What do you have for breakfast on the 5:2 diet?

[McKayz]

I'm thinking of doing the 5:2 diet. I've got at least 5 stone to lose. I'm not great at sticking to diets but this seems more manageable.

I can't skip breakfast. Whenever I do I end up eating crap for the rest of the day.

I am not keen on eggs and I don't eat fish. I've got 3 DC that I need to get up and ready. So I don't have a lot of time to make stuff.

I'm also breast feeing DD so I'm hoping this diet will be ok for that.

Thanks.

Sorry, no help at all as I find skipping breakfast works for me. But this is a bit of a change, as I used to think I would die without breakfast.

I also had 5 stone to lose, so started the 5:2 diet about 3 months ago and have lost over a stone. I also used to feel like I really, really needed breakfast but on a fast day you have so few calories that eating crap isn't really an option, and like many others I find once I start eating it's hard to stop, so I save it all for my evening meal.

I got used to it surprisingly quickly, and I'm a lone parent to 2 and I do my fasts on work days, so am sat in an office that's usually full of cakes as well as having to deal with the kids' meals! I haven't cheated on a fast day yet - it really helps to know that you can eat anything you want the next day.

I would try a few fasts with no breakfast and see how it goes - I was definitely surprised how my body adapted. And my stomach has shrunk - I went out for dinner last week determined to eat anything I wanted, and I couldn't finish it, whig is a first for me!

*which, obviously!

I don't eat breakfast on the 5:2 - once I've eaten that, it wakes up my tastebuds, and I start to crave more food.

I'll normally go until at least 2pm before even thinking what I'd like to eat. I eat all my 500 cals early evening; however, I do drink tea and coffee with a little skimmed milk during the day, so normally I eat 400 cals.

Sorry not to be more helpful. If you read the 5:2 boards on MN, you'll see that most people are advised not to have it.

BUT, BUT - you'll get on fine without it. Just keep drinking fluids when you feel hungry.

5:2 might not be for me then. The last time I went without breakfast I almost passed out on the school run. I'm up lots overnight feeding DD.

Maybe you can amend when the fast 'day' occurs then? I know a couple who run their fast day from 2pm one day to 2pm the next. On that schedule, you could have a normal breakfast and lunch, then fast from 2pm (e.g. just having a snack supper) and save the rest of your calories for breakfast the next day and have a late (post-2pm) lunch? Is working OK for them.

I think I'll give that a go. Thanks.

Sorry to hijack but can I just check something - is it that you need to have 500 calories over 24 hours? So I could fast from 6pm to 6pm?

As opposed to eating normally on a Monday wth dinner at 6pm, then 500 calories all day Tuesday, and then eating normally.

sorry - then eating normally Wednesday?

Mckayz - you might want to postpone starting until you finish bf - I bf dc2 until he was 2, and he still fed loads in the night - I know I would never have managed the fasts then. But now I get some decent sleep I can cope with the fasts.

Not sure about 24 hour v full day fast, but I think on the official 5:2 you are supposed to do full day as that makes it actually more like 36 hours - from evening before to morning after fast day. But doing whatever you can has to be better than doing nothing!

You can have up to 500 calories within your fasting day.
To optimise benefits it seems to make sense to have a good few hours between "meals.
I think lots of 5:2 ers skip breakfast and lunch so to enjoy a more substantial supper and reap the other health benefits associated with fasting. Also, most of us find that eating awakens the hunger monster (once you start it's hard to stop).

mckays if you really need breakfast porridge might be a good idea. I sometimes mix it with water and just shovel it in or microwave it for 2 mins and stick some cinnamon on the top. It might them be worth skipping lunch and having a light "supper" that is nutrient dense.
Keep taking your bf vitamins and keep well hydrated. It's worth noting that Dr M doesn't exactly recommend fasting for breastfeeding women.
I am ebf my 4 m.o dd and fasting but that's my choice IYSWIM. I am enjoying it but it might not be right for everyone.
It's the lack of sleep that's wearing ^me^ down
Good luck whatever you choose. Don't forget that you're burning calories making that lovely milk.

My fast day breakfast is one Bellavita breakfast biscuit which is about 50 calories. I nibble a bit, put it down, read some emails, nibble a bit, put down, read some more etc. It makes breakfast last about 10 minutes! I've found I need something to get through to lunchtime even though 'lunch' is just a plain salad and a 30 calorie crispbread.

It's the best diet I have ever done and have lost 13lbs in 4 weeks. SO proud of myself

Good luck!

