Did 5:2 work for you? If not post here and tell me why...

[BetsyBell]

I'm a huge advocate for 5:2 but I often wonder about the people who drift away from the main threads and if it's because in the long run they didn't get on with it.

I understand all the positives about intermittent fasting but in the interest of balance I'd like to know why it doesn't work out for some people.

If you didn't get on with 5:2 for whatever reason I'd love to hear from you, mainly so I can dish out better advice to people on the main threads!

Yay Aphrabehn - glad you're happy to come back to it :)

bibliomania I can visualise the article and this was at the borrom on the left side of the page. I just can't find it again - I read voraciously and too widely. It may have been a US news magazine.

I remember it was saying Americans didn't do as well on 5:2 as Brits, but had good results on ADF (Johnson et al published long before Varady).
The author wondered if it was because Americans were used to larger portion sizes and hence ate too much when allowed 5 NFDs.
I speculated it might also be because ADF has simpler rules, because the UK is the only country that almost equals the US in huge portions of junk - so we should also do better on ADF.

Varady has written on her FB site that 5:2 may not produce the stomach shrinkage that she think ADF produces and also she hopes to test her stomach shrinkage on ADFers if she can find suitable victims and a not too painful methodology.

UhOh, I read on Varady's FB that she expects people may also have plateaux on ADF/EOD. One of her suggestions to break through is to add another FD, to make 3 in a row.
Ouch. I'm not sure how often the poor sod is supposed to do that. I don't think we've ever recommended it on 5:2, but actually it might be more doable as an option on 5:2, say every couple of weeks, if all else fails.

I really didn't like 5:2. In theory it sounded fab but I found that I was dreading my fast days and would put them off with excuses. I also have an all or nothing mentality. If I went over my 500 even by 10 calories, I'd be thinking 'well that's it, I've got to 6pm and now I've fucked it. May as well have a Chinese'.
I also found that I was more likely to overeat on my free days and be thinking 'never mind I'll sort it out on my next fast day'.

I did lose some weight (about half a stone over a month) but for me, it seemed to make my relationship with food worse to the point it felt really negative and almost like disordered eating.

I'm now doing 16:8 and I LOVE this way of eating. I eat between 1.30pm and 9.30pm and have lost 11lbs in 4 weeks.

I enjoy it, there's no counting calories, and I can imagine maintaining this way of eating forever. I was a terrible breakfast skipper and late-meal eater anyway, so it feels natural to me.

Great you've found a WOE which suits you so well lifeisfortheliving :)

Lifeis - I am also thinking about eating during the times you do, so you don't ever calorie count? Can I ask how much weight you have to loose?

I lost around 10 lbs doing 5:2 then put 3 lbs back on and since Christmas I havnt lost any weight! I have mostly been doing my fast days everyweek but over eating on non fast days

I am being 'careful' with what I eat. I 'm watching my portion size, trying to reduce the amount of carbs I eat as I'm a huge pasta/rice fiend. I don't count calories though...I'd guess that I'm eating around 1200-1400 a day.
I find with 16:8 though that I just don't have time to snack.

At 1.30 I have lunch...salad with boiled eggs/plain chicken/tinned sardines/soup. Then around 5.30 I have 'breakfast'...porridge and banana, natural yoghurt and fruit. Then DH and I have dinner around 9pm...a 'normal' meal, could be spag Bol, stir fry, chicken dinner.

I started out at 13st 4lbs...am now 12st 7lbs. I'm aiming to get down to 10stone eventually which at 5foot 5 puts me around a size 10.

I started 5:2 in 2012 for about 8 months (33 yo).

Positives of 5:2 were getting more done on fast days; realising I don't always need breakfast; social side of being able to fit it in without needing to tell people 'I'm on a diet'.

negatives for me: slowest and least successful weight loss I have ever experienced; irritability; cravings and blood sugar going weird once I started eating after a fast; i don't know about hairloss but my hair seems thicker now; I suspected it was harming rather than benefiting me as time went on.

I could see myself looking at fasting again in the future but prob not 5:2.

Oh by the way i experimented with fasts too, 22 hours a couple of times and 3 x 500 cal days in a row once. I had to introduce an element of low carb to get weight moving towards the end and then decided low carb without the fasts was easier.

I had a hugely stressful year, worst year of my life. Two of my children had serious illnesses (different ones) and we were worried they might not survive. A grandchild was born who also was very ill and spent a week being chilled in a neo- natal unit. And other stuff, equally serious.

I found if I fasted my anxiety rocketed and my mood plummeted. It was almost unbearable. I was used to fasting, having previously belonged to a religion, for thirty years, where we fasted completely for 24 hours every month. It wasn't the hunger, but the effect on my state of mind.

I think 2013 left me traumatised.

I lost nearly a stone last year with it and then basically I just stopped trying and have put all of it back on. I've started again from today though as I weighed myself this morning and was shocked to see the scales hitting 11st, I'm happy around 9 1/2 st.

I've had IBS for years and found that fasting really helped with this. It was as though the fast days helped my sluggish bowel to play catch up with what I had eaten the day before !

