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!

I took last week off and was thinking that today would be a dumb but necessary day to restart, but actually worked out quite well because although I was slightly hungover, I got up late and didn't eat breakfast until 11am so that's made the whole day easier!

Having done 3 months I've decided to see if I can stick it out another 3 by which time it'll be spring and I won't feel like eating as much 😃

@Echobelly I am IN AWE. I started the day with the last slice of Christmas cake washed down with extra thick brandy cream 😆

@berryhand I'm extremely boring but consistency works for me. Every FD lunch is either a 1/2 can of tuna combined with a 3/4 tbsp of mayo with spring onion or sweetcorn sandwiched in a thin or home made soup.
Every dinner is either breaded baked fish with stir fry veg or broccoli or peas, or an aldi Spinach and ricotta canneloni ready meal. I very rarely vary but it's really easy! And means I don't have to think about it so usually succeed.

We don't actually celebrate Christmas, but the house is full of sugary crap nonetheless!

Attempting first FD today! Starting with lemon water and a massive mug of tea. Planning soup for lunch and chicken and veg for tea.

I'm with you @berryhand ,black coffee thus far, tuna sandwich for lunch and probably fish for tea. This first FD back is TORTUOUS!

Right, here I go.
First fast of the year underway - just mugs of tea till supper.
Weighed myself at the gym this morning. Gained 1lb over Christmas, but lost 1kg of muscle so body fat percentage up.
5kg to lose to happy weight.

Hiya, could I join you? I used to lurk on the old accounts with bigchoc and reached my lowest ever weight. Love fasting! But have gotten too lax on the fast days, plus over indulging and am now 8kg heavier, which is quite a bit as I'm 5 foot nothing!

I'm starting with three fasts a week and then TDEE of goal weight on the other four days, c 90g of protein a day. Started with a fast yesterday, doing B2B today, with a big salad and protein pancakes planned in. Aim to get to goal weight by end of April.

@distrussful I was planning to email BigChoc today to see how she is and tell her I'm planning to behave this year !
I'll send her your best.

@Talkinpeace that would be so lovely thank you! She really inspired me those first few years even though I just used to lurk, then I sort of just fell off when she left us. I hope she's doing wonderfully!

It is nice to have some company! Doing ok so far. Had lots of water and chunky veg soup with ricecake for lunch. Air fryer chicken and tenderstem later

No FDs or even any general restraint attempted over Christmas, although I did go for a run yesterday and went to bed in the afternoon with a cold, which meant I skipped dinner, so inadvertently cutting calories! Think I'm in the office on Thursday so will try a FD then (just one this week to ease back into it). Otherwise will be eating to TDEE, chugging water and trying to get my 5-a-day which has been a bit lacking over the festive period (do orange or strawberry cremes count??)

@Talkinpeace give BigChoc my love too,she was fab.

I'm REALLY struggling. Suspect this will be a mini not a true fast. I'm wfh today but the work that was supposed to keep me occupied this afternoon finished much more quickly than I expected so now I'm idle and starving! Not a great combo... I'm going to jump in the bath I think.

Kitchen closing on 819. Not fabulous but I'm aiming for minis tomorrow and Thursday so I'm happy enough I think 🤞

Good work @harriethoyle, the first 'real' day after Christmas is always so hard to do anything!

Kitchen closing here on 492, but I have had three cups of tea and not counted the milk (although I have very little) so more likely a bit over 500, but pretty pleased with it for a first day.

I reckon the kitchen closed nearer 800 than 500
but pepper, bean and chicken enchilada was LUSH !

The biggest change for me is not drinking every night !

Same @Talkinpeace I'd kill for a large glass of gavi! Roll on Friday...

Excellent work @berryhand 😊

@harriethoyles I had become rather an alcorexic
(significant proportion of my calories coming from booze)
Its why I chose to come back here to be accountable
using a name that many old timers will recognise - and thus rip the * if I get lazy
which is what I need

Forgot to check in last night as I fell asleep at 8pm 😳, managed 600 Cal which I'm pleased about given it was the second B2B. Also weighed today and have lost 3kg, I know that's mostly water retention from the holidays and general life but still a nice way to start off! Well done everyone, the first one back is always the hardest - you're back in it now!

One more for me this week but either tomorrow or Friday - Fridays are always masochistic but as @Talkinpeace says, I've also become a bit of a boozehound.. so it means I won't start the weekend drinking!

Well done @distrussful, I am in awe of you b2b-ers! I've just done an at-home body pump workout and christ, I really am so unfit. Small steps...

Also, I felt fine yesterday on FD but this morning after I ate porridge, I felt groggy and headachey for about an hour afterwards. Is this normal?? Would have expected to feel like that during the FD rather than the next day.

@berryhand I used to often get an awful tummy and headache after eating post fast day... it completely went with time, but I did used to wonder if it was another reaction to my body getting used to fasting.

I successfully lost nearly 2 stone doing this a couple of years ago and used to post under a different username back when bigchocfrenzy was here.

I stopped posting because I felt like a couple of posters at that time were verging on eating disorder territory and were being egged on.
However, I've put on nearly a stone back (most of that over xmas) and am now officially obese again so here I am!

I did my first fast yesterday and it was surprisingly easy, I think because I had been doing nothing but stuffing my face for the past couple of weeks. Second fast tomorrow then weight in on Friday morning.

Hi @JemimaFuddle
I remember that stuff.
Its why I never EVER do more than 20 hours (One meal a day)
as this is about sustainable not manic

The thing that got me was a woman who said her bmi was 20 and was trying to get down to 18. She did 3 fast days in a row and was limiting non fast days to 1200 and people were encouraging her and praising her willpower.

Yup, those with EDs can get very carried away and forget that this is for 30 years, not three months.

Morning all, I'm doing a mini today - am wfh, writing reports, and that won't keep me busy enough to do a full fast! Soup amd baguette for lunch and veg stir fry for dinner. Should come in c.800 cals.