5:2 thread 101: Fasting as quick as HH is whizzing down the ski slopes! (Not very fast, with many bumps and wine stops along the way!)

[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!

Hi all,

Oh dear, you're not the only ones! I had a bit of a naughty dive into the Easter chocolate, but we're doing up our hall, stairs and landing at the moment, so I did a LOT of sanding (of pesky, difficult to access woodwork) over three days and felt really shattered afterwards, so I hope that minimised the damage and built up some arm muscle!

We're off on a last minute ski trip on Saturday, so hopefully I won't fall into a vat of mountain cheese and will ski some chocolate off. Good luck all!

I'm quite enjoying my post-Easter laxness tbh... work has been manic and this fallow week has been lovely. I'll be back on it with a vengeance next week but I have zero guilt about not fasting. This WOL really helps me keep balance in a way I struggled to find for years. It's fab!

Hi everyone!
New here.
I just started 5:2 diet combined with 16:8 fasting this week. So far it is going well.
Ive dabbled with fasting in the past and always liked it for weight loss as cal counting gave me a headache.
I am currently trying to get to 58/60 kg by mid august from 70 kg at 5'10
How are you all doing?
I hope you are well '

Welcome @Heidy93 - the more the merrier!

I am just enjoying my last day of Easter hols indulgence and will be back on 5:2 from tomorrow. Monday, Wednesday and Thursday this week I think. Have also started trying to include more exercise in daily life - I am so sedentary at work, so I've found an online pilates video which I am enjoying and have booked into a mini trampoline class on Tuesday evening to give that a go. What's the worst that could happen?!

Will sign in tomorrow at the start of my FD for much needed cheer-leading 😂

58/60kg is very slight at 5’10”! Isn’t that a BMI of about 18?

Hi everyone, I think I’ve finally reached my point of no return. I’ve been bouncing around 74kg since my daughter was born (now 21 months) and have definitely been one those people who don’t lose weight when breastfeeding. No one tells you this 😅

I have a cupboard full of clothes that fit me at 65/68kg and it’s so depressing.

We (husband and me) lost loads of weight in lockdown doing 5:2 as part of IVF so we’ve decided to get back on it. For me strict 5:2 of 500 calories seems to work better. I’m going to do office days so Tue and Thurs.

We settled into a pattern of coffee for breakfast, soup for lunch and chicken & steamed veg for dinner last time, so this is my plan again. We ate this soup https://www.recipetineats.com/creamy-healthy-soup/ so I’ll make some tonight for start us off.

Good to be back and glad to hear that so many people are still finding success with 5:2 x

I dont know, i claculated 60 and it came on 19.5, i am actually 5'9 i found out -. So it shouldnt be a problem since ive always been around that, but ill keep at 60 then. Thanks for looking out for me though!

That soup looks really good @Porridgeislife - welcome to the thread!

FD1 for me today, tuna thin for lunch and either a fishcake or spinach canneloni for dinner. Wish me luck! Anyone else joining me?

Starting 5:2 and first fast day today! ye!! . Wish me luck All.

I m 5 3, I used to be stable at 64/65, then i gained weight and was 69. now I have reached 74.5. My Scale asked me if it was someone else standing on the scale because the increase is too much too quickly. ha ha!

I m 46 soon to be 47 so may be hormones playing their part. I m also hoping atleast 2-3 of those kilos are water weight as I m sick and it may be inflammation.
I was trying to focus on fitness and hoping that weight will stabilize but fitness gain but its chicken and egg and fitness is getting worse . so here I am!

I m hoping to just do a complete fast today as I feel that will be easier, may be if I m really hungry at night, I will eat something, so water coffee and teas for the day!

Morning all! Very relieved I'm not the only one who has been off the wagon over Easter @harriethoyle @sweetgingercat . Back to it today. Fasting fully till dinnertime then going to have chicken and veg noodles. I am not weighing myself until I've been back on it a couple of weeks as don't want to feel crap if I have gained loads in the last two weeks.

Welcome to new fasters too and good luck to Monday fasters! That soup does indeed look excellent @Porridgeislife

I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of damage when I got on the scales this morning @berryhand - it might not be as bad as you fear!

