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seven years on 5:2 - sort of

Fitness tips, Relaxation, Mind and Body
Arborbridge
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seven years on 5:2 - sort of

#218349

Postby Arborbridge » April 30th, 2019, 9:10 am

We started the 5:2 diet in November 2012 or thereabouts. Quite strict at first and the weight came off agreeably quickly. When we reached what we felt was an optimum level (BMI 23-24 feels about right) we then improvised a maintenance diet. Still 5:2 but not so strictly fasting - more just cutting back severely on those days.

With regard to OLTB's comment about being hungry - my feeling is that I could not do this without feeling very hungry, at least initially. One of the thoughts I had late into the evening was that because I'd been hungry most of the evening, I was blowed if I was going to give up then. All that pain only to throw it away at bedtime? No thanks - I found if that happened a last moment munching of a carrot would help without much harm to the program.

Weights are in pounds - I keep meaning to convert to the more useful BMI, but never got around to it! My wife's weight more of less parallels mine but we crossed over once. This was due to my having a week of some stomach bug - the perfect way of losing weight in a hurry! At the same time she had a big birthday binge meal with family. Here's the chart:

Image

We now feel pretty settled dieting this way and it is comforting to know we can occasionally enjoy ourselves or go on holiday in the knowledge that we can reduce our weight in a couple of weeks or so.

Arb.

Arborbridge
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Re: seven years on 5:2 - sort of

#218363

Postby Arborbridge » April 30th, 2019, 9:38 am

Snorvey wrote:I did 5:2 for nearly a couple of years and the weight certainly did drop off.....but then it went back on again when I stopped.

I've now taken the weight back off again through a complete change in lifestyle (when on the 5:2 there was no change in lifestyle other than the 2 x 600 cal days).

As part of my new lifestyle, I fast once a week for 24 hours. Water only (ok, I do allow myself a coffee in the morning), dinnertime to dinnertime. I find it quite refreshing.


That's pretty brave - I'm not sure I'd like a total fast.

You first comment is quite true - if one stops, the weight will come back again. 5:2 is not just for Christmas, but for me, is a change of lifestyle in the same way that your once a month is. Actually, I think my tastes may have changed too, because there are days when I quite look forward to the next fast day (actually, it had now been downgraded to a "diet day") and I do not like quite so much sugary or fatty things. However, I still have a weakness for cakes though I've come to learn to back off from some which always look nicer than the effect they have on me afterwards.

I remember well your previous posts on 5:2, starting on TMF - one reason I posted today was because of the stirling efforts you made in years gone by.


Arb

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Re: seven years on 5:2 - sort of

#218365

Postby Dod101 » April 30th, 2019, 9:40 am

I need to lose weight but I do not think I could do the 5:2 far less fasting one day a week. Surely it ought to be possible by simply eating less in general, at least once you have reached the desired weight? I could not be called a couch potato. I walk 3/4 miles 4 or 5 times a week, I garden and hardly watch any TV. I have started to seriously cut down my food intake in general. I eat no pre prepared foods. Everything is from basic ingredients, never have takeaways. I suspect that living in my own, I am just eating too much, without the constraints of a wife's guidance (or worse!)

Well done Arb, though if I were at your starting weight I would be happy! Depends of course on height and build/BMI. I am just 6 feet and not heavily built. The paunch is my problem.

Dod

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Re: seven years on 5:2 - sort of

#218373

Postby Howyoudoin » April 30th, 2019, 10:04 am

Snorvey wrote:Surely it ought to be possible by simply eating less in general,

I only eat 3 meals a day now - no snacks. Eating after dinnertime was my biggest downfall. Effectively, there's a 12-13 hour fast between dinner and breakfast.


So when is your third meal?

HYD

Dod101
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Re: seven years on 5:2 - sort of

#218381

Postby Dod101 » April 30th, 2019, 10:22 am

Snorvey wrote:Surely it ought to be possible by simply eating less in general,

I only eat 3 meals a day now - no snacks. Eating after dinnertime was my biggest downfall. Effectively, there's a 12-13 hour fast between dinner and breakfast.


Thanks Snorvey. I should have acknowledged your earlier post. That is basically what I am now doing, and if I have a 'normal' lunch out, probably two courses, as I am today, then I will eat very little in the evening and vice versa.

