The FastDay Forum

Hi:

Many people are attracted to 5:2 because they don't have to count calories on their non diet days. I am one of those people.

However, if you are keeping at or below your 5/600 on diet days, not counting your calories on non diet days and not losing weight after a month or so (whether at the start of 5:2 or later on), you are probably overeating on your non diet days. Research shows that most people underestimate the number of calories that they eat each day by 25 to 40%: http://ethos.clickfit.com/fitness-nutri ... ories.html.

So if you are not losing as expected, count your calories for a couple of non diet days. That will probably reveal why you are not losing weight.

Good Luck!

Hi:

One common belief is that if you don't eat enough food on a diet your body will go into 'starvation mode'. The fact is that there is such a thing as starvation mode - it just kicks in when your body gets down to about the 5% body fat. As not many people on a weight loss diet have body fat levels that low, there is no need to worry about your body going into 'starvation mode' when following 5:2.

Here are Dr. Mosley's comments on the subject: https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/ ... tion-mode/

Good Luck!

Hi:

When you should eat each day is a hotly debated topic. Some say eating breakfast is a must, while some firmly believe skipping breakfast is fine and even helpful to weight loss.

A December, 2013, study seems to shed some light on the subject. The study took 93 obese or overweight women and split them into two groups. One group ate 700 cal. for breakfast, 500 cal. for lunch and 200 cal. for dinner. The other reversed it with 200 cal. for breakfast, 500 cal. for lunch and 700 cal. for dinner. While both groups lost weight, over 12 weeks the big breakfast group showed a weight loss 2.5 times that of the big dinner group, despite eating the identical number of calories (8.7 kg. v. 3.6 kg.)!

“In summary, our results demonstrate that high-calorie breakfast shows increased compliance and is more beneficial than high-calorie dinner for weight loss, insulin sensitivity, and hunger suppression. Our study indicates that avoidance of large meals in the evening may be particularly beneficial in improving glucose and lipid profiles and may lead to reduced risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Thus, in people affected by the metabolic syndrome, dietary recommendations aimed at weight reduction and prevention of high postprandial insulin excursions should include advice on time-of-day of nutrient intake in addition to the overall food intake. However, the long-term potential health benefits of high energy intake in the morning need to be assessed.”
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1 ... 20460/full

So, according to this study, if you want to lose weight you will do much better if you have a large breakfast and a small dinner.

Good Luck!

Hi:

Many people report that after following 5:2 for awhile they begin eating 'better'. Of course, 'better' means different things to different people. But one common piece of advice is for people to eat foods high in fats and protein on their diet days, and not eat many carbs. They find that they are less hungry if they eat foods high in fat and protein and get through their diet days more easily as a result.

On a broader front, however, you may want to consider eating a diet high in fats and protein on both your diet and non diet days. While there is nothing really new in this report of recent research finding a higher fat diet helps reverse metabolic syndrome (obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, low good cholesterol and high triglycerides): http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/10/1 ... k-factors/, this quotation from Alice Lichtenstein, director of the Cardiovascular Nutrition Laboratory at Tufts University in Boston, is revealing:

“Certainly no one is currently recommending low fat diets for anyone ."

It turns out that diets high in fats are actually healthy (especially if you eat quite a few saturated fats): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QetsIU-3k7Y.

Good Luck!

Hi:

The low fat diet has caused many people to eat more and more carbs and less and less fats. Over the last few years, however, many people have started to hear that sugars and processed wheat are not good for humans to eat. It turns out that in addition to causing insulin resistance with resulting weight gain, sugars cause high triglyceride levels and blood pressure levels, and processed wheat spikes blood sugars resulting in insulin resistance and higher weight.

This explains how all of this comes about, and why intermittent fasting can be used to lower insulin resistance. It also addresses some of the common 'objections' to fasting, explaining why they are not really worrisome at all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pG89j432w-Y

Good Luck!

