I thought I would share my 5:2 experience in the hope it helps others. I’m a 54 year old Australian male. I’ve progressively gained weight over my whole life and had to take some action. Previously I’ve determined to eat more healthily and exercise more. Both put in place, but still the weight gain. I saw 5:2 on a tv doco and it caught me as something perhaps safe and sustainable I could use and I’ve found that to be the case. Over one year I’ve gone from 94kg to 84kg. 5:2 suits me as I can apply the discipline over a short time and I found a couple of days that doesn’t impact on my family.

Some information
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I fasted on most Mondays and Tuesdays where I limited my calories to 750 or less on each day; I had a vegie smoothie for breakfast, normal lunch and no tea.

My average measurements over the first 4 weeks and last 4 weeks of the 12 month period are –
– Body fat; 25.3% to 22.3%
– Blood pressure; 139/82 to 127/78
– Heart rate 81 to 86 (lots of variability with this, overall average around 80)

I didn’t manage 5:2 every week because of holidays and other commitments –
– 5:2 over 34 weeks. Average weekly loss of 347 grams
– 6:1 over 9 weeks. Average weekly loss of 89 grams
– 7:0 over 9 weeks. Average weekly gain of 267 grams
I had 6 alcohol free weeks and averaged a loss of 683 grams in those weeks.

What I learned
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I don’t reckon I could’ve sustained 5:2 for longer than a year, but I’m confident I can stick to 6:1 forever.
Once I eat I like to eat, so that’s why I ate nearly all my calories on a fast day in one sitting. And the higher than 600 calories on a fast day allowed me to keep going.
I’ve enjoyed the challenge and I did notice the hunger (sometimes acutely) on every fast day.

On fasting days I
– had to teach myself to eat slower than I have over the last 54 years! (work in progress)
– get very cold feet and when woken by hunger I drink water
– get slight constipation and stomach noise

I kept up a reasonable exercise regime; riding about 40km a week and walking at least 11 kilometres to and from work each week.
My muscles aren’t as big as I thought once the fat is gone.
I now walk faster.
People don’t notice the loss until your clothes are baggy.

I should’ve reacted to stalls/plateaus (it took me 3 months to lose 1kg at one stage). Most likely response would be to reduce alcohol on non-fast days.

Using a health check machine at the local pharmacy helped me with the statistics.
Keeping stats (more than just weight) helps for noting improvements and setting targets. I measured body fat, blood pressure, heart rate and clothes size.
I should’ve measured my chest waist and hips to get a picture on movement.
I set and revised realistic targets based on information and data recorded.

I’m an Australian male, I like beer and it causes me to gain weight.
I need to do a bit more to cut back on beer, bread and pasta.
I’m happy to stick to 6:1 for the rest of my life.
I’ll mix that in with a 5:2 once a month to get down to about 18% body fat (79 or 80 kgs I reckon, I’ll set some targets in a little while).

So there it is. I’m happy to share the detailed data, although it is not hugely scientifically accurate, it is pretty complete and others may be able to get more out of it.

I’m also happy to answer any questions you may have. I’m not claiming any expertise on this subject, but I am happy to expand on my experience and results. Cheers.

Thanks @fasting_me 4.5 years of 5:2 is fantastic, well done. I’ve started checking out the maintenance forum topics to see what I can pick up.