The Fast Diet: Have Your Cake and Eat it This Easter

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The Fast Diet: Have Your Cake and Eat it This Easter

This topic contains 64 replies, has 45 voices, and was last updated by  Stardust09 4 years, 10 months ago.

Viewing 16 posts - 51 through 66 (of 66 total)

  • Hi, could anyone please explain the 1/4 of your normal calorie thing! Everyone has a different calorie requirment, which goes off your size, age, gender, muscle mass etc..
    So as i think mine is 1600 a day (which, by the way means i cant stuff my face) does this mean in theory i should have a 400 calories fast? Quite a few people seem to say they have a guilt free feast day, fast on 500 and still lose weight. Am i over thinking it all. In the book it says in theory you should lose a pound for every fast day, but if i were to equate all the calories i eat , that simply doesnt add up. 2lbs a wk is 7000 calories deficit.. If i fast for 2 days, then have 1600 cals for 5 days thats = 8000 cals. . As opposed to 1600 for 7 days = 11200. Thats only 3200 cal deficit for the wk. So how can you lose 21bs a wk? I also, just to help things along, exercise 3 times a wk. So back to my original question, should i have 400 cals fast . And how do you lose 1 pound per fast day. (sorry that was 2 questions) thanks..

    Hello, Waggy123 – yes, the 500/600cal figures are based on Ms/Mr Average, as is the 2000cal women’s recommended daily intake figure, and, yes, many other factors (such as height, age, activity levels, etc, etc) need to be taken into account for each individual.
    The loss of ‘1 lb per fast day’ is described in ‘The Fast Diet’ by Mimi S. as a ‘basic guide’ to what anyone might anticipate when first starting out, but she says this would include things like ‘water and the digested food in your system’. She then says ‘You should, however, lose around ten pounds of fat over a ten week period’ – so, one pound of FAT per week.
    It’s a minefield of conflicting information out there, if you do what I just did, and search for ‘calorie deficit to lose 1 pound’ and also look at the various calorie calculators.
    So, regretably, I don’t know what ‘the answer’ is to your query on the 400 or 500cals issue – or even whether you can trust the basis on which your1600cal figure is calculated – other than try what sounds right to you and see what happens.
    A major foundation of the 5:2 system is that it should be ‘do-able’ on a long-term basis, so that you can reap health benefits and, hopefully, a steady, gradual fat loss, without losing muscle mass.
    For many people, being allowed 500cals on fast days and then ‘normal’ eating – better to read that as ‘reasonable’ eating, to my mind – on non-fast days, means it IS much more sustainable than ‘everyday’ calorie restriction diets. Maybe, if the fast day allowance was quoted as even less than 500cals, some people would not stick to it – or might not even try the 5:2 system in the first place?
    Other people’s stories will not necessarily be your story – experiment with what works for you and I hope you will be delighted with some good results. Best wishes to you.

    Hi jeanius… Thanks for your reply. Yes, that’s what I will do.. It’s definitely seems like I need to look at it like a comfortable marathon and not a heart wrenching sprint! I’m sure your right.. Kind regards

    Jeanius, you seem to be the resident expert! I too have not had success with this diet…YET. I have about 10 lbs to lose. I’d estimate on non-fast days I eat approx. 1500-1800 calories. And stick to about 550 on fast days. I just feel bloated. Maybe I should increase my water intake, to flush away the sodium? I assume I just need to be more vigilant in tracking calories, and maybe then I will see the difference. I’ve been doing this for 3 weeks. Your insights are quite helpful!

    Hi, Sarah (sarahbuz) – you’re very kind but no way am I any kind of expert. I am just fortunate enough to be retired and have enough time to study, think about and reply to other people’s comments. (For me, writing on the forum is the best tool I’ve found for keeping me out of the larder/fridge. Time flies and I’ve skipped yet another mealtime before I know it! Hooray!)
    It’s good to see the new, front page discussion from Michael M. on suggestions if one is not experiencing desired weight loss. I still think the reference to ‘normal’ eating can be misleading. As one friend said to me ‘Let’s not forget that it was our normal way of eating that got us here in the first place.’
    A bit of calorie tracking might be a good idea for a while, if you think you might not actually have the necessary calorie deficit. In food terms, the difference between a plus or minus total is surprisingly small. Keep experimenting, Sarah, and best wishes to you for continuing success.

    Sad to say, I am finding the set-up and layout of this website increasingly frustrating and awkward to use and I would ask the managers of this site to review and redesign the whole thing.
    To view an example of an attractive, user-friendly and technically far more comprehensive website, check out that of Kate Harrison, author of ‘The 5-2 Diet Book’. (I suspect that if I quote the full website address here this post will be vetoed so, just search the www by her name and/or the book title.)
    Kate H’s forum is open and anyone can read all the lively contributions without having to register. (To contribute or seek members’ advice, registering is easy and, usually, quickly confirmed.)

