5:2 diet

I tried it and managed the low cal days just fine, but compensated by over indulging on the other days as I was in the mind set that I could eat anything!!! Needless to say, it didn't work for me, but if I am honest, nothing much does

Thanks for your honesty, nanapug! I thought that might be a "danger".

There has been a recent thread about this:

www.gransnet.com/forums/dieting/1196058-5-2-Fasting-Diet

I can honestly say that it has worked for me. I have lost 10 pounds in the last month, and do keep to a healthy diet on the "five" days. However, I did have a mild heart attack 7 years ago, and do have a low fat diet anyway. Please give it a try, it does work for me.

Thank you, Ana.

I've just looked at the recent thread. Sorry for repeating it again. I don't get much chance to get on here and don't always know the best way to search a topic. Very interesting reading.

I actually started 5:2 last Monday and today is my 3rd fast day. I just drink water and black coffee all day and have a 500 cal meal in the eve. My FitnessPal app has helped me design a homemade meal within 500 cals. I haven't found the fast days too bad actually. Tummy grumbles a bit sometimes but I really enjoy my evening meal. I ate healthily on the non-fast days but if I fancied a treat or a G&T I had it. The scales say that I've lost 3lbs which I can't quite believe although I definitely feel better for it and feel as though it's doing me good. I have less than a stone to lose so it's never that easy when you are so close to your goal. At the moment, I'm feeling enthusiastic about it but wanted to hear what other had experienced.

Thank you, Berdie. So pleased to hear that you're in continuing good health and the 5:2 has worked for you. Well done!

I see no reason why we should not start a second thread on this subject it is some time since the previous one ran.

However both of us have put weight on recently and really need to do something about it. We tried the standard Fast Diet but didn't find it very acceptable or effective - and it gave me chronic constipation! Something, for medical reasons, I need to avoid. DH also has mild Type 2 Diabetes.

Then a couple of weeks ago I read in the paper about the Fast Beach Diet.The advantage of the Fast Beach Diet is that it is limited to 6 weeks, is stricter on the non-fast days and encourages increased activity and exercise.

After thinking around our previous problems I have changed our fast day from running from midnight to midnight to running from 6.00pm to 6.00pm. We have a light meal an hour before the 6.00pm deadline then do not eat until a late Fasting breakfast the next day and also have a late fasting lunch. An hour after the 24 hours is up we have a light meal. We have had a dry run and it seems to be compatible with DH's diabetes. It has caused him no problems at all. How it effects me is yet to be seen.

DH also went to see the Doctor and got a referral for the Exercise Referral Scheme. This is a three month personalised and monitored exercise scheme to get the inactive with medical problems like high blood pressure and diabetes, which he has, more active. He is not a couch potato and potters around all day doing this and that, but he doesn't do any sustained exercise. He opted for a private club close to home and will pay reduced fees for his three months. If people use LA leisure centres these referrals can be free. I am much more active, I do a lot of walking, and do not have the medical problems so couldn't join in.

(I wasn't suggesting that this thread was superfluous - just thought the old thread might be a source of information for the OP!)

We've been on the 5:2 since mid-March and I have lost 5-6kg. DH has probably lost more as he runs a lot more than I do. We didn't think we could cope with 500 calories on low-calorie day so allow up to 800. He has more on a long run day and I find that I can cope with fewer now than I could when we started. We eat independently on those days and as it's only 1 day at a time, it doesn't need to be a balanced diet at all. I have muesli and my half pint of milk in coffee for breakfast (same as normal days, but i measure it all) and then eat brown bread, banana(s), lettuce, half a tin of sardines and/or some other fruit at other meal times. While I enjoy my food (too much) it is easier to have things you don't have to think about if you're not eating much. On other days we eat as we like without thinking about it. It's certainly the most effective and least stressful diet I've ever tried and the biggest advantage is that on this one I don't find myself thinking about food all the time!

Good luck phoenixbfh!

FlicketyB - what would eat for a fasting breakfast and lunch?

