Attempting the 5:2 diet

[Rhi-]

I've decided to attempt the 5:2 diet after watching a programme by Michael Mosley on the health benefits (other than losing weight) of occasional fasting.

I had my first fast day yesterday, and all I can say is that it was hard. I had 520 kCals in the day, split between breakfast, lunch and tea. And I was hungry.

It was hard, but I figure it will get easier as I go along. And surprisingly I didn't wake up hungry this morning, despite going to bed hungry.

So does anyone have any tips for how to manage the hunger, or even any good foods that fill you up but are low in calories, or general information/suggestions? They would be great Along with the support of course.

R

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11/03/2015

Second fast day. I decided not to have breakfast and sip on sparkling water as has been suggested. It worked well and I just finished lunch (around 2.30pm). Made myself an orzo, courgette, pepper and spring onion salad for tea which according to the recipe is 200kCals per portion and I could fit just less than a portion in the box I'll take with me tonight.

I have rehearsals from 4pm-11pm so it's going to be hard to not graze but hopefully we'll be busy enough that I don't have time to eat.

I'm not as hungry as last time, strangely.

[sweatlikeapig]

Hiya, I've been on the 5:2 diet since mid January and lost a stone so far, still got a fair bit to go yet though 😁 I've found if I fast on days when I'm busy or have a lot planned it's much better. I go to the gym in the evenings and usually I'm there about 3 hours or so. I don't work myself massively hard but it gets me out of the house in the evenings when I'm most likely to want to snack!

I find eating soups gets more bulk for my calories and I also get those 1.5L bottles of flavoured sparkling water (they sell them in Asda for about 40p) and I find these curb my hunger and usually only contain about 30 calories in a whole bottle.

Good luck and keep us posted with how you get on

[Rhi- in reply to sweatlikeapig]

Hi. Congratulations on your weight loss

It's a good idea to be busy - I was in the library so kinda just sat there thinking that I was hungry while reading. I'll just have to try to shut away my snacks the day before, I think that might work

I found a soup that was just over what I was supposed to eat (500kCals) but I thought it was better than having a cuppa soup and piece of bread. And it did fill me up until the evening.

Thanks for the tip about sparkling water, I've not tried that before. I shall try it for my next fast day.

[hackney1]

Hi there, just finnished my second week on thediet , really pleased with weight loss so far, tips, i went to holland and Barrett as they have a deal on and bought the slim rice, pasta ,noodles. Really low calories and i found it bulked out lunches and dinners. I eat two small satumas mid afternoon ( sainsbury easy peel small are 33 for two. I have spinach(60gram) and one egg 90calories

I also low cal soup and add the pasta however this week going to have veg and slim rice 7 calories per 100gram mushrooms 13 (100 gram) cabbage 100grams 25 calories carrots 100gram 25 calories comes to 70 calories. Which means i have 300 dinner , 100gram chicken (117 calories) steam veg, (100 calories) concentrating on the low cal vegs e.g mushrooms (38), carrots,courgettes 100gram 17 calories total 222 cal dinner Then a fruit salad for dessert. One apple (53) one pear(85) ,grapes 6 (18c) , two satumas (33) half this or share with hubby and its 94 calories .... so you still can have another satuma for 17 calories if you want.

really its totally about counting calories on the days you csn only have 500 calories , good luck , hoped that helped

[Rhi- in reply to hackney1]

Hi. Thanks for the suggestions - I'll have to keep an eye out for the slim rice, pasta and noodles. I think I've seen them advertised somewhere.

[Lozz84ie]

Hey,

I start my 2nd week mondaY and am actually looking forward to it x

I found that having a bottle of water next to me at all times really helped x I aim to drink 3ltrs on a fast day x

Also I found a hot drink fills satisfying so I had hot water and a slice of lemon x

As for food I have fruit for breakfast and try to hold out as long as I can x

Salad for lunch then chicken or fish and veg for dinner x

I also have the 10cals Jellys to band for a naughty treat x

also heinz minestrone soup is one of the lowest soups (140 for whole tin), and filling x

Good luck and look forward to watching your progress xxx

[Rhi- in reply to Lozz84ie]

Good luck with your second week

I'm not sure what the 10cals Jellys are though - are they sweets or pots of Jelly?

[gingernut49]

One thing to remember is that hunger goes in waves and doesn't get worse, so have a drink and keep busy and it will pass. Once I dropped breakfast on fasting days I found it easier, and eventually I dropped lunch as well and just have one meal on those days.

I'll sum up 5:2 here in case some haven't heard of it:

I lost the three stone I needed to in six months on the 5:2 Diet after watching Michael Mosley's excellent Horizon programme in 2012, "Eat, Fast and Live Longer" tinyurl.com/qzgo7tq or tinyurl.com/a8ppjl7 and went from a size 16 to a size 10 by eating 500 calories two non-consecutive days a week. I've been maintaining my weight loss since April 2013 by just fasting one day a week - in the past I piled the weight back on as soon as I finished 'dieting'. I'd very much recommend you read Kate Harrison's book, "The 5:2 Diet" (tinyurl.com/qe6mz4u) - it really does work and it will save you a fortune (towards your smaller clothes!).

I'd also recommend a free app for your phone called MyFitnessPal. Counting calories is very important so you can see how much you're eating and therefore eat mindfully rather than mindlessly. There are excellent videos in the Help section on the app that show you how it works - there's even a barcode reader to scan in branded foods.

It's important you don't eat more than your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) on non-fasting days. You can work that out here thefastdiet.co.uk/how-many-.... If yours works out at more than 2000 then aim at 2000 on non-fasting days.

Here I am in the Daily Mail on 7th January tinyurl.com/m7rqecq. The other two ladies’ stories are inspiring!

Here Michael Mosley answers many questions on it dailymail.co.uk/health/arti...

This little video explains more youtu.be/W9Aj6hRYg4A(Not working as expected?)

[Rhi- in reply to gingernut49]

Hi, thanks for the extra information

I think we watched the same programme, although I only saw it last week on bbc iplayer.