I saw this diet “fad” raised on here so I bought the book by Dr Moeslsy and gave it a whirl.
First night, weighed in on 10 Feb at 13st 8 lb.
Checked tonight…12st 11 lb.
Its been a regular 2 or 3 lb loss week on week for really not a lot of effort.
Mrs R has lost 9 lb in the same period.
The biggest thing for me though is that it REALLY makes you think about how much you each normally and how easy it is eat in excess of the recommended 2000Kcal par day.
So, the result has been a general cut down and reduction in portion sizes so also saving money!
Hurrah.

Me too. Below is a copy and paste of a post i made on the other diet thread but I’m sufficiently impressed to post it again anyway.

I started on mfp just after new year,targeting 1600cals per day. I found mfp great not just for the ‘absolute’ numbers but also to show me where stuff I thought wasn’t so bad actually was,so I now have a better understanding of which foods are regular vs sometimes vs rarely. However, i also found sticking to 1600cals per day quite hard with my lifestyle, I enjoy eating out with my family and I also travel with work and eating out with colleagues and customers when you are counting cals is hard.

So 4 weeks back, I switched to the 5:2 plan, which suits me way better. I think the things I learned from mfp are still useful, my intake even on eating days is usually pretty close to the 2500 +/- that is about normal for a man of my build, rarely exceeds except on special occasions, and is generally just healthier (less refined carbs/ bread, less red meat, more veg, etc). The fast days are no problem, porridge for breakfast and then grilled fish or chicken plus shedloads of veg for dinner. And the weight’s coming off still at the same healthy rate of 1-2lbs per week; so far about 20 lbs gone in 9 weeks ( had a couple of big losses in WK 1 and 2 which wasn’t a surprise since i went on to 1600cals per week after eating my own bodyweight in Christmas goodies the week before!!), now much more regular and stable.

Today’s update – 20lbs lost since new year

It is certainly an eye opener when you realise how a slice of bread or a half cup of rice can eat into your 600 fast day amount.

I skip brekkie completely, just black coffee, then a light lunch, perhaps just a tin of low cal soup and then have a big (ish) tea I find that stops the hunger pangs and munchies that the evening brings.
Mornings are easier to miss as I crack on with work so not thinking about food.

I’ve been doing it for 2 months, but some weeks I’ve only done 1 fast day, and I think I’ve done slightly less exercise than usual since new year. Still, I’ve definitely lost a few pounds and I find it easier to be really strict for 2 days than moderately strict for 7!
Having said that, I sometimes struggle with hunger by the night following a fast day, especially if I do a big ride the day before. I don’t know anyone else who says they struggle with feeling hungry!

I don’t struggle with feeling hungry on non-fast days, in fact wouldn’t say I struggle particularly on fast days either, because you know it’s only for a limited time. But I think that’s also where my first few weeks of calorie counting helped, making me better equipped to cope with low level hunger which can be ignored and will pass (drink water) and also which foods help you feel fuller longer.

I don’t feel hungry on non-fast days. What I mean is, if I do a fast day on a Monday, then I have only 500 calories between teatime on Sunday and breakfast on Tuesday, so often by late Monday night I do feel really hungry, so much so that it even keeps me awake sometimes!

I understand now. That’s why I split my intake on fast days to have just enough breakfast and save more for evening meals. Typically maybe 150-450.

I might try that – saving more calories for the evening. This week I’ve been trying huge bowls of salad leaves with a little bit of olive oil and lemon juice. That’s more filling than I expected.

And also go higher on protein in your evening meal – seems to make you feel fuller for longer. Eg; my Monday evening meal was 2 chicken breasts and 400g of vegetables which is a sizable plateful.

It certainly is an eye opener when you realise how many calories are in cereals and bread, which I eat a lot of!
I’ve also swapped my first thing in the morning cappuccino for espresso, on most days, not just fast days.

Skipping breakfast ?! Not only does that not make sense but its also dangerous.

Think about it. You have gone all night without food and despite what you may think you have been using up your energy supplies through the night. When you wake up in the morning you are on empty, fluids and blood sugars etc are down. By not having breakfast you continue to run on empty until lunch time. You then start drinking tea and coffee through the morning and that further dehydrates you. The nett result is that you can find yourself easily passing out, or going into a seizure all caused by drops in blood pressure or a lack of blood pressure.

When you have breakfast you start your metabolism going IE your engine, the whole process of turning food into energy and burning it and believe or not having a breakfast can actually help you loose weight more than skipping breakfast because you are kick starting that process.

I am speaking from experience, as I made myself bloody ill by skipping breakfast and not eating properly and it’s not nice for either you or those around you so please be careful.

My advice would be a Special K Fruity cereal for breakfast, a good meat or fish based salad plus an apple and a Banana for lunch, then a good hearty dinner at the end of the day. That on top of your biking and maybe a swim once a week is a good healthy balance.

