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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:
Wiggletastic · 27/02/2013 19:05

Has anyone else found that they get constipated when fasting? I have tried eating more veggies and drinking more water on fast days but its still a problem. Its really putting me off continuing despite already losing half a stone.

Dotty342kids · 27/02/2013 19:24

Nope, not me Wiggle. Have you tried eating things like bananas or apricots to get things "moving"?

swallowedAfly · 27/02/2013 19:36

wiggle i had it fast before last and yesterdays fast i had a bowl of baked beans before bedtime and went fine this morning.

the other option would be to get psyillium husks (spelling?) and have a spoon of them in water before bed. or you could just eat loads of fibre the day after your fast.

i have sometimes done an enema on fast days but that's not everyone's cup of tea obviously

ErikNorseman · 27/02/2013 19:47

Yes I did at first but it has settled down now. Sometimes don't 'go' on a fast day but that's due to not eating much rather than constipation.

Wishihadabs · 27/02/2013 19:48

Hmm maybe mushroom omlete ...(2 eggs loads of mushrooms) and salad.

Talkinpeace · 27/02/2013 20:00

Important tricks for making small meals feel bigger

  • presentation : if it LOOKS like a proper meal, your brain will tell your tummy to accept it as a proper meal
  • flavour : stronger flavours make it easier to eat smaller portions - adding pepper, mustard, chilli sauce or even a few flakes of fresh (from a block) shaved parmesan
  • event : make a point of sitting at the table with cutlery, napkin, glass of water ... all part of regularising the relationship with food from snacking to civilised meals
  • variety : try to have more than one ingredient above the basic - eg add onions to an omelette or pepadew to a salad or a slice of fiery salami to a plate of baked beans- so that you cannot stay in a rut

and by the way
NO SNACKING
EVER
There are three meal times in the day. Eat at them or not at all and only significantly at one of them.

Wishihadabs · 27/02/2013 20:09

Just checked pasta is 300kcal/100g so 200kcal is 75g.

BsshBossh · 27/02/2013 20:27

snoworneahva I do actually now try and eat recommended portion sizes of things including 30g of cereal. When I began thinking about weight last year (when I was 210lbs) I began scrutinising my portion sizes and realised my portion sizes were too big. I used to happily eat big bowls of pasta and cereal but it made me big. I'm now 54lbs lighter and my portion sizes are much smaller. But that's just me. Each to their own Smile.

BetsyVanBell · 27/02/2013 20:48

Portion sizes: I agree with BsshBossh, over the course of losing 40 odd lbs my portion sizes have become a heck of a lot smaller - today I felt I'd over done it with the stodge but this equated to not even a whole medium-sized jacket potato as the main part of my dinner this evening. I'm pretty sure I would have wolfed down a third more, plus the kids' leftovers a year ago. When I'm eating pasta I fill up my plate with green leafy stuff and only put a modest amount of pasta on top - it's like TiP said - fooling the eye is the key. Plus eating all that leafy stuff takes more time - I'm such a fast eater that this is really necessary.

Sutinder · 27/02/2013 20:55

My second fast day complete without a hitch. Im thinking to do another Friday then that would be three this week. Is that too much? I think i might give it a go and see what happens. Well done everyone. Enjoyed reading everyones experiences today

ellenbrody · 27/02/2013 21:03

Wiggle - I'm suffering a bit too, I drink about 3 litres of water a day on fasts and have plenty of veg. I'm not sure what the answer is as I'm v bloated and the scales havnt shifted - grrr.

Dotty342kids · 27/02/2013 21:04

sutinder I think that sounds fine. If you're feeling good on it and confident that you can manage a third then go for it! Even if you fast most of the day and then blow 500-1000 cals on the evening dinner then it'll still be a mini fast and beneficial. Well done!
And wishihadabs that makes me feel better, thank you!

Daisy1407 · 27/02/2013 21:08

Dines - u make me giggle! Why oh why did u pop into M&S with all the georgeous temptations around u! Never mind though your nearly there!
I'm just in bed now so I don't eat another thing did about 515 kcal today. Tomorrow is free cupcakes at wrk so I'm counting down to scoff them!

