[Closed] Horizon 'fasting' diet/lifestyle 3.5 weeks in... updates

Keep the updates coming - great news

Interesting - a client of mine has just started the same and seems happy with it so far. I should try it -what sort of thing do are you eating on your fast days OP?

So for example on a fasting day it's 2 eggs, scrambled on a piece of dry brown toast for brekkie. Lunch is an orange and a low fat jelly (god JELLY is great... <10 cals for a large pot !!!!). Evening meal last night was a carton of leek and potato soup from Sainsburys. 216cals all in for a LOT of soup. Followed by half a banana and again a jelly 🙂

It's weird, i went to bed proper hungry but woke up only slightly peckish. This seems to be a common trait for me on fasting days.

The great thing for me is that this diet means i can eat/do the things i want on other days. I don't drink for example, but i'm weak with eating 'stuff'. So me and my lad made muffins the other day, i've eaten them... or Sat i'll go to the pub with my mum and boy for lunch and have what i like... This is why it works for me, as on the eating days i'm unrestricted.

What i've found is that it makes you slightly more aware of what you NEED, rather than what you think you want. So in essence you may not eat as much even on the unrestricted days as you previously would have. But i'm not suffering for that... it's all good.

Tonight is Indian take-away. With Naan bread and 0% guilt.

I've had great weeks and average weeks on the scales, 6lb in week one, then about 1.5lb on the others... but 5 i think this week (maybe 4 after an eating day). So don't lose heart if it doesn't drop much in a given week.

[i]i'm totally ecstatic about.. i mean REALLY happy[/i]

I'm happy for you, glad you're getting into something that you find works for you.
🙂

low fat jelly 😆

low fat jelly

Sugar free, no? Don't think regular jelly has a lot of fat in it.

Glad its working for you but i dont understand.. on the fasting days you eat scrambled egg on toast for breakfast, fruit lunch then soup for tea? I thought these fasting diets were supposed to be water only 1 day a week?

Is this a documented regime you are following or something you have made up yourself?

Was considering doing fasting 1 day a week myself, so not criticizing above, just not sure how it works and whether the above would work for me. Glad it works for you though, keep it up!!!

I thought these fasting diets were supposed to be water only 1 day a week

I was told the fasting days were 600 cals max for men and 500cal max for women. I never actually watched the prog myself, just got the information from my boss who did it with great results for 3 weeks before i started.

organic - I think (weeksy, correct me if I'm wrong) the info is from here: [url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19112549 ]BBC Horizon linky[/url]

That's basically it mate yes.. . remarkable his results seem to be pretty much exactly the same as mine.

Hmm. I've finally got really fed up with the weight I've gained over the last 18 months.

Might add this into the mix.

Thinking I might try this... All it would mean for me on a work day is skipping lunch, and being disciplined about tea (not eating cos I'm hungry in the time it takes me to head soup...)

I've hit a brick wall with conventional dieting as I'm now trying to loose weight I've had for over half my life. Can't eat eggs though... Some form of ham based breakfast then I think... It supposed to be very protein filled breaky yes?

Congrats on the weight loss but there is 1 thing i would say... Its taken how to to get to the size you have ( and anyone else who is overweight etc ) whats the obsession with all of a sudden needing to lose like 4-6 a week ? At the amount of weight loss you can guarentee thats not just fat your losing slow and and steady is best 1-2 pound a week max.

No obsession mate, i'd hit a plateau for about 18 months, little up, little down. I couldn't find the strength to go back to the full on dieting, it was just too mentally tough. Back when i lost the big stones i was at home alone, so could cook what i wanted when i wanted. Now i've got a wife and a 4 year old, so it's not quite as simple, you also get complacent as i'm sure many on here have when having a family etc.

The numbers i lose week on week are not important to me on this one, it's more about doing 'something' that i can work on and work with.

I've just had a cracking indian 🙂

have a read of [url= http://www.precisionnutrition.com/intermittent-fasting ]this[/url]

Have you noticed any other benefits apart from weight loss? Just wondered if you had noticed an improvement in energy levels or anything else? Any downsides?

I started this first week in Sept. So far I've lost 22 lb and I truly feel like its changing my life. Still got another couple of stone to lose but I genuinely think I can keep this up forever. Really really recommend it.

foolishmiracles - Member
Have you noticed any other benefits apart from weight loss? Just wondered if you had noticed an improvement in energy levels or anything else? Any downsides?

Only downside is that on fasting nights i do sometimes wake up during the night 'wide-awake' about 3am and take half an hour to get back off.

