Sounds good in theory, Rosemary. Dieting is such a pain in the..butt. The headache puts me off a bit, as I’m sure you were drinking heaps… Plus I never sleep well on an empty stomach…I started a diet yesterday that I use when I am desperate! High protein , lots of eggs, tomatoes ,rabbit food, and lots of weight off in a week. Yes, its definitely a fad diet,probably unhealthy , and of course if you are not extremely careful it all comes back on! I just need a kick start …ahhhhhh the things we do….Jill x
Rosemary Kneipp
June 6th, 2013 at 10:48 am
I understand the kick-start, but it’s the long-term effect I’m interested in. Let me know how you go!
Jane’s cousin
June 6th, 2013 at 2:55 am
How strange this should be the topic of your post for today. I just discovered this book last week and was talking about it enthusiastically to my family when I visited them on the weekend. Then I discovered a niece was trying it after seeing the TV program here. I had discovered the book (haven’t seen the program yet) while looking for Dr Mosley’s program on exercise which I did see last year. This book kept popping up in my search and I eventually investigated it. I also checked out their website. I actually tried a bit of a fast day yesterday altho I am following another program at the moment to try to lose a few kilos. I tried waiting till about 10.30 before I had breakfast and didn’t find that too hard but I started to feel a little flu-ey so it was not a good day to test out out properly. it does look very interesting, however, and the thought of not having to constantly watch what you eat (within reason) on the other five days is appealing. Please let us know of your experience with it.
Rosemary Kneipp
June 6th, 2013 at 10:49 am
It seems to be becoming increasingly well-known. I was amazed that I didn’t really feel hungry – sleeping through lunch was probably beneficial. I’ll see how I go with the next one.
We’ve been practicing intermittent fasting for some months now. I really like it, Simon struggles but is determined. He takes a much nerdier approach to it and records every calorie on the fast days to motivate himself. Occasionally we have a really bad fast day, with severe headaches and uncontrollable hunger, but mostly it’s not difficult to get through like a normal day. I’ve spent the afternoon of a fast day gardening and working physically hard a couple of times with no problems. We have both reached our initial target weights in around 6 months. I don’t really need to lose more, but Simon does, and we will continue anyway, as it fits extremely well with our lifestyle.
My initial reservations were twofold. First, Michael Moseley is a psychiatrist, not a nutritionist. However, he comes across as very genuine and the television programme was fascinating. We already knew some of the theory eg that periods of famine or deliberate calorie restriction appear to prolong life. My second reservation was that I get migraines, and missing meals can result in a migraine. However, I find that except on a few occasions I haven’t had a problem.
We skip breakfast (just a cup of coffee), have a light protein rich lunch (eg a piece of fruit and a boiled egg or a pot of natural yoghurt, with a cup of coffee) then save most of our calories (around 400 calories) for dinner, which is often a veggie curry, followed a cup of tea. I dislike going to bed hungry, but so far that hasn’t been a problem either.
It makes you much more aware of how calorific what you eat on the non-fast days are, and we find we tend to eat less (eg taking smaller servings). The fact that you only have to diet on 2 days a week means your whole life doesn’t revolve around the next meal in a negative way. We actually fast every third day, but are not anal about it — if we have guests or clients, when we fast is flexible and scheduled around them.
Rosemary Kneipp
June 6th, 2013 at 10:52 am
Thank you, Susan, for sharing your experience. I like the fact that each person can adapt it according to their wants. I don’t like starting the day without breakfast (unless I’ve had a very big meal the night before), but if we’ve had a big lunch, we often only have a piece of fruit and a yoghurt at night. When I had my late lunch, I wasn’t even hungry.
Are you going to continue twice a week after Simon has lost more weight or are you going to reduce to one day a week?
Before we started intermittent fasting I would not have dreamed of missing breakfast, but Simon is one of those people who are better off not having breakfast even on a non-fast day. Breakfast being the most important meal of the day appears to be a piece of received wisdom, and not actually true. Some people, like Simon, eat more over the course of a day if they eat breakfast, and less if they don’t — it does not result in a binge at lunchtime. I’m skipping breakfast to support him as much as possible, and also because the longer the genuine fast the more effective the diet seems to be in terms of positive changes other than weight loss. Some people choose a sort of ‘brunch and supper’ timetable, but we stick with normal meal times, just go for lunch and dinner. Ideally you should just have 2 meals on fast days.
I think we will continue as now once Simon is down to his ideal weight (he has more than 20kg to lose, so it’s not going to be anytime soon…) You must get to a state of equilibrium, so it is worth continuing for the additional health benefits apart from weight loss.
Redfern
June 10th, 2013 at 2:08 am
I think you approach this topic very sensibly and I am interested tracking your long term success. I developed quite the little pot belly after our wonderful 7 weeks of fine living in France ( feasting?). All I need do now is remove the ‘e’ and try ‘fasting’ for a while. I’ll look to giving it a go next week.
