HORIZON -WHAT'S THE RIGHT DIET FOR YOU?

ruthio77

Anyone watch this last night? Was quite interesting. It split people up into three types of over-eaters/dieters. The Feasters (low levels of gut hormones mean that that they aren't receiving the correct signals to tell them to stop eating) The Emotional Eaters (react to emotions and stress by seeking out fatty and sugary foods) and the Constant Cravers, who generally have a high number of genes linked to obesity risk, and a strong biological drive to eat.

There's a test you can take online http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/z2csfg8#zt83b9q that tells you which group you may fall into, then there are tips as to which diet might suit you best.

I came out as a Constant Craver (no great surprise) and it recommended intermittent fasting, which, funnily enough, I have just recently started to do!

Will be interesting to see what happen in the next part of the documentary. 75 dieters put on their respective programmes and left to it for 3 months.

Chooze2Looze88

My bf and I watched last night. We took the test and he's an emotional eater, I'm a constant craver (not a big shock to me lol).

Will be tuning in tonight to find out how they're doing

I fear I'll be like the poor guy with the red glasses who who was so hungry he was sat crying in the corner on day 1!

joblmayes

I watched last night, did the test and I am a constant craver.

I decided to give the intermittent fasting a try, starting today. So far so good, and unlike guy with red glasses, there are no tears as yet.

Will watch it again tonight to see how they all are coming along.

thegeordielass

I watched it too and am also a constant craver - but only just. I'm very nearly an emotional eater. Neither of those is a shock to me.
Also decided to try the fasting so I'll see how that goes and see how everyone gets on in the programme.

joolsmd

According to the tool on the BBC website I am 60% Constant Craver and 40% Feaster, but I would prefer to try intermittent fasting to control my eating. I already restrict carbs and it doesn't seem to be having much of an effect.

It was an extremely interesting programme and I'll be watching the rest, probably on iPlayer as I am out tonight. i wonder if there will be any reference to exercise, or if this programme purely concentrates on diet.

logg1e

I'm just catching up on iPlayer. I did the test and came out as 48% emotional and 42% constant craver. I think that's probably right, but I would be more interested in what my results were when I started my weight loss (I'm at maintenance now).

Interesting ideas in the programme, as so often on MFP there's a very vocal "one-size fits all" approach imho.

_L_A_

I got 36% constant craver, 33% feaster and 31% emotional eater!

Constant craver recommends intermittent fasting which as a type 1 diabetic is not safe! Plus I don't think I'd like that or stick to it at all!

Reading the feaster one it fits me better tbh, and the low GI high protein diet suggestion suits me best too! Supposed to have low GI anyway, plus whenever I make sure to have high protein I stay much more full for longer, have less cravings, less binges and overall do better at weight loss! So I think I'm a feaster!

fizzleh

46% Feaster

debbie389

I'm 52% Constant Craver, 41% Feaster and 7% Emotional. No surprise to me, I already do 5:2, so am going to add in High Protein, low GI on my non fast days. Watching again tonight to see how they've been getting on.

aprilh47

Found this programme very interesting too, I definalty am a constant Craver with a little emotional eater. I know one of my biggest probs is eating something without realising and planing the next meal while still eating the one before. I've tried 5:2 in the past and it doesn't work for me. But I might be able to do 800 though so going to give it a go, and look up leptin my last plateaux last over 3 monthswould like to try avoid this.

emallis

I found it quite interesting. The science was a little vague at times (hungry genes?) but I'm assuming the experts based it on more science then you can fit into an hour show.
Looks like I'm a constant craver or a feaster. I think I'll try the high high protien low GI thing because fasting always sounds horrible to me plus I never eat enough protien normally.
I really hope the diets work out for them all by the next episode

HappyKite

I'm an emotional eater, again no surprise there. It would also explain why MFP works for me.

plantboy2

I don't know what to make of this programme as it made out that if you were one type of eater then that was your disposition, genetics, etc rather than a learned behaviour or something you could change. It took away blame from people for eating behaviour and lifestyle as though it wasn't their fault, which I believe is (ultimately) not helpful to them. You cannot stay on a diet for the rest of your life, and although you lost 2 stone in 12 weeks, that eating routine is not possible to maintain forever, just like meal replacement shakes or starving yourself for a day are not something that you want to do for the rest of your life. I think broadcasters need to be more honest as these are framed as educational programmes: If you change your lifestyle and behaviour towards food in a manageable, healthy way, you will end up, in the not too distant future, at a healthy weight. It isn't particularly fun to begin with (like learning the piano or a new language) but it will be after a certain tipping point. Exercise will help you a little, but really you have to sort out your relationship with food - what you eat, how much and how often. What we put in our mouths is our choice and our responsibility. We are all conscious adults, capable of this discipline. We do not NEED to buy and eat the doughnuts, we CHOOSE to.

chantyc1

joolsmd wrote: »

According to the tool on the BBC website I am 60% Constant Craver and 40% Feaster, but I would prefer to try intermittent fasting to control my eating. I already restrict carbs and it doesn't seem to be having much of an effect.

It was an extremely interesting programme and I'll be watching the rest, probably on iPlayer as I am out tonight. i wonder if there will be any reference to exercise, or if this programme purely concentrates on diet.

I got the same and have been doing high fibre low carb for nearly 2 weeks and my appetite is already under control( has been since 1st week), I feel great, full of energy.
Also I lost 4lb