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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! 13! Now, the baker's dozen!

991 replies

GreenEggsAndNichts · 19/02/2013 10:09

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!

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. 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.

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:
Aftereightsarenolongermine · 25/02/2013 21:14

Glad it's not just me greeneggs :o

helen17 · 25/02/2013 21:38

I have not been able to fast properly - can't go for really long spells without something to eat (even if it's celery). So far I've managed two weeks of very low cal days (500-700 cals) twice a week but am having small breakfast, small lunch & small dinner. I find being hungry hard but am persevering (& drinking water, herbal tea, decaf black coffee). Am bit worried I'm not doing it right. Haven't weighed myself yet.... Avny ideas anyone?

dines · 25/02/2013 21:40

Goin to have prawn and potato curry for dinner on my fast day on Wednesday. Looking forward to it

postmanpatscat · 25/02/2013 22:15

Finished my third fast day in less than a week - I did Thursday and Saturday last week because I started this WOE on Thursday! I've lost 1kg so far, though will probably have gone down a little more tomorrow.

I have drunk lots of peppermint tea, had ryvita and soft cheese, plus an apple at lunchtime and a whole pot of New York butternut squash soup which is under 200 cals (definitely recommend it, also 2 for £3 in Tesco at the moment). Then a sugar free jelly and still had 70 cals to spare, not hungry at all.

Laska42 · 25/02/2013 22:18

Hi all, I've just posted an Aubergine, Chickpea and Spinach curry on the recipe thread .. about 200 cals for a huge portion.. Grin

Also, to remind any of you who have been doing this for sometime, are getting near or are at target weight and are thinking of maintaining, that we have a 5:2 Maintainers thread here Do pop over and join us ..

chocolatespiders · 25/02/2013 22:26

hello all- After months of reading this and getting no where fast on weight watchers today I have decided to give this a bash. I had evening meal at 6 ish then brushed my teeth to stop my usual evening graze.

What time would you recommend I have lunch tomorrow?

Would a small tin of tuna with salad be okay or carrot and butternut soup be better?

Tomorrow morning I can not have tea with milk but can have black coffee or fruit tea.

Thankyou

ExitPursuedByABear · 25/02/2013 22:53

So, first fast day over and I have managed 560 calories (but that did include a large vodka & tonic).

Had a boiled egg at lunchtime and a tin of tuna in a tin of tomatoes for supper, and a small packet of twiglets.

I can see room for improvement here Wink

notapizzaeater · 25/02/2013 23:07

Chocolate spiders. Black coffee and herbal teas will become your best friends (and the loo !!). Either would be fine for dinner, though I try to go through dinner and eat at tea time. If Really hungry I have an egg salad. Good luck

Anja1Cam · 25/02/2013 23:18

Wow you lot are busy! Well done to all fasters today and good luck for those tomorrow (me included)
I've been busy today and had lunch at IKEA without feeling guilty, plus a couple of biscuits this PM and am still only just scraping past my TDDE - I love it :-)

My plan tomorrow is BLACK coffee in the morning, a cup a soup for lunch (at work with minimal facilities), plus plenty or water and herbal teas etc. I'm allowing myself one skimmed Cappuccino in the afternoon, and then a big chicken & veg stir fry dinner. Somewhere if needed I have space for a yoghurt too...

catsrus · 26/02/2013 02:04

Hi chocolatepiders you can have tea with milk and still lose weight on the WOE - I never drink normal tea without milk, have 2 large mug fulls every morning and have lost 27lb. I could not fast if I didn't have my tea in the morning! There are just 2 things to bear in mind.

  1. milk has calories so you count them - particularly if you drink lots during the day
  2. the evidence seems to suggest that the other health benefits are greater if you stay calorie free for as long as possible. You have to judge for yourself what works for you. I would say its better to have milk in tea if it helps you to stick with a fast. Don't go into martyr mode and start feeling all deprived - in my experience this WOE is quite remarkable in that I can feel hungry but not deprived. The hunger feels like something positive i Am doing to my body. Many of us have found that we actually enjoy fasting days Smile
Aftereightsarenolongermine · 26/02/2013 06:28

Have to say agree with catsrus I enjoy feelings of hunger in that it must be doing good & I especially love the way I feel so energised after a fast day. I look forward to my Monday fast day as a way to regulate myself after an indulgent weekend.

lottie63 · 26/02/2013 06:32

What is this sugar-free jelly you're all mentioning? Is it a particular brand and just like. Pack of squared normal jelly? Where do I get it?

countryhousehotel · 26/02/2013 06:36

catsrus 27 lb that's great, i have at least a stone more than that to go, how long has it taken you?

Thanks for that last post for chocolatespiders, it's my first fast day today and that's a very positive thing to read first thing in the morning! I tracked my TDEE for the first time yesterday and with a daily allowance of 2500 I was amazed to see how well I ate and still had 600 cals left at the end of the day.

But I did start to doubt whether I will be able to fast for long long periods - i have a 3 year old ds at home full time with me at the moment, and a 6 year old dd at school. Ds is up between 5 and 6 most mornings, and he's going through quite a demanding (and sometimes challenging!) phase, so i'm worried about that whole negative spiral of martyrdom and deprivation!!!!!

Your post has just helped me realise that it might be better to eat a little bit 3 times a day just until I am ready to go for longer periods. I totally get the bit about leaving it longer, I used to juice fast and mono-fast regularly in the days before DD (i was a bit of a hippy, sprouting my own mung beans etc) so I'd like to work up to that feeling again of actually feeling positive about being hungry sometimes, not being scared of it! I'm looking forward to reprogramming my appetite, and my portion control, and to finding the instinctive inner balancing act that kept my weight lower and stable for many years (you know, the one that doesn't eat the whole packet of biscuits just because you sniffed one).