Thank you@simcoeluv for the various links. It is great to start the new year of fasting backed up by the facts and clarifying what I already "knew"(yet needed to get it in focus). I have spent time listening and concentrating and this was a worthwhile boost for me. :like

[carorees]

Hi:

Here is a recent study about eating windows. It seems they have some significant benefits. When reading, however, remember an 8 to 12 hour eating window for a mouse is the same as about a 55 to 84 hour water fast window for a human: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/ ... 112414.php

Given the state of current research (which is changing/being added to very quickly), it appears that for humans to get serious 'other health' benefits from fasting they need to water fast for 3-4 or more consecutive days. See, for example, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... finds.html
Note that this forum does not endorse water fasting for more than 36 hours for safety reasons. Fasts longer than this should be performed under medical supervision

However, it is clearly documented that intermittent fasting like 5:2 is a safe and effective weight loss strategy, which carries with it the typical benefits of weight loss - better cholesterol levels, lower triglyceride levels, better blood pressure, etc. In addition, people that practice IF learn that it is very doable and can view themselves if they want to as 'in training' to do the longer fasts that seem to provide serious 'other' health benefits.

Good Luck!

Hi:

For those interested in non weight loss 'other' health benefits of intermittent fasting, here is a short presentation by Dr. Mark Mattson on the state of his current (2014) research: http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=you ... 0AE1149FD0

Good Luck!

Hi:

A study on whether intermittent fasting might help asthma sufferers - yes, and they lost weight, too: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1859864/

Hi All,

My question is, is there a problem if you eat too little.
I started fasting on 5th January with about 2 stone to loose. I am doing 5:2 some weeks and 4:3 others depending upon where I am and what I am doing.
I expected to have problems wth hunger and to find the fast days difficult, but I am having the opposite problem. I love the fast days, find not having to think about food really liberating and easily get to 6pm without eating anything. Trouble is that I don't feel like eating on the non-fast days either. I am full of energy all the time, having trouble sleeping because I am buzzing. I walk the dog at least once a day and am running twice a week. I have lost 2 kg in 13 days.
My question is whether I should force myself to eat on the non-fast days?

Hi Jacqufall:

There is no problem with eating too little. The less you eat, the more you lose. The common misconception is that if you eat too little you will go into 'starvation mode', but there is no such thing: https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/ ... tion-mode/.

Your 'results' of starting 5:2 are typical. You are not hungry because your body is starting to feed on its own fat - when it does that there is no need for other food and you are not hungry. Your extra energy and insomnia comes because fasting increases norepinephrine levels in the body and one side effect of heightened norepinephrine levels is insomnia. The hormone also increases alertness (‘my mind just wouldn’t stop working’), speeds up the heart rate, pumps glucose into the bloodstream and is the basis of the ‘fight or flight’ response.

Your large initial weight loss comes because you are burning glycogen. The body needs fat and protein to survive, but not carbs. However, carbs provide ‘quick’ energy and the body stores a small amount for immediate energy needs. In addition to standard blood sugar, the body stores carbs in the form of glycogen. Glycogen is stored in muscles and in the liver. Bodies may contain two or three pounds of glycogen. However, to store glycogen, the body needs water – up to 4 pounds of water for each pound of stored glycogen.

So when a person goes on a diet, they reduce their caloric intake and the body starts to draw on glycogen stores to supply the energy no longer being supplied by food intake. As the glycogen is used, its weight, plus all of the water weight associated with storing it, goes away. Quickly. After glycogen stores are reduced to a level that is stabilized by the caloric intake of the new diet, the quick weight loss stops and the fat loss takes precedence. Fat loss is much slower (the old 3500 cal from the diet to lose one pound).

So your rapid weight loss will slow down, stop or even reverse for a short time simply because of 'water weight'.

I suggest you just continue doing what you are doing for at least another month or two. I suspect if you do you will be happy with the results.

Good Luck!

An excellent article on fasting from Harper's: http://charleycropley.com/wordpress/wp- ... arpers.pdf

Thankyou@simcoeluv.

I found that article both interesting and entertaining.

Bracken

Hi:

Here is a recent speech by Dr. Fung to other physicians on his use of fasting to reverse diabetes. It includes a couple of one year follow ups on his initial patients, in addition to reports on more recent patient results. As he points out, it requires no drugs, costs nothing for medical procedures and actually saves the patients money because they are buying less food. Hard to believe something can be cured at no cost! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcLoaVNQ3rc

Good Luck!