I have been striving to lose weight/get healthier since February but 5:2 now since March. I was on vacation for some of the official weigh-in days, but I've been following and weighing and measuring and so on. I am THRILLED with my progress - total of 34 pounds lost from my starting weight in February, most of that since 5:2 - even though there are entire clumps of weeks where I don't lose any weight at all.
The thrilling bit is how GOOD I feel.
What irritates me is the nay-sayers. People ask me what I'm doing and I tell them. 5:2 has literally been life-changing for me! I'm more than willing to share and hope it helps others like it has helped me. My facebook page routinely posts a link to the documentary with Dr. Mosley or some other informational link. I talk about it at work. Several other coworkers started/"tried" it. Two are still doing it and doing very well. All the others quit without completing even one full week - one quit without completing one whole fast because she couldn't resist a bag of cheetos her daughter brought home.
One bag. One day. No attempt to try again.
Now, this is her life, her choice, her body. I really don't care and I'm not saying that to judge her.
What irritates the crap out of me is to hear these people who 'tried' talk to each other about how "It's just a fad" and "It's so unhealthy" and "It will never work long-term".
Listen. I get that it didn't work for you. I get that you weren't ready to really make a change or whatever it was. You're my coworker and I like and respect you on every level. I don't care if you don't like my way of life - but don't bad-mouth it because it didn't work for you! Yeesh!!
Is fasting hard? Some days yes, some days no, at least for me. Do I 'fail' at completing a fast? Some days yes! Do I stuff my face with unhealthy junk on my non-fast days? Some days yes!
But here is what fasting has done for me:
It has given me a WOE that doesn't cost me anything in time, money, or effort to improve my body and my health. No pills, no bars, no shakes, no special meals, no nothing. It's actually SAVED me grocery money because 2 days a week I don't eat anything but a salad and some cottage cheese or a chicken breast.
Fasting has taught me about my body. My eating habits. It has made me intensely aware of my 'boredom' eating and my 'emotional' eating and my 'eat it because it's there' eating. It has taught me what it feels like to be hungry and what it feels like to be satisfied. It has taught me that I don't have to eat until my gut *hurts* from being overstuffed in order to think that I've had enough! It has taught me what it feels like NOT to be riding the peaks and valleys of sugar highs and lows.
Do you *have* to change your eating patterns on non-fasting days? No - but guess what? For me, at least, I have done it slowly and naturally simply because I am finally learning what it feels like to feel healthy and GOOD. I don't crave sugary stuff anymore. I eat it, sometimes, when the mood strikes me and it's there. But I can eat one cookie or one piece of cake or one piece of chocolate and feel happy to enjoy the flavor and the treat and not crave eating the whole dang bag/cake! I can eat an actual serving size of potato chips and be happy with the yummy, salty, greasy deliciousness without having to eat the whole dang bag!
My fasting days have taught me about nutrient-dense foods, and guess what? They're yummy! I've found fun recipes for healthy veggie dishes that are delicious and learned to incorporate more and more whole fruits and vegs in my daily routine even on my non-fasting days.
Can you lose weight on the 5:2 diet eating junk on the 'feed' days? Of course. Lots of people do. But my goal was not only to lose weight but to get healthier all over, inside and out. 5:2 fasting has been a valuable tool for me to move along that process. The health benefits of fasting are too strongly, scientifically proven to be denied, no matter how healthy a person's over-all diet is. More importantly, to me as a Registered Nurse and a 'follow-the-money-trail' cynic when it comes to scientific research, I find the independent studies to be less suspicious because no one is paying to promote their product with the outcome! There is nothing to 'sell' in this way of eating, unless you count a handful of books out there. No one gets to make a bazillion dollars on supplements or multilevel marketing stuff or anything like that. Indeed, the people with something to sell seem to be the ones claiming that 5:2 fasting 'just won't work'.
It does work. It is not for everyone. Certainly it is not for someone who is just leaping from diet to diet looking for a 'quick fix' but who doesn't really want to be healthy or make any effort. It does take a little work and a little self-awareness.
But I never have to spend a penny on anyone's snake oil. I never have to say goodbye forever to my favorite foods. I never have to beat myself up if I 'blow' a fast day because there is always tomorrow. In one tiny little eating-pattern-shift, I have taken away guilt and obsession.
