The FastDay Forum

Thank you for that mariposa and couldn't agree more AMEM to that.
And Very well done on all accounts, as for exercise to what you can when you can as they say every little helps that's what I've found Sue

PLOS ONE: Low-Carbohydrate Diets and All-Cause Mortality: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies

"All cause mortality" - so low carb diets cause falls, car accidents, cancer etc ??

Observational studies are to science what astrology is to astronomy.

When I saw the video MM seemed to be eating lots of beefburgers which didn't give me a very good impression of what to eat on a non-fast day and it contradicts the so called healthy benefits of 5:2.

Mariposa, an inspiring post and the best answer to TT (Tomtank) You see Tom, how this works? It creeps up on you, and you change, slowly but surely, not just the quantity of food but the quality. I love reading the posts on here, especially the ones who are successful and been doing it for a wee while, because more often than not, it shows that almost magical "resetting" be it for sugar, cake, alcohol or whatever, that so many 5.2ers discover - not a total elimination, but a happy reduction that allows both weight loss, hopefully health benefits and still able to have a slice of birthday cake at times, a sip or two of champagne, wine or even if you must water!! I have lived in quite a few countries (and cultures) in my time, and always been struck by how central food is to culture and general happiness! To try to impose one way of eating or lifestyle for all does not work.

I'm a serial dieter. I feel like I should go to a weekly meeting and declare that this week I tried to restrict my carbs or the week before I tried the grapefruit diet and failed, every time.

My starting BMI was 46, and I need urgent surgery. As soon as I heard the specialist say the words 'paralysed from the neck down', I tried to diet immediately by calorie counting and failed miserably. The thought of yet another month, year, 2 years, of never having a bar of chocolate or a piece of roast chicken skin again, just made the desire for everything forbidden overpowering. Within the week I had already stuffed my face with whatever I could get my hands on thinking 'I will start again tomorrow, but lets just have one more taste of everything'. I hated myself for being so weak.

Then someone pointed me towards Dr Morley's video. It was an eye opener, a revelation. I had always thought to myself that going cold turkey with food would be so much easier than a constant day in day out fight, constantly thinking about food and how best to juggle those calories to get just one little treat in, but we have all be so heavily indoctrinated that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, lots of small frequent meals are better than 1 or 2 big meals, keep your blood sugar stable (at a high level with all those carbs)etc. etc. That not eating would have your family reporting you to a doctor or something.

Fasting/ cold turkey just rang so many bells for me, I've been fasting since the end of February and I'm still fasting, which is amazing as my tolerance level for 'diets' has always been around 3 months maximum. I have lost fairly steadily, one 3 week plateau that didn't bother me, as the WOE is so easy to follow that I could keep doing it, even in the face of a 'failure'. I can see this being a life long habit, I enjoy fast days now. I get more done on a fast day, I think better, clearer on a fast day and the day after.

Other advantages I have noticed are:- I only have two biscuits out of a pack with my cup of tea, not the whole pack. I only have a few crisps (chips) out of a packet before handing them around, again, not sitting and scoffing the whole packet. I pile my plate with veggies and enjoy them. Overall my portion size has reduced by at least half and I no longer 'graze' between meals as I now know what hunger feels like and that it won't kill me to wait till the next meal.

In the time I have been fasting I had my 50th Birthday week. A week of going out, meeting friends and family, eating and drinking. Plus two other eating and drinking 'events', that I would have been either miserable at or guilty at, and probably put on weight. Yet I wasn't miserable, I didn't feel guilty pouring the peppercorn sauce on my steak or having the delicious creme caramel, I knew I may put on 'some' weight but a day or two of fasting would have me sorted, which it did.

I can see me in two years walking down a promenade in a size small dress on holiday, not the beach ball on legs I must have looked like last year.

Hi Julieathome,

What a wonderful post. Congratulations on your progress and how much it has done for you. I hope you enjoy being on the forum, there is so much help here and lovely 'nerdy' stuff to keep you going for ages so enjoy, welcome and keep posting,

ballerina x

I read so many inspiring comments on this thread, that they are definitely compensating for the rudeness of a few replies. Thank you all!

An inspiring read julieathome, congratulations on finding a path that will lead to better health and addressing eating habits along the way. Another testament to how 5:2 works. A slimmer and healthier version of myself will be joining you on that beach!

Hi:

I just posted this on a different thread for another reason, but I guess it really belongs here. Off to the pub(s)!



Wow, what a debate. As I am just sitting around waiting to go to a couple of my favorite pubs , I figure I might as well join in for a bit.

