Hi all,

just wanted to share my results from 12 months on 5:2 after which I determined that it was time to go to 6:1. That decision was made in early October last year. Sorry for signing in so seldom but with two small kids around, it is very hard to find time! I also wanted to get the blood test result now after a longer period on 6:1 to make it meaningful (8 months on this regime seems long enough to say something about the long-term impact). I took this test on the morning after a fasting day. So…

IGF1 – 129. I understood that the normal range for a male like me, 36 years of age, is between 100 and 220, so 6:1 seems to help maintaining a what I think is a low level. As a comparison the level was 121 after 6 months on 5:2.

Glucose – 3.7. Normal range supposed to be between 3.5-6.

Cholesterol – 5.4. Now, this was a bit of a disappointment to me. I had 4.5 when I was on 5:2 and I was hoping for this to come in between my “normal” value (around 5.5) and my value on 5:2 but this obviously did not happen. Unfortunately, the test only measured total cholesterol which is actually not really meaningful so I will have this checked in greater detail (triglycerides, HDL, LDL) next time. So I am still looking for Holy Graal here 🙂

My weight is maintained at 72 kg (BMI = 21.7). When I went to 6:1, I put on another kilo more or less right away but after that, my weight has remained on this level which is very pleasing.

You cannot make science out of one story 🙂 but I must say that my experience is that 6:1 works! It has helped me maintain several health factors.

I honestly do not see myself going back to 5:2. 6:1 is a whole lot easier to maintain and I do not need to spend so much energy on getting everything I need as it is just one day of fasting per week. I normally only have supper on that day as I find it easier – it is more of a meal then and it also helps me sleep better to have something in my tummy when I go to bed. I do not feel that energy that I felt when I started out on 5:2, but it may also be that I am deprived of sleep with two kids around… hmm. On the other hand I really felt after one year on 5:2 that my energy levels kind of slumped and I took that as a sign that it was time to slow down a bit. 6:1 feels sustainable and I have not struggled at all to keep it over these 8 months.

Good luck with your fasting everyone!

Hi MelbourneMum,

hang in there and good luck :). I really sense that going on doing this is really simple (I hope I will say that in a year’s time as well!). I hope you go through the same. I guess the thing is that during the rest of the week, regardless of whether you do 4:3, 5:2 or 6:1 or whatever, you just go on as normal and live your life as you always do. And if it does not work out for anyone for any reason, there are so many routes to follow out there today so you are quite likely to find something that works for you… You often hear how contradicting messages are and how difficult it is to know what is “right”, but I think that all these different approaches (LCHF, 5:2, Atkins or whatever) kind of points to how different we are physiologically, and that different things work for different people for biological and psychologial reasons. It is just about finding that thing that works for you.