If people follow 5:2 to lose weight, I don’t see what the problem is with that.

Most of those here are aware of the health benefits – but losing weight has health benefits too. So combining the two is not a bad thing.

Also most of those here realise just how sustainable this way of eating is and if it is used as a weight loss tool then it’s sustainability will help to keep that weight off.

You say … ‘You lose weight. So you stop the diet and you put weight back on again.’
I could just as easily say ‘You get healthy. So you stop the diet and become unhealthy again’

If you are using 5:2 purely for health benefits then that’s fine and I hope you are successful but please don’t ‘put down’ those who choose to use it as a weight loss tool by insinuating that by using it this way they will fail.

xx

Hi mrpeterholt, I started 5:2 at exactly the same time (the day after I saw the docmentary in August 2012) and for the same reasons, although my fear was mainly the visceral fat that I was pretty sure I was carrying. Turned out I was right. I never expected to lose more than a few pounds of that internal fat (like MM did), so I never even bothered taking start measurements and I even have to take an educated guess as to what my starting weight was.

I get what you mean about the weight loss being a happy side-effect and I totally agree but for me it has turned out to be quite a life changing side-effect. I had been 3-5 stone overweight probably since puberty and despite having (what has turned out to be proved) a pretty healthy, balanced diet I’d only ever maintained that lead and never managed to cut it down at all with any ‘diets’. So now I’m over the moon, not only do I have the presumed (I’m afraid I have no way of finding out my IGF-1 levels either) health benefits, suddenly ‘perfect’ blood pressure & blood sugar readings, improved lung capacity and cardio function, as well as normalised menstruation and improved skin. I am also carrying around 56+ less pounds than I was in August 2012, so I have all the health benefits of pure weight-loss too.

This is an amazing, lifechanging diet for anyone who is suited to a fasting lifestyle and I’d recommend anyone to give it a go, whether they needed to lose weight or not. The health benefits ARE worth giving it a shot and for those of us suited to few-&-far-between, rather than little-&-often food intake it’s easy and manageable in the long-long-term.

Really happy to read all of this. I just started yesterday (my first fast day) and struggled through a bit, but made it. I did try all this last year and found myself weary after 2.5 weeks…

I really needed to hear the other aims of the program. I’m definitely starting it with the weight loss motivation in mind, but know their are bigger players at risk.

Does anyone happen to know of any great documentaries on this sort of lifestyle? I always find those sorts of things motivate me longer than just *knowing* I’m improving my health…

Many thanks and godspeeed!
K.C.

Mr. Peter Holt, this is the best post I’ve ever read. I realize you wrote it about four months ago, but if you’re still around here, thanks!

I too am doing this for my health. Any weight lost (and believe me, I have a lot to lose) will just be an added bonus. Because I am mainly interested in health issues, I am doing two consecutive days a week (The 2 Day Diet by Harvie), eating slightly more cals than Dr. Mosley would like for women (maximum 650 a day, the amount recommended by Harvie and Mattson, two fasting researchers). I am also keeping my carbs super low on those two days, as recommended by these researchers. I will eat normally and mindfully the rest of the week.

I started yesterday, and we’ll see how it goes. Mattson is apparently doing a study this year on the method I described, to test cognitive health. He believes there will be an improvement as well as weight loss. I can’t find any information on this study, but I hope it really will be done. I have Alzheimers in my family, so this is of special interest to me.

Unfortunately, weight loss sells. I doubt if Dr. Mosley’s wonderful Fast Diet book would be as popular, if he left out the weight loss! But because I am doing this for my health, I know I can do it forever, no matter how slow my losses.

I will be forever grateful to Dr. Mosley for introducing me to 5:2. It is something that can be sustainable for me, improve my health, and losing weight will only be the frosting on the (feast day!) cake.

I’m also buying Mimi Spencer’s new book The Fast Beach Diet, although I’m against quick weight loss and I’ll never count calories every day as she apparently recommends in this new book. But I do want every tip I can find on how to make fasting days easier, and I heard the book is just wonderful. You take away what you need from it, and leave the rest.

Here’s to all of us doing this 5:2 thing!

Mr. Peter Holt,

I just read your second post. I have been gluten (wheat) free for a while now due to health reasons. It made such a difference in my health, I will never, ever knowingly eat gluten again. For me, it’s poison. But I must be honest and add that just avoiding gluten alone did not help me lose weight. I feel the combination of 5:2 and gluten avoidance will be a nice marriage.

May I recommend a new book titled Gluten Freedom by the world’s premier gluten researcher, Dr. Alessio Fasano, M.D. This book explains the evils of wheat and gluten like no other book I’ve ever read, and I’ve read many on the subject.

Hopefully, the combination of gluten avoidance and 5:2ing will do the trick for me as far as health/weight goes!

70x:

Thank you for the compliment, but I think the research disagrees with your gluten dislike at this time.

The same scientist that started the gluten free frenzy with his groundbreaking research went back and redid the research. His findings, his words:

“In contrast to our first study… we could find absolutely no specific response to gluten.”

It turns out that FODMAPS are the cause of all the problems, not gluten. FODMAPS are “fermentable, poorly absorbed, short-chain carbohydrates . . . which are known to cause gastrointestinal problems.” “The trial — which was double-blinded and placebo-controlled — found that in patients whose diets were low in FODMAPS, gluten did not produce a specific negative effect.”

Common sources of FODMAPS

“include wheat (though spelt contains comparatively low amounts),[4] rye, barley, onion, garlic, Jerusalem and globe artichoke, asparagus, beetroot, chicory, dandelion leaves, leek, radicchio, the white part of spring onion, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, fennel, chocolate and prebiotics such as fructooligosaccharides (FOS), oligofructose and inulin.[2][3][5]
…
Pulses and beans are the main dietary sources (though green beans, tofu and tempeh contain comparatively low amounts).[3][6]
…
Polyols are found naturally in some fruit (particularly stone fruits), including apples, apricots, avocados, blackberries, cherries, lychees, nectarines, peaches, pears, plums, prunes, watermelon and some vegetables, including cauliflower, mushrooms and mange-tout peas. They are also used as artificial sweeteners and include isomalt, maltitol, mannitol, sorbitol and xylitol.[2][3]”

So not eating wheat helps, but feel free to eat glutens, as long as they are not accompanied by FODMAPS. It may broaden your diet a bit.

Seems to be another instance of bad science combined with rapid dissemination of that bad science leading to massive dietary changes for no good reason. Sort of like the low fat diet.

Here is an article detailing the two new studies, with links if you want to read them. One possible conclusion of the new studies: “Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity (a.k.a. gluten intolerance) may not actually exist.”

http://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2014/05/gluten_sensitivity_may_not_exist.html

simcoe, I beg to disagree. If you go to the Wheat Belly blog, you can read a retort to that “research.” In addition, you can also google the subject. There are loads of great information on that so-called latter “study.”

Personally, I know that gluten makes me ill. I won’t even begin to list my symptoms, but when I eat gluten, I feel sick and when I don’t I feel well.

You may also want to google the blog Gluten Free Girl for one of the best criticisms of that “study” I have yet read.

But to each his own. I know what works for me, and I believe the research of Dr. Fassano, who has been studying gluten for years. His book is an eye-opener for non-believers.