The 5:2 diet covered by this site began as a life extension diet. It can be completely described as eating 600 calories or less two days a week. The other 5 days, Dr. M ate the way he usually ate. After 5 weeks he lost a little more than 14 pounds and his blood work improved. The two 'fasting' days were the key to the WOE, not what was or was not eaten. Studies mentioned in the program confirmed that similar weight loss and blood work results were obtained from groups eating both low and high fat diets, supporting this position.

People tried the WOE and began reporting weight losses, and Dr. M realized he had a commercially viable weight loss diet on his hands. He rushed out a book to hit 'diet season' after the holidays, and the rest is history.

I read the book for the heck of it a couple of weeks ago (the diet can be described in a sentence, so where is a book in that?) and nowhere in the book did I find that I could eat as much as I wanted of anything I wanted for 5 days and lose weight. That argument is just foolish.

The debate then shifts to eating 5 days as you usually do. Common sense should apply here, also. If a person comes to 5:2 while gaining weight, their 'usual' eating habits must be providing calories above their TDEE. 5:2 will then slow their gain, stabilize their weight or cause a small weight loss, depending on the amount of their 'overeating'. Depending on their results, a person can then modify their 'feast' day caloric intake to achieve a better weight loss result.

The genius of 5:2 is that you can easily learn to modify it to get the results you are after. There is no need to also eat a low carb, low fat, paleo, grapefruit or boiled egg diet. Just eat foods you enjoy eating in amounts that produce the results you are after. It really can be that simple!

PLOS ONE: Low-Carbohydrate Diets and All-Cause Mortality: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies

"All cause mortality" - so low carb diets cause falls, car accidents, cancer etc ??

Observational studies are to science what astrology is to astronomy.

Aye. I did say that they were 'not without their criticisms', and that's one (of many) of them...

Trouble is, with long term interventions like this I suspect that it is impossible (rightly so?) to get ethical approval for trials that are likely to be significantly and / or permanently detrimental to the health of the participants.

Thus the observational / cohort stuff which, I completely understand, has many a 'real' scientist spluttering into their coffee...

FatDog

And Mariposa and Julieathome: you both brought tears to my eyes... Brave lassies - for all you are doing and for saying so so openly and honestly. Thank you. FatDog.

Hi all
Such fun reading all this
As a serial dieter here is what I think :
It is so wonderful,to,eat from all food groups and not restricting ourselves
I have read so much about health and fitness over the years I feel almost like a professional and it seems to me from my reading that to be healthy we should be eating a varied diet and not cutting out any food groups
That is why 5-2 appeals to me.i eat bread if I want ,I have days of high protein,low carbs, vegetarian days ,carb days etc and I feel good and for the first time in years I am loosing my middle age spread
On the subject of exercise : no ,exercise alone will not result in weight loss but from what I have read the best weight loss results come from combining healthy eating and exercise
Plus exercise is good for you and can be fun
Find an exercise you enjoy and do it because you love it
Ok, that is something I know about cos I teach yoga
Being strong and flexible is so good for your self esteem

And my conclusions:

1) Dr M was not eating lots of beefburgers in the video - he was shown with Dr Varady eating one whilst they discussed her obese patients eating what they liked on feed days and they lost weight.

2) Dr M does not encourage people to eat rubbish - yes should have gone back & quoted TomTank exactly.

Semi conclusion; People read/see something and then when they try to remember what it was, it's like Chinese whispers. 'Eat normally' becomes 'eat unhealthily' - by someone who assumes that Obese people sit around all day eating sh*t!

Final conclusion: A huge proportion of posters on here disagree wholeheartedly with the assumptions of TomTank and I have yet to see anyone here agreeing with her assumptions. Therefore 99% of posters...OK pedants 95% ish! are getting massively great benefits from Fasting in some form and would recommend the diet, the book & the doco to anyone contemplating losing weight using this method. There will ALWAYS be a negative voice in the crowd. Amen

IMO, if someone who eats unhealthy food everyday and is obese, starts 5:2 and eats 500/600 calories for 2 days, continues with the unhealthy food on 5 days and loses weight it is still better than just sit there and do nothing.
It's really a win/win situation. Whether one changes their diet or not, if they lead their way to a healthier BMI then they are still winning.

IMO, if someone who eats unhealthy food everyday and is obese, starts 5:2 and eats 500/600 calories for 2 days, continues with the unhealthy food on 5 days and loses weight it is still better than just sit there and do nothing.
It's really a win/win situation. Whether one changes their diet or not, if they lead their way to a healthier BMI then they are still winning.

Speaking for myself - and who else can I speak for?- I was eating a lot of unhealthy food before I started 5:2 and that really is the great thing about 5:2 - I have gone from a situation where I could not control my eating despite my best efforts and serial diets to a situation where I am naturally eating well on my feed days - no will power needed.