The 5:2 thread number 27 - Season of fasts and mellow rumblingness (with apologies to Keats)

[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!

I have to be REALLY careful what I eat today as I'll never get my dress zipped up tomorrow otherwise.
And DH bought lunch from Reeves the Baker earlier
Still having pizza and wine for supper though!

yum pizza and wine sounds fab TIP

It's my birthday tomorrow so I am am having cider and snacks tonight and a birthday meal tomorrow cooked by DH and no doubt there will be birthday cake too....... I think after all that I'll be ready for Monday's fast!

Enjoy your weekends everyone

I am having posh crisps later . Planned on it for the last 2 Saturdays but didn't as wasn't hungry .

Gotta love NFD menus. DH is preparing roast chicken, mac 'n' cheese and kale with bacon and garlic for tonight's dinner. Pudding will be a simple fruit salad of orange segments and pomegranate seeds. Have purposefully had a light lunch of marmite on toast followed by an apple to keep my stomach free to enjoy the forthcoming feast.

Enjoy BsshBossh sounds lovely! Its so good to be able to have nice foods and at weekends without feeling guilty on this wol

I have been doing 5:2 for nearly a year now and after years of dieting, it is such a relief to finally be at my ideal weight and still be able to eat out, eat cake, have the odd takeaway and generally enjoy life without worrying about every calorie that passes my lips

Just had dinner. Was delicious but I may have eaten a little too much. I definitely think my appetite has got smaller so need to remember to serve a smaller portion.

Was 10.6 this morning (pre loo trip) so another 1lb gone. Thankyou very much. Today however, I have 92 calories left and that doesn't include the G&T I'm drinking and the bottle of Rose with my name on it. Oh dear, good job I'm doing PT session followed by spin on monday!

Had a takeaway last night and it was delicious! Chicken tikka masala and a lamb pathia. Had naan, so barely touched the rice, and was stuffed. How did I used to manage popadoms and a side dish too?!

Finally got my hula hoop, and after all my practice with the little one keeping it up in the air is really easy. I know it sounds odd but I'm a little disappointed that I've found it so easy, I can still feel that it's working my abs though. I'll have a look at some of the hoop exercise vids on YouTube and see what else I can do with it now . I'll see if I can persuade DH to have a go too!

Finally caught up with you all, and will say a general 'well done' to all you fasters and losers! Lots of good news on this thread.

Miss S as a reluctant cook I have to admire your determination to feed your family well - mine would wonder what had come over me if I served up the sort of stuff you talk about on here!

Didn't fast this week as planned...looked at the school lunch menu and it was one of my favourites so I had to order it! Then I thought I'd probably fast today, but it wasn't practical as I was at a kids' party this pm. I am eating far too much sugar and need to get back in the groove. Last time I weighed I was still only 52kg but dread to think what it would be after today's overindulgence (which is definitely not the same thing as a weekend blowout, because you can feel good about that and I feel crap right now).

Gym tomorrow morning and hopefully I won't have to hop off the treadmill and run to the toilet halfway through like I did on Friday

A heads up for all....
just watched Fabulous Fashionistas on 4OD .... inspirational women and all healthy and fit and comparatively slim ...

Ah darnit, am coming down with some sort of crappy chesty/throaty thing - awake since 4am, can't sleep. Up watching catch up tv before the kids get up & commandeer it! I really really wanted to do the shred and a run today, get back on track but I absolutely can't I'm not feeling hungry though so might just do a 16:8 since I'm not bothered to eat, just keep the fluids up. Soup for lunch, something nice for dinner. Something with chilli to clear the sinuses!
Really hope the kids lie in, got mad men to watch, ooh Don Draper

just a quick drop by for nsv central. I have easily fit into some size 12 jeans as size 10 tops. very happy.

Congrats EatRiskier, what a feeling! Well done, that'll keep you on track and in check - great lift to the spirits

DCs not at all impressed we haven't gone out and have mostly left them to their own devices. Good, important reasons so am not in the food for the cheek x 2 that has just come out of my 8 year olds mouth but I have not resorted to the chocolate bag. Not FD today, doing that tomorrow.

mood not food.

Just checking in as won't be able to tomorrow due to meetings in London so normal Monday fast will have to be a Tues / Thurs fast again this week. Don't like doing that but needs much
Bsshbossh going to try your dahl recipe, sounds yummy.
In the meantime, there's shepherds pie calling me from the oven

Hi

Id like to start this. Been thinking about it for a while and I think the time is right. So Id like to introduce myself.

In the last 18 months Ive gone from being 12st 6lbs size 16 (that were getting too tight) to 10st 12lbs and a size 14 (with the odd 16 suit dress) just by taking up running and cutting down some food.

I started a new job 7 weeks ago and with that I decided that I was only going to drink water at work so I would not associate sitting at my desk with drinking coke or hot chocolate (my previous choice of drinks in the past) and so far that is going well. So now I just need to lose the crap I eat too.

I was hoping that with working I would be too busy to eat, but I find it easier not to eat at home as I get hungrier at work. Of course the constant supply of treats that are brought in (especially with the run up to christmas) to work doesn't help either. But I am determined to give this a go. Especially as now I work full time I am finding it harder to fit in exercise.

