@wiltl: I would make sure you don’t eat too little on non-fast days. 1200 sounds a bit too low for me. Non-fast days are not meant to be ‘eat whatever you want’ days, but at the same time, you don’t want to eat so little that you go to bed hungry, or wake up on a fast day feeling hungry as well. Just a bit of common sense eating. I don’t think it matters if you go over your calorie intake (2000) on a non-fast day. As long as you don’t crazy (takeaway food is very calorific) you’ll find your non-fast days should average out to around the 2000 mark.

If you’re tossing and turning all night, you may be hungry (a cup of tea works well for me around 9pm) but I tend to find, asides from stress/issues in work etc, a common issue is using gadgets such as TVs, iPads, the internet, etc. The more external inputs you have, the more active your brain is, and it’s not so easy to tune out and relax. Reading a book or doing something not too taxing can help you unwind before bed. Browsing ipads, the internet before bedtime can often get the brain going and have the opposite effect.

Oh dear, wilt dnr I think you need to get out more!!!
You seem to be a bit over obsessed with the calories here(speaking as someone who has been on a “diet” half her life), even I’m not that obsessed with calories!!
Get busy with something else… your job, a hobby, some exercise you enjoy if your health allows!
Good luck with the 5:2 eating plan.

My fast days are from waking until bedtime and I’m on my 3rd week. I’ve found it easier not to eat breakfast and to make do with white coffee, herbal tea and pick at a handful of blueberries during the day. This keeps me going until my evening meal (salmon and fresh runner beans a fav). Eating breakfast seems to wake up my appetite – I just get too hungry!

Hi All,
I started the Fast Diet today!!! I’m also a wee lassie at 4′ 10″ tall. I stuck to the 500 cals today which I split into breakfast/lunch at 1pm and dinner/supper at 6pm; tho I may change that to later depending on how hunger prevents proper sleep, as I have yet to experience that joy 🙁
I really can’t find a good calorie counter for my LAPTOP,I don’t want one for my mobile as suggested in the book as I don’t have a big data contract.
I also don’t want to get hung up like ‘wilt dnr’ (sorry) but can anyone suggest a good calorie counter please (not the google one or similar for mobiles). Thanks

bingo2013 you can download my fitness pal on to your laptop free. I did and its really easy to use and covers every brand and type of food

Any tips for shiftworkers, especially nightshifts ?

how many hours between the last meal on a fast day before eating your first meal on the feast (or non fast) day. does it have to be a full 24 hours or would 12 or 16 hours between meals be ok

@lollyzam and Anna. How you consume the calories on the fast day is up to you. Cups of tea, coffee and random bits of fruit and veg are fine as long as you’re aware of the calorie intake throughout the day. Eating the day after a fast day can start anytime you want.

@jcph. I would take the calorie burn from the cycling into account and add that to the 500/600 fast day, otherwise you could struggle. Also, if you have a desk job then mid-afternoon can be hard and you could move around the office more, socialise with colleagues to take your mind off food. Drinking tea helps.

@adockery 1973: This may help a bit:
http://www.hse.gov.uk/humanfactors/topics/shift-workers.htm

BTW, this was my first time trying to communicate in this fashion and it was really nice to get a response, let alone such a helpful one!

Thanks, Martin. I never eat past 7pm and don’t rise till 8am (because I hit the snooze), but I’ve been doing that for a few years now. It works for me. I still need a way to curb the noshing. It’s all healthy, but I’m afraid during the day I’m not really fasting in an optimal way. Admittedly, so far I’m also having trouble not over eating a little on my off days. I’m still working out the details!

I’m wondering if anyone has experience with fasting evening-evening (say 8pm-8pm). Being Jewish, I’ve done that once a year for the past few decades, on Yom Kippur. Of course, that’s a 100% fast, with neither food nor water. What has always made that seem reasonably easy is that I don’t miss a supper, although I have one of awfully early, and the other somewhat late. I’m wondering if going 8-8 with zero calories (just water, seltzer, coffee, and tea) might be as beneficial as any other scheme.

Thoughts?

I am just starting to do this. My question is. Anything wrong with grazing those 500 calories? I do get headaches when I get really hungry. Even if I am staying hydrated. I drink about a half a gallon of water a day(plus other 0 calorie beverages) and work out an hour a day.

