The FastDay Forum

He's advocating cooking at home, yep, that's exactly what I've done to get to my lovely comfortable current volume!

It was a skeptical review of the book as well as the diet as a whole. I don't think skepticism is unhealthy, I classify myself as a skeptic, but presents us with challenges to our own perception. Evidence from people on these boards point to this diet being successful in the short term. In the long term we will just have to be pioneers and see what the future brings.

It was a skeptical review of the book as well as the diet as a whole. I don't think skepticism is unhealthy, I classify myself as a skeptic, but presents us with challenges to our own perception. Evidence from people on these boards point to this diet being successful in the short term. In the long term we will just have to be pioneers and see what the future brings.

As co-founder of York Skeptics and organiser of monthly Skeptics in the Pub meetings, I heartily concur with this.

There are bound to be loads of so called 'experts' now, that want to say negative things about this diet, but who cares? We all know that it's working for us and we all know that we can't do the traditional diet of deprivation 100% of the time. Yes, we'd all love to see more scientific trials on humans, but does that mean that we should wait 10 or so years and keep getting fatter, or worse?!!

Well of course he's right - he gives us the solution to all our weight and health related problems, succinctly, as follows:

"But if you really want to loose weight– stop eating out, learn to cook and JUST COOK!"

Why didn't I think of that? Erm.. Oh yes - I can't afford to eat out. I am a very good cook. I am morbidly obese. I have myriad chronic health problems. Am I missing something, apart from the fact that he can't spell 'lose'?

Everyone has the right to their opinion, which is what this article is based upon: opinion with very little gravitas and just a whiff of the green-eyed monster about it. Give me a cogent argument and I'll listen. Until then, I'll carry on with what I'm doing.

Maybe the fact he can't spell "lose" is too subtle a warning....

I was very skeptical when i first heard about the 5:2 diet as its usually the case that something that sound too good to be true, is to good to be true.
I would always trust my own body above scientific reports and study and so far the results have been amazing. in the few weeks i have been doing it I have dropped in total from 108.6 kg to 103.2 in a little over a month. if someone can prove that this is in any way dangerous or bad for my health then I would take a second look but until then I will continue and listen to my body. i find i am now eating more veg than i ever did as working out your 600 calories teaches you a lot about food and just what is in it.

He's advocating cooking at home, yep, that's exactly what I've done to get to my lovely comfortable current volume!

I love cooking too and make everything from scratch and use lots of fruit and veg as we grow our own. My down side is i have a really sweet tooth and a habit of baking, wither it's baked puddings, cakes, muffins, cupcakes, brownies, cookies, real ice cream, trifle ect ect ect. I make everything myself from natural ingredients. I love cooking, i love eating what i'v cooked, and that's what can make me fat.

But generally speaking, most overweight/obese people are eating junk food and don't know how to cook proper healthy food for themselves which is why they get fatter. Learning to cook is an important life skill and everyone should be taught from childhood how to cook. I learned from watching my grandmothers and my mum cooking and when i was a teenager i became vegetarian and started cooking my own meals if my mum was making meat. My mum let me in the kitchen to cook for myself and i learned, by observing and by practice and trial and error, what ingredients go with what. My mum always has a big selection of spices in the cupboard and i would just smell them and throw in what i though smelled good together and it usually works out.

Kids need to be taught how to cook for themselves so they can 'survive' on their own once they leave the nest. Too many kids are being brought up on chicken dippers and chips and have never seen real food in their lives. Unfortunately, these are the kids distend to become obese like their parents unless someone teaches them how to cook and enjoy eating real food instead of living off frozen junk and take aways.

I never thought that 5:2 sounded "too good to be true." At its heart it's just an alternative means of calorie restriction. It's simple maths: If you eat fewer calories than you need to maintain your weight you will lose weight.

The difference here is that you're effectively reducing your calorie intake on a weekly basis instead of on a daily basis, and as long as you don't pig out ridiculously, you can continue eating normally for five days out of seven. That's what made it more appealing to me.

With regard to what Demi said...

Exactly! Jamie Oliver's got it right. Kids should be taught in school how to cook and what healthy food is and why it's good for us. We had home ec at school but it was rubbish. All we learned was how to make cheese on toast and very basic stuff like that. Not proper meals from fresh real ingredients. I think there should be a complete ban on junk food in schools and cooking classes should be mandatory for all the kids in every year, just like PE, so there is no excuse for not knowing how to cook proper food. And of course the canteen should only serve real food so the kids don't have any other choice but to eat the healthy stuff. Then at least they get fed well at school even if they eat crap at home, they are in school for more awake hours than they are home for. And hopefully they will take their new found cooking skills home and be able to cook for their family. Wouldn't that be lovely, they can teach the parents

I never thought that 5:2 sounded "too good to be true." At its heart it's just an alternative means of calorie restriction. It's simple maths: If you eat fewer calories than you need to maintain your weight you will lose weight.

