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Fasting / 5:2 diet

Talk about intermittent fasting and 5:2, including what’s worked for others. Mumsnet hasn't checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. You may wish to speak to a medical professional before starting any diet.

Original poster

Fasting - which method is best?

46 replies

runner2 · 29/07/2019 17:03

I'm talking science here...has any particular method been proven to be the most effective in terms of weight loss/weight maintenance/overall health? Confused

OP posts:
GreyBasket · 29/07/2019 22:23

I suggest you read the latest Micheal Moseley book, the fast 800. He goes through his previous thoughts and details lots and lots of studies that are relevant to fasting that have done about since and how that has slightly changed his perspective.

I bought it on amazon, after initially thinking I could do without it as I'd read his first 5:2 book, but it proved an essential read.

RottnestFerry · 28/08/2019 22:30

My wife has just been putting the case for "us" to try new fasting diet she has read about.

Essentially, it involves eating nothing at all every other day and, on the day that you do eat, restricting eating to a twelve hour window.

I think the article was in the Times today.

areyoubeingserviced · 28/08/2019 22:37

I have been doing the alternate fast for a few years now.
Definitely works

RottnestFerry · 29/08/2019 08:03

I have done 5:2 or, more accurately, 4:3 where I have eaten around 600 calls on the fast days but never attempted to eat nothing at all.

With the 5:2 I found that I seemed to adapt to it so it was only useful for maintaining weight, not losing it.

Catsrus · 30/08/2019 15:29

Without sounding trite, the best method is the one that works for you.

I was one of the original MNetters who started the 5:2 in 2012 - after the Michael Mosley documentary. I lost 34lb. Very happy with it as a weight loss method- I was working at the time and chose the two days I busy and distracted to fast. A number of colleagues were also doing it. I found it impossible to do the days I worked from home!

I'm retired now, my weight fluctuates about 7-10lb winter to summer, but I've never had to replace any of the large clothes I threw out! I'm about 7lbs more than I'd like to be. 10st rather than 9.7. At my lowest I was 9.4 and that's not sustainable for me. I use 16:8 more these days - push eating back as far as I can in the day. The biggest difference for me is the absolute certainty that even if I over indulge (Xmas, holidays etc) I have the knowledge and tools to lose the few pounds I put on. No more "fuck it, broke the diet" moments that send weight spiralling out of control. I can choose to over indulge on special occasions because I know how to compensate for it.

I have friends who felt faint trying to do 5:2 - others, like me, were actually energised by fasting. I never felt I was "on a diet"

Try it and see, join the excellent threads on here, but keep it simple, it really is simple. Eat real food, mainly plants, and have times when you don't eat anything.

LimeJellyHead · 12/09/2019 14:43

Any regime that allows you to eat any calories, even just 600, is not fasting, it is calorie restriction Smile A fast is no calories.

LimeJellyHead · 12/09/2019 14:48

For my fasting I like to mix it up so my body doesn't get too used to one particular regime. OMAD (one meal a day) is easy and will give you weight loss benefits. To get more health benefits I would do an occasional longer fast like 3-4 days. Some people fast for longer but from the research I did, most of the health benefits have peaked at day 4.

So for fasting times, you eat and drink nothing apart from water (and if you like a cup of black coffee or green tea). No milk, no sugar, no juices, no nothing. Your aim is to not spike insulin.

LimeJellyHead · 12/09/2019 14:51

By the way, eating nothing is much easier and better for you than eating just 500 calories. Just let your body go into fat burning as fuel. Eating a bit of something will just interrupt that process, put you straight back into glucose burning instead of fat burning and probably make things harder as you will only get hungry again once you have used the glucose up.

HalyardHitch · 22/10/2019 19:22

I've just listened to the audiobook "the obesity code." It's absolutely fascinating. Today I did a 21 hour fast. I'll aim to do a 24 hour fast on thursday. Apparently it works. The science seems to be sound (I'm not widely read on the topic though, I'll admit). He recommends 2 or 3 24-36 hour fasts a week.

HalyardHitch · 22/10/2019 19:23

From my reading, agree with @limejellyhead in that if you break the fast, the insulin spike ruins the benefits of the fast.

LimeJellyHead · 22/10/2019 20:20

Good luck with your fast Smile

HalyardHitch · 24/10/2019 15:03

@LimeJellyHead I did 21 hours and it felt absolutely fine- I felt really well actually. I'll probably do another one tomorrow.

Pinkypie86 · 24/10/2019 15:10

Fascinating stuff - just reading the threads on here. I've started doing the 16:8. I find fasting pretty easy, I was massively overweight a few years ago and got to a better weight and plateaued. I basically have lots of loose skin and want to have surgery, so I am trying to lose even more to make sure I am of good weight etc to have procedures.
Do you think I should up it a little? Problem is my DP thinks I'm mental and will only see this as something to worry about. As long as its safe, I really want to up the ante.

