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!

Morning.
Ive had a good week eating wise - and was so busy over the weekend that I ended up having 2 extra mini FDs.
I weighed myself yesterday morning and got a new low weight (down 3lb!) although this morning I’m back up a bit (1lb on yesterday) having eaten normally Monday.

How does everyone weigh in/ record new weights etc?
I find it more motivating to weigh most mornings with this WOE. I know I’ll get mini fluctuations due to fast days and eating days, but I do tend to record whatever the new low is on CalorieCounter even if it’s the first time I’ve seen it on the scales. I don’t have a set day for weigh ins.
Id be interested in hearing everyone else’s weigh in rules.

Well done eatyourfive
Yesterday was ok thank you. Clean fast and trying again today

@FlightDeckBuckarooo I weigh the morning after a fast day, so every other day. That's supposed to keep me accountable for my eating days, but it doesn't seem to work! Though I have lost some of the weight I gained over the last holidays

Hi everyone. I did so well on this group but slipped. I'm back now! Hoping to do Wednesday and Friday this week.

I weigh every morning (bad habit I’ve got into!) but my ‘weigh in’ day is every Friday morning and I always record that weight.

Hello Tuesday fasters, how has the day been for you all? I've managed to get through it, kitchen now closed at 700, with the total for two FDs 1200.

Good work @FlightDeckBuckarooo, always encouraging to see a new low weight! I tend to weight myself before and after fast sessions, so usually Monday mornings to see the weekend damage and then after a fast.

@Beautiful3 nice to have you back, good luck with your fast tomorrow!

Hi @EatYourFive well done! That’s a result! It was an okay day for me, I managed to squeeze in a tiny bowl of cereal with a banana which was an amazing end to the day. 660 for me and 1215 for the two days so I’m happy with that! I’ll do another FD on Thursday if anyone fancies joining in!

Excellent work @sweetgingercat! I may do a mini on Thursday. After having lost almost two stone since I first started fasting my weight loss has stalled over the last few months. Have to take some steps to address this, including extra fast days. This is also my first post fast day when I don't have some lovely bread for breakfast,, really hope giving up bread will help too.

I came in at 675 yesterday which I was pretty pleased with until I remembered that I’m not doing my usual Tuesday and Wednesday b2b 🤦‍♀️. Might do a mini on Friday (realistically a full FD isn’t going to happen 🤣)

Can I join? After 3 miscarriages in 8 months I've been comfort eating and piled on 2 stone. I'm now 12st6 at 5ft 3 which is the biggest I've ever been. I want to lose 3st which feels insurmountable. Did my first FD yesterday and weighed myself this morning to find I've put on a pound since yesterday! How! I hardly ate yesterday and stayed away from carbs as well.

Hello @DreamingLoo I think you need to be a bit kinder to yourself, take things slowly, you'll get there in the end

Kitchen closed at 615. Hoping to do a b2b tomo. Hope you all did well today.

@DreamingLoo Please don't be too hard on yourself. You've been through a traumatic time, give yourself time to heal. My weight gain came from falling off the wagon, after a bereavement too. I know how hard it is, to get back into it. Don't worry about the pound as it could be water/waste etc. Fasting really works. I'd carry on, but not to weigh yourself for a month.

I guess I'm just a bit frightened as the weight has seemingly come on at an unstoppable rate, and the only time I've been this big before was just after my son was born 6 years ago (I put on 4.5 stone in pregnancy).

I will take your advice and try not to weight myself yet.

I am due to fast tomorrow. I do find it really really hard, particularly combined with 16:8.

FD today for me but totally forgot and had breakfast (usually do OMAD on a FD as it suits my timings for work). So now I’m quite a lot of calories down on what I had planned for dinner so may just do a mini one day. Oops!

Mini fast day for me today.

I reached a mini goal on Monday and then proceeded to totally overeat for 2 days. Mindless eating that I haven’t done in a while (actually probably since I reached my last goal). Why do I do this? I’m not sure if it’s sabotage or a reward or some strange combo - but it’s not healthy. I think I’ve been doing similar my whole life.
Anyway I’m back on it today. I’m not working today so I’m not going to attempt a full fast day but I will be sun 850 for the whole day.

