Fasting consecutive days or extra days?

This topic contains 16 replies, has 9 voices, and was last updated by jhoulihan 10 years, 9 months ago.

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Brendan.Hill

6:38 am
9 Jan 14
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I’ve been 5:2’ing for a couple months. I had health & weight before, and started it for long term health reasons rather than weight loss specifically.

I find it extremely comfortable fasting 2 days per week, in fact I feel great when I do it, and feel I could easily fast longer or more frequently.

Is the reason for 5:2 ratio mainly psychological (most people would struggle with any more), or is it really the optimal physiological ratio?

Personally I am interested in trying the fast on consecutive days, or possibly every second day. Is this likely to deliver further benefits on top of the 5:2 approach?

-Brendan

Brendan.Hill

6:51 am
9 Jan 14
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** I meant to say: “I had healthy weight before”.

(I’ve dropped a couple of kg’s anyway, actually… even colleagues noticing.)

Couscous

7:39 am
9 Jan 14
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Hi Brendan. I have been doing 5:2 for 11 months off and on with Monday and Wednesday as my fast days. This week for some reason I cannot explain I did Monday, Tuesday which was very easy to do. I may do so again but the main reason to split days I think was psychological from the view that people would find it easier. If you click on the faq link at the top right of the page, scroll down and click on the question you will get the answer from Michael. The benefits should be the same I think apart from giving you a bit more freedom to make choices as to what you eat for the next 5 days.Good Luck.

Silverman

4:00 pm
18 Jan 14
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I am trying something different from the book though which suggests intermittent 2 days a week fasting.

I am doing Tuesday after breakfast then lunch no more than 600 cals fasting right through to Wednesday lunch then evening meal 600 cals tops. Then the other 5 days eating normally.

Would love to hear from anyone else’s thoughts about the fast diet.

sylvestra

4:17 pm
18 Jan 14
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@brendan.Hill and @silverman Although 5:2 is the popular name for this WOE it isn’t a ‘rule’. I sometimes do 4:3 (Mon/Wed/Fri); some people do ADF (alternate day fasting) and some, who may only want to maintain their weight, do 6:1. It’s all about fitting it around your life – you control the way of eating, it does not control you with rigid ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’.

There is also 16:8 which means you eat within an 8 hour ‘window’ during the day – say between 12 noon and 8pm. This gives you a daily 16 hour fast.

For me sometimes doing 5:2 and sometimes 4:3 and doing 16:8 on my weekday non fasts with a bit of leeway on weekends suits me best but, obviously, will not suit everyone.

You have to play around with it, try different ways and find the best one for you.

The only thing to remember is to stay under 500(F)/600(M) cals on fast days and within your TDEE on non fast days. Apart from that you do it your way…

….and enjoy x

Silverman

4:26 pm
18 Jan 14
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It makes more sense to me to do it once per week, over 2 days, than eating normally and doing it again a day or so later.

hermajtomomi

4:44 pm
18 Jan 14
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I agree with sylvestra, silverman. There’s only one rule for the 5:2 regime and that is YOU make the rules. There’s no “should” or “must” about it – with the possible exception of doing your best to stick to the 500/600 cal on fast days. Even then, if you blow it, there’s always tomorrow. Whatever works for you is the right way.

Silverman

9:11 am
19 Jan 14
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I am trying something different from the book the ‘fast diet’ which suggests intermittent 2 days a week fasting.
I am doing Tuesday after breakfast then lunch no more than 600 cals total then fasting right through to Wednesday lunch then evening meal 600 cals tops. Then the other 5 days eating normally.

As I understand it the reason you fast is to give your digestive systems a rest. This will effectively help shift your body from carb- to fat-burning mode.

So after Tuesday light lunch I do 24hrs fast through to Wed light lunch. On Wed morning I try to go cycling and intensive exercise which is purely burning fat because there are no carbs to use in your system. Then eat normally for the rest of the week.

Silverman

9:27 am
19 Jan 14
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It takes about six to eight hours for your body to metabolize your glycogen stores and after that you start to shift to burning fat. If you keep replenishing your glycogen by eating every eight hours (or sooner), you make it far more difficult for your body to use your fat stores as fuel. Just because you go 6 to 8hours fasting it does not mean you will lose fat. Its from this time that you start to burn fat.

arla

11:22 am
20 Jan 14
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Good for you Silverman so long as you don’t feel that it’s something that should be imposed on other people 🙂

Personally it wouldn’t be a sustainable lifestyle for me and sustainable is far more important to me than rapid weight loss. I definitely go longer than 8 hours in my 36 hours of fasting.

sylvestra

11:42 am
20 Jan 14
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@silverman Glad you have found YOUR way. If it works for you – great. Everyone finds their own best way and none of them are ‘the right way’ or ‘the wrong way’.

