Mrs. Don has been intermittent fasting for the last two weeks. While it may be good for her (she reports weight loss which makes her happy), it's miserable for me - she is not a particularly nice person on the fast days 
Guybrush Threepwood
Trainee Pirate
Mrs. Don has been intermittent fasting for the last two weeks. While it may be good for her (she reports weight loss which makes her happy), it's miserable for me - she is not a particularly nice person on the fast days
Yes, I did it for five weeks earlier this year and while it worked (I lost 3Kg which was what I was aiming to do), I was a little grumpy on the fast days.
Funnily enough, I am just the opposite. I feel more energised, and tend not to be as bored as on a "normal" working day. I'm down to one fast a week, now, having lost more weight than I needed to lose.
Do keep bringing Mrs D a glass of water, The Don, because one does seem to dehydrate faster than normal on fast days, and this can lead to headaches, and headaches mean grumpiness.
Mike
Do keep bringing Mrs D a glass of water, The Don, because one does seem to dehydrate faster than normal on fast days, and this can lead to headaches, and headaches mean grumpiness.
Mike
icerat
Philosopher
Mrs. Don has been intermittent fasting for the last two weeks. While it may be good for her (she reports weight loss which makes her happy), it's miserable for me - she is not a particularly nice person on the fast days
Mrs IceRat turns in to a demon from hell when she hasn't eaten for a few hours. It amazes me that when kids get irritable we often think they need to eat, but rarely do people consider it an issue for adults!
Seems to be big personal differences in this though, I don't get irritable at all when I'm hungry.
EHocking
Penultimate Amazing
My 2c.
My wife is quite the same as yours above. We found this when she took up cycling. She would suddenly "lose it", just as though she had hit a wall. A chocolate bar, or piece of fruit and she'd be back in the game.
Similarly with the fast days. She was originally doing it tough, but, coincidentally, on her last fast day she commented that she feels more energised on fast days. She has only been doing the fast seriously for a month.
My wife is quite the same as yours above. We found this when she took up cycling. She would suddenly "lose it", just as though she had hit a wall. A chocolate bar, or piece of fruit and she'd be back in the game.
Similarly with the fast days. She was originally doing it tough, but, coincidentally, on her last fast day she commented that she feels more energised on fast days. She has only been doing the fast seriously for a month.
Eddie Dane
Philosopher
- Joined
- Aug 18, 2007
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It's not for me. The hunger drives me nuts.
Just drop most refined sugars, sodas, fruit juices.
Breakfast: Muesli with yoghurt
Lunch: Big salad (with eggs, tuna, cheese. It should fill)
Dinner: healthy, not too heavy, meat twice a week +a green smoothy.
Snacks: fruit
That muesli breakfast probably doesn't add any weight and I don't kill myself on my commute to work and i don't bite my co-workers.
I'm thin. if it ain't broke don't fix it.
If you need to lose weight, i understand going for IF, for me it was torture.
Just drop most refined sugars, sodas, fruit juices.
Breakfast: Muesli with yoghurt
Lunch: Big salad (with eggs, tuna, cheese. It should fill)
Dinner: healthy, not too heavy, meat twice a week +a green smoothy.
Snacks: fruit
That muesli breakfast probably doesn't add any weight and I don't kill myself on my commute to work and i don't bite my co-workers.
I'm thin. if it ain't broke don't fix it.
If you need to lose weight, i understand going for IF, for me it was torture.
icerat
Philosopher
any idea how much sugar is in the average muesli and yoghurt?
bruto
Penultimate Amazing
It's bound to vary with product and place, but I just looked at a container of Stonyfield fat-free plain yoghurt, and it has 16 grams of sugar per cup. As a general rule, fat free products are likely to have a little more sugar than fatty ones, to compensate for the loss of flavor when the fat goes away, but some of the sugars listed are those that naturally occur in yoghurt.
Here in the US, all foods carry labels with this information on, making the job pretty easy when you shop. But it is not entirely reliable to carry over the information to another place, because one cannot count on things being the same. Even here, similar brands may vary with region.
Eddie Dane
Philosopher
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I'm not going for 0 sugar all the time.
And I don't eat Frosties in pink yoghurt. I eat (non-lean) plain yoghurt with Meusli (with nuts and raisins.
But you are right, dairy products have sugars (listed on the label) and dried fruits probably are quite high in sugars too.
icerat
Philosopher
If it's store bought, I just recommend checking the label.
