Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year to you too. Really pleased to get your email

best, Michael Mosley

Yes, never thought I’d be evangelical about an eating plan but you’re never too old! Both a friend and I have found our problem with restless legs syndrome has disappeared – wonder what else it can do?

I have just started on the Fast Diet and have a slight concern in that I don’t have that much weight to lose, maybe half a stone max. I’m largely interested in the health benefits, having a family history of heart disease and high cholesterol. Losing a few pounds would be great but I don’t want to keep on losing – and it sounds as if this is a lifelong eating plan. Of course the answer may be in the book, but I haven’t got the book yet!

Today is my first day on the Fast Diet. I’ve been a Weight Watchers devotee for longer than I can remember but the weight is now refusing to budge. The Fast Diet was recommended to me and I’m looking forward to seeing a weight loss but I’m SO hungry on this, my first day. Please tell me it gets better!

A lot of us find the sooner we start eating on a fast day, the hungrier we are. I found that if I save my cals for dinner I don’t tend to feel hungry during the day, at least not until nearer 5-6pm just before dinner, and it’s never unbearable.

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Early days but My husband and I are in our second week of the fast diet and have both lost about 3 pounds so far. We have friends that did the diet as a couple as well, lost a stone in six weeks , even with stopping the program for Christmas temporarily. We are hoping to lose the same. My question is about eating on our nonfast days and what kind of calorie consumption should we be sticking then? My first day back to so called normal eating, I didn’t have much of an appetite but as the week went along I ate my normal diet (about 2000) calories and I did gain back 1 of the pounds I had lost. Should I be having less calories or is it normal to put back a bit of weight lost on nonfast days? We do use my fitness pal to track our calories and are finding that it isn’t that hard to stick to 500/600 calories if we plan it out. It’s also quite fun to see how we can put our days meal together with such limited calories. It’s almost as if our bodies welcome it. Our energy levels are as good, if not better on fast days and we feel as though we can commit to this fast diet for the long term.

My husband and I have been doing this for a few months now. He has F.S.G.S. (for the layman, he has a kidney disease) and is on a rather aggressive drug regime with continuous weight gain. I am post menopausal with some weight gain and no health problems or drug taking. I have lost 6 inches from my waist which I assume equates to somewhere in the region of 1 stone and my husband has lost in excess of 1 stone. We both feel wonderful, energised and plan to continue this way of eating for the rest of our lives as it is so easy and the long term health benefits are what will keep us focused. My husband is a lark so he needs to eat early in the day whereas I’m an owl so I do most of my eating in the afternoon/ early evening. Friends have started to comment on how good I look (no one has ever told my husband that he looks good and we do not anticipate a change there!) and I have not felt this well for many years. Thank you Michael from your number one fan x

Hi,
A couple of years ago I had cellulitis in my right leg – partly because it was an extremely stressful period. I took eight different antibiotics to no good effect, and plenty of bad effect. I finished the course then took another approach – de-stressing, chi Kung, de-tox, and the cellulitis went. However I have been left with a regularly numb foot, and often get pins and needles. When I recently took up the 5 and 2 fasting, within two weeks the numbness and pins and needles have gone, as well as a few pounds in weight. I think there is obviously much to the argument that it is switching on a repair mode – quite incredible and wonderful and not least inspirational. I intend to stick with this – thanks guys for bringing it to our attention.

I started the diet on 24th January and have already lost 3.5 lbs. I fast on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and found the first day left me with a bad headache. I think this was probably lack of caffeine, as it didn’t happen the second day after I drank black coffee. So far so good….

Weighed myself on Saturday morning. I have been on diet 3 weeks and decided only to weigh myself once a month, the first day of the month after a fast day. For me, that was Saturday and I have lost 7lb! I also feel brighter, more alert, positive. No bad thing. My husband has lost the same. He’s still grumpy:-)

Started diet last week and fasted Monday and Tuesday. Is it still effective if you do 2 consecutive days? I found it manageable.For a few years we (husband and I ) have been having soup days Mondays and Tuesdays to balance out the weekend. I don’t have a weight problem but at 52 I feel there is a tendency for weight to drift upwards and am interested to see if the fasting halts this.