I took delivery of a yoga mat on Saturday, and have subscribed to a pilates instructor on youtube. Work outs of between 10 - 21 minutes which seems eminently doable even after work when I'm knackered. She has a 7 day challenge which I started yesterday so I intend to do that tonight. Tomorrow night I'm going to a mini trampoline class - hoping it will be fun if nothing else!

Hi All. I'm fasting today too. I also took Easter Monday off and have been feeling a bit rubbish that I've not lost anything in a month. Having said that I haven't actually gained so I guess that's something considering we've been out to eat quite a few times in the last few weeks.

I've had a black coffee, tea and water so far today. Saving my calories for my stir fried chicken and veges in an hour. Yoga tonight. I need to walk the dog at some point too.

That soup did look good! I clicked on the link to find it's mainly courgette. Unfortunately I loathe courgettes so I'll have to give it a miss but I will try and find an alternative

Welcome to the new starters!

I am RAVENOUS 🤣🙈 Roll on getting home and putting tea on immediately!

@Porridgeislife That soup sounds amazing. will try it on one of mini FD days!!
I have managed to be just on teas, black coffee and water so far, Less than 4 hours to go and then fast is complete! plan is to be 0 calories for today!

Good luck to all the fasters! we are almost done!!

Kitchen closing on 604. Fishcake for tea which was deeeeelicious! Pilates whilst it was cooking so I feel very virtuous 🤣

NFD tomorrow then b2b Wednesday and Thursday. See you then!

Good work fellow fasters! Which pilates challenge are you doing @harriethoyle? @Waspie I also feel fed up when not losing but I find a lot of it depends on timing for me - I definitely retain water at some points in the month.

Just had a chicken and veg stir fry and have stuck to tea and water the rest of the day. Kitchen closing on 466 so happy with that. Think I'll do NFD tomorrow then another straight FD Weds. Mini on Thurs then out for dinner Friday so that's a write off.

She's called Lidia Mera @berryhand I don't love her and she's terrifyingly thin 😔 but I do like a) the 7 day challenges she does and b) the fact they're intended to fit into the working day. So last night's workout fitted into my fishcake cooking time!

Might check that out @harriethoyle, I used to love pilates. Braved the scale this morning - wasn't as bad as I feared, about 1.5kg on but that should come off over the next couple of weeks hopefully.

NFD today but trying to be sensible. Had toast and planning a chicken wrap for lunch. Bit carby but could be worse, going to try and avoid the leftover Easter chocs.

Signing in for day 1 of b2b. Anyone with me today?

I did a mini trampoline class last night. So fun, so sweaty... and I'm aching this morning!

I'm with you @harriethoyle. Trampoline class sounds great! I'm going to try and do a strength workout at some point today.

Going to aim to fast till late afternoon then have an M&S meal and get an early night. Rock and roll.

I definitely couldn't have done it on a FD @berryhand. I was starving when I got home! But I think I am going to have Tues as NFD because I've found if I b2b on M/Tues, Wednesday turns into an eating fest! Whereas if Tues is a NFD I'm a bit more restrained, probably because I'm mindful that there's so much of the week still to come...

Made it through my first fast day. Even managed to get through an after work drinks last night where I had 2 diet cokes.

Ended up having a latte for breakfast, a few milky and herbal teas through the day and two diet cokes. I went for a walk at lunch. Dinner was at 9.30pm 😴 and was my old faithful - pan roasted chicken breast and a steamer bag of green veg for 510 calories across the day.

Down 1.1kg for my first fast day, 75.5 to 74.4kg 💪

My second fast day of the Week!! First fast day monday- water fast was success . Weighed in 72 - the extra 2.5 kg was water and it is gone!

Today planning on 500 calories - so far only hot water with ginger and black coffee. I have some soup ready for when I feel hungry.
I m not doing any workout, not even walks on fast days so far. I have more energy than normal days but just being extra careful !
Good luck to all fasters!!

Well done @Porridgeislife and @strangerInStrangeLand - excellent first FDs from both of you and really satisfying to get that instant scales drop for a bit of motivation 😀

Thanks @harriethoyle . just finished lunch at around 250 cal. lot of veggies . have soup for night. and half slice of bread and egg. I love egg so cheap in calories :-)