The 5:2 strategy is now all over the usual gossip mags here. Funnily enough advertising "5:2 diet recipes"
I thought a lot of the benefit of the program was not having to worry about special recipes!
But I guess that doesn't sell rags does it ....
Livening up 500 or 600 calories for fast days is important. Frankly, the evening meal is easy, but an interesting breakfast of say 200 calories is harder than you'd think. The more ideas the better!
It does work:
Mike
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EHocking
Penultimate Amazing
It's the fat that gets you. Especially from nuts. wrt to the 2/5 diet, oats/porridge is suggested for breakfast as it is low fat and sugar.
Personally I have 2 poached eggs on a piece of (dry) toast and some fresh fruit. Can't stand porridge...
EHocking
Penultimate Amazing
One of the reasons I forked out £2.40 for the "official" book as it had a ten day plan to give you ideas. There are numerous low-cal diet books available and now quite a number cashing in on the 2/5 diet popularity.
Just a quick post to say that I'm joining Mrs Don on the intermittent fast.
Over the last few years despite thousands of miles of running, my weight has crept up to 180-185 lbs. I cold usefully lose 20-30 lbs and this may be a way to get me kick-started. I've also had a history of less than stellar blood sugar control (as a youth I used to get "hypo" attacks a few tines a year where I would shake uncontrollably until I has some sugar and even today I get shooting pains in my jaw if I have a carbohydrate-heavy meal) and one thing the 5-2 is supposed to help with is blood sugar/insulin control)
I suspect that Don Towers will be a very grumpy place 2 days a week.
Over the last few years despite thousands of miles of running, my weight has crept up to 180-185 lbs. I cold usefully lose 20-30 lbs and this may be a way to get me kick-started. I've also had a history of less than stellar blood sugar control (as a youth I used to get "hypo" attacks a few tines a year where I would shake uncontrollably until I has some sugar and even today I get shooting pains in my jaw if I have a carbohydrate-heavy meal) and one thing the 5-2 is supposed to help with is blood sugar/insulin control)
I suspect that Don Towers will be a very grumpy place 2 days a week.
dlorde
Philosopher
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2007
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- 6,864
I'd rather take calories as fats (nuts) than as sugars, because they make me feel fuller for longer. YMMV.
Guybrush Threepwood
Trainee Pirate
You could offset your fast days from Mrs Don's and have it moderately grumpy four days a week
You could offset your fast days from Mrs Don's and have it moderately grumpy four days a week
I'm not entirely sure whether I could be held accountable for my actions if, while nibbling on a shred of lettuce for dinner I looked across and saw Mrs. Don tucking into a steak and ale pie
EHocking
Penultimate Amazing
No argument from me - it's just that on the calorie restricted days, nuts can blow your calorie budget out of the water quite easily, e.g., on my counter a 10g (~85cal) serving is 15% of my daily calorie allowance .
A similar sized serving of fresh strawberries (my wife discovered) is only 3 calories.
A friend who's husband is a bit anal about dieting and exercise allows her 1 1/2 cashews a day. This is not the level of my argument!
I'm doing the 2/5 diet so I don't have to worry so much about calorie counting.
I have to admit, the phrase, "if it looks too good to be true", has been crawling around in my subconscious since I started...
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EHocking
Penultimate Amazing
Last fasting day I tucked into a garlic spiced steak, with baked portobello mushrooms, baked asparagus, boiled baby potatoes and a small corn cob.I'm not entirely sure whether I could be held accountable for my actions if, while nibbling on a shred of lettuce for dinner I looked across and saw Mrs. Don tucking into a steak and ale pie
With a glass of red wine.
I've been to restaurants and started the evening meal with a martini, and if I stuck to baked fish with salad and little dressing, a glass of white is also on the menu.
It is surprising what you can put together. But some days you will still feel hungry after a meal.
All that sounds great. I found it very hard to stay within the 600 calorie limit though I cannot imagine finding space for steak and whatnot.
For a start I had 4 cups of tea with skimmed milk but no sugar - I figure around 50 calories for those. I suppose I could go with black tea but ugh.
Lunch was a peach, a nectarine, a carrot and a banana, about 250 calories.
Dinner was a mushroom, some spinach a tomato, a dry lettuce and cucumber salad and 15g of cheese, about 300 calories.
Next time I will have much less fruit at lunch, more vegetables and definitely more protein.