Body hacks: The Fast Diet, aka The 5:2 diet

Forums › Health and fitness › Body hacks: The Fast Diet, aka The 5:2 diet

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | ... | 11

2858 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#985211 12-Feb-2014 15:54

I am calorie counting using My Fitness Pal and exercising by riding my mountain bike and doing the 7 minute science workout using Workout Trainer and I have lost 7.9kg in 38 days. My scales say I have gone from over 20% body fat to under 18% so far. I still have a ways to go before I am happy with my physique but I am definitely finding I already look less fat around the face and belly (lost 4cm from the waist so far). I am trying to balance what I eat by no longer eating loads of chocolate, skipping the free cake at work etc but overall I can eat a reasonable amount (1780 calories a day) since I am 189cm tall. I am not a heavy drinker but I do enjoy a good craft beer, thankfully I usually only drink one bottle, or share one with my wife a couple of times a week so this hasn't negatively affected my weight loss. I think alcohol is ok as long as you limit consumption and don't drink a dozen in one sitting. I think having a lifestyle change and learning better eating habits (not eating until you feel stuffed for example) is more important than a 'fad' diet though.

All comments are my own opinion, and not that of my employer unless explicitly stated.

jonathan18

7413 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

#985232 12-Feb-2014 16:00

crackrdbycracku:
jonathan18:

What I think one of the weakest problems of the diet is the lack of guidence as to what to eat, not just how much. It needs to be combined with other knowledge/awareness of good eating.

There is a surprising amount of stuff online now about what you can eat on fasting days. Personally, I read labels which I didn't before and got a bit of a shock. I also spend a lot of time Googling 'How many calories in ...'

As I have said before, for me it was about changing my relationship with food. I already knew that broccoli was a better option than sausage rolls.

Sorry, should have worded that more carefully. What I meant to say is that the original documentary and book don't give particularly good guidance as to what to eat (just to eat less!) - indeed, the book is incredibly scant in this regard. Of course I've found this stuff elsewhere, but personally I think a book that is advocating a quite significant change in diet should provide information on such a key component.

jonathan18

7413 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

#985239 12-Feb-2014 16:05

lokhor: I think having a lifestyle change and learning better eating habits (not eating until you feel stuffed for example) is more important than a 'fad' diet though.

I believe Michael Mosley would argue that the 5:2 "fad" diet (as you call it!) would indeed lead you towards this, given the many points made earlier about it increasing your awareness of what you're eating etc. Personally, undertaking this "fad" has been the starting point for me changing my approach to diet and exercise - it's given me a workable approach to sorting my weight, fitness and health at a point in my life where it was needed (fast approaching 40!).

Talkiet

4792 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#985248 12-Feb-2014 16:24

Ahh stuff it. I'm such a fan of Myfitnesspal and avoding fads that I have to show you what 13 months and some discipilne can do.

I did it my exercising 2-3 times a week (Playing Ultimate or walking) and maintaining an average 1800 net calories per day. 108.x down to 83kg...

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

timmmay

20580 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#985257 12-Feb-2014 16:33

KiwiNZ: Fasting is not good. One thing the human body is good at is preparing itself for time without food. It does this by storing energy etc and does so in the form of fat therefore eventually weight loss will diminish and one could find weight gain quite a bit when food is consumed again as the body stores this away in fat.

The best way to stop the body storing energy as fat is to give it the energy it needs regularly. However you have to determine how much energy your body needs. When a human is still growing the energy is used for growth, heat production and body maintenance and activity. Once fully grown the energy required depending on life style diminishes with age and activity levels, hence why teenagers are eating machines especially teenage boys. However a big mistake we make is as we grow older and slower we do not make energy intake adjustments and the body receives more energy than it needs, however
it does not discard it, the body stores it for future famine by way of fat.

Put simply if one is gaining weight, one is giving the body more energy than needed ( or drug altered) so the simple answer is fill the tank with less. However if you don't fill it it will store what it gets for protection hence my previous point regarding fasting.

Fasting may reduce weight initially but it will not be sustainable and health issues will make an appearance along with things such as reduced cognitive abilities, compromised immunity etc etc . Eat is better to eat small and eat often for a speedy metabolism, a correctly fuelled body that receives the fuel regularly will not need to store for famine and uses what it is receiving.

Don't forget the one thing we need most, water.

Many many people have shown fasting to be effective, and the book about it references plenty of sources that show that it's effective and safe. If you're going to make claims like "unsafe", "health problems" I suggest quoting references.

It's really just a way of reducing your calories that's easy for some people to deal with, and other claimed benefits are just a bonus. It's only the past 100 years that humans have had a reliable source of excessive amounts of food, before that people fasted because they didn't have any food, and the species survived just fine.

Talkiet: Ahh stuff it. I'm such a fan of Myfitnesspal and avoding fads that I have to show you what 13 months and some discipilne can do.

I did it my exercising 2-3 times a week (Playing Ultimate or walking) and maintaining an average 1800 net calories per day. 108.x down to 83kg...