Rosemary Kneipp
June 10th, 2013 at 9:48 am
Yes, fine living in France does not help! I like the feast to fast. Might use it as a title, Redfern. I’m up to my 3rd fast day today so will post on Thursday with an update. Jean Michel even joined me the 2nd day. We skipped breakfast and I didn’t get any headaches.
[…] at last ! I can now wear most of my summer clothes again! I just love the 5:2 eat fast diet that I told you about last week. I’ve had two more fast days and lost a kilo in weight and 3 cm at the waist in 10 days. Also I […]
I read up on intermittent fasting about a year ago and tried it myself to see if it worked. I was fasting almost every day and only eating between 1pm and 8pm. It worked really well for me. I didn’t feel tired or get headaches but after a while I did start to get dizzy so I gave it up. I’ve just started it again as I feel much better when eating that way. It’s a slightly different approach as to what you are doing but it still works. Here’s the site I was following: http://www.theiflife.com/intermittent-fasting-101-how-to-start-part-i/
Rosemary Kneipp
July 17th, 2013 at 8:11 am
Very interesting because it gives a different slant. I think it’s important for people to be able to find a system that works for them individually. Did you lose much weight the first time? Did you see a doctor about the dizziness?
I was slowly losing weight but generally felt better and more energetic which surprised me. I’ll let you know in a few weeks if I manage to lose weight this time around. I haven’t seen a doctor about the dizziness and I am still getting that now and again so I probably should look into it.
Rosemary Kneipp
July 17th, 2013 at 9:45 am
The slower the weight loss, the more likely it is to stay off. I found it very slow at first, then suddenly lost a couple of kilos. Definitely see a doctor about the dizziness particularly if it is persistent.
[…] thought you might like to know how we’re getting on with our intermittent fasting (or 5:2 fast diet) that we started in June this year just before we went on our cycling trip along […]
[…] head off for the Parco dell’Arena to have our picnic lunch (it’s an intermittent fast day) and decide what to do next. Although the old town isn’t that big, having our bikes gives us a […]
[…] absolutely nothing to redeem it so we make a detour to the Po river to have our picnic (it’s an intermittent fast day). We find ourselves on a bench in the full sun in the middle of nowhere […]
Sounds good in theory, Rosemary. Dieting is such a pain in the..butt. The headache puts me off a bit, as I’m sure you were drinking heaps… Plus I never sleep well on an empty stomach…I started a diet yesterday that I use when I am desperate! High protein , lots of eggs, tomatoes ,rabbit food, and lots of weight off in a week. Yes, its definitely a fad diet,probably unhealthy , and of course if you are not extremely careful it all comes back on! I just need a kick start …ahhhhhh the things we do….Jill x
I understand the kick-start, but it’s the long-term effect I’m interested in. Let me know how you go!
How strange this should be the topic of your post for today. I just discovered this book last week and was talking about it enthusiastically to my family when I visited them on the weekend. Then I discovered a niece was trying it after seeing the TV program here. I had discovered the book (haven’t seen the program yet) while looking for Dr Mosley’s program on exercise which I did see last year. This book kept popping up in my search and I eventually investigated it. I also checked out their website. I actually tried a bit of a fast day yesterday altho I am following another program at the moment to try to lose a few kilos. I tried waiting till about 10.30 before I had breakfast and didn’t find that too hard but I started to feel a little flu-ey so it was not a good day to test out out properly. it does look very interesting, however, and the thought of not having to constantly watch what you eat (within reason) on the other five days is appealing. Please let us know of your experience with it.
It seems to be becoming increasingly well-known. I was amazed that I didn’t really feel hungry – sleeping through lunch was probably beneficial. I’ll see how I go with the next one.
We’ve been practicing intermittent fasting for some months now. I really like it, Simon struggles but is determined. He takes a much nerdier approach to it and records every calorie on the fast days to motivate himself. Occasionally we have a really bad fast day, with severe headaches and uncontrollable hunger, but mostly it’s not difficult to get through like a normal day. I’ve spent the afternoon of a fast day gardening and working physically hard a couple of times with no problems. We have both reached our initial target weights in around 6 months. I don’t really need to lose more, but Simon does, and we will continue anyway, as it fits extremely well with our lifestyle.
My initial reservations were twofold. First, Michael Moseley is a psychiatrist, not a nutritionist. However, he comes across as very genuine and the television programme was fascinating. We already knew some of the theory eg that periods of famine or deliberate calorie restriction appear to prolong life. My second reservation was that I get migraines, and missing meals can result in a migraine. However, I find that except on a few occasions I haven’t had a problem.
