5:2 thread 100: Slow and steady wins the Fast race! (Slender hat tip to Onehappymam 😁)

[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!

Kitchen closing on 698 which is a touch high for a single FD but I'll take it regardless!

Kitchen closed on 700 so a good mini. Protein shake at 3pm and chicken breast and salad at 7.30pm, and not feeling hungry at all. Well done @harriethoyle and @DoodleMum12 . I’m hoping for a scale victory tomorrow! 🤞.

@harriethoyle @TeaRose29 well done 👏
hoping the mini meal yesterday will help me eat less today. Planning a lot less carbs than Tuesday.

Happy Friday everyone! Back to being within 300g of target this morning which makes the triple FD worthwhile.

Trying to be virtuous this weekend, we're taking eldest dsd out for a curry so I'm designated driver to limit my booze consumption... probably just means I'll have two large wines when I get home but at least it'll be later than otherwise 🤣

Well done @DoodleMum12 , @TeaRose29 and @harriethoyle .
Nice weigh in as well @harriethoyle.

I closed on just over 500 but it was the first really difficult day I've had. Had to open my window earlier than I wanted for the first time ever.
Promised my daughter all you can eat buffet tonight so going to try and OMAD it and try not to pig out whilst there!

Still not lost all the gain from the weekend but also under my "acceptable max weight" so trying to get out of the habit of not hitting TDEE on the non FD weekdays as I really want this to be a long term WOE now rather than seeing it as a way to lose weight.

God I love an all you can eat buffet @chillibear - is it one of those worldwide ones where you can get a bit of everything?! they're the best!!

I'm feeling a bit down as I am continuing to do ADF, but just not shifting weight at all. I've added in exercise too. I know I eat far too much on my "up" days, but I wouldn't have thought it was enough to negate entirely a zero calories day after it!

(Sorry for being all me me me)

Sorry to hear you are fed up, @Badlifeday . I have to be careful on non FD days or I will gain (or at least not lose), so I try to achieve a small deficit on those days. For me personally, exercise is great for my mood and for toning (I do tennis, weights and walking), but makes absolutely no difference to weight outcomes - that is all down to food 🤨.

@chillibear and @harriethoyle , I love an AYCE buffet too. A few years ago we went on holiday to a lovely Mark Warner hotel in Rhodes (in fact it was so nice and DD loved the teen stuff so much that we went 2 years running). It was all buffet-based but they did switch it up every day, and the food was absolutely amazing. I stuck mainly to meat, fish, salad, veggies and Greek yogurt, and in spite of all the free wine I didn’t gain a pound!

I’m going for another mini today. I’ve dropped a pound overnight but am still above my “plateau” weight. DH is out with a mate tonight so I can crack on and distract myself with something on the television! Anyone else with me today? I know it’s Friday 😊😊.

Awww @Badlifeday sorry to hear that - do you want us to share plateau busting strategies, or just sympathise? I can tell you what I've done recently if that will help!

@TeaRose29 you know my feelings on Friday FDs. Anyone doing them is a heroic lunatic. Friday is Wineday!

Thanks, both. I'm still amazed I've kept up the fasting for so long (over a year) "diets" I can do for a few months and then self sabotage! I can't bear the idea of calorie counting on eating days though, but I need to get away from cramming food in in the evening just to make the most use of my "window"! I think I need to make nicer meals, actually, which might keep me off the chocolate, which is my biggest downfall.

Happy to get some ideas, Harriet!

are you doing IF at the moment @Badlifeday on NFD? If not that usually gets me off a plateau.

I am also doing a hypnotherapy type thing, I was sceptical at first but I am really a bit of a convert now. Basically you listen for 9 minutes a day and then you write down three positives. It's supposed to re-train your relationship with food and, specifically, to help you find your "full" switch. Something I have really struggled with! Have a look at it if you're interested - it's called Thinking Slimmer.

thirdly, if you're a drinker cut down on the amount of days a week you drink (I now only do 3 max a week) because it slows your metabolism regardless of calorie content and swap wine for diet mixer and spirit.

fourthly, decarb a bit on NFD ie courgetti instead of pasta, chicken or fish, etc with aubergine parmagiana, chilli with broccoli instead of rice.

Some of that might be helpful and I won't be at all offended if it doesn't help either 😆

I could use a mental shift I think - definitely a lover of bread and pasta too
If I wasn't fasting, I would still be overeating - just every day instead of every other day. So there is that.
Thank you for the advice, that's kind of you - definitely going to look up the thinking slimmer idea!