Cheers - N

Well done! Not sure 5:2 is a fad, Muslims have been doing it for thousands of years.

tdgeek

29746 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#985259 12-Feb-2014 16:37

Well done Neil. Perhaps the term fasting in this thread is inaccurate. In fact it's just reducing intake for two days

tdgeek

29746 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#985260 12-Feb-2014 16:39

Talkiet: Ahh stuff it. I'm such a fan of Myfitnesspal and avoding fads that I have to show you what 13 months and some discipilne can do.

I did it my exercising 2-3 times a week (Playing Ultimate or walking) and maintaining an average 1800 net calories per day. 108.x down to 83kg...

Cheers - N

That you chose to take photos shows commitment, awesome

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

timmmay

20580 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#985274 12-Feb-2014 16:43

tdgeek: Perhaps the term fasting in this thread is inaccurate. In fact it's just reducing intake for two days

You do fast, but not for very long, only 24 hours between your evening meal one night and your evening meal the next night.

Fasting reference.

Interesting Web MD article. I think it is sustainable over time, if you're strong willed, but probably not for everyone.

"Is Fasting Safe? Fasting for a day or two probably won't hurt people who are generally healthy, provided they maintain an adequate fluid intake. However, fasting entirely for long periods of time can be harmful."

Interesting article here too.

Talkiet

4792 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#985276 12-Feb-2014 16:45

tdgeek:

That you chose to take photos shows commitment, awesome

You shoulda seen the FB post I made outing my plans to lose weight and get fit again... That was bravery :-)

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

timmmay

20580 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#985278 12-Feb-2014 16:47

I have photos, but I'm not sharing them here as I'm only wearing short shorts! No-one needs to see that. I also have measurements and a daily weight log.

Talkiet

4792 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#985280 12-Feb-2014 16:48

timmmay: I have photos, but I'm not sharing them here as I'm only wearing short shorts! No-one needs to see that. I also have measurements and a daily weight log.

hahahahaha, I have all of those too... I took the clothed pics at the same time as the underwear shots so I had something to share :-)

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

NZtechfreak

4649 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#985282 12-Feb-2014 16:54

timmmay: I have photos, but I'm not sharing them here as I'm only wearing short shorts! No-one needs to see that. I also have measurements and a daily weight log.

Daily weight logs tend to be counter productive. I would recommend fewer weigh-ins (+ they need to be at the same time of day on the same scales). Weight change fails to encapsulate the more important metric which is change in body composition. If anything the fit of your clothing is probably better than your weight.

Twitter: @nztechfreak
Blogs: HeadphoNZ.org

timmmay

20580 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#985287 12-Feb-2014 17:07

NZtechfreak:
timmmay: I have photos, but I'm not sharing them here as I'm only wearing short shorts! No-one needs to see that. I also have measurements and a daily weight log.

Daily weight logs tend to be counter productive. I would recommend fewer weigh-ins (+ they need to be at the same time of day on the same scales). Weight change fails to encapsulate the more important metric which is change in body composition. If anything the fit of your clothing is probably better than your weight.

I generally agree, but my body weight tracks pretty well with what I eat. I weight myself on the same scales at the same time each day, and I know that if I'm a kg up one day that can just be a fluctuation. It helps me decide what foods work well for my weight loss.

I also have a body composition scale, which is horribly inaccurate but interesting - my BMI has come down quite a bit. I'm four belt notches down and I really, really need to get my suits altered as they look pretty big on me, but as I'm not quite done yet and I'm going to buy some new suits when I'm away in a few weeks it can wait. Pants that I could barely fit into 3 months ago need a belt to stay up, but they look silly as there's too much fabric.

k1wi

484 posts

Ultimate Geek

#985289 12-Feb-2014 17:11

timmmay: I'm four belt notches down and I really, really need to get my suits altered as they look pretty big on me, but as I'm not quite done yet and I'm going to buy some new suits when I'm away in a few weeks it can wait. Pants that I could barely fit into 3 months ago need a belt to stay up, but they look silly as there's too much fabric.

That's the most rewardingly frustrating problem I've had - I bought a new pair of jeans and then less than three months later they were billowing on me. Off to the Sallies for them!

turnin

509 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#986509 12-Feb-2014 23:11

I've never had a weight issue as such, I have always been fairly active with sports etc but what snuck up on me was cholesterol.
My doctor put me on statins ( aged 39 at the time), within 3 days I couldn't walk up a set of stairs, I had dizzy spells ,could not balance and my memory turned to mush.
I quickly figured out it must be the Statins, the internet confirmed it too, but my doctor argued it could not be and to stick with them.
I changed doctors as a result of that, my new doctor who can think outside the realm of writing prescriptions said "if you really want to reduce cholesterol, stop eating animal proteins"
That's turned out to be the best advice I'd ever had, I became a vegetarian, stopped eating dairy and planted a vege garden.
I had another test 3 months later, was well below the average.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | ... | 11