Here endith the lesson !

I would never trust the advice of a man who eats Special K Fruity cereal for breakfast.

Do you go weak at the knees when you see Hugh Grant on TV?

I haven’t eaten breakfast regularly for 10 years, when can I expect my first seizure/blackout/death?

Same here I started the fasting on Mon and Thurs for over 8 months now.
Same as he did on the telly just 1 cupa soup before bed. I find if i dont start eating i dont really feel hungry until i know its getting close to cuppa soup time. Do struggle to get to sleep sometimes (not tnite its 7:36 here in Dubai) but the pounds have fallen off and I intend to keep it up for the rest of my natural 🙂

It’s so easy to fit in around your normal life. You’re not denied “naughty” food, just wait until tomorrow. There are other massive benefits to health other than just the decrease in weight as well.

It’s only the last what, 30 years, where mankind has had three meals a day plus snacks. For millions of years, we didn’t know where the next meal would come from. Unless you’ve got an underlying medical condition, 24 hrs on 500 cal is a doddle.

I’ve been doing 4:3 to kick start things and lost two stone so far this year. According to the bodyfat scales (l know they’re far from perfect) I’ve maintained lean body mass as well.

I’ll drop to 5:2 soon and eventually, probably 6:1 just to keep the health benefits of fasting.

There’s also benefits to be had from exercising in a fasted state.

I think it’s great.

Another fan here. I’m probably eating too much on non-fast days but the weight is still slowly coming off. Fast days are indeed a doddle – ham at 2pm, yoghurt at 4pm, soup at 7pm and I’m happy.

The 5:2 fast diet doesn’t mean a skipped breakfast every day, or even at all if you don’t want to.
Skipping breakfast isn’t ‘dangerous’ for a healthy person anyway. It does increase the chances of eating an unhealthy snack late- morning, though!

lol at missing breakfast being dangerous.

During summer I will regularly just get up, get on the bike and leave the house, I probably won’t eat anything until I’ve done a full ride of 60-80 miles and got back to the house. I’ve been doing this for years and I’ve not keeled over yet.

There’s plenty of energy stored in your body.

Breakfast is a recent invention. How we didn’t become extinct millennia ago is a mystery.

I’m 5/2ing. Not for weight loss but I’m more interested in the other benefits. I do feel remarkably good on it.

I would never trust the advice of a man who eats Special K Fruity cereal for breakfast.

I would never trust anyone who still believes the myth that tea and coffee dehydrate you..

My advice would be a Special K Fruity cereal for breakfast

Terrible advice. Nothing but refined sugary crap.

I am interested in this type of diet, can someone post a reference to the book or website please?

I’m pretty sure if I didn’t eat every 2 hours I would die. My brother is the same.
You wouldn’t like us when we are hungry.

The fasting diet is interesting stuff. I’ll be interested to see large sample clinical data to see how it works out over time. Calorie restriction will always reduce weight, but, to me, it seems that perhaps where certain regimes add benefit is the way they help reduce hunger when in calorie defucit to make the diet sustainable.

On a different approach I do actually find that protein seems to be more efficient at killing appetite than carbs – but that like much else is just my anecdotal contribution

There is always confirmation bias in all these things, with the successful wanting to share their successes, which is why I’d like to see some data.

Ultimately I guess, f it works for you, it works.

Old dog; I agree with everything you wrote. I have read the book which contains a bit of science-lite and some references to studies (which of course I haven’t read) which of course back up the benefits. But that too is to be expected, who’d write a book and then include a load of references that contradict what the book’s about. I’ll be honest, I’m sceptical whether there are significant cellular regeneration health benefits to fasting as well, but that’s not why I’m doing it, I did it to lose weight, it’s working, and it’s easier to stick to and fit into my lifestyle than calories counting every day. Do I feel healthier as a result – not sure i can say that after ‘only’ 5 weeks on it and also normalise out how much fitter and healthier (and hence inwardly happier) I feel as a result of being nearly 2 stone lighter and lighter than I’ve been since I left school 20-odd years ago.

Re protein filling you up. Again I’m sure I’ve read ‘science’ somewhere to back that up, but there’s enough anecdotal evidence, me included that I am convinced by that one.

cheese@4p – Member
I am interested in this type of diet, can someone post a reference to the book or website please?

You can watch the original Horizon documentary HERE

Its interesting that the original premise of the show was to look at the effects of aging and the weight loss thing was just a side effect.

You have gone all night without food and despite what you may think you have been using up your energy supplies through the night

Lol, not a chance. I’ve got a good 10kg of energy supplies, which funnily enough is what I’m trying to get rid of!

You have a lot of reading to do – start here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insulin

I’m on 5:2 and finding it great. No idea about the science but it makes sense to me that Mr Hunter-gatherer didnt have 3 square meals and survived just fine.