I've noticed no downsides in strength, fitness etc.

I've been doing it since seeing horizon. Never kept an eye on my actual weight but I've lost the potental beer belly and feel much better/fitter for it. I pretty much eat nothing every other day. I might have the odd small snack or fruit but have found it to be easy after a couple of weeks. The days i eat i make sure i eat really well, lots of whatever and a fair bit of fruit.
I ride to work on the days i'm eating, 15 commute kills me without eating breakfast.

In under 4 weeks i've dropped 1st 0 which i'm totally ecstatic about.. i mean REALLY happy.

That is really impressive. Well done!

How far apart should the fasting days be? Assume back to back isn't poss, but how about say Tues and Thurs?

My mate did Tues/Thurs for first few weeks, for some reason we now do Mon/Turs, but there's no real logic behind our decision, just personal prefernece.

theres a few different ways of doing it. ive had success with 2X24hr periods fasting per week (so zero cals from teatime to teatime) or using windows a la 'leangains', so eat all cals in an 8hr window, zero cals for 16hrs each day.

looked into it quite deeply and it actually seems to be quite a healthy way of eating.

I do Monday tues or Monday Wednesday, no cals teatime to teatime on fast days...feel much less bloated, more focused etc...

Cheers guys.

i just go with every other day. Sometimes i might be going out etc and end up eating two days in a row but dont get to worried about that, probably every two weeks circumstances mean i eat two days ina row. Still works...

Dieting = weight control for lazy people.

seadog101 - Member
Dieting = weight control for lazy people.

Go on then wonderboy, tell me how i'm lazy. I do 1 hr's cardio 5 days a week and 3-4 hours at the weekend. I train hard, ride hard. I can be found doing 12 hour enduro events... but i'm lazy ?

I've been trying this for about 6-8 weeks - As with all competitive cyclists I'm always looking to lose weight and after loosing about 15kg about 18months ago I found I hit a level and only ever lost or gained small amounts.

I have found I haven't lost a great deal more weight, about 6kg but I'm certainly leaner, ie ribs and jawline are much more pronounced. I found I always train on my fasting days and I feel really strong, I have also found when I do ride I am much more able to 'feel' my hunger level so can eat accordingly.

I tend to eat my 'fast' allowance in one meal, so can focus my hunger on, wait till mrsTM comes home and we can eat rather than small amounts in the day. Unfortunately, I'm an all or nothing person and don't do moderation very well, so for me I can be hard on myself and say nothing to eat till 7pm suck it up. May not wot work for someone else.

I know I've rambled, so i'll finish with this. MrsTM's parents are both diabetic, controlled with pills (type2 maybe) an have found with the fasting they have reduced their overall medication by about 80% to achieve the same results.

I think it works and is sustainable because you are reducing calories in a week thanks to the two fast days plus on the other days it makes you think about what and how much you eat. Add the two together and weightloss should always follow. I find I'm eat much lower fat foods and more fruit. If you can get past the first two weeks it really does become easier and you see the results.

Dieting = weight control for lazy people.

That must be one of the most retarded things I have ever read on stw.

I really bought into this and still have the program on my planner. Weeksy your story is interesting, I'm 16st but would not consider myself a porker however there's definately weight to shift. I don't train hard but ride twice a week so I'm getting fairly fit, but food is the big evil - it's all just so good 😳

Diets are very hard to keep so I think I'll give this a bash as I'm encouraged by your experience. I often go hours without food so a day should be manageable especially with your advice.

Nice one 😀

Good stuff OP. Keep it up mate.

Total fail seadog101, total troll fail.

Total fail seadog101, total troll fail.

not sure that is true.

if you eat less, you generally lose weight - which is what is happening here.

if you eat the same, but exercise, you generally lose weight.

if you exercise but don't lose weight then, generally, you are eating more than you need.

that is pretty much what he was saying - what is wrong or incorrect with that?

Id agree that diets tend not to work...because people inherently see a diet as a short term thing to achieve a set weight loss. Soon as you stop the weight generally comes back. With the fasting idea, its something that is achievable each week, potentially for the rest of your life. Which to my mind, is where it changes from being a diet to a sustainable lifestyle choice.

I've been following iDave for a good few months now and think it's great. My 32" waist jeans are hanging off me now, though.

I might start an "iDiet for non-biffers" thread one day.

It seems to be to be a general principle of not eating as much combined possibly with a way of fooling your body into not going into a 'starvation' mode, where it tries to adjust to the lower intake of calories, which would then stop the diet from working.

