5:2 thread 99: The Fast and the not at all Furious but really very Charming and Supportive!

[harriethoyle]

Welcome to the continuing thread for those following 5:2 or other forms of IF (Intermittent Fasting) such as 4:3, ADF, etc.

Basically it is 2 very low cal days ("fasts") per week - which need not be consecutive - and eat "normally" to maintain on the other 5 days.

For those who have dieted or maybe overeaten for years, eating "normally"
means roughly the number of calories your body needs to maintain - NOT reduce - its weight (see TDEE calculator below).

IMPORTANT
If you have had past diagnosed Eating Disorders or serious MH problems you should NOT do 5:2 or any other kind of fasting

JARGON alert

16:8 is a different type of fasting, which can be combined with 5:2.
Daily zero-cal fast for 16 hours and eat within an 8 hour window. To lose weight, this needs a weekly calorie deficit as well

b2b (optional) back-to-back / consecutive fast days, each with an increased allowance of 650 calories instead of 500

BMI (Body Mass Index) healthy range is 18.5 - 24.9 for Caucasians. Upper limit may be 22 for some of Asian origin.

FD = single Fast Day: aim for 500 calories (600 for men or 25% TDEE whichever is higher) or 1000 cals for BF
No alcohol or junk on FDs
Even if you exercise strenuously, do NOT increase FD cals to allow for exercise

MFP = My Fitness Pal, a useful App or website to track food & drink calories

miniFD = MiniFD, 850-1000 calories, no alcohol or junk

NFD = Non-Fast Day, averages around TDEE

NSV / LSV = Non Scale Victory / LifeStyle (change) Victory, e.g. compliment, smaller waist, clothes size

SV = Scale Victory

TDEE = Total Daily Energy Expenditure, the average number of calories you burn in a day, is calculated from your current weight, height, age, activity level.
Aim to average about this for NFDs.

WOE / WOL = Way Of Eating / Way Of Life. We say this instead of "diet", to emphasise that we must make a permanent change in how we eat, to maintain our new healthy weight long term.

Jump in and say hello!

I'm going for a second day of B2B as it's going to work out well that way with DH away for work (we often eat together). I will be aiming at 800 for the day though, as that's what I've found works best for a B2B for me. And I may well aim at a third day on Thursday as a boost after my poor week last week, but I will concentrate on getting through today first!

Yes I’m back here for the second day of a b2b, what’s on the menu? smoked fish and salad (again)… here we go!

Good luck everyone!

Nice to see so many of us B2Bers here! How did you get on? Kitchen. Just closed here at 700, bringing two day total to 1200. Dinner was fish, new potatoes and veg.

Kitchen closing here on 653, making 1329 for my b2b. Already looking forward to breakfast! 🤣

Well done @EatYourFive and @harriethoyle.

I'm on 576 here. I usually do 800 on a B2B but I think it would just be eating for the sake of it, so I think I'll leave it there.

That's great @Hohoholdthesherry - did you eat anything different than a usual b2b? More fat or protein?

I had crustless quiche and full-fat Greek yoghurt, so possibly a bit more of both, but I think it's often hormonal and fasting is much easier or not depending on the week.

Kitchen closed on 646 for me today. Already looking forward to breakfast tomorrow! Well done everyone!

So many b2b here - well done @sweetgingercat @Hohoholdthesherry @harriethoyle @EatYourFive

Sorry if I missed anyone
Closing out on day 2 b2b with 431
And that included a glass of champagne

@absolutelyknackeredcow that's amazing, I sometimes manage to include a very small glass of white in a FD but that usually pushes the calories closer to the 600 mark!

No weight lost again, bummer. OK I have to do something about that. Last week I was going to do a mini on Thursday but then met a friend for dinner so didn't happen. Maybe this week...

Wow that is a bargain! I know that wine well. Unfortunately, I don’t think we’re allowed multibuy offers on alcohol in Scotland, but even at £6.50 it’s still a good deal!

I am 4.6lbs away from goal and go on holiday on Tuesday, so I’m pulling out all the stops between now and then, but I have a family get together and a birthday to navigate over the weekend. Yikes.