Keep at it Celery. I lost 1.3kgs in the first 2 weeks and nothing in the third week. I felt really disheartened but kept going and ended up losing another kilogram in the fourth week. I think it is a slow process and there will be fluctuations. But if the weight comes off slowly it is more likely to stay off and I look at this as a lifetime diet (as all “diets” should be). Keep going 🙂

… the rest is great as well … Except… just been to favourite restaurant (Crab & Lobster, Asenby, N Yorks) and can normally manage 2.5 courses, easy. Today, after a few months 5:2ing, enjoyed duck spring roll starter, waded into assiette of fish, couldn’t finish it, had about 3 chips and pudding out of the question. Find myself uncomfortably full. Next blow-out will have to be 1.5 course max. Now realise new way of life well and truly entrenched. Thank goodness tomorrow is a fast day.

Was facinated by the Horizon programme last year and have just started the diet, had my first fasting day yesterday and it was a breeze, even when I did feel a little hungry, a nice hot black coffee sorted that out, tried the receipes in the book so didn’t even have to really think about it – looking forward to see how I’ve done at the end of the week.

In your book you refer to one of the benefits of the fast diet is a reduction in IGF-1 levels , a prevention for cancer. Do you imagine this diet could help people who already have cancer?

Hello, I watched the programme last year and have embarked on the fast diet. I am a 62 year old gran and my weight is too high, my cholesterol is high, my blood pressure is high – I take tablets – and I love my croissants for breakfast at the weekend! So this sounds ideal for me but I am also confused. In the book and on the site you talk about having two meals per day – morning and evening – adding up to 500 cal. This means that your fast day is actually 36 hours, from supper time one evening to breakfast time on the third day. But you also talk about fasting from lunch to lunch or supper to supper working well. But this would only be 24 hours. My instinct was to go for the supper to supper regime with a light breakfast and lunch adding up to my 500 cals. But this means my periods with no food are from supper to late breakfast and then the afternoon to the evening ( we eat very late by most people’s standards). I have had two fast days so far and have seen no weight loss as yet. Have I got it all wrong and am I the only person confused by this?

I’m nearing 80 and am lucky enough to feel nicely fit and active still – and weight isn’t really a problem: BMI below 23. I ascribe a lot of that to all the cycling I did before I reached 30, when a GP sadly recommended I should get rid of the bike to sort out back problems I was having. Possibly a big mistake; a good chiropracter put that right for me 10 or so years ago.
When Wiggo showed signs of winning the Tour de France in due course I watched the Sky team on ITV4 whenever I could and just felt so envious… I had to get a bike again.
After a near 50-year layoff it’s taken me a while to build up stamina on the saddle again, but now I’m approaching my 80th birthday I felt I ought to celebrate it in some appropriate way. I’ve set myself the target of doing an 80-kilometre ride. 50 miles. A more exciting prospect than any party. To me, anyway. Back in club-riding days we used to do that in 3 hours as a yearly ‘get back to fitness’ test. Touring around Somerset and Dorset; plenty of hills. No way I can hope to do that now. But that’s the distance I want to achieve.
Where does that fit in with your diet plan – ? Diet is inevitably a key factor in any project like that, and I was excited to read your insert in the Radio Times; it sounded right. I’m committed to the 5:2 plan after just a couple of weeks, and I’m already feeling so much better for it.
And now I’ve got the book, to fill in so much more of the background and where you’re coming from. That brought back memories of those cycling days in the 40s and 50s, of just riding and riding without worrying too much about eating: 150 miles on a Mars bar and a couple of date sandwiches. Made up for it the next day, of course.
Impromptu fasting for the odd day was equally part and parcel of my workaday routine when deadlines had to be met. I was using your diet plan in a less formal way without realising I was doing it. So I know it works as far as keeping my weight under control.
Now, of course, I’m very conscious about all the other things you’re associating with it. I’ve already had a run-in with a GP who wanted to put me on statins to reduce cholesterol. No ta. Diet control and exercise suits me far better. And if it delays the onset of Alzheimers and diabetes, etc. all the better. I only want to live longer if I can keep fit and enjoy the ride. The Fast Diet really does look like a regimen that could achieve that for me. I’m already feeling good on it.
Good to see so many others are, as well. Including, I must add, my wife; joint problems rule out the cycling for her, but she loves to walk 3 or 4 miles a day – and makes me struggle to keep up with her at times. She has no weight problem, really, but there’s no telling her so. But she’s certainly hoping the 5:2 strategy will keep her fit for longer. And we both look forward to relaxing our self-imposed rules about pizzas and cheesecake (and even occasional cream teas) without penalty.
You’ve opened up a whole new vista of food enjoyment again.
Thanks, and keep up the good work.

