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!
Mumsnet hasn't checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. You may wish to speak to a medical professional before starting any diet.
Fasting / 5:2 diet
5:2 Diet Thread! 12! Cheaper by the dozen!
GreenEggsAndNichts · 08/02/2013 10:09
I'm afraid I'm getting cold feet about the fast. I have managed to do a 800 cal intake a couple of times, but can't pluck up courage to do the the proper fast day. Tell me it'll be easy. 
I've not found the fasting hard, dread to think of my caffeine intake though ! Lots of black coffee in the morning and then loads of peppermint tea from lunchtime onwards - at least 2 litres of the stuff. Probably why I've not been hungry - too busy peeing 
I'm freezing cold on a fast day too, and I am never cold ! Am currently laid in bed with electric blanket on trying to warm through to get to sleep.
will explain that reference in case anyone is interested - water conducts heat away from the body 20xfaster than air so you get cold diving. the metabolism has to work 4xfaster to keep warm when diving which can explain why people were ravenous and why for those of us who worked diving we had to really make sure we ate or veered towards the skinny side.
so being cold makes your body work harder to keep you warm. i even read somewhere once that cold showers kick your metabolism into picking up the pace but i'm not going those extremes! 
Thanks BetsyVanBell, my fast day today is going so much better today. I?m only just getting hungry now and as I?m writing this it?s 5pm and the only calories I?ve consumed all day are those in the splash of milk I had in one cup of tea this morning. On all of my fast days last week I was climbing the walls by noon and trying to decide if I could afford to eat a small snack and still have the main meal I?d planned for the evening. I think the big difference is that today I?m letting my mind wander onto all the yummy fresh cooked authentic Chinese food options I have to choose from for lunch tomorrow. The promise of tomorrow is definitely a huge motivator for me.
Welcome to newcomers! HappilyChatterly, I think 5:2 is a great option, especially for someone like you who knows it?s going to take more than a couple of months to get where you want to be. I love the fact that because nothing is banned I?m not desperate to lose my weight as soon as possible and stop depriving myself, because I don?t feel deprived! Wishing you well and I hope to read about your experiences on here! 
Welcome back GreenEggs!
ThinkICan that?s a great spin on a plateau! I?m a bit new to this whole plateauing business, because in the past hitting one has signalled the end of my weight loss attempt and I?ve just gone back to my old ways and put the weight back on again, albeit gradually. I?m really enjoying being able to keep up with this WOE without much hardship even when the number on the scales isn?t going down (scheduled weigh day today and as expected, no downward movement on the scales)? and quite right, even though I?ve been eating nort but junk on non-fast days and I suspect TOTM is approaching there has been no upward movement on the scales either! It seems my system when losing weight is like me on a shopping trip: gotta keep stopping to have a rest!
silverbeetle I was just thinking today (sat on the floor outside a locked building on campus in the freezing cold to use its really slow Wi-Fi to refresh the 5:2 thread because the internet in my building is still off) that I seem to have replaced snacking throughout the day with a lower calorie habit: Mumsnet!
swallowedAfly, I did a 36 hour water fast once. That was back in October-ish just as an experiment to see if I could do it. Nothing bad happened. I couldn?t do it on a regular basis because it?s a psychological barrier too far for me, but I don?t see why you shouldn?t do it now and then if you feel up for it. Did you do that in the end yesterday?
Ilikemysleep, many of us on here feel a bit colder on fasting days. I have found it helps if before I go to bed I put a hot water bottle on my feet all evening while watching tele. I just keep topping the bottle up with more hot all evening. It seems to warm the rest of me up too. Then when I go to bed I have toasty feet, which is always helpful as I can?t get off to sleep until my feet warm up.
Minimammoth, if 800 kcal is what you can manage on a fast day then do that for now. Reduce calories on fast days to the 500 when you feel up to it. BreadandWine heard about intermittent fasting before the Horizon program came out and as there wasn?t much info out there on how much to eat on a fast day he didn?t go down to the 600 kcals on fast days to start with but (if I?m remembering it right) halved his calorie intake on fast days. Keep popping into this thread, as I?m sure it?s helpful for motivation, and do what you can. When you decide to have a go at lowering your calorie intake on fast days, do it gradually. I couldn?t bear the idea of not having breakfast lunch and dinner when I started in September. I only managed to cut out breakfast on fast days in January, which I did by pushing breakfast later and later each fast day until it merged with lunch. I?m now working on eliminating lunch the same way and am nearly there. So maybe you could gradually find ways to shave a few kcals off each fast day until you?re there.
Sorry, mammoth post. As I mentioned, internet is still out in my building so I?m getting the pages up and taking them back to my room to read in the warm and writing replies in a word doc to cut and paste into a post the next time I venture into the cold.
Morning all.
One week in and 3 fasts done and I've lost 2.2lbs - quite happy with that as I've only got about another 10-12lbs to lose.
Strangely I actually weighed less (0.2lb) after an eating day, in between fast 2 and 3, so have put on 0.2lb after fast 3! I'm trying to weigh myself everyday to see if my body follows a pattern, too early yet to say what it is.
Also encouraged a friend to give 5:2 a go she needs to lose weight for her wedding in May and has tried every diet under the sun. She has about 3-4 stone to lose, texted me last night after one week in and she's lost 5lbs and really feels she can stick with this WOE - feel like a proud parent
Good luck to the fasters today - tip from me, wear plenty of layers, I find I have trouble keeping warm on fast days.
Morning all,
Fast day today, like I'm going to split my calories in half as I'm at work. Eggs for brunch and Cod, spinach and tomato tonight.
I had a horrible dream last night, I had the terrible saggy skin. I had lost all of my 6 stone but was so miserable.
Wake this morning, looked at some pictures on the Internet and have scared myself. What if I end up as nothing but saggy skin? 
Couple here testing their IGF-1 at regular intervals. Interesting and positive results:
www.medichecks.com/index.cfm?s=5&d=6
I've stuck it on the T&L thread!
Hello ladies - can I ask some advice?
I've been doing 5:2 for 2 months now and it's been highly successful in some ways - I've lost 8lb to add to the 16lb I lost last year by eating carefully. However... by the end of the day I'm very irritable and shaky, and as I have a 10 month old and 3 year old that doesn't really work. I'm bored rigid of the fast days. Just like I was bored rigid of eating carefully!
- Do you think as I'm nearly 6ft tall it might be worth me trying the men's amount, ie 600 cals, to see if it makes me less miserable?
- What happens if you stop for a couple of weeks? I'm kind of terrified of putting the weight back on, it's such BLOODY hard work getting it off.
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panpiper Personally, if you're thinking eating the 600 calories on fast days would help you to keep going with this WOE, I'd go ahead and do that. I sometimes approach 600 calories. I'm also quite tall, and have a higher than average TDEE, so I think that it doesn't matter much over the long term (fast day calories are higher for men because 1/4 of their daily allowance is 600). I think what we eat on our non-fast days has more impact on weight loss (but that's my personal findings; results may vary! )
I still aim for 500, though.
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