This topic contains 8 replies, has 7 voices, and was last updated by Stef. 8 years, 7 months ago.
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Hi Belle,
I would imagine eating what you would normally eat, and more likely how much you normally eat would put the weight back on.
Many of us have found that even though we may have been eating relatively healthy before we started 5:2, we had portion sizes that were too large.
What you will probably want to do is go to the BMI calculator and find out what your TDEE (Total Dietary Energy Expenditure) is. That will tell you how many calories you can consume per day without gaining weight. Then for a few weeks, count your calories on non fast days so you can get an idea of how much you are eating and also get an idea of what a god portion size is. This will help you not over eat on your nonfast days. Just because we can eat what we want on fast days doesn’t mean we can eat how much we want.
The other interesting thing that many people on the forum have found is how much their tastes change the longer they are on the diet. I have been following the diet for almost three months now and my portion sizes have shrunk naturally. I have a hard time eating my TDEE on non fast days and sweets don’t seem to have the same allure they used to.
Good luck with your new WOE (way of eating)
I’ve lost fat from everywhere: hips, legs, belly, back, and unfortunately, breasts. In fact, since I tend to be more pear-shaped, the belly and the boobs are usually the first to go. It may depend upon what type of shape you have, where the fat comes off first. But, it’s not going to get lost from one spot and get put on in another.
I have only been on the diet for a month but I have found that I am eating smaller portions and I am much more aware of how much I snack. The first fast day I thought of going to check the fridge or cupboard for a snack constantly. I wasn’t hungry, I just had a habit of snacking. Having to be disciplined twice a week has carried over to the other days without me even trying.
I have been doing 5:2 PROPERLY for the past month now (after tring 16:8 and 19:5.)1 am doing my days back to back,Tuesday and Wednesday (i work in a small care home four afternoons a week and don’t have time to think about food,never mind eat it!!)..Anyway I get through the day on carbonated water (1ltr) and weak sugarless tea,I then walk home,get in about 8 and have a ready meal so I know its under 500kcals.I find this quite easy and it’s so nice to be able to eat “normally”for the other 5 days!!…I am 62,5ft 6” and now weigh 9st 8lbs with a bmi of 22.5 so quite happy and am now doing the fast plan mainly for health benefits…..
I have successfully followed this “diet” and I am now in maintenance for close to a year. I have not put the weight back on in all this time, eventhough I am not strictly following the 5:2 anymore.
Things that I believe are important for being successful in the long run:
1. 5:2 is a way of life and not a short term diet. In other words besides following the “rules” of 5:2 it pays off in the long run to make small changes to your diet that you are able to keep up – forever! In my case, just to give one example of many: I stopped drinking Coke and I am now a water and tea total. I do not like to consume any calories in form of drinks but instead use them on food.
2. On your non fast days you need to stay UNDER your TDEE and you have to re-calculate (!) your TDEE each time you have lost weight! In other words you cannot (!) over-indulge on your non-fast days. How does this work for me? I go by weekly calorie allowance: so if I want to eat my cake today- than this is fine as long as I make up for it on another day. Works for me very well!
3. Exercise: I know the old saying “you cannot outrun a bad diet”, but boy can you enrich a good one! I am a firm believer and proof for that it works: introduce exercises and your daily calorie allowance goes up! My TDEE is around 1500 calories, which as you all know, is next to nothing. With my exercise (I am a runner and I have just completed a marathon)I can easily burn 600 calories. I eat most of these calories back (mine are calculated with a heart rate monitor which has been proven to be very accurate.) So suddenly I can eat around 2000 calories which allows me a little snack here and there.
4. Use a food scale…believe me…it is super easy to under-estimate portions!
5. Eat high protein food as this fills you up nicely. You can not sustain any form of diet if you suffer hunger pangs (and 5:2, while seen as a way of life IS a diet).
Best of luck to all of you!
Stef.
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21 May 15