I bet if you went through the week and just made sure you front loaded the day and then had very little to eat for your evening meal you would lose a similar amount of weight.

Has the OP tried raw jelly cubes instead of jelly - much nicer.

I might start an "iDiet for non-biffers" thread one day.

No time like the present, Mike.

Reading with interest and may give this a shot to shift some "stored energy" from my stomach.

How do you find this works if you are training hard for 6 days of the week?

Do you recover ok?

What are you training for?

ive done weight training fasted before and found it better for me. i wouldnt do a long bike ride tho, for me an hour or so is about fine. then id eat most of my days calories straight after, and the remainder within 8hrs.

It seems to be to be a general principle of not eating as much combined possibly with a way of fooling your body into not going into a 'starvation' mode, where it tries to adjust to the lower intake of calories, which would then stop the diet from working.

I bet if you went through the week and just made sure you front loaded the day and then had very little to eat for your evening meal you would lose a similar amount of weight.

reading up on it i think the starvation mode isnt relevant with these short fasts, i think i read somewhere itd be 2 or 3 days before that kicked in.
and yes, if you front loaded then ate less for evening meal itd be identical. it really is calories in vs out, and doesnt matter when you eat them. its just that this way of eating suits some people better than smaller meals spread evenly. personally i found it easy to go 16hrs with zero calories, and i could stuff myself in the 8hrs and still lose fat. you need to work out your maintenance calories to stay the same, then either add or lose some depending on goals.

suits some people, not others.

Weeksy how are your energy levels for training on your fasting days? I've been thinking of giving this a try but thought I might have to make my fasting days co-incide with rest days.

The only other point to remember is that the early results from studies in America showed increased neuron production and potentially less chance of dementia.

I spose I should double post that....geddit....anyway its working for me. Cheers H

I bet if you went through the week and just made sure you front loaded the day and then had very little to eat for your evening meal you would lose a similar amount of weight.

You could, but in my experience it is easier to be disciplined eating later in the day. There is an article here about cortisol levels, insulin and blood sugar, that suggests why it is easier to skip breakfast.

http://www.leangains.com/2012/06/why-does-breakfast-make-me-hungry.html

uponthedowns - Member
Weeksy how are your energy levels for training on your fasting days? I've been thinking of giving this a try but thought I might have to make my fasting days co-incide with rest days

I've not noticed any downsides mate, i've been training Mon-Fri anyway so it's hard to asses as my body is pretty damn tired anyway depending on what i've done the day/2 days before hand. I've been trying different training at times too, so not really set myself any specific training times as i've done in the past.

I'm down with a bit of a snotty nose at the moment, my lad and the wife also have it (i don't think it's related to the fasting in any way) But if i get in the gym on Monday i'll try a 1 hour static cycle as i know what my distance should be on the machine in work to be at 100%.

It's weird but i have noticed that i was just as hungry if not more so this morning than on a day after fasting day... which is perculiar lol

weeksy - Member

seadog101 - Member
Dieting = weight control for lazy people.

Go on then wonderboy, tell me how i'm lazy. I do 1 hr's cardio 5 days a week and 3-4 hours at the weekend. I train hard, ride hard. I can be found doing 12 hour enduro events... but i'm lazy ?

Ooops, sorry if that's a sore point, but I've never rarely found the need for dieting in the general sense of the word. Wonderboy? Hardly.

My job is sedentary - can't avoid that, that's how I pay the bills.

So I avoid the bad foods - fatty sugary carby. Eat things that are coloured differently. And have portion sizes that are in ratio to the size of me. Don't drink much, a bottle of wine/couple of beers a week. Certainly never eaten according to any plan.

Hit the gym for an hour of high intensity cardio every day, when at work (7 days weeks for 3 weeks at a stretch). When home on leave I'm rarely sat down during the day - a generally busy bee.

I'm 43, 1.78m and about 76Kg, +- a couple. Works for me. All in all - calories in = calories out.

Sorry if my little joke was misconstrued. Maybe one of these 😉 should have been used.

So I avoid the bad foods - fatty sugary carby. Eat things that are coloured differently. And have portion sizes that are in ratio to the size of me.

Maybe that's easier for you that it is for some, myself included. That makes me weak willed, not lazy.

p.s I'm not hurt or offended, honestly. 🙂

About the breakfast thing above, I now do no-breakfast. Really works for me, allows me to avoid needing carbs for exercise. For instance, I did the MK sportive yesterday (100k) before eating.

you did a 100k sportive fasted?? thats impressive 🙂

I'm 43, 1.78m and about 76Kg, +- a couple.