@Dailydoodle. I think you should do what feels comfortable for you but I think eating meals is a better option. As well as the impact of having more food in your stomach and feeling full (ish), I believe there’s also a psychological hit as we’re programmed to eat meals and snacking doesn’t have the same feeling of reward.

I’ve been doing the fast diet now for 5 weeks, and on fast days have consumed my 500 cals in 3 meals spread evenly across the day, all featuring carbs as my job is pretty active and I need the energy! I typically have poached egg on wholemeal toast, 1 /2 carton of soup + 1 ryvita, and 1/2 tin sardines on wholemeal toast for supper + 1 ryvita with 1tsp low fat cottage cheese on it.
I was convinced I wouldn’t lose much weight – if any- because of eating normally (including treats – oh yes) on the other 5 days, but also because of the fact I was spreading my meals out and not fasting truly for long enough.
I don’t know what my bloods are doing (hopefully they’re good though – after all, that’s the main reason for doing this diet) but weighing myself after the first 4 weeks I’ve actually lost 7lbs. I fully expect that to slow down, but just wanted to share my experience with anyone else out there who finds it easier to spread their meals across the day.

Also – if it helps anyone – I am hypothyroid and on thyroxine, and (so far) have had absolutely no problems with doing the fast diet and having this condition.
The most difficult thing has been having to physically feed jacket potato smothered in cheese to my stroppy 3 yr old on a fast day!
Am doing a final fast day today before breaking for a week and a half for Easter holidays … Hope I can get back on track ok after and not gain everything I’ve lost!!!

Hi bingo2013! I found a couple of posts on this site a few months ago really useful. They suggested not doing weekly/ daily weighing, as you really just get lots of fluctuations to work out rather than good comparative overview data. I know weight always fluctuates, but I’ve found it better, as these posts suggested, to just weigh myself once a month. I fast on Mondays and Thursdays, and – knowing it’ll be my lightest day – weigh in on a Friday morning. Before my Saturday wine and nibbles hit my waistline! I suppose this way at least gives me a picture of an overall trend, which is really what I’m interested in. Having lost (apparently ) 7 lbs in my first month, I figured that even if I knock 2/3 lbs off as a fluctuation, I’ve still lost a good amount. Not too fast and not too slow!
Good luck fasting – it really does get easier the more you do it!

Hello, I’m new here, about to start the 5:2 tomorrow, Mon., April 1st.
My question, what about on fast days not eating anything at all, just drinking calorie-free fluids?
Has anyone tried this, is it advisable, healthy, doable?
I’d love to hear Michael and Mimi’s thoughts.
Thanks.

Hi, I have been on this new lifestyle changing diet for the last 6 weeks, and have shed 28.8lbs. Yes , i could not believe it either. My wife has also lost 10 lbs, we are supporting each other which helps a lot. I have found that using the My fitness pal app to keep a check on the calorific values has been invaluable. I have been sticking to an 1800 calorie intake on non fast days, and go 24 hours between meals on fast days. Monday and Thursdays, I tried to split this over breakfast and evening meal, but found easier to have just the evening meal. Other pluses include, i’ve apparently stopped snoring (yeh) and have become calmer and more mellow, something appreciated by both my wife and 2 children. Thank you Michael Moseley.

Looking through the posts Claudia there is a load of useful info…. on fast days it is advisable to drink lots and lots of water, black tea so I don’t see that zero cal water is a bad thing, flavoured with or not. Myself did find the 3rd day fast a real trial and don’t know why. But I wasn’t tempted and stuck to the 500 cals.
The only thing I cannot seem to get an answer to is… Is it best to leave as long as possible between breakfast an supper? Then when to start to eat on the non fast days. I can’t get my head round what is the optimum time to leave between meals. I can’t do the 7am – 7pm as Michael does. I’ve never been able to eat before 10am and can’t eat after 7pm (terrible heartburn). HELP!!!!!

