Has the 5:2 diet changed??

This topic contains 7 replies, has 6 voices, and was last updated by simcoeluv 9 years, 1 month ago.

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Tillytotty

12:44 pm
1 Oct 15
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Hi everyone, I am new to this forum so I’m not sure if I’m doing this right. I was just wondering whether the 5:2 diet has changed over the last year. I started this diet last year and did it for about three months and lost nearly a stone and a half. For some reason I stopped doing it but I’m happy to say that I have started again three weeks ago and have lost nearly a stone. What I am concerned about after reading some the forums here is that everybody seems to now be eating small amounts of calories on non-fast days as well. I read posts from people with great weight loss that are doing the fast days but also only eaten about 1200 to 1500 cal on non-fast days. This seems strange to me as I can’t see the point in fasting if you’re eating such small amounts of food on non-fast days as well. I thought the fast diet was 2 days fast and the other five you can eat normally or eat what you want. Otherwise it just becomes a typical boring diet. I’m happy to do the two fast days but on my non-fast days I want to indulge in wine, chocolate, cake, cheese and everything else I can get my hands on that I fancy at the time and about 2000 cals. I wondered if there is anyone out there that has had great success doing the 5:2 diet the way it was originally done over a long period of time. Sometimes I feel slightly disheartened when I read people who are doing the 5:2 diet but also hardly eaten any amount of calories on non-fast days or is this just me?

Bronx

1:16 pm
1 Oct 15
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Interesting question. I’m rather new (6 weeks in) to 5:2 myself and would love to read the “Veterans” replies. On the Horizon show about the diet, the host (sorry, forgot his name) had cheeseburgers and fries on a non fast day!

I tend to eat below 2000 calories non-fast days myself and indulge only once a week on Sundays, but that’s what I’m used to, even before I started 5:2.

Bronx

HappyNow

1:33 pm
1 Oct 15
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Tilly,

No, 5:2 hasn’t changed. Five days you consume your TDEE (or less, if you want quicker results), and two days you consume quarter TDEE (or less).

Lots of people here are doing all sorts of variations on fasting (4:3, alternate day, 4 day water fasts, etc). But you don’t need, and I never did!

One thing to remember though is that eat whatever you like on non-fast days is not the same as eat as much as you like. ‘Eat normally’ refers to normal calorific requirements, and not to overeating (which may be what’s ‘normal’ for you!)

Amazon

2:18 pm
1 Oct 15
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Some people only have a TDEE of 1200-1500 calories so eating more would mean no weight loss.
Others are trying to speed up their rate of loss.

If you’ve started again doing what you did before and it is working for you, that is all that matters.

As Happy points out,the only thing you need to do is eat within your own calorific requirement (TDEE)

JFitzy

2:24 pm
1 Oct 15
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Hi Tillytotty if you have lost nearly a stone in 3 weeks then you have nothing to be concerned about! Whatever you are doing is obviously working so if you are eating close to 2000 on non fast days and losing, then that must be your TDEE but you can work it out to be sure of what it is.

My TDEE is 1900 and I tend to eat between 1200 -1900 on non fast days. That is because I don’t tend to eat many carbs during the week but I will have wine, ice-cream, dark chocolate and a few other things I like on the weekends. I lost 8lbs this month doing 8 fasts instead of the 10 that I should have done but it still worked for me.

Everybody is different so you just need to do what works for you and obviously what you are doing is fine!!

Good luck 🙂

Tillytotty

10:47 am
2 Oct 15
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Hi all, that’s so sweet of you all to reply. Sometimes you can feel a bit lonely doing The 5:2 diet if you don’t know anyone else doing it so it’s nice to have others to chat to. Well the inevitable happened this morning stood on the scales and have lost no weight, which was what I was waiting for, the initial weight loss is very always very good for me but it soon comes to a halt for a couple of weeks. Just trying to keep my chin up and keep going now until I see some more weight loss. I did calculate my TDEE on the link that you sent to me and it said that it is 2300 calories !??? Seems an awful lot, I am 39 years old female weighing 15 stone 5 pounds and have light activity levels. I also am 5 foot seven tall. Does this seem right ? Have u guys ever had a no loss week for no reason ? ?

Amazon

11:50 am
2 Oct 15
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Hi Tilly,
My TDEE was over 2200 when I first started but a loss of almost 5 stones and an increase in activity level and it is now 1978.

You are not obliged to eat up to your TDEE and I always kept mine to below 2000 which still meant wine, dessert etc could be indulged in from time to time. I usually estimate calories on non fast days but if my weight stalls for a couple of weeks, I start counting calories to ensure I’m not over indulging and I usually am!
If you haven’t lost weight for a couple of weeks the first thing to do is look at what you eat on non fast days. If you aren’t over indulging then it is probably just a plateau and you need to exercise patience as the weight will come off. At your age hormones may play a part too, ones of the joys of being a girl 😉

Now I’m closer to my goal I’m trying to stick to my goal weight TDEE of 1800 which doesn’t always work but will mean less adjustment when I get there.

I hope this helps. I lost three stones on my own and then had a break and put almost half of it back on. I found this website last August when I started again and it has been a godsend. So much support, advice and tips and I’ve made some friends too. It makes such a difference to be able to talk to people who are in the same boat.

simcoeluv

4:00 pm
2 Oct 15
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Hi Tilly and welcome:

Focus on doing your diet days correctly (500 cal. or less) and most things fall into place with time. Here is a thread with information that might help. You might start with the ‘Warnings’ link and then the ‘Really’ link. https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/the-basics-for-newbies-your-questions-answered/

Good Luck!