The FastDay Forum

Hi all - I am considering a back to back fast this week (2 days in a row) and wondered if there were any handy hints or advice out there

The only advice I have is to try to avoid it! I've done it, in fact I might be joining you this week, but I usually feel bad by the end of the second day…

Hopefully someone else will come along with something useful!

Hi @Wilson,
My only advice is to just try and see what happens. You will see that people are very different in how things work out, so you will just have to see how it works for you. During my time on 5:2 I have never done anything different than back to back, as it was no problem for me and it was always nice to have the fasts out of the way for the rest of the week. I did combine it with 3 small meals over the fastday (breakfast, lunch, dinner).
Good luck

I did it quite a lot when I was losing weight and it sure is not for everybody. It began Sunday night until Wednesday at lunch. So it was 2 days and a half to be exact but the half part was because I wasn't hungry at breakfast so, naturally, I waited for lunch. I did it that way because I wanted to have the fasts out of the way and, also, because the weekends used to be quite heavy on the food side. I only had black coffee and water during the day and some light soup for both dinners, nothing in between. Some of my big rules was to stay very very busy both days and no snacks. And I mean NOTHING. Also, you have to be careful with what you choose to break the prolongued fast as it could lead to a bit of binge eating if you don't eat "proper" food.

Most of all, don't overdue it. As I say, it's not for everyone. Listen to your body and stop if it doesn't feel right.

Good luck !

I actually find it easier,for the reasons mentioned by @manderley ..and her B2B advice is spot on
And i agree also with the other responses that you have to find out for yourself if it works for you..all you can do is " suck it and see"... I assumed it would be almost impossible for me to do,but in fact its almost easier IMHO
Good luck! And if it doesnt work for you, at least you tried! X

Just my nonscientific/unproven take on this: IF is meant to "reset" your body; it seems to me that doing this, you'll get only one reset per week, rather than two. Obviously, this is early days, so we have no real idea; but it seems that spreading out the fasts might have a greater effect on not just weight loss, but the long-term health benefits. And I would be a teensy bit worried about the "famine reaction" kicking in...whether physically or psychologically. That said, the best thing about 5:2/IF is its flexibility...so do what feels right and works for you!

I did back to back fasts every week for months and only stopped when I reached my goal a year and a half ago. I did it because it was practical and never had the slightest famine reaction. I didn't even have a plateau. Now, as I said, I was careful to how I broke my fast and it's definitely not for everyone...

The thing is, I get bored easily. With food or anything else for that matter. Doing fasts that way kept things interesting for me. About the health benefits, I have no idea if it changed something, all I know is that it helped me to learn to listen to my body and I am still at my goal weight - gained a few kilos a few weeks ago, stressed related, but lost them really easily since - so I guess it didn't have negative consequences.... That's just my experience anyway

Same for me. Two days is surely not enough to get a famine reaction, provided you take the 500/600 calories on those days and sufficient calories on your nonfast days: that last part is essential of course! On the reset: agree that we do not know anything about that. From 'theory' it is not clear to me if one larger reset (2 days, and the second day you already start at a lower energy level because of the previous day) is having more or less effect than 2 smaller resets. I would expect there will not be a major difference. Far more important is the psychological factor: what is the most sustainable way to do it for you as a person.