'I Tried The 5:2 Fasting Plan To Lose Weight—Here's What Happened'

The goal: lose seven pounds.

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF STEPHANIE ABRAMSON

Over the past two or so years, stress led me to pack on about 17 extra pounds. By last spring, I managed to drop 10 or so of them on my own by loading up on fiber-rich foods like beans and healthy fats like nuts and avocado and upping my strength-training workouts. But the last seven pounds have stubbornly hung on, so when I was offered the chance to try a fasting diet, I thought maybe it would finally help me shed them.

I was no stranger to sporadic fasting, so a few weeks of it sounded like a doable way to slim down. This particular plan was called the 5:2 plan because it’s based on the idea that you eat normally for five days each week, and limit your total daily calories to between 500 and 600 calories for two nonconsecutive days (your choice of when those days fall).

On non-fasting days, there was no set caloric limit but I stuck between 1,200 to 1,500 just to be safe. I used sample meal plans from a nutritionist as guidance, but it wasn’t much different from how I normally ate: breakfast between 8:30 and 10, a snack I can have midmorning or save for after dinner, lunch between 1 and 3, dinner between 6 and 8. On fasting days, I ate the same way, just less, staying within the 600 calorie max.

Here’s what happened:

CHRISTINE FRAPECH

My appetite is usually nonexistent in the morning so it wasn’t difficult for me to get by on one hard-boiled egg and a few romaine lettuce leaves for breakfast. At lunchtime, I had a salad consisting of three-quarters cup cooked green beans, one-quarter cup yellow pepper, one tablespoon raw Vidalia onion, and half a medium cucumber, dressed with one teaspoon each olive oil and balsamic vinegar. My stomach didn’t start grumbling until around 5 p.m, when the urge for a snack hit. I had been purposely saving the midmorning treat allotted by the plan for later in the day, knowing I’m usually hungrier then. I held out until after my 7 p.m. dinner of baked chicken and grilled broccoli seasoned with garlic powder, raw Vidalia onion, oregano powder, and cayenne pepper, and then had an orange for “dessert.” I still felt hungry but it wasn’t intolerable, and I kind of enjoyed not feeling stuffed. I think that—or the lack of energy from not getting enough food—helped me drift off to sleep sooner.

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CHRISTINE FRAPECH

I woke up feeling famished. Since I usually eat a big dinner, hunger doesn’t normally hit until 11 a.m. or noon the next day, so this was new for me. Luckily, today I could eat what I wanted. For breakfast, I mixed eight ounces of full-fat plain yogurt with one tablespoon of flax seeds and a half-cup of strawberries. By 11 a.m., I was already hungry again, and craving carbs (the lack of which might explain why I’d been dragging all morning). I snacked on some celery sticks and two teaspoons of peanut butter at noon, and then dove into a Mexican feast at lunch: a fiesta bowl with cooked ground turkey, baked tortilla chips, black beans, avocado, cheddar cheese, romaine lettuce, and salsa.

All afternoon, I daydreamed about loaded nachos. Why was I still so hungry? I wondered if my body was trying to make up for yesterday’s missing calories. By dinnertime, I snacked on a quarter-cup of almonds while preparing a meal of roasted chicken breast and baked sweet potato with a green salad. Finally, I felt sated, but still had difficulty getting to s

CHRISTINE FRAPECH

These were essentially a repeat of day two. Strangely, I found non-fasting days tougher than fasting ones, especially when I wasn't at work. I think having more choices of what to eat actually made me less satisfied with what I did choose, while on fasting days I just set my mind to the idea that this is all I would and accepted it. Day four, for example, I went to a friend’s barbecue and passed over the grilled meat, cold salads, and dessert table in favor of salad, a potato, a piece of cheese, and some fruit. (Learn how bone broth can help you lose weight with Women's Health's Bone Broth Diet.)

CHRISTINE FRAPECH

I tried an experiment and switched my snack from later in the day to mid-morning to see if front-loading my meager calories could help suppress my appetite, increase my energy levels, and improve my mood. No such luck. And worse, later in the evening I was bummed that I didn’t have a treat to quell my hunger. All day long, I felt slightly off-kilter—lethargic, a little cranky, and less focused than usual. It made getting in my usual workout—some power walking and free weights at the gym—tough. There is one bonus: Since starting this diet, I haven’t had any of the stomach issues I’ve struggled with recently.

CHRISTINE FRAPECH

While I enjoyed not feeling bloated, I found it more and more of a struggle to follow the eating plan during non-fasting days. It almost felt like a tease to have more food to eat but not the foods I am craving, such as carbs, fats, and sugar. At night, I imagined myself enjoying several slices of fresh, warm sourdough bread slathered in butter and topped with melting gruyere cheese. Either that, or Ben & Jerry’s Chunky Monkey Ice Cream. On the plus side, the scale was down slightly over two pounds.

CHRISTINE FRAPECH

Toward the end of the day, stressed by work deadlines, I began eating tortilla chips, guac, sour cream, and salsa. In my mind, I heard the “game over” sound effect from the old Pac-Man arcade game. My all-or-nothing mindset was wrecking havoc with this diet plan and I couldn’t keep it up any longer. I gave up.

Although I couldn’t stick the diet out for the full three weeks, I feel like I learned more about what kind of eating plan really will work for me, namely, something that offers a more consistent menu day to day. Having to adjust between low- and uber-low-calorie diets was too much for me, and the fact that I gained all the weight I’d lost back after just two days of cheating shows me that the results never would have really lasted anyway. I think I’ll fare a lot better with a more predictable, balanced approach, and now I’m more determined than ever to lose those last seven pounds!

Vinayak Fitness Area

Saturday, 13 January 2018

THE RESULT OF 5;2 FASTING PLAN TO WEIGHT LOSS

'I Tried The 5:2 Fasting Plan To Lose Weight—Here's What Happened'

The goal: lose seven pounds.

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