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!

@harriethoyle Hope you are feeling better now. Take care.
I m fasting today 500 calories. Got my ginger tea and black coffee ready! Had a laate 11 pm dinner so hope it will be easy today

Feeling much better thanks @strangerInStrangeLand although have a very gravelley "dark brown" voice...!! like Mariella Frostrup!

Tuna thin for lunch, courgetti and pasta sauce for tea. It'll be a calorie guestimate, but I suspect c 600.

Closing kitchen at 607. Replacing german rye bread with rice was not a good idea. Love the rye bread it is my fasting staple at 60 cal half slice it fills me up for whole afternoon. Still so hungry but calling it a day.

Try lots of fluids @strangerInStrangeLand - herbal tea etc. Where do you get your rye bread from?

Kitchen closing on c.700 I think. But difficult to measure home made pasta sauce cals.

Morning all

Checking in for a Friday FD here, got my meals all planned out so should be a good one. Anyone with me?

I've staggered to the end of this week @OohMrDarcy and glad to get here 😆 normal service will resume next week I hope!

Weight is stalled but coming up under 70 at 69.8 kg, so that is something.
On Holiday from today, I will be really happy if I come back to under 70 as well :-) Italy so this will be hard ! ha ha ha! See you all the Monday the week after
Thanks @harriethoyle Indeed lots of fluids is a great idea even on NFDs. but so much harder on NFD to remeber to drink that herbal tea.
I got rye bread from Lidl, I have tried the german style one from Sainsbury, it is similar. I like them both, they last for ages and so filling. That and Oat milk are two things that are more filling per calorie for me than even chicken breast or eggs.

@OohMrDarcy good luck with the fast!

Is it sliced or from the fresh bakery @strangerInStrangeLand ?

@harriethoyle it is sliced, from a company. I dont know if they do fresh rye that would be awesome.

Any tricks and tips to maintain weight during holidays! 😺

Skip breakfast, try not to go wildly crazy on things like cream, cheese etc but most importantly, have a great time and undo the damage when you get back!

Hello fasters, sorry I've been a bit quiet, manic week. FD today, think I'm probably a bit over 500 tbh but by less than 100 cals so not too worried.

Weight loss has plateaued a bit for me because I'm really not being disciplined on NFDs and I'm not calorie tracking. Need to sort it out as I'm only 5lb off my initial target weight (although I would like to lose another stone after that ideally).

Hope you're feeling better @harriethoyle, lot of nasty bugs around at the moment.

Have a fantastic holiday @strangerInStrangeLand, Italy is my fave place. Whereabouts are you going? Good tip on the rye bread too, think I'll give that a try because I am a bit of a bread addict.

My DD's birthday tomorrow so I don't think it'll be a hugely disciplined weekend, but going to make more of a concerted effort from Monday.

Kitchen closed on 576 today.

@strangerInStrangeLand skip breakfast, limit snacks and plenty of water. Enjoy the rest and any damage can be undone!

I really need some motivation.
I commented on this thread a while back, did one day, and since then have put on loads 😩
Feel like everytime I try to lose weight I end up eating even more.

Monday is the day, am going to do it this time!

Morning all

Weigh in today at 105.8kg meaning a loss of 0.8kg this week - this seems to be a steady amount I'm losing generally currently so happy with that. Fingers crossed it will mean I hit my next mini goal in the next week or so of 105.

Checking in for my Monday FD today - got my leftover mini roast ready for dinner and trying to stick to water as long as I can this morning... know I'm a bit dehydrated after working in the garden this weekend so my body won't complain about the extra fluids!

@PaperSky - nice to see you. What are you doing when you 'try to lose weight' ? Are you attempting to follow standard 5:2?

Hi all, great results @OohMrDarcy! And welcome @PaperSky

I'm doing a FD today. Might make it a b2b depending on how it goes/how I feel tomorrow.

Far too much birthday cake this weekend so will leave my weigh-in for midweek 😬

good plan re the weigh in @berryhand hope the birthday cake was enjoyed!

Forgot to do my totals after todays weigh in - so that is 9kg in 3 months of proper 5:2 (including a 2 week holiday) and 16.4kg total since my 16:8 starting point last summer

Back on the train today. I started then had a few weeks off as I felt weirdly knackered. I’ve since had blood tests and I’ve got iron deficiency (recurring issue) and tablets to address, so back on the fast train this week.

Today I had a small oat latte and have been sticking to herbal tea and water. Dinner will be Moroccan chicken with cauliflower couscous done in our “cooking robot” (Thermomix) for 540 calories for the day 💪

welcome back @Porridgeislife - hope the tablets are helping the lack of iron for you, enjoy the Moroccan chicken later!

Yes, I lost a few stone about 5 years ago doing 5-2, so thought I would give it another go.
I did it for a day back in Feb, and then some personal stuff happened, and I’ve ended up putting even more on!

But am starting again now, I’ve also booked myself in for some weekly yoga classes.

I went through a stage of going to the gym quite often (pretty much daily), but have completely fell out of that now.

I found when I was in the routine of doing it, it was fine, but once you’ve stopped, it’s hard to get back into it.

But am feeling determined!

I get what you're saying @PaperSky - I'm a restarter myself and find that my head has to be in the right place to be able to fast successfully. I'd focus on keeping as busy as you can for the first week or two of fasting and it should slot back into place for you then (it did for me - 3 months back on it now)

I’m hoping it will be so for me too!

You’re exactly right about head being in the right place, I find if I’m not I just spend the whole time thinking about what I’m going to eat, and end up snacking even more!

Evening all, welcome @PaperSky

Kitchen closing here on 608, have had my first ever sick day off after almost 3 and a half years in this job - just can't shake this bloody virus off. But managed a FD regardless.

Oh no @harriethoyle sorry you're still feeling rough! Kitchen closing here on 503 plus a handful of french fries (crisps) I stole from DD.

Kitchen closed on around 520 here 😊

@harriethoyle hope you are resting as much as you need! Lots of nutrients and feel better soon.

Hope everyone has had a good day