Dod

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Re: seven years on 5:2 - sort of

#218424

Postby ReformedCharacter » April 30th, 2019, 12:08 pm

An interesting article by Dr. Mosley a couple of days ago in the DT (Premium):

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitn ... hout-food/

It’s a good idea to have longer periods without food. Our ancestors had periods of feast and famine. Our bodies are designed to do that and it’s quite clear that during the periods that you are not putting food into your bodies, a lot of repair goes on

And, on the subject of breakfast and the modern habit of eating 3 meals a day:

Breakfast is a Victorian and post-Victorian thing. Prior to that having breakfast was seen as a form of weakness. People wouldn’t expect to eat until midday. Historically it’s an anomaly and the idea of having three meals a day is largely a modern construction and there seems no reason to keep it

RC

Arborbridge
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Re: seven years on 5:2 - sort of

#218427

Postby Arborbridge » April 30th, 2019, 12:11 pm

Dod101 wrote:I need to lose weight but I do not think I could do the 5:2 far less fasting one day a week. Surely it ought to be possible by simply eating less in general, at least once you have reached the desired weight? I could not be called a couch potato. I walk 3/4 miles 4 or 5 times a week, I garden and hardly watch any TV. I have started to seriously cut down my food intake in general. I eat no pre prepared foods. Everything is from basic ingredients, never have takeaways. I suspect that living in my own, I am just eating too much, without the constraints of a wife's guidance (or worse!)

Well done Arb, though if I were at your starting weight I would be happy! Depends of course on height and build/BMI. I am just 6 feet and not heavily built. The paunch is my problem.

Dod


Paunch certainly is the problem, I would say, for most "older" men. I've lost weight, but I reckon what's left has been squeezed towards the middle! I'm told the only way to correct that is obsessive exercise of the right kind, but that, I have no appetite for.
Like you, I walk a fair amount. Usually 8 or 9 miles at the weekend plus intermittent miles in the week - often a trip to the shops of about 3 miles round plus carrying a rucksack of shopping.

I could just eat less - it would have the same effect as it's all just about calories. However, I prefer 5:2 because I can still indulge when I wish on the "5" days. I found that simply going on a generally reduced diet was pretty soul destroying - nothing but dieting stretching ahead of me. My love of charts has helped too - it's all there, success or otherwise. I can identify spikes for Christmas, holidays or visits of grandchildren - then the recovery afterwards.

Whichever way we choose to do it, I think keeping on top of one's weight has to be good for well-being.

Arb.

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Re: seven years on 5:2 - sort of

#218429

Postby Arborbridge » April 30th, 2019, 12:14 pm

ReformedCharacter wrote:
It’s a good idea to have longer periods without food. Our ancestors had periods of feast and famine. Our bodies are designed to do that and it’s quite clear that during the periods that you are not putting food into your bodies, a lot of repair goes on

And, on the subject of breakfast and the modern habit of eating 3 meals a day:



Yes, I have to remind myself that the fasting is actually the crux of his ideas. I tend to think of weight control as the end point, but actually it is the starving of the body to stimulate it which is the thing to focus on if he is correct.

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Re: seven years on 5:2 - sort of

#218453

Postby Itsallaguess » April 30th, 2019, 1:46 pm

Arborbridge wrote:
Like you [Dod], I walk a fair amount. Usually 8 or 9 miles at the weekend plus intermittent miles in the week - often a trip to the shops of about 3 miles round plus carrying a rucksack of shopping.

I could just eat less - it would have the same effect as it's all just about calories.


I think exercise still has a key role to play in terms of general fitness.

Don't forget some of that 'paunch-weight' could be transferred to more general 'muscle-mass', and whilst you might then still weigh the same, you'd perhaps look and feel a lot better than if you didn't exercise...

I think sometimes we fixate on the 'pure weight' numbers a little too much, and sometimes have to remind ourselves that a particular bit of weight doesn't necessarily have to be in the form of fat...

Well done with the 5:2 though Arb - it's something that's interested me very much over the years, sometimes from general articles in the media but mostly from following some of you on these boards that are kind enough to post regarding your progress.

I don't practice it, but do tend to miss my mid-day meals at the weekend, and just have a bit of breakfast and a standard evening meal on those two days, and aligning that with a good level of effort regarding exercise throughout the week seems to have done me good over the past couple of years.

