The FastDay Forum

Hi everyone,
I've been on the 5/2 diet for a month. (8 fasting days) So I thought I'd record my experience so far. I'm a guy, my beginning weight is 185lbs. My ideal weight should be 165lb according to my doctors visits. My fat weight seems to be around my mid section. So I loved the idea that I could eat whatever I wanted 5 days a week and diet for 2:0:). I want to be extremely clear on my days off I've eaten whatever I wanted, Pizza, sandwiches, subs, etc. - I haven't tried to eat a lot just ate whatever I wanted when I got hungry. I also work construction so althouth not a gym, I'm moving all day! After a month of 500-600 calorie restricted days here are my results. My weight after four weeks of 2 fastings days is 183lbs from 185lbs. I'm not terribly unhappy with these results since I've done no other exercise or carb restriction. I have lost a lot more weight on carb resticted diets and exercise much sooner. I am guessing if I only eat lean low fat meat and complex carb vegtables I would lose much quicker. So as a super easy (eat what you want 5 days) don't expect super quick weight loss. On the other hand for someone who doesn't like counting calories, packing healthy meals, etc. - once the weight has been lost this might be a great way to maintain thast weight loss!!! Thanks for listening:)

[janeg]

Hello Marty- well done on shifting a couple of pounds.
The average weight loss on 5:2 is 1lb a week. If you put your stats into the tracker you'll be able to compare your situation with people with similar stats.
One of the things to maybe consider is that you can eat what you want but not as much as you want! Over time on 5:2 it seems as though our appetites reduce and we actually eat less than we were. The key is not to overeat by too much on every feast day- feast days should just be the amount that we would normally eat.
If you want to be scientific you could calculate your TDEE and work out your weekly calorie requirement, and from that the amount of deficit you need to reduce a lb
or
carry on as you are doing with no hassles.
I know which one I do- enjoying the ease and slow (very slow) loss

Hi Marty, your post resonates strongly with me. I think I've been doing 5:2 for around 12 weeks now. It's not been as effective as the global low cal diets I've done when required in the past but it is easier. I was averaging 1lb p/w for the first 6 weeks but then the weight loss slowed. I took a week off around week 8 and put on 2lbs and then took 2 weeks to lose it. That is not consistent with my experience on low cal diets where if I blew a week I would not lose anything but would not put on such a significant amount (in comparison to the average weekly loss) so I am not so sure how easy it would be to maintain weight lost on 5:2 by moving to 6:1. I note for example that Michael Mosely said he was skipping lunch some feed days as well as fasting 1 day for his 6:1 maintenance.