Anyone my height but more than 10kg heavier than my isn't allowed to post on my non-biffer thread 🙂

About the breakfast thing above, I now do no-breakfast. Really works for me, allows me to avoid needing carbs for exercise. For instance, I did the MK sportive yesterday (100k) before eating.

You'd still be using carbs for exercise, just not the ones you didnt eat for breakfast.

I have nothing but coffee before a morning ride and nothing but water for the first hour, then just top up with diluted apple juice and mini pork pies (one per hour).

but in my experience it is easier to be disciplined eating later in the day. There is an article here about cortisol levels, insulin and blood sugar, that suggests why it is easier to skip breakfast.

It says 'some people'.

Without my bowl of cereal I am starving later on and have the risk of grazing before lunch (However I do sometimes think that the milk content (blue top) has something to do with this).

Other studies have shown that missing breakfast, or not having breakfast until you get to work, leads to increased stress levels which, as that article points out, are not good for you.

After looking at one of the articles I am going to give the 16hrs off 8 hrs on a go. Eat between 4 and 10. I have always found it difficult to eat in the morning and have had to force breakfast down with the constant sound in my ears of 'it's the most important meal of the day'.

Problem is I then am hungry by about 11 and looking to eat. Also I find it hard to have my last meal at 5.30

If I shift my whole eating to times where I am actually hungry then I might be able to cut back on some calories.

Will be giving it a go for the next moth and see how it goes.

No doubt the first week will be tough until I get adjusted.

Other studies have shown that missing breakfast, or not having breakfast until you get to work, leads to increased stress levels which, as that article points out, are not good for you.

Yep everyone reacts very differently to their food, one of the keys to that 8-16 pattern is picking the right 8 hour window for you. I find 12-8 about right but I have never been fussed on breakfast or on snacking in the morning.

I have been using this fasting method now for 3 months and it works well for me, never been fat but had a belly i just could not get rid of,

This has done the trick for me but i have tailored it to suit my needs, i eat normally for 3 days then fast for a day eat normally for 3 days and so on.
I was doing 2 days out of 7 but i found i lost too much weight as I do a fair bit on the bike which sometimes involves a 40 mile commute.

Pre ride routine has chaged slightly with the addition of strong coffee, a shot of beartoot juice and a slice of jam on toast.

Works really well for me but you have to be really strict with yourself and make sure you add your calories correctly.

Shandy how long have you been doing the 16-8 thing? How have you found it.

I tried this. I fasted (ate 500 calories) one day and then the day after went for a ride and nearly collapsed. I was exhausted.

I decided to stop after this...

If others are getting on OK with it then maybe I could give it another go. Perhaps the exhaustion was caused by something else (the fast seemed the obvious thing to blame it on)...

Shandy how long have you been doing the 16-8 thing? How have you found it.

About 3 months. I've lost about 10lbs, I don't really want to lose much more. As long as I eat clean, I can pretty much have whatever I fancy in that 8 hour window. The weight seems to stay off well with the odd slip-up or big night out.

Basically it has got rid of a half-stone I have never been able to shift without doing 12-15 hours training a week, and always seemed to ut straight back on. I think half of it is eating very little processed food and the other half is the 8-16 pattern.

I don't do the extreme days as I haven't needed to and if I am doing a long ride I just move the window a bit and start eating an hour in. After a big recovery meal I'm never hungry later anyway.

I am a bit worried about how I get on with my longer road rides, doing a 50 tomorrow and usually do 80 mile ride at the weekend. I am hoping that what I have eaten over the past couple of hours will see my through but not sure, I guess it's just a case of suck it and see. Might take a few slices of malt loaf just in case I am going to collapse.

weeksy - Member

"So I avoid the bad foods - fatty sugary carby. Eat things that are coloured differently. And have portion sizes that are in ratio to the size of me."

Maybe that's easier for you that it is for some, myself included. That makes me weak willed, not lazy.

Weeksy - I have to be honest with you, no amount of will power can get me past a good cake without damage 😯

I've been doing the 2/5 Diet for 6 weeks now and lost 14lb (Sounds a lot more than 1 stone). Started with a Friday fast, next day i the local club run for the first time and didnt have any energy. Now do Tuesday and Thursday, so got Friday to replenish. I have very little will power so on the off days, I drink coke!! and quite a lot of other crap. Exercise: Monday to Friday is a 10 miles total, hilly commute and Saturday has been a 40mile hilly road ride. I've never dieted before, but have tried to cut back but it never's lasts longer than a couple of days.

