I noticed this after another diet I tried a few years ago. Does you stomach “shrink” if you eat less? I’d been trying to lose weight for a few weeks and eat less, then went out for a big pasta meal one night and could only manage half a plateful before feeling very full and bloated. My partner has recently had an oesophagectomy and has virtually no stomach left, however he was told after the op that after a few months his stomach would stretch and now he can eat more than he did at the beginning. So if it can stretch, maybe it can shrink as well if you put less food in?

Is there any evidence as to any effect on women’s menstrual cycles or fertility? Thank you.

Pamela, I agree that having the fruit and bar in the morning probably made your sugar spike – the inevitable crash later would make it harder to last all day then with no food.

Going against all dieting ‘rules’ but… maybe try just having a cup of tea/coffee in the morning, no breakfast and eating your calories at lunch and dinner. I’ve only been doing it for a couple of weeks but have tried for a 150-200 cal lunch (if 150cal, then I can have an apple mid afternoon. (50cal). Then I have 300cal for the evening (again split between a meal and then a small snack if possible).

I’ve found a variety size box of cornflakes with 100ml semi milk for lunch fills me up enough to last till early evening and that’s only about 130 calories! Also if you must have something sweet tasting then the little pots of sugar free jelly are only around 35cal and diet coke is nil calories (but I only allow myself one each fast day).

The second week has been easier but just hope I have the willpower to stick to this till the weight loss starts!!!

Thanks for the advice. I followed the plan for 2 days this week: porridge & an egg for breakfast, miso soup and carrot sticks for lunch, then 1 oatcake mid-afternoon. This seemed better as I had no dizzy spells. I have lost 2 pounds, so I will keep going!

Hi Sarah, I think lunch time to lunch time is fine . Sometimes I don’t make the full 24 hours, I may have to go on an earlier lunch break in work. I don’t worry about it though. Check out page 76 where Michael Mosley talks about one of the key researchers in the field. He says she ‘often starts her day with a late breakfast at around 11am and finishes with supper at 7pm. That way she is fasting for 16 hours a day, twice a week’. I think the beauty of the fast diet is that you can experiment and see what works for you.

I’ve been doing the 5:2 and sometimes a 4:3 diet after days of indulgence since the Horizon episode aired in August. I’ve lost around four and a half stone and am a couple of days and 2lbs away from my target weight. I tend to consume all of my calories at breakfast on a fast day and with one or two exceptions have found fasting and weight loss to be quite easy and exhilarating. Understanding what calories are in various foods has helped me to be sensible on none fast days too. Although I haven’t cut anything out of my diet I have found my eating habits have completely changed. I’m eating much less bread, cheese and orange juice and eating much more lean meat, raw vegetables, eggs and MERINGUES!
Thanks Dr Mike for inspiring me to do something about my weight and hopefully my long term health, by providing a solution that is simple, easy to understand and easy to follow.
I intend to keep up the diet – is there any advice for fasters who have reached an ideal weight and want to maintain that weight but still fast for health benefits?

Actually, Dr Michelle Harvie is a research dietitian from the Genesis Breast Cancer Prevention Centre University Hospital South Manchester Trust. Her study was based on a 5:2 protocol, of 5 days normal eating and 2 days calorie restricted. All subjects were female and she tried half on the 5:2 and half on a mediterranean diet. Those on the 5:2 fared better and a higher percentage stuck with the regime. Dr Varady who’s work was featured on Eat, Fast and live longer was predominantly trialling adf with female subjects too.

They were overweight subjects. You will find women young and old can fast and it won’t affect their menstrual cycle if they are overweight. If you are underweight and fast you could stop menstruating as top female athletes often do as a consequence of having their body fat percentage falls below a certain level.

If you are someone wih very low body fat you should take thi into consideration, if you are looking to conceive. Female athletes can have interruptions to their cycle it is not permanent or dangerous in the long-term but it can happen.

For the rest of the women using IF, ADF, 5:2 or whatever regime works for you as sustainable and health enhancing – there is absolutely zero reason to think this doesn’t have benefits for women.

Go for it!

It is very pertinent to remember with regards to the link posted that it was the findings of someone who had adoped a paleo diet aka a caveman diet. Your two days fasting or Calorie-restricting don’t exist in isolation what you do on the other 5 days will impact how you feel and your results.

Fasting or CR might not be for everyone, but there is no reason to rule out an entire gender. It could be a very good option for some women as Dr Harvie and Varady have found.

Hi me too. The book says go from supper to supper or 2pm until 2pm but what classes as the start and endow the fast?

@susan & @24 hours – the 24 hour window method you’re describing is Mimi’s suggested version in the book which is an ‘easier’ version for folks who struggle with Dr Mosley’ original method. You’ll still lose weight on it, but probably not as quickly as with Dr M’s way.

Those of us who have been following this way of life since the Horizon documentary aired have been doing it the same way as Dr M, which is quite simple. Go to bed at the end of your feed day, wake up on a fast day, consume no more than 500cals (600 for men) – including drinks and go to bed at the end of the day… wake up and eat as usual. You can spread your calories however you like on a fasting day although grazing isn’t recommended as the longer you go without food it seems the more effective the fasting is. Some people like to have 3 small meals, some have just 2 and more and more of us are finding it easier to go a full 24 hours without food (from the evening of our meal the night before) until dinnertime on our fasting day, when we consume the 500 cals as a single meal and eat nothing more until the next day.

This actually equates to 500 cals over a period of around 36 hours in total.

The problem with going from (for example) 2pm-2pm is that if you consume 500 cals in that time, having had a breakfast & lunch on the first day, then a lunch & dinner on the second day (though ideally just a dinner) your calorie deficit won’t actually be that great. Better probably to go without any cals at all during that 24 hours if you’re going to eat normally before and after.

