I am just starting the 5:2 plan. Excited about it.

I would love to hear from people who have been on it for awhile or who just started or who is curious about it.

Please share your journey and tips.

I did a 500 calorie fast day yesterday and lost a ton of bloat. Today I am eating around 1200 calories which is a normal day of eating for me.

Well as you know my friend that's how I saw my low. SO it definitely works ... I just need to get back to it

You did awesome on it, Rennie! Let's get back on it!

What are you having today? Is it a normal day or a fasting day for you?

I'm gonna say fast day but every time I proclaim it, I screw up. SO hoping I didn't jinx myself Yesterday was definitely a high day

Been doing it since August and have lost about 25 pounds. It's slow, but it's easy, sustainable, and it works. I'm slowly moving over to a 4:3 plan to help speed up my loss. There's a really great group I'm in on Facebook (they're mostly Brits...lol), let me know if you are interested. The support is excellent.

As you've already noticed, you'll lose a lot of bloat at first, and then you should expect about a one pound loss each week. I notice your calories are really low for a non-fast day - not necessarily anything wrong with that, as I real encourage eating normally (until full) on feast days rather than calorie counting - but you may want to reconsider that amount if you notice yourself struggling with hunger or not losing.

There's a few of us doing 5:2 in the IF thread on here somewhere.

For me, on a fast day, I like to eat all my calories in one evening meal (though I do drink coffee with milk and honey in the morning). I do not count calories at all unless I notice myself not losing anymore (helps me get back on track as sometimes I start going overboard on feast days), though I do typically weigh out my food for fast-day meals.

Also, my IBS has disappeared completely and my hair is growing like crazy!

Wow, nonameslob, nice going!! Your progress is inspiring.

I will sprinkle in one splurge day, where I will eat upto 2500 calories. I want to go out once per week and not worry about what I eat and how much.

I will adjust the non-fast day calories as needed. If I workout I will probably go for 1500-1600 calories on those day, since I tend to do pretty intense stuff on my those days.

I would love to be part of the FB group. Thanks!!! Send me a PM with a link please

ETA; I ate all my 500 calories in one meal too; dinner. I don't do well with a ton of little meals. I want substance when I eat

Rennie, you can do it! Or I will come after you with a

noname, I have type II diabetes and I find it hard to get tons of calories in without eating bread/flour. What are your typical high meals like?

That's a great plan! That's part of why I'm (kinda) doing 4:3 now. I typically fast Mondays and Wednesdays, have well-balanced meals Tuesdays and Thursdays, on Fridays I fast until dinnertime and then have whatever for dinner, and weekends are fair game.

I'm a little bit off this week, but that's what's great about it - you just move the fasts around to fit your schedule.

Sum you know I am all for it I will definitely follow you

Since I just started this plan, I was wondering if I could do 4:3 plan. I know the book does not encourage it...but it would suit me well.

This week I fasted Tuesday, will fast Thursday and again on Sunday. I think I will do the same schedule on the following week as well. -- Saturday will be my splurge day; I will go out for sushi

Rennie, I just started logging my meals over at MFP, my diary is open. Check it out. I am getting around 1200 cals today without any grains.

love2b150 I've been reintroducing full-fat foods into my diet (oh what a wonderful thing!) as I've discovered eating tons of refined carbs make me really hungry and full fat keeps me full.

Full-fat cottage cheese with pineapple for breakfast. For snacks I have apples with peanut butter or hummus with veggies. I've also been eating more full fat cheese, nuts, oils, etc. For lunch, I've been making meals with barely in it (so filling, so much fiber, and I don't think it's as high on the glycemic index as other carbs but I could be wrong). Dinner is usually some sort of meat/bean/vegetable. I have been making a lot of kebobs (meat or seafood + veggies, sometime potatoes, too). I make curries, tacos, jambalaya, chili.

I don't usually have much of a problem getting my calories on feast days ever since I start adding in more fats and oils. Most of my calories used to come from dinner but now they're really coming from those high-cal high-fat snacks.

Thanks noname, what about beans?

I love beans! I make a bean burrito for lunch/dinner quite often.

Corn tortilla, blackbeans, avocado, little cheese, a dab of sourcream and some salsa....yumm-o!

More I think about this plan, the better it sounds. Nothing seems off limits.