weight loss 2013

[demi]

Interesting article on the 5:2 diet:
http://www.nhs.uk/news/2013/01January/P ... -work.aspx

[The Riff-Raff Element]

Interesting article on the 5:2 diet:
http://www.nhs.uk/news/2013/01January/P ... -work.aspx

No - just official-grade arse-covering

[demi]

Interesting article on the 5:2 diet:
http://www.nhs.uk/news/2013/01January/P ... -work.aspx

No - just official-grade arse-covering

Well my book arrived and im half way through it which is why i started looking online to check out the claims it's making.
First of all, as it clearly states many times in the book, the research has yet to be done on humans and as you probably are aware, what happens in mice (or any other animal) is not always the same for humans. They are also banging on about how conclusive the scientific evidence is, right after they've already said it's not even been tested on humans!
I'v also noticed key pseudoscience words like 'holistic' and 'nutritionist' being used which rings alarm bells, and just the general way the book has been written in favor of the diet ( obviously as they are trying to sell it ) which is cherry picking studies showing the positive results they're after and leaving out any negative ones.

I don't have no argument about fasting aiding weight loss, as i have done it myself may times and know it works. But i'm skeptical of the health benefits it's claiming as there is not enough research been done to date to make such bold claims. At least not in humans, and genetically engineered mice in a laboratory are very different to humans in real life.
I think, overall if you fast you eat less and loose weight, and not being overweight reduces your risk of all these weight related health problems like diabetes, stroke, cancer ect which reduces your life expectancy. So really, being slim is healthier and you will be more likely to live longer, fasting or not.


Edit:

I finished the book. It was a very easy read. But i am disappointed with the style of writing in the book. I think they are premature to be making such bold claims such as fasting once or twice a week will make you live a longer healthier life. Those kind of studies just haven't been done on humans, at least not with a large enough number of people to make any solid conclusion. It is interesting however, and if it is proven in the future to be true then that is fantastic. But i feel they're jumping the gun with making these claims while the research is still at such a young stage. They need to look at healthy people on this diet, fasting one or two days a week, long term, and see if there is actually any benefit of fasting beyond the benefits of weight loss. Is this something we should all be doing? Or is it pointless if you are already healthy and not overweight?

I'v looked online at research on fasting and i can see that it does have benefits for certain people ie cancer patients and overweight people. I will be keeping an eye on this to see if it comes to anything, or if it's just the latest faddy diet.


2nd Edit:

Just found this: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealt ... iet-work-/

Concluding that there is not enough evidence at this stage to support their hypothesis.

[Jessiebean]

Hullo all, I am here as I still have 13 odd kilograms (yes post baby weight can be odd) to lose to get back to pre-baby weight (as usual I ate everything (mostly healthy) that didn't move out of my way fast enough andput on 30 odd kgs- did this with the two other pregnancies and still ended up a couple of KGs lower than I started so I am sure the weight will be lost).
I have started Bollywood style dancing again (harder on the knees with extra weight!)and some yoga and have got back into dashing about my courtyard with dirt and calling it gardening. I am eating proper food(these days seems to be called eating clean) but do get massive sugar cravings (interestingly seems to be linked with depressive attacks and hormones all this stuff) so trying to keep blood sugar level. Will see how I go. Currently *gulp* 81kgs and two dress sizes bigger than I like.
Fasting has been knocking around as a weight loss and longevity tool for a while based on the same rat/mice studies with a bit of ancient culture referenced as well.

[boboff]

Hmmmm.

I have read a couple of books, and I agree that is sketchy evidence. They 30 Fat American Women they put on a fasting plan, half on healthy the rest of the time, half on Pizza, where the Pizza girls lost a little more weight sums it up for me.

It's less calories in than used both ways, but this Way of Eating (it's not a diet!) is easy to fit too, and doesn't mean you have to stick to a nasty boring diet.

It is very clear in both books that if you have EVER had an eating disorder, this is NOT for you.

Oh and I am sure allot of marvels of modern science and Age creams were treated on mice! Given that we are talking about tests to show "fasting" mice were 80% less likely to get Alzheimers than Fat Mice, and age related to Cancer death improved by 20 years (human equivalent) you would need a strict control sample over 40 - 60 years to get the same conclusions in Humans, so come on guys, have a bit of faith.

Interestingly Mohammed used to fast on a Monday and Thursday!!!!

[The Riff-Raff Element]

Hmmmm.

It's less calories in than used both ways, but this Way of Eating (it's not a diet!) is easy to fit too, and doesn't mean you have to stick to a nasty boring diet.

It is very clear in both books that if you have EVER had an eating disorder, this is NOT for you.

That's two key points made there.

Dieting is rubbish. You have to deny yourself the whole time. Only a masochist could keep going with that. And the diet business knows this - most people fail and come back to pay for another plan. Did anyone else catch that documentary on Weight Watchers a little while back? The makers collared a couple of ladies who had actually lost weight on their points plan (though one of them put it straight back on) and worked out that their weight loss had cost them over £100 per lb.

The 5:2 way of eating has picked up considerable momentum and I can imagine that this is being viewed with a certain amount of alarm - it's easy, it works and it's free. I can see me continuing with fasting once I get to target, switching to 6:1 just for maintenance.