However the great thing about 5:2 is its flexibility and how you can fit it in around your life and in a way that works for you. If you find you’re getting the benefits you want (be they health and/or weight loss) through the 24 hour method then that’s brilliant and you should stick with it 🙂 There isn’t really a right and wrong, just different ways.

Sounds wise given your circumstances 🙂

great tips.keep them coming x

At 51, and having shrunk from a size 14 to a size 10 on the 5:2 diet since last August (by eating only a porridge and banana for breakfast on fast days, and just water to drink) I now don’t want to lose any more weight (I’ll have nothing left to fill out the wrinkles!!!). Since xmas I have started eating a very small portion of (healthy) dinner – minus the pasta/rice/potatoes. Just a spoonful of meat and veg really, on the fast day evenings. So far it seems to be working, but if I find myself shrinking further I’ll increase the size of my fast day evening meal until I find the right balance.

I’m on my third week.Can any help. I’ve had a headache since i started, even on my “feast” days. I so want this to work. HELP.

I’m in my 4th week and suddenly today I felt very giddy and unsteady on my feet. Yesterday was my fast day but I didnt each much today. I have been drinking but maybe not enough. When I got home and told my wife she said she had met her friend today who told her that she had stopped her husband from doing the diet because it made him dizzy.

Does anyone else have this?

Hi – Have just finished my 1st fast day and thought I would ask if anyone knows if bananas are acceptable. I read an article recently that said if you are trying to get rid of belly fat steer well clear of bananas. Shame as I usually have half of one with some cranberries in my muesli. Has anyone else heard about this? I’m keeping them off the menu until I find out. Day 2 tomorrow. I am doing consecutive days as that works better for me.

Hi, I have just started on the 5:2 plan. Can I do 2 days in a row or is it better to do 2 non consecutive days?

Hello!
I am wondering if this will work for me? I have always been dieting and really not over weight. Although I’m about 8 pounds more from a year ago!! I’m 52 years old but I have really always fasted. I have very poor muscle tone I’m sure it is from from eating habits. I’m tired of doing things this way.I’m 5feet 5inches and about 130 pounds. I do have to say though I feel very well, but the hormonal changes are here. Have I distroyed my body from trying to lose the extra 5 pounds or will this still work for me?
Thank you so much.
Smooth

I’ve been following the 5:2 for seven weeks now after trying and failing at every diet known to man. I have to date lost 17.5lbs and over 4 inches off my waist. I’m a 43 year old mum of 3 and a nail Tech so spend most of my time sat on my backside. To me this is a way of life. Mon and Wed are my fast days, I enjoy wine and pleNty of it at the weekend Nd good grub. I wish I’d heard Bout this diet months ago. It’s not a diet really just a way of life. Thank you Michael and Mimi

Two observations:
1. Road trips are rough on fast days. I was feeling drained and tired.
2. Driving past a lot of restaurants was rough on my resolve!

I work shifts from time to time including nights and I can tell you that the fast diet is challenging for shift work-I don’t have access to cooking facilities so reliant on M&S or waitrose calorie controlled ready meals but they’re not bad and only 2 days a week. So, 11 weeks in now and 9kgs down plus 3 inches off waistline plus cholesterol down. About muscle and energy concerns-I have an Omron set of scales and I can tell after 11 weeks that my fat content is down and muscle mass is up-this may account for a few stages of weight plateau but overall trend is downward. Also, prior to starting this diet I was suffering from liver stress (too much drinking) so stopped drinking. Far from not having energy reserves-the opposite true-far more active-digging in very cold weather and overall fitness levels up. In fact I recommend the fast diet if you want to reduce drinking alcohol-My liver enzymes have dropped too. I think the diet is speeding recovery despite my GP saying that fasts are hard on the liver.

Well, this is my first day and I have been reading and looking at the forum and getting such a lot of useful advice – thank you. This week I shall fast from 1900 on Monday through to 1900 on Tuesday and do the same again on Friday.

I’ve been following the diet religiously for 5 weeks now and the scales have registered at first a 5lb loss then I seem to have put on 2 lbs in the last couple of weeks. What on earth am I doing wrong? I’m not going crazy and stuffing my face on the non-fasting days. Anyone else experiencing this? My husband has been doing the diet for the same amount of time and has lost 7 lbs

My first day and I’m very motivated. I had colon cancer 5 years ago and even though it was “small and early” and all my tests since have been good, I worry about a recurrence. I was very drawn to the health benefits that have been seen by people on the program and the prospect of losing 5 pounds is icing on the cake, so to speak! I’ve set my program up so that I ate dinner last night early enough to be done by 6pm. A 250 calorie breakfast today at 10am, a 250-dinner tonight at 7pm and breakfast tomorrow at 7am. That means that I have a 16 hr. complete fast, then 9 hrs. without food and another period of 12 hrs. From what I understand it’s important to have a 16 stretch with no food on a fasting day. Seems quite manageable.

i have loosely been following the fast diet for 5 weeks approx, but i have fasted in a block of 48hrs, eating my breakfast around 10am instead of 7am, then my evening meal at the usual time. the 3rd week we had a new kitchen installed and obviously i couldnt really fast. in that time i have lost over 7lb. i find it easier to fast in block rather than alternate days as im more focused. my clothes are looser and my mind set has completely changed. after having some mackerel & scrambled eggs for breakfast, and knowing i was going for a family meal i knew immediately i only wanted a salad, instead of picking the usual nachos’ to share with hubby as a starter and no dessert or alcohol which isnt like me!!! my stomach has definitely shrunk as i get fuller alot quicker. one thing i do need is inspiration for meals which doesnt consist of buying extras with my usual food shop. any ideas??????