Thank you marry

I always used to eat breakfast, and woke up starving. I still do but find that if I ignore it for an hour it's much easier to go straight to lunch. I'm hoping it is only a small step until it's easy to go until tea as well!

Ooh emily - any more tips ? I'm bfing too with a baby on bottlestrike so I'm really keen not to damage my supply but I need to shed 2 stone in baby weight.
Do you drink tons of water during the day / notice any difference in your supply?

Hi oscarwilde
I probably don't drink as much as I should tbh buti do drink herbal teas during he day or a marmite drink if the going gets tough.
always take my vitamins. I stick to 5:2 and eat nothing until early supper (5pm) with ds. I then usually have soup, a piece of fruit and a yogurt.
That's it really.
I know that breastfeeding and fasting is not recommended though.
I haven't seen a drop in my milk supply. Dd is 4 mo and thriving and I also express bout 5oz a day.
Fasting frees up quite a bit of time actually.

McKayz I found it difficult to skip breakfast at the start so I pushed it back 30mins every fast day until it became and replaced lunch. Then I did the same pushing with lunch, did it very gradually, until now (about 3-4 months in) I don't eat anything until 6.30pm. That's a bit more 'extreme' than some who still need something solid in the early afternoon and then a smaller dinner, though - it's whatever works for you. I just find that I get hungry as soon as I eat, so I wait as long as I can before eating.

I also didn't hit 500 calories for about 4 weeks - I eased myself into all of it gradually, and I think that's the important thing. Make it a habit and it's much easier psychologically.

Hats of to anyone fasting while breastfeeding or with young children. I don't think I'd have lasted 5 minutes!

I sometimes have porridge on fast days - made with water, no sugar. Its filling and healthy and I don't usually feel too hungry during the day.

Other days I have nothing but tea (with milk) all day, but I wouldn't recommend that while breastfeeding.

I wouldn't do the fast diet while up in the night and BF. I found that eating decent food was one of the few ways to counter tiredness. That and drinking lots of water.

So why not make those changes first. Decent breakfast of porridge. Toast is rubbish quite frankly - doesn't keep you going. Then bananas, nuts - high energy snacks. Decent lunch with protein and same for dinner. Lots of water in the day.

Ditch the high carb snacks like biscuits, cakes etc.

Then once dd is sleeping better think about the 5:2

I am new to the programme but have 30g of porridge and 120mls skimmed milk with 1 tsp of golden syrup, one cup of tea for breakfast. I then skip lunch and have 300 calories for dinner (normally a ready meal - lazy ) this comes to 13 cals short of 500. Don't know if this is the recommended pattern but it works for me.

I have almost all my calories for breakfast on fast days, it means I can enjoy a substantial meal and then forget about food for the rest of the day. I plan this meal to be varied and. plentiful. Sometimes a cooked breakfast and sometimes a nutty, seedy, yogurty affair. I suppose it is all about finding out what works best for you and your precious 500 calories. Love this way of eating.

Hi McKayz, I would really discourage you from the 5:2 fasting diet while breastfeedding. Just the act of breastfeeding requires 400-600 kcal per day, and fasting with only 500 kcal per day is going to mean your body is going to be left with nothing those days. Student midwife speaking :).

Just the act of breastfeeding requires 400-600 kcal per day, and fasting with only 500 kcal per day is going to mean your body is going to be left with nothing those days

But your body doesn't reset at midnight! Eating e.g. 2000 cals on Monday, 500 on Tuesday and 2000 on Wednesday shouldn't have any impact on milk supply, if the experiences of others e.g. emilythornesbff are anything to go by.

OP
I do not eat breakfast, but I DO have a massive mug of tea : see if a mug of tea and a glass of milk will do instead of solid food.

aurynne
people have been successfully combining 5:2 with breastfeeding for many months.
Unless you are extremely thin, there are more than enough calories wrapped around your middle to keep milk supply going through a standard 24 hour fast.

Are you still breast feeding?

If so I would not try any diet without proper medical advice.

I don't eat breakfast on my fast days on 5:2, I did for the first couple, but even a tiny bowl of cereal/porridge with water is 100+ calories, which is too much of the allowance. I just drink a lot of tea, and try to get through to 12/1 ish at least. Then have a small lunch, soup and crisp reads or 1/2 Linda McCartney Lentil shepherds pie etc. then a 300-400 calorie evening meal.

But it is far too few calories if you are breast feeding. Even in Ramadan Breast feeding women are allowed not to fast.

this is interesting - I need to lose a couple of stone and a friend is doing this 5:2 (although she looks fab to me and when she borrowed as size 14 dress of mine the other day she said it hung off like a sack ).
I really should get on with it....