Ruthi 🙂 xx Thak you.

You know the best advice I got – from a counsellor in my fitness group! was to see eating as a fun friend who was not actually being very kind to me. She said you don’t have to break off that friendship but make it on your terms! It utterly made sense to me plus – it fits in perfectly with 5:2
So, sometimes I have that friend over (feast days) and other days I don’t see them – fast days! But it is my choice. And sometimes Ijust see them briefly (500 calorie days!)
Rather like Gollum and his ring. He liked it but it did him harm!
(What is it they say? When you are ready the teacher will appear? Well she did! That was great advice.)
I have friends but have never been very outgoing – yes my dog is my fabulous outgoing friend who is good for me in every way.

Really, I was just makigthe point (a few messages back) that my biggest problem with fast days is not hunger but missing the rhythm the enjoyment of eating. It was just a small point to make. Non 5:2 ers think that hunger will be a huge problem but in my experience it isn’t. That’s all I meant really.
Hope you have a very good day. 🙂 xx

@ruthi

“Its only the Western world who consume loads of milk. ”

I have long ago given up on dairy products, except for the cheese that comes on a pizza.

I once had a birthday party that I provided the pizza as the main food, but had it made without the cheese. I took a lot of flack about that. People still ate it.

Years ago, I started labeling myself as lactose intolerant to give people a reason for my not eating any dairy. Some would still tell me and insist that I was not.

From an article that I read, it had mentioned that except for Scandinavian countries, which had built up a lactose tolerance, the world has difficulty digesting dairy products.

It’s a message not well received by those that promote the “Got Milk” campaigns.

➰

@wiltldnrusa

“Someone was writing recently about replacing meal times with me times. I would have found that useful when I had a full time job and before my husband died but my days are fairly empty at the moment. ”

Hey, that someone is me.

I’ve created my Metime at noon and it’s going well. Sometimes, I nap. Most of the time, I think of what could I do for myself without eating. I used to watch the news while I ate. I stopped the watching & the eating.

I’m refreshed for the afternoon of giving to others.

Now, it’s defined who I am.

➰

@ruthi
“If I do the same with milk they will stop speaking to me! ”

I’ve had family and friends stop speaking to me over eating & drinking choices. Maybe it was me.

It’s a solitary path that we take with fasting.

➰

Yes, it was I 🙂
Apologies, I could remember the content but not who wrote it.

USA I was sent to a gastroenterologist because of chronic constipation despite a v high fibre diet and she took a full history. When I told her I had done an exclusion diet 30 years ago and had reacted to wheat she just said ‘Oh, there you are then, it’ll be wheat or gluten intolerance, or ‘silent’ coeliac disease. All the coeliac tests came back negative, but once I cut them out all the gluten bearing grains gave me IBS type symptoms so I was pronounced gluten intolerant.

The constipation turned out to be Proton pump inhibitors, which are supposed to give you the dire rear, but not me, I have to be different. Since I dumped them I have been much better!

You can eat

Vegetables, root and leaf, lots and lots, and ‘vegetable’ fruits
Meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, but in moderation since they do have downsides.
Eggs
One serving of milk products max daily
Nuts and seeds
Pulses
Animal fats (including butter, I believe) and olive oil.
Whole grains other than wheat, so rice, quinoa, buckwheat, chia etc (not made into flour, and not rolled as in oats)
Berries and fruit, other than bananas and grapes is what the good Doc said, I think
Spices, onions etc, no problem

That is lots of stuff, it just seems like it isn’t when you have been used to basing your diet on grains and milk all your life. And because you are cutting down on carbs (probably, its difficult to stuff the same amount of low density carbohydrate in as you can get from flour based foods) and possibly on animal protein you will need to get your calories from fats – there are lots in nuts and seeds, and you can use fat in your cooking with a clear conscience.

And the good Doctor seems to think that the odd blow-out for high days and holy days wont’ do any harm – just do an extra fast day! How easy is that?

I don’t mind being thought odd, but I know it distresses the people who care about me that I can’t have “all the good things” but if that means I avoid all the bad things, I’m cool with it. I won’t distress them further by refusing milk, I just won’t eat so much the rest of the time. And as for fasting, I do that on the QT, and don’t really mention it unless asked how I have lost all that weight. I think what saddens me is that I can’t share with them my excitement at all these fantastic discoveries. I can really only talk to you guys!

Just confessing (re your message at 4.39 🙂
No worries, it’s not important. xx

Its great, isn’t it?

Programme on UK telly right now, 85% of people who have bariatric surgery have their relationships break down.

Very sad.

[Of course they are going about it the wrong way, Dr Fung would say, but I don’t think that would save their relationships!]

