5:2 diet

pink_petal

How annoying! I find this thread really useful for helping with my fasting but it seems to be overrun with trolls at the moment!

This eating plan won't be right for everyone but what's the point in coming on here and trying to make the people following the plan feel stupid? We are the ones seeing the results so we are the ones who know it works!
Yes, this is a forum for discussion but if you're not going to keep an open mind when you post questions then go and start another thread and keep the negativity over there. I'd like it if this one went back to its normal, helpful self!

Thanks!
PP x

paulineb_2

Id like to ask a few questions if I may. I do know a bit about 5:2 and Im on a few groups. But what Ive seen over the past few days is people, who have gone over the 500 kcals having a massive panic, I worked out what my cals would be on a fast day and they would be over 600 due to my height, weight and the amount of exercise I do.

Also, people are getting critical with one another, even the people who aren't on it at the moment are having a go at new people for saying that they are going to split their cals on a fast day. Seems to be a lot of people who think that you cant fast unless you go 24 hours without something to eat. I know some people don't call it a fast day either, its called a low calorie eating day or similar.

Someone else also asked can you do your fast days together and people were saying no and other people were saying yes.

Im a fitness instructor and I try and eat healthily and exercise, Im just wondering what people are doing on 5:2 and where they are getting their guidelines from?

Also, Im seeing a few people post that they put on less than a kilo and its disaster. I know that everyone has their own body image issues and 5:2 isn't responsible for that, but from the posts Ive read, some people are now obsessed with food, upset if they have a tiny gain and are weighing themselves constantly.

There are also people doing variations on 5:2, some people are doing 4:3, 6:1, 16:8. Some people have branched off doing 24 hour juice fasts then 1 day fasts and very little calories the rest of the week, in fact some people by their own admission are having less than 6000 cals a week.

Im absolutely all for healthy eating. Im just very interested in how you control 5:2 without it becoming 100 other different things.

I also subscribe to a PTs blog and he had some interesting things to say on 5:2 and I'll post that up.

paulineb_2

1. Don't fast on back to back days - unless you have religious reasons there is no need to. Instead have at least a couple of days in between each fast.


2. Intermittent fasting isn't a performance diet - while you might lose body fat you certainly won't see any big improvements in the gym or in your running pace/times whilst fasting.


3. Do some form of resistance training 2-3 x week (body weight or gym) - it's unlikely you'll lose any muscle unless you're obese whilst fasting, but to maintain your muscle mass and generally improve your metabolism hit the weights.


4. Fast from anywhere between 18-24 hours - this means no food from the start to the finish. Water and the odd cup of tea (ideally herbal) are okay. This will improve your hormonal balance and favour fat loss.


5. Don't spread your calories out throughout the fasting day - you won't be truly fasting, but instead following a low calorie diet without the hormonal benefits which aid fat loss.


6. Don't jump into the deep end - start with a 16 hour fast first to make sure your life doesn't fall apart. Most people will experience headaches and sugar cravings the first time. If you're feeling completely drained stop the fast and eat something!


7. Workout the timing that suits you best - most people prefer to start after their last evening meal through to the following afternoon. This method means you'll be asleep for a big chunk of the fast and you can also meant with friends for dinner and not have to sit there like a lemon.


8. Don't eat junk food - Micheal Mosley and Horizons TV program sent out the wrong message if you ask me. Eating a pile of crap and then fasting the next day is completely wrong. That's a really bad habit to get into and encourages binge eating. I repeat: this is wrong.


9. If you've got any medical issues don't jump on the fasting bandwagon without seeing your doctor first - seems like common sense, but you'd be surprised by some of the stories I've heard.

This is what Gavin Walsh said about 5:2, I get his emails as I did a home fitness programme with him, just wondered what peoples thoughts on it were.

System

pink_petal wrote: »

How annoying! I find this thread really useful for helping with my fasting but it seems to be overrun with trolls at the moment!

This eating plan won't be right for everyone but what's the point in coming on here and trying to make the people following the plan feel stupid? We are the ones seeing the results so we are the ones who know it works!
Yes, this is a forum for discussion but if you're not going to keep an open mind when you post questions then go and start another thread and keep the negativity over there. I'd like it if this one went back to its normal, helpful self!

