Thanks for the advice Xannyde. Have been reading up on the Beach Fast Diet. As far as I understand it’s still 2 fasting days, but the calorie intake is regulated all other days as well, right? that’s kind of what I’m trying to do I think. I can’t find any specifics on what the calorie intake should be during the non-fast days, but i guess that’s different for different people. I am trying to limit my intake of calories to 1000-1200 the other days, besides Saturdays…so difficult to regulate it every day, I like my wine on Saturdays 🙁 keeps me sain!

But I’m doing 16:8 on all weekdays (as I am too lazy to eat breakfast) and trying to limit my meal to only once a day on fast days with around 20-24 h fasting window..let’s see if that helps.

That fine balance between getting results but not overdoing it so that I don’t quit alltogether =/

Is anyone out there?? You have all gone very quiet!!

I have just done my Monday weigh-in…I have lost 2.0kg in 4 weeks which is exactly on target, so I am pretty happy. I have found the 5:2 diet much easier than I expected. Here are some of my thoughts….

1) As long as I plan in advance what I am going to eat (and write down everything the night before), I find my fast days quite easy.

2) I can exercise as normal on fast days – I don’t feel lethargic at all (I was surprised to find this was the case).

3) Even if I eat a fair bit on non fast days, I still lose weight over the week (I was VERY surprised at that!).

4) If I have an outing etc on a fast day where there will be “temptation”, I change the fast day to the next day, rather than sit in a restaurant sipping water and eating salad – I know my limitations!

5) Cauliflower is my friend! Putting it in a blender to make grains is a great (very low cal) substitute for rice.

6) Miso Soup with steamed veggies added has very few calories and almost feels like a meal.

7) I weigh myself daily but I look at the AVERAGE for the last week (rather than the daily reading) so that the dips and peaks are smoothed out.

8) No matter what I do, I will always be a piggy when chocolate is around…..

How is everyone else going???

Hello Everyone, This week was very busy went camping and had visitors last week and have visitors this week. I am up to 135lb but did eat lots on the weekend. This week my fasting days are going to be Tuesday and Wednesday. I find it hard to fast when I have company. I was going to fast today but then went out for lunch it wasn’t too bad 1/2 clubhouse and a small bowl of sweet potato corn chowder. I think if I wasn’t doing this diet I would have ordered a lot more. I didn’t over indulge but still hard to stick to 500 cal when eating out. I agree Batty Natty I need to plan better. Jeannie I think I will add the 16/8 on the weekdays I am not fasting, that may help keep me motivated. I never heard of that until I read it on this site then I looked it up to see what it was. Next week will be a better weigh in for me! I am nervous about summer when school is out how I will maintain the 5:2 but I am committed and will try. Have a great week!

Hi greenmax, and welcome!

I’m in the same situation, tried 5:2 (with exercise) about 2 years a go, and I lost weight and got into a pretty good shape. I’ve gained some of it back during these two years, but hoping to lose a 10 kg this time around, and hopefully continue with 5:2 to maintain.

Today is a fast day for me. I ususally don’t eat breakfast, I’ll skip lunch today and go for dinner at around 5 pm (ready in my fridge: wook+chicken+seaweed nudles 280 calories and some non-fat yoghurt with blueberries 100 calories).

Hope you had a good first day!

Hello Everyone! Welcome Ali and greenmax. I know this site is helping me. I am on my fast day today. I fasted this week on Tuesday and am finding it is getting easier. The farmers market is here so I am able to get lots of fresh fruit and veggies and that helps. I hope your fast day went well. I am not eating any carbs on my fast day and loading up on fruit and veggies and lean proteins. I am still eating lots on the weekends and think I would find Sundays hard. Have a good week.