Lots of people say their IBS improves on 5:2 - maybe those bowels are irritable just because they're in use too much - need the occasional day off to cheer up!

So what is 16:8? I have been doing 5:2 for 2 weeks but have not heard of the other one? thanks

I've packed it in. I couldn't do it. Just got too hungry. I'd love to lose a stone but the truth is I can't face the drastic cut in calories that one way or another I'd have to make to get there.

On the plus side, my experience has made me much more aware of calories etc and is still helping me now. I'm a much more committed gym attendee too. If people can get by on 500 cals a day then I admire them and indeed envy them. I don't think it'll ever be me though.

Morris I can show you a day's recipes - finishing up with a dinner which will leave you absolutely stuffed - total 450 calories!

Breakfast:
porridge -

16:8 is where you eat within an 8 hour window each day, eg 12-8pm.

I've been doing 5:2 since July 2013. I enjoy not worrying about food.and don't really find fasting too difficult. My DH does it with me too. Also I'm doing to for health reasons as my mum has macular degeneration and Alzheimer's so I'm hoping the claims of 5:2 helping to keep you healthy are good

Previously I've done weight watchers, paul McKenna, intuitive eating calories - loads! I self sabotage, and rebel - who am I. Rebelling against??

BUT I'm not losing ! I tend to eat whatever I like on nfd and at times I see myself rebelling against fasting although I never yet broken a fast. I'm feeling a bit half hearted about fasting, basically.
I've had some big things happening in my life recently ,like house move and being up to our eyes in workmen for the past 3/4 months.

How do people keep their motivation up, when they're flagging in enthusiasm?

I'm similar to rookie - I've just reached my first anniversary of 5:2, and have lost very little weight. However, I still continue...

I have IBS, which is helped HUGELY by not eating 2 days a week. My father has dementia and I've read that fasting can help with that, and lastly and importantly, I have not put ON any weight over the last 12 months.

I've had a few joint problems recently, which has meant that my 3 x week dance class has gone to the wall... and I have not put any weight on with the lack of exercise - and its thanks to 5:2.

I just need to get my head around cutting down more on NFDs.

nelly We keep up motivation by posting on the main threads (currently at number 40!) - it's a fantastically supportive place.

From what you say cocoa it's helped you enormously - IBS problems relieved, maintaining weight despite losing hours of exercise each week.

Come and join us on the main threads if you feel like you need a bit of extra support/chat/motivation... thread 40

I used to post on the 5:2 boards, Betsy, but they move too fast!

I do lurk there a lot, though

I just hate hate hate calorie counting. It makes me want to curl up and die. I have spent YEARS calorie counting in one way or another, and its the fastest track I know to a packet of biscuits. At least with 5:2 I don't have that worry somehow.

Well, I have officially quit. :( I was being optimistic that I could handle it despite history of disordered eating. Think I was glossing over what I used to be like. This is weird to admit, but by the time I'd done 5:2 for a few weeks, every FD seemed like an endless punishment for being fat and disgusting. I'm not prepared to sacrifice the mental health I've gained in order to be smaller, so I stopped.

I wish more people were aware that it's not always as simple as a lack of willpower. :(

I have been doing 5:2 for 11 weeks and lost a grand total of 2.5 pounds!

I'm not giving up yet because I don't find the fds too hard and I think it's a good habit to be in for the health benefits but I am disappointed. I joined a circuit training class the other night and found that my body fat percentage is 33.5% so I've obviously got plenty of fat to lose.

In the first week I lost 2 pounds. I lost another 2 over the 5 weeks after that and then in the subsequent 5 weeks I've gained and lost the same pound and a half. I have a healthy BMI of 22 and I only wanted to lose half a stone or so. I am not counting calories because I want to find a long term WOE and I don't want to count calories for the rest of my life. I know I am not eating more than before 5:2 though as I'm sticking to exactly the same meal plans, ingredients, snacks etc. In fact, in the last month I've given up chocolate for lent and stopped snacking after 7pm which was my worst food habit.

I'm going to continue to try to get in more good habits to try to reduce my body fat percentage. My plan is to:

Carry on fasting 2 days a week
Do 3 high intensity weights/cardio workouts each week
No eating after 7pm
Reduce chocolate and other high sugar treats
Reduce carb portions
Increase veg portions
Drink more water and green tea

Surely this has to work!!!

jdd Sounds like you are eating back your FD deficit on NFDs. Many folk automatically do this if they don't count cals.
You can maintain like this, but not lose.

I suggest you count on NFDs until you achieve your goal weight.
Once there, since it is only 7 lb loss, ypur TDEE won't have significantly changed, so you could probably maintain without counting.

Thanks for your reply bigchoc, that must be what is happening although its hard to believe that I could be eating an extra 3000 calories on my NFDs. I really am trying to eat lesson NFDs so hopefully I'll see some downward movement soon.

I have been doing this since last year and I have lost nothing, apart from my sense of humour. The other half has lost over a stone.

I don't cheat, I drink loads, I don't over eat on the other days.