LimeJellyHead · 24/10/2019 15:56

Everyone is different but if you are finding 16:8 easy, I would increase the fasting time if I was you, yes. I do OMAD Mon-Fri every single week and eat normally at weekends. On my OMAD days I am basically doing 23:1 I suppose, lol.

Then every now and then I throw in a 3 or 4 day fast. I'm doing one now, as it happens. It is Thursday today and I haven't eaten since Monday. I will eat tomorrow evening (Fri) and it will be the most glorious meal ever Smile

HalyardHitch · 25/10/2019 05:52

@LimeJellyHead curious as to how you find the longer fasts. How do you prepare for it? Do you find that it's mind over matter? Are you fasting for weight loss?

Sorry for the million questions. My fast was physically very easy but mentally not so much. I'm fasting today since 4pm yesterday but not feeling so mentally able today

HalyardHitch · 25/10/2019 05:53

@Pinkypie86 I really found the obesity code a fascinating read. Could be worth a look if you fancy some of the science behind dieting

LimeJellyHead · 26/10/2019 11:10

@HalyardHitch

Funnily enough I was thinking of doing a quick video about 3-4 day fasts so I will post it here for you if you like. Hoping to do it today if I get time but that is a big if, lol.

My fast this week was supposed to be 4 days but I stopped 9 hours early as I wasn't feeling great. My fault... I didn't keep my salts up. I'll mention that in the video. Other than salts during my fast, I don't do anything special before or after but many people do like getting into ketosis first and stuff like that. I tend to just launch straight into it. Not necessarily the most effective way to do it maybe but with me if it isn't easy I won't bother so my own regime takes only the essentials components of a fast into account. Rules like only eat cruciferous vegetables for 3 days before the fast etc... (I've exaggerated but you know what I mean, hahahah) would stop me bothering.

Yeah, definitely mind over matter but what I like about a fast is if you have even a little snack you know you have stuffed up all your hard work... so that kind of gives me a massive incentive to not cheat at all.

Yes, primarily weight loss for me. I am that middle aged menopausal desk bound wobbly flobbly person Grin but I am also really interested in the healing aspect of fasting - autophagy. So another incentive for me when fasting is imagining my body doing lots of lovely healing and I imagine it breathing a big sigh of relief, lol. I think autophagy only starts after about 2 days which is why I tend to do 3-4 day fasts. For weight loss only I think 2 days fast would get weight loss results.

ConFusion360 · 26/10/2019 14:07

My DH decided to try alternate day fasting to get rid of his tum and I' decided to join him for moral support and because I want to lose a few stubborn lbs before going away at Christmas. We are restricting eating into one 8 hour window in every 48. To make it fit socially, at weekends we don't fast at all although we do watch portion sizes. That effectively means we are eating nothing on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and one meal a day on Tuesday and Thursday.

The results are very encouraging. In four weeks I have lost 8 lbs and DH has lost 10. It's also the easiest weight loss 'diet' either of us has ever done. Far easier than 5:2.

HalyardHitch · 28/10/2019 07:32

@LimeJellyHead that would be really interesting, thanks. I'm more than half way through my 20 hour fast. It's more mentally challenging than physically. I've just made my husband and two toddlers some cinnamon porridge with apple and it smells amazing. Also they're downstairs chatting while I've come up to get dressed. My two year old now asks why I'm not eating Confused

Innishh · 28/10/2019 15:53

Anyone want to do a v quick summary about the best regime for sustained weight loss?

I am doing 16:8 and find it v helpful giving me clear boundaries and packing all of my healthy low carb food into the 8hr window means I am not hungry in the evenings or between meals so snacking has ceased. I do this 7 days a week as I don’t want to “eat normally” at the weekends - until I have created a new healthy normal.....

Is there any science to say there is greater / faster weight loss if I made the eating window smaller - without reducing calories - as trying to stick to 800 now.

If you do OMAD - have you found the best time to do it?

HalyardHitch · 28/10/2019 20:21

From my understanding of the science - the window between 16-36 hours is peak for fasting. But then my longest fast has only been 21 hours

Innishh · 28/10/2019 21:28

Thanks Halyard for that update. Is fasting then always tied with LCHF for the eating phase?

HalyardHitch · 29/10/2019 06:24

I don't know the full ins and outs but my reading seems to suggest increase fibre, increase fats, lower carbs (cut refined carbs) lower protein. But I'm not particularly following that suggestion

ConFusion360 · 29/10/2019 08:55

Is fasting then always tied with LCHF for the eating phase?

Not in our house. We just eat normally.