Hi everyone and welcome to Ali and Greenmax. Oh my the forum has been very quiet! Hope everyone is doing well. As you know, i keep going on about my 21lbs in 21weeks loss! Well, after a week in Palma, and no fasting, my statistics are now 21lbs in 22 weeks! No loss but, more importantly, no gain. So delighted. Back on track now for next 7lbs! As it was so hot in Palma, I found that I wasnt really hungry – we would finally think at 2pm, maybe we should get something to eat – by that time of day at home, i would. have had elevenses and lunch under my belt by that time. Maybe I should move to a warmer country! Anyway, please let me know how you are all doing! Delighted on your loss Jeannie! So pleased for you.
Georgina x

Hi Ali – very envious of your Vancouver trips! We spent a week there last year after a week in the Rockies and absolutely loved it! Cant wait to go back! Good luck tomorrow! X

Hi everyone,

Ali, I had the exact same problem, very bad headaches on my fast days despite drinking 3 liters of water. I was told on this forum that it’s probably the lack of salts. Hunger I don’t have a problem with, but these headaches, and I get very very cold during my fast days. The headaches are getting a bit better now few weeks in, but not completely gone. Some have said that having a bit of soup during the day helps, haven’t tried it myself (I usually fast dinner-to-dinner). I got really tired in the beginning as well, not it has turned around completely, have a lot of energy when fasting, but get really tired when I eat, which is actually a bit of a problem now when having lunch at work on my non-fast days.

Georgina, I have a hard time eating when it’s hot as well, which is the good thing with being on vacation somewhere warm, the downside however is drinks 🙂

I have had another unhealthy weekend 🙁 have had guests two weekends in a row, makes it so difficult to eat “normal” on my non-fast days. I can’t say I’ve seen any results yet, and I assume it’s due to these weekends, as the fast days have been good.

Hope everybody is having a good weekend!

Hi Ali
When i first started 5:2, i was exactly the same. I always had a headache and i felt very very cold. Now i dont have any problems at all so stick in there.
I know what you mean Patricia about the drinks. Think i made up for my lack of appetite with the gin and tonics! x

Hi BattyNatty – good advice about the headaches – when I look back I think mine probably got better when i started to drink miso at lunch time! New Zealand sounds amazing!
Hi Ali – oh my goodness – you are Scottish! Do you miss Scotland now? Your life sounds very exciting going between Holland and Vancouver!
Fast day tomorrow so i have everything ready! Found a good recipe for soup (WeightWatchers) – put 500g of vegetables in a pot with one litre of chicken or vegetable stock and bring to the boil. Simmer for 30mins. Can be any combination of vegetables – onion, leek, cauliflower, brocolli, carrot etc. i made a brocolli and leek one and it is delicious!
All the best for the new fasting week! xx

Hi all, just signed up. I have been on and off with my weight for last 15years and only really managed to be happy with my weight when traning for half-marathon and running 35miles a week. Now with two kids and two jobs and shiftwork that is not sustainable and so really need to address my food. I seem to have an issue with food, either extremly healthy positive day or complete ‘pig out’ with huge amount of calories, followed by lot of exercise and healthy food to off balance the damage. I am very settled in other aspects of my life so cant really put my finger on my struggles with food. I am almost 14st and should be max 12st so 2st off would be a dream. Hope ok to join in on your posts as you seem to be all very supportive to each other. So fast tomorrow. xxx

Hi everyone

Well it’s been slow and steady and I think I may have lost a pound this week and last! It kind of doesn’t show on the scales until after Monday. I haven’t been very good with my diet on NF days tending to eat more rubbish than actual nourishment. I put it down to being busy with all sorts of things to do with mum. I stay within my TDEE and I have stuck to my fast days. I have reviewed my TDEE in view of the fact that I haven’t had much opportunity to exercise and when I did have time I didn’t feel like doing it. Hence the slow weight loss I think. I still don’t eat between 5pm and 9am and have got used to it which is amazing. I used to love my tea and toast at night now I’m more disciplined. Tomorrow on my fast day rather than graze little and often I’m going to try an omelette for breakfast and a dinner of chicken and veg later in the day. It will be the first time I try to go all day through lunch without eating so wish me luck lol. I need to get a liking for black or green tea!

