I forgot to mention that exercise made a massive difference, really got things moving!

I’ve been on the “extreme” version of the Fast Diet since December 13, 2013. That is I fast on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays with no eating/as little as possible eating on those days (maybe 1 piece of fruit if hunger is driving me crazy), and YES, last Sunday I had painful cramps in my bowels.

But simple walking for a longer distance (such as 10 km yesterday) relieved this.

I have done longer-period fasts – up to 14 days with zero eating in the past. The reason why, at the time, they said you should NEVER start and stop fasting intermittently is because this would wreck havoc in your bowels. They even recommended dreadful 19th century procedures such as drinking epsom salts dissolved in warm water to “clean the works” if you didn’t have your own clister at home.

Drinking epsom salts is awful. If you are able to supress you gag-reflex long enough to drink an entire glass without vomitting, the salts will move everything in your bowels out of your body in minutes.

However, in the meantime, doctors have said this radical menthod of “purging” isn’t at all healthy – especially because epson salts kills most of the productive bacteria in your stomach and bowels.

Hence traditional fasting had this big ritual of “breaking your fast” with “light food” over several days. It often sounded like the sort of thing they feed to people who’d been in a coma for months.

This isn’t helpful… but what to do now that I’m on intermediate fasting? I start out on feed days by eating fruit and porridge (instant oatmeal) with dried fruit to put more fibre in my system. I think eating salad as the last meal of the day would help, too. And I’m putting off the heavy refined starchy foods for Sunday, because I have an extra feed day on the weekends.

Don’t forget its a major change to what your bowels normally expect so some changes to toilet habits are to be expected. Hot water bottle on tummy and light exercise may also help too.

Your body is experiencing a lot of changes and it takes time to adapt and repair existing damage.

If you have no other underlying health issues then rotate diet and see what happens. Any blood or mucous in stool book to see your GP

Hi all
I’m only about to do my second day fast tomorrow but usually have a lot of problems with constipation but I am counteracting by having a cleansing juice on my NF days. I put in 1 apple, a stick of celery, half a cucumber and a lot of Kale into the blender with water to get it moving (pun not intended) and this makes about 750ml. I have it instead of breakfast and it’s only about 58 calories per 250mL glass. It will last about 3 days. It tastes ok, you get used to it though. I has made me very regular

Try adding a couple of teaspoons of Benefibre 3 x a day to your drinks – it’ll help and you can’t taste it

Hi mrchris. I started 5:2 about a month ago and got so constipated that I stopped the diet! I have almost never had that problem. The one time I did, years ago, I went to the doctor and thought something was seriously wrong with me. Turns out I was pregnant! I eat a lot of fibrous foods and drink a lot of water. I was sad about having to stop 5/2 because I really liked it and had high hopes. I felt better in every other way. But the constipation scared me. The answers I was reading in forums worried me – I didn’t want to be messing with laxatives, etc.. I wish Dr. Mosley would address this. The book does’t warn about it. I would love to know how you are doing since January? Thanks

Thanks bettybody,
I too was doing a little experimentation cutting down on gluten when I started 5/2. Maybe too much change at once? I think your idea of starting with 6/1 sounds like a good one. Your flatbreads sound like something I would really like!
I did the diet for 2 weeks. But it wasn’t just missing a day of a “movement”, it lasted for 5 days and took a week to get back to normal after I stopped. I felt awful. I have 30 lbs. to lose and I really think this is the way to go so I will try again. Thanks for the good luck wishes! Continued luck to you as well!

I’m having this problem too! I’ve been on the diet for just over two months. Initially constipation set in and then after 2-3 weeks rectified itself. But now I find I’m suffering again. I’ve always been a bit sluggish in that department but have always had rolled oats for breakfast which helped keep me regular. however, I now don’t have the oats at least 2 days a week and it’s having an effect. It’s not painful but doesn’t feel nice. I am going away soon and a change in my environment was always a signal for my bowels to stop working previously, so am quite anxious as to how I am going to cope. And the anxiety doesn’t help – sets up a catch 22 situation. I’m loathe to take medication or whatever because to me that defeats the point of the fasting but boy, it’s not nice!!