We skip breakfast (just a cup of coffee), have a light protein rich lunch (eg a piece of fruit and a boiled egg or a pot of natural yoghurt, with a cup of coffee) then save most of our calories (around 400 calories) for dinner, which is often a veggie curry, followed a cup of tea. I dislike going to bed hungry, but so far that hasn’t been a problem either.
It makes you much more aware of how calorific what you eat on the non-fast days are, and we find we tend to eat less (eg taking smaller servings). The fact that you only have to diet on 2 days a week means your whole life doesn’t revolve around the next meal in a negative way. We actually fast every third day, but are not anal about it — if we have guests or clients, when we fast is flexible and scheduled around them.
Thank you, Susan, for sharing your experience. I like the fact that each person can adapt it according to their wants. I don’t like starting the day without breakfast (unless I’ve had a very big meal the night before), but if we’ve had a big lunch, we often only have a piece of fruit and a yoghurt at night. When I had my late lunch, I wasn’t even hungry.
Are you going to continue twice a week after Simon has lost more weight or are you going to reduce to one day a week?
Before we started intermittent fasting I would not have dreamed of missing breakfast, but Simon is one of those people who are better off not having breakfast even on a non-fast day. Breakfast being the most important meal of the day appears to be a piece of received wisdom, and not actually true. Some people, like Simon, eat more over the course of a day if they eat breakfast, and less if they don’t — it does not result in a binge at lunchtime. I’m skipping breakfast to support him as much as possible, and also because the longer the genuine fast the more effective the diet seems to be in terms of positive changes other than weight loss. Some people choose a sort of ‘brunch and supper’ timetable, but we stick with normal meal times, just go for lunch and dinner. Ideally you should just have 2 meals on fast days.
I think we will continue as now once Simon is down to his ideal weight (he has more than 20kg to lose, so it’s not going to be anytime soon…) You must get to a state of equilibrium, so it is worth continuing for the additional health benefits apart from weight loss.
I think you approach this topic very sensibly and I am interested tracking your long term success. I developed quite the little pot belly after our wonderful 7 weeks of fine living in France ( feasting?). All I need do now is remove the ‘e’ and try ‘fasting’ for a while. I’ll look to giving it a go next week.
Yes, fine living in France does not help! I like the feast to fast. Might use it as a title, Redfern. I’m up to my 3rd fast day today so will post on Thursday with an update. Jean Michel even joined me the 2nd day. We skipped breakfast and I didn’t get any headaches.
[…] at last ! I can now wear most of my summer clothes again! I just love the 5:2 eat fast diet that I told you about last week. I’ve had two more fast days and lost a kilo in weight and 3 cm at the waist in 10 days. Also I […]
I read up on intermittent fasting about a year ago and tried it myself to see if it worked. I was fasting almost every day and only eating between 1pm and 8pm. It worked really well for me. I didn’t feel tired or get headaches but after a while I did start to get dizzy so I gave it up. I’ve just started it again as I feel much better when eating that way. It’s a slightly different approach as to what you are doing but it still works. Here’s the site I was following: http://www.theiflife.com/intermittent-fasting-101-how-to-start-part-i/
Very interesting because it gives a different slant. I think it’s important for people to be able to find a system that works for them individually. Did you lose much weight the first time? Did you see a doctor about the dizziness?
I was slowly losing weight but generally felt better and more energetic which surprised me. I’ll let you know in a few weeks if I manage to lose weight this time around. I haven’t seen a doctor about the dizziness and I am still getting that now and again so I probably should look into it.
The slower the weight loss, the more likely it is to stay off. I found it very slow at first, then suddenly lost a couple of kilos. Definitely see a doctor about the dizziness particularly if it is persistent.
[…] thought you might like to know how we’re getting on with our intermittent fasting (or 5:2 fast diet) that we started in June this year just before we went on our cycling trip along […]
[…] thing I would have even thought about making because of the calories. However, now that we practise intermittent fasting, I don’t have any […]
[…] like soap.” I also musn’t eat after 9 am or drink water after 11 am. I’m used to intermittent fasting, so that certainly doesn’t bother […]
Re the 5-2 fast information above, that Vimeo link (URL) above is ‘dead’ for copyright breach reasons.
The video is now on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/8-E_r4gApPg
Cheers!
Thank you for that! I’ve corrected it.
[…] head off for the Parco dell’Arena to have our picnic lunch (it’s an intermittent fast day) and decide what to do next. Although the old town isn’t that big, having our bikes gives us a […]
[…] absolutely nothing to redeem it so we make a detour to the Po river to have our picnic (it’s an intermittent fast day). We find ourselves on a bench in the full sun in the middle of nowhere […]
[…] are continuing our intermittent fasting twice a week and it is very much a part of our normal routine. With our homemade foie gras on the […]