5:2 thread 103: life is short. Fasting makes it feel longer 🤣

[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, tel:850-1000 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
ive been awol again. Thanks for the advice @harriethoyleand thanks for asking after me @MsBertieBoounfortunately DH took a turn for the worst and was admitted into hospital for iv antibiotics and steroids, and transferred to another hospital during the night as they were worried as he also had a heart murmur. All very stressful and I’ve been eating takeouts everyday and drinking gallons of fizzy juice.

anyway the fact that this is still on my mind is a win! Brb phone is dying.

Oh no @tryingtomakesenseof i hope he’s ok and you! Don’t be worrying about 5:2 now!!!

@SmellyMe yes thanks he’s home now and almost back to normal! thanks goodness

what I’ve realised is that I’m massively overeating so firstly I need to probably have a solid week of decent NFD’s before adding fast days. Or do you think I should just go in straight for the fast days? @harriethoyle?

@tryingtomakesenseof that sounds really tough - glad DH is on the mend.

Honestly, if I were you, I’d just jump straight in. Calculate your TDEE for non fast days, and then commit to two fast days and five days of TDEE (there or thereabouts). Plan it properly. A) because it WILL work and that will enthuse you B) because it will give you an idea of whether that pattern is sustainable for you in the long-term.

Back from hols for one day so I’m doing a mini - meant to be a fast day but forgot to put the bread in the freezer before we went so nothing to make sandwiches with! So I’ve got pasta salad instead which will keep me under 1000 cals for the day. Which is about a quarter of what I’ve consumed every day on holiday 🤣

Thanks @harriethoyleI think you’re right. Going to have my first fast day on Monday

@tryingtomakesenseof you poor thing- sounds like you have an awful lot going on. I really hope that things are getting better and you have some time to re-group and that your DH is getting better.
@harriethoyle how was Portugal? Hope you had a smashing time? How were the pastel de nata? I am surfing the net loads atm considering trying to cram in a mini break with DH (need to convince my mum to come and stay and keep an eye on the kids!) as cannot believe how Autumnal it is already! Was it warm in Portugal? Did you go to a city or beach?
@SmellyMe how's the calorie counting going?

@MsBertieBoo it was lovely thanks - we went to Lisbon, my pastel de nata consumption was threatening double figures over the long weekend and the weather was fabulous. I would highly recommend it!

Portugal sounds amazing!

@MsBertieBoo calorie counting is going ok actually. I can hardly believe I’ve completed day 4. I have been naughty here and there but I’ve found since fasting that I am more aware of hunger pangs and trying not to eat when I don’t need to. For example, yesterday I had fried chicken wings for lunch so I just skipped dinner. Today, there was leftover pasta in the pot. Usually I’d hoover that up on an NFD, but I threw it in a tub and will have it for lunch tomorrow. Got a birthday do at the weekend though. We must always have something to navigate 🤦🏻‍♀️!!

I was supposed to be fasting today but over the weekend, I got colder and colder and am now in full blown, snot streaming, sinuses congested, throat like razorblades mode. My PT has banned me from the gym and I am concentrating on nourishing food and no booze to try and fight this off. Terrible timing as I am away with work for a couple of days this week and have a boozy dinner at the weekend - sod's law...

Good morning guys,
my first FD - I committed last week and the day has arrived. I’ve almost bottled out, but reading that last post about hunger pangs and recognising hunger has given me strength, and I can do this 💪

My plan is to have water and lots of it, if I start to struggle then I’ll have my vegan free soul protein shake and for dinner it’ll be cheesy omelette with one slice of bread.

Oh no @harriethoylehope you feel better soon! Take it easy and rest up.

@tryingtomakesenseof good luck. Drinking lots helps! Sounds awful @harriethoyle ; I hope you feel better soon.

my counting resulted in a 1lb loss I think so no different really! My scales are away with the fairies. I first stepped on to a 2kg loss and immediately knew that was nuts and pushed them abou the floor until they said something sensible!

I navigated the birthday lunch by skipping actual lunch and only having birthday cake!! It was a buffet thing so easy to do thankfully.

Day 1 is almost over and I’ve managed fine. I feel like eating “just because” and I’m trying hard to resist.

Well done @tryingtomakesenseof - how did you find a proper fast?

Im still feeling like death warmed up. I loathe being ill! Am really missing the gym and hate having so little energy 🤧 Am such a bad patient!

@harriethoyle sending you get well vibes and hoping tomorrow you are feeling better.
Well done everyone for keeping up with everything. FD for me yesterday and today. The weekend I fell off the wagon and had some wine, I blame seeing my mum which is guaranteed to bring my mood down! This colder weather is making me crave stodge which isn't helping!

