Week two of my two day a week fast. This diet works. Apparently your body does not go into

[applegrove]

starvation mode and hold onto fat. You eat 400 calories one day, then a normal set of meals the next days. Then repeat. I can do this. Lost 2.5 pounds this week. I have the willpower to keep it up. And except for a little hunger two days a week I feel fine. In fact I feel like my health is manageable. And that feels great.

[Sweet Freedom]

1. I've been thinking about trying it

once my kid is back in school. I've heard lots of people taking this approach. It seems very doable.

Congrats on the promising start!

[applegrove]

2. Yeah. It is such a relief to have found something that works with me. My sister is on a more

complicated diet that costs $$$ to do. They recommend that you ignore exercise and concentrate on eating 1300 calories a day. She's lost 15 pounds. The reason why they ignore exercise is because it doesn't really cut down calories, it tanks diets when you don't meet your exercise goals, and is so much more difficult to do. That works for her. But that full time diet would never work for me. But just the thought that I don't have to exercise my way to lose weight has given me wings. I'll concentrate of making this diet work two days a week. I'll exercise when I can. I'll lose weight. Works.

[Skittles]

3. you cannot say something "works" for you on week 2

get back to us in a year

[applegrove]

4. I've never liked a diet before. But you have a point.

[LynneSin]

8. That's why I do not diet anymore. Because in the end they never work

I just stick with the healthy eating. I had some medical help to get over the food cravings so I could learn to re-eat again but I wouldn't say what I am doing is successful since I have no clue if I'll ever keep it off the rest of my life. But yesterday was successful and I'm hoping today will be another successful day.

Food addiction is no different that any other addiction. I just measure my success as one day at a time. Sure I've lost alot of weight this time around but who knows how long it'll stay off this time. So instead I'd rather just measure success as each day I can manage not to revert to my nasty habit of binge eating process food and instead eating healthy and getting some good exercise in that day. If I can do that each day then it is a good day.

[cyberswede]

9. The tough thing about food addiction is that you can't go cold turkey.

You still have to eat something every day.

[sarge43]

10. That's the real test and the hardest part -- keeping it off. n/t

[LiberalElite]

22. I lost 45 pounds on my own "made up" diet

which was basically low-fat M-F and judicious cheating on the weekend. Then something bad happened and I eventually regained it all plus more.

[Skittles]

16. I would emphasize exercising

I live on processed foods and have never been overweight but I do try to exercise daily

[LynneSin]

17. That helps big time

but if the processed foods have overwhelmed ones life it may be impossible to exercise. Turns out I not only had a metabolic issue but I had no vitamin D being absorbed. So I couldn't even get my ass off the sofa. You'd think once I corrected these things the weight would flow right off my body but by then HFCS was causing such havoc on my body I could never tell when I was full and arthritis had kicked in pretty harsh. I actually had to use one of those prescription weight loss pills to get myself off the junk food. I justified it that if I was a smoker I probably would need help to kick the cravings of nicotine. Well I needed the same help to kick the cravings of junk food and feeling constantly hungry. I'm still on the weight loss drug (and using a killer doctor who constantly monitors my health) and I use that time to learn to eat healthy, which I've been doing for almost a year now. Once I got about 60lbs off the arthritis started to subside and I started getting to the gym again and could kick in the exercise.

This is a lifetime commitment. And I made it a point to never go full dosage on the medication forcing myself to learn new habits. I eat literally no processed foods, mostly all natural/organic foods. I will cheat from time to time but when I do it's a good cheat. If I want a burger it's a good burger from my favorite pub. Even then I only eat half of the burger and always get the sweet potato fries.

But in the end it's all one day at a time. And so far today I've been pretty damn good. Walked 3 miles this morning. Went to my favorite salad bar for lunch. And if I do 30 on the elliptical tonight it'll be a real win. I'm 7lbs from finally being below 200lbs for the first time in ages. But mind you I've already lost 100lbs, I'm like 5'10 and building serious muscle, wearing size 14 and hardly look fat. I regularly wear 3 inch heels to work and I'll even wear skirts because the legs are looking pretty good. So all of it is real good. Just want that 199 by September 18th before I go to NYC for a weekend of Shopping and the Robert Plant concert at the Hammerstein.

[Skittles]

18. excellent progress!

[LiberalElite]

20. is this meant to be done for that long?

probably not.