I actually DID think it sounded too good to be true. I too am a skeptic, and it raised a lot of "fad alarms" with me; especially the documentary which is just a bit to extrapolating and jumping to conclusions, one diet to end all diets and solve cancer, obesity, old age and inflammatory diseases in one fell stroke. I'm still not convinced on that account until the results of long-term follow-up say the same.

However, I never doubted it could lead to weight loss. Of course it does - its calorie restriction! And what appealed to me: it doesn't require will power every bloody day! I can resist temptation for one day, but every day for weeks takes the fun out of my foodie life. Here I can even enjoy my guilt-free cheeses and cakes on occasion. That could just be the main factor that makes it sustainable. That is why I'm really enthousiastic so far.

But my doubt centered (and centers) around the proof of the diet which is in the eating (sorry, couldn't resist). What about long-term? Can the average person keep this up for years?? Yes, carorees, I have noticed that I'm feeling fuller faster, and that the link between boredom (or other emotions) and snacking has been broken - for the moment - , that I eat more consciously. But this is still fairly new to me, and already I notice that I miss cooking, that I have started baking more often again (more sugar and saturated fats), because now I can! What happens to my food choices in the long run? Obesity is important, but so is dietary composition. Already I notice that I'm NOT having that easily satiated phenomenon after every fast day, that some days I'm ravenous, that there is a sense of rebellion.

So I am not sure that I will be able to/interested in doing this for the rest of my life. That the positive side effects are permanent. What happens when I hit the setpoint (if it exists), the 10% loss of body weight when all the sophisticated fat defense mechanisms gang up on me?

And I do not agree that this forum is proof enough. Those for whom it doesn't work or who have a relapse will trundle off after a while. They will stop plotting their disappointing results before they give up. Those with good results will be more eager to plot them. We need a randomized study to know for sure, and that shouldn't be to difficult. Sustained weight loss after two years is a commonly used measure for these types of study. Two years, that should be doable. That would also tell us more about BP, cholesterol, body composition. About food choices (healthy or not), food volume, etc.

I would be bitterly disappointed in the scientific community if they just endorsed this as a sustainable diet and the bane of obesity on the basis of what is known so far. I can hope, but I prefer proof to belief.

This horrified me, and not just the spelling!

Weight loss surgery is the ultimate way to loose weight

Really? The only way for me to lose weight and keep it off is to submit my body to serious, dangerous surgery that will restrict what I can eat until the end of my life? It won't teach me about what I can eat, about portion control, and it won't give me a sense of control and achievement. Indeed, if I really want to, I can just liquidize all the bad foods I was eating before and still take in the same number of calories.

These people call themselves doctors?

I never thought that 5:2 sounded "too good to be true." At its heart it's just an alternative means of calorie restriction. It's simple maths: If you eat fewer calories than you need to maintain your weight you will lose weight.

I actually DID think it sounded too good to be true. I too am a skeptic, and it raised a lot of "fad alarms" with me; especially the documentary which is just a bit to extrapolating and jumping to conclusions, one diet to end all diets and solve cancer, obesity, old age and inflammatory diseases in one fell stroke. I'm still not convinced on that account until the results of long-term follow-up say the same. That is why I'm really enthousiastic so far.

Sorry I should've said that as a means of weight loss it's not too good to be true. I've already said in various places that I'm not sold on the "live longer" science yet. Much more to be done there.

Coffecat i completely agree with everything you've said.

The 'science' is sketchy. There have not been enough studies conducted on humans to confirm the claimed health benefits besides weight loss. All this is based on only a handful of studies, that is not solid proof. And you are right about not taking the forum as evidence that this is working. The people which the diet is not working for will give up and leave the forum, it is not an accurate measurement of anything. Proper scientific studies need to be conducted on thousands of people to get a good picture of the effects of IF, and specifically the effects of 5:2. Because maybe ADF is beneficial but only 1 or 2 days a week is insignificant, and in that case it's pointless. Maybe fasting long term has negative effects on your health. Maybe it has negative effects if practiced by normal healthy weight people. There has already been questions raised about the effect it can have on woman's fertility. Large scale studies need to be conducted before these claims can be verified, and until then im staying skeptical about the health benefits and am only in this for the weight loss.