5-2 diet in parallel with Slimming World

Good afternoon all, I trust this finds everyone well. Over the past couple of months I have done a lot of experimentation within the Slimming World diet; saving all of my syns for 1 day vs. 15 per day max as well as a few other things. I have lost 3.5-4lb every week like clockwork, so I'm going to see how it will work sticking to Slimming World but working that within the framework of the 5-2 diet.

If anyone has any advice or would like any specific information to be gathered from this I am going to do it like a scientific experiment. I have my control group set up in just doing SW for the past 2 months, I will also see how 5-2 works between Red and Green days.

Wish me luck, I think I may need it

Rory x

I know the 5:2 plan is supposed to have lots of health benefits but to be honest, if it is just weight loss you are after why not just stick to SW....it works without trying to combine it with another diet...and you don't have to starve yourself for 2 days of the week!! Of course SW comes with its own health benefits too!!
You have had some great losses but without wishing to sound nasty, most men lose weight fairly rapidly on SW and other diets, much quicker than women anyway. Its a fact that generally, men have more muscle than women thus they burn fat quicker and obviously don't have the type of hormonal issues that women have too. Sad but true!! lol So what I am saying is that whatever your experimentation...you will probably have good losses regardless.

By all means give it a go but generally I don't agree with mixing diets...choose 1 and stick to it, you will get results whatever plan you follow! Its just finding one that fits in with your lifestyle and choices. Why complicate things?

Good luck anyway...you say you need it? Stick with SW...you wont need any luck

Thanks for such a well considered reply. Overall I agree, and I believe that any more than 3-4lb a week borders on the unhealthy but I'm a scientist at heart so I wanted to see how it goes, there are other variables at work. Sustainability for example, how easy/hard the weight goes back on. And I agree, starting at 22st a loss of 4lb a week isn't as impressive as it sounds lol you take a ton off the Titanic and it's still a pretty big ship. I am a 3rd of the way there but having done this before I expect the weight loss to come down to around 2lb a week so I want to throw in 5-2 once it starts slowing down see if I can extend the range in which I lose ~4lb.

I appreciate the feedback, and you have given me a lot to think about (you can tell I'm a corporate mathematician).

lentil2 said:

I know the 5:2 plan is supposed to have lots of health benefits but to be honest, if it is just weight loss you are after why not just stick to SW....it works without trying to combine it with another diet...and you don't have to starve yourself for 2 days of the week!! Of course SW comes with its own health benefits too!!
You have had some great losses but without wishing to sound nasty, most men lose weight fairly rapidly on SW and other diets, much quicker than women anyway. Its a fact that generally, men have more muscle than women thus they burn fat quicker and obviously don't have the type of hormonal issues that women have too. Sad but true!! lol So what I am saying is that whatever your experimentation...you will probably have good losses regardless.

By all means give it a go but generally I don't agree with mixing diets...choose 1 and stick to it, you will get results whatever plan you follow! Its just finding one that fits in with your lifestyle and choices. Why complicate things?

Good luck anyway...you say you need it? Stick with SW...you wont need any luck

Click to expand...

Whats the 5-2 diet? Thanks lol

I suppose on the 5 days that you eat 'normally' on the 5:2, you could argue that you are eating normally if you follow SW, so all's good! So if you look at it like that, you might say you are not following 2 separate diets but just the 5:2 plan.
However, I would still say, why 'starve' yourself for 2 days when you don't really have too?!

Don't get me wrong.....I am not against the 5:2 plan...I have the book and followed it for a short time myself, but I didn't mix it up with another diet.

Ghostie said:

Whats the 5-2 diet? Thanks lol

Click to expand...

The 5:2 plan is also known as the 'fast' diet. Sadly not because you lose weight fast but because you fast (restict food) and have limited calories for 2 days per week and eat 'normally for the other 5 days!

I was going to do 5:2 with SW, but I instead decided to do the 8 hour diet with it instead. It means I get a 16 hour fast in everyday and it stops me from snacking when I don't need to! I don't weigh myself often (it puts me off if I haven't lost haha) but I certainly feel healthier after only doing this for just over a week!

Ok, I'll take the bait and put my head above the parapet.

SW in conjunction with 5:2 is not a new concept, this has been debated many a time on this forum, along with SW and slim fast, SW and calorie counting any other method of dieting.

I've asked this question before and I ask it again, why? No doubt it's the eternal desire to lose the maximum amount of weight in record time, which really isn't sustainable or healthy. I very much doubt we all put on our stones in a couple of months and it's going to take an equal amount, if not longer to shift them. SW is a tried and tested method, which if followed correctly works and allows us the opportunity to eat generous amounts of food and still lose weight at a sensible rate.

I think it's admirable that you want to fully explore the sustainability of the diet and I agree that you may find variables in your Red and Green weeks. Having said that your advantage is that of being a male and as you have been made aware, you do have a higher muscle mass and burn calories quicker than a female even sitting there doing nothing (which a lot of men are very good at ). I would take the opportunity to have a look around this forum and seek out some of the male members who have lost very significant amounts of weight following the plan without any additional methods and look at their stats. Off the top of my head - Gazter, Craig A, Caretaker and Bilsat (sorry for those I cannot recall).

That said, I wish you the very best of luck on your SW journey.

I too have the book but couldn't sustain the diet because I just like and need to eat at regular intervals. I know some people have done it successfully but not me. I'm a huge SW fan!!

I don't think there is a major problem with doing 5:2.

For the 2 "fasting days" you eat less than 500 hundred calories a day if i'm right. If you think about what you eat on a success express day, then you may well find you're eating less than 500 calories on those days as well. Nobody has an issue with people mixing up sucess express and EE. It's hard to say whether using 5:2 along with SW works better than just SW alone, as every person is different and weight loss fluctuates week on week anyway. However if you find it helps or easier to use the two in conjunction, then go right ahead.

I do SW alongside 5:2 and personally, I love it!

I agree with everything that Jeanne has said though. Losing weight needs to be done responsibly and you shouldn't be trying to lose as much weight as possible in as short a time frame as possible. I know this is difficult though as we are all impatient and want to get there right now!

I have lost over 2 stone but it has taken me a year. I've done it slowly and consistently with healthy eating (SW) and exercise. I started doing 5:2 in March this year again after having done it for a few months back in 2012 after watching the horizon documentary. For me, it helped pick up my losses a little as I plateaued for a while as I got closer to target, but it has also given me more appreciation of the nutritional content of food and the calories involved. I know this isn't within the principles of SW but I believe it helps facilitate my personal aim to have a healthy lifestyle, make healthier choices and to maintain this lifestyle moving into the future.

I also run and I find that my training is so much better on fast days too despite what common sense would tell you!

Good luck with whatever you decide to do, I just hope you have and maintain a responsible and healthy approach to it

x