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!
If you've been at this a while and are moving on to maintaining your goal weight, there is a thread here to discuss that.
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.
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! 13! Now, the baker's dozen!
GreenEggsAndNichts · 19/02/2013 10:09
Hi everyone! Gosh this thread moves fast - I posted a little 'hello' less than a week ago and meant to say thanks for the welcome, been busy a couple of days and now I've lost track from when I last posted as it's moved on so much! Anyway - thank you for the welcome, and the helpful posts for newcomers.
Quick update - had first ever fast day last Saturday and it went OK - the fasting was hard, but doable - however, I had the worst night's sleep in quite a long time that night, couldn't drop off until well after 4am, and tired all next day. Second day of fasting went a lot better, as I deliberately chose a busy day, with lots to do to keep my mind off food. I also bought in two ready meals and saved myself the hassle of cooking and totting up calories of every ingredient etc. Lots of water and vegetable bouillon. The total calories came to more than 500 - but as I was out and about, on my feet for a lot - and walking around I took that into account. MyFitnessPal app is my new best friend.
Heh talking of which - today is a non-fast day, and I went for a full english breakfast, coffee - used the app to see how much of my daily calories I've eaten, and to my horror it's already up to 1800!!! I had no idea it would be that much. 
So, now I'm thinking - shall I just count today as a blip and eat more sensibly for the rest of the day, and spend tomorrow on 430-500cals fasting - or shall I start fasting now, stick to
yay bvb ! i'm doing something right 
i don't do formal exercise for weight loss because i know that for me personally it's not sustainable. i'm a single mum with very little time to myself and i work. there is no time slot where i could go running, go to the gym or go to classes. there's not really even a time slot where i could do an exercise dvd. if i artifically juggled my whole life to breaking point to fit these things in a) it would be breaking point (only 24hrs in a day) and b) i'd end up quitting.
anything i do needs to fit in my life and be sustainable. so the one thing i've done is never own a car and though the idea of a little moped keeps appealing in order to save a bit of time i stop myself because walking everywhere and doing that all of your life is actually hugely healthy and immensely good for your mental health imo.
haven't eaten yet and have been hulking furniture around and attacking the uncovered 'bleurgh' with the hoover. need to walk to the post office in a bit then home and more housework before school run.
stick with it everyone
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