Mr Hunter-gatherer didnt have 3 square meals and survived just fine.

Survived just fine? Yeah right 🙂

I would never trust anyone who still believes the myth that tea and coffee dehydrate you.

And we have our Troll, Ladies and Gentlemen.

Re protein filling you up. Again I’m sure I’ve read ‘science’ somewhere to back that up, but there’s enough anecdotal evidence, me included that I am convinced by that one.

Meat is a tough substance to break down when it enters the small intestine. So, peristalsis slows, in order to allow the meat to remain in the small intestine for longer so that our digestive system can extract the protein. I hope that helps.

Survived just fine? Yeah right

World domination, as in becoming the dominant species on the planet, not good enough for you ?.

Am I getting a whiff of Trollgrips ?.
🙄

Survived just fine? Yeah right

World domination, as in becoming the dominant species on the planet, not good enough for you ?.

Er.. this is getting insane. As a species we prospered, however that’s not the issue here. Otherwise dying of heart disease at 50 would not be an issue!

Life expectancy was somewhat low in neolithic times afaik.

Surely unless you do this for the rest of your life, you’ll just pile it back on and more when you go back to ‘normal’?
Better to change your lifestyle and habits surely…for good.
Food is ace, I’d hate to not have it for a day or more… 🙂

I would never trust anyone who still believes the myth that tea and coffee dehydrate you.

And we have our Troll, Ladies and Gentlemen.

I’m not trolling sunbeam.. look it up

the liquid in a mug of tea or coffee far outweighs any diuretic effect of any caffeine present..

it’s just science 😕

think about it.. your grandparents probably only ever drank tea as their only form of rehydration.. if it really dehydrated you that whole generation would have been desiccated

here’s a link for you seeing as your kneejerk response to something that you don’t understand is to call troll.. 😀

Time will tell. But (anecdotally) I’ve continued to ‘monitor’ intake on non-fast days and rarely exceed 2500 except on special occasions, and frequently I’m less. Hence, with 2500 being my rough balance then I’d be confident I won’t bloat out once I reach target weight unless I overexercise my pieroid gland.

And the book / plan suggests that fasting one or two days a week longer term (as a lifestyle in fact) is good for you anyway, hence once you reach target you go from 2x a week to 1x a week, or increase from eg: 600 per fast day to 900 – find what works for you. And if you start to increase, add a second day back in, or cut the fasting intake, or…..

Clearly with any diet if you return to old habits you’ll return to old weight too, but for now at least this feels like something I can keep up long term, irrespective of whether it has health benefits beyond weight loss.

Food is ace, I’d hate to not have it for a day or more…

Have you read earlier posts? I’m not going without for a day…. I’m having a decent bowl of porridge or scrambled egg on toast for breakfast, then nothing till evening when I’m eating a load of lean meat and vegetables. Hardly not eating for a day.

What do you eat on a 600 day?
I work 12hr shifts which can be quite physical and hot at times. When busy I can work for a while before starting to feel light headed and needing to eats
On a road bike ride I feel the need to eat at 20-30mls before starting to feel tired and the need to refuel

MrsT is diabetic. How would she cope on such a diet?

Can’t do it if I’m home, being just close to food makes me hungry.

So through winter I’ve been two semi fast days (consecutive hence the semi), eating a moderate breakfast, just fruit and coffee at lunch time, and a low/zero carb tea with lots of veg, and then, early to bed. If I kick about the house I get hunger temptation, if I’m sat in bed with the laptop I don’t. Make no sense I know. Given my bad habits the rest of the time this has kept my weight under control over winter, nopt shifting into summer, riding more, and working non consecutive days, so will start doing it porperly. I was surprised how easy it is. I will, this year, bloody will make my 90k target.

Food is ace, I’d hate to not have it for a day or more…

Have you read earlier posts?

Ummm…no 😳

Trekster

Breakfast; 30g porridge oats with skimmed milk = 200 cals (makes a big bowl and actually I make mine half-half milk and water and save another 40 cals)

Or, 2 eggs on toast (scrambled or poached) = 225 cals

Dinner – 2 skinless chicken breasts = 265 cals, leaves 100-200 cals for vegetables which is a lot. 230g of haddock loin = 240 cals approx. Lean protein is quite calories cheap and very filling.

I don’t think they recommend intermittent fasting for diabetics, from what I recall in the book.

…. FFS I was only saying !!! Passing on some good advice from doctors and dieticians was all… and where the hell did I say anything about dying 😯 ! Over reacting isn’t in it !!!

BTW I did say….

I am speaking from experience

Finally, Fruity Special K…. I eat it because I like the ferkin taste not because I’m on some mad ferkin diet. I now eat well (including breakfast) and exercise regularly and feel great for it without the need to calorie count, fast or diet.

Christ on a Bike 🙄 !!??!!

What’s this ferkin diet then? Will it help me get rid of me moobs