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!

Don't panic - I've lost 25lb and still put on 3lb this weekend due to a carb fest (fab sandwiches at a 'do') and some steady cheese grazing (with crackers). It's nothing to worry about, probably mainly water, it will go once you get back into fasting.

Once you've done it for a few months you'll see these fluctuations often and worry less as you begin to understand why they are happening.

Fast day for me today: take kids to school then off for a run now the snow's melted (I'm going with the 'if I write it down it's more likely to happen' mentality here ).

I'm scared to eat

I know that sounds stupid but I'm not hungry yet after my fast day yesterday and I don't eat when I'm not hungry

maybe I'll just wait a few hours - would it really be terrible if I fasted for the second day too?

And it usually takes me 3 or 4 days to get rid of the retained fluids caused by carb/glycogen energy storage. I find it reassuring to look back at where I was last week. I often eat carbs at one sitting over the weekend and my weight always goes up - recording my weight on a daily basis helps me see the pattern, even though my weight is up today it's slightly lower than last Monday.

So, a 500 cals day. Just punched in my cup of tea (-20) and intention to jog (around 278) on MFP and it says I can have 758! So, let me get this right... If I exercise, I up my cal allowance by what I've worked off? Or do I still need to stick to 500?

LaurieFairyCake don't worry, many of us wake up not hungry after a fast day. You don't have to eat breakfast if you don't want to.

I often skip breakfast the day after my fast day and resume normal eating at lunchtime, not because I'm trying to be 'good' (if I were hungry on a non-fast day I'd go ahead and eat) but just because I usually don't want anything until then. I've just come round to the idea that this is ok and that, contrary to the current dietary advice, skipping breakfast now and then won't make me fat.

You might find by lunchtime you want to eat normally.

Should you have two fast days in a row? That's completely your call. Most of us don't do back to back fast days, but in the main that's because we'd find it difficult to do that. If you want to have another fast day today you can and have a normal eating day tomorrow, but you might find later today you want today to be a normal eating day.

How long have you been doing this WOE? If less than a few weeks then don't worry, you'll soon get into the swing of it.

Thanks Ezzza - yesterday was the first day for me

I think I will just skip breakfast then - I appear to be just sitting here surfing Mumsnet and waiting to feel hungry.

lottie63, MFP assumes you are trying to lose weight by daily calorie restriction, which isn't quite the same as how this WOE works.

The principle on this WOE is 500 calories on fast days and normal eating on non-fast days, even if you exercise on fast days.

I believe the 500 kcal figure was arrived at as it is 25% of what an 'average woman' (whoever she is) needs to maintain her body weight (her TDEE or Total Daily Energy Expenditure), so if you want to you could work out your personal TDEE (there's a link to a calculator in the OP) and eat 25% of that on fast days, but remember your TDEE factors in the exercise you do each week.

Morning all ..... first day today. Been thinking about it for a while and taken the plunge. Monday and Thursday will be my days. Quite excited and a tad nervous. Right, I've told you all now so I have to stick to it

Lottie, on a normal calorie countin plan you should eat exercise cals, but if you are fasting then you should try to stick to the 500 limit whether you exercise or not.

Thanks cardiffmummy (I am also in Cardiff by the way!) - I will perservere! Feel positive about starting again today and might change my weigh in day to Friday - Monday morning is harsh! Just had bramley apple puree and greek yog and hoping that keeps me going til soup time! Good luck with yours.

What a wonderful place this is! Let me introduce myself. I live in Perth in Western Australia and all of the talk of being freezing is making me jealous as we are suffering through some hot weather at the minute. The 5:2 diet is virtually unheard of here but I must say, that I have single handedly converted my hubby, daughter, her boyfriend and couple of ladies I play golf with. They can all see the sense in the WOE.

I am currently on my fourth fast and finding it a little difficult today. Normally I would be at work all day and haven't had any problems so far as I am kept fairly busy there. Today is the Australia Day public holiday so I have just been sloping around home. I put up with my son's bacon egg smells, my daughter's take away chicken smells (in my car!), but nearly lost it by, stupidly, watching Masterchef Professional. But I remembered someone on is group mentioned that they drank stock, which I did. Whoever it was, thank you, thank you. You saved my fast! Only 2 calories.

