Hi everyone! I have been reading the forums but just registered today. I watched Dr. Mosley’s documentary, read the forums (you guys have some great info and advice!) and got started! I have not read the book though. I was following CICO using my fitness pal (MFP) since January 2015 (with the goal of sticking to 1350-1400 calories a day) for a year along with weight training (mostly body weight or weights up to 20 kg – twice a week) and lost about 6.3 kg. I knew *something* had to change in the food department to speed things up because, as we all know, it really all comes down to food! I love cooking and eating whole foods. I tend to eat healthy on weekdays but am more indulgent on the weekends as I live in a big city and Fri/Sat nights usually involve exploring the awesome restaurant scene and having alcohol. So while I could stick to 1350 a day on weekdays, I found that on weekends my MFP had become a shame-record. I had heard of intermittent fasting with the idea of “windows” but knew it wouldn’t work for my current lifestyle as on Fridays/Saturdays I can be out and still eating/drinking until 2 a.m. Enter 5:2 – genius! I really do believe that some diets are better suited for certain types of people. For example, the idea of giving up carbs and alcohol completely wouldn’t work for me! However, I have always naturally never really been hungry at breakfast (unless I exercise in the morning) so it is a piece of cake for me to wait to eat my first meal until 11:30 or noon and the requirement to limit calorie intake on 2 weekdays is not that hard as sometimes I am so busy at work that food is just not on my mind! I still try to stick to around 1450 calories on the other day so that I can go out on Fridays/Saturdays without ruining the hard work.

I will admit that I’ve only lost 3.2 kg since starting 5:2 in August 2016 and am a bit discouraged that it seems lower than others’ progress. I am 29, female, 5’3″ and started 5:2 at 75.5 kg and hope to get down to 60 kg. I will also admit that I struggle to eat 500 calories on my fast days (M and W) and am usually in the range of 535-585 and find the extra calories on the particular day are just enough to take the edge of…). My current activity level includes doing 30 mins of weight training 3 x a week and I walk to/from work on weekdays. As per my fitbit, I burn an average of 1900 calories on a day that I don’t exercise and (+/-) 2200 on the days that I do.

The first few weeks of 5:2 I was very cranky at night and had a lot of insomnia/energy at night. This has now settled down. I’ve also learnt that sugar on a fast day is a no go – it gives me a dull headache! My one symptom that still remains is getting cold on fast days – esp. my hands and feet. Does anyone else deal with this?

Anyways – this is just to say hello and reach out for any thoughts/advice – please be kind 🙂