Thread: How to do the 5:2 diet

Can someone please tell me how to do the 5:2 diet ? As I keep reading mixed info.

Are you meant to stave for 16 hrs or something and eat all your down day food within a time slot ??

If anyone could let me know

Thank you

Hi the 5:2 diet is quite simple. You eat normally (not bingeing) for 5 days then on two non consecutive days you eat 500 cals (if female, 600 if male) or 25% of your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure). You don't have to eat in a particular time slot. You can calculate your TDEE here -

Calorie Calculator - Daily Caloric Needs

On fast days you can eat your calories all in one go or spread them out over the day. A lot of people consume all theirs at teatime. I prefer to spread mine out over the day. It's whateve suits really. Any othe questions just holler and someone will be along to answer. HTH

How much do people normally lose doing that?

Hi all

I was confused about this 5:2 diet so I bought the book, and on the 2 days you are restricted to Low carbs or basically no carbs some fruit is restricted as well as veg.

So what you are allowed to have:

- Protein foods max 12 servings (ie chicken, fish, eggs and lean meat)
- Fats (ie rapeseed, olive oil, nuts or avocado - max 5 servings
- Dairy: 3 servings
- Fruit - 1 serving
- Vegetable- 5 servings
- Drink at least 2 litres of water, tea, coffee or othe sugar free or low cal drinks.

Each of the above has their own weights to what they call a Serving.

Their have not given a strict calorie intake on these 2 days, it has been designed so that you lose as much fat as possible but preserve as much calorie burning muscle as you can.

If you go ahead and do 500cals per day - long term the weight will pile back on the above has been designed to reduce your appetite so that you naturally have smaller servings.

Hope that has helped.

Kats

I'm using the book by Dr Mosely and Mimi Spencer called the 'Fastdiet' which is based on Dr M's Horizon programme last year. In that it says you can have whatever you like on non fasting days so long as you don't binge. So different books say different things. That one looks a bit complicated to me lol!

Originally Posted by KatKit

Hi all

I was confused about this 5:2 diet so I bought the book, and on the 2 days you are restricted to Low carbs or basically no carbs some fruit is restricted as well as veg.

So what you are allowed to have:

- Protein foods max 12 servings (ie chicken, fish, eggs and lean meat)
- Fats (ie rapeseed, olive oil, nuts or avocado - max 5 servings
- Dairy: 3 servings
- Fruit - 1 serving
- Vegetable- 5 servings
- Drink at least 2 litres of water, tea, coffee or othe sugar free or low cal drinks.

Each of the above has their own weights to what they call a Serving.

Their have not given a strict calorie intake on these 2 days, it has been designed so that you lose as much fat as possible but preserve as much calorie burning muscle as you can.

If you go ahead and do 500cals per day - long term the weight will pile back on the above has been designed to reduce your appetite so that you naturally have smaller servings.

Hope that has helped.

Kats

Your comments about regain are completely untrue and unproven, the 5:2 diet is nothing new, it's just another version of IF thats been around for years. IF burns fat, it's as simple as that, you only have to read the stats of people on the JUDDD forum to see the inches disappearing well before the pounds. IF does not burn muscle, but traditional dieting does, so eating 500 cals a day on a long term basis would be detrimental to maintaining weight, but IF is too short term to cause that issue. Almost everyone who's been doing any of the IF plans will tell you that your appetite diminishes over a few weeks.

Originally Posted by Lanarkwitch

Your comments about regain are completely untrue and unproven, the 5:2 diet is nothing new, it's just another version of IF thats been around for years. IF burns fat, it's as simple as that, you only have to read the stats of people on the JUDDD forum to see the inches disappearing well before the pounds. IF does not burn muscle, but traditional dieting does, so eating 500 cals a day on a long term basis would be detrimental to maintaining weight, but IF is too short term to cause that issue. Almost everyone who's been doing any of the IF plans will tell you that your appetite diminishes over a few weeks.

I was not saying anything to annoy anyone I was typing out what was in the book by Dr Michelle Harvie and Prof Tony Powell book called The 2 day diet.