5:2 Diet Thread! Going up to 11!

[GreenEggsAndNichts]

The continuing thread for those of us following either the 5:2 diet or the alternate-day fasting diet.

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, or approximately your TDEE (see explanation below). 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 for a woman, 600 for a man, on those days.

You'll find on these threads we use a number of acronyms. If you're new to the threads, or Mumsnet in general, they might not make much sense.

WOE/WOL = Way Of Eating/Way Of Life. We use this term instead of "diet" as many of us see this as something to do in the long term.

MFP = My Fitness Pal, a website many use for keeping track of the number of calories they're eating.

TDEE = Total Daily Energy Expenditure, 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.

ADF = Alternate-day Fasting, as it says on the tin, fasting every other day rather than 5:2.

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!

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%).")

Something to consider 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.

Another food link, here is a link to the BBC Good Food site, with a list of low-calorie soups.

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 Bread and Wine, thank you for that link, I will watch that programme and see what it says about diet drinks. I'll be very sad if I feel that I have to give up my beloved Pepsi Max! (haha, how sad!!) Sorry, I haven't been ignoring you or anyone, its just I'm so bloody busy that this is the first time for days I've been able to get to the computer!!

I missed my 2nd fast last week and thought oh well, weekend now, can't possibly - but I'm managing to fit in a sneaky 24hour thing by having a early dinner/late lunch yesterday (4pm) and now having a small late breakfast (and therefore 16hrs without any food) and aiming to make my main meal 4pm again - and so an easy peasy 24 hour fast with normal eating either side!
I should probably to shift my Monday fast to Tuesday as both Saturday and Sunday will have been relatively low calorie (I haven't worked it out but I suspect somewhere round the 1200 mark maximum each day).

Excellent news weight-wise as I have now shifted all the Christmas podge and more after only 3 weeks of 5:2. I've been losing weight steadily for the last 15 months but had definitely plateaued at around 11 stone so, as I'd hoped, this IF WOE has kickstarted the weight loss again. I am so close to getting into a 'normal' BMI category... When I started paying attention to my weight in September 2011 I was in the obese section so feeling pretty good about myself!

thought i wouldn't manage a fast this weekend because it's the weekend and because i'm full of cold but actually i really want to do one today after a few days of eating too much. didn't fancy breakfast so will just have a boiled egg in a while so i don't get to feeling nauseous and later i'll have steamed fish and veg i think.

i did my first fast wednesday so this will be number two and i'll be on track to do wednesday again. think i'd be better off doing monday and thursday actually so will delay next fast till thursday.

is there any harm in doing more than 2 a week in the early days? wondering about doing 5 a fortnight for the first couple of weeks to kick start things.

swallowed no harm at all - lots of people do a 4:3 or alternate day fast. 5:2 is so popular because it's easy to keep up in an everyday life.

For what it's worth (sample size of one) I've been reheating rice for years and years and never had a problem. I normally cook a large pot, use what I need for the meal at hand, then put the rest in plastic bags in individual-size portions while the rice is still warm. Some of those go in the freezer, some in the fridge. The refrigerated ones get used in the following several days, although once in a while I've reheated one that's been in the fridge 6 or 7 days and it's never made me ill. Now that I've read about the frightening spores, however, I think I'll be freezing more of the leftovers.

Weighed myself yesterday and had lost 12lbs (in 3.5 weeks)! But today have gained 2lbs! Am hoping its due to the surprise appearance of TOTM (a bit all over the place at the moment - sorry if TMI) and not the chinese take away and cheesecake I had last night....

Bssh Bosh I'm on MFP Bfmummy (yes silly name - wasn't planning to share but easy to remember ;) ) My eating is terrible so might be good to have someone to say ease up on the toast on a non fast day!

Really well done betsy

BMJ and helzbelz I eat junk too but agree totally with FrenchFancy healthy food tastes great after fasting so I think eating well on fast days and getting off to a good start on non fast days before cravings kick back in is going to be the way forward for me and yes snorsville but a bit of menu planning. Maybe avoid buying the chocolate but allow yourself on non fast days to go and buy an individual bar from the newsagents or only enough for all family to have one each. Obvious but when the food isn?t in the house on non fast days I do end up eating better; it?s the bargain multipacks of crisps and chocs that catch me out. Bought a box of celebrations yest for £2 have had about 5 and its not midday.

Rice needs to be cooled as quickly as possible then refrigerated then it should be ok. So ideally when serving put it in several dishes to cool straight away before putting in the fridge. Putting warm food in the fridge raises the temp in the fridge.

Hi mummamoosey and any other new IF

Breadandwine hope your feeling better J

Need to read back more of the thread but best get back to family?

yeah i think rice is meant to be cooled and in the fridge within an hour of being cooked and then is fine as long as you reheat throughly and use within 24hrs. that's the theory - personally i reheat takeaway rice even which certainly wouldn't fit those criteria and eat it the next day and have never had a problem.

About the dangers of re-heating rice:

There was a discussion about this on another forum I use, back along. A German poster said she'd never heard of this. Over there, rice was treated just as you would potato, or any other veg.

I threw some away recently which had been in the fridge for about 6 days and I'd forgotten about - but only because it smelt bad. If it had smelt OK I'd have used it.

Should have said I would have reboiled the rice before eating.

Thanks for your good wishes, folks. I'm happy to say I haven't eaten half the amount of those goodies as I would have done previously. And I've not had any this morning!

Hi I'm starting tomorrow. Fasting. I'm excited! Thanks for letting me join x

If the rice doesn't contain dangerous spores then you are fine - most doesn't but it's impossible to tell from looking at it. But if your rice does contain the dangerous spores then you need to cool it quickly and then reheat it thoroughly.

