5:2 thread 102: Faster than a speeding bullet!

[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 all

Checking in for my FD today. Have home made spicy veg soup for dinner which I've whipped out of the freezer to defrost... Checked in with the scales this morning which wasn't pretty but will be gone again soon so not worried.

Welcome @lastditchattempt50 all are welcome on these threads, check out the OP and ask any questions, one of us will have an answer!

thanks @OohMrDarcy hope your FD goes well.

First day today of sticking to TDEE, not tracked calories in such a long time I'd forgotten how time consuming it is. I have decided to have the one FD this week to break myself back in gently, if I go all in too soon I'll likely fail - so NFD today and tomorrow (hoping to keep around 250 cals each day to allow for the weekend, I have 1860 so should be more than doable) and FD Thursday - then back to my old routine of tues and thurs FDs from next week.

Hope everyone has a good day 😁

@lastditchattempt50 Your plan sounds very similar to me - I fell off the thread before Christmas 😬 - and I also have 1860 cals TDEE. I was planning on a FD today and tomorrow as those are my office days, but I had an awful night's sleep last night (not only did my six year old come crashing into our bed at about 1 am but he woke up at 4.30 and announced that his pull up was wet, and it had soaked through to his pyjamas and onto the sheet, so that was fun) and needed some solid fuel to keep me awake. I did think about a 16:8 fast and holding out until lunch but even that was beyond me.

I'll also be doing one FD this week (tomorrow), sticking to TDEE the rest of the week and then back on two days from next week. I find 5:2 only really works for me if I track NFD calories as well as FD ones.

I launched myself at a bacon sandwich this morning but actually had soup for lunch and so if I don’t have anything else today…. Given yesterday was 525 and not up to the calories of a B2B 650 day, both days will come in together at 1310. So it could be day 2 of a B2B after all, and I can enjoy the rest of the week within TDEE.

Will check in later - if I’ve tripped and fallen into a spag bol, I’ll have my 2nd FD on Thursday..

Kitchen closed on 512 🙂

Excellent numbers OohMrD!

I managed to stay off the food so am in bed and kitchen closed on 785 as my second FD.

i’m not weighing myself til the end of January - my clothes say quite enough about December gains!

in the interim, keep fasting! The morning after the 2nd day is so good.

Morning all
Well done on the FD @CrabPuff

Checking in for FD2 today. Have a chicken. Casserole for dinner so looking forward to that. I'm fed up of being ill now. My bug and feeling really rough ended at the weekend but I've still got this remaining cough / randomly losing my voice ( all new since the rest went) so I'm not sleeping super well. I'm going to keep an extra 100 cals in my pocket for today if needed as I'm rather tired. But hopefully will be fine other than that

Anyone joining me today?

How did your FD go @SydneyCarton, I'm exactly the same, I have to track all calories on NFD days or it doesn't work for me either.

Hope you feel better soon @OohMrDarcy
I'm joining you for my first FD today, I have successfully stuck to NFD for last 2 days which is an achievement in itself! I've even 'saved' 300 cals over those 2 days for the weekend.

I am planning the following for my FD: no food until lunch time but I will have a skinny latte around 11am; soup and some chicken for lunch and a mushroom omelette and as much veg as I can cram in for dinner. A peppermint tea in the evening. Wish me luck!!! 😂

@lastditchattempt50 Not terrific, but not terrible either. I came in about 900 cals, so more of a mini, but I'm OK with that as the first one after a break. DP ended up being on a long work call (about half of which was just gossiping ) so we didn't eat until gone 8.30 and I had been picking at bits since 7 as I was too hungry. I tend to fast (less a couple of cups of tea) until dinner and then have a normal-ish sized meal, easy on the carbs, but I need to eat by half seven otherwise it all goes to pot.

Like you I have about 350 cals "in hand" from Monday and Tuesday so overall about 1400 per day so far, not counting exercise calories.

Good luck for today - you too MrDarcy, it's not easy fasting when you're not feeling great.

Am supposed to fast today but think it’s going to be a struggle…. I’ve had porridge to stave off the hunger, but I’ve been exercising more and had my first swim in months last night plus a lot of steps so I’m not going to be too hard on myself.

Kitchen closed on 540 today. Had an amazing chicken casserole with a side of Christmas braised red cabbage (portioned and frozen) for my dinner and the rest of the cals went on skimmed milk for latte to sooth my throat!)

Will weigh in tomorrow. Am away with work early next week so FDs will be Wednesday and either Thursday or Friday depending on my mood.