@Badlifeday for me it’s extra water and less carbs 😞 when I’ve got a plateau. I also can’t believe I’ve been able to stick with fasting for over 2 years now and haven’t dieted at all- no calorie counting and no weighing which is huge for me! You’ve got this!!
@harriethoyle so cool about the hypnotherapy. My friend did a weight loss hypnosis program on me when she was training to become a hypnotherapist- it worked for a short time but that was a few years back.
@TeaRose29 that buffet sounds amazing!!

Kitchen closed at 19:35 today after a 4 1/2 hr eating window. Like a long omad with a starter, main and dessert spread over the afternoon. I usually have a longer up day but was nice and full so closed a bit earlier.

Not sure what I’m doing tomorrow, would like a FD with a mini as will be out with a friend at the seaside all day Sunday. Will see how I feel.

Yes @harriethoyle it was one of those “world buffets”, I normally love them too @TeaRose29 but this time I ate way too much just for the sake of eating, didn’t really enjoy it and still have a stomach ache now.

Bit annoyed at the inevitable weight gain it will cause, especially when close to holiday but kids had a great time and also made me realise that it’s ok to only eat things that I feel are “worth” eating.

@Badlifeday I used to do Zero cal fasts on my down days and massively overate on the up days too...

The last month or so I've been trying 5:2 with a meal on the down days but without counting the 500 calories as that would send me stark raving mad 🤣

It SEEMS to have really calmed down my instinct to binge on the up days... I know that I'm able to eat something every single day so it feels less restrictive and I have much less of the compulsion to cram stuff into my window.

On the down days the only rule is I keep my eating to within 30 minutes so I get the maximum low-insulin time. And on the up days I still don't eat breakfast so I mostly have a 6-8 hour eating window on those days.

It's such a minefield. Trying to untangle all our food compulsions and cravings, with years of dieting and unhelpful food beliefs behind us... I'm nearly 3 years in to this fasting lark and I thought I'd have had it all sussed by now 🤣 but I'm STILL nowhere near target and still working stuff out.

So... Without being sentimental, many hugs 😘 it's hard work. Xx

Ooh sorry to dominate the conversation but one more thing... I have always been an absolute bread/pasta FIEND too, could hardly eat the stuff without bingeing...

Have been working on that for the last 2 1/2 years too, trying to remove the bad/guilty/greedy feelings and view those foods as neutral rather than evil - I'm allowed to eat them, and if I can have them whenever I want without feeling bad about eating them, it definitely takes away some of the compulsion to binge on them.

Again, still a work in progress 🙃

Morning all! Who's with me today? I'm doing M/W/Th today, dinner with friends tomorrow night but I'll drive and stick to soft drinks.

Very indulgent weekend but I only put on 1.1kg which I think is because I was the designated driver. Must remember that for the future! Boring but necessary 🤣

Nice one @harriethoyle 😁

I had just managed to lose the 4lb gain and then put back on 3 after a very carby weekend 🙈🤣

Going for a sort of b2b today/tomorrow. Just dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow - both uncounted but in a nice tight window.

I’m with you today, @harriethoyle and @mumlikeaboss . I had a pretty restrained weekend and am back on my plateau 🤣. Would really like to make this the week that I get off it - in the right direction this time! 😬. Good luck both for today’s FD.

Kitchen closing on 585. How did everyone else get on?

My weekend didn’t go to plan and yesterday I was just hungry all day but managed to fast 20 hours but then made some awful choices 😖. Hoping for a FD today 🤞 I’m off work for next 10 days and have lots planned with housework and lots of walks which will keep me busy and hopefully out of trouble.

Just finished three weeks of leave so have done no fasting at all We had a week away in Dorset and some nice meals out, but did a lot of activities, swimming and walking every day. I haven't run as much as I normally would but have been trying a "little and often" approach, doing a couple of miles every other day rather than a longer distance 2-3 times a week. Weighed myself last night at the insistence of the 5 year old - "Go on mummy! You get on too! You do it mummy! Let me see your numbers!" and I am still around 10.5 stone, so haven't lost any weight but haven't gained any either.

I do have my first overseas holiday in six years coming up in October, so it's eyes down for a real effort over the next couple of months. Would love to be 10 stone when we go but that might not be achievable so I'll settle for 10st 3lb and anything else is a bonus...