Hello, I have been doing the 5.2 for 2 months now and have the problem of ‘not going’ for the fast day and the next day. As I have always been very regular this is annoying and not very comfortable. I usually eat an orange a day and one and a half slices of whole-wheat bread but cut this out on a fast day to save calories. Maybe I need a rethink! I think its a very good way of dieting and have definitely changed shape and lost weight. My other problem is falling asleep (or feeling like it!) in the middle of the day. Any suggestions?

I’m having this problem at the moment. I have IBS-C and I have noticed it has got much worse. I’ve tried everything – oatmeal, loads of veg, prunes, psyllium husk, probiotics, increasing my exercise level, you name it, but nothing seems to be working.

Drinking lots of water might make a difference ( fingers crossed it does) and if you can manage squatting as an exercise, you might find it helps too. Even squats where you hold onto something so you don’t lose your balance. Other stomach and buttocks squeezes and kegel exercises could help, and would be good for you too. Swimming helps some people too.. I haven’t noticed constipation with 5:2 (although I suffer from it a lot) but I am just making so much less poo because I am eating less.
Good luck, I hate how poisoned you feel with constipation.

Hello Dogsabie and others,

I don’t know if I can make a useful contribution to this discussion or not. I started fasting nearly 2 years ago and had a bit of constipation right at the beginning. Since then, it’s often been the opposite that causes concern – bowels too loose. Everyone’s body is different but maybe if I tell you what I eat, (and hence what often causes me to be loose), there might be some hints there for those of you struggling to solve the opposite problem!

I normally fast 2/5, unless very busy. I’m at my ideal weight and continue to do the Fast Diet for health benefits.

Fast days
No breakfast. No lunch. Evening meal – loads of assorted veg. ‘al dente’cooked in microwave. Onion and tomato softened together in a little oil in a pan. Turkey breast cooked with the onion and tomato. 0 fat 0 sugar plain yoghurt. 1 piece of fruit. Drink: frequent herbal teas all day long.

Feast days
Breakfast: Black coffee. Oat flakes, small handful raisins, liberal sprinkling of whole mixed nuts, half a crushed Weetabix, milk to just moisten. No sugar.
Lunch, (main meal) Meat or oily fish or offal or eggs accompanied by either potatoes or rice or couscous or lentils or beans or pasta. Assorted vegetables “al dente”, sprinkled with parmesan. 0 fat plain yogurt, often flavoured with a cooked peach or blackberries or a cooked plum, (I have these in the freezer). Piece of fresh fruit. Small piece of 99% cocoa chocolate with a herbal tea.
Evening summer: large mixed salad, with leaves, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, beetroot, chick peas etc, vinaigrette. Winter: Homemade mixed vegetable soup, usually containing beans or split peas with chilli. Homemade flat bread made from oatmeal and a mixture of flours. 0 fat plain yoghurt. Piece of fruit.

Snacks nuts, small piece of hard cheese, banana.
Bedtime drink cocoa with 100% milk and no sugar.

Herbal tea all day.

No added sugar. Very little animal fat, (although olive oil and sunflower oil are used quite liberally). No added salt.

It would be interesting to see how this compares with the daily diet of someone suffering from constipation – we might be able to draw some useful conclusions.

Go veggie. I’m doing ADF and some days I could squirt through the eye of a needle while other days it feels like I’m passing walnuts. Either way, I only go every other day as I only eat every other day.

I have been on the 5:2 diet for about two years and have recently switched from two non consecutive days fasting to two consecutive days. This caused me to have bad constipation problems.

