The FastDay Forum

Hi, I have persuaded my husband to try 5;2 with me even though he is not overweight! This may sound daft but though he's a slim and fit 58 yr old, who weighs less than i do, he is very high risk for cancers and heart disease and i hope doing 5:2 will help prevent these. My question is, should he fast twice or perhaps only once a week to trigger the self-repair mode and help decrease his chances of disease? He eats more than anyone i know but still stays slim (yes I hate him too...) But would he need to up his calories on feed days to stop him wasting away?

Hi artytarty

I'm interested in your post and any informed replies as my husband is similar.

He lost all his excess weight in the first couple of weeks of fasting and now doesn't really need to lose more (maybe a few pounds over a few months would be fine).

BUT he still wants to get the health benefits from fasting, especially with a poor family history for cancer and some other illnesses.

6:1 seems to be suggested for weight maintenance but I wonder if it's enough to get health benefits?

Hi folks

Here's part of a discussion we've been having on Mumsnet:

http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/big_slim_whatever_weight_loss_club/1671456-5-2-Diet-Thread-Going-up-to-11?msgid=36937957#36937957

...which is very relevant to this thread. I'm in the same position of only needing the health benefits and not the weight loss:

"...the need to restrict calories after a 24 hour fast - if you are already at --your goal-- weight you want to be.

BCL said:
BandW. I might be wrong but my interpretation of all this would be: to get health benefits , fast for 24 hours.

If, in addition, you want to lose weight then you need to create a calorie deficit as well, so you would then eat only 600 calories after the 24 hours has elapsed.

However, since you are reaching a point where you want the health benefits but have no more weight to lose then I would think that you could fast for 24 hours and then eat normally as you no longer want a calorie deficit."

I replied:
"That makes perfect sense to me, and that's what I'm now doing - or, I'm about to do. I'm on my second 24 hour fast today, but, unlike Monday where I kept to <600 cals, I shall eat normally after the 24 hours."

So I'm doing 6:1 but with an extra 24 hour fast. We'll see how it goes.

HTH!

(Jo, thanks for your comment on the other thread.)

Thanks Breadandwine - that makes sense. Don't want the menfolk to disappear!

Interesting. Similar situation with me. I've got another 2+ stone to shed and hubby's practically at his target weight (we've been doing 5:2 since November). The health benefits indicated by Horizon programme were amazing. A bit of a problem though is that without human experimentation we won't know if this will work for us health wise until we get to our final days (sorry to mention it!) - so in a way we're all guinea pigs. What works for one will work for another, but not for all - we all have our own ways of adapting the 'rules'. The weight benefits can easily be seen - don't think there's too much debate on that one. My thinking is that, in reality, it won't be for some years (maybe even the next generation) until we know if this really works for health benefits. In the meantime I'm happy to be a guinea pig - and look forward to others' thoughts on this.

Thankyou all for your input. Think after afew weeks to remove the slight retirement podge, I'll suggest he moves to 24hr fast followed by normal meal. That would work quite well with our weekly timetable as well!

Bread and wine, I have been making my own bread for years, do you have a recipe for a calorie counted white or wholemeal loaf?

Not yet, artytarty, but I'll get on to it ASAP.

About the 'retirement podge', when I began this I had a bit of 'middle-aged spread' as I thought, lost a kilo fairly quickly - and just kept on losing - I went on to lose 10kgs altogether!

And gained three new belt notches in the bargain! As they say, 'You win some, you lose some'!

Thanks, Breadandwine That would be great, or come to think of it some rolls so i could freeze them and then get them out on fast days. I thought about just doing one of my usual recipes and working out the calories from the ingredient packets, but doesn't baking reduce some of the dough's calorie content?

[carorees]

Breadandwine's recipe now to be found here

Thank heVens for this post. My OH is doing the 5/2 for health benefits not weight loss,he is 66 years old and I was a bit concerened about his calcium intake etc. Glad others had the same concerns

yes, glad I saw this, since I'm in the same postition! Clive and I have been on 5:2 since September and I am now at the stage where I can't really afford to lose any more weight, but still want to fast for the health benefits.

Is it a complete 'suck it and see' scenario, or is there any science to back up 6:1 versus 24 hour fasts? For example, I saw that Michael Mosley went to 6:1 but is now back to 5:2 - was that because of health benefit evidence? Any ideas/support welcome.

We've put together the story of our adventure with this, together with tips and recipes. It's available at:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00A ... r_asin_lnk

worth a look just for the trouser shot front cover! (David Bailey can rest easy)

Wonderful picture! magsclive and congrats on the book!

I love that trouser shot and congratulations on your book.
I'm another doing the diet with a smaller OH who has less to lose in weight. However he is already on statins despite a generally healthy diet and reasonably active life style. Having heard varied opinions on this medication he would definitely like to ditch them.

thanks for those kind words of support for our book! Yes, the statins question is a tricky one. I've also heard horrible things about statins (see Dr Malcolm McKendrick for more) and don't want Clive to succumb to doctor pressure to take statins. So it's great to know that he has reduced his cholesterol through doing the diet. He still has the occasional pie....

Hi, I am very overweight but over the years have tried everything. I just need something simple and the area that attracted me most to this way of eating was the potential benefits regarding my health. I am on a low dose of water tablets to keep my blood pressure down but wondered if this might help as well as reducing the potential risk of diabetes. When I read the book and saw the programme I thought it would - but reading a number of posts I feel a little uncertain now - I guess time will tell and if I lose weight whilst doing this it will be a bonus. Here's hoping