How did your FD go @lastditchattempt50 ?

What did you do in the end @Darker ? I wouldn't have been able to fast after porridge I don't think!

@SydneyCarton that is a long time to wait, you did well to keep it to a mini FD, I'd have been eating everything in sight 🤣
@Darker how did you get on?

Well done @OohMrDarcy and hope weigh in is a good one tomorrow 🤞 I'm currently on 488 cals so will see if my cup of tea later is enough to get me through the evening...

I didn’t do brilliantly today. I don’t count the calories, so I can’t say exactly but I had my porridge, a bit of toast and am now eating some veggies. Not my best day, but not a disaster.

Not a disaster is absolutely a start @Darker ... I find if I avoid carbs as much as possible FDs go much easier for me.

Weighed in this morning at 94.6kg giving me a loss of 1.4kg this week and almost everything from Christmas is gone again 🎉just need to be sensible over the next few days and not ruin it all now!

Great news, @OohMrDarcy . Well done!

I eat porridge in the mornings because it’s good for cholesterol. Drs orders. But yes I do often feel hungry afterwards.

That doesn't sound too bad @Darker I think what I like about 5:2 is that if it doesn't go to plan one day you can move your FD to another day and try again.

Well done on your loss @OohMrDarcy that's fab

Woke up not feeling hungry so going to try and leave it as late as possible to break fast, I naturally don't like breakfast so shouldn't be too difficult.

Hope everyone has a great friday 😄

Hello all, may I (re)join you too? I’d got down almost to goal with 5:2 in 2020 and then lockdown happened… piled it all back on and more besides while I buried my head in the sand, leaving me with almost 5 stone to shift now 😭 Lost 5 lb already, which has been a good motivator and reminder that this method does work for me when I stick to it. I’m the other side of 40 now compared with when I’ve done 5:2 before, so also need to be realistic with myself that the weight goes on more easily and takes longer to shift than it used to. Slow and steady wins the race and all that.

FD today, although may need to see how it goes - was travelling for work the last couple of days (which also made for some tricky NFDs) and am shattered this morning. For now, hoping black coffee and water can see me through until miso for lunch and salmon/veg for dinner 🤞🏻

Hotel full length mirror greeting you when you step out the bathroom post-shower also a good motivator for today’s FD 😳

Hello All, I'm back for my first FD of 2025. Currently weighing in at 10.6. I put on a few pounds in November/December due to having really bad flu that wouldn't go away (comfort eating), then of course it was the festive season and well, that tin of Rose's wouldn't eat itself! First goal is to get down to 10st, then take it from there. I'm usually about 9.12.

Plan for today is:
B = collagen coffee
L = 0% Greek yogurt with protein powder and a bit of apple
D = salmon and cauliflower rice

That will be about 750 calories (so more of a mini) and 100g of protein. It's 3pm and I'm just about to have lunch, so it's going to plan.

DH (who is very overweight) has just started on Mounjaro and doesn't feel like eating anything! This is great news, obviously for him because it's working, but also for me because there will be less pressure for big dinners and eating out, which will make it much easier for me.

I'm the same, I have to count the calories on my NFD and keep to my TDEE, or it all goes south.

Good luck for today @aberjenagain !

Yesterday went to plan and 3/4 of a pound off this morning - yay! Going for a B2B mini today. I know it’s Saturday but we have nothing planned and I’m still all over the place after Christmas 🤣🤣.

Well done @TeaRose29!

Dinner yesterday went a little skewiff after I changed plans, and think I finished on about 650-700 overall. I’ll take that, still early days and getting back into the swing of things 😊

That's still very good, @aberjenagain ! I am just about to have "lunch" 😊.

Another pound off this morning! So that’s 1.75 pounds off in two days of B2B. Very pleased – beginning to feel more like my normal self again, instead of a blimp. NFD but going to be cautious today 💪💪.

Monday weigh-in not too terrible, given that my last FD was a few days back and the Christmas chocolate mountain had some attention at the weekend. Showing slow but solid progress.

Would normally fast today but have a team lunch to navigate… going to attempt to hold out except for that and avoid anything with chips.

Morning all! Checking in for Monday FD. Enjoy the team lunch @Darker, and congrats on the post-b2b SV @TeaRose29

Another half pound off this morning! Yesterday turned into a sort of mini, as I didn’t end up eating until about 4.30pm, because I went and did a big shop. Then I wasn’t very hungry at dinnertime.

I’m really in the swing of it now. NFD today as am playing tennis later.

@aberjenagain and @Darker 💪💪!