The 5:2 Thread Number 24 - Summer's still here so skip the snack and share the meal!

[BetsyBell]

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.

NFD = Non fast day

NSV = Non scale victory

Michael Mosley has a website to accompany his 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- 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:

All our previous threads can be found by browsing through our very own fasting section of the site.

Another thread which breadandwine has started is a good resource for some of the tips and links 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.

There's a link to the aforementioned Horizon programme here.

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 by Dr Mosley himself, very informative if you're just starting. (I highly recommend this for an 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. 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.

A HUGE THANK YOU to Greeneggsandnicht for putting together all this info and resources into one concise OP text, much appreciated by so many 5:2ers!

Come join us, and tell us about your experiences with this diet!

Started an unplanned Sunday fast at 5.30am and became very, very exhausted mid afternoon so quickly ate 500 calories of protein based stuff - mini crust less quiches, some ham and cheese - felt much better. DS was a bit ill and breast fed for 4+ hours which was v draining. I also did shred and 20 min swim while fasting this morning.

Once he went to bed I was hungry again and thought 'nah, it's not a fast day, it's a 16:8 day' so made chicken, broccoli, mushroom, garlic in curry sauce. It was v nice and today ended up being about 1400 calories.

As DH is off work for next 2 weeks and we are staying at home I might not do full fasts and just skip breakfasts and do morning workouts every day whilst staying low-carb/gluten-free while we are on holiday. Then get back to proper asting once DH back at work.

How has everyone else managed/planned for family holidays? Do you do 16:8 or forget fasting or keep as you were?

Tortoise I am also in Australia.

So, it is almost 11 and the fast hasn't killed me yet! I feel fine, have been busy doing housework and drinking a lot of tea. I am guessing I should also drink some water?

I have had a growly tummy but it isn't bothering me.

I am looking forward to my late lunch though

Ah, you're in WA. Yes, drink water.

12.30pm here (SA) and have had my late morning skim latte. Feeling a bit uninspired about dinner, though. Usually I happily alternate between 3 different FD dinners which I invented to come in around 250-300 cals each, but I'm sick of all of them. I can actually go to 350cals now that I'm settled into a routine of 140 cal during the day (two skim milk drinks, one morning one mid afternoon) and the remainder for dinner, and DH is off the wagon so he doesn't care.

What's everyone else's favourite FD dinners?

Go tortoise you can do it! I'll join you in a fast today (2 weeks til hols). I'm going to have to be creative with my exercise as I'm off work but am minding DP's 4yo while he's at work so can't get out to the gym or run unless we take turns in the evenings. It is 4:48 AM and my gym is open so why am I lying in bed wishing I was asleep, I should be making the most of this opportunity!! (No chance!)

tortoise its sweet but you don't want to look like me, I. about 15kg heavier than you are . that's after loading a good 20kg too...

I'm in for today's fast. gonna get on my elliptical/cycle later as soon as ds decides its nap time. could be any time really!

Morning all, fasting Monday plus zumba class for me as usual! Favourite fast day dinners for me are things like chicken or fish in Moroccan / curry type sauces often bulked up with protein friendly foods like chickpeas or lentils. If I'm feeling lazy then an easy standby is quorn sausages + pile of veg or baked beans.

Hey hopefulgum waves! How are you? This woe is great - v flexible. Tough at times but this thread is enormously helpful.

I'm fasting today. Don't feel like it but have put on a pound and have wedding on Friday.

Won't bore u with my soup/ready meal meal plan. But will be on here for moral support. Gonna use coffee judiciously to make it as fAr thu the day as poss.

Had a bad week eating wise with too much alcohol, lots of parties and ice cream not going to weigh today but try to fast
Am completely out of the fasting mindset and hoping to remotivate myself today.

FD Monday - my first ever looking after 5 yo DD all day by myself over the long school summer holiday. She used to go to a childminders over holidays but now I work from home flexibly I can look after her (which is lovely). We've got lots to do today (she'll be in my gym's kids club whilst I exercise, then the park, then home for lunch, then she's got a swimming class) so fingers crossed fasting isn't difficult. I see today as a test .

Ah, you can do it Bsshbossh. I find what helps is, whilst the kids are eating their lunch / tea, I do the prep for whatever our fast day dinner is! Keeps me occupied and looking forward to whatever yummy things we're eating for our tea. So, this morning whilst DD chomped her way through a croissant I got all the ingredients out for our tea later and whilst they have their roast chicken and veg at tea time I shall be cooking our Moroccan chicken to have later this evening

Could be an interesting fast today. I'm camping for a couple of days which normally means lots of beer and peanuts. We had family staying last week so didn't manage to fast. I tried to do 16:8 but that basically meant skipping breakfast and didn't reduce the amount of wine I drank or cheesecake I ate. My body definitely needs a rest.

I'll give the kids hot dogs for lunch and I've packed a Aubergine and lentil curry I had in the freezer for dinner (yum).

Tortoise- meals with prawns, chicken or egg are great for fast days- I found one online called Tuscan eggs that is delicious and you can adjust the number of eggs you have depending on how many calories you've had in the day. The other day I did baked salmon with a half teaspoon of pesto and some roasted veg which was great. Soups are pretty good too.