First thing’s first thought, today’s FD! I always find it so much harder to FD the days I’m at work. There’s temptation everywhere and I’m always starving!

How are you feeling today @sweetgingercat?

It's my new favourite red @Onehappymam after 19 Crimes but I've never found that cheaper than 8 quid a bottle.

I'm 700g off target this morning. Torn between a mini and a fd tomorrow to see if I can get it off.

Got my in laws staying from Tuesday and a work lunch on Monday so it will be tough to fast next week before the Easter weekend! But I can't keep my 2kg yoyo-ing going, it's so annoying... might just need to bite the bullet with the in laws and fast T/W and make Monday a mini by skipping breakfast and having an ultralight supper...

My plan is to come home at lunchtime to let the dog out. That should stop me running to the staff canteen!

Morning, everyone! Thanks for all the welcome backs I've received. I've always had good vibes from these threads.

I'm currently into a 24hr+ water only fast - although I've just had a mug of black coffee (Just water all day yesterday - and I did a 20k walk without stopping!)

I'm following the programme laid out by Japanese Nobel prizewinner, Yashinori Osumi, in the video "Japanese Man was Given the Nobel Prize for this! One Day Fasting Prolongs Life" which I posted about earlier.

Here it is again for anyone who missed it:

In the video he gives 3 protocols, one of which is a 36hr fast, with a <500 calorie meal allowed towards the end of the fast. (He also talks about a couple of different eating windows.) So I'm planning this for my lunch:

Gram flour omelette

30g gram flour - 101 cals
20g houmous - 60
75g tomato - 14
29g mushroom - 4
7 squirts of oil (2 for the tomato and mushroom, 5 for the 'omelette') - 7
Total cals 186

Lightly fry the tomatoes and mushrooms and set aside
Add a little water to the gram flour, to make it into a paste, initially then add more to make a batter. I've found that you get a much smoother batter - gets all the lumps out, if you do this first.
Pour into a medium to high heated frying pan
When it begins to set, spread the hummus over one side of your omelette
Add the tomatoes and mushrooms
When you can get your spatula under the omelette, fold it over the veg
Leave to cook for a couple more minutes. Depending how I feel, I might turn the whole thing over and cook for another minute or two.

I won't do the whole 36 hours - I'll probably have dinner about 6.30. Otherwise I'd have to wait until 9.00pm!

(Below, there's also a pic of the gram flour omelette.)

Now I need to incorporate the 5:2 diet back into my routine, I've been rediscovering my old notes. This was from August 2014:

For yesterday's Fast Day dinner, I thought I'd go for the full 600 calories - but, try as I might, I fell well short!

I had a tin of chick peas, so I thought I'd try them in a chilli non carne for a change - an experiment well worth doing, as the dish turned out to be very tasty indeed!

Ingredients:
About 500g mixed veg (onion, cabbage, celery, mushroom), chopped - 150 cals
1 tin chopped tomatoes - 86
1 tin chick peas - 288
2 Fry's vegan sausages - 116
Seasoning (1 teaspoon bouillon powder, 2 dessertspoons chilli sauce) - 32
Dried herbs

Total 668

However, this made 10 servingspoons of chilli - and I only needed 3! So, 3/10ths of 668 is almost exactly 200 calories.

With this I had 50g (dried weight) of white rice - 186 cals. (The larger bowl is the leftovers for another day.)

Total 386 calories all together.

And it was too much - I was uncomfortable for about an hour after finishing this.

'Twas bloody gorgeous, though! :)

I was rushing around all day yesterday, so had a sort of unintentional FD. It was weird, I just didn't feel hungry (and had played tennis for 21/2 hours!) and I didn't have anything at all to eat until I got home at about 6pm, when I had a small fillet steak and asparagus. I wonder if I was in ketosis? I was in a pretty good mood, in spite of it pouring with rain, and having to do a big shop at Tesco, and their scan thing wasn't working 🙄. Anyway, I weighed in at 10.3 1/4 this morning, which I am thrilled about.

