Starting 4:3 fasting this week. 6:00 pm to 6:00 pm fast on M-W-F. I like the 24 hr true fast, and the odd thing is that I generally feel better as the day goes on. I woke up today a little hungry, but it wasn't excessive and fairly easy to control by drinking water. I felt quite a bit more hungry at lunchtime and was tempted to have a small lunch, but resisted the urge and it subsided and I had no more problems the rest of the day. I felt very alert and clear-headed, with none of the bad effects that one might fear come with fasting. When dinner time came I felt merely peckish, not ravenous. Went out for sushi, it was delish. A good day
That's the odd part, isn't it. With the system I've been using, on the second of fasting I usually feel fine. It's the first day and later on the second it's harder. Actually, I've been ill recently with this flu thing, (since the new year in fact), that's been doing the rounds so didn't feel like eating, (plus I've had the cough that goes with it). But since then I've decided to eat 'normally', (but not excessively), every day until I'm well again. I've also not been on my daily 'constitutional' of about 3 miles, since the new year. I'll be starting again next week, both fasting and walking. ATM I'm back to around 16st, 9went down to about 4lb under at one point), so I'm hoping to have it stay there until then. Actually, I recently borrowed someone's scales which are more accurate and they say I'm 15st. As it's only a matter of calibration, which is irrelevant, I'll stick with my own scales
science of junk food addiction http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/m...tml?pagewanted=2&_r=0&emc=eta1&pagewanted=all
Saw Michael Moss being interviewed on BBC2's 'Newsnight' program last night about his book. He mentioned the '99 meeting and what they discussed. The thing is, are we going to extend this line of thinking into other areas? Y'know, should we let crack dealers hang around outside schools to push their addictive stuff to kids? It's bloody outrageous if you think about it.
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20130304_FastDiet_craze_hits_U_S__from_Britain.html Hey, your "diet craze" has hit the states. How are you guys doing with this part? Britain's National Health Service cautions that the safety and efficacy of the diet has yet to be properly tested. Further, anecdotal reports suggest intermittent fasting might have such side-effects as anxiety, irritability, dehydration, drowsiness, sleep problems and even bad breath
No anxiety, irritability, bad breath or drowsiness. Dehydration is a given with fasting, which is why you have to drink lots of water. I find that I don't need to sleep as much if I'm fasting and I feel more alert later in the evening, so I tend not to drop off easily, which shortens the time I'm asleep. However, I don't end up feeling short of rest the next day, so I don't worry about it. I have an iPhone app that supposedly "rates" the quality of your sleep and it typically shows improvement on those nights. FWIW PS - The NHS might say it "hasn't been properly tested", but that just means tested *by* the NHS. They neglect to mention that American scientists have been testing it for years showing no ill effects if done properly and many directly measurable benefits. The author actually came to the USA to find out about it.
I assume this is what they're referring to... http://www.nhs.uk/news/2013/01January/Pages/Does-the-5-2-intermittent-fasting-diet-work.aspx Whether it's been properly tested is an interesting point. Personally I'd say that's a reason for them to do some testing but, actually, that's not what the NHS, as an organisation, does. They're a care provider. It's up to research organisations, (universities, etc.), to do that sort of thing. Personally I haven't found any anxiety, irritability or drowsiness. My understanding is that, in the absence of gum disease or similar, bad breath occurs during periods of total fasting but that shouldn't be a problem if you have 5-600 calories for two days as is suggested. You do have to drink plenty of water. But as I think I said before, I actually sleep BETTER on my fast days. But I think the really interesting thing is that any comments, (often from people who haven't tried it), about it not being as effective as this or that diet rather miss the point. If you can use a calorie controlled diet, long term, with no reduction in your determination to see it through then, fine. Personally I've found it easier, so far, to stick to something that's simple and easy to follow. The piece at the end of the NHS article says... Due to the very real uncertainties about the 5:2, especially as little is known about whether it could be harmful to health in the long-term, most health professionals would recommend you stick to the tried and trusted methods for weight loss and disease prevention: eating a healthy balanced diet with at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day taking regular exercise quitting smoking if you smoke drinking alcohol in moderation I'm sure that's correct but, how many people ARE sticking to that? Evidence regarding obesity across the western world suggests, not many. Having said that, I do take regular exercise, (a brisk walk of 3 miles every other day). I've never smoked and I haven't drunk much alcohol for the past 20+ years now.
Thanks gents. That's pretty much what I suspected. I've actually done a couple of weeks on 5:2. I know from previous experience to tank up on the water. And as to irritability and anxiety... that stuff pops up with me regardless of what I eat or don't eat (irritating assholes of the world don't magically on days I eat "normal" amounts). I'll probably get the book, since I'm assuming it has recipes. Right now, my 600 calories are two tablespoons of chia seeds that I'll munch on (for as long as I can stand having them in my mouth) if I get distractingly hungry, and a huge salad consisting of a bucket full of mixed greens with tofu, blueberries, apple, mango, and yogurt for a dressing (tastes better than it sounds... or looks, for that matter). Wouldn't mind having a bit of variety, though.
I'm coming to think that recipes are a significant amount of it. If you think about it, on days when you eat normally, (well, if you're anything like me),, you probably spend a fair amount of time cooking and preparing food. If you don't eat at all on a particular day you miss out a HUGE element of your routine which is, normally, quite a lot of fun. So today we had a small peppered salmon steak fillet with a moderate, but not ungenerous, serving of asparagus, baby carrots and broccoli. That was followed by an orange. I don't know for certain but I'm guessing that was about 400-500 calories. For breakfast I had half a grapefruit with a little sugar which, strangely enough, is not as calorific as one might think... about 15-20 cals for a teaspoon I believe. Vegetables are great for ANY sort of diet as you can really fill up on them. I had about 6 asparagus spears and, according to that list, that's about 22 calories. If you wanted to you could eat 60 of them and it would STILL only be 220 on that basis Of course, it depends how you prepare them.
Nice information and sounds good and i am completely agreed that food plays an important role in our healthy life so if we want to live healthy then we should eat clean and healthy food only.