The FastDay Forum

I am on a local discussion group at home and I posted a link to here to enlighten others as to the potential benefits to this way of life and have mostly got negative feedback about this being a new fad diet, just eat healthy,exercise more and its unhealthy and not safe, bla bla bla!!

I know I should just ignore the nay sayers and plod on with my own agenda but I have a hard time not speaking out on things that I believe in. Saying that I'm also just into my first week of this diet so I'm not even sure I'll stick to it myself...lol...but I believe I will.

Anyone have any words of wisdom on how to challenge the negative comments or would it be best to let the topic fall? I can't dispute that these people lost weight and are healthier now because they changed their way of eating but will they stick to it?

A link to the discussion http://www.ebrandon.ca/messagethread.as ... &cat_id=14

Thanks

Best way IMO is to not discuss it till you have lost the weight and had the bloods. Read yr link, these guys won't listen.

[Betsysgr8]

Wow! Looked at the link and some are really brutal with their opinion. I say give 5:2 a go for 3 months perhaps even get some lab work done. Then at 3 months re-evaluate and get new lab work done and then you will be armed with 'evidence' as to whether you 'damaged' yourself by cutting calories back on 2 days a week.

Agreed. If fasting is so dangerous. How come everyone that practices Ramadan isn't malnourished etc then! A whole population of people would survey show some signs after 100s of years.

The best revenge is success

[carorees]

I'd just copy and paste the reference list from Dr M's book and tell them to read up on the science before forming their opinions and then leave them to stew.

Very few people base their opinion on scientific evidence these days...most science info is gleaned from the newspapers and media where it is written by non scientists and aims to shock rather than inform.

I'm new to the fast diet and I'm on my second week. Had some good results and feel good. The thing is when the debate about nutrition starts, there isn't a wrong way or right way to do it. There are a lot of good diet plans out there. You will always gets people saying different things, doesn't mean their way is right, just means that diet worked for them.

This is a great diet/lifestyle and one I can keep too, so I am happy. Doesn't matter what anyone else thinks.

rabuchanan I think Jon sums it up very succinctly

The thing is when the debate about nutrition starts, there isn't a wrong way or right way to do it. There are a lot of good diet plans out there. You will always gets people saying different things, doesn't mean their way is right, just means that diet worked for them.

This is a great diet/lifestyle and one I can keep too, so I am happy. Doesn't matter what anyone else thinks.

You sound like a strong character so do what you feel is right for you. Hopefully in a few months they'll see your success and be happy for you. Good luck - I truly hope 5:2 works for you as it is for so many of us here

[Tracieknits]

There are a lot of good diets out there, but the best diet is the one you can stick to.

There are a lot of good diets out there, but the best diet is the one you can stick to.

HEAR HEAR!!!

Don't use the word, "fast," maybe. Just say you're losing weight by eating less calories over the course of a week, that you're taking a weekly view of calorie consumption rather than a daily view.

You don't actually "fast" on this WOE anyway, you restrict your calorie intake significantly two or three days a week. I think that word sends the wrong message to a lot of people, because it's an exaggeration of what we really do.

Another way to phrase it is "hunger management," where you learn how it feels to be hungry so that you learn that it's not so bad to deny yourself food even when you're hungry. The wholly unhelpful advice of "if you want to lose weight, eat less and exercise more," though of course true, doesn't help anyone figure out HOW to eat less. If you eat less you get hungry, and then you eat more and you're back to where you started. This WOE teaches you how to handle the hunger, how to not eat (or not eat so much) when you are hungry.

Most people mistake that ability as some moralistic "will power" and a reflection on your moral character. It's more like something you learn, something you get better at as you practice it.

But unfortunately the word, "fast," will stick to this WOE and its current popularity will make anyone who doesn't take the time to learn about it think it's just the latest fad.

That all said, what my wife said above about the best diet being the one you can stick to--that of course is the 100% answer.

I have been overweight since childhood and have never been convinced about any diet, since I'm not good at self denial and do not believe I could permanently follow any of the well known diets for life, as would be necessary for maintenance. 5:2 is the first diet I have seen which 1) is based on scientific evidence (rather than the mumbo jumbo of most diets I have heard of) and 2) is sustainable for an indefinite period.

Consequently I have lost 10kg in 4 months and it has not felt terribly difficult.

I didn't bother to tell people I was doing this as I know how judgemental and aggressive people can be when you mention DIETS! For some reason every overweight person you know wants you to fail, they find the phrase, 'told you so' quite irresistible. The trick is, when you have lost the weight, and it is obvious to all and sundry, you look good, healthy, glowing and slim, well, what is there to say? It is very difficult, however hard you try and people do still try, to rubbish something when its success is staring you in your, still fat, face!

Even now, some overweight people feel the need to tell me, quite assertively, that I must not lose any more weight, I never said I wanted to, but they still cannot resist it.

I suppose jealousy and/or a sense of personal failure is a very sad thing.

Ballerina x

I followed the link, what a negative bunch some of them are! Many of them made statements that indicate very little understanding of what the 5:2 way of eating actualy is. People don't 'starve' themselves 2 days a week. We just limit calories to 500 or 600 for that day. It is a sustainable way of eating and is flexible so it isn't a diet that you do for a few weeks and then go back to eating 'normally'. Their way is basically to do nothing.

A lot of people who become overweight don't actually eat junk food all the time. You can become obese while eating what is considered perfectly healthy food. The difficulty is controlling the amount of food consumed and that's where you need someting a bit more structured than limiting calories on a daily basis by reading food labels, weighing everyting and being at the mercy of an uncontrolled appitite.5:2 gives a structured approach to healthy eating.

I think about it like religion (or lack of). If what I'm doing/believing works for me, no need to convince others to feel the same way

It is frustrating though!!