Good luck to everyone today.

No fast day for me today… unusually I ended up in a pub playing table football and I’m hungover, damn it! Good luck everyone!

FD for me but I'm easing into the 500 cals as I'm just too hungry. Will probably end up on about 700.

I’ve had a disastrous few days. Got very stressed and emotional about a work issue, and although I didn’t particularly overeat (I’m not a stress eater) I did eat all the wrong things (peanuts, crisps, chocolate ) and also had a glass of wine or three. Plus we went out for dinner on Saturday. Anyway, I’ve resolved the work issue (I’m freelance and was able to turn down over-demanding and underpaying client) and now feeling much better. Back on it with a vengeance today - aiming for 500-800 calories depending how I feel, as I’m playing tennis this afternoon.

I wish I was better at managing my emotions. At my age, I should be! I also wish the weather would warm up. Feels like it’s been winter for 6 months 🤨.

I meant to add, good luck to @FlightDeckBuckarooo , @Thelongdarkteatime and @DreamingLoo for today’s FD. Let’s check in later!

Hi, can I join please? I need some accountability. I do lots of exercise, but when I've needed to lose weight I've either calorie counted or done 16:8. At the minute, I just can't get back into the swing of doing either of these, so I want to give 5:2 a go.
I have about half a stone I want to lose, maybe a few lbs more, and although I exercise daily, I have no motivation to eat better right now. Help!

What is everyone else's situation? Are you fasting to maintain or lose? If to lose, what kind of weight are you looking to lose? I really need to be chatting about this to people in the same boat, as sitting in an office with people grazing on biscuits all day is doing me no good! 🙃

So far today I've had one chai latte (home made) and a salad for lunch of 2 boiled eggs, big bag salad leaves, tomatoes, jalapenos and dressing of 1/2 tbsp olive oil, lemon juice and salt. On 355 calories. I have about 300 for dinner give or take - might just have the same salad I had for lunch again.

500 calories on fast days is not achievable for me, it's too low - particularly because I am at home with my DS most of the day (home educator and work from home). But last time I did this I lost weight by doing something like:

2 fast days a week at 700-800 calories a time, low carb
2 TDEE days at 1700 calories (usually at weekends)
3 days a week at TDEE minus 500 so 1200-1300 calories, lowish carb

Don't do a huge amount of exercise but if I do I don't eat the calories back.

That worked for me last time so hoping it will again if I am consistent. But I have more weight to lose now than I ever have before.

Oh and I do 16:8 on NFDs. On FDs I usually have a milky drink first thing as I find otherwise I'm feeling faint by 11am.

Didn’t count properly yesterday, but about 800 and high protein low carb.

1.5 pounds off today, yay! (This is partially correcting the damage done by emotional meltdown). No tennis, work or other commitments today, so a good day for FD. Welcome @florenceandthemac , I have exactly the same amount of weight to lose as you - about half a stone or a little bit more. @DreamingLoo that’s interesting, that is pretty much an identical formula to mine, and it works very well if I can stick to it, so perhaps we can be buddies! I exercise quite a lot - walking, tennis, weights - but it doesn’t make much difference to my weight, and I don’t eat back the calories. Anyone joining me for FD today?

NFD for me today but 16:8. Feeling quite hungry but am 2.5 lbs down since the start of the week - know it is only water but a good motivator nonetheless. Good luck with your FD TeaRose29, is that two FDs back to back for you?

So today was my first FD. I plan to do Mondays and Thursday each week, but rather than waiting til next week to 'start', I've attempted it today.
I managed to cope on coffee and water all morning, went for a 10k run at 12:30 which at least killed an hour 😆
Just had a breaded fish now (as there's not much in and I needed to eat...) and I'm going to have a small jacket potato when everyone else eats in a bit. Might have to go to bed early to distract me from eating later on!! I'll be more prepared for FDs going forward in terms of what I eat, but so far today I've felt ok! I think I can do this two days a week!!