How many times have you thought about losing those last 10, 20, or 30-plus pounds, but you also happen to hate dieting and exercise? This has been me for the past 15 years, but I’m going to show you how I modified a 5:2 intermittent fasting plan to help me drop weight quickly and remarkably easily.
I also want to be as transparent as possible with my results, so first let’s have a quick crash course in my total weight loss journey.
Interested in what my fasting day looked like? Check out this video!
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The Start of My 5:2 Intermittent Fasting Journey
***Disclaimer – I will be giving actual numbers because I always found this extremely helpful when looking at others’ journeys. However, it’s worth noting that everyone’s ideal weight and body composition are different, so while my initial numbers may seem “low” for you, I’m only…
5’1″ (155cm)
Ok, now back to my journey.
You see, my weight has been slowly creeping up as I’ve gotten older, but after having my first child I was stuck at my heaviest weight, 148 lbs. Then the winter holidays came around and I was up to 152 lbs.
After my son turned one and didn’t need breastmilk as a primary source of nutrition anymore, I decided to focus more on losing all those extra pounds.
After the new year, I started exercising, but I was super inconsistent about it. Still, from January to July I managed to lose 14 pounds, which is great, but the weight wasn’t coming off fast enough for me. I plateaued again at 138 lbs. which also happened to be my weight when I got pregnant.
So, to kick my butt into high gear, I set a goal to do 5:2 intermittent fasting for one month and commit to exercising. I started the month out weighing 138.8 lbs.
After just one month, I ended up losing 6.2 lbs (132.2 lbs), which is the most I’ve ever been able to lose in one month!
In fact, I’m so happy with the results I’m going to continue doing this for the rest of the year, and I’m excited to see how my body will continue to change (and of course, update you!).
Side by Side Progress Photos
Making Modifications to Make 5:2 Intermittent Fasting Work for Me
Ok, now I mentioned before that I modified a standard 5:2 fasting diet, so what exactly was my schedule? Typically, with 5:2 intermittent fasting, you eat as you normally would for 5 days, and then the other 2 days are fasting days in which you eat 500 calories.
However, we know that losing weight is extremely difficult for women, so to prevent myself from overeating the other 5 days, rendering any calorie deficit I achieved from fasting null and void, I limited my calories on 2 other days to between 1200-1400 calories.
My 5:2 fasting week looked like this…
- I choose Monday and Wednesday as my non-negotiable fasting days in which I ate 500-700 calories.
- Then, I made Tuesdays and Thursdays my “moderate” calorie days. Although I was more flexible with these days.
Bumping the fasting days calorie limit to 700 allowed me to eat two filling meals and one snack, which made the day much easier (and enjoyable) and therefore SUSTAINABLE.
After all, if your diet plan isn’t sustainable, it’s worthless.
For my “moderate” calorie days, I focused on healthy eating, small portions, and no desserts.
Then I had three days where I could eat whatever I wanted…pizza, pasta, fried food, cookies, cakes, etc.
BUT, something super important happened. After my fasting days and “moderate” calorie days, my body changed in a way that prevented me from overeating, even when I was consuming my favorite foods. Clearly, my stomach began to decrease in size, and my body was sending my brain “you’re full, stop eating signals” after a fraction of the portion I used to be able to eat.
We’re talking about going from easily eating four pieces of pizza, to feeling so full I was nearly sick to my stomach after just two pieces.
This means 5:2 intermittent fasting taught me to rethink portion sizes effortlessly, lowering my calorie counting even on days I could eat whatever I wanted to. And this is why I LOVE 5:2 fasting and highly recommend you give it a try.
But, what about 16:8 intermittent fasting?
Well, I’ve tried this plan too, but I didn’t see any results with this method. Why? Because, well I was still consuming large portion sizes in that eight-hour eating window, therefore I never had the calorie deficit that is required to lose fat.
My theory is that 16:8 may work better for men than women, but that is just a hunch, and I don’t have data to back that up.
Another reason it didn’t work for me is that I felt like EVERYDAY I was “dieting”, which (for me) isn’t sustainable. I really love having those open days on 5:2 intermittent fasting where I can eat what I want, whenever I want. This really allows me to still enjoy my favorite foods while losing those extra pounds.
However, you should definitely give 16:8 a try if this fasting plan interests you more than 5:2 and see how it goes! Everybody is different, and this fasting diet may be the perfect one for you!
My Exercise Plan
No weight loss plan is complete without an exercise plan. I absolutely hate exercising; I would much rather binge a good Netflix show, but I knew that wouldn’t get me the strength, energy, and body composition I was hoping to achieve.
As a new mom, I briefly considered joining a gym, but the cost of the membership plus the additional cost of daycare at the gym just didn’t make financial sense to me. (I’m unapologetically frugal).
Plus, the thought of packing up my baby, all my gym attire, and working around naptimes made working out an even bigger chore.
At tried at first to use YouTube workouts, but I quickly realized I couldn’t find exactly what I wanted, and was spending too much time scrolling for workouts rather than working out.
That’s when I gave Beachbody On Demand a go. I figured I’d test it out, and commit to the one-year membership if I liked the workouts. Well, I LOVE them. So, I committed to working out at least 5 times a week for 30 minutes a day.
I was aiming for a schedule that would challenge me, but not challenge me to the point I would give up. I figured I could commit to 30 min, but an hour would be nearly impossible.
- To tone up, I adore Andrea Roger’s Barre classes.
- When I don’t want to work out, I put on Shawn T’s Let’s Get Up dance routines and have some fun!
- And on the days my son is fighting his nap, we go for a walk (which ends up being 1.5 miles or more and takes over 45 minutes).
I’d love it if you stuck around to see my year-end results!
And I hope in some small way this has inspired you to try 5:2 intermittent fasting, and if you do, I’d love to know your thoughts and feeling on it! Did it work for you? Was it the worst diet you’ve ever tried? Let me know in the comments!