The FastDay Forum

Dear fellow fasters,
I started 5:2 after reading about MichaelMoseley's
documentary, then watching it on you tube, then lurking around the forum for a while. I was also influenced by some of the other midwives at work who were slowly but surely losing weight - one of them was only a size 12 to begin with but was doing it to encourage her overweight husband. He now is a healthy weight and she is a size 8-10 which she was in her 20s (she's now late 50s) and she has boundless energy
The manager of my husband's shop has joined me after my waist reappeared after a long absence, and she is now a completely different shape and feels great, she still completely over indulges with chocolate but never on a fast day, and she is amazed at her own will power. Much like me she hasn't lost much actual weight but thinks a change in inches is more satisfying.
We both have various family members and friends who we would love to haul aboard this wagon but so far they are resisting. ...I have been quietly just getting on with it myself and only mentioning 5:2 if asked in the hope that this will be less overbearing (I do have certain tendencies in that area...) but I would dearly like my very overweight brother, in particular, to make the decision to get to grips with his health while he still has the chance.
Please send suggestions - have any of you had particular success influencing others?
Thanks

Hi @JLmid, sorry I have no answers for you. I'm really starting the believe fasting is something you have to be ready to do for yourself and not because (like so many 'diets') someone says it's the way to go. Back in 2013 when I first had success with 5:2, I wanted to tell the world. I told my sister (who would love to lose 4 or 5 st) about it. Her response was that she loves food too much to fast and really couldn't miss meals. She didn't want to 'starve' herself and always wanted to feel full. Other friends I've told seemed to take pleasure in telling me how bad for my body this WOE is. Most people are still brain washed in to thinking they need many smaller meals a day. Unfortunately I stopped fasting a year ago and regained the weight I'd lost, making it look like fasting really doesn't work. I think twice now before telling people about my WOE. Saying that, when people do start to notice again and asking how I've lost weight, I will tell them. As for your brother, may be get him to have a read of this forum or watch the Michael Moseley documentary, focus more on health than the weight, after all that is where we all benefit first. Good luck.

I only tell people about 5:2 if they ask. People may feel insulted to get that advice unsolicited.

Hiya! I agree with the other responses!
I know you have the welfare of others in mind,but you can only take responsibility for yourself in such big decisions as this.
I have learnt over nearly three years of on and off fasting that i can only do it when i' m in a particular frame of mind,and then i almost enjoy it! Other times fasting seems the most undesirable thing in the world and i feel like its too too much to manage,and i dont even want to try!
Most of us grow up having three meals a day,so unless / until the theory behind fasting clicks in an individual's mind,they will continue to think its a fad/ downright dangerous/ it will make them ill/ they will keel over and faint/ they cant give up their treats ..etc etc.
Keep doing what you feel is good for yourself and let others find their own way! X

Hi , CandiceMarie and MaryAnn, thanks for replying, I appreciate it....You are all right, of course, something like this only stands a chance of succeeding if someone makes the decision for themselves to give it a try. I suppose the reason I get so frustrated is that my brother always brings up the subject of his weight and health himself every time we meet, so I know he isn't happy with the situation....he's such a Iovely person, I just want him to live as long as possible and at the moment he looks like he's on the verge of having a stroke or a heart attack. I suppose I should carry on keeping myself healthy and happy and live in hope that he will reach that tipping point one day

Oops! so sorry @justdee, that was the 5th time I tried to sent last reply but the message kept disappearing into the ether, and then I missed your name off even though you were the first to reply.....I do wish you all the best on your new fasting journey

So sorry to hear how worried you are about your brother. If he brings the subject up, I think it's ok to talk about the benefits of fasting. Tell him how you feel and that you're worried about his health. Forget about the weight loss for now, after all it's only a side effect of fasting. There are so many more important benefits. May be speak to him about those. We all saw in the documentary how quickly our health can improve with regular fast. After all, the documentary was about longevity not weight loss. If he doesn't like the sound of 5:2, he could start with extending the fast he already does every night and build on that.

A Freudian slip about your own brother there justdee? !!

Agree with the others. Advice is tough, even with family members. It'll happen when he's ready. (Which seems close.)

@JLmid, I posted something that may be relevant to your brother, as well as for those who still believe they'll keel over if they skip a meal....

Though it's discussed mostly in bodybuilding contexts, I've found the concept of fat vs sugar burner useful. Prior to starting 5.2, I did a food combining thing, which among other things meant you weren't allowed to eat sooner than 5 hours following a meal (only exception was if you ate only fruit or nonstarchy veggies). Given the other limitations of this WOE, you also were unlikely to eat much bad stuff (ie, cake, ice cream), so were less likely to be on a "too much sugar" rollercoaster in any case. And since you knew you wouldn't get to eat again for awhile, you tended to be more careful about what you ate. AND...if I get up in the morning and eat NOTHING (except coffee; without my caffeine, I'll get a headache) for hours--typically 6pm on light days, usually 11am or later on normal days--I'm just fine. A little hungry, but no blood sugar issues.

Now, I'm not promoting that WOE; obviously, I didn't find it sustainable long-term (just had to give up too many yummy things!). But it really got me on a better pattern of eating, not nibbling all day long (what I call the "glucose drip"). Those who are addicted to a constant stream of calories to support their blood sugar might need to make a transition before beginning 5.2 proper. Meaning, stop the constant eating. Plus, choose better; to this day, if I eat something sweet first thing in the day without significant protein to complement it, I will screw up my blood sugar pretty much for the day. So, if I go out for brunch and want my favorite lemon curd crepes, I must have eggs or a scramble with it.

So, stretching out the time between meals, no snacks, protein...all good ways to keep blood sugar control. And yes, in my teens and 20's I had hypoglycemia issues (and my diet was crap; I was skinny and thought nothing of it).

hehe @ADFnFuel Edited, but yes mine is a bother most of the time

Thanks so much, everyone, it does help. I have decided I will just KEEP QUIET. The next time he brings up the subject, which he will, I'll just drop in one killer fact- like the way you have to burn abdominal fat after 12 hours of no calories, as you have come to the end of storable glycogen - then just change the subject.

Hi All, feeling much better now, 2 women came into our shop separately and asked our manager what she'd been doing as she has changed shape so much. They both really wanted 5:2 details and have gone with all the info to get started. ....One in particular was especially keen to watch the Horizon documentary then look at all the 5:2 lab stuff, so at least it's having a ripple effect on some people!

Eat Fast and Live Longer:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x18a1b ... _lifestyle

And an extended list:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... xJWdDwlZlm

Hi All, our manager and I had a very heart warming experience last week, one of the women I mentioned earlier in this thread came into our shop specifically to thank both of us. ..We were mystified at first, but then realised who she was, the last time she came in she went away with all the 5:2/ intermittent fasting information I could muster while serving other customers - at her request, honest! - and she had come back in to report the following;
-both she and her husband have been doing 5:3 for 10 weeks
- they have both lost over a stone
- her cholesterol had dropped from 7.8 to 5.3
- neither of them feel particularly hungry until the evening of a fast day
- her husband has much less joint pain
I feel vindicated! Admittedly she initially asked for the information after noticing our manager looking slim and healthy, so I didn't have to bludgeon anyone with unsolicited facts and opinions, which is my usual method! She herself looked noticeably slimmer having lost her spare tyre.
My brother has lost some weight due to a certain level of cutting down, he still brings up the subject every time we meet but isn't willing to try 5:2. ...yet! I live in hope.

She and her husband have been doing 5:2, not 5:3. ..silly me