@holidaygirl, forgive me, but I think you were way too impatient with yourself when you posted on 11 March “I have just completed my third day of fasting. … I have weighed this morning and haven’t lost anything and my BMI has stayed the same.” Remember, Dr. Moseley’s original interest was to review and evaluate diets that promotes _longevity_, not weight loss. If I had to make a choice between feeling more energy and weight loss, I know what I’d go for. Therefore, I will consider any weight loss that might occur as a welcome bonus, but not the main measure of the diet’s success.

Nevertheless, imagine that you will lose only one pound a week. In three months you would have lost 13 pounds. If you kept going, in a year you would have lost 52 pounds assuming you had enough extra weight to lose. It’s my understanding that those pounds would stay off much longer than if you had lost them with some sort of crash diet. The tortoise, not the hare, wins this race.

Come to think of it, in some recent vacation photos, I’ve noticed that I’ve begun to notice that my face looks a little less “puffy”. I still have an super-size-me gut, but my pants are slipping on a little more easily. As I said, I don’t bother to weight myself, but that’s good enough for me.

So relax, @holidaygirl. Enjoy the energy and better health and consider any weight loss that might occur as a bonus. Most of all, enjoy your “feeding” days!

I have an odd question. I’ve been fasting for four weeks now and I’m finding it quite easy, I’ve lost 4lbs so far. I usually really feel the cold, so I was expecting to feel very cold on my fast days, as it suggested I might do in the book. But, what I’ve actually found is that I’m warmer than usual, and I get a really hot face on fast days, with really rosy, hot cheeks. It’s a great look! Has anyone else found this? Any idea why?

I work one night plus 3 half day shifts per week and have been making that night/day one of my fast days. I have only drinks after midnight and have a low cal hot choc drink before I go to bed the next morning. I have a 400cal meal about 6pm that day then 100cal snack before bed. I then choose either Thursday or Friday whichever is a 5-10 shift, or a particularly busy day. I find it best to be flexible. My weight loss has been slow but that’s ok. To my surprise, I find I am less hungry if I don’t eat breakfast. As long as I’m busy I can ignore any hunger pangs. Its a great feeling being able to have small amounts of previously “forbidden food” on any of the other 5 days in the week.

I’ve just started this 7am-7am method this week. I’m on my 2nd fasting day today and I’m suffering of a terrible headache. The same thing was with the 1st day. Could anyone have any tips for the situation?

The first fasting day was quite terrible because of the headache and some dizziness. The day after that instead was very nice and I felt light and lively.

I’ve drinked a lot of water and some tea. I’ve eaten those 500cal as told.

I’m a 35-years old women (from Finland), healthy, with a rather low blood pressure.

I’m grateful for any piece of advice!

I finished my 20th fast day on the 5th April and have lost about 12lb give or take a blow out. I think that each person doing this has their own individual take on Michael and Mimis ideas of the “Fast Diet”. Whatever works for you is ok provided it does not cause any adverse medical effects. Personally I stick to 600 cals per fast day, Mon – Wed, my last meal normally being around 6pm – 7pm the previous evening, then my fast day of 600 cals and normal eating from 7am following my fast. My Doctor has just contacted me today asking me to go in for my yearly “old man” tests. I feel pretty confident that my “bloods” etc should be ok. That is the thing about this, it is the “Inner Body” benefits that come first and weight loss second. Having had cancer scares in the past I recognise the possible health benefits the “Fast Diet” brings to us all.
Good luck to all “Fasters” out there.

Hi all, only 4 days into fast diet, two of which were fast days – so far I have discovered the following:

GREATEST app and website ever!! is MyNetDiary, phone, web and tablet apps, all sync, it is free to join, there is a wealth of information on the site and it calculates all calories for you. it also allows you to upload any ‘new’ foods and recipes, and it scans bar codes for your food diary entre. Has made keeping track of 500 cals so easy.

DUMBEST idea, to use calories on a green smoothie in an attempt to detox as well – I was so so so hungry, will always include some protein from now on.

QUESTION – which is the best forum for discussing 5:2 diet ideas and experiences on?

2 quick questions Mimi…apologize if they have been already asked.

1. I’m about 1/2 way done reading your book and I don’t recall reading why on fast days you still consume 500-600 calories. Why not abstain from all food on fast days?

2. Is there any issue with sugar substitutes on fast days, like Splenda, Equal, Stevia?

Thank you for the book. It is interesting and inspiring.