Certainly the West needs to do something to address obesity because the potential cost in financial terms and human misery doesn't bear thinking about it. The NHS and other health services now have a sample numbering into the thousands of people following 5:2 that they could make the effort to monitor if they so wished.

[wabbit955]

never been on a proper diet plan far to hard to stick to in my job ( a pastry chef)
just cut back when the pounds start piling on normal do that by stop picking
but never been more than 3 stone over weight recording to recomandition but at there weight i look far to skinny even got told off by a doctor for using to much weight when i was not even cose to my idea weight

[boboff]

Well I lost 3lb last week, 4lb the week before on this 5:2 plan.

It's won't carry on like that I know, stopping drinking makes a huge difference initially to me.

Although I haven't stopped, 3 nights the first week, only two this week, as I added another fast in on Sunday!

Thank you Jon, this forum has helped me in an unexpected way!

One of the books recommends this site

http://www.myfitnesspal.com

I like it, as it helps me record my calories on a fast day, and get educated about calories I am eating on a normal day.

You can become "friends" on it too, so if any of you join, add me as a friend! (Same user name!)

[oldjerry]

I've been a bit strange recently,I wouldn't weigh myself,but they do whenever I go to hospital(God knows why,but it keeps someone in work)and 6 weeks ago I was 5 kgs heavier than I was last week....I knew I'd lost a bit,cos my trousers won't stay up. Mostly all that's changed is I've cut down the drinking a bit,but I'm also eating less. The www. freedieting thingy is quite useful for showing you that you can eat loads of stuff,but cut out the binge drinking,cake and Indian takeaways,and amazingly you get thinner!!

[Maykal]

The 5:2 sounds interesting. I've always been far better at cutting something out completely than moderating intake. I quit smoking just by stopping, no patches or gums, just stopped one day. The problem with food is that you can't just stop, you have to eat something, and if I try to tell myself I'm never going to eat another home-made pasty, portion of chips, slice of cheese on toast, or other things that I love, then I get kind of depressed. I think I would find it easier to have days during which I don't eat anything at all. What's the 5:2 diet's stance on drinks? Are you allowed tea and coffee during the fasting days or only water?

Interestingly, Orthodox Romanians (the pious ones, at least) keep a similar eating pattern. They essentially restrict themselves to a teetotal vegan diet on Wednesdays and Fridays. There are also periods of fasting throughout the year (a few weeks before Easter and Christmas and one other period, I forget when) during which they also restrict themselves to vegan foodstuffs only, with a few exceptional days when they are allowed fish. I suppose a lot of this originated from the need to keep the environment in balance (especially the spring fasting) or to preserve food supplies (winter fasting) and is not only healthy, but also probably quite ecologically sound. Being an atheist, I wouldn't follow it for religious reasons, but I can see the sense in it and have considered giving it a try for a year for health reasons.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

The drinks are counted, so water, tea or coffee without milk or sugar are basically ad libitum and anything else has to come off the permitted 500 or 600 kcal.

And I'm with you on the "just stopping" approach - I did that with smoking and with week-day drinking. I find with drinking it's an awful lot easier to say "no" than to just have the one glasss

[Maykal]

I find with drinking it's an awful lot easier to say "no" than to just have the one glasss

Me too exactly. I'll sometimes go weeks without a drink; not because I'm making an effort not to drink, I just never happen to be in the mood or have occasion to drink and it doesn't worry me at all, but a glass of wine with dinner and I'm almost certain to end up finishing the bottle. I'm endlessly impressed by people who can open a bottle and ration themselves to a glass a night throughout the week.

It's only 9am on my first 'fast day' and I'm already starving. It's stupid, because I frequently don't have anything to eat till later in the day; it's simply because I know I can't have anything that I'm craving a giant cheese pastry or a sausage roll!

[demi]

The hunger passes, distract yourself, have a diet drink or tea/coffee, it helps. If you are really hungry later in the day have a piece of fruit. Oranges are good because you can eat the segments one at a time and space them out.

Im having a fast day today too. This is my 3rd one. It's also just after 9am and im having a cup of tea. Some lovely Celtic music has come on the TV on the Macedonian news 24 channel, it's making me think of home.....also yesterday i saw on Facebook one of my friends in Glasgow got 'slapped in the face with a razor' by some neds while standing at a bus stop waiting to go home. He had to get 6 stitches right across his cheek. That is something i certainly don't miss about Glasgow. Happy slaps with razors. WTF!?

I don't have a problem with alcohol. Since having kids we rarely drink at all. Last night i made risotto and had to open a bottle of wine for it which we ended up finishing with the dinner. But i hate wine and have to mix it with mineral water. The last time we drank was christmas day, the wine was left over from then. We never even went out for new year. We fell asleep before the bells, how sad hahaha.

[boboff]

http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/c ... g-18625404


Thought you might like to see this, it's interesting.

[the.fee.fairy]

right, so count me in again.

Last time I tried to lose weight, I lost an inch off my waist, but put on 2kg somehow.

I'm going to give the 5:2 a go too. It sounds doable. I reckon Wednesdays and Saturdays for me (no classes on Wednesdays, and Saturdays are my lay-in days ).