Thanks!
PP x

im not saying the diet doesn't work, if you starve yourself 2 days out of 7 then you will lose weight. But I can't get my head round it, why would do it to yourself. There is a clearly better way to diet (eat healthy, exercise, 7 days of the week)

500 calories in a day, you must be joking

Mado

berbastrike wrote: »

im not saying the diet doesn't work, if you starve yourself 2 days out of 7 then you will lose weight. But I can't get my head round it, why would do it to yourself. There is a clearly better way to diet (eat healthy, exercise, 7 days of the week)

500 calories in a day, you must be joking

...Despite many many people's experience telling you that your allegedly better way to diet doesn't actually work ?

As for starving? People in drought areas in Africa starve. Literally. 5:2 dieters restrict their food intake for 2 days. How is that starving?

pink_petal

berbastrike wrote: »

im not saying the diet doesn't work, if you starve yourself 2 days out of 7 then you will lose weight. But I can't get my head round it, why would do it to yourself. There is a clearly better way to diet (eat healthy, exercise, 7 days of the week)

500 calories in a day, you must be joking

I had 3 stone to lose and I managed to lose 2 of those using good old calorie counting and exercise. However, in October last year I hit a wall and I just stopped losing weight. The exercise meant I was still losing inches but I have one more stubborn stone that won't budge! I tried everything and I'd lose and gain the same 2lbs week after week.

I did so much research into the 5:2 before I started as, like you, I wasn't sure I'd actually be able to survive on 500cals a day...it seemed ludicrous! But after reading about the health benefits I decided to give it a try. If my weight stayed the same then fine but at least I'd so some good in other areas.

So I'm now in week three. I've lost 4.5lbs and I feel amazing. I have much more energy and I just feel lighter generally. I actually look forward to fast days. You think it would be too difficult to survive on 500cals a day and I felt the same...but it really isn't. I have 200 cals for lunch (soup and ryvita or a slice of bread) and then 300 cals for dinner. It's more than enough really. Yes, I get waves of hunger sometimes but it only lasts 10-15mins and then it fades. It's really helped me to know the difference between being peckish and being actually hungry, which was possibly my problem before. If I feel actual hunger then I'll eat a few cherry tomatoes or some grapes. I don't beat myself up about going maybe 50cals over if my body is telling me it needs it.

System

all I can say is that you must be extremely disciplined to only eat 500 calories a day, its madness!

Mado

berbastrike wrote: »

all I can say is that you must be extremely disciplined to only eat 500 calories a day, its madness!

:rotfl:
Complete madness... We must all be super humans.

paulineb wrote: »

8. Don't eat junk food - Micheal Mosley and Horizons TV program sent out the wrong message if you ask me. Eating a pile of crap and then fasting the next day is completely wrong. That's a really bad habit to get into and encourages binge eating. I repeat: this is wrong.
This is what Gavin Walsh said about 5:2, I get his emails as I did a home fitness programme with him, just wondered what peoples thoughts on it were.

I think the pages and pages of this thread agree with most of the points you made.
I'm puzzled by point 8. At no point did I read Michael Moseley encouraging junk food.
All I read is :it's perfectly OK in moderation. Which I completely agree with.
For many who post on here, they tend to crave healthier food on feast days anyway.

paulineb_2

berbastrike wrote: »

all I can say is that you must be extremely disciplined to only eat 500 calories a day, its madness!

There are diets such as cambridge and lighter life where people eat that every day

Also, its not 500kcals as far as Im aware, its 25 per cent of your TDE which will vary from person to person.

paulineb_2

Mado wrote: »

:rotfl:
Complete madness... We must all be super humans.

I think the pages and pages of this thread agree with most of the points you made.
I'm puzzled by point 8. At no point did I read Michael Moseley encouraging junk food.
All I read is :it's perfectly OK in moderation. Which I completely agree with.
For many who post on here, they tend to crave healthier food on feast days anyway.

Those were just Gavin Walshes thoughts on 5:2, as I said in the post earlier, I was just interested in a few things because on the forums I go on, people are doing it differently and for some people, going over a set amount of cals is a major disaster

However, everyone reacts to what they perceive as failure in a different way I would imagine.