The FastDay Forum

[Debs]

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/pro ... 3f/4972312


Just listened to a fascinating article on Radio National, Life Matters on the Famine Effect which explains the dreaded plateau and our bodies physiological reactions to dieting and how to overcome it. The doctor, Prof Amanda Salis has studied reactions to dieting, partly on herself as she was obese as a child and teenager. She talked about the famine effect and how to overcome it when dieting and the chemical reactions in the brain to dieting. She is doing, and has done a lot of clinical trials on weight loss, including the pros and cons of fast vs slow weigh loss.

She made a comment on 5:2 at the end relating to timing which I have emailed her to clarify as I wasn't sure what she meant. I'll let you know if she replies.

Debs

Thanks Debs,
I just listened to it. It was interesting.

That was pretty interesting. I loved how Natasha Mitchell kept pulling her back in with "so what research backs this?" and "but that's just an anecdote of one, is there any science to back it?"

L love Amanda Salis. I have read her book: The Don't Go Hungry Diet. She did a Phd in weight loss where she investigated the Famine Reaction. It makes so much sense. I did her method and lost weight, but I got sick of writing everything down and also I put on the weight I had lost.I lost weight over summer and put it back on in winter, when I did feel hungrier. It's all about listening to your body. I wrote to her about doing 5:2 and she was very supportive. I said it helps me to know how it feels to be hungry and helps me to know when I've had enough. Her's is an anti-diet diet, if you know what I mean. I'll be really interested to listen to this.

[Debs]

That's interesting to know. I liked her as she has direct experience herself on the whole weight loss problem thingy. I might follow up on her research, it sounds very worthwhile.

[carorees]

Here's a list of her research publications:
http://sydney.edu.au/medicine/people/ac ... asalis.php

All tricky stuff to get your head around! However, if you search for hypothalamus on the forum you'll find various threads about the research in this area. I've yet to get to grips with the PYY hormone stuff though...next on my list!

[carorees]

I started to have a look at Amanda Salis' research and found this very useful summary written for lay people of her work:
http://www.garvan.org.au/pdfs/miscellan ... ebPage.pdf

Very interesting stuff. I think I'll add it to my thread about reasons we put on weight after dieting!

That's a very helpful summary (the Garvan paper) - thanks, Caroline. I found this excerpt particularly interesting (I highlighted the bit in bold about physical activity).

"It’s important to note that eating to deactivate a famine reaction is very different from throwing in the towel and eating anything. When eating your way out of a famine reaction, choose nutritious foods (for instance, lasagne, salad, wholegrain bread and perhaps a piece of chocolate instead of a burger, chips, and a chocolate mud cake). That’s because studies show that adequate nutrients are important for keeping the famine reaction under control. It’s also important to eat only if you feel comfortably and physically hungry, and to stop when you feel genuinely satisfied, not over satisfied. In addition, when eating your way out of a famine reaction, studies show that regular physical activity will not only help you keep the weight that you already lost off, but may also help to deactivate the famine reaction."

Am I missing something or is this just common sense? I wont be reading her book to dig any deeper as its about three times the price of most other books on the subject of diet!

She's talking about the 5:2 diet tomorrow night in Sydney. Be great to go along, if you lived in Sydney. I wonder what she will say to your email, Deb.

[Betsysgr8]

Seems to me she is advocating what has already been seen to work with the forum members in countering the "famine effect". Low-cal day followed by a 'normal' day of nutritious adequate quantities of food.

Hmm.., I agree with the common sense notion here. If you get serious cravings you simply can't resist, eat something really dense with nutrition, not junk food with empty calories?

Good advice for anyone I guess, but doesn't seem like a very radical approach. I probably missed something.

I read her book a few years ago, before the 5:2 diet was in the news. She advocates eating when you are hungry and stopping when you are no longer hungry. She also advocates eating mostly unprocessed food, lots of vegies and fruit, and getting enough exercise. But she does't advocate forbidding certain foods. She puts crap food in a category of 'treats', something to eat on occasion but not to eat on a regular basis. She suggests you keep a food diary and before you eat you rate how hungry you are from 0 -5, 0 is not hungry, 1 is 'not very' 2 is 'I could eat a light snack' 3 is ' I could eat a substantial meal' 4 is 'I could eat a horse and chase the rider'. And then when you finish eating you again rate your fullness. If you are 4 you are uncomfortably full. If you are still hungry you are only 1 or 2. It's good to eat until you are satisfied and don't feel deprived. Keeping a food diary like this, which I did for 3 months, helped me develop an awareness of my feelings of hunger and I am now a lot better at knowing when to eat and when to stop. I used to eat at certain times whether or not I was hungry and finish everything on my plate as I had been taught to do. I guess I got sick of being so focussed on food and I like 5:2 better because I only have to think about food on 2 days of the week. Also I found it hard to eat enough vegetables and fruit and I don't have to worry about that on 5:2.

I do recommend her book. She has written another book since The Don't Go Hungry Diet, which is Don't go Hungry for Life, which is about maintaining the weight loss. One of the things she says in that is the value of taking a 'weight loss holiday' which people do on this forum.

Interesting listening. A shame I can't find a link to the lecture they mentioned in which Amanda salis said she'd talk more in depth about 5:2!

Reading this thread and links has inspired me to change my regime to 18:6 no carb 5:2's just to see if I can really stoke up the fat burning again. First go at it ok just about ready for zzzzzzzzzzz. Scales will be interesting in am