Do you really lose weight doing 5:2?

[MrsJorahMormont]

I'm really interested in this, have male friends who swear by it but I don't know any women who are doing it. I had a half hearted attempt a year ago but found I just maintained my weight because I took the 'eat what you want on NF days' a bit too literally

So can you lose weight doing it without loads of calorie counting on NF days? I need to lose weight urgently, about 3 stone and would love to get rid of 1.5 stone by Christmas but I don't know if that's just crazy talk :o

Every other day diet i.e. 4: 3 works for me but not 5:2

Every other day is what the medical research 5:2 is based on suggests.

The US professor-author of that diet is Dr Krista Varady - very interesting to read both her popular diet book and some of her medical papers

it is, or should be, eating less. If you keep the same level of activity you should drop blubber. As pointed out, tiny food intake makes many people hell to live with. Why not just even it out?

some scary stuff on this thread - repeated sugar-shake dieting, ideas that 1-2lb a week is 'slow' weight loss when it is the realistic rate, etc etc.

i did it for 2 years, but the summer holidays did me in.

i'm going to do it again. overall i feel much better, more energy, better sleep. although don't sleep well on fasting days. i used to do 400 calories a day but am considering doing a 4:3 with 600 or 800 calories. i think that is more maintainable in the long run.

I have 5:2'd twice.

The first was 2 1/2 years ago and I lost 14kg / 30lb in about 5 months. Did it by the original book - did not worry the slightest what I ate on the non-fast days.

I found that the first days were hard, but that I adjusted. over time my stomach naturally became a little smaller and that helped. Over time - naturally, without effort - I found myself eating healthier. Also found that I wanted to go to the gym, which was a considerable surprise! Other than the effort needed the first 4-6 diet days, it was realy surprisingly easy.

Then I got preg (im sure the 5:2, losing weight and the exercise were responsible).

after I'd recovered from the birth, it seemed a great deal harder. Being 46 now probably doesn't help. However, it did without doubt help me loose overall 9kg so far. It's been much slower this time, but still works.

I'd say try it, remember not to overeat the NFD too much and give it time. The rest can come later, as you work out what works for you and what doesn't.

The 5:2 seems to be a diet that different people respond differently to, and they all need to find what works for them over time.

I started 5:2 on 1 Jan and over 6 months to June I lost 8kgs - and I've kept it off since but doing 6:1 some weeks especially over school hols.
This was my last half stone that was still hanging round after Ds2 that nothing seemed to shift.
I have found the 5:2 threads invaluable and BigChocFrenzy is amazing and offers great advice.

The most important thing I have learnt is that it is ok to feel hungry and I won't keel over if I am hungry. I do still scoff chocolate but I do also manage to not eat between meals most of the time.

Yes, BigChoc really is amazing! Always encouraging.

Thank you all I am going to give it a go and will join the main thread.

If anyone has good ideas for snacks I'd love to hear them. I'm thinking cherry tomatoes for this afternoon. My first FD and I am thinking about food obsessively and not getting much work done

I'll give you a good fast day tip. Plan in advance and pack with as much flavour as you can. That way food is off your mind (as much as possible) and when you do have it, its awesome. Good luck

Good luck OP. I'm on the main thread, I've lost about a stone and three quarters since April. I previously lost on WeightWatchers but that was pre-pregnancy. Nowadays I don't have the patience to plan so WeightWatchers doesn't do it for me.

I love 5:2. My loss is slow now, about 0.5-1lb every fortnight. But I've upped my exercise to 5 days a week (a purely personal preference) and my shape is changing radically. 5:2 helps to maintain muscle tone and targets fat stores more efficiently so I feel that the exercise I'm doing is doubly effective.

These days I still mfp because I'm a control freak and that seems to work for me. My FDs are usually closer to 550-600 cals but my NFDs are usually way below TDEE, except at weekends. I can't imagine going back to my previous WOE.

Waves wildly to eatriskier

OP
I started 5:2 back in 2012, lost the stone I needed to in a term
and have been maintaining while enjoying life ever since

I have several real life friends who have been doing 5:2 very successfully both to lose and maintain loss

mrsjorah i find strawberries and 0% fat Greek yoghurt an absolute lifesaver - stomachsaver.

Strawberries are low GI and keep you full for longer. They seem to work beautifully with the Greek style yoghurt.

The first time I tried 5:2 I just lost and found the same 3lbs over and over, I was eating too much on my nfd's but I hate calorie counting with deep seated passion so after a break I tried 4:3 and its been great. I'm 2 stone down and 1 more to go, I survived a trip to Australia this summer and only gained a few pounds and it was off again within a few weeks, I've been bumbling a wee bit these past few weeks but knuckling down as of today --bloody corker of a headache right now tho-- to loose the last stone by Christmas I hope. I eat what I like Sat and Sun, fast Mon, Wed, Fri and careful mindful eating Tues and Thurs keeping it simple with no treats/junk/wine etc during the week.

Good to know Kiwi. I have fallen off the wagon already but going to have a FD on Thurs. It may take 4:3 for me too - there's a gloomy prospect!

It does actually grow on you after a while, mrsjorah. Well, for quite a few people; 5:2 doesn't suit absolutely everyone. But if you take to it, the early FDs are the hardest and then it becomes way easier. Lots of side benefits too

I did before it left me with no energy to go to the gym which I enjoy doing and needed to tone up. I need to lose a bit of weight before my Xmas holiday and giving juice plus ago as I enjoy a shake in the morning and it seems to be going ok.

But it left me with no energy **

If I did 3 days fast (consecutively as I find that easier) then 4 days non fast days, is that a 4:3 approach, or do I need to alternate them?

3 consecutive fast days are likely to leave you weak and hungry.
You should choose non-consecutive, e.g. Mon+Wed+Fri but it's usually better to start with 5:2 until you are used to fasting, then decide if you really need a 3rd FD.

Some people can't train on fast days, but most manage to, once they are used to fasting. You can make FDs your training rest days.

I can train intensively when fasted - boxing, heavy lifting, HIIT.
Running can be difficult for some fasters, because with long steady state sessions it is often more difficult to access fat stores for fuel than when doing HIT / HIIT.

Much better to have your 500 cals during the day, as in the extensive IF human studies, rather than go to extremes and zero cal fasting.

Hi all
I have just started fasting every other day. I am in panic mode because I have lots of Christmas parties and have really slammed on the weight! It's too early to tell if it will work for me, but if nothing else, it is making me reduce my sugar addiction comsumption, which can only be good.

My tip for fast days is to keep really busy. My house has never looked so tidy
I also spent a couple of fast days doing Christmas shopping and was too busy to think too much about food.

If you are out and about Pret sell a lovely mushroom soup with 225 calories!

Yes I lost 28lb this year in about 5 months. It's the best weight loss plan I've ever done. I maintained easily using occasional fasts too. I'm pregnant now so I'm not watching my weight but as soon as I've popped I'll be back on 5:2 to get back in shape.

Can't advocate it enough!!

congrats mrsmugoo! :)

Lost over a stone 5:2 is great weight loss slows down but always on a downward trend

I lost weight but I found it made me really want to eat badly on the other days which wasn't a sustainable model long term.
I had the willpower but on fast days I noticed that I could be inexplicably grumpy and snappy and decided it wasn't in the best interests of my poor family so moved over to slimming world and have lost four stone since June.
Give it a go though - it doesn't require a huge initial outlay so there's not much loss in seeing if it works for you. I wish it had done for me.