Fightplateau, I’ve only been following the 5:2 for 7 months so can’t address long term program concerns, but I did want to mention your age related questions. I’m 68 and am about 2 kg from my goal after losing about 21 kg. Judging from what I read from others on this forum, I’ve lost at a normal rate for 5:2, several plateaus along the way and eating that was sometimes overboard on NFD. It was much easier in the beginning with lots to lose than it is now. I could eat pretty much whatever I wanted on NFD as long as I didn’t go crazy, and still lose because of the FD. Now, I have to be much more mindful. I’m still not counting calories on NFD, but definitely have to pace myself. Just wanted to let you know that age didn’t have much to do with it, at least in my case.

You don’t need to give it up, just eat less of it.

Giving up something you really enjoy eating isn’t always successful especially if it is something that has been part of your diet throughout your life as it means so much more than a helping of food.
I don’t agree with bulking it up with anything as I think it is better to get used to having a smaller portion as you’ll need to stick with the smaller amount if you don’t want to regain weight.

I love potatoes and bread but I’ve no intention of giving either of them up so I eat smaller portions less often.

Note that the headline says “could” not “does”

I wouldn’t take it seriously until such times as a detailed study has been undertaken on humans and proven.

FP, first of all congratulations on your fat loss and sticking with a great plan so long. I’ve kept off 50+ lbs of fat for 17 years. At 67 YO I’m 70+ lbs down from my max at age 50.

One of the key factors for my long term success other than controlling calories is to maintain muscle and bone mass with weight training. As Amazon pointed out we need fewer calories to maintain our weight as we age. The major reason for this is muscle atrophy. However we can maintain and even grow a little muscle as we age with resistance training. I know women don’t like to hear this but pumping iron is an essential part of being healthy as we age. Intense exercise will also burn 150-300 extra net calories a day. Forget about steady state cardio it’s a waste of time. Don’t pay any attention to the calorie burn on exercise machines of fitbit either, they are wildly optimistic.

On the diet side restrict your eating window on NFD to <10 hours. Chronobiology suggests that it’s best to eat in the first part of the day when your insulin sensitivity is highest so if you start at 8:00 AM finish by 6:00.

Try making your FD a water fast. I used to eat the standard 5:2 <600 calories on FD. When I measured my ketone levels after the 35 hour FD I saw I had mild fat burning going on. To really rev up the fat burning I had to do 3 days in a row. With a water fast and a HIIT workout on the bike I can get to the same fat burning levels in the 35 hour FD as I can with three days of 5:2 style fasting!

Cooking rice or potatoes and then cooling them changes a good portion of the carb to “resistant starch”. It resists digestion in the small intestine and feeds bacteria in the large intestine. Cooking the rice with a bit of coconut oil is a new wrinkle that seems to slow down digestion and insulin spikes even more. It’s OK to reheat the rice or potatoes after cooling them. It doesn’t mean you can eat lots more though! LOL

I like to mix rice with veggies too. However it’s always non starchy veggies like , broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, peppers etc. My usual serving is 1/3 cup of rice with 3 cups of veggies and a TBS of olive oil.