    A brief summary of some of main problems I experience here, on this site:
    – The range of given threads is narrow and so the list of comments in most threads quickly gets longer and longer – the scrolling down seems endless.
    – There is no indication given of the whereabouts of any new postings since the last time I signed-in. (I, for one, waste a lot of time searching all the threads, only to find there are no new comments, because I can’t remember what the number totals were from my previous visit.)
    – There is no means to check back on each individual’s full collection of comments – to get an overall picture of their experiences and views – before replying to their most recent posting.
    – Valuable forum subjects are hidden away in obliquely titled links like ‘in depth’ whilst two-thirds of the home-page space is given over to stale and unchanging items under ‘twitter’ and ‘in the press’.
    – The input/response from either Michael M or Mimi S seems minimal and disappointing nowadays. Many members clearly are expecting MM and MS to be participating in the forum.

    (As there is no obvious place for this subject, I will put these comments in more than one topic heading, to ensure they can be read.)

    Hi Michael & Mimi, I have been doing the fast diet for 2 months now, and I love it and am losing weight at a very steady rate, about 300-400gms per week. What I wonder is how do I continue when I have lost as much weight as I need to. I would really only like to lose another 1kg but I still want to continue the fasting for the health benefits. How should I do this?

    Hello, minki – Once you reach your preferred weight, try a 6:1 maintenance programme, i.e. just one fasting day per week rather than two. It’s great that you are doing so well using this system. All good health and well-being to you.

    Sorry, minki, for the mis-spelling of your name. (Naughty iPad!)

    Thank you Jeanius, no problem with the name. Thanks for that advice, I thought I saw it somewhere in the book, but couldn’t find it again. I also Just have to say that this way of eating works so well for me, I am usually quite a healthy eater but I have always eaten more than I need! Doing this, my body has responded by giving me very clear signals that I’ve had enough to eat, so now I leave things on the plate…unheard of for me. I’ve told so many people about this and now have two friends also doing it with great ease and success. Thank you so much.

    I agree totally with Jeanius’s frustrations and disappointment with this site (see her posting of 21 April above). I go on the site only very occasionally but would do so much more frequently if it were better organised and updated.
    Also, this is only the 2nd time posted as loggging in is such a pain – you can’t even change the password to something more memorable!
    Jeanius is brilliant at responding to people and if she gives up on the site I’ll be gone for good too. I’m off to check out other forums!

    minki and Enaj, I blush but thank you for your kind words. The variety of available sites about intermittent fasting in general and the 5:2 approach in particular can be a bit overwhelming. So far, I have been either monitoring or contributing to just three and, speaking personally, I compare their technical layout and ease of use to villages, towns and cities:
    Sad to say, this current site is still a bit of a village, with few facilities and rather confusingly spread out. Hopefully, a team of planners will get in here and come up with a great, new design. (Ahh, JUST seen Michael M’s recent posts on this subject in another thread – so that’s all good news!)
    I find ‘the 52diet.co.uk’ brilliant for breadth of information and for its efforts to collect and collate statistics about members’ results but I often get confused and lost there – it is definitely a big city, with almost too much available.
    I’m a townie and, for me, the clearest and most easy to navigate is Kate Harrison’s site based on her ‘The 5-2 Diet Book’. The forum design is neat, colourful and uncluttered, with many excellent features (e.g. being able to edit your contributions if you realise you’ve mis-typed/mis-spelled something or thought of a better way to express yourself, to name just one.)
    I use all three and get different things from each. What I hadn’t realised originally is: one can dip in to all the postings on each of the different forums without having to register. (You need to register only if you actually want to make a comment.) If you have enough time, more than one forum can be helpful. Go explore, if you feel like it. (No actual web addresses given, as they tend to get vetoed.)

    Just started today, it’s 3pm and I’m famished. I have ordered the diet book because 500 calories seems so difficult to juggle. The urge to shove a shortbread biscuit in my mouth is quite powerful at the moment. I’m sure I will get into my stride soon!

    I did it and within budget by 7 cals! Phew!
    The interesting thing is that I don’t feel compelled to race off and eat lots today, as I imagined, which is good. I had 55g couscous and a small piece of poached haddock 57g for evening meal and that sustained me through the night.

    I cannot deal with a diet that doesnt allow a 6pm g&t…I have a stressful job and am happy to sacrifice 25 percent of my calories to a much needed drink..sorry I am a newbie and was trying to comment on a drink-related link, not sure f its coming out in the right place…I feel positively punished when alcohol is prohibited, like I feel SOOO happy when I see the words ‘unlimited green leafy veg’..sadly not on this site. I am wondering if I can just have cabbage soup on my fast days ? or if i need protein?
    having just had a miso soup and loads of lemon water ( great on this plan) all day do I need protein? I fasted from 8pm last night to now , 7.40 with only a miso soup…I am perplexed as to if I have actually had my fasting day? I am planning to continue til at least 10am with a 400 calorie meal of baked fish and veg…sorry, loads of questions all at once!!

    I bought lots of sweets for Easter but I will eat careful.

    I will continue 2 fasting days maybe more with or without support. Some of my family say I should stop now BMI 24.5, 76kg

    My doctor say to continue what I do to improve health. I haven’t told him I’m fasting.

Viewing 16 posts - 51 through 66 (of 66 total)

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