I’m about to start – after 7 weeks on 5:2 I’ve lost an inch here & there but no weight. I think I’ll find a month or more of ADF no harder than 4:3

I was thinking of doing this too. How do you feel doing this? Any advice?

I have just been fasting 24 hours e.g. 7.30 breakfast, soup lunch and fish/veg dinner. Should I be doing this longer, is it more effective that way? Please advise? Currently losing one pound per week but would love to make it two. Just moved up to 4:3 but it it hasn’t increased weight loss. Other days all under TDEE and active. Help

Hi Stef

I do 5:2 the same way you do. I eat 500 cal in 36 hours separated into two meals. My question is, do you do the same in 4:3? Or is it different? If you could, please describe one fasting day in terms of how many hours and how many calories.

Thank you again

Mariam- as issu is saying: ADF works very similar to 5:2.

I eat my last meal let’s say on Sunday evening @6pm with Monday being my fast day. On Monday I eat nothing at all until 6pm and then I will “indulge” on my 500 cal meal. During the day I live on tea and water and (!) chewing gum (which I normally hate. On Tuesday is my feed day, so I will have whatever I like.

Now here is the important part and this is only true for ADF: on my feed days I can theoretically eat what and how much (!) I want, but again this is only true for ADF! Dr. Krista Varadi has done the research for ADF and written a book “The Every Other Day Diet” where she explicitly says this.

Michael has based his book on her research and for 5:2 this is NOT true. You can eat what you want but NOT how much you like! You MUST stay under your TDEE!

I have lost 8 kg in 12 weeks and have only one more kg to go. In my case this is quite impressive as I did not have to lose a lot of weight to begin with. I am 5.6 and now at 57.1kg, coming from 65kg.

I have from the beginning mixed things up as I get easily bored. I have done a combination of ADF, 4:3, 5:2 and calorie counting, but the biggest change was the change to my diet. I am eating completely different to before. I eat much more veggies, no more pop or coffee and very little sweetie stuff.

On my feed days I tend to start my day with a spinach smoothie. This has very little calories and it is extremely healthy. (I would never eat 400g of spinach otherwise!)I pay very much attention to my micro nutrients these days and I have read a ton of books about it. Unfortunately, they quite often do not agree on what is healthy and what is not.

I stopped eating processed food, no more pasta, rice and white flour products. I do make exceptions though, but I do have to say I feel much better and not only through the fasting!

Best of luck
Stef.

I’m doing a mix of ADF & 4:3 because I lost nothing in 8 weeks of 5:2. I feel fine and lost under an inch in a couple of places in the first month but nothing since. Different horses for different courses – my friends said if it was going to be anyone [doing it properly but not losing] then it would be me. The only reason I’m not doing straight ADF for a month is that I will skip a fast day if a social occasion can’t be moved. I just eat lightly that day.

I’ve not found it too hard but it’s only been a week! I’m just hoping that this is helping things like my inflammatory problems even if I’m not losing weight (so far). I’m willing to give ADF a decent month to six weeks to see what happens. The day a farewell lunch was on a fast day I ate very lightly and skipped desert/etc. At the least I need to lose the 10kg (22lb) that I’ve gained since my gallbladder came out a year ago, and I’d like to lose another 15kg more than that. I’d still not be a skinny minny but it would be a nice change.

Hi everyone, just joined the 5:2 discussion forum. I’m very interested in the 5:2 diet and the ADF. I would love to do ADF, have read both the 5:2 and The Every Other Day Diet books. My TDEE is very low as I’m very short (5ft) and although not classed as overweight, I’m at the very high end of desirable weight. I’ve put on about 16 pounds this past year and feel very uncomfortable with it. I’m a long distance runner and the extra weight has had a big impact on my running, so I would really like to lose this. The reason why the ADF appeals to me more, is that I don’t have to watch my intake on feast days too much (I have an appetite of a 6′ 6″ male body builder), and think I would more likely stick to ADF than 5:2. I did read in the EOD Diet book that the first couple of weeks can be quite difficult, but after that, fast days become much easier with very little hunger. Can anyone give me their experiences of this? I’d be interested to know and welcome any advice or feedback. Thanks.

I’ve done alternate day fasting for decades. As a teenager I was always so busy there would be times I actually forgot to eat. Then I’d figure oh well, not that hungry I’ll have a big breakfast tomorrow. It turned into a habit. I eat basically whatever I feel like whenever I feel like. Although now that I’m in my 30’s im a little more careful with the sweets. ie. I’ll have two cinnamon rolls instead of four. I do 5:2 and 4:3 randomly. Just depending on my mood. On the fasting days I either fully fast or eat just a little. I’ve been doing it for so long that I really don’t have to deal with hunger pangs or light headededness or whatnot. Exercise is sporadic and light, at best. I’m almost 34 and the mother of four kids. I’m 5’9 and 126lbs. I still fit into my high school jeans. I’ve never had to worry about losing baby weight, etc.. I don’t believe that people should eat as much as were led to believe we should. We don’t need to chase our meals anymore so other than during pregnancy or a very rigorous exercise program, having three solid meals and snacks between is asking for weight problems once you hit middle age. I guess it’s an accidental way of life for me but it works. If you stick to it for weight loss and exercise too I couldn’t imagine someone not losing excess weight

i have done it for years and it has helped me loose so much weight. i only did it for a week every time. im planning on a month. does someone want to y up?