If you don't want to do it, don't do it. Don't assume there is something flawed in the way of life simply because you don't like it.
//end rant.
The thrilling bit is how GOOD I feel.
What irritates me is the nay-sayers. People ask me what I'm doing and I tell them. 5:2 has literally been life-changing for me! I'm more than willing to share and hope it helps others like it has helped me. My facebook page routinely posts a link to the documentary with Dr. Mosley or some other informational link. I talk about it at work. Several other coworkers started/"tried" it. Two are still doing it and doing very well. All the others quit without completing even one full week - one quit without completing one whole fast because she couldn't resist a bag of cheetos her daughter brought home.
One bag. One day. No attempt to try again.
Now, this is her life, her choice, her body. I really don't care and I'm not saying that to judge her.
What irritates the crap out of me is to hear these people who 'tried' talk to each other about how "It's just a fad" and "It's so unhealthy" and "It will never work long-term".
Listen. I get that it didn't work for you. I get that you weren't ready to really make a change or whatever it was. You're my coworker and I like and respect you on every level. I don't care if you don't like my way of life - but don't bad-mouth it because it didn't work for you! Yeesh!!
Is fasting hard? Some days yes, some days no, at least for me. Do I 'fail' at completing a fast? Some days yes! Do I stuff my face with unhealthy junk on my non-fast days? Some days yes!
But here is what fasting has done for me:
It has given me a WOE that doesn't cost me anything in time, money, or effort to improve my body and my health. No pills, no bars, no shakes, no special meals, no nothing. It's actually SAVED me grocery money because 2 days a week I don't eat anything but a salad and some cottage cheese or a chicken breast.
Fasting has taught me about my body. My eating habits. It has made me intensely aware of my 'boredom' eating and my 'emotional' eating and my 'eat it because it's there' eating. It has taught me what it feels like to be hungry and what it feels like to be satisfied. It has taught me that I don't have to eat until my gut *hurts* from being overstuffed in order to think that I've had enough! It has taught me what it feels like NOT to be riding the peaks and valleys of sugar highs and lows.
Do you *have* to change your eating patterns on non-fasting days? No - but guess what? For me, at least, I have done it slowly and naturally simply because I am finally learning what it feels like to feel healthy and GOOD. I don't crave sugary stuff anymore. I eat it, sometimes, when the mood strikes me and it's there. But I can eat one cookie or one piece of cake or one piece of chocolate and feel happy to enjoy the flavor and the treat and not crave eating the whole dang bag/cake! I can eat an actual serving size of potato chips and be happy with the yummy, salty, greasy deliciousness without having to eat the whole dang bag!
My fasting days have taught me about nutrient-dense foods, and guess what? They're yummy! I've found fun recipes for healthy veggie dishes that are delicious and learned to incorporate more and more whole fruits and vegs in my daily routine even on my non-fasting days.
Can you lose weight on the 5:2 diet eating junk on the 'feed' days? Of course. Lots of people do. But my goal was not only to lose weight but to get healthier all over, inside and out. 5:2 fasting has been a valuable tool for me to move along that process. The health benefits of fasting are too strongly, scientifically proven to be denied, no matter how healthy a person's over-all diet is. More importantly, to me as a Registered Nurse and a 'follow-the-money-trail' cynic when it comes to scientific research, I find the independent studies to be less suspicious because no one is paying to promote their product with the outcome!
There is nothing to 'sell' in this way of eating, unless you count a handful of books out there. No one gets to make a bazillion dollars on supplements or multilevel marketing stuff or anything like that. Indeed, the people with something to sell seem to be the ones claiming that 5:2 fasting 'just won't work'.It does work. It is not for everyone. Certainly it is not for someone who is just leaping from diet to diet looking for a 'quick fix' but who doesn't really want to be healthy or make any effort. It does take a little work and a little self-awareness.
But I never have to spend a penny on anyone's snake oil. I never have to say goodbye forever to my favorite foods. I never have to beat myself up if I 'blow' a fast day because there is always tomorrow. In one tiny little eating-pattern-shift, I have taken away guilt and obsession.
If you don't want to do it, don't do it. Don't assume there is something flawed in the way of life simply because you don't like it.
//end rant.
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