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!

Well done all you losers! It's great motivation to stick with it. I have a quick question: I think I will find it far easier on NFD during the week to not eat during the day as with a FD but just have a more "relaxed" evening meal. Does anyone else do this and does it work?! The one thing I have discovered about my eating by following 5:2/4:3 is that if I have breakfast I am starving all day whereas if I don't have anything I can go for hours quite happily.

Have not been too good at sticking to the basics of 5:2 over the past few weeks for various reasons but had a great FD yesterday so am hoping I am back in the groove again.

Good luck to all fasters (and non-fasters!) today.

Well done Estoy!

invino I'm not sure how that would work. I think part of the thing that makes 5:2 work is the variation which shakes up your metabolism - so not eating all day all the time may not work.

FD for me today. And my period has arrived this morning. Not sure how these two things are going to work in combination, but I shall give it a go and see how I get on.
I have gained a pound or two of water weight, but that is a TOTM thing. Tomorrow is my weigh in day and I will hope to still see a loss.

Good luck fellow fasters. And my only tip for newbies is to steer clear of the sweets and chocolate on a fast day - unless you just have one or two squares for 'pudding' after your dinner. All they do is send your blood sugars crashing and make you hungrier so it makes fasting harder.

ooh, nice to see some new faces. Hello everyone!
Tips, keep busy, busy, busy. For me, I find it helps to head into the kitchen at about 4-5pm to start prepping whatever I'm having for NFD dinner as then I know food is on the way! Other people though, find avoiding it until necessary is the way to go.
And I often have a glass of diet coke at about 3-4pm when I'm starting to flag as that peps me up until dinner time.

Estoy woohoo!
invino the risk with not eating until the evening on a NFD is that you will simply consume too few calories over the course of the week and negatively affect your metabolism over the longterm. I rarely feel like having breakfast on NFDs but always eat a good lunch and dinner thereby ensuring my calories ovet the week are at a good leel and my metabolism is kept strong.

*over the week
*good level

Wow! Brilliant to see all the newcomers to 5:2 on the thread - welcome one and all!

Invino what you're suggesting is a version of 16:8, where you don't eat during the day and only eat later. That, combined with 2 fast days is a good plan, I reckon.

I'm maintaining, but I still fast once a week - this time it's a complete liquid fast. All I had yesterday was black coffee and water, so it's been 38 hours since I ate. Once again, this started for convenience. It's easier, IMO - and I think PostmanPatscat finds this as well - to go without food entirely for a day. I'm lucky in that I don't get hungry when I don't eat. When I do, boy, do I get hungry! I have to employ all the tricks not to overeat - such as waiting 20 or 30 minutes after a meal to see if I really do want that pudding!

I shall exercise before I eat, so I won't be eating until about twelve - and I know, when I look at my breakfast (curried fruit naan with mashed banana and flaxseed), I'll be reluctant to eat. Always feel like that after a fast.

Best wishes to all who are fasting today - and you NFDers. Remember, the only safe way to eat a biscuit is to take one (that's one!) out of the house with you - and don't eat it until you're halfway down the street!

Thanks for the advice bsshbossh and B&W - I should've said that I plan to do this Monday to Friday but then relax at the weekends and eat normally. I do worry that my non-existent metabolism might give up completely so thought this way might keep it in a state of expectation/confusion!

I'm not fasting but I am cutting back today, sickness isn't going to be solved by crisps even if that's what I had for breakfast
Bowl of soup in the next hour - hopefully it'll hit the spot

invino
I do not eat breakfast except for on a Sunday.
I have a very small lunch and have the bulk of my calories at supper.
On fast days I have all but my milk in tea calories at supper.
I'm not trying to lose weight but am determined not to put any back on.
It seems to work.

My top tip is don't watch the food channel. I couldn't work out why I was so hungry/angry while I was!

Broke my fast - after 40 hours - with a small breakfast, then immediately set the timer for 20 minutes.

This is the danger time for me, so I have to be on my guard.

About tips for new fasters - the most obvious tip I should have said, is to read the Tips and Links thread There is a wealth of good info on there.

If anyone is looking for motivation, and you have a bit of time, I'd recommend you browse the earlier 5:2 threads. They've been going for over a year now, and they contain many inspiring stories.

B&W love that biscuit tip!

FD herre, and probabaly teh only one this week, so I#d better make it goo. I'm about to sepnd my lunch hour at teh designer second hand boutique round teh corner - nothing like the thought of St Andrews ball gown to keep me motivated!

