First "fast day" of 5:2 plan

[mamamareli 144]

First "fast day" on 5:2 plan. I get 500 calories today. Just finished my Breakfast (185 calories) and I won't eat again until dinner at 5 pm.

Any tips from those who use this plan? I'm feeling good about it--send good vibes my way please!

[btlombardo68 15]

I haven't tried yet but have heard such good reviews from veterans forum some of them even have a club. But good advice is given there. Keep us posted, one thing they did say I remembered was that restriction was back on your stomach with this method.

[feedyoureye 3,087]

Vets don't recommend the 5:2 to people under a year out, we recommend your Docs plan...but I'm not your ma so here goes. The 5:2 is not specifically a weight loss plan, but a longevity plan.

Keep in mind this is in the Vets forum, and anyone under a year out is not supposed to post there....

http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/291240-52-links-and-info/

The 5:2 worked/works very well for me. After years of not reaching goal, I lost some regain(22 pounds) and then got to goal. Watch the link to the show that started it if you haven't already. Best of luck to you!

[mamamareli 144]

Thanks for the responses. I am almost 9 months out but my weight loss has slowed a lot and my hunger has increased. So, I'm giving it a try. I'll be doing my doctor's plan the rest of the time. I got the book by Mosley on my Kindle and have been reading up on the overall benefits of fasting. It makes a lot of sense to me. Not extreme fasting, but this modified version. I don't think extreme fasting would work for me. It's back fired in the past when I used it as a "fad diet" a long time ago, pre-sleeve.

[feedyoureye 3,087]

Best of luck, I know it has made a big difference in my ability to maintain as well.

[mamamareli 144]

Ok, was trying to not eat from Breakfast to dinner. But got so hungry I ate a little spicy fresh salsa as a mini-salad. Only 20 calories and hopefully will hold me until end of the day. Do you spread your 500 calories out through the day to eat all at once?

[feedyoureye 3,087]

When I started I would have an Iced coffee(decaf) with a ESA Carb control Protein drink in it... I would just sip that throughout the day. Then have dinner at the regular time. As the weather got colder, I started not liking the cold drink, so switched to a hot coffee with milk. I have had a greek yogurt a time or two as well. Now many of the 5:2 ladies swear by making that fasting window longer... like around 16 hours, so I have started just having a Decaf with a spoonful of non dairy Creamer (10 calories) and thats it until dinner. I eat dinner kind of early on those days... like 5pm. I have all (most) of my calories in that meal, and maybe some for a later snack... not too much later. Thats what i am doing now. The best plan is one you can stick too, and one of the authors of the book would have breakfast and dinner, the other would only have dinner.... it worked for both of them. One of the 5:2 vets used 5:2 for months and did not lose a pound... she started making the window bigger and started to lose more weight.....you don't want to feel deprived, or weak, but we have found that after doing it for a week or two, it gets much easier and we actually look forward to it. You can alway have that thing you want to eat tomorrow with this plan.

[kj44 215]

Can someone please tell me exactly how to do the 5:2 plan? I'm almost at my yr mark and have been stalled for several months. Literally down only 2 lbs since thanksgiving! I need to do something to get the lbs coming off. I am down 80 lbs since surgery. But have 60plus to go still!""

Also my dr never really outlined a plan for me to follow and I wasn't required to see a nut after surgery and only a few times before surgery. Can someone give me some guidelines that they follow? I pretty much have just tried to figure it on my own

Oh and has anyone had to up their Omeprazole intake after this far out? I take 40mg since surgery but noticed in the past several weeks I have the same feeling in my chest like when I didn't take the meds ( like in the beginning when only taking Pepcid ) the sensation like I maybe have to burp, a kinda burning feeling and uncomfortable pressure if I bend over also burping again and feeling "hunger " type gurgling frequently. I have an appt with my family dr today to see if she thinks it's cuz I need to up the dose or what. (My surgeons too far away and plus with all the new insurance changes too expensive)

Sorry for rambling. Haven't been on much and miss the support

[feedyoureye 3,087]

Read this post from the top, check post #3 for a link to the 5:2 info page located in the Vets forum. What are your eating habbits at this time? If you are going back to old habits, your tummy may well be producing more acid. Protein first? plenty of Water with a "no drink zone" during and after any food intake? lower carbs? some exercise? Do you log your food on MFP or some other site? You will still have to do this 5 days a week... I eat from 1200-1500 cals a day depending on my exercise, then "fast" for two non consecutive days... thats 500 cals on those days, keeping it pretty clean... read the above....its a crime that your doc-nut didn't give you any advice or a plan to follow....

Edited February 6, 2014 by feedyoureye

[kj44 215]

I tried to go to that link but it wouldn't pull up just kept getting a blank pg. I can find it in the vets forum?

