The 5:2 fast diet – fast and feast and still lose weight!

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Success at last ! I can now wear most of my summer clothes again! I just love the 5:2 eat fast diet that I told you about last week. I’ve had two more fast days and lost a kilo in weight and 3 cm at the waist in 10 days. Also I am no longer getting headaches.

Celebrating our annivesary at Domaine des Hauts de Loire
Celebrating our annivesary at Domaine des Hauts de Loire

After celebrating our wedding anniversary in style at Domaine des Hauts de Loire on Thursday night, we thought Friday would be a good day to fast. Not only did we have no problem skipping breakfast which we ate at 2 pm, but we also cycled 40 K in the afternoon.

Ok, it was flat ground but we still cycled for 2 ½ hours, drinking lots of water of course. We stopped  at a little café in Muides for a cold drink but they didn’t have any zero Coke or zero anything, for that matter, so Jean Michel had a normal one and discovered how much sugar it contains while I drank an unsweetened expresse for the first time in my life – not great but no way was I going to use up 139 of my 500 calorie allowance on coke.

Poppies along the bike path
Poppies along the bike path

For dinner, we shared a small tin of tuna with a raw fennel and mushroom salad which, as Jean Michel pointed out, had the advantage of giving an impression of quantity. We finished off with an orange and, surprisingly, did not feel hungry.

I had no hunger pangs, even though I went to sleep quite late and, better still, NO HEADACHE like the first time. And the great thing is that next day, I didn’t feel particularly hungry and ate a normal breakfast and light lunch.

We cycled another 30 kilometers in the afternoon, with lots of hills this time and didn’t even have our usual (healthy) biscuit snack halfway through although Jean Michel claimed it when we got back in the car.

A wall of roses at Château de Cheverny on our bike route
A wall of roses at Château de Cheverny on our bike route

For dinner, we ate côte de bœuf, baked potatoes and our favourite eggplant, zucchini and bell pepper bake  plus a couple of glasses of wine each. On Sunday, we had oysters as usual and it was wonderful to be able to eat bread and butter and drink wine without having to worry about the calories.

I scheduled the next fast for Monday but Jean Michel is doing his roster this week, which entails a certain amount of stress and more physical activity than usual so he declined.  I decided to try the no-breakfast system again as it seems to suit me better. The only thing I can’t do is drink tea because it always makes me feel nauseous on an empty stomach.

My overall impression was not of hunger but of a certain lightheadedness which first peaked around 11.45 am. I had my usual high-protein breakfast at  12.30 (280 calories) and began to feel seriously lightheaded again about 5 pm. I had a black coffee with sweetener and felt instantly better.

Oysters on Sunday in our little house
Oysters on Sunday in our little house

By 7.30 pm I was feeling hungry, but not inordinately so. We had dinner about 8 pm (220 calories – cucumber, white fish, spinach and cherries, which are still horrendously expensive but I reckon you should treat yourself on fast days!).

I started feeling slightly hungry around 11.30 pm, but not enough to bother me and went to sleep around 1 am.

I woke at 7 and couldn’t go back to sleep so got up and weighed and measured myself – down 400 grams and 2 cm at the waist since the day before. I had my usual breakfast, then fish, vegetables and some quinoa and more cherries at lunch. I had no desire to eat any more.

I joined a friend for an aperitif in the evening (a glass of white wine) then an Asian meal including dim sums, kebabs and rice. Once again, I didn’t have a very big appetite.

Next morning, I had lost another 300 grams! I’ve had several exchanges on Facebook concerning the 5:2 diet and have learnt that it is becoming increasingly popular and most people seem satisfied. So, who’s game?

Other posts on dieting

The Natural Skinnies and Us
How I lost 20 kilos after 50 – for good: Part 1
How I lost 20 kilos after 50 – for good: Part 2
How I lost 20 kilos after 50 – for good: Part 3
How I lost 20 kilos after 50 – for good: Part 4
How I lost 20 kilos after 50 – for good: Part 5
How I lost 20 kilos after 50 – for good: Part 6
How I lost 20 kilos after 50 – for good – well, almost: Part 7
Where do all those extra kilos come from?
Appetite suppressants anyone? Some natural solutions
Intermittent fasting – for better health and less fat
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25 thoughts on “The 5:2 fast diet – fast and feast and still lose weight!”

  1. Oh I’m so glad to hear it!! It really does seem like the best diet ever. Yes, there are sacrifices but I only need willpower for a few hours a week. Plus being able to say “I can have that tomorrow” is a huge benefit!

    1. The strange thing is that the next day, I don’t seem to want to eat very much! Today, I had lunch in a restaurant and tonight have only eaten a small bowl of cherries. I feel liberated.

  2. Good to hear it seems to be going well. I’m committed to another program for about 5 or 6 more weeks but I think I’ll try this after that is finished. If it has worked I may only need to use the 6:1 maintenance. I did read some negative comments about the 5:2 diet in a health and fitness magazine but that was along the lines of traditional responses that fasting can change the metabolic rate but I think Michael Mosley covered that. I suspect that basically missing a meal here or there and eating less on those days is a long way from dropping to a low calorie diet for months at a time. That seems to be where people plateau in response to the metabolic rate dropping as a result of continued low calorie intake.

    1. Yes, it actually seems to be the fact that you alternate between fast and feast that works.

  3. Great work! I’ll have to try it. and hello to Sue B if she is reading this message too!
    See you soon.

    1. You should, of course, consult a doctor first before beginning if you suspect any kind of metabolic imbalance, tiredness in particular. I realise now that I haven’t mentioned that factor.

  4. The diet certainly looks worth a try. A friend who did the diet lost 14 lbs but said it worked best when she was still careful about what she ate on the other days. It looks like you followed the same regime.

  5. Yes, I assume it works better if you’re careful about what you eat on the other days, but I’m not doing it on purpose. It really does seem to diminish your appetite, particularly the next day and the day after. Paradoxically it seems to reduce the desire for extras. Yesterday, I had lunch at a restaurant (two courses and a glass of wine) and in the evening I just wasn’t hungry. I only ate a small bowl of cherries. In the past I would have forced myself to eat dinner because of the “never miss a meal” thing.
    It’s the long-term benefits I’m mainly after but there are still some summer clothes I can’t wear yet so I’d like to lose the next three kilos quickly.

    1. We don’t have a cherry tree. I’d be so sad about missing them all while we’re away!
      I’m surprised that there is no allowance on the fast day for different sized people. I can’t imagine that average height JM and very tall Simon would have the same calorie needs.

  6. Glad to see the 5:2 diet is working so well for you Rosemary. We are only just starting to hear about it here in Australia, but as expected it is causing much controversy.

    1. I’ll have to read up on the controversy, Cyndie. Dr Mosley certainly sounds convincing and Dr Saldman says the same thing.

  7. Re tea on an empty stomach making you feel nauseous – is that tea with milk? I had the same problem for a long time before I realised the problem was the milk, not the tea. Now we buy good tea online, Yunnan and Lapsang Souchong (not Twinings which is a bit of a bland copy!), Keemum (favourite for first thing in the morning) and have just a little, black. Might be worth trying.

    1. Thanks Pippa. I don’t have milk in my tea, so maybe it’s the Earl Grey posing the problem even though I don’t buy Twinings. However, I’ll try the Yunnan or Lapsang Souchong and see if it’s any better.

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