That is what is so refreshing about these forums. Every other weight loss forum I have read has people who think their way is the only correct way and proceed to tell everyone else they are wrong. The posters here here accept we are all different and have our own ways.

Good luck x

lhantman

2:09 pm
20 Jan 14
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The diet speaks to two non-consecutive days of fasting. I have a friend who sees this as 24 hours, as in she will choose two 24 hour periods a week to fast. I wonder on this, because if one chooses a day to fast, then not eating really occurs from dinner the previous night to breakfast the next morning, which is more like 36 hours of fasting. So, now that I am doing this work, I was interested in whether it is a day as in twenty-four hours, or a day as in dinner to breakfast after skipping a day.
Thank you.
Lisa H.

jhoulihan

2:55 pm
4 Mar 14
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Hi All,

I’m new to 5:2 and am very interested in the approach as I think it makes lots of sense compared to other fad diets. I’m a 39 year old male.

I started my fast last night at 7.30pm (after dinner), did a 5km run at 6.30am, skipped breakfast, no snacks since morning and had lunch at 1pm today (less than 600 calories). I won’t eat again this afternoon and intend to resume normal eating from 7.30pm tonight. I plan to do my second day this week on Thursday. Can anyone advise me if this fits within the rules of the 5:2. I’m fairly certain it does!

Thanks,
Joe

Linds

3:27 pm
4 Mar 14
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This is the reply from Michael from the FAQ sections:-

“In reality a fast day is 36 hours. If you finish your last full evening meal at 7.30pm on Sunday, then Monday is your fast day, you are not going to be eating normally till Tuesday morning 7.30am. That is 36 hours. If you decide instead to fast from 2pm on Monday until 2pm on Tuesday, then that will only be 24 hours. Wait till 7pm and that is 29 hours. To do 36 hours you would have to hold off till 2am on Wednesday, which would be a little inconvenient”.

Personally if I am fasting on a Monday for example I fast from around 9pm Sunday night to 9am Tuesday morning which is 36 hours. After trying splitting the calories througout the day I find it easier just to have my 500 calories at tea time on the Monday with water, etc. the rest of the time. I didn’t actually realise I was doing 36 hours until I worked it out one day.

hermajtomomi

3:36 pm
4 Mar 14
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As far as I can see, Joe, you are spot on. No doubt some wise(r) person will confirm this. As for rules, the only rule is that YOU make the rules, i.e. you are free to decide on the best way to make the Fast Diet work for you. If you feel comfortable with your present plan, stay with it. However, you can always give it a rethink if you aren’t happy, or if for any reason you need to change your routine.

sylvestra

3:52 pm
4 Mar 14
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As hermajtomomi says, Joe, You make your own rules. If what you are suggesting works for you then it’s right.

When you start 5:2, there’s a bit of trial and error until you find your way and there are probably as many ways to do this as there are people on these forums!

The way that works best for me is to have dinner on my non fast day then nothing except coffee and water until I have dinner (up to 500 cals) on my fast day. (I then have nothing until lunchtime next day but that’s a personal thing.)

Some people find 2 or 3 smaller meals work better but the main thing is that you have no more than the recommended 500/600 calories in a 24 hour period.

You may have to try a few different ways until you find what works best and what fits your life style.

But you’ve started this way of eating so congratulations and good luck.

xx

jhoulihan

4:24 pm
4 Mar 14
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@linds – Thanks for your reply. Yes I saw this post in Michael’s FAQ after I posted! Thanks for reposting.
@hermajtomomi & @sylvestra – Thanks for your replies too. Yes I thought that if I fasted for 17.5 hours straight (Mon 7.30pm – Tues 1pm) and then had a light lunch (less than 600 calorie) I could resume normal eating at 7.30pm Tues which means in total I’m consuming less than 600 calories in 24 hours! I see now that a fast day is really 36 hours. I’ll try it like this for a few weeks and see how I get on and if needs be I can always change the routine!

Thanks again for all your replies.