Hi pappadj, welcome to the forum. Like Adaline I agree with the bullet proof coffee, ditch it. We are all different so experiment in a simplistic way to achieve your goals.
I follow the K.I.S.S. approach, “Keep It Simple Stupid”, works for me may be not for you. (No offence intended). On fast days 600 cals for a male, 500 for female, important, try to eat within an 8 hr window if having 2 meals, eg 12.00 noon and 7.00pm. Low G.I foods and include an amount of protein.
Check out the F A Q section at the top of the page and also the other headings. I must also recommend you check out “The Basics for Newbies” authored by Simcoeluv, an absolute must read. Research your TDEE, again check it out at the top of the page and try to stick to it on non fast days.If you cannot do not sweat on it too much. All things being equal and a lack of serious or other health issues then this way of life can have a positive impact on your weight and inner health. The important thing is not to become hung up too much on making it difficult.
We are all different, what works for me may not work for you.
Good luck.

Adaline, excellent advice!! I’ll take it!!

Here is my critique on the bullet proof type coffee using butter and coconut oil.

I love the taste and also the hunger killing effects, however it will raise your LDL .putting butter and coconut oil in coffee caused me and my wife LDL to both go over 100 on our blood tests. She is age 56 and I am 60.

We stopped the coconut oil and butter … then LDL went less than 100.

We both fast in am on coffee . Don’t ad saturated fats to your coffee such as butter or coconut oil if you want to live longer.

we switched to healthy fat. We use raw nuts, I like closed fist of pecans blended using a Nutribullet.

I don’t think there is an “evidenced based cardiologist ” that will support increasing your LDL.

Increasing your LDL will cause you to die quicker. This is proved in the ” Harvard Nurses Study”
Dean

I haven’t really drank the Bullet Proof Coffee, but on NFDs I often add some ground flax seed to my coffee which is a good source of Omega 3’s. On FD I don’t do that because I think it interferes with my fasting. My primary goal while fasting is trying to improve my HGH production. It would be hard to list all the positive benefits I’ve seen from fasting and a lot of them seem to be impacts from higher levels of HGH. It is some guess work on my part since I’m not having blood tests to measure the levels directly. It simple has been working for me.

So I keep my fasts very close to zero calories as I can. It used to be hard but it seems to be getting easier all the time. If Bullet Proof Coffee gets you through a fast though, it is probably a lot better than not fasting at all.

I think Bullet Proof coffee is a bit of a waste of good calories and borders on a ‘snake oil’ fad. Black coffee is good though. The longer the non-calorie fast period the better. Plenty of liquids especially when you feel hungry. I just break that rule with a splash of milk in tea and coffee – but it helps me manage my fasting without feeling deprived/annoyed.

I do 2:5 when I’m trying to lose quickly. This week I’m on fast day 5. I’ve overindulged on one and slightly overindulged on another, but all in all not too bad and I feel great. I like food so I try and cook a nice evening meal from a low cal cookbook with things like omelettes as a quick back up. My main weak spots are when I’m very hungry in the evening, there’s a bit left over from the kid’s meal, I forget to have a drink to stave off the hunger whilst I cook a meal. We usually eat quite late in the evenings, but I need to eat earlier on FDs or it can go horribly wrong.

Everyone is different, you need to work out what’s best for you. Some people like the science behind it all and get complicated about what they eat. I like the science but just go for more veg, less red meat and minimum carbs as this seems to be broadly the bottom line of good health. But I also take a vitamin supplement and Omega 3 as a back up 🙂

Pollypenny, I would worry about the same thing. 5:2 isn’t long enough to do this, but fasting more days than eating would be a concern to me.

Adding 440 calories to a cup or cups of black coffee seems counterintuitive. Plus the idea of drinking that — Yuk!

5:2 is simple. You can eat whatever you prefer on NFD as long as you don’t go overboard. Weight loss is dependable. It fits in with my lifestyle of work, travel, getting together with friends and going out to dinner. I Why do people want to make weight loss complicated? 5:2 is sustainable.

Hi everyone, thanks to all of you for posting on all the different threads, it is helpful and encouraging. I am new to the forums but have been on first the 18/6 and then 5:2. I started my fasting journey at the end of Feb, having been overweight for a long time, started to realise if I didn’t do something by the time I was 60, I would be overweight for the rest of my life. I had tried various diets including low carb, but I would make a really good effort and maybe lose 1/2 kilo, then make less effort and put on a kilo, very depressing. Started 16/8 and for the first time in years something worked!!! I lost 2.8 kilos in 19 weeks. In search of better results I moved to 5:2, such an excellent plan! I lost a further 5.15 kilos in 12 weeks. I am so thrilled, at last an eating plan I can stick to for life, for the health benefits too. FDs can be hard but I start with 2 cups of tea with milk, breakfast of 1 egg, tomato and 2 mushrooms fried in teaspoon of oil plus water, coffee and milk mid morning and bacon bone soup, followed by home made milk kefir (1/4 cup) plus 1/4 teaspoon of honey as I love my sweet. Mid afternoon cup of tea with milk. The rest of the day I drink lots of iced water to combat headaches. NFDs I can’t be bothered to count calories but I do meticulously weigh everything I eat, so I don’t eat too much. Best thing about 5:2? It works, it doesn’t involve doing without anything I love, I don’t go mad on NFDs but if I want a glass of wine, a vanilla slice or a kit kat, I can have it, not all at once of course! All the time, I am working towards my weight goals – 4 more kilos until I am no longer classed as overweight and then I will be on to Stage 2 – another 15 kilos, I may have to do 4:3 or ADF, but it won’t be forever, one day I will have lost all the weight and then I will move to 6:1 for health for life, phew that’s a lot of words!!!

Thanks Oliver for your input. We can certainly all gain the health benefits from fasting in whichever way works for us. I couldn’t do 24 hour fasts I would just end up needing wall to wall migraine tablets but a combination of 5:2 and if this doesn’t fit in with my commitments any week I use 16/8 instead. I know my knees will benefit from weight loss, but that aside I feel fitter and have more energy. I find home made kombucha and herbal tea are useful, healthy drinks, particularly if I am flagging on FDs.

@pollypenny

Doing 5 midweek FDs doesn’t put me into ‘starvation mode’. I read a lot of Jason Fung’s blog tp make sure I wasn’t killing my metabolism. My fasting windows are long, and some days now are more about 22 hours fasting / 2 hours eating. I admit I did have a few days last year when I went a bit chilly during the day, which isn’t a good sign. But I find if I exercise that reboots the system.

I’ve lost 15kg since I started 5:2, but most of that was in about 3 months Feb-Apr ’17 when I did the mid-week fasting regime quite rigidly. I had a slight break over the summer due to unusual circumstance but appear to just be able to fast enough to maintain. I want to try and lose the fat I have left via my regime of fasting + some exercise, and then switch to 4:3 to maintain. I’m increasingly less fussed about my weight, it’s more about becoming, being and staying lean.

Overall I’m so pleased with myself. A year doing this diet has transformed me. I love to run, but it was getting increasingly hard. Now exercise is so much easier, and I’m running like the wind! It’s taken 10-15 years off me! Fast days and exercise are a great combination!