Also, I watched an interesting YouTube video the other day, which was talking about Protein Sparing Modified Fasting - so under 800 calories a day, but basically almost all of it coming from protein. The guy was saying that if you have carbs or fat in your system, the body will use these for energy. However, it is so difficult for the body to convert protein into energy that, if you have body fat sitting around, it will pull on that instead. Also, the protein stops you losing muscle, which can happen if you drastically restrict calories. He recommends doing this a couple of times a week. I tend to stick to high protein anyway on a FD, as it controls my hunger, but I thought this was really interesting, and think I will make a concerted effort to do this on a FD.

@harriethoyle that is so weird! I hadn't seen your message when I went to Tesco, but I bought the exact same Malbec! Hope everyone did well yesterday!

Sorry, my page hadn't updated when I posted. Well done everyone! @Breadandwine2 your gram flour omelette and your chilli sound delicious!

Did a FD yesterday as I was in the office, then home for the last meeting of the day and straight off to DC swimming lessons, then quickly back for a small plate of spag bol and off to the cinema with friends. Hardly had time to eat. Didn't calorie count the spag bol but sure to have been under 500. In the office again on Thursday so another FD then, and I'm helping at Brownies that evening too so minimising the opportunities for temptation.

Might try that Malbec @TeaRose29 and @harriethoyle - I'm not much of a red wine drinker and tend to just buy small bottles to use in cooking, but after five weeks off the booze for Lent I'll give anything a go! Tesco do a Finest Passerina which is nice, as is their Fiano

It’s so frustrating isn’t at @harriethoyle. So close to goal, but it seems so far away too!

I find 19 Crimes a bit on the sweet side and as a result it’s far too easy to drink! I can through it over my neck like it‘s Ribena. I had to stop buying it for that reason. I did dry January for the first time this year and have been trying to moderate ever since. I think I’ve drank 5 times so far this month - not bad.

Well today’s FD turned out to be a mini at 900. Ah well, some days it’s just not meant to be. NFD tomorrow, then I’ll give it another go on Fri.
I always hold off for as long as I possibly can, but I find that once I break my fast it’s hard to stop at 500 cals.

That’s very impressive that you kept such a detailed 5:2 diary @Breadandwine2. I often find random pages in old notebooks with my weight and measurements etc. Well done on your 24+ hr fast. Most impressive!

Morning all - anyone joining me for a fast day? I'm determined to get this last 3/4 kilo off by hook or by crook! Travelling a lot today so packed sandwich and black coffee and diet coke in the airport lounge...

Morning @harriethoyle , yes I’m in today, aiming for a FD although it may end up as a mini. Weighed in at 10.3 1/2 this morning which I am really pleased about, as yesterday was a NFD and I had a rather late and quite salty dinner.

@Onehappymam I’m the same as you - can hold off for a really long time, often until mid-afternoon, but once the eating window is open, I find I get hungry with a small portion. Going to try the high protein thing today.

I’m playing tennis this morning, so I hope I don’t feel faint on court! This has happened before! 😬.

@harriethoyle I'm here on a mini - I'm in the office and have 800 calories of food with me for dinner, so if I stick to that I'll be pleased. I'm in awe of you doing it while travelling - airport food is my way of whiling away the hours!

@TeaRose29 yikes, I hope tennis is alright! I find a beef stock cube or marmite drink very useful on the fast days I exercise a lot (sorry if I'm teaching you to suck eggs).

@Onehappymam I always take the minis as a win - it's still a big calorie deficit and think of all the fantastic things it'll have been doing to your cells :)

@Breadandwine2 you've reminded me I used to make a gram flour tortilla from a recipe in the Fast diet book, I must try it again, it was delicious. The omlette looks lovely too.

Hello I am also attempting a single fast today. I am usually fine with my weekly B2B but struggle to include an extra day but here we go today!

@harriethoyle also impressed with anyone managing to fast when travelling! I'm with @Hohoholdthesherry, eating is the only way to pass time when travelling, epecially when travelling for work and someone else is paying!

@EatYourFive @Hohoholdthesherry I'm trying to ignore the delicious mini blueberry and chocolate muffins and the woman next to me washing down crisps with prosecco 🤣🙈

Whoever said nothing tastes as good as skinny feels is a LIAR! 🤭

You have a will of iron 😂