[Skittles]

23. that says something right there

I am very anti-fad diets

[Sweet Freedom]

12. I did sort of a reverse 5:2 years ago.

I would eat low cal M-F and then whatever I wanted on the weekend. I lost 40 pounds in a year and I kept it off for a long time.

[noamnety]

5. Yay for you!

It sounds like you are the boss of this!

[Laffy Kat]

6. Hmmm. Might try that.

I only have perhaps ten pounds I'd like to lose, but it's a stubborn ten pounds!

[a kennedy]

7. I started this type of fasting diet and did lose weight, then the holidays came, and I'm still tryin

to lose what I gained back then. Have to get back on that bike.

[Oneironaut]

11. I think the problem comes from "treating" yourself in this type of diet.

It's easy to fall into the trap of, "I didn't eat yesterday, so I'll eat carelessly today and it'll still be fine." Like you said, willpower is important. A diet first and foremost needs to be sustainable.

Wouldn't it just be easier to count calories for all days, though?

[DawgHouse]

13. Define "normal set of meals"

[applegrove]

15. Caesar salad or a green smoothie with yogurt. Tonight I had a grated cauliflower

(replacing the rice) vegetable/shrimp stir fry.

[Generic Brad]

14. I hope it is sustainable for you

I couldn't do it that way. Every time I previously tried diets like that I would eventually gain it all back and more within 6 months of tapering off. Now I have been on a strict DASH diet for more than a year, dropped 60 pounds and am slowly still losing, albeit much slower the last few months. But the important thing for me is that I have found this sustainable and can keep it up the rest of my life without feeling like I am struggling.

Instead of eating less, I changed what I ate and 100% stick to those foods. But at the end of the day, I applaud you. Whatever works for a person - do it. That wouldn't work for me, but it clearly does for you. Congrats!

[NJCher]

19. an advantage not mentioned

I think a big advantage of a diet like this would be for super-busy people. People like me. I have so much stuff to do everyday that I push my meal hours back, back, back, and that is not supposed to happen because I will get so tired that I can't do anything.

If you think about how much time you spend preparing and eating food everyday, it might give you back at least a few hours. That's significant.

I love food, but I could easily do two days with only enough to keep my blood sugar level.

Do they deal with that in the 5:2 book? I have that book somewhere. I should find it.


Cher

[applegrove]

21. They mentioned it online that you should spread out the 400 calories. I don't. I have a different

work/eating schedule than most people. I find it easiest to eat the 400 all at once for dinner. Then I just have to get through the night. I'm not doing anything strenuous or that requires rapt concentration so blood sugar is not such a big deal for me.

[NJCher]

24. I'm not the authority on this, but

Here's someone who is:

If a person waits more than five hours between eating, the liver will automatically release glycogen stores. In the case of a person with Met B, that glycogen will be more than an individual would normally eat at a meal or as a snack. To prevent the liver from overfeeding, you must beat it to the punch. Blocking excess liver release of sugar is a big part of controlling insulin release.

So even if you're not Met B, you will still be releasing glycogen, which would be like you are eating. So you might as well eat, right? Even if it's just 100 calories.

Then probably, if you are taking in the whole 400 calories, your blood sugar would be spiking about two hours later. The body treats that like fat, I think.

Like I said in the subject head, I'm no authority. Maybe somebody like Warpy will come along and set the record straight.


Cher

p.s. My source is Diane Kress, author of Metabolism Miracle. She is a dietician/nutritionist.

[applegrove]

25. Thanks. I'll look it up.

[Trajan]

26. Firstly, congratulations ... Small successes add up ...

I am into my 28th month of the 5:2 Fast Diet ...

The numbers? ... -96 lbs ... BMI from 43 to 28 ... I am now merely overweight ...

Almost one hundred pounds ... I have 15 -20 to go ...

This method is by far the best thing I have ever done for my health ... It is super flexible - pick any two days in the week - if you overeat one day, you can switch on the fly ... Surprise freebie meals? .. No sweat - eat and change days ... Enjoy holiday meals with family and friends, then go back to 5:2 fasts to get back on track ...

Dr . Michael Mosley was a prime mover of this program ... It is called The Fast Diet, of which there are a number of variations - 5:2 ... 4:3 ... Intermittent Fasting/Feeding is a similar type.

https://thefastdiet.co.uk

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xvdbtt_eat-fast-live-longer-hd_shortfilms

The Fast Diet greatly improved my quality of life ... and I don't say that lightly ...

[applegrove]

27. Thanks for the encouragement. And big congrats to you.