[kj44 215]

Read this post from the top, check post #3 for a link to the 5:2 info page located in the Vets forum. What are your eating habbits at this time? If you are going back to old habits, your tummy may well be producing more acid. Protein first? plenty of Water with a "no drink zone" during and after any food intake? lower carbs? some exercise? Do you log your food on MFP or some other site? You will still have to do this 5 days a week... I eat from 1200-1500 cals a day depending on my exercise, then "fast" for two non consecutive days... thats 500 cals on those days, keeping it pretty clean... read the above....its a crime that your doc-nut didn't give you any advice or a plan to follow....

Yes protein is what I eat first. No drinking before or after. My carbs have indeed increased some. I try to eat the right foods. It has been more difficult lately with a decreased grocery budget to buy what I need and what the family is willing to eat. I have not been faithful to do my exercise daily. And have stopped logging my intakes when I was logging(two months back now) I was eating 820 cal a day trying to hit my 70-90grms of protein. sooo. I can see the first steps for me will be to start logging and exercising. I still want to know how to do the 5:2 and try that also. Thanks. There r no support groups in my area so I've been pretty much flying solo.

[Georgia 2,908]

Yes Protein is what I eat first. No drinking before or after. My carbs have indeed increased some. I try to eat the right foods. It has been more difficult lately with a decreased grocery budget to buy what I need and what the family is willing to eat. I have not been faithful to do my exercise daily. And have stopped logging my intakes when I was logging(two months back now) I was eating 820 cal a day trying to hit my 70-90grms of Protein. sooo. I can see the first steps for me will be to start logging and exercising. I still want to know how to do the 5:2 and try that also. Thanks. There r no support groups in my area so I've been pretty much flying solo.

Sorry you are kinda "winging it"! I pretty much did also. My Dr required ONE nut visit and provided no support except appts although somebody in the hospital did come in and Invite me to a support group but it wasn't sleeve patients. We were too new to have one! Like FYE said, logging is vital to making it all work and if you have increased carbs that will slow your weight loss down. 5:2 can help jump start your weight loss IF followed correctly and what we found is that in order for it to work for us (WLS) we have to eat very clean on non fast days. http://www.52fastdiet.co.uk/index.php?sid=e4a0425a6bd15cca37ab7bbb545beb71

It's really quite simple. 2 semi fast days of 500 cals with a "fasting window" of at least 12 and better at 16-18 hours of fasting. Such as eat nothing after 7pm night before and then nothing (except water/coffee/tea) until around 11-12 next morning. I usually go to around 11 or noon and then have a light baby bel cheese or string cheese. You could have a boiled egg or scrambled egg. If hungry in afternoon another 50 cal cheese or an apple. I would have had approximately 100 cals leading up to dinner when I will have something like chicken stirfry ( a LOT of food for around 250 calories) or homemade veggie Soup with a salad or a lean cuisine that has no more than 25o cals. And then a snack before bed (early Around 7-8 pm). That would put me somewhere around 450-500 cals. I try to hold at 500 but some days 525-550. To lose weight in the other days no more than 1100-1200 calories with some good fats like avocado slices or 100 cal pack of guacamole and cut up veggies as "chips". Almonds (100 cal pack). I lost a regain of 27 pounds in about 4 months and in the months since another 10 pounds below my original goal of 150. And it builds discipline into my lifestyle of maintenance.

Edited February 7, 2014 by Georgia

[feedyoureye 3,087]

I tried to go to that link but it wouldn't pull up just kept getting a blank pg. I can find it in the vets forum?

yes, its called

5:2 Links and info

Read this post from the top, check post #3 for a link to the 5:2 info page located in the Vets forum. What are your eating habbits at this time? If you are going back to old habits, your tummy may well be producing more acid. Protein first? plenty of Water with a "no drink zone" during and after any food intake? lower carbs? some exercise? Do you log your food on MFP or some other site? You will still have to do this 5 days a week... I eat from 1200-1500 cals a day depending on my exercise, then "fast" for two non consecutive days... thats 500 cals on those days, keeping it pretty clean... read the above....its a crime that your doc-nut didn't give you any advice or a plan to follow....

Yes Protein is what I eat first. No drinking before or after. My carbs have indeed increased some. I try to eat the right foods. It has been more difficult lately with a decreased grocery budget to buy what I need and what the family is willing to eat. I have not been faithful to do my exercise daily. And have stopped logging my intakes when I was logging(two months back now) I was eating 820 cal a day trying to hit my 70-90grms of protein. sooo. I can see the first steps for me will be to start logging and exercising. I still want to know how to do the 5:2 and try that also. Thanks. There r no support groups in my area so I've been pretty much flying solo.

Sounds like a good place to start. I find logging everything has kept me in touch with what I am really eating... I can be so mindless and think I am doing great, but NOT.

Thanks Georgia! You just did my work for me. Like she said kj44 ^^^

[VPAPNYC 30]

Hi girls,

Do you all have targets for everything or just Protein. I read one thread where someone tries to stick to 30 grams of fat or less, 60 grams of carbs or less and 90 grams of Protein. Sugars as close to 0 as possible and Fiber at least 25 grams. Does this sound right?

[VPAPNYC 30]

My NUT only spoke to me about Protein and Fluid which makes me nervous.