The FastDay Forum

It's happened before.. I go doing my normal day to day things and I am in the local store talking about feeding pets with the local store owner and low and behold.. I happen to mention I fast (I always find a way of slipping it in ) .... anyhow what do you know but he says he also does fasting.. and what do you know its with 5:2. Before I could open my mouth, he was shouting the praises of being on 5:2 for a good year and losing 5kg at his peak... He said his wife is also on it and has lost just a bit too much but the enthusiasm he had was so delightful. He says the weightloss is secondary.. he thinks the health benefits for your brain and general health was really what got him excited after reading MM's book.. And he said those magic words.. its sustainable.

Needless to say, I pointed him in the direction of www.fastday.com

Do you often bump into people only to find they are fellow fasters?

I was in a supermarket last month and met a friend I hadn't seen for a while and was telling them how I had lost weight. Another customer tapped me on the shoulder and said well done I've been doing it for ages and only lost 8 lb. She disappeared before I could talk to her though.

A little tangentially, this puts me in mind of a post that I read yesterday:

Perhaps we should ask ourselves, "What have I done to be an advocate for change?" Do I speak enthusiastically about how good I feel or do I preach to people about their bad their choices? Do I organize walking groups for coworkers to join or do I post pictures to Facebook about my awesome workouts? Do I join a wellness challenge among friends or continue down my solo path to wellness?

There are so many of us making some kind of change. Consider how impactful it would be if we were all more contagious in our quests. Instead of focusing on what someone is doing wrong, perhaps we should celebrate any healthy choices people make. Perhaps we should talk in terms of "Real Food and Moving More" instead of "Paleo and Crossfit." Some people react negatively to these words and shut us down before we begin to explain their benefits. If we instead lead by example, we don't have to call it anything.

Much energy is wasted by arguing about which protocols are ideal. What if instead of arguing we each inspire a few people in our lives to make healthy changes? That could have a tremendous ripple effect, because those people could in turn inspire others. Each of us can do our part to get more people on board. [From: http://www.paleofx.com/blog/how-america-could-be-saved ]

To some extent, I do understand what the author is saying but I know that I'd resent direct adverse comment on my food or activity choices - particularly if it were context-free from someone who had scant understanding of my life and circumstances. Yet, I do understand the power of seeing that people 'like you/me' have the possibility of change in a manageable manner. Tho' I doubt many people find what works for post-menopausal women to be inspirational (says nothing about the women but a lot about attitudes - this thought has been prompted by several glum reflections by younger, substantially pre-menopausal friends who are noticing that they're becoming 'invisible' to some demographics).

I discuss what I do on forums (as you may have noticed ) but never IRL. Hmm.

I think the closest I've come to this is a colleague or wider family (ie more distant not broad!) who has either done 5:2 for a while or does it now and again - never met another current, committed 5:2er - maybe it's like religion and people don't like to own up to it!

I first learned about 5:2 and fasting from the man who sold me my electric bike, back in 2012. He and his wife were doing it. Don't know if they still are. Everyone else IRL who I tell about it, because they ask me how I got slimmer, immediately wants to tell me why they couldn't possibly fast.