from my Lancashire upbringing - we always had supper!

I've almost always got something on the stove - I make (or my wife makes for me) a big pot of veg ragu - which I turn into several different dishes over a few days. Most evenings, round about 11 or later, I'd just have a spoonful or two - but then I would very often reheat a bowl of this in the microwave, sometimes with a chunk of bread from the freezer. I've never had any trouble with my digestion eating late at night - quite the opposite!

Now, with what I know about the hunger switch, I am well able to resist that first nibble - in fact I don't think I've had a supper since I went to

So ... I was hugely 'successful' in losing 7lbs in the first week or so of fasting. Was really pleased. Then went away for a few days, ate normally... well okay, a bit abnormally, and PUT IT ALL BACK ON! Bugger! It was water loss after all, wasn't it...

GreenEggsAndNichts - maybe the longstanding fasters now have so much energy and oomph they're all off doing wildly lively things instead of sitting at their screens!

I like the sense of cameraderie here - all doing it together. This forum is what kept me going at the start when 'normal' people kept telling me how unhealthy skipping meals is!

Sausages - the threads here are madly positive. But that's mainly because this WoE works and makes us all feel ace

Morning wake up of reading through everyone's posts to keep my motivated! You all make me feel that I can do it!!!!

It's a fast night tonight, but also it's burns night, so we are eating wildly calorific haggis lasagne tonight... My daughter is at nursery today so I'm going to nursery all day today so I'm going to try and keep myself busy and only eat the lasagne tonight with my family coming over (I usually have something for about 200cals during the day and then a 300cal dinner). I would change the fast day until tomorrow but we're off to my mother in laws who always cooks lots, so not really an option there!

Ah well, water will be my friend today!!
Thank you all for keeping me motivated, all your posts really help! Dreading the weigh in on Monday as the non-fast days haven't been good this week!!