Exante 5:2

lisa2310

Hubby and I are both just starting the exante 5:2 but we're already struggling and feeling wobbly legged by tea time.
Would we still lose on this diet if we did shake for breakfast and lunch and a light meal say 300 calories for tea?
Has anyone else done this? Or have any experience with this diet. Have a stone to lose by mid August, my hubby wants to lose 2

jenniewb

Just wondered what your Doctor has said about this diet? (It's a good idea to discuss big changes to your diet with your GP and especially diets where you change what you had been eating to trade in for shakes). When you describe "wobbly", generally speaking this tends to be a blood sugar issue and although when you're young and your body is quick to recover, it's not such a big deal. But as you get older, your body tends to suffer more and not only do you feel it, but things like pressure on your heart and other organs can really cause havock, so it's wise to speak to a GP first, not only to get their take on it, but to ensure you are healthy enough to do what the diet demands without risking problems elsewhere.


And remember that a diet only "works" as long as you maintain the way you eat when you are on it. Once you go back to the way you had been eating (and it seems to happen slowly rather than as a switch, but does still happen), you regain all the same weight and often will add more on as your body tries to compensate and stash away things for what it feels is a food famine situation.

System

There are a few members on here, myself included, that have tried this although not sure if there are others doing the exante variant.

You should do whatever makes it easiest for you. Everyone copes differently. IMHO the best way is to completely overhaul your diet to be healthy on the other 5 days and manage your diet days the best you can. This then gives you an exit strategy when you get to your ideal weight and will ensure you don't gain the weight back in the future.

Also remember 5:2 isn't for everyone. If you have wobbly legs then I think perhaps you should look at other methods of weight loss as that level of weakness seems a bit extreme.

lisa2310

Thank you. Yes we are eating much healthier in the week so that we can have a much healthier lifestyle. We thought we'd start with the exante as a bit of a mental boost so that if we saw some weight come off quickly it would keep us motivated for the rest, certainly not a long term solution and we are making sure we make healthier choices going forwards. It's not a huge amount of weight we want to lose, just want to get in shape before our holiday and sil wedding :-)

Angry_Bear

lisa2310 wrote: »

Hubby and I are both just starting the exante 5:2 but we're already struggling and feeling wobbly legged by tea time.
Would we still lose on this diet if we did shake for breakfast and lunch and a light meal say 300 calories for tea?

I've been doing the 5:2 for a few years now - although not the exante version. I find I only get "wobbly" (although for me "shaky" is more common), if I don't drink enough water.
In the non-exante version of the 5:2 it doesn't matter when you eat or what you eat (although you'll feel more "full" if you make smart calorie choices) provided you stick to your calorie limit.
There's a thread here: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4896529

Has anyone else done this? Or have any experience with this diet. Have a stone to lose by mid August, my hubby wants to lose 2

Do have a lot of weight to lose?
A big change in diet will usually make its biggest difference in the first week or two, but 2 stone by mid August is a stretch.

pollypenny

I've never heard of an exante version. What dies it entail?

I like the sensible, healthy eating idea of the original one.

Katiehound

Something else you might like to try instead of / with the 5:2 is the Sirtfood diet. Stick to that and you will lose certainly 7lbs in the first 7 days which is a big boost. You can also make more informed choices about what to eat on the 2 restricted food days. (But you need to like rocket and kale!)

piglet74

I'm just doing 5;2, and never feel wobbly on fast days,

I have lost 12lbs in 6 weeks, I'm not sure I fancy the shakes, I tend to have tea and toast, coffee and cereal bars, etc on fast days, and spend no time in the kitchen at all!

Gloomendoom

pollypenny wrote: »

I've never heard of an exante version. What dies it entail?

Money!.....

pollypenny

I've looked it up.

Why the heck would you pay a company to provide dubious food when Michael Mosley's book and Mimi Spencer's recipe book both give delicious, filling recipes?

More importantly, using shakes defeats the whole object of re-educating your eating habits.

Mrs_pbradley936

Unless you are diabetic the feeling light headed and wobbly are not dangerous. All that is happening is your body is reminding you to eat - but only because you have been in the habit of eating every three hours and now you have stopped. If you persevere you will find that the reminders cease if they are ignored.

This site is where you will find all the science behind fasting for weight loss behind the 5:2 diet:
http://www.eoddiet.com/

Basically your body is either in a "fed state" or a "fasting state" and it takes about 8 to 12 hours to enter a fasted state after your last meal. Depending on if you had a bowl of soup or a cheese burger and chips.

So you have to let your body have a few hours without eating anything at all to make it burn some of your stored fat. If you are always in the "fed state" you cannot use stored energy.

As few as 30 calories will put you back into the fed state. That is a decent amount of milk in your tea or coffee!

The easiest way is to skip breakfast most days and have an eating window between say noon and 7 pm. That's because you can utilise the overnight hours into your fast.

The very best book on the subject if you really want to know all the science is Eat Stop Eat:
http://eatstopeat.com/tst/obnf.php?utm_expid=7760520-27.TJttxUTVSKCwQX7ux8NyEg.1&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bing.com%2F