Hope you had a great holiday Georgina 🙂 Good luck everyone for the weigh ins tomorrow, fast days and all the rest 😉 x

Well done elkster in not gaining at least 🙂 Well I had my fast day today and I did ok. I decided not to eat until lunchtime so I went from 5pm the night before until 12 and to be honest I was fine with that. I had some carrot and lentil soup for lunch, 100g of strawberries, 50g of blueberries, half a medium banana sliced mid afternoon and I completed the day with a mushroom omelette done in 15ml of coconut oil. Aside from a couple of cups of green tea that was it 🙂 Feeling quite virtuous lol! A nice long walk around Strathclyde Park tomorrow maybe twice will get me moving again and hopefully a 2 Ib weight loss next week 😉 Onwards and downwards folks.

Hi Chapelhillgirl

Welcome to our wee group 🙂 It doesn’t matter whether we have 6 or 60 Ibs to lose as we’re all in the same boat. All the little bits of advice and support we give each other helps to push us along towards our goal. I’m sure that you can do it as this is more of a change in the way you eat as opposed to a diet as such. Stick within the TDEE and try to be as creative as you can be with the fast days. It’s all about nourishment on those days and thankfully it’s summer when we can enjoy nice salads with a small piece of meat or fish or whatever. Winter time we will all be going on about soups!

You will find out what suits you and you’re right about exercise on fast days…it doesn’t suit everyone. I reserve exercise until I’m eating normally. I do my fast days Mon and Wed as it suits my routine. I sort of incorporated the 16:8 idea into my 5:2 in that no matter what day of the week I stop eating at 5pm and don’t eat again until 9am giving me an 8 hour eating window. That was major for me as I’m a night feeder 🙂 I don’t have a lot to lose but it’s been a major hurdle trying to lose it over the past few years and I had almost given up trying. 5:2 has been amazing so far as I’ve lost 7 Ibs in just a little over 4 weeks and it hasn’t been with too much effort. Georgina is a great example as she has lost 1 Ib a week for 21 weeks so it shows there’s nothing wrong with slow and steady. I wish you luck and I will really be rooting for you to lose those 60 Ibs.

Thanks so much for the welcome! Made it through my first day in one piece at 550. There were a few tough moments, but it was actually much less horrible than I thought it would be. Had to leave the kitchen when my husband started in on his post-dinner cheese and fruit course. But every journey starts with one step, right? I felt especially silly eating 3 fish sticks, which were 105 calories according to my calorie counting app, but my kids didn’t notice and they did the trick. Onward to a well-earned TDEE day tomorrow.

Happy to say I stayed within myTDEE today despite having an extra 9 hours in the day due to flying to Vancouver. Interesting to see if I can manage a fast day tomorrow with jet lag! Anyone tried it?

Up at 5am with jetlag so off to the gym now. Fast day for me today so coffee for breakfast and will have some egg whites after the gym. Nice thing about Canada is they have so many more options than we have in Holland. They don’t have egg whites already in a box which make it so much easier on fast days! Good luck everyone ! chapelhillgirl Zumba! I tried it once and couldn’t follow the moves! Well done! I weighed myself here in Canada and seems I gained weight from Holland but hoping it’s just the water retention from the plane…..:(

Hi everyone and welcome to all our new losers!
I have now finished my fasting this week! Yay! I did back to back Monday and Tuesday for the first time and it was actually alright! Hopefully i will be back on track with my usual 1lb this week. I only have seven pounds to go to my first target of 28lbs so fingers crossed. I cant express how amazing the 5:2 is! I feel so much better and my clothes are so slack! Well done Jeannie and good luck to everyone! I am cheering you all on x

Natty I weigh myself every day too and thanks for the kind words 🙂 I also keep a record of sorts

GOAL TO BE 9st 3Ibs BY END OF JULY

18/05 10st 3.0 Mon fast day *
19/05 10st 2.0
20/05 10st 2.4 Wed fast day *
21/05 10st 0.6
22/05 10st 1.0
24/05 10st 1.0 Sun fast day *
(Lost 2 Ibs over the week)

25/05 10st 1.0 holiday
29/05 10st 2.4 Frid fast day * post break mon-frid up 1.4
31/05 10st 0.8

(Lost 0.2 over the week)

