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Fasting / 5:2 diet

Talk about intermittent fasting and 5:2, including what’s worked for others. Mumsnet hasn't checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. You may wish to speak to a medical professional before starting any diet.

5:2 Diet Thread! Going up to 11!

999 replies

GreenEggsAndNichts · 29/01/2013 13:17

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. Wink 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. Wink

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!

OP posts:
lamandler · 05/02/2013 21:14

Hello, joining in now that I have survived (just) day 1 fast! Today I had a skinny latte, cup of veg chilli soup and cod/tomatoes/olives baked with runner beans. I had to have a half pitta after work as I thought I was going to pass out! All in all around 500 cals. Love the fact that tomorrow I can have a big bowl of porridge for breakfast!

I am hoping to stick with it to shift about 1.5 stone to get to pre babies weight of under 10.5 stone.

I am off to bed as I cannot stop thinking about dunking a choc digestive in a hot cup of tea....

MrsJolene · 05/02/2013 21:32

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by Mumsnet for breaking our Talk Guidelines. Replies may also be deleted.

chipmonkey · 05/02/2013 21:39

Joining in here. Am hoping this way of eating will work for me. Have, oh, only around 4 stone to lose!
So did my first fast yesterday.
3 meals, 1/ 1 egg 2/ chicken fillet roasted with a little pesto, large salad with a tiny bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar and 3/ yoghurt and clemetine.
Am trying to eat healthily the rest of the time but did order pizza for dinner today!Blush But in my defence, didn't have much of it!

whethergirl · 05/02/2013 22:03

Today is my second fast day. I have been on all sorts of diets before now and I've never been able to stick to them. However, this diet really suits me, I find it much easier to have just 2 days of fasting rather than 7 days of depressing calorie counting. If this diet actually works and I lose weight, then I'll be laughing all the way into my bikini.

However, I can't seem to shake off certain things i have learnt through dieting. For example:

You must never exercise on an empty stomach (otherwise you lose lean muscle...or something?!)

You MUST have breakfast to kickstart your metabolism

You must eat regularly otherwise your metabolism rate will slow down and you won't burn calories efficiently

Now, I would actually find it easier to NOT follow the above rules. But really, is it all bollocks? I feel like I've just found out my partner has been lying to me for the last 10 years. Normally dieting books with this kind of info are also backed up with scientific research and written by buff bodied authors so....?

Laska42 · 05/02/2013 22:21

wherthergirl YEs it really is all bollx. All a 'diet and food industy' myth to keep us buying lots of food and snacks..

Read 'Escape the diet trap' by Dr John Briffa and look at his blog

TalkinPeace2 · 05/02/2013 22:24

Whethergirl
All three statements are lies
normal dieting books are NOT backed up by science
5:2 is ....

WipsGlitter · 05/02/2013 22:28

I tried my first day today. Not a raging success. Bagel for breakfast. Had fruit and yoghurt for lunch but also scoffed some crisps. Dinner portobello mushroom burger with halloumi, salad a some oven chips!!!

mamarun · 05/02/2013 22:32

Thx for whoever pointed out the weekly tab on mfp. Never noticed that. Also read the discussion about ditching the scales on the fast diet forum. Ooh not sure if I've got the guts to do that. Is there anybody here who has ditched the scales and found this liberating.

TalkinPeace2 · 05/02/2013 22:38

Wipsglitter
bagel = high calorie carbs = bad fasting food
crisps = utter no no
chips = utter no no

you need to think in terms of high veg, low car, low fat protein
and NO SNACKS

mamarun
I have never owned a set of scales. I weigh myself once a week at the gym

WipsGlitter · 05/02/2013 22:42

Thanks. I couldn't believe how many calories in the crisps!! I don't have much time so no chance to do eggs or anything like that. Needs to be fast and easy.

TalkinPeace2 · 05/02/2013 22:45

Sorry? no chance to do eggs??
An omelette takes six minutes
scrambled eggs on toast four minutes
microwaved cod and stir fried veg seven to eight minutes
MAKE TIME TO EAT WELL

WipsGlitter · 05/02/2013 22:49

Ok, take a chill pill there sparky. Work full time, two under fives, school run, busy life don't want to effing well make an omelette in the morning on top of all that.

I was looking for support not a fucking lecture!

ButteryPeanuts · 05/02/2013 22:50

Thanks for the help yesterday betsy. My normal day today has went really well, didn't eat breakfast since I wasn't feeling hungry and have eaten just shy of my tdee so very happy and manage to keep away from the bread! Hopefully tomorrow will be the same.

GiraffesEatPineapples · 05/02/2013 22:51

Hi wips, the easiest thing is just to skip breakfast altogether, try and wait for lunch in your next fast. I was a real breakfast person but now I sometimes skip it on non fast days.

Posh that's a great start. Feeing cold is a common Side effect, does mean something is happening though.

TalkinPeace2 · 05/02/2013 22:54

If you are fasting, just have tea for breakfast - I never eat breakfast on a weekday. I drink my tea while making packed lunches.
Fasting involves skipping meals and abolishing snacks.
Then the weight goes and the health benefits come.

GiraffesEatPineapples · 05/02/2013 23:00

Talk in peace was being supportive. hand to say though I have a real mental block around cooked breakers before school run, I know it just takes minutes and is healthier but I need toast! Really annoying thing is I think toast is one of the main reasons I am fat.

NatashaMousse · 05/02/2013 23:01

BsshBossh, I'm into my fourth month of doing a complete (no-calorie) fast of at least 32 hours once a week and eating normally on other days. On fast days I get very cold and often experience a maddening period of hunger from about hour 22 to 25. Otherwise it's been fine. It's improved my energy level (more consistent), alertness and mood the entire week.