Well done Tonyboy, I was smiling and delighted when I read your post as my wife and I started at same time a you guys and have found similar “amazing” results. Having to throw/ donate clothes is a real tangible sign though hate shopping!

Get occasional headache and watery “taste” during Fast days but feeling so much better in terms of energy, mentally. I prefer to do my Fast days consecutively although I know this is not the recommended pattern, just feels better or me and fast days completed in two days.

Well done, only way is down!!

Help!! I was so good on my fast day Monday but feel so hungry on non fast day. Yesterday thought start with protein had egg and soldiers tuna salad for lunch then ate crisps peanut butter etc. I seem to be thinking about food all day on non fast days. I have weighed this morning and put back the 2lbs i lost on fast day. any advise please. I also agree that you cant eat anything you fancy on non fast days.

Thanks Jeanette.Your article was very good and also nice to know their are several other people like me hope it settles down.

Found these comments helpful. I lost 6lbs the first week but then out 2lb back on. This was after reading about the American Diet and people still lost weight. I think I too, have been over eating on normal days. I get a bit of a headache, on Fast days and maybe feel a bit nauseous but nothing I can’t handle. If this really works, it’s great!

Been fasting 5:2 (sometimes 4:3) since Christmas – good weight loss results down 8kg so far. But last week I had my blood chemistry checked.

results:

1) Fasting Glucose – ideal range: 3.0-5.8 – mine 5.6 so OK, (although the notes say the range should be 3.5 – 7.9?)
2) Cholesterol LDL/HDL – up to 3.0/0.9 – 1.5 – mine 4.4/1.4 so raised LDL is bad will look to reduce this.
3) Triglycerides – less than 2.3 – mine 2.0 nice!
4) IGF-1 – 11.3 – 30.9 – mine 9.2 Wow! that’s like off the scale in a good way, lower is better for this one according to Dr Mosely.

so a couple of questions – that Fasting Glucose range ? my documents say it should be 3.5-7.9 so 5.6 is right in the middle but the book quotes 3.0 – 5.8, is this a different test?

secondly IGF-1 9.2! wow that looks low is that as good as it sounds? 🙂

any info much appreciated.

I started this soon after seeing the programme in the summer. In that time I’ve lost almost 2 stone. I’ve never felt better. Its great that I can still go out for a curry and a few beers with my mates without having to worry about what it’s doing to my waste line. Work colleagues have been inspired by my success and have also tried to programme and are loving it too.

Started fast diet 4 weeks ago and today find I have lost 5.25lb! After a lifetime of worrying about my weight, honestly this is the easiest 5lb’s I have ever lost. So if i cant get to my goal weight by restricting my food intake only 9 days a month I never will!!
I have dealt with the sleep problems I had initially by eating later-8:30-9 but in general the sleeping problem seems to have settled down.