The FastDay Forum

Yeah I think eveybody is making it up as they go, following a rough outline, but that is the beauty of it.

And quite honestly, if you look at the initial Horizon program (watch it again if need be) you can see Dr M was kind of making it up as he went along. Yes, he is a Dr, but it was obvious in the program that nutrition and weight loss is not his medical specialty (I am not sure what his actual specialty is). He kind of just stumbled upon it, or at least that is the impression I was left with after watching it - Now he is an expert so to speak.

@dennispc

Not sure if im the only offender here but I havent bought the book yet and ive been roughly following this regime for 3 months.

I better go and fix that and buy it and read it as i think there's much to be absorbed in the book as opposed to just recipes.

I myself just fasted for 2 days a week with approx 500 cal.and ate the way I have always eaten for the rest of the week

I myself just fasted for 2 days a week with approx 500 cal.and ate the way I have always eaten for the rest of the week

and 10k lost in 5 months ! well done!

Thanks to all for the interesting discussion. My take on this is that "eat normally" on non-fast days (sorry, I don't like using "feed") implies a level that does not make you gain weight. It was the NOT "eating normally" that brought me to be overweight. In the past 20 years my trendline was going very slowly up, say 1 Kg a year on average. Now the trend is downwards. This means to me that till I lose the extra weight, I have to fast two days a week and stay slightly below my TDEE the other days. When I will be maintaining, either I eat everyday my TDEE or I include always enough fasting (1,2 days depending) if I go overboard. The latter fits my life style better (social drinking, eating out, dinners with friends, etc) and it is probably the best, because the fast brings in additional benefits, the most valuable to me being clarity of thinking.

I hope it made sense....anyway, to conclude, not being a native english speaker, I use KISS and mean Keep It Super Simple, no stupidity or sugar added, ...Super Simple is what 5:2 is to me.

Hi Pamico, Please excuse me as I am an English teacher, you say you are not a native language speaker, may I correct you the word is lose not loose. Loose is how you want your clothes to be after fasting! Well done for speaking a second language so well though!

...Super Simple is what 5:2 is to me.

It certainly is!

Here's another piece from the Radio Times article,

"If you eat 500 or 600 calories two days a week and don't significantly overcompensate during the rest of the week, then you will lose weight in a steady fashion." (My underlining.) Nothing there about losing weight quickly.

@Juliana. I haven't read the book either. I was looking on Amazon for recipe books - Dr M's book had an arrow 'See what's inside', I downloaded that to our iPad and got most of the theory - months after the Horizon programme.

Dr M's specialism? Television journalist. After qualifying he went into TV and he's done a number of documentaries, the latest one was about the possibility of changing personality - another in which he was a guinea pig. Seemples! Tsk.

The basic theory is that our cave dwelling ancestors spent their lives fasting and feeding - they had no other choice. Life expectancy in those days was about 25 - perhaps this isn't such a good idea!

Many native English speakers struggle with the loose/lose thing. It's an epidemic on here.

I'm not sure where anyone got the idea that Fast meant quickly rather than not eating in regards to this regime. I like the fact that the weight loss has been slow, like others have said it's taken a while to gain it so it may take a while to lose it. However if someone wants to mix it up and change it for themselves then go ahead, it's up to them.

Some people relate an almost forensic level of detail about their diets which can lead to criticisms/suggestions which are sometimes helpful but sometimes not.

Just to add my twopenneth

I agree with the basic premise that Juliana is trying to get across, and think that many of the comments have been focusing on the details in her comments, rather than the general gist.
Calm down, dears!

Juliana, you have a very similar profile to me. For those of us with an almost healthy BMI, ie little to lose in reality, i think the road is slightly different anyway, from the average 5:2er, with more to lose. We tend to lose very little per week compared with many on here. I myself have lost an average of 0.3lb per week (4lb in 13 weeks) - (and don't anybody start and nitpick on the math otherwise I will get janeg to slap you with her wet fish!)

And 'Am I bovvered?' No, as I have realised from looking at everybody else's profIles and posts that this is probably normal for my situation, and I'm losing anyway (especially inches) so so what?

I've stuck to 5:2, except dropped breakfast on some days (not all, just when I felt like it) and applied the 'wey hey!' principle (unique to this forum I think- we ought to trademark it I think! ). I have been very interested to read of others experiences, and may apply these at some point, if I need to.

But not at the moment. Maybe we ought to start a 'Slowest losers on the Fast diet' thread ... (Just joking ...)

And keep the 'humour' levels high, and the 'earnest' levels low! That way we'll all get there with bigger smiles on our faces ...

Not all of us can exercise...

Even the bed bound can increase their activity level, surely ? As long as their arms or legs work.

I went to the paralympics and that was an eye opener as to what you can do if you apply yourself.

Well, yes, even the bed bound can increase their activity level but that is not enough to lose more with 5:2.
There are times in our lives when we can't increase our activity levels enough, for various reasons. We might not like it, but that's the way it is. So, if we are in a place where we cannot exercise enough to make a difference, all we have to do is work with the way we eat.

Yes, that's just what it is - hype and marketing. Written by PRs and publicity people at the publishers, among others, and probably the authors had nothing to do with it. But I thought we all knew that??

This might be a bigger problem if it didn't work at all ... surely the main thing is we know it works, in whatever variation of it we are choosing to use ... all the rest can just be ignored.

I watched the programme about two weeks after it was shown and a couple of weeks later I decided to try it for myself. The book had not been written at that time and there was no forum to consult so I just did what I could remember from the programme. Two days every week I restricted my calories to 500 and six months later I had lost 28 lbs. it was not quite as easy as I or Dr M have made it out to be but the reality is that it worked for me even though the plateaus were tough and I eventually tweaked it, just as Dr M had, to suit me and my lifestyle better. A lot of people on here have numerous health issues, I am fortunate that I have none, and that obviously must make a difference so if it helps to re-jig or change completely then I don't see why anyone would have a problem with that, I certainly don't. As I said in an earlier post "True 5:2 ?" sorry, to me there is no such thing.

Ballerina x

Not all of us can exercise...

Even the bed bound can increase their activity level, surely ? As long as their arms or legs work.

I went to the paralympics and that was an eye opener as to what you can do if you apply yourself.

It doesn't need to be formal exercise taken to crazy lengths though does it? I think we have seen from other posts that the really excessive regimes tend to be counter productive. We can all build a bit more movement into life and a bit of basic toning makes all the difference to how well you feel which has a knock on effect on being able to stick with whatever variation you choose to do.

Exercise has not had a great effect on my weight loss as such. It has helped get my BG down and I'm generally more toned. Now, 4yrs ago I was seriously overweight and because of my mobility issues I was walking with 2 crutches. I told my GP my plans to lose weight and get mobile and he told me I was kidding myself and to buy a mobility scooter! It has taken me a long time and a lot of determination but I have gone from 2 crutches, to one, to a stick and now I only use my stick because I have balance problems and tend to totter off into shop windows! I am also 57lbs lighter.

If I can manage it I reckon most people could but I don't believe for a minute that exercise has a huge impact on weight loss. It will help keep you healthy but it doesn't really shift pounds.

I can only say for myself that exercise wasn't necessary for me to lose weight. Until I reached my goal I didn't lift an arm or leg (not that I should be proud of that) and I lead a very sedentary lifestyle too. Only recently I've thrown in resistance training 3 times a week because I know that exercising will keep me fit and healthy (to a certain extent of course). And since losing all that fat I am genuinely wanting to move more.

On the issue of KISS, if one read the book it's obvious that there are no "rules" and it is advised to try different things that work for any given individual.