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

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Re: seven years on 5:2 - sort of

#218468

Postby kempiejon » April 30th, 2019, 2:33 pm

I have never been one to care about my weight, but I did jump up 2 holes on my belt buckle just after my holiday last year so wanted to get back into a more comfortable range before Christmas. I reduced carbohydrates in my diet, no more beer, wine, bread, pasta, potatoes, rice etc. I found myself eating more eggs, fish, nuts, salads, vegetables and leafy greens. I've always been active but I made a point of walking a little more, not popping to the shops when driving back from somewhere but taking the car home and then walking out to the shops. You cannot out exercise a poor diet and most of the weight loss is done in the kitchen. I think it is the case that the more lean muscle you have the higher your resting metabolic rate is - therefore the more calories you use just by resting.
I removed those belly inches in about 6 months but when I let my diet return to "normal" a bit of extra weight did creep back on.
As for fasting I've never been one for breakfast, don't take my lunch until after 1pm and don't usually eat or drink after 7.30pm unless I'm out.

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Re: seven years on 5:2 - sort of

#218879

Postby neversay » May 2nd, 2019, 9:29 am

Confession: when I skip a meal, say breakfast, later on some powerful force takes over my brain and has me eating n biscuits (or some other quick fix) barely even registering that I'm doing it. It's like I'm on a sugar-craved autopilot. I guess the answer to that is to have some fasting low-calorie snacks to hand but I need to find what works as a 'few nuts' quickly becomes a handful.

Also, I wonder if others have had much success with inhibitors to sugar cravings or spikes, like apple cider vinegar or the herbal tablets that claim to limit candida?

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Re: seven years on 5:2 - sort of

#218958

Postby scotia » May 2nd, 2019, 1:11 pm

Itsallaguess wrote:I think exercise still has a key role to play in terms of general fitness.

Don't forget some of that 'paunch-weight' could be transferred to more general 'muscle-mass', and whilst you might then still weigh the same, you'd perhaps look and feel a lot better than if you didn't exercise...

I walk, I cycle, I row a boat vigorously up and down a loch, but the paunchy remains! And my BMI stays firmly in the overweight area. I should lose half a stone, but I keep putting off the starvation approach.
My only consolation is that I am apparently less overweight than the average Scot of my age.

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Re: seven years on 5:2 - sort of

#218966

Postby ReformedCharacter » May 2nd, 2019, 1:38 pm

Itsallaguess wrote:
I think exercise still has a key role to play in terms of general fitness.

Itsallaguess

I quite agree with that. But, whenever I hear people talking about exercising to lose weight I think that it's a hard way to do it. I do an - admittedly modest session - on an exercise bike regularly and according to the calorie readout on the bike I burn enough calories to equate to 2 or 3 plain digestive biscuits. If I was trying to lose weight (which I'm not) it would be a heck of a lot easier to just not eat them in the first place :)

RC

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Re: seven years on 5:2 - sort of

#218985

Postby kempiejon » May 2nd, 2019, 2:48 pm

Two bon mots I often hear are; "You cannot out exercise a poor diet." and "Most of the weight loss is done in the kitchen."

Still, you are right that healthy eating and regular exercise are part of general fitness.

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Re: seven years on 5:2 - sort of

#219045

Postby Itsallaguess » May 2nd, 2019, 7:12 pm

ReformedCharacter wrote:
Itsallaguess wrote:
I think exercise still has a key role to play in terms of general fitness.

Itsallaguess


I quite agree with that. But, whenever I hear people talking about exercising to lose weight I think that it's a hard way to do it.

I do an - admittedly modest session - on an exercise bike regularly and according to the calorie readout on the bike I burn enough calories to equate to 2 or 3 plain digestive biscuits.

If I was trying to lose weight (which I'm not) it would be a heck of a lot easier to just not eat them in the first place.


I think you're dead right that in terms of trying to purely use exercise to 'lose weight' then it would be a difficult slog on it's own, but I definitely find that having a good, regular, and varied exercise routine helps enormously with the whole 'food mindset' thing too, which I actually think is one of the 'hidden benefits' of exercise, in that you just seem to end up with a more healthy approach to food as well, anyway, as a sort of by-product of just turning in that general 'direction'....

