5:2 diet

lostinrates

pineapple wrote: »

I must say I am finding this thread a great inspiration.:beer:
I never usually count calories but I have used this site as a guide for making up a two day veggie soup/stew
http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/lostart.htm
My ingredients for two days are tinned and fresh toms, onions, a few tiny home grown potatoes, cabbage, celery, leek, aubergine, garlic, chilli + spices.
So today I'll be eating the above plus home made natural yoghurt, morning coffee with full fat milk (sorry it has to be done ) and water nat.
All well within 500 cals - in fact I might allow myself a scattering of dried cheese.
Re protein I believe he said we had to be careful about the amount of protein generally. I once read that a serving of meat should be palm sized? So I looked it up
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_much_is_one_serving_of_meat
Onwards and upwards eh?
Or rather - downwards

The protein thing continues to be debated. Many of the if ers here are successful low carbers, as is one of the experts quoted. However, the 101 year old marathon runner and the telegraph piece suggested some research shows the protein quantities to be important.

I think the poster a while back who said ultimately we have to do what is right for us as ipndividuals. There is no point eating carbs if they make you feel miserable, heavy ill. There is no point restricted them if you do not get the highs and benefits those who low carb rave about.

For me personally, i think its pretty safe to say i will not be running marathons at 101, or 41 sadly, but very low carb does not suit me personally, either health wise or 'empional' fulfillment for social and cultural eating (whoch i think in a healthy eater is not unhealthy, just if it has impact on weight and health it is.)

daska

in addition to what LIR says it's important to understand what might be meant by "high" or "low". You need to know whether the reference is to an absolute weight e.g. 4oz per person per day, a relative weight e.g. 1g per kilo body weight or as a percentage of calories? So 'high' as a percentage of calories is not necessarily 'high' measured as an absolute or relative weight, and the description of low-carb as 'high protein' is often a misunderstanding of how these things are being measured, e.g. low-carbers may well be eating the normally recommended amounts of protein which would be a high proportion of our diet but a low proportion of a carb heavy diet. Ditto with fat. Hope that makes sense

As I understand it the 'you mustn't eat too much protein' is also often based on an assumption that because people with kidney (?) problems must eat low protein it is necessarily better for others to do this as well and this is one of the assumptions contested. I have no idea what the latest research says but I know previous research has been contradictory. It's actually quite difficult to eat enormous amounts of protein, well it is for me, I start to feel sick if I do.

Just_a_Girl_2

The last week for me has been interesting as I've been experimenting with a longer fasting period.

As I work in a busy hospital the only time I get to eat is during my lunch break, which unfortunately, is too early for me at midday. For some time, I've been taking a protein shake and having it with either water & cream or full fat milk as I can nip out of clinic and chug it down in a few minutes. Unfortunately, so much dairy in a short space of time was upsetting my stomach As I don't get chance to eat properly unless I eat earlier, I decided to experiment with fasting until I get home from work.

So far, so good! Last week and this week, I've been fasting from 10-11pm til at least 6pm the next day. Yesterday, I trained at 4pm, 18 hours into my fast and felt fantastic. Went on to break the fast at 7.30pm and ate until satisfied which took up about 3/4 of my daily calories and allowed me to hit macro goals.

I've been doing this at the weekend for quite some time. We found we were busy doing stuff and didn't really think about food but I worried I wouldn't be able to manage during the week as I am on my feet from the moment I get into work until the minute I leave 9 hours later, apart from my lunch break. But, I'm managing perfectly well and the thought of food isn't really entering my head until I get home.

Not sure if I will carry on fasting for this extended period. Whilst it suits me and I have no adverse effects, I see no reason to stop

tyllwyd

I've just seen an advert for this Alternate Day diet book
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Alternate-Day-Diet-22Skinny-Pounds-Healthierlife/dp/0399534903 (haven't read it so I can't say if it is any good or not!)

lostinrates

tyllwyd wrote: »

I've just seen an advert for this Alternate Day diet book
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Alternate-Day-Diet-22Skinny-Pounds-Healthierlife/dp/0399534903 (haven't read it so I can't say if it is any good or not!)

Thats the creter of the Johnson up day down dy diet (juddd) who was my introduction to the idea of intermittant fasting, if not calorie restriction, not that long ago, a year or two maybe? I have dithered all that time about buying the book and i am going to, so i can approach my endocrinologist better read.

pineapple

Just_a_Girl wrote: »

So far, so good! Last week and this week, I've been fasting from 10-11pm til at least 6pm the next day.

Does this count as 'fasting'? I was eating this way for years - ie one meal at around 7pm. And managed to get fat on it

~Chameleon~

pineapple wrote: »

Does this count as 'fasting'? I was eating this way for years - ie one meal at around 7pm. And managed to get fat on it

But what sort of food were you actually eating in this meal? And what drinks were you consuming throughout the day? It makes a lot of difference

easy

pineapple wrote: »

Does this count as 'fasting'? I was eating this way for years - ie one meal at around 7pm. And managed to get fat on it

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

But what sort of food were you actually eating in this meal? And what drinks were you consuming throughout the day? It makes a lot of difference

Absolutely.

It doesn't matter what your fasting period is, if you are downing too many calories at other times, of course you will gain weight.

I've been 5:2ing for 3 weeks now, losing weight nicely, but I think that is partly because I'm eating more sensibly on my non-fasting days too. I haven't had a biscuit or chocolate bar at all in that time (and I have to say that hasn't felt as hard as I anticipated it would).

Hence I feel that the reason I'm losing weight is that my overall weekly intake of calories is reduced.

I fully intend to adopt 5:2 for the long term, as a way of life rather than as a short-term diet. Once I've achieved the weight loss I need (not a huge amount), I anticipate being able to have some sweet treats now and again on the non-fasting days.

Gloomendoom

pineapple wrote: »

Does this count as 'fasting'? I was eating this way for years - ie one meal at around 7pm. And managed to get fat on it

Ha ha! Me too... apart from the fact that I didn't restrict myself to 5-600 calories on two days of the week.

However, I did lose weight without changing my eating pattern, just my diet. I went low carb BTW

JillyCornwall

I believe that the 'evergreen' Sir Cliff Richards has maintained a one meal a day lifestyle for more than 20yrs. I'm not a fan of his:) but he certainly dosn't look his age..and appears to be pretty fit.....so one assumes that his 'one meal' is a healthy one....and basically that is the bottom line whatever lifestyle choices you make..eat healthy, be healthy.