Don't b hard on yourself - new day Tomo!
Xx

Sutinder · 27/02/2013 21:17

dotty thanks for that. I am certainly going to try as I have quite a social weekend ahead. going to weigh myself on sat morning.

greenfig · 27/02/2013 21:47

Had giant delicious lunch with lashings of alcohol, lasted so long I didn't need supper but thought I'd never get through fast tomorrow if I didn't have anything. Had some veg soup, will hopefully soak up some alcohol and stop me having bacon sandwiches for b'fastGrin
Quite looking forward to a cleansing day of recovery tomorrow, not sure how well it will go thoughHmm
Well done to all you losersGrin

SerotoninButterfly · 27/02/2013 22:58

Am still at work and I am feeling the effect of the fruit and water - opposite problem to that of a previous poster!!

Not pleasant. Have been nibbling on blueberries and grapes this evening, and just made a lovely cup of hot water (which really helps) so I can get through until home time.

Tomorrow I need to run but going to spoil myself with a naice coffee first! (And a banana - if I try and do empty stomach cardio with a stomach this empty I will probably collapse!)

Well done to everyone and thanks for all the encouragement Grin

headintheclouds · 27/02/2013 23:11

Hi All, dotty I have been lurking for ages. The scales didnt move for a couple of weeks.( i failed to reply to you a couple of weeks ago cos I was so disappointed)Im on 5 th week and 2nd fast tomorrow.Am down 4 1/2 lbs now from the start. I have considered this to be slow moving , but have been encouraged by all the old timers informing me its normal. Ive just made a huge pot of Laskas chick pea curry for tomorrow.Im having home made sweet potato/ tomato soup at around 3 pm ( 150 cals) and the curry will marinade nicely and develop its flavours for late dinner 7 pm ( 200 cals).Thanks For the recipe, ive found it hard to resist tonight....

headintheclouds · 27/02/2013 23:22

i forgot to add welcome to all the newbies especially traceyin...hongkong.
I used to live in Hongkong many moons ago..feel very envious .I hope you had a good fast day and stayed away from all the lovely places to eat thereSmile

virginposter · 28/02/2013 00:01

I'd like to add to TiP's tips above (presentation). B&W has posted in the past that he would eat his main meal from a small plate which gave the illusion of having a large meal - every little thing helps Smile

virginposter · 28/02/2013 00:15

Ok you guys, what have you done with NurseEzzzaChapel ??? She did an amazing post in the early hours of Monday morning and hasn't been on here since.
I for one am missing her Chinese tales and helpful advice Sad

wildwater · 28/02/2013 01:03

Hear hear - exactly the same for me...

Breadandwine · 28/02/2013 01:04

Thanks for all your nice comments, folks!

I have to say I don't feel my age - more like 40! I was walking my MIL the other afternoon and I just happened to think how we would look - an elderly woman arm in arm with a young bloke! I often get a shock when I catch myself in a mirror! Smile

Teaching tonight between 4.30 and 9.00, so a 24 hour fast was well within reach. In fact I fasted between 8pm yesterday to 10.20pm tonight - 26 hours plus (a record for me) - when I had a huge bowl of veg chilli, baked potato, small glass of beer, small(er) glass of red, followed by Alpro custard and half a banana. Exactly 600 cals. Am now stuffed! Grin

Another one eating smaller portions - 60g of rice, etc, is enough for me nowadays - down from 75g pre-5:2.

Tracey, Hong Kong, eh? Great place! Brings back many memories - we were married in HK cathedral in 1970. Met at 2am in an all night restaurant at the Causeway Bay end of Lockhart Rd - the Regalia. Doubt very much if that's still there. Favourite restaurant, Cafe D'Amigo. Smile

2 early starts this week - one when I left the house at 7.45! [EEEK!]. Have decided that when this happens, I will just skip breakfast - I just shower, dress and leave the house in less than 25 minutes. It's come to something when I'd rather have extra time in bed than a breakfast! Grin

wildwater · 28/02/2013 01:08

...was in fact 'answering' another post talking about having developed a completely different relationship with the sensation of hunger. I, too, am astonished by how much my urge to binge has declined.

snoworneahva · 28/02/2013 06:18

Portion control is especially important with wheat products - mostly I just avoid them as they don't seem very filling, hence the recommended serving sizes looking pitifully small and I'm not convinced they are the healthiest of food stuffs anyway.
Another tip I've recently come across is to serve food onto plates from the stove rather than self service at the table - which I tend to like to do but will be stopping now.
Still saying my affirmations to reduce desire for over consumption on feed days, it's too early to say whether it's had any effect yet, fingers crossed.

countryhousehotel · 28/02/2013 06:21

2nd fast day for me today. Am actually finding even non-fasting days hard work at the moment as I re-educate myself about portion control and realise how many calories I have been eating every day for the last couple of years. That'll be why I've put on so much weight then!

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