I have lost 31 pounds fasting every other day for 2 months. I limit my calories on the days I eat that is specific to my body mass index. I have 5 pounds to go to reach my goal.

Hi calicaprice,

Like you I find the ADF both easy and enjoyable. There is no decision to be made, no choice. And that makes it simple. I initially intended doing 5:2, but the first day of fasting was so good I started looking forward to the next one. And on ADF the kg a week+ weight drop for 8 weeks has exceeded my best hopes.

I thought I’d share my experience, i’m male, 35, I’m currently 4 months in to the Every Other Day Diet, (or Alternate Day Fasting) I’m down 2 stone since I started 4 months ago. I can see changes all over, my face has just started getting thinner looking lately. I’ve got another stone to lose to put me right in the middle of myBMI. The weight loss has been very consistent, I weigh every morning on digital scales in lbs so I can see the increments coming on or off. Some days the weight goes up a fraction instead of down but over time the trend is always down. On a fast day I eat a 400 calorie Jamaican curry with rice ready meal from the coop, and a dry piece of dry bread 100 cal. Instead of tea coffee I have twinings blackcurrant tea (very few cals) they taste lousy but they have grown on me. With ADF I have found my guaranteed way to lose weight, really chuffed, just need to keep doing it. First week I was hungry on fast days, but after that I’m not. I look forward to them, I’m more chilled out on a fast day. ( I feel a bit like I’m over indulging now on abnormal day, maybe your stomach shrinks) Krista Varady says you should eat the 500 CAL’s at lunch time, but I have mine at dinner time with the family and it seems to work the same.

Hey Jaques2go….Just guessing but I believe you can be assured that you’re losing fat. I’ve had the same experience where I would seem to lose more than a lb after a fast (usually 36 hours zero calories) but a lot of that is also water. So when I resume eating, I gain the water back and so I can fluctuate between 149 lbs and 154 and once in a while up to 162 in a couple days. My waist keeps getting smaller and that is probably the only way I know for sure if I’m losing fat. It has become the only barometer I care about these days. I lift a lot of weights so sometimes I don’t lose any weight at all for quite a while.

Hi bobby…..thankyou for your response…..i had hoped i qould notice a little change….ive been doing 3 days fasting & feel terrible. Im exactly same weight as when i started so maybe i have to cut the calories in the feast day …had been having 1700 – 2000 cals on those days nut only 500 on the famine day. ….I will try cutting down though it kinda defeats the object …..as I’m still dieting & can’t look forward to eating normally on days off….I need to cut down to 1500 😊

Glad to see the various results here

Started ADF three weeks ago (with a break in the middle when I was traveling). I’ve found it is a lot easier than I expected – so far at least – and that food (broccoli in particular) tasked different (better) on fast days.

Anyone else had that experience?

Isn’t 150 calories on a fast day a bit excessive? I’ve just joined this, and already feeling this shows too few calories. I thought if you were to do every other day, you still have 500 for women on those fast days, not 150? What is the purpose of 150? You can’t run a car on water 🙂

Hi Wagner:

One of the things newbies come to understand if they do 5:2 long enough is that it is not necessary to eat all of the time. The body stores excess energy as fat for use when not enough food is being eaten. So if you don’t eat, you burn fat and lose weight.

The longest documented medically supervised water fast (no food at all – just water) lasted for over 54 weeks. So as long as you have enough fat, you can indeed run your body on water!

Good Luck!

Hi everyone,
I have been on 5:2 for a few months now without much success. Like some others I had problems with counting my calories both on fast days and normal days. I find it easier to eat nothing at all on fast days, so I decided to try ADF for a few weeks and see what happens. After two weeks I have lost 2 kg and feel better than I have in a long time. Only problem is a constant headache on fast days, I drink lots of water and coffee but maybe still not enough…
Thank you all for sharing your experiences with us, reading your success stories really helps a lot!!!

Hi:

The key to 5:2 is what you (don’t) eat on non diet days. If you eat too much, you don’t lose much weight.

With ADF you almost double the number of calories you eliminate from your weekly diet, and almost cut in half the number of non diet days you have to over eat.

So it is much easier to lose weight on ADF, even if you overeat on your non diet days.

Here are some 5:2 tips: https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/the-basics-for-newbies-your-questions-answered/

Good Luck!

I’m an early 50s, 6’2″ male. On March 20th I stepped on the scales and discovered I needed to lose 65lb to get to the middle of my BMI range. With that in mind, I put a temporary ban on booze and started on ADF, which I’ve had great success with in the past. With limited willpower, I decided 600 calories a day on fasting days would lead to ruin, so I’ve gone for total fasting.

So far I’ve lost 16lb and hope I’ll get to where I want to be in early August. This time round I’ll hopefully remember to stay on 5:2 as a maintenance regime to keep the weight off long term…!