3rd week

01/06 10st 06 Mon fast day *( 1st weigh in on site )
02/06 9st 13.06 10st 2.2 @ 1930
03/06 10st 00 Wed fast day 10st 1.4 @ 2015
04/06 9st 12.08 10st 2.2 @ 2015
05/06 9st 12.08 10st 2.8 @ 2015
06/06 9st 12.08 10st 0.8 @ 1942
07/06 9st 11.06 9st13.02 @ 1940
(lost 3 Ibs over the week)

4th week

08/06 9st 11.06 Mon fast day 9st 12.08 @1947
09/06 9st 11.02 9st 13.08 @1933
10/06 9st 10.08 Wed fast day 9st 13.06 @2030
11/06 9st 11.00 9st 12.06 @1940
12/06 9st 11.00 9st 13.00 @1945
13/06 9st 11.00 9st 12.02 @2020
14/06 9st 10.06 9st 13.06 @2010
(lost 1 Ib over the week)

5th week

15/06 9st 10.06 Mon fast day 9st 11.06 @2050
16/06 9st 10.04 9st 12.02 @2050
17/06 9st 10.06 9st 12.00 @1910
18/06 9st 10.00 Thur fast day 9st 10.08 @1950
19/06 9st 9.08 9st 12.08 @2000
20/06 9st 10.02 9st 12.02 @2100
21/06 9st 10.00 9st 12.08 @1950
(lost 0.6 6.08 overall in 5 weeks. Reset my TDEE to 1423 cals due to inactivity)

6th week

22/06 9st 10.00 Mon Fast Day 9st 10.08 @1950
23/06 9st 8.08 9st 10.08 @1950
24/06 9st 8.06

That’s as far as I have got I was hitting 10st 4Ibs at the beginning of May when I started to put the brakes on 🙂 As you can see I’ve dropped down from 10st 3Ibs on .
18th of May to 9st 10Ibs on Monday. I’m absolutely delighted as I’ve had a few bad weeks trying to stick to it with everything that’s going on. Alas I’ve had to give up on it with mum until I can rethink it. Altering her diet might have caused a flare up of diverticulitis which we haven’t encountered before and it caused me a lot of worry as she went over a week without moving her bowels. I think she may not have had enough bulk in her diet and given her age she has lost all sensation and the bowel needs stimulation to go. She actually lost 1 Ib the first week so I’m disappointed and I’m not sure where to go from here. I’ve been using another site to keep a food diary for her and I’m trying to keep her under 1200 cals a day. It really is difficult as food is important to her. With Alzheimers she constantly needs stimulation. As each little part of her becomes lost to us and her such as lacking in concentration to keep up with a braille book or a conversation the taste of food might be her only comfort.

Well I outdone myself yesterday with the exercise 🙂 We had a carer in to sit with mum for 4hrs to let us get out so we made the most of it! We walked around Strathclyde Park twice (roughly 20000 steps I forgot the pedometer!) and last night I did 20 mins of bingo wings exercises on you tube (been doing them every other day) not that mine are big but starting to notice I’m getting soft! I also went out into the garden with my hula hoop and Georgina I really am outdoing myself lol. I managed to keep the hoop up for 20 mins listening to Shania Twain 🙂 It’s easier doing it listening to music.
I’m doing good and I’m getting more excited by the prospect of hitting my goal! 🙂

Well it’s my second fast day of the week and I’ve had a cup of tea, 2 small slices of Hovis Granary bread with half a mashed banana and half a teaspoon of Cinnamon over it 235cals. For dinner I’m having 100g of wafer thin honey roast ham with lettuce and tomato, a cup of tea and a box of mini raisins 207 cals. And as a snack I’m having my cuppa and another box of mini raisins 56cals. Love those wee mini raisins as they stop you reaching for the biscuit tin and I can never stop at one biscuit! So that’s a total of 498 cals.

