5:2 Fast???

I keep seeing post that people are fasting..."5:2 fast" comes up a lot...what does that mean? Is fasting a good thing to do?

I wouldn't advise it... Then you body is just going to hold whatever you do it because it won't now when its next meal is coming... Google what happens to your metabolism when you go without eating for a while. We were meant to eat. Why else do you think people have hungry signals. You wouldn't do it to a kid so why would you do it to yourself?

Im doing the 5:2 fast.

I eat just under 500cal two days a week (Mon and thur in my case) and then "eat normally" the other days.

It really came up in the summer when Dr Michael mosley went on the diet and produced a tv show in the UK for horizon. He lost weight and also reduced his blood pressure, cholesterol and was no longer borderline diabetic. It is quite controversial cos it goes against everything most people will say to you, but it seems to work by stressing the body for a shirt period of time, not long enough to affect metabolism but long enough to persuade your cells to stop producing more cells (which increases the amount of a particular hormone linked to cancer) and repair those cells it has instead. Tests on animals show good results but people happily admit there havent been enough or long enough studies on humans yet.

I enjoy it and am getting results but its early days yet and I do plan on sticking to it 'for life' (with a reduction to 6:1 once I have lost enough)

Fasting is not bad for you with one exception, and that's if you cannot control your impulse to over eat after breaking the fasting stage. If that's the case, avoid it.

There is no scientific evidence that shows fasting has any effect on metabolism short term.

I am doing the 5:2 fast as well. However I don't consider it a true fast because I am eating 3 meals a day. I try to keep it as close to 500 calories as possible on 2 days a week. Actually I am doing the fast the same days I try to do a detox diet, on Thursdays & Saturdays because I weigh in on Sundays. Check out my weight history. I am in the third week of the 5:2 fast challenge. And what it comes down to in simplest terms is I just pick out 2 days a week to have Greek yogurt for breakfast and salads for lunch & dinner with a little salmon at the dinner meal. Snacks are limited to almonds, an apple and plenty of celery and green tea. The other 5 days of the week eat normally. I think this is a great jump start for dieting if you find yourself on a plateau.