5:2 diet

ThemeOne

If my diet day is a Monday, then I'd typically be on the diet between about 9pm Sunday, and 6am Tuesday, so about 33 hours.

I have heard it suggested that you can do it between, say, 2pm one day to 2pm the next, but it would be a shorter fast day in most cases.

pink_petal

I started off doing 36 hours and I was doing 200cal lunch, 300cal dinner. I eventually got a bit annoyed always having to prepare different lunches for myself and my OH so I switched to fasting the full 24 hours.

I found it really easy but I also found that my weight loss stopped. I worked out this was because when the fast was over I was eating loads and not getting the benefits. I think the full day fasting is good for the health benefits and for maintaining but it doesn't work for me when trying to lose weight.

I'm now back on the 500cals over 36 hours but I now fast for the whole day and have my 500 calorie dinner in the evening which is so much easier...and the weight has started coming off again!

PP x

1940sGal

I thought that's what most did. I usually do about 36 hours.

Ta

~Chameleon~

The idea of fasting is to give the body's digestive system a break, thus lowering hormones such as insulin, which is what triggers fat storage. If people are still eating every few hours. albeit a much smaller quantity (I'm thinking those that spread their limited calories over the day) then they fail to achieve this as insulin is still being triggered regularly. This could explain the lack of fat loss.

In my opinion, a fast should mean entering at least a 24 hour period with absolutely no food whatsoever, only consuming water, black tea/coffee/herbal drink. E.g. last meal of the day 7pm before a fast day then, break that fast at 7pm with your 500/600 cal meal then nothing again until breakfast the following day. So if your breakfast is 7am that's 36hrs with just the 'fast' meal consumed.

~Chameleon~

Oh, and I've finally decided to give this a go myself ( ) as I've taken my eye off the ball in recent months due to personal problems and have suddenly found I need to lose 7-14lbs. I've previously done IF with good results, mostly 16:8, so it will be good to see how it compares.

Georgiegirl256

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

The idea of fasting is to give the body's digestive system a break, thus lowering hormones such as insulin, which is what triggers fat storage. If people are still eating every few hours. albeit a much smaller quantity (I'm thinking those that spread their limited calories over the day) then they fail to achieve this as insulin is still being triggered regularly. This could explain the lack of fat loss.

In my opinion, a fast should mean entering at least a 24 hour period with absolutely no food whatsoever, only consuming water, black tea/coffee/herbal drink. E.g. last meal of the day 7pm before a fast day then, break that fast at 7pm with your 500/600 cal meal then nothing again until breakfast the following day. So if your breakfast is 7am that's 36hrs with just the 'fast' meal consumed.

But that isn't how it works though is it? I thought as long as on your fasting days you only had 500/600 cals, regardless of when you had them, then that was ok? My husband saves his up for the evening, as that's when he's at his worst for snacking etc, when settling down to watch TV etc. He doesn't have any breakfast or dinner, just a tea and them maybe some seafood sticks or fruit.

Jennifer_Jane

I think that the key to this regime, is to keep it very, very simple. I just stick to my 500 cals on fast days.

I may do 2 a week, and one week I did 4:3. But that's it. I'm not going to bother with times. I tend to swim on my fast days, so won't be eating till at least 13:30/14:00 on my return home.

I don't want this to get complicated - for me. It's 500 cals any time during my fast day from waking to sleeping, and that's it.

~Chameleon~

Georgiegirl256 wrote: »

But that isn't how it works though is it? I thought as long as on your fasting days you only had 500/600 cals, regardless of when you had them, then that was ok?

For those wanting to achieve maximum benefits, whether that be fat loss or improved health bio-markers, then yes, this is the way to do it.

But, if you find that too difficult and prefer to spread your meal through the day, then fine. Don't beat yourself up about it, you're still reducing your overall daily intake which has to be better than the alternative

trf1960

I have just looked on the 5:2 Fast Diet website (the Michael Mosley one) and thankfully, it gives you a 'quick rundown' of the book and basically it says that ideally, (for women) you should have a 200 cal breakfast followed by a 300cal evening meal. I have been having a 50 cal breakfast followed by a 50-60 cal lunch and then the rest for the evening but I may try the two way split to see how it goes.

elizabunny

trf1960 wrote: »

I have just looked on the 5:2 Fast Diet website (the Michael Mosley one) and thankfully, it gives you a 'quick rundown' of the book and basically it says that ideally, (for women) you should have a 200 cal breakfast followed by a 300cal evening meal. I have been having a 50 cal breakfast followed by a 50-60 cal lunch and then the rest for the evening but I may try the two way split to see how it goes.

I have been doing the 2 way spilt since January. Ok there is probably more benefit if you can stick to one meal in the fast period, but I can't. I get very lethargic, headachy and grumpy, so weighing the benefits against these issues, the issues win and I have one third approx of my calories at breakfast and the rest sometime late afternoon. I have 500 calories in a 36 hour period and I do this twice a week. I don't have the biggest or fastest weight loss on here, but 21lbs is 21lbs and it works for me. I agree it's best not to get too complicated and above all, do what you can manage.

Fast day for me today, good luck all others!