I think it must be harder to do this in Oz as you guys don't have the easy ready meals in the same way as the UK. If we're bored of fast day foods there are loads of ready prepared calorie controlled M&S meals etc. Oz has better food generally and lots of healthy options but portions are massive. I put on 5kg in about two months after we moved to Australia and had to work really hard to get rid of it. I do miss lots of the food in Australia but I was glad to get back to English cadburys .

I had a "ready meal" soup for lunch, which was great cos I knew exactly how many calories it is (183). And it was very yummy : red lentil and tomato soup (there are a few different ones to try all under 200 calories, so I will get some more for fast days). Was so good after skipping breaky, but felt I could have eaten another bowl full! I guess my stomach may take a little while to get used to this.

I will steam some vegetables to go with the little tuna steak (will also steam it). I am guessing I can a few vegies? Would a cupful be enough? According to Myfitnesspal a cup is only about 60 calories, does that sound right. I won't be having potato, probably carrots,broccoli and brussel sprouts.

Hello everyone, I am generally lurking for motivation and trying to get to know who you all are. I've done 2 weeks of 5:2 (although I did a 4:3 last week) and having another fd today. I didn't dare with myself in week one (or four the last 10 years) but I did last Monday morning and I have lost 5lb since then! Obviously it's early days so a lot is water, but it's still nice to see the numbers going in the right direction. Just another 2 Stone to go!
Have you all tried other diets before? Why do you find this one works? So far, for me I think it's a matter of motivation. I can be prone to quite obsessive behaviour but being extreme just a couple of days a week gives me the motivation to be pretty sensible the rest of the time without going overboard and either overeating or undereating the rest of the time.

and by the way those of you who have posted photos look fantastic. Truly inspirational.

Hello , I'm back again after the end of term madness and holiday away.Am fasting today but took dog out to wood this morning and have just had a boiled egg for breakfast .

Amazed at all the success stories

Tortoise I'm 62.5kg on a good day! But yes, exercise and not drinking in the week certainly helps slim down the midriff - good habits to get into anyway.

Come and join the Shred/IF thread that monster started recently!

hopefulgum I rely on the fact that you can have a huge plateful of veg and salad leaves for very few calories! I need the visual of a full plate to be satisfied. Like you I usually have it with some fish but baked in foil with lots of ginger, garlic, lime juice, chillies, I quite often cook some of the veg in with te fish too (leeks, fennel, a couple of cherry tomatoes)... the spice and zing of the added extras, which can be drizzled over the veg too, elevate from low calorie nutrition to WOW! and after a fast day might feel like the best thing you've ever eaten!

I think I'd better get some salmon out the freezer to defrost for my fast day dinner!

Well done on your loss so far londonmrss !! Glad this is working well for you. I think my mindset is quite similar to yours - couldn't bear to be 'on a diet' all the time but can fast two days a week quite happily.

londonmrs I lost the bulk of my weight by being more careful with what I ate and moving around more - and keeping a food/exercise diary. I got a bit stuck after a 16 months of that so picked up 5:2 and found it shifted much of the rest of the weight pretty easily, and more importantly, allows me to maintain a weight I'm happy with fairly easily. It's calorie restriction without the hardship!

There's high cholesterol and type 2 diabetes lurking on both sides of the family so the health benefits of 5:2 were exactly what I was looking for. Feeling healthier encourages me to exercise more too - I hardly ever have that sluggish feeling that was so familiar when I was 50lbs heavier.

Oh oh.....last Thursday reached an all time low of 14st 9 after starting out at 16st 12 March 2012, (lost 11lbs until Jan 2013 when I started this WOL). So had lost 1st 1 since then. BUT just had a long weekend in Sheringham-this morning after eating + drinking freely (copying my husband I might add!) This morning am....15st1! But strangely am not discouraged because a) it was a treat b) I don't feel 6lbs heavier, and c) I am intrigued to see what happens tomorrow morning after today's much-needed fast. I shall post tomorrow, and after the next 2 fasts to evidence what I anticipate will be positive results. I say all of this to encourage any disheartened 5:2ers as a 52 year-old example that this WOE works,is flexible,and reliable. Keep the faith all.

FD for me today - home alone and have decorating to do..... Hope oi am more heartened than last week

ds relented to a much needed early nap (having been up since 5 - not that I was, oh had woken early anyway so found them entertaining each other when I got up). feeling great after a good elliptical and cycle session.

have squeezed myself into put on a new charity pair of size 14 jeans and am loving it. just the sort of things I need to push me through to a successful FD.

right, now for a second before ds wakes

sausages its probably not 'real' weight. I bet tomorrow you'll find the damage wasn't that base at all

Yes hopefulgum 'vegetables are your best friend' when fasting.

It's 10.45am here. Not too hungry. I always feel worst in the morning when gotta get ds off to nursery.

Have had one tea and one small milky coffee.

What I don't like on FDs is to get so hungry I can't function. So going to try to do loads today - laundry, apply for second child benefit, sort out ds's school kit, go for a run etc etc.

Just to have done this will make me fear the fd less!

FD for me today too. Just had a nice weekend away, which was a bit of a last minute thing. Only managed to make it to 3.30pm for my Saturday fast as a result before feeling strange and needing to eat something quick (which ended up being a choc chip cookie, not my preferred fast breaking choice but was all that was available at the time). On the plus side though, the weekend has left me feeling so jolly that I went for a run this morning for the first time in months. I love jumping on the scales after a run, I get a nice false low reading!