The FastDay Forum

[carorees]

So I am fasting while sitting on the fence.

Sounds uncomfortable!

So I am fasting while sitting on the fence.

Sounds uncomfortable! [/quote]

You bet - because I don't believe in easy solutions

Yup I'm definitely with Coffeecat and Demi when it comes to the science of all the "live longer" stuff. It's interesting and shows great promise but I think that much more needs to be done before I buy it wholeheartedly.

That said, as a method of calorie restriction, I found it very appealing and do-able from the get-go, and that's how I sell it to people when they ask me. The health benefits of not being overweight are well documented, so if that's all I achieve then it's still worth doing I think. I've gone from being on the edge of obese to within a couple of kilos of the "normal" BMI range in 5 months so that's a success in itself.

I continue to try to eat a varied diet and unless some major problem with my nutrition is shown up, I aim to continue with some version of intermittent fasting indefinitely as a means of weight control.

[carorees]

That said, as a method of calorie restriction, I found it very appealing and do-able from the get-go, and that's how I sell it to people when they ask me. The health benefits of not being overweight are well documented, so if that's all I achieve then it's still worth doing I think. I've gone from being on the edge of obese to within a couple of kilos of the "normal" BMI range in 5 months so that's a success in itself.

I continue to try to eat a varied diet and unless some major problem with my nutrition is shown up, I aim to continue with some version of intermittent fasting indefinitely as a means of weight control.

Exactly!!

I would add that as well as a good method of calorie restriction the changes in mental attitude towards foods, the freedom from worry about feeling hungry and the reduction in appetite are also compelling reasons to persist with fasting.

I would add that as well as a good method of calorie restriction the changes in mental attitude towards foods, the freedom from worry about feeling hungry and the reduction in appetite are also compelling reasons to persist with fasting.

Definitely, good point! If that effect lasts, I will be a happy cat!! And so far, it's been amazingly easy.

the freedom from worry about feeling hungry

This is a benefit I didn't expect. Experiencing actual hunger (or at least the beginnings of actual hunger) on a regular basis and feeling how it is different from what you thought was hunger before really takes the edge off of hunger, at least in this context. (Note this is certainly not to diminish the experience of people whose hunger is not a conscious choice like it is for us.)

Thanks for putting it in those words.

[carorees]

Yes, I think one of the differences between people who put on weight and the naturally slim is the tendency to worry about when the next meal will be!

[wildmissus]

I agree with soggyoldcat, I have plenty of 'friends' who would happily try and sabotage my efforts. I started at the beginning of the year and told no-one. A couple of weeks later when I went home for lunch on a fast day my husband had made my lunch so I told him about IF. I think he was a bit surprised and skeptical. That evening I finally found a link to the Horizon programme and we both watched it - he immediately said he would fast with me. Between then and now I have mentioned IF to a couple of people who have immediately said 'I couldn't/wouldn't do that' and so end of conversation.

I spoke to my sister on the phone last night (she live 150 miles away) and she was complaining about losing and reganing the same 2lb on WW so I told her about IF. She is a nurse at a doctors surgery and one of the doctors is doing it so my sister 'knows all about it' but still insists she couldn't do it at she is on anti- depressants and they are increasing her appetite!!! We spoke about that of course but she still didn't seem interested. As I've said to both my husband and my sister if you don't give IF a serious try, what else is there as diets don't work. Anyway I've emailed her the link to the TV programme, given her this forum address and the book details................watch this space.

Given the resistance to IF from those closest to me I'm just going to make it my little secret.

I have suffered with chronic depression since I was a teenager and some months are better than others. I always try to deal with it as much as I can before going to the doctors as the medication makes me fairly ill. I had been putting off the dreaded doctors visit for a few weeks before starting this WOE and now I am on it, I am feeling so much more positive, I no longer need the visit to the docs. This is purely personal so I am not recommending the same for others. Everyone is individual after all! Plus I have only done 5 weeks so things may still change.
I now do not discuss the 5:2 with anyone as even though people ask how I lose weight, I remain vague. Sick of having to defend my WOE to people.

Yesssss - my husband is a scientist - he hasn't watched the documentary ( I sent him the link) or anything on this website. All he has read is the NHS review. I say the science is new but I don't think it is going to hurt if done in moderation. We can't afford to wait for 30 years for the longitudinal studies to be completed. We really need to look at anecdotal evidence - and there appears to be quite a lot!!
A little bit frustrating.
In Australia this diet has only just hit the news with a newspaper doing an article on it last month but it is still largely unknown. It hasn't hit the women's mags yet.
I have stopped talking about it unless people are really genueinely interested in my weightloss.

[carorees]

Caro, if your OH is a scientist he will know that the NHS review being based on a google scholar search makes it lose all credibility. Because the author did not use PubMed, which is the industry standard for literature searching, many studies of intermittent fasting in humans were missed!

But of course it is true that we have no human evidence for benefits beyond weight loss. Because weight loss improves health so dramatically and the other benefits will take years to manifest (if they exist), we won't know for a long time. Meanwhile, if moderate fasting (and it is only a 20% calorie cut per week) results in weight loss that stays off, surely the odds are that we will end up healthier?

Well that's what I would say to sceptics (only I'd probably go on a lot longer until they were forced to agree with me or die of boredom )!

Thanks Carorees - I really enjoy your posts - I have been reading them for a few weeks before I have finally joined.
I will put OH onto the PubMed website.
I think he was concerned I was getting a bit evangelical - so I have toned it down a bit!

There's a link in resources somewhere to an online mental agility test that Dr M did to see if fasting had improved his mental faculties. We should all do it and then again in 6 months to see if there is any change!

Remember, in the film, Dr M balancing on one leg? He could only manage about 5 seconds, whilst the other guy (a CRONIE?) did 30 seconds no bother.

Back in November, after IFing for several months I found I could balance on one foot for 28 seconds, and about a minute on the other. I'll try it again, later today (I'm in bed, ATM, reading the Sunday papers - and these forums!) and report back.

It would be interesting to find out from everybody how long they could manage - and how old everyone is, I'm in my mid-seventies.

[carorees]

Thanks Carorees - I really enjoy your posts - I have been reading them for a few weeks before I have finally joined.
I will put OH onto the PubMed website.
I think he was concerned I was getting a bit evangelical - so I have toned it down a bit!

Loads of links in the nerdy stuff section to studies. PhilT has done a table of the human studies and their findings. viewtopic.php?f=10&t=669

Hi, I've been doing the fast diet for two weeks, on the recommendation of my sister, for whom it is working. I like it too, and I'm reading the original Fast Diet book.

My question is about whether, and how, to talk to anybody about this! I was talking on Facebook about it today, and it made a friend mad. I'm not sure why. The discussion seemed to be generally about exercise and diet, and what works, and I mentioned that I was trying this, and that I liked the word "autophagy." (A new word for me.) She said that autophagy was a bad thing and that she was a doctor, etc. I said that my reading (in the book and wikipedia) indicated that autophagy was normal and natural, and that fasting just speeds it up. Then she got really mad! She told me I was "forcing" my "beliefs" on others!

To be honest, I don't have any beliefs at all about this: It's just an experiment as far as I'm concerned. It's interesting to see what happens on the fast days, and I have lost a little weight, but I'm not a true believer or anything. And I certainly don't think it's for everybody.

Just wondering if others have run into a kind of weirdly hostile response when they mention this diet. Why are people threatened by it? Do doctors hate it more than other people? Do FAT doctors especially hate it? Have you simply quit telling people that you're doing it, for fear that they will get mad and think that you are trying to convince them to do it?