5-2 confusion

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• posted by skinnykins
  on 20 Mar 2016 at 20:34

  

  I used the 5-2 fasting diet for a year last year before falling off the wagon. Bought MMs books and they were my health bibles. After coming off 5-2 I have gained a stone in weight so have taken an interest again only to find out there is a revision. On my fast days I was consuming 500 calories or less but now the rule seems to be 800 calories. I understood the scientific facts said that 500 calories for a woman was the maximum amount of calorific intake for a fast day to reset blood sugars and tackle visceral fat.

  Confused

• posted by Janet1973
  on 20 Mar 2016 at 20:45

  

  Hi Skinny
  Yes, the bsd 800 book says that new research suggests 800 cals for both men and women is sufficient to get weight loss. It is probably based on the ‘new’ med style principles, I don’t think they really featured too much in the original 5:2.

• posted by Onahealthyhigh
  on 20 Mar 2016 at 23:06

  

  The 5:2 Fast Diet and the BSD 5:2 are quite different. On the 5:2 FD up to 500/600 calories are allowed on fast days. On non-fast days you can eat anything you like, including alcohol, within reason. On the 5:2 BSD the aim is to reduce blood sugar, and tackle type 2 diabetes, therefore on non fast days you stick to the high fat, low carb Mediterranean diet, refrain from alcohol, but do not count calories. The Mediterranean style of eating, reduced alcohol, would be less calorific, therefore the higher calories on fast days should result in weight loss.

• posted by skinnykins
  on 21 Mar 2016 at 12:52

  

  Thank you,

  I understand the differences between these diets but I was just wondering that the BSD was newly researched and eliminating the original 5-2 as out of date research.

  I was on the 5-2 before falling off the fast train and I’m now wondering if it was all for nothing in the first place if the 5-2 has now a newer sister.

• posted by Bill1954
  on 21 Mar 2016 at 13:12

  

  I wouldn’t say it was all for nothing if you lost weight doing it. The fact that you have since regained some takes nothing away from that.
  Time to look to the future now and get where you want to be with the Fast 800
  Best of luck

• posted by Janet1973
  on 21 Mar 2016 at 13:26

  

  Totally agree with Bill. Nothing can take away from your success last time round. I think when the 5:2 came out, low carb high fat was still in its infancy and seen as a faddy diet. Now there is much more evidence to support it as a long term change for life. You have the choice now. You can either do what you did before – it worked but maybe didn’t give you the lifestyle changes to keep the weight off. Or you can be open to the new evidence and give it a go and see how it works for you, hopefully gaining some new lifelong habits as a bonus. Wishing you every success whichever you decide.

• posted by alexginda
  on 30 Mar 2016 at 12:39

  

  I also followed 5:2 last year, very successfully because I was strict and recorded all calories consumed and kept to my TDEE on non fast days. However, I think the BSD has a more balanced approach as I want to keep off all sweet items and I am hoping that my body will soon adjust to the routine of a regular intake of good foods and low carbs rather than just the two days a week as on the FD. Fortunately I don’t have much weight to lose, just doing this for the health benefits.

• posted by skinnykins
  on 31 Mar 2016 at 15:28

  

  Thank you all. I am not looking to lose weight but to stay healthy and keep skinny on the inside 🙂

• posted by alexginda
  on 3 Apr 2016 at 13:18

  

  I also followed 5:2 last year and have just started BSD for the health benefits rather than weight loss, but anticipate losing about 5 -8 lbs overall.

  Losing weight was a bonus and now I just want give my body the best chance as I get older. Having been recommended medication in the past for DT2 and hypothyroidism, I want to be able to prevent any further development by diet rather than medication.

  My main problems is carbs and I am hoping to adapt my diet accordingly over the next few weeks – at the moment it’s so easy to go over 50g, but it’s early days. Overall I feel better on 800 cals per day rather than the two 500 cals per day method with 5:2

• posted by alexginda
  on 4 Apr 2016 at 09:16

  

  Hopefully not making the situation even more confused but I have just completed the first week sticking to 50 g carbs and 800 cals per day but it didn’t last long. I have become so used to the 5:2 format (sometimes it is 6:1) that I started playing around with the figures and aimed for a weekly total than the daily one. I did two fast days last week keeping under 500 cals/day.

  Keeping a record on Calorie Count (similar to MFP) and at the end of the week I was under 350g carbs and 5600 cals and I have lost 4.8 lbs. Some of that was water as I had just started BSD and a lot of it was chocolate Easter egg and hot cross buns.

• posted by Patriciawhich
  on 5 Apr 2016 at 12:47

  

  I was very successful on the 5:2 and lost 10kg. I fell off the wagon and have now put back on half of that !
  I started yesterday with a fast day. I am trying 2 fast days per week with about 1000 calories on non fast days but using the BSD.

  I think this will help as even on fast days previously I craved sugar and would resort to diet desserts. I am hoping to break the sugar craving and balance my blood sugar but more importantly I have family history of heart disease so might get a few more years than my parents !
  I have never joined a forum before but know that reading others posts helps to stay motivated.

• posted by FiFiP
  on 5 Apr 2016 at 13:09

  

  I have 2 friends who have been on 5:2 for an age, works brilliantly for them and they are sticking with it, 1 has got to her ideal weight & does it once a month to wipe out any misdemeanours, the other is still on it & is 2stone down, 1 more to go.

  I have shown them what I am doing with BSD but they prefer to stick with the eat-anything approach of the original 5:2 to eating Med long term.

  I prefer Med long term and once I have shifted the next 1.5stone will be looking at it for life. Tried original 5:2, got so ‘hangry’ every afternoon that decided my marriage was being risked. The BSD is a dream diet for me, if that’s possible!!

• posted by alexginda
  on 6 Apr 2016 at 15:10

  

  Have to agree that 5:2 suits my lifestyle and I have successfully lost and generally kept within maintenance range of 120 – 125 lbs and see that as my long term way of eating. I do like the fact that when I do stray over 125 lbs just an extra fast day or two gets results.

  I do have cravings for carb laden foods, eg chocolate, desserts, sweet and savoury pies and I do enjoy making cakes, so I am trying BSD to try to even out the sugar swings and to get away from all these bad foods. I keep reading about the effects of sugar and insulin and the effect they have on general health and don’t fancy being on medication for something that I could have prevented.

  So nice to read posts from so many people who have different experiences and goals, the main one being to improve health.

• posted by caffeinebrain
  on 26 Apr 2016 at 23:27

  

  I haven’t read all the replies yet, but in case this hasn’t been covered in the answers, I believe that Dr. M allows 800 calories, because those of us with blood sugar issues suffer greatly from excessive hunger, and for a lot of us the 500 cals just do not cut it.

  I have done 5:2 in the past with Dr. M’s original recommendations of 500 cals per fasting day. Yes, it worked and I lost 7 lbs. that month, but I do admit that the 500 calorie days were extremely hard for me, and also, doing them any two days a week didn’t work for me. As time went on, I conveniently forgot about my second fasting day of the week! So this time around I’m doing two consecutive days a week, to get them over with, and also I know that allowing myself 800 cals vs. 500 will make a world of difference for me.

  I’m starting tomorrow and plan on posting here often. I really enjoyed the The 8 Week Blood Sugar Diet book. Loads of great tips!

  Glad to meet you all!

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