Hubs has assured me that he won’t leave me for a fat bird!

Tut tut! We’re becoming a coven of Fung groupies! But I do agree he’s my kind of guy – just a bit young, even for me!

No, direct sunlight isn’t necessary for sprouting, but you do need some natural light, I think. My daughter does it on the side in her kitchen, and has a north facing window. I have a west facing french door and no windowsills, and the sprouting is done a good six feet away from the door.

I have always made vinaigrette – I use balsamic vinegar though. Probably safe given that I am not diabetic. I wonder if lemon juice would work as well?

Have been reading up on milk and insulin – no real conclusions about yoghurt yet. I might have to experiment with other milks.

Hello FD-ers
USA, we must have been reading Dr Fungs website simultaneously-I was just looking at it, loads of interesting info.
He actually lists “The Fast Diet” under recommended reading along with “Eat, Stop, Eat”, which I haven’t read.
I sent an e-mail saying he has fans on this forum. I also just watched the show on the cholesterol as cause of
heart disease expose’,I was amazed that in one study, those with the highest cholesterol live the longest!

USA: Oh yes, I saw that he recommends a fast day of coffee, tea or water, broth (such as chicken or beef broth, I think),
and if you take meds, an apple or pear, (with skin). I personally would have to work up to fasting without my 500
calorie allowance, although I have read on here that several are managing fine on no calories. Of course, at first
the thought of 500 cals. on a fast day seemed pretty scary.

Hi Usa
No I don’t have diabetes (1 or 2) but have had serious PCOS which is related to insulin resistance, so I think it all ties in.
In my case I think my sugar addiction is the culprit.
Not being very skilled on the computer, I’ll try to tell you how I found the fasting info:” Home” to “Programs” to “Intensive diabetes Management” to “patient resources” to “intro to Fasting”. If my daughter were here I could just send the link.
I hope that helps.

Right, sprouting.

Its the easiest thing in the world. All you need is a glass jar and a bit of old tights or other loosely woven fabric (synthetic gets less manky, but good old muslin would work as well. I used to use those J-cloths, sythetic non-woven fabric used as kitchen wiping cloths, but they are too densely ‘woven’ and need stabbing to give air flow. Your jar needs to be quite big, I used to use the bottles that fruit juice was sold in which held about a litre (quart) or preserving jars. If you only have something smaller, then just cut down on the seeds. For a quart jar put in a teaspoon of alfalfa seeds, or a handful of mung bean seeds. Cover the top with your bit of fabric or tights held in place with an elastic band.

Run water through the fabric into the jar and shake around then leave big seeds to soak then allow the water to drain out through the fabric. Beans need soaking overnight, but alfalfa no longer than half an hour, my general rule is the bigger the seed the longer you should soak them. Leave your jar on the side. Once or twice a day rinse with water again, until the sprouts have formed and you can see the beginnings of green on the leaf bits (they aren’t true leaves, of course, they are the coyledons, for most sprouts, by the time you have true leaves they are losing their tendeness). Then eat, raw, as salad. You can cook the bigger sprouts like mung beans, very quickly in boiling water, but why bother?

You can buy sprouters if you want something neater. The best is the Easy Sprout available on Amazon on both sides of the pond. I am intrigued by the Sproutman sprout bag, and will buy one when I have refurbished my kitchen and created a place to hang over the sink!

Your seeds need to be sold for sprouting, or organic, because the non organic might have been treated with something horrid.

Good video here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-V6yNqep-9o

There are other methods, but to my mind they are unnecessarily complicated.

Welcome home Couscous! You’ll have lots of reading and video watching to catch up on!

I’ve looked at several reports on the Newcastle study. They are using conventional VLCDs, (shakes) which I suspect won’t help their subjects stay slim in the long run. And I am not sure why they think that fat in the pancreas causes T2D when there is too much insulin in the sufferer’s systems if you look at what Dr Fung is saying. Or maybe there are actually two different routes to T2D, and we are just calling anything that results in high blood sugars Diabetes.

The question is, is diabetes (and its precursor insulin resistance) making people fat, or does being fat give you diabetes. I think that Dr Fung’s model makes more sense.

As for walking after dinner, I do that every night when hubby is away, because dogs expect it! I find it makes it difficult to get to sleep, and to sleep properly, so not good at all! I can see that walking after food will change metabolism, though. I generally find I am sleepy after lunch (even on fast days, when I haven’t eaten!) and I guess being active would have a noticeable effect on metabolism. I wonder what the mechanism is? Is it affecting resistance? Or causing more insulin to be released?

If I win the lottery (difficult without a ticket, I know) I can see I’ll be setting up a research institute!