I have never had a rice related incident but I'd be careful if I was feeding rice to a vulnerable group like young children, people with low immunity etc.

Hope you make a speedy recovery B&W - like the idea of a snack tray!

Hi all
Have been lurking (although feel a bit like a stalker with that term!) fo a while and am just into week four of 5:2 and a loss of 5.6lbs... I have followed every diet known to man/woman and swore not to be fat and "firty" or fat and forty but have always been the same 2 stone overweight. This however seems very different and hugely sustainable. I can't remember the last time I started a diet and kept to it for 3 weeks! Oh and the big 5 0 beckons in summer..gulp!
So..fast day tomorrow and a big thankyou to all IF stalwarts out there sharing their experiences,struggles and successes.

Hi everyone! Was away on holiday to S Africa for a week to visit the sanctuaries, beaches, game lodges and was blown away. Had lots of bread and butter, pizza, etc though as it's difficult being a vegetarian there. Tried to balance it with fresh fruit and veggies, but was happy to see scales were just a lb or two above my weight when I left. Was on a plateau though for over a month and by the new calculator someone put up in the last thread (Phew! still trying to catch up on all the pages) have to lose 30 lbs more to reach the upper limit for my height. Have lost 20 lbs over last 5 months. Was doing 4:3 earlier, so thought I should try something different to get off the plateau so as to not lose motivation. Any ideas anyone as I get back on the wagon? Would really appreciate some advice.

Thanks literarygeek. Yes, the visit was great and I do want to continue the good work. About your plan - little or no grains even on eating days, is it? I could do that, unless it will bring your metabolism down or something and be counterproductive. Are oats to be avoided too then? The thing is, the first month of 4:3 was when I lost 4kg and then it all slowed down over the next 3 months and there was no loss in the 5th month. So want to see if I can jerk it off the plateau after the last week of carb-heavy meals. Need another quick movement or I can see myself at 30 lb overweight the rest of my life :(

Hi everybody, I have been lurking on these threads for a little while and I am currently reading the book. I hope to start my first fast tomorrow. I have about 2 stone to lose and feel very positive about this. My problem is definitely portion distortion, a fixation and obsession regarding bread products plus one to many glasses of wine in the evenings. Other than that I think I eat very healthily with masses of veg and salads and the occasional piece of fruit. I do not hanker after sweet things but need to do maybe more exercise although I do a lot of walking. I have found a wealth of good information and tips on this forum and many thanks to all who contribute.

Hi ThinkIcan, glad to hear your holiday in S Africa went well and you managed not to put on much holiday weight. That's always a bonus, and well done on the loss so far!

After losing the first 17lbs, I had a plateau for the whole of December (I'm in China away from all seasonal choccies and things and am not an Xmas celebrant anyway so plateau not down to that). First thing I'd say is to keep on going. I was doing ADF to start with and went down to 4:3 around that time to help with my motivation. I just plodded on with the 4:3 focussing on the health benefits and hoping the weight would start coming off again. In January I decided to go booze free (although I only managed to do it for about 3 weeks instead of the whole month). I really don't know if it was knocking the booze on the head or just coincidental timing but the weight started to come off again in early January. This was after an eight week period in which I'd lost a total of only 3lbs, most weeks either staying the same weight or even gaining. I've also recently taken up c25king in the hope that will help with the weight loss, as past experience tells me that when I only use diet I average just under a pound a week of loss, but when I include regular exercise it's usually closer to two.

The plateau broke early January and my rate of weight loss since has been similar to the rate I normally have when starting a new diet. Hope some of those ideas help.

Another thing someone suggested when I posted about my plateau, but which I never got around to trying because the plateau broke, was changing my fast days.

P.S. I think the new BMI calculator was my posting. Apologies to any fellow shorties who were dismayed by it!

Thanks Ezzza - plodding on, adding exercise, changing fast days. Don't booze so can't drop it! Added all this to the word doc where I save inspiring posts! Looking fw to more from all you trailblazers!

I am in my 50s and started the 5:2 diet 3 weeks ago. My tummy is flatter and I feel that I've lost some of the abdominal pudginess, but the scales refuse to budge, either on weight or %body fat. Has anyone else found this? I have about 7-10lb to lose to get to my ideal weight.

Thanks for the warm welcome...

Yes BMJ we most certainly can do our second week together! I'm going to have a sneaky peek at the scales tomorrow, just a peek! Am aware it may show a gain but I'm still feeling good. More energy, less bloated and I know I'm making better eating choices already.

BandW thank you for the vote of confidence! I hope I'll be dishing out pearls of wisdom soon too.

Hello also to Giraffes and to anyone thinking of starting 5:2, give it a go!

Aaargh help I can feel a binge coming on!! "Normal" day for me and have been fine until now - fruit and yoghurt for breakfast, roast lamb for lunch, declined dessert as really full! But now home and have already had a (large) slice of cheesecake and a funsize pack of Milkyway Stars (stolen from DS's treat box) and still have the urge to snack! Someone stop me before I undo all my hard work....

thinkican - have you got a juicer? maybe replacing a meal a day with home made vegetable juice? i feel for you veggies. i assume the same deal applies with needing high protein, low carb but harder to achieve as a veggie. do you eat eggs? also could replace lunch with a good handful of nuts - high protein, filling and yes some fat but good fat.

i gave up on the idea of fasting today. sunday, full of cold, just got my period and not the day for it really. hoping for tomorrow but will have to see - when i feel ill i kind of need to eat what i can fancy eating when i can fancy eating it itms.