The FastDay Forum

Tomtank, I am very aware of what 5:2 is. It is a great way to lose weight slowly, without being on a diet, without restricting ANY food, without costing an arm and a leg (Atkins and the lot are not affordable in my book) and without the constant stress of counting calories, weighing food, not going out with friends... not living, if I may say so.
On the other hand, not all of us are happy with losing one pound per week. And not all of us are free of health problems that might slow down our weight loss.
So, to cut the long story short, 5:2 is great, I will do it all my life and maintain my weight but before I reach that weight I will continue speeding up my weight loss by whatever means I find useful.
If I didn't do the attack, I would lose around 200-300grms a week. Not bad, but not enough for me. Would I do a low-carb diet forever? NO. I will do 5:2 forever, I'm just spicing it up a bit in order to get where I want to sooner than later.

Isis - because you have had breast cancer, and have a family history of it, losing weight and eating a really healthy diet are vital.

Suggestions that you should take your time in losing the weight may not be the right way forward.

Fortunately, many people on the forum do not have health issues, and it may be fine for them to lose weight at a slow, but steady, pace.

I have written a lot of posts regarding low-carb eating. I combine this with 5:2, and it works well.

Thank you Tomtank for your concern & suggestions. It was my treatment of having to take tamoxifen that caused my weight gain & difficulty in losing any weight whilst having to take it. Prior to that I was 1-2 stone over my ideal weight. My slow weight loss now may be because of my age & I suppose I should do more exercise but arthritic knees protest after a while but obviously losing weight helps that as well. I guess I am just trying to work out a life/ diet balance which is why 5:2ing with some 16:8ing seems manageable over longer term having tried the calorie counting route to slim before going on a cruise & very promptly putting back on the 2&1/2 stone in weight I had lost ( 2 years ago with huge effort ) then I then lost heart & stopped. I just try & eat smaller amounts of "normal" food now that is still mainly organic fruit & veg & very small amounts of organic dairy with Goats milk in coffee ( Bristol Cancer Centre guidelines ) I don't much like the idea of excluding food groups & just want a WOE I can live with & manage day by day. I really don't know what the best solution is but thank you.

Well done Isis on what you've achieved so far!! It is a long way to go for us both, but no t as long as it was this time last year, so let's do it slooowly and surely this time, I've set my goal lower than 10stone to see how I feel WHEN I get there Sue

TML13 - you said that you thought Atkins was an expensive way of eating.

A couple of eggs for breakfast, a bit of tinned tuna for lunch and a piece of chicken with fresh veg, and a bit of fruit for dessert in the evening.

What's expensive about that?!

Is it because food is dearer in Greece? Is it difficult to buy these sorts of foods?

Hi Isis. I finally looked at what I should weigh this week and if I were to get to the very top of the ok BMI for my height I have to lose 1/2 my body weight. I'm only 5'2! I felt really low especially as I hadn't lost weight last week - which I know was because I had to abandon my second fast of the week due to a migraine. However I figure it has taken me nearly 40 years to put it on so it's not going to be a quick fix. BUT I have found a WOE for the rest of my life which will hopefully be a bit longer because I am losing weight. Stick with it. I'll be cheering when you reach your goal weight and will probably join you in 2015!

Hello Esta
I hope you are feeling better now & your migraine has gone. It is difficult managing living day to day with trying to lose weight & I agree that this WOE is the best balance I have found. Perhaps we will be cheering each other? I am one inch taller than you at 5ft 3inches with a petite frame under there somewhere
I know I am in for the long term because I also have the hope that when I get to within my recommended BMI range that I will be able to learn to maintain the new me with this WOE. Previously when I have lost weight I haven't found a manageable way to do that so it will be another new learning curve. I feel a bit like an ongoing experiment at the moment managing this.

Hi Isis
I have been following your thread at work (this will cost me again, must stop doing it but I am nosy) anyway I thought I would throw in my twopenneth. First I think you have done very well on your weightloss so far Trying not to repeat myself here but I am 5:2ing mainly for the health benefits I hope it brings, like you I have Dementia on both sides of my family, I am caring for my mother who has Alzhemiers and it scares me. Two years ago I hit the scales at 19st my heaviest yet and I felt ill, knee pain the works. I had done Atkins a few years previous and lost 3 stone in 9 months but I couldn't keep it up and put it back on and more but I knew it worked so I started it again to start me off. I then started reading about the effects of too much sugar in the diet, lots of stuff out there, some believe it some don't. So I tweaked my way of eating to full fat low sugar natural foods. I am lucky that I don't have a sweet tooth anyway, I lost 4st up to last November then stalled. January I decided to try 5:2 and carrying on with my low sugar woe. I am close to losing another stone, (Hols got in the way) its taken me this long but I haven't deprived myself of any type of food, if I fancy cake I will just have a very small portion, a couple of weeks ago on hols we went on a Chocolate factory tour, OH is a chocolic, I ate more chocs that day than I have in the last 2 years hardly ever touch the stuff at home. I am rambling now, what I want to say is this, after 40 years I no longer consider myself on a 'diet' If I don't lose anymore weight I will still do fasting. I keep a close check on my inner health and something is working for me, my cholesterol ratio and viseral fat is at a healthy level, I am thinner inside than out, 5st down 2 to go, hey thats 5:2 as well. I think you are doing ok Isis with your weightloss don't get despondant.
Chris x