We got the 5:2 diet book, and the recipes in there are very good. I have 1 Wheetabix wiith skimmed milk for breakfast, a measured quantity of home made tomato and lentil soup with fruit for lunch, and for dinner a portion of home made meal, fruit and a yoghurt. 600 calories or there abouts. The good bit is tomorrow, I am back to normal eating.As I said it works for me.

I found that preparing the fast day menus and writing them down with their calorie values, helped, like When. said, it helps not to have to think about food on fast days. Also, I wrote down my weight on weigh in days, in a rough graph. Great motivation.

Eventually, I found that I ate less on non fast days. It took about 9months to lose 3 st. But, I have kept it off for nearly a year by having a fast day a week. Two, if I've been out to eat often.
Good luck, I'm sure you will do well, as many GNs have. X

Well done, J52, we also pre-prepare meals for fast days, so you know in advance what is for lunch or dinner on those days.It's easier to work out the calorie value when you are on a normal day.

I lost a stone last year doing the 5:2 diet but I am finding it very hard to continue..... Going away or having visitors completely puts me out of sync and it is definitely a case of mind over matter. I start the day brilliantly but by 6 pm the bottle is open and by 8 I have munched my way through a bar of chocolate, promising myself that tomorrow will be a better day

Heard on the news this morning that some 'Einstein' has decided that if overweight people lose even 3lbs they will be healthier - but - it has to stay off in order to be beneficial! Do they think we are stupid or something? [shriek emoticon]

I heard that too Marmight now overweight people are being demonised as being an expensive strain on NHS, so out come the experts....One man talked sense, and said that (1) diets dont work and (2) governments should be examining the diet of a huge part of the population who are living on cheap food filled with salt, sugar, fat and little nutritional value. I dont think the pushing the weight Watchers clubs and their dreadful products are the answer.

I did well last year on the 5:2 programme and lost about 20lbs. However, my motivation melted away somewhere along the line and it's all back. It doesn't help that I'd been on a gradually reducing dose of steroids for three years and the dosage has recently been increased again because symptoms aren't going away as they should. The medication makes me feel hungry and not for carrot sticks and celery Moan, moan, moan.....

GillT57 Yes I heard him he was making some good points.

Marmight I think it was lose 3% of their body weight not three pounds.

It works for me, when I was being good, I was losing about a pound a week I fell off the wagon being away for the weekend though.

The fast days do become a lot easier and I think it's made me want to eat less overall. To be fair though I have never had major over eating problems. I do not have a sweet tooth.

Portion control really helps, as does re-educating your taste away from very sweet and fatty foods, which is what the person on the radio was saying.

The problem is also in the "eat all you can" offers at some restaurant chains and the general increase in the portion sizes served. These companies just push the "you should take more exercise" idea as the reason for the populations massive weight gains instead of addressing the high unhealthy calorie content of their products.

Please don't give up if the weight goes up, stick with the 5:2 and remember if you exceed your calories on fast days, choose another day to do it.

The 5.2 is the best diet ever,- for me anyway. I started it last August and
have lost a stone and a half. In fact, the practice nurse told me recently to change it now to a 6.1 diet as I have lost just about enough.
Good luck phoenixbfh.

rosequartz A slow reply because I have been out all day

Breakfast: 2 eggs scrambled with grated low fat cheese or 2 anchovy fillets and a grilled medium/small tomato, Omelette with similar and tomato (use I cal spray on oil to cook omeltte) baconrashers de-fatted,and weighed with tomatoes, or could be a few mushrooms simmered in water.

Lunch: can be a mixed salad, with ham and a hard boiled egg, or any 5:2 diet recipe that balances the calorie allowance. Today we had half a pack of asparagus each, wrapped in a rasher of parma ham and I made a cheese sauce from 3 oz quark, 2 oz low fat cheddar, 1 tsp cornfloor and 2 oz skimmed milk. I poured the cheese sauce over the asparagus in an ovenproof dish, decorated each asparagus bundle with half a small tomato and put it in the oven. We then had 4 oz cherries. Total: just under 300 calories.

Thank you very much, Flickety. The recipes look quite substantial and filling; we are away for a short break so will try them when we return (and we will most probably need to!). I do like something sweet to finish up with, love cherries.