Giving up

[lobeydosser]

My whole life seems to be mapped out in a series of "giving up" something or another.

1963

Gave up my layabout teenage years to take on an apprenticeship in the printing trade.

1970

Gave up the UK and headed for South Africa.

1974

Home again and gave up Bachelorhood to get married.

1986

Gave up Alcohol in favour of living longer.

1996

Gave up working in favour of early retirement and the life of a Couch Potato.

2012

Gave up Smoking in favour of Vaping.

2 weeks ago.

Gave up eating.

Well almost. In fact just 2 days a week.

In favour of, well, not sure.

I have been promised lots of advantages, but I will try it for a while and see how it goes.

Watch this space!!!!

[Pepperty]

Eeek its the only pleasure left in my life, I cant even consider quitting eating Are you going for some sort of juicing or protein shake? lobeydosser

[f1ery]

Ha Ha might try the last one myself that should save me a few more pounds lol

[lobeydosser]

No Pepperty, I am trying the 5:2 Fast Diet.
That is Fast as in Fasting, and not Speed.
It is more of a long term food regime rather than an actual diet.
It promises all sorts of health benefits, mentally as well as physically.

[catface26]

I'm also on the 5:2 diet as I put on 2 stone last year! Had our first baby last year so all time for exercise went out the window!

Been doing it for about 3 weeks and have lost a pound a week so far.

[lobeydosser]

That's good catface26.

I am not weighing myself.
On previous diets I became a slave to the bathroom scales and was weighing myself constantly, usually with disappointing results.
This time round, no weighing!
I am doing the Fast Diet for a number of reasons, my weight just being one.
I get weighed twice a year at a clinic I go to and their results will be the ones I will go on.

I am "of an age" where my dashing good looks, dashed off some time ago and I am b*ggered if I know where they went, so while I do need to lose a lot of weight, there are other factors that I need to improve to obtain a healthier lifestyle.

[thebishman]

Are you sure its healthy to starve your body of nutrients like that?

[catface26]

Jan 30, 2016 13:13:07 GMT thebishman said:

Are you sure its healthy to starve your body of nutrients like that?

There's a lot of science behind it. We're not designed to continuously eat every day. We're omnivores and we evolved to live by a "feast and famine" system.
When you fast your body focuses on repairing cells rather than producing more.
Your body will also burn visceral fat to get it's calories. You're allowed 600 calories (for men and 500 for women) on fasting days which allows for plenty of fruits and veg so no real loss of nutrients.

[lobeydosser]

Hi thebishman , Although the concept of the 5:2 Fast Diet is quite new, the research is not and goes back many years by various world renown institutes.
It is based on the Stone Age principles of when we lived in times of famine and feast and fasting is being practised by many religious groups all over the world. Indeed as the Stone Age lasted many hundreds of thousands of years, our bodies are more used to this type of living than the comparatively new form of food being available all the time as it is today.
A Fast last only 24 hours and while "common sense" (???) tells me that when the Fast is finished I would eat like a horse, quite the opposite is true and on the day following the Fast my apatite is quite reduced and I feel great. Indeed I look forward to the next Fast Day.
Also food takes on a different meaning. Kind of hard to explain, but the way I look at foods, portion sizes, content and flavour are all changing and I reckon it will take me some time to get to grips with everything that is happening.
Possibly, for the first time in my life, I will actually be leaving food uneaten on the plate and I will have to learn not to cook so much.

[Deleted]

I have a much simpler but equally effective 'MD'(mod destroyer) version of the 5:2 fasting diet and yes, you need some gadgets (food processor/microwave/money/time) but I've lost 3 stone on it so far and gone from 13.5 stone (obese) to 10.5 stone (healthy)


This is it and it's so easy!!!

5 days healthy (as unprocessed and cooked from scratch as possible - soda bread only takes 30 minutes to make for example?)
2 days lowest cals you can find on fast food menu (eg. cheeseburger or hamburger rather than Big Mac or Big King? Subway instead of hot dog - it's not the lowest cals but I'm not starving myself)

exercise is just walking

vodka gets vaped

try that Pepperty?

[thebishman]

Blimey does sound like hardwork lobeydosser.

So you do eat something on fasting days?

[lobeydosser]

Everybody is different and what suits me will not suit anyone else.

My present lifestyle, access to shops that sell the type of foods I like to eat, (I live out in the sticks), being retired, other folks in the house who I prepare meals for, means that I have to think of others as I prepare my own meals.
I am looking at this form of lifestyle on the KISS basis. What is simplest for me to achieve and Fasting on a 5:2 basis means that others are not losing out just because I am changing the way I eat.
For 5 days of the week I will be eating what everyone else is eating and for 2 days, although I will still be preparing their meals, I will not be eating them.
Simples.

[thebishman]

So on the fasting days do you literally not eat anything?

[Deleted]

KISS is the way to go..lobeydosser

Mine is so simple and part of my life now and if I do go 'off the wagon' - so easy to rectify

[reefcat]

Are you managing to do much exercise as well? The FAST diet is great, adding a bit more exercise into the mix gives a great weight loss boost and makes you healthier, win win