I tried doubling my water intake from about 5 to about 10 glasses per day but that didn’t have the desired effect. Then I tried increasing the magnesium supplement I usually take to the limit and this worked. I take Jigsaw magnesium tablets. Cranked it up to 8 per day and started having unusually loose bowel movements. I’ve since dropped back to 6 per day and everything has become normal. Hope this helps.

To add to all the good suggestions: try to eat food high in potassium. Google high potassium food and try to get more on a regular basis. Fiber bulks bowels but potassium makes them contract, activates and strengthens bowel muscles, makes their contractions fluid and smooth. It actually makes them move effortlessly. Lack of potassium results in motionless bowels even with plenty of water and fiber. Hope this helps.

I just had a colonoscopy and they couldn’t get through because colon was full.
I have to go back in 6 months to repeat it. I love the 5-2 diet because I’ve lost 20 lbs. help!!!

Not claiming to be an athlete, but…”Athletes have higher fluid and sodium requirements than sedentary individuals. For the general population, the recommendation is to limit sodium intake to 2.3 grams per day, which is equivalent to 5.8 grams of salt. The rationale for this guideline, is that excessive sodium intake causes high blood pressure in individuals who are ‘salt sensitive’. Because most people only require 1.5 grams of sodium per day, it makes sense from a public health perspective to recommend reduced intakes. Athletes, however, need significantly more sodium than their inactive counterparts; the exact amount varies greatly between individuals, depending on sweat volume and sweat sodium concentration” http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/exercise-and-effective-salt-replacement/

Hi, yes it became a very painful issue for me as well. I consulted my GP. He told me to use the powders I have been prescribed previously, they are a laxative powder. My issue is diverticulitis & the big health kick for me is to prevent major bowel surgery. If it persists it may pay to see your GP, everyone is different & they know you inside & out 🙂

Hi Formerly:

I would try adding some salt to my diet. Works for many!

PS — Feeling cold is common. I just put on socks or an extra shirt.

Good Luck!

Have just started reading a few posts after being away for a while and as usual find them interesting and pertinent. Formally, all things being equal constipation is a problem for many including some family members of mine. A common theme among them is lack of fluids and a lack of fibre intake. As I write I am looking at a recipe for Mexican Bean Soup for dinner in the BBC good foods Vegetarian summer food magazine. Amongst the serving info it comes in with 14g of fibre per serving. A good non fast day meal. I eat fruit but try to limit them to the types Michael Mosley recommends. I find eating pears that are just going soft is a very effective way of kick starting bowel movements. Am also eating a lot more Lentil and legume based meals, lots of info on the You Tube food channels.
One other piece of advice I give is to keep a food diary for a couple of weeks. Carry a small note book at all times and be truthful in what you put in. It really helps.
Good Luck in the “Down there” department.

@simcoeluv and others thanks so much for your feedback.

Things appear to be getting better – it seems that being slight less healthy with my eating habits is helping – a bit heavier on the carbs and the occasional bits of cheese and the like are helping.

At age 69, I have had constipation issues increase over the years. Lately I have concocted a solution.

At lunch on Slow Days, I prepare Green Milk: 8 Oz milk + 1 cup loosely-packed spinach + 1/2 -1 oz date + 1 oz apple. This gets whizzed up in the Vita-Mix blender. Delicious and it does the job of keeping the trains running on time.
You may need to drink it for 2-3 days before it works, but then continue daily.
This really works.

Just thought I would add my thoughts to this thread. I have been on 5:2 for over a year and I also had some digestive problems at different times, ranging from constipation to severe diarrhea (especially after eating).
The few times this has happened I have also been worried and thought maybe I should give up this way of eating. Instead I drank lots of water and just tried to eat foods that were “light”, mainly vegetables and protein, not too much fruit. I found that it passed within a day or two. I think our bodies just sometimes need time to adjust to what is happening.
I would suggest to people to just keep going with it and hopefully it will all sort itself out pretty quickly 🙂