Am going to wait as long as I can this morning and then have boiled egg and asparagus, I'm then going to make some roasted carrot, red pepper, lentil soup (from the recipe thread) and have that either at lunchtime and dinner/tea time or just once, probably when the children are eating at about 5.30 or 6pm.

Anyone else starting today???

swallowedAfly · 26/02/2013 07:11

morning all.

well after messing up a whole day's good fasting by stuffing my face with chocolate last night after turning into a ravenous crazed woman i'm intending to do better today.

i am drinking black coffee (me of the can't possibly drink coffee without milk ilk) and intend to only have black coffee and water till 4.30pm which will be 20hrs proper fasting so at least my insides will get some benefit this week even if i'm messing up the calories and not getting the weight loss.

tmi but i have really aching breasts this morning and i think it's the premenstrual hormonals that got me last night. so i'm going to try and do damage limitation this week. if i lose it again tonight at least i'll have had a good long fast first and will have some calories spare. be good if i could make it a fast day though.

i think with this woe yes we're looking at a week rather than a day but i think longer term (for the hormonal olympics types like me) it'll need to be a broader view than that, taking into account our cycles. my biggest drop week so far was in the week after my period. fingers crossed that happens again this time round!

swallowedAfly · 26/02/2013 07:14

in fact if it turned out i only really lost significantly in that first week of my cycle then just managed to maintain for the rest of it before losing again next time round that would still be ok!! might not be as speedy as my demanding instant results self would like but it would be working none the less.

Wishihadabs · 26/02/2013 07:22

Morning all first fast day here. Black coffee and a satsuma this am. Then school run and Pilates. Planning on cottage cheese and huge salad at lunchtime, hm minestrone tonight.:)

PrincessUnderpaid · 26/02/2013 07:43

Hi wishi 1st day faster here too. I have a 2 litre bottle of water on my desk and a supply of cup a soups.

Good luck to anyone else fasting today - the juice is worth the squeeze!

Anja1Cam · 26/02/2013 07:46

Morning all,

just discovered a huge mug black coffee with a splash of WATER Smile is not actually much different than with a generous amount of skimmed milk which is what I used to have! Ah, 34 cals saved Grin...

Now I have been waking as 5am this past week since starting, and having a hard time going back to sleep. Regardless of whether I went to bed at 10 or at midnight. I do usually need the toilet in the night but I've never had problem getting back to sleep. I don't FEEL hungry nor does my stomach rumble but there is obviously some trigger and I mostly just can't get back to sleep... Anyone else find this? Seems to be about 11 hrs after my last meal.

Wishing everyone a good day, fasting or not.

catsrus · 26/02/2013 07:50

Great attitude SaF you go girl! countryhouse I started after seeing the original Horizon programme in August (was 11.4 ish) reached my original target of 10.4 before Xmas and decided to try for 9.4.

In January sometime I hit 9.5 but have decided to stay on maintenance for a bit (wobbling between 9.8 and 9.5 ATM) to get a better sense of what I need to be eating at this weight to stay here. No point losing more until I feel I've got it sorted. I feel like Im in this for the long term, I know what to do to lose weight, I know it will work should I choose to do it - but my TDEE will also drop again. I have a sedentary job and don't want to feel I'm on a diet so I'm resting here a bit. Ideally I'd like to be wobbling around the 9 st to 9st 3 range.

Salbertina · 26/02/2013 08:07

Blew fast yesterday- mid-moving blues got to me Angry did wait 22 hrs and then have 5 hr eating -drinking-- window at leadt
So here i am again, ok so far.

swallowedAfly · 26/02/2013 08:09

thanks catsrus - and i agree with your plan of getting stable where you are before considering more.

anja - me too with the coffee. discovered if i make it as 2/3rds of a cup and top up with cold water it's fine. also in coffee with milk i needed a sweetener and this way i don't so it's win, win as that was the only artificial sweetener i had in my life and now it can be gone totally. can't help with the waking - i'm an early riser anyway and i tend to save my calories for close to bedtime as i can't get to sleep hungry.

good luck to first time fasters.

Itsaboatjack · 26/02/2013 08:12

Morning all. I have finally broken through my plateau and I am under 12 st for the first time in over a year :) I am weighing after a fast day though so I will have to make sure I don't weigh again until after the next fast day so I don't see it bounce back up.

Good luck to all today's fasters.

Salbertina · 26/02/2013 08:15

Catsrus- well done! Are you going 6:1 for maintenance then? I got there before but then w lots of upheaval last year, put it back on. But probably only 2-3 kilos to lose. Am trying to do 2 fasts a week before reaching target then6:1 to maintain so curious yo know whether it works, hope so!

swallowedAfly · 26/02/2013 08:23

well done itsabout Smile really pleased for you. think i will turn cartwheels when i go under the 11st mark. at least i'm safely under the 12 now where i was hovering when i started this woe. how much have you lost?

BetsyVanBell · 26/02/2013 08:31

Sooo, it turns out that if I spend a few days chomping through chocolate, crisps, ice cream & larger meals means I put on weight! Who knew? (Me).

My pattern: good result on the scales = relax and eat = put weight back on; scale fail = back on the straight and narrow: and that is why I have to weigh in most days!

Great fast day yesterday though, very welcome after the weekend's indulgences Smile.