h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I need to shift some weight, so I thought I'd try the 5:2 because it seems a fair few friends and acquaintences have had success with it.

So would anyone like to share? I have seen that there are books about the diet, and separate recipe books.

Is it necessary to get a book? I'm happier if I have some recepies to try, as it saves me having to add and count.

How soon does the weight loss kick in?

On the 2 days - is it really possible to get through a day without feeling hungry (or starving? a bit hungry is ok for me)

Or any other observations, I'd be very glad to hear them.

From my quick skimming, I´ve just googled it, the 2 days of fast ask for 500 calories.

I think it´s too little for someone who has to go out, work, walk, etc.

The easiest and quickest way to lose weight, a nurse told me time ago, and it´s true, is not to have dinner, or have it quite early. Also , it should be a very light dinner. That kind of fasting is easier to do.

Sorry to take this so swiftly off track, but I've just ordered some green coffee extract pills after a friend lost a fair bit of weight using them. Anybody tried them?

I lost some weight when I reduced carbohydrates by 25%. Nothing else was changed. No missed meals, no fasting, no demonizing of major nutritional categories. I till get enough carbs, just not as many as before.

>>- is it really possible to get through a day without feeling hungry (or starving? a bit hungry is ok for me)

My understanding is that the point of this diet is that it flips you into starvation mode, so I would expect you would literally feel starving.

NOt familiar with this particular diet; is it anything like the up day down day one? (sounds a bit like it may be a variation thereon).

I did that myself, for a short while; main result (asides loosing some weight), was to become more conscious of portion sizes, and thusly calory intake; yeh, did the weighting stuff out thing, for a while; now I don't need to weigh ordinary food out, for meals, as I've got the better grasp on judging how much I'm cooking/using. I then went on, and kinda continued, but ignoring the up/down day thing, and just reduced my portion sizes gradually, until now, I'm eating approx half sized portions compaired to how I once did consequence over 5 stones lost, and all has remained off, and I don't calory count day to day anymore, as the new smaller portions I have, per meal has just become second nature, to the point where a massive plate of food (rather like I'd have, for most meals, in the way back when), just looks so* wrong gone from over a 40 inch w waist to just above a 30 inch, lost about 3 to 4 inchs on my neck size, and about 6 to 8 inchs across my chest/back, and now have absolutely no idea what clothes size I am and I never feel hungry, and don't 'not' eat something/anything because of what it is ... (just had four slices of bacon on toast, with butter, for brekfast) Sadly, some of the side affects of this, include £500 worth of suits destined for the charity shop, and about £500 jeans, shirts etc., already gone the way of the S sally army charity shop near where I live and.... having to buy smaller corsets I also seem to have dropped a shoe size... but I think this is more down to odd sizing of shoes in some shops rather than actual foot shinkage Oh, combined with the food portion thing, over the same period I kinda dropped off the amoutn of beer I was drinking, though that really wasn't on purpose, or part of it, but probably did help, not getting 3 to 6 thousand calories a week coming in regularly, via beer

Hi Sho, I've been doing it for a couple fo years now, so hopefully I can answer your queries.

You don't need a book. Forums for support such as on Mumsnet are very helpful, or the FastDay forum itself (will get the link for you shortly)

Google or Pinterest will have loads of recipe ideas, but really, base a meal round baked fish'n'veg and you're fine.

It takes a few weeks for your body to adapt, but after a month you should notice a difference.

Yes, you can get through the day without being starving - the hunger really does come and go in waves, and cups of Bovril/ green tea/ hot water with lemon/ miso soup/ black coffee will see you through. Lots of water is very important.

quotes, you are so wrong on the starvation mode. "Conservation" mode is a better terminology, and it only really starts to have an impact after 48 or more hours. Plus starvation mode does not equal "feeling starving" which is just a euphemism for being very hungry.

https://forum.fastday.com/announces/extra-help-for-new-fasters-re-starters-t13622.html

Link to the FastDay forum, which is very friendly, and has lots of great information.

thanks, B, I was hoping you'd see this

I'll look at the forum when I get home, with Gruesome #1, and see if it's something we can wrap our heads around.