I don’t think that I could ever take to that Miso soup. Two things I never have is Fish or anything fishy unless it’s in batter or breadcrumbs 🙂 and I’m allergic to anything in the onion family. It kind of limits my choices a bit! Anyway good luck for the week ahead folks 🙂

Hello Everyone,

Welcome Back to Canada Ali! A few times I saved some calories for a glass of wine.
Jeannie Awesome job very motivating! My goal is to be 130b by the end of July and hopefully goal weight in September.
Chapellhillgirl I weigh myself during the week Monday to Friday to see how it is going usually on Friday I weigh less and am heavier on Monday. I do not count calories on the days I am not fasting.
Batty Natty I was eating Miso soup at the beginning but am lucky that the farmers market is here so I am eating a variety of fruit and veggies for breakfast and lunch and am trying to have veggies and a protein for supper. I am starting to figure out what works for me. I think it is all trial and error.
GreenMax glad the 2nd fast day went better. I am fasting tomorrow and not baking!
Good Luck Everyone!

Hi all! Hope you don’t mind me joining in, your posts are very motivational! I’m Irish but living in Canada since Jan of this year. Did well with weight watchers a couple of years back but never manage to maintain it long term because its too restrictive counting points all the time.

Started this week, did my fast days Sunday and Wednesday but will normally be Tuesdays and Thursdays I think. Found the fast days surprisingly OK, I had black coffee for breakfast and lunch and plenty of water all day, then just had my 500 calories for my evening meal. That satisfied me for hours until my boyfriend started reaching for the chocolate later in the evening! I just had a peppermint tea which really curbed my sweet craving. Slept fine last night and the only downside I did notice was that I had a bit of a headache this morning for a while.

SW 145lbs GW 126lbs.

I’m going home to Ireland for Christmas to see my family and friends and my goal is to be much healthier and leaner looking then I am now! Will have my first weigh in on Monday. Fingers Crossed for a loss!

Hope everyone is doing well with their fasting! We can do this!

Hi Galway Girl:) You sound like where I was at the beginning of May sitting around the 10st 4Ibs mark and look how well I have done on this. I’ve been on 9st 8Ibs for the last 2 days and hoping I hold until Monday! A few of us are proof you will attain your goal if you stick to this. Look forward to a new thinner you by Christmas 🙂

Woohoo Georgina and well done 🙂 I’ve got 5Ibs to lose until goal too and like you I will most likely stay on this for a while as I secretly would loved to be below 9st and being 5ft 3″ I could get away with that. I’m hoping more comes out on that fast mimicking diet as that sounds really interesting for the long haul. Good luck everyone x

I am absolutely in shock at how magical this plan is. I am down another 3.5 pounds since my last weigh-in which makes it 5,5 lost this week altogether my first week of on the fast diet. I feel like I look the same so probably some is water weight but I am going to stick with this until I get the whole 60 off. I know it will slow down soon and I may I have weeks where I plateau but wow is this encouraging! The weirdest part is how easy it is to stay within my TDEE on my non fast days. I was also really worried my girls (5 and 7) would notice but since I am eating real food in small portions they don’t seem to have a clue. We try not to talk about diets or body image around them. Thanks so much for all the advice from this group. I know I will keep needing it as this is an effort I can’t do alone.

Welcome GatewayGirl! I find night time hard and want to snack. Awesome Job Chapelhilgirl with my family I am trying to not make a big deal about it either. Georgina and Jeannie that is awesome that you guys are so close.
Yesterday was my fast day but somedays I get the brain fog and since I am very busy in the evening before I went out I had 2 eggs and that seemed to help get rid of the brain fog. I think I am needing to eat a little more protein. Summer is here and school is out so I am a little nervous about it but will keep going forward. Good Luck everyone!

Hi folks 🙂

Well it’s another 2Ibs off this week so I’m definitely 5Ibs off my goal and will soon need to set another one 🙂 And a very special well done to Chapelhillgirl I’ve really been rooting for you girl! Elkster stick with it you’re doing a great job and whatever way it works for you as long it works that will do 🙂 Good luck to the rest of you guys and hope you all record a loss this week.

Wonder of wonders I’ve got hubby started on this and he has 3 stone to lose 🙂 I think he’s impressed with how it’s went for me so I really hope that it works for him! I foresee challenging times ahead when the footie season starts again when he could murder a beer while watching the match! But he seems quite into it and I’ve got him all set up. I will keep you all appraised of his progress as he’s not much into social media and the internet unless it’s to do his nosey 😉

Onwards and downwards and I hope you all have a great week 🙂 xx