FWIW i'm on a fasting day today and whilst my training is fairly early on in the day at 10.40 start, i never had any drop in performance on any of the exercises.

Must admit, the orange and low fat jelly for lunch wasn't exaclty filling 😉

I have tried this but doing one day of zero food a week, I picked Wednesday’s for some reason. It is hard going but completely different to dieting as it does not have a relentless grind to it. You know it is one day and if you get through it you can feel better about the rest of the week. I have not been 100% successful in that I had a cold and just thought I can’t do it and that lased 2 weeks. Back on it now and every day I have gone for it I have done it.

It also gives you a different perspective on food, if you can cope with no food it is very easy to then start to question what and how much you eat at other times. Best thing I have ever done in terms of moderating my diet.

...a shot of beartoot

Sounds intriguing...

Last night was for some reason by FAR the easiest fasting day. I don't know if my body is getting more used to it ?

Well done, keep it up. 🙂

Your fast day sounds like a 'normal' day for me. Dont have any issues with training ( mainly running for me)

Your fast day sounds like a 'normal' day for me. Dont have any issues with training ( mainly running for me)

Hence why i'm a lot fatter than you i bet 🙂

Last night was for some reason by FAR the easiest fasting day. I don't know if my body is getting more used to it ?

I wonder if adaption will occur after a while, and the effects will slow down/plateau.

Tis a good Qn mate. OBviously with this diet (is it actually a diet ? i dunno you know) there are massive peaks and troughs, both in weight and i guess energy etc. So on a Friday morning, i'll have had 2 hour of the last 4 days on 'fasting' so i'd expect the weight to be stupidly low. However, is that a real representation of current weight.,.. not likely is the answer. So when is the 'real' wieght, to gauge weight loss, i dunno, the day before fasting ? Couple of days after ? i've pretty much chosen it to be Sat mornings as my weigh in day... but sometimes i do get on the scales on a Friday for a bit of an ego boost 🙂

Weeksy I'm 43kg ( weighed this morning) bout average for me

lol i'm 2 of you 😉

I'm two and a bit 🙁

For about 7 weeks I was doing 18 hours without anything other than coffee and 6 hours eating- a salad before my ride and then proper food afterwards. I was doing about 12 hrs riding over the 5 week days. Then on the weekend I would at pretty normally and ride fully fuelled- maybe 100 miles one day and 60 on the other. I dropped 5 kilos the interesting thing for me was the great effect it had on my riding. I was messing about as I had given up on the season after a broken bone and was hoping to lose the weight, but was not bothered about performance or even burn out as I knew I would have a good rest in Oct anyway. My weekday rides were fine- I was riding endurance speed and 50-70 miles on the (very)flat roads. Then my fuelled rides I was going great, endurance coming out of my ears. I did 120 solo lumpy miles at over 19mph average and felt ok. I did a proper 145 mile killer route and was really strong for a 90 mile ride the next day. This seemed like a real improvement in my mile munching performance and it allowed me to lots of threshhold efforts in a ride and recover well.

Essentially I think for me there is some value in doing some training fairly unfuelled and it kind of fits in with the fasting thing. Anyway I found it suprising so I thought I would share

So, assuming I don't fancy the 16/8 thing, is there any value in 13/11, i/e. I finish eating dinner at about half seven and eat nothing else that evening, get up at half six, have a coffee but not eat breakfast until about half eight?

Ideally, on a couple of mornings I'll have a three quarter of an hour ride after I get up (pre-breakfast).

I think anything that lowers your calorie intake over a given week/month will be of benefit... to an extent.

Bviously with this diet there are massive peaks and troughs, both in weight and i guess energy etc.

You shouldn't have big peaks or troughs of energy. Your body releases energy from fat stores when it doesn't get energy from food; it's what they're for.

That's been the biggest change I've found doing the iDiet. Previously, I'd have a huge bowl of breakfast cereal, then be starving/tired by mid-morning and so have a chocolate bar or bit of cake, then be starving by lunchtime, etc.

Despite never getting fat, I felt crappy. Now, I can happily skip breakfast before a ride and never feel the need to snack between meals.

Weeksy I'm 43kg ( weighed this morning) bout average for me

I'm 1.5 Emsz.

...but Emsz is basically a pixie, and only eats leaves.

Despite never getting fat, I felt crappy.

Cry me a river, Mike 😛