Hi ciderlover and welcome:

“Does anyone else manage their weight (and lose it) successfully like this?”

No.

15 pints of cider comes to about 3500 calories per day just in the cider.

You can’t lose weight eating that many calories, and it is not surprising you are “piling” weight on. I would guess that unless you address your cider addiction, you may have a hard time losing weight.

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

Good Luck!

Hi Ciderlover

Think you might need to clarify whether its 15 pints a day or a week, and whether 15 pints is a good reduction or not from the usual. Was a barmaid years ago, not unusual to see men drinking 10 or 12 pints – lager, cider or beer. It must seem a lot to many folk though.

So, give us the details, what weight you are and what you would like to be and what your TDDE is – see the chart.

It is possible to drink and do 5:2 successfully, but alcohol is calorie laden. Sims comment about total calories, set against your TDDE, will certainly show you how to do this way of life and lose weight. For instance, my TDEE is under 1500 calories, that’s the estimated number of calories I can eat a day to maintain my weight, doing 500 calories or less on fast days gives me a deficit, and weight loss, therefore 15 pints of cider, for me means over two days food allowance, that two of the five normal days. If you work out your figures, you will know how much cider you can incorporate.

I wouldn’t guess the answer for a second, but I’d suspect a lower number of pints might make 5:2 more doable.

Good luck – hope it’s proper cider – life is too short for cheap wine – and for cheap cider too!!!

well, the whole point of 5:2 is to do it your way – the purpose of these forums is to give support and advice, and not to judge. 5:2 will, I believe, work best if its not all about restriction.

On the other hand, it can’t be done without changing habits, and for me, and for many others, its simply a case of eating less than before, a lot less.

If you are drinking 5 pints 3 times a week though, it might not be just an extra 2400 calories, so check your brand, it could easily be over 200 calories a pint, over 3000 thousand calories. Doesn’t sound a lot of difference, but thats a fast day total, could be the difference between gaining, staying the same weight, and losing. And 15 pints of cider could be around 350 grammes of sugar – and thats a LOT of sugar. Which could explain why you love it so much, a sugar addiction. Remember, if you are restricting to 1200 calories, you might not be getting enough goodness for your needs from food (ie no protein on your fast day), especially if you are exercising. I don’t know enough about insulin levels and spikes to comment, but some on here know a great deal, and might advise on the impact of that amount of sugar. As well as the impact of 13 units of alcohol (4.5% strength)in one day. 1200/430 cals sounds like a girl’s calorie intake, very low for a guy, but if you are a girl, thats a lot of alcohol. Speaking mathematically, not judgmentally!

I’m a wine drinker, and love it, so I know where you are coming from, I found it difficult to stop drinking wine, for me though 5:2 isn’t doable with wine, so now I go weeks at a time without it – and I’m not missing it. Settle into your fast days, see how the 1200 a day goes, and look at the cider intake every week. Recheck your calories, you will find a way. Good luck, have you much to lose?