I suppose it's perhaps how we're wired - do we come back from a good bit of exercise and think that we need to 'reward ourselves' with something, or do we come back with a mindset of 'not wanting to spoil that effort'?

I certainly wouldn't claim to always live in the latter frame of mind, and I am quite capable of indulging in things that would definitely fall into the 'treat' category, but I think I land enough in the second frame of mind for it to be worthwhile, as I think I'd definitely live more indulgently with regards to food if I didn't exercise....

So for me, the exercise is simply 'part of the package', and continuing to do that side of things most definitely, for me at least, helps steer me onto the 'better side' of food as well, and it quickly starts to form a sort of 'baseline' dual-pronged approach, with each side helping to remind me of the other....

I think it also helps to properly start to look at the calorie-content of just what we're regularly putting into our mouths. I'm constantly shocked at some of the stuff I really like to snack on, and I do try to ration myself through the week regarding the most calorie-compact stuff.

If only it didn't all taste so nice!!

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

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Re: seven years on 5:2 - sort of

#219434

Postby redsturgeon » May 4th, 2019, 7:38 am

I did the 5:2 since the Mosely TV programme until October last year. I maintained my weight rather than lose any at around 92 kg which for my height is a BMI of 25. There is some evidence that for my age a BMI of 25 ish is better than one of 20 or less.

Then I had a holiday in Italy that involved heavy drinking and eating and my weight shot up to over 95kg in less than a week! This was a bit of a surprise!

This coincided with sober October when my daughter challenged me to go vegan, I did this for a month and almost immediately dropped down to 88kg and found I could eat as much as a liked and that I didn't miss meat. For ethical/eco reasons it seems sensible to stick with this. I dropped the 5:2 at the same time and since I eat my main meal at 6pm, don't snack and don't breakfast until 8 or 9 am, I have a 14-15 hours fast every day anyway.

For longer term health and sustainability I decided that cheese and fish are OK for me to eat and so I guess I am now more of a lacto-pescatarian.

The weight has stayed off and I just weighed myself at 86.6 kg so that is a BMI of 23.7, at the moment I am more active than normal since I am working on a kitchen extension in addition to my usual 3-5 mile daily walk, coupled with less regular bike rides and runs.

All in all I'd recommend everyone try to eat less meat, you may find, like I did, that you don't miss it and it is kinder to the planet and to your health to cut down.

John

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Re: seven years on 5:2 - sort of

#219692

Postby bungeejumper » May 5th, 2019, 6:20 pm

I couldn't ever do 5:2, for the simple reason that I find starvation physically painful. (As an impoverished student in Germany, I once lasted two weeks on a small bag of potatoes, and gosh, I'd never realised that real hunger hurt so much.) Fortunately, though, nature has given me a saving grace, which is that I really dislike sweet foods. I only ever eat cake, biscuits or chocolate in order not to offend 'normal' people. So all I have to do is make sure we don't have crisps, nuts or savoury biscuits in the cupboards. ;)

I also don't do rapid weight loss, because in my experience it only goes back on again. But I have lost 26 pounds in the last two years - yep, that's a measly quarter of a pound a week :D - and it hasn't hurt a bit. Mostly by cutting back on my major temptations, cheese and beer - and, er, not much else actually..... I can calorie count with the best of them, but if I'm honest I lose weight the best when I'm not really thinking about diet at all.

After these two years I'm still medically overweight according to BMI - but hey, what does BMI know? Does it know that I'm a blacksmith? (My family bashed metal for 200 to 300 years, and I have the big shoulders and upper body muscles to prove it.) My doc says she has no worries about me, and that'll do for me. Would still like to lose another 7 pounds, though, just to show I can do it.

Like RS, we are gently cutting back on meat these days - eating more fish and sometimes poultry, and red meat no more than twice a week. If that's flexitarian, then I can confirm that it doesn't hurt a bit. Not sure I'm ready for the full vegan, though. Or that I ever will be....

BJ

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Re: seven years on 5:2 - sort of

#255140

Postby didds » October 1st, 2019, 2:20 pm

Arborbridge wrote:Weights are in pounds - I keep meaning to convert to the more useful BMI


most professional power sportsmen are obese by BMI standards though ;-)

didds


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