Well done estoy and somewhere

B&W I'm less hardcore today and am actually going to fast and eat! I did, however, resist the cakes in the staffroom this morning as the birthday girl wasn't in there when I passed through (so apart from fasting, it also seemed rude to start without her!)

melanie hope you find something gorgeous in a size 8 and post the pic on here!

Urgh FD failure alert. :(

I just couldn't do it. The combination of hunger, period pain, coldness and that awful tiredness from first day of period has overcome me.

I ate two chocolate biscuits, then got a grip and had my usual granola, yoghurt and fruit breakfast about an hour ago. And actually it was over 16 hours since I had last eaten so not entirely a wasted day.

Going to plan to fast tomorrow instead, so this week may end up as a 6:1 instead of a 5:2 but that's ok.

So far so good for me today. Just had some homemade tomato and lentil soup for lunch and a diet coke. Already have my veg prepared for roasting tonight.
Think I will find giving the kids their dinner hard.
Thanks for all the welcomes and the tips. Some of you ladies are hardcore

FD today - for the newbies, I prefer to eat three small meals on fd's. Egg for breakfast. Gobi dal, blueberries and low fat yoghurt at lunch. Chicken and steamed veg for tea. I also have a truffle at the end of every fd :)

Neeko
You'll find fixing the kids meal far easier than you think so long as you do it with 'awareness' : I've handed round buffet platters at meetings while fasting. Get funny looks but hey ho.
And Breadandwine is more hardcore than most of us - but he's planning to be lean and mean when his newly born grandchildren are teenagers I suspect.

Well done for the losses and FD survivors .

I had a meeting this morning that was hard so I treated myself to a Caesar salad from M&S and it has much less calories than I expected from it. Having lamb chops and new potatoes for dinner and I may have a home made olive muffin later if still peckish.

No great finds in the clothes shop - everything I tried on looked too floaty and big! Except for one gorgeous pair of knee-high boots in a sort of patchwork purple and green tweed and leather mix. One fitted perfectly, the other wouldn't go over my calf! I'm pretty sure I exercise my legs equally.

Well target is 9st7 and was 9st7.6 this morning after FD yesterday, so really close! I seem to have a mega appetite today though, so will probably be quite a bit more than that tomorrow . Got a headache and achey joints, so some sort of bug brewing. Add in a 4.30 start this morning (thanks ds2!) and no wonder I just want to eat junk.

Was planning a FD tomorrow but will have to see how sleep and illness go.

I swear the scales showed 10st 8 this morning which would be a 3lb gain on Friday's weigh in so hoping I was hallucinating
Fast day today has gone ok though did find myself eating a fairly small piece of home made apple cake at 3.45 which wasn't quite in the plan. So made sure I had a particularly small bowl of pasta with home made tomato sauce in it for my dinner just now.
Out to zumba toning shortly, to atone for my apple cake related sins

Ended on 664 after automatically making and eating a slice of toast to go with my egg this morning. Otherwise it would have come in under 500. I will just have to be more conscious on thursday morning!

I'm hungry today and it's not even a fast day although I'm close to my 1740 limit now. I need to find time to exercise properly so I can have more food on a NFD, I just don't know when to fit it in.

Well done on the weight losses.

I have just broken my fast, which was a 24hr clear liquids only one. I had (vegan version of!) jollof rice, with loads of chilli sauce and it was gorgeous.

Anyway, hello! I've been doing various combinations of fasting for a while and have lost two stone ten pounds. I still have about two stone to lose.

I'm finding a general 18:6 pattern with one or two liquid only fasting days a week is working beautifully for me, after much experimentation, where I still lost weight but it just didn't really suit me. I love being able to eat meal sized meals and loathe the time calorie counting takes - also, I have a history of eating disorder and calorie counting tends to make me go all obsessive. Simple rules don't!

Hello All,
Well done to all on losses, and NSVs.
I have been quietly lurking here for the last couple of months after a few initial posts when I got started on this way of eating - but I am steadily plugging away and have now lost about a stone since June! So after edging very close to the 13 stone mark I am now into the 11s! (Only just - but it is the first time post-baby that I have seen 11 on the scales so am feeling pretty pleased)
But most pleasing thing of all is that I don't feel like I am about to throw in the towel and go back to old eating habits and put all the weight back on - which would have been the case with all other diets in the past. It honestly feels like this woe is something I will be able to sustain, as I don't feel like I am being deprived. 'I can have it tomorrow' is definitely my top tip! As well of course as these threads.... The support and motivation I get from keeping up with you all on here is amazing, so thank you to all of you!