I tried it. It works, to a point, as long as you're sensible on your five days.

What works better, I found, is keeping to a strict calorie count, and running.

I'm trying to find something that will get Gruesome #1's interest and keep her concentrated on what she's doing.

there is no way she will do any kind of running or exercise (although I do keep dropping hints about our cross trainer...). If I try to get her to count caloires 24/7 she'll lose interest after 2 days and since isn't on board with her wishes to lose weight (well, he'd think it's a good idea but his ideas of portion control are a bit... non-diet-like, and any suggestions about portion size, or different meals will fall on deaf ears and a bit of a huff about "well, I don't have to cook for you all...")

So, I though that if the 5:2 is reasonably straightforward to follow, and not a full-on in-your-face Diet-diet, it might have more of a chance of success.

plus the offer of me as a diet-buddy (because, frankly, if it were just me it would be hitting-the-gym and cutting-out-the-carbs)

In that case, good luck!

Like I said, it does work to a point.

What age is Gruseome 1? If under 18, then it's really not recommended.

The "science" behind the health-improving aspects of 5:2 are that when you give your body a constant supply of food, it will continue to make new cells. If you restrict this supply, it is forced to repair its exisitng cells first.

But if you're pregnant, or still growing, then making new cells is very very important, so 5:2 is not a good idea for those groups. Also not for anyone with a tendency to disordered eating.

As mr603 says, it suits some people, but others find a different method more to their taste (see what I did there?)

well, she's 18 and physically I reckon she's done just about all of her growing which is why I'm not too worried if she wants to diet, especially if she's going to be open about it with me

she also doesn't have a history of disordered eating - in fact she's usually very healthy about food but there are some other things that have been bothering her (low self esteem being one) so I think a small change to her lifestyle is probably a good thing if it comes from her at the right time and her head is in the right place.

(it doesn't help that her sister is the outgoing, pretty, slim, clever one who doesn't seem to have to put any effort into things. I know that's not entirely true - but what I see or thing doesn't matter in that case.)

I'm hoping that if we can start something with relative ease, lose a bit then come spring alter her/our eating habits we might have a positive effect on other things.

and hopefully she'll start riding her bike to school...

Never bothered with fancy named diets.
lost just over 2 stone last year, need to do the same again this year.

Just cutting out snacks and reducing sugar / carbs seems to work for me.

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/dec/05/diets-claims-do-they-work-paleo-5-2-bulletproof

oh well done!
i work with a guy who caught sight of himself in a mirror at the hairdresser at the beginning of 2014 and has, to date, lost 42 kilos with about 10 to go. we could follow his diet which is basically, cut carbs, move more.

But I have a teenage girl. I need a gimmick, and I need something that works. Hence asking for experiences of 5:2

I also lost weight by cutting crabs, but I couldn't give up the prawn sandwiches.

Does she have a smartphone? A diet and exercise app may be just the right gimmick.

I currently use LoseIt and like it very much. The free version has plenty of features.

I used myfitnesspal to count calories... spent the first few weeks just "auditing" to get a sense of how many calories were in the kinds of food I regularly ate.

After that, I looked for calorie savings and cut out or reduced foods that were poor value for fillingness and/or deliciousness. I found that there were some small, relatively painless changes that I could make which made a real difference, and as the weight came off, I found it easier to make more and more changes. But I looked for quick and easy wins to start with.

I used MFP to log all my food and exercise and found the act of logging food eaten was a form of accountability. MFP gives sensible calorie targets for safe, sustainable weight loss and as the weight came off I found myself motivated to look for more and more calorie savings. Treating daily calorie targets as a budget or a system to be gamed worked for me, but I understand that some people find it time consuming and fiddly, and it's not for everyone.

As regards exercise, I started by walking everywhere and running on a rebounder/mini-trampoline. I graduated to circuit training and eventually running. Was over 110kg, now about 82kg, and running my first full marathon this year.