I was extra lean when I started this (for the health benefits) and have had to be careful not to lose weight, so I've been adding calories on eating days. Typically I lose 1 to 1.5 kg during a fast but put it back over the next day or so. A friend of mine, also a skinny, is following the same regimen but he hasn't been upping his calories on eating days. Recently he told me he'd lost 2 kg during the last two months, which suggests that one complete fast and six days of eating at TDEE would produce weight loss, if that's what you're after.

sausages51 · 05/02/2013 23:08

16th Jan to Feb 5th -6lbs lost - v comfortable fasting - best thing (for me) can have 5 days 'off' - aside from this my appetite is changing.....for the better - hope I can sustain. All the positive threads here give me hope that I shall. Thanks all :-)

whethergirl · 05/02/2013 23:09

It just feels so strange to have believed what I thought were scientific facts for so long, only to find out it was bollocks. I've always found, for example, that if I skip breakfast, I eat less during the day. But no, every morning I would FORCE myself to have breakfast.

I will definitely be getting that book Laska42 thanks, I need to undo all this info thats cemented in my head.

whethergirl · 05/02/2013 23:12

Ahhh no wonder I was bloody freezing today! I mean it was cold, but I was the only one in the room (out of 70 people) with my hat and scarf on!

lovehope2013 · 05/02/2013 23:18

Hahaha, just wrote a really long message then accidentally deleted it by pressing 'back' on my phone by accident.

Anyway, what I very long-windedly meant to say in that post was yay, have lost 5lbs in 2 weeks by doing 4:3, even with an all-you-can-eat Thai meal this weekend! (and I really did eat!)

Thanks for all the posts on here, good to feel part of a community. Smile Keep up the good work!

Breadandwine · 06/02/2013 00:38

To all those who are feeling cold when they're fasting - you can take heart from research which says that the colder your inner body temperature, the longer you are probably likely to live!

www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/225148.php

WipsGlitter Take no notice of TalkinPeace she knows she can be a stroppy bugger. If it's support you're after, you've come to the right place!

Anyway, you gave it back to her, she'd appreciate that! Grin

mummyof2girlsx · 06/02/2013 06:28

WipsGlitter don't worry if your first fast didn't go according to plan. I've been doing this woe for 4 months and it took me while to get used to it and even now some fast days don't go according to plan but not to worry Smile

Ezzza · 06/02/2013 06:29

I had a bit of a chuckle to myself this morning reading through all of last night?s posts. Snowkey, I find I actually do say ?way of eating? when talking about this in RL and avoid the word ?diet?. It?s true that one meaning, and possibly the original meaning of the word ?diet? is simply a way of eating for a category of people, such as ?the Western diet? which obviously means what people in the West eat not a weight loss plan (quite the opposite usually isn?t it? Grin). That said, another dictionary definition of the word ?diet? is ?A regulated selection of foods, as for medical reasons or cosmetic weight loss? (though I stopped taking dictionary definitions as gospel when I studied corpus linguistics during my master?s degree tbh), and I have a sneaky suspicion that, if asked, most people would come up with that one first.

I prefer not to use the word diet to describe what I?m doing because I think it also comes with the implication of a temporary period of deprivation followed by going back to your old ways. That?s not how I see this WOE at all. This WOE has been a real revelation and has (hopefully permanently) changed my relationship with food and has altered my desire for food so that I actually want to make better choices. I rarely talk about this WOE in RL, but, when I do, I do describe it as a new way of eating which I?ve adopted because I don?t want to give the impression I?m on the latest quick fix fad diet but rather that I?ve found something which has helped me to a better relationship with food.

If there?s anyone out there reading this thread who is attracted to this WOE because there are hardly any rules and who doesn?t like being told what to do, you?re not alone. I?m the type of woman that doesn?t want chocolate or wine or to push the big red button marked DANGER until someone tells me I?m not allowed and then the only thing I can think about is chocolate or wine or pushing the big red button marked DANGER. With this WOE, nothing is ?not allowed? or an ?absolute no no? so I don?t have anything to trip me up.

One of the main reasons I rarely tell people when I go on a diet is because of just that. I hate it when after having carefully saved up enough calories for a nice glass of wine or a choccie bar someone gives me that ?I thought you were on a diet? look. It drives me absolutely insane and I have to bring my whole will to bear not to have another one just to ?show ?em?.

I really am the kind of person who has to make healthier choices because I want to and because I decided to, not because someone told me to. Given access to advice which I?m entirely free to completely ignore if I want to I?m far more likely to take it on board (because then I?m deciding to), so I?ve been glad of the links to lots of articles and studies about this WOE and various other things like HFCS and aspartame etc., they?ve helped me to make a few minor adjustments. Please keep posting them, I might take them on board. Grin

Just a plea though: if anyone objects to my food choices should I ever post them on here, please keep your comments general and don?t tell me off specifically! No-one has so far I hasten to add, but if anyone did they?d find me an unrepentant unflinching incorrigible recidivist. Telling me I mustn?t eat sugar and refined carbs or drink fizzy drinks is a sure fire way of sending me into the kitchen for a sugar on white bread sandwich and a big bottle of diet coke. (But a general comment that those things are a bad idea won?t! Only telling me directly will have that effect.)

Oh dear! Long post. Sorry. Blush

frenchfancy · 06/02/2013 07:19

wipsglitter I know it is annoying, but TIP2 talks a lot of sense. Your fast day menu looks OK if you skip the bagel, crisps and chips, otherwise it just looks like a normal eating day. I'm afraid you do have to deprive yourself, but only for 2 days a week.

To put it in context I've just checked the calorie content of a bagel - 354 calories Shock which (assuming it was a plain bagel) leaves you just 146 calories for the rest of the day.

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