Hello Everyone, I'm back! I was on holiday for a week in Menorca, then when I got home I felt awful for the first week – the weather had changed, and I was absolutely frozen and convinced I was going to come down with something (@harriethoyle I feel your pain, hope you are feeling better today). Somehow managed to swerve it (touch wood), but felt really low energy and grumpy for the whole week.

Anyway, I feel much better now after resting over the weekend, and I've just caught up with this thread – great to see that it is so active again, with lots of new people. I put on a couple of pounds on holiday, which wasn't bad as I had croissants for breakfast every day and more wine and less activity than usual

I'm going for a mini today, as I had PT on Monday and 2.5 hours of tennis yesterday. So the plan is:

B = collagen coffee
L = cheese and leek omelette
D = roast chicken breast with artichokes, courgettes and peppers

Anyone with me today?

@harriethoyleunfortunately DH ordered dessert and I had half of a Milkshake and half of a brownie sundae 😳 he’d ordered so much and so it would’ve been a complete waste of money. I was also starting to feel really unwell on monday evening and yesterday I ended up at out of hours with a nasty kidney infection and a sore throat / flu like symptoms. So I’m resting in bed today.

I'm almost certain I have ADHD and I’ve spoken to the GP about getting assessed. Really long waiting list here but I think it explains my relationship with food in recent years where I just don’t seem to have a stop button. I’m the biggest I’ve ever been and I’m really struggling to get on top of it.

I want to get back into 5:2 because I know it worked for me after I had my first child but it’s been a few years now - he’s 8! When I tried it after my 2nd (he’s 6) , I just never managed it consistently and I put that down to exhaustion etc as I do have underlying health issues and chronic fatigue.

my plan is to log everything I eat as the numbers on my fitness pal will hopefully motivate me..

sorry for all the “failed” attempts / posts but I’m determined to keep posting and keep being mindful and hopefully just form the routine again.

Still feeling very unwell. Kidney infection pain is starting to improve but feel completely wiped out. Throat and chest still sore from the cold.

Will log everything I eat today though.

@tryingtomakesenseof don’t worry about posting for accountability- whatever helps you!! But if you’re feeling rough don’t push FDs. I am just starting to feel human and my pt said not to exercise beyond walking and gentle movement until I was fully recovered. So you need to apply the same philosophy!

Hoping to be back at the gym Saturday morning and back fasting next week. I’ll do three FD to make up for this week!

Thanks @harriethoyleit is motivating when I see how it’s working well for everyone else and the flexibility it gives you all too!

Morning @TeaRose29 sounds like you had a fab holiday- mmmmm croissants and wine (not together obvs!). It has got really cold hasn't it- although gorgeously sunny and bright here the last few days so not all bad. What is collegen coffee?? I'm intrigued.
@harriethoyle am glad you are on the mend and sorry @Journeyto180 to hear you are still poorly.
I am hacked off- I cannot seem to get below about 10,3 whatever I do but that is at the absolute top end of healthy BMI so I would like to be under the 10stone mark (so I have a bit of room for high days and holidays 😁)! This morning, despite a b2b FD and eating well yesterday, I am back up to 10.4 grrrrr. Am currently nursing a black coffee and feeling grumpy! Good luck to anyone fasting today.

Yesterday was closed with a mini FD - 1000 (not intended).

head cold has really peaked this morning.

@MsBertieBoo yes, beautiful weather up here in the last few days, so I’m going to get some much needed gardening done today (then watch the golf 😊). Collagen coffee is just black coffee with a spoon of collagen added - it is tasteless and mixes really well, and gives you a dose of the protein that is good for the hair and skin. I often add a couple of teaspoons of double cream - it’s delicious and keeps me going all morning.

I’m still stuck on 10.2 1/2 (I’m 5’ 6” and just trying to drop the last few pounds) which is annoying as I’ve had a careful food week, two demanding weights sessions and 4 hours of strenuous tennis! 🤨. But my stomach does feel flatter and I’m feeling more toned, so I’m putting it down to water retention, which is a thing after a lot of exercise. I’ve just bought some new jeans (barrel cut which are in fashion but DH will probably hate 🤣) which are a fraction tight, so I’m on a mission for them to be comfortable when I have a weekend with my daughter at the end of October.

Hope you got to the gym and are feeling better, @harriethoyle !

@TeaRose29 back yesterday for PT and back to back double class this morning and I feel knackered but great!!

NFD yesterday - hit TDEE calories, may have been slightly over. As I’m not feeling great, I wasn’t too strict. I was exhausted by the time I ate.

Started a 2 week course of steroids today yippeeee (!). Will stay within NFD TDEE cals.

well done @TeaRose29 how exciting that you are almost at goal! @harriethoyle hahahaha I know that feeling (although not right now).