I think Monday's and Fridays will be easiest for me to have fast days as I go to a course straight after work on a Monday so out from 8:15 AM till 10:00PM on Mondays. Fridays are good for me too as we go straight to the supermarket so I am out for 12 hours. Plus I can always buy myself a nice treat for Saturday if I manage to stick to under 500 cals on those two days. If I fail I wont buy a treat, does that sound good?

I am out of the habit of eating breakfast anyway too so I think Im half way there.

My TDEE is 1757 as I do have a desk job, though I do Parkrun most Saturdays, but not every week due to visiting relatives once a month. If I run on a sunday and possibly some exercise another day a week I can up my TDEE to 2014. I think it might be worth while. What exercise do other people do?

Anyway hope I do well and its lovely to 'meet' you all.

Sorry should have also said I would like to be anywhere from 9st7 to 10 stone and a size 12 (anything smaller than a 12 I look too thin)

Eatriskier. Congrats!! Excellent nsv!

Fast day here. Ugh. Had wine last night which isn't helping FD as I want to eat fry ups and chips with mayo (hung over? Moi? Noooo). And after only half a bottle of wine too. At least I am now officially a cheap date

Done my workout full fasting and broken fast with cup a soup. Life in the fast lane....

Good luck to other fasters today and those suffering from last nighs wine consumption.

Oh and hi biscuitsaremydownfall! Great name and yes biscuits are my enemy too

Soups are good on fast days I find and vegetable stir frys are filling too.

People do various things on here. Some only eat once on a fast day-ie big meal others eat two small ones.

I eased myself into fasting by doing what's known as 16:8. That is 16 hours fasting over night with an 8 hour day time window to eat. Ie eat last meal (dinner) of day at 6pm and next morning skip breakfast and start eating again at lunch time and then stop again after dinner. I lost quite a few lbs just doing this.

I can now "manage" an actual fast day with circa 500 cals. I usually do two small meals. And I still do 16:8 during the week but not at weekends.

Others will come and give you more sage advice shortly. Welcome.

Hello biscuitsaremydownfall You sound like me when I started 5:2 :) You are in an excellent frame of mind to do this WOE and you should just launch in tomorrow! I'd stick with the lower tdee on weekdays (fast days excepted of course) which will give you slack to bump up your eating at the weekends/social occasions.

The fast days will give you 2 working days when you can virtuously ignore the snacks and that will make it easier to ignore them on the other days (should you want to).

You might find that as you're losing weight so healthily and with the accompanied exercise that you can get down to a lower weigh and size without looking too thin - just slim, healthy and glowing.

Don't punish yourself for fails - we don't condone that here :) Your concept of treats might change too...

What's your plan for your first fast day? I recommend caffeine , try and make your calories veg/salad and protein-based. The veg goes a long way and the protein keeps you full for ages: you'd be amazed how filling a boiled egg and a carrot is!

Eating my homemade daal :) with chicken and steamed cauli and broccoli. So good.

I plan to do my usual of going to work with no breakfast and having water at my desk. I am going to have a cup a soup for lunch (140 cals) and then go outside for a 10/15 min walk depending on how long of my lunch I have left, this is purely to stop me sitting in the canteen eating something else.

I will then sit at my desk with some more water (I have 2 litre bottles that I fill up at home and take with me, so one for morning and one for afternoon). Then Im not sure. I need food on the go as I have to make way for my course and will be driving so need to eat something about 5ish while sat at my desk. How about a little fruit salad or some veg that will be left over from today (we always have some left over)

While at my course I will have a sachet of options hot chocolate.

Of course that is way less than 500 cals so need to think of what else to eat. We have no eggs in the house ATM so hard boiled egg is not an option right now. How about a low fat yoghurt?

Why do you recommend caffine? I dont like coffee (not too keen on tea either), a colleague takes caffine pills, do I need to purchase some of those then?

Biscuits Don't worry about the caffeine! I've just found my coffee intake has risen sharply since starting this WOE - but then I love coffee, tea - and herbal tea - just most hot drinks really.

Your plan sounds good but a cup a soup is not going to be satisfying and nutritionally void. But, have it with the veggie leftovers (avoid potatoes if possible) anything raw too.

So no eggs in the house... do you have anything proteinous lurking in the fridge you can take with you to eat with the veg and salad? Ham? Leftover roast meat?

Some people find fruit spikes their blood sugar and makes them feel hungrier, and I suppose the same goes for the yogurt, but I would say definitely take them with you as it'll stop you jumping on the office snacks!

It's good to plan exactly what you're going to have and it will really help you tomorrow. Do calorie count it in advance too, then you can see how many eg green beans you can get for the same calories-worth of cup-a-soup!

I find an Options hot choc quite helpful in the evening sometimes.

Remember, the hunger comes in waves - a big drink of water will usually stave off the worst so hold out as long as you can. It sounds like you've got a good busy day tomorrow to keep you distracted.

Good luck and let us know how you get on :)

Eugh, sorry about the essay - hope I haven't put you off biscuits...