Hi:

I have read thousands (I think) of posts on this site. It seems around 95% of any dissatisfaction with 5:2 has to do not with whether it works, but with the fact it does not work consistently (ie. weight does not go straight down) and fast.

People tend to forget that 5:2 was not conceived or designed as a weight loss diet. It was an attempt at a life extension diet. But when people tried it and found they lost weight, it is clear to me Dr. M saw a commercial opportunity and started promoting it as a weight loss diet. (There is almost no market for an unproven life extension diet.)

The proven facts with all weight loss diets to date are 1) they all work if followed and 2) after people lose whatever weight they want on them they gain it back.

In my opinion, 5:2 is radically different because it provides a way not only to lose weight, but then to keep it off after it is gone.

If people want to overlay weight loss diets on the 5:2 WOE to speed up the process, fine. But I bet if they don't stick with 5:2, they will not keep the weight off later.

What an amazing amount of weight you have lost Chriso57 & thank you for your encouragement. I am not disappointed with my weight loss just my time frame but I think I had a despondent day, hence my post. Of course it took time to gain my excess pounds so will take time to take it off & 5:2ing does give much me more sense of control over my future eating.
You make a very valid point simcoeluv. I do know that IF research & 5:2 was focused on life extension & the fact there is some research behind it made it more attractive to me & also because of the potential health benefits.
The weight loss side effect is what has caught the public attention & commercialised it with plenty of other people leaping on the bandwagon & not mentioning MM but hey if we get healthy as well that's great!
I will keep plodding on with mixing in some 16:8 but 5:2ing is why I joined this forum with the great support of everyone else on it so a big thank you to everyone who responded to my post & onwards & downwards everyone with lots of ongoing health benefits

[carorees]

Just wanted to say that every time I see your thread title, I have to sing it

"And I've got it seems such a long way to go
To make it to the border of Mexico
So I'll ride like the wind
Ride like the wind"

I spent 30 years getting to my pre-5:2 weight. It would be churlish to moan because it takes a year to get to where I want.

It is human to want to lose weight quicker, but that is not possible. How many diets have you tried?

Other options are far worse, 5:2 is my way of life. Stay with the diet that works. The diet I know I could keep doing for the rest of my life.

Yes, I am here for life extension. The weight loss was a nice surprise!

Thanks for that segue Caroees to that song "ride like the wind" can get it out of my mind now

Grateful to have found 5:2, I tried 36 hr fluid for 6 fasts and with rebounding thought might try 5:2 + 16:8 because ... my weight loss stalled more than I am happy with and because I can and also for a ? comfortable way to maintain this WOE long haul

I am motivated by success of weight lost since starting 5:2 as have been carting around an unhealthy poundage which had to go for two differing health conditions.

No one ought to feel any pressure. we can choose 5:2 but if we choose to do a variation we ought not to have to justify that either. within reason there are no rules. I also think the different experiences inform everyone on this journey. Mine is weight loss by fasting and eating healthily.

Hang in there Isis this is a good way , the little losses all add up in the end and some weigh~ins will be a big surprise. Glad you are having a go at 16:8 too

TML13 - you said that you thought Atkins was an expensive way of eating.

A couple of eggs for breakfast, a bit of tinned tuna for lunch and a piece of chicken with fresh veg, and a bit of fruit for dessert in the evening.

What's expensive about that?!

Is it because food is dearer in Greece? Is it difficult to buy these sorts of foods?

Tomtank, no of course it is not difficult to buy these foods in Greece, LOL! But protein is more expensive than fruit, pulses, veg, rice and grains. And, to be honest, I wouldn't eat two eggs for breakfast every day, nor I would eat tinned tuna when I live in a country surrounded by fish!!!
Anyway, to reply a bit more generally to your question, Atkins is about 3 times more expensive than my regular way of eating which is based on the Med diet.
So, in my book, paying three times more money to eliminate food groups from my diet is listed under illogical...

[carorees]

Plus, I'd consider the ethics of eating tuna, which is so overfished that most species are becoming endangered. Plus, the high protein content will likely raise IGF1 levels and so may increase cancer risk. And then there's the environmental cost of eating a lot of protein and finally, even though I keep chickens and have plenty of eggs, eating them for breakfast makes me feel queasy!