Anyway, pleased to meet you all and thanks for all of the hints and info

Mousie

Right, I am starting today too!
Off to weigh in a mo, and I'll post my weight :)

Ooh, ooh, i am cardiff too!! Well caerphilly really

my flu is easing so i am def up for starting this fri - just sent dh to the supermarket for cup a soups

We have a little South Wales group going on here! speckers I've decided to change my weigh in day too! Usually weigh on a Monday but I always eat "normally" (or possibly not in my case) on the weekend. So think will change to a Wednesday - especially given the comments above about carbs and fluid retention etc. Fast day today and just about to head to the gym so hopefully that will kick start me back into weight loss!!

Good luck to all the first time fasters - we seem to have a few of you today, Monday is a popular day to fast, we like to get it out of the way.

Yesterday my dd was looking for a snuggle while I was cooking, to her dismay she didn't find anything snugly and soft around my belly - all too hard and muscly, so she worked her way around me desperately trying to find some soft flesh - and there is was - she found my muffin top and declared it to be the best bit! We'll have to agree to disagree! That muffin top's days are numbered!

Run done! Love that exercise stops hunger pangs (in the short term anyway!) Gosh it's, dare I say it, quite springlike out there today. The joy . Now to start cooking for the day before I go to work in an attempt not to snack at the usual cooking time if you see what I mean (4-5pm are a massive eating/snacking danger zone for me fast or feed day). Planning on a soup lunch and a small portion of chili with a big pile of veg instead of added carbs.

I was weighing monthly but the general consensus seems to be that weighing daily and looking for the overall trend is the best idea to avoid fluke results. Weight can fluctuate so much over the course of a day or week or even a month. To be honest if I even move my scales a few cm it can make a couple of lb difference to the result! Go with how your clothes feel as the main indicator.

I'm a bit too scared to weigh daily - today is fast day after 5 days of 'normal' eating, I think I'm too conditioned to be scared of the scales if I eat normally to be able to look at them

I'm only on week 2 so this is my third fast day so far - not doing too badly although it is only 9.55am

Right, my dodgy scales say I'm 11 stone 6 lbs, so long as they go in the right direction though, I'm not bothered about my exact weight :)

I have one scrambled egg for breakfast, with a load of mushrooms and half a red onion, and a cup of green tea. I'll be going out in about an hour til about 4, so I'm planning on eating nothing while I'm out, then I have my root veg and red lentil casserole for tea. I'm hoping to keep my fast days veggie with no dairy (or at least no milk)
I've made up a bottle of sugar free blackcurrant with the soda stream too

Ps, I have to eat at least twice a day as I'm on tablets that have to be taken with food.

mmm that casserole sounds nice Beyond - obvious I am on a fast today isn't it, usually I am drooling over baked goods

Snowkey, the snuggle story made me giggle too!

GiraffesEatPineapples, I have to admit to having a sneaky peak at the scales on many days of the week as I find it quite interesting to see the fluctuation throughout the week, but my official weigh day is first thing on a Tuesday so I never get dispondent at weight gain or overly excited about weight loss when I'm having these sneaky peeks. I only believe I've gained or lost if the scales say so on Tuesday morning. Even then, if the weekly weigh in says I've stayed the same or gained I don't worry too much, I just look at the trend over the last 4 weeks: always downwards.

I also took my measurements when I started (not just the normal Bust-Waist-Hips but also other places fat likes to lurk like thighs, upper arms, neck, ribcage just under the bust etc.) and I re-measure once every 4 weeks. Without fail, every four weeks at least one of those measurements is smaller.

P.S. My home is also in Cardiff! I'm abroad at the moment but going back home one month today!

First-day-faster here, been building up to it by reading the incredibly helpful posts here. DH is doing it with me, we've decided our days will be Mondays and Thursdays. I take meds 2x a day which need to be taken with food so have to eat breakfast - my first 'fast' brekkie has been 6 tbsp 'Two Chicks' egg whites (46 cals), a pumpkin and oat Ryvita (44 cals) and 100g of Heinz reduced salt/sugar beans (73 cals). So 163 cals and I don't feel deprived in the least.

Good thing about doing it with DH is that when he sticks his mind to something he has willpower out the backside - hoping some of that rubs off on me. He took three months paternity leave and packed on the pounds, his first day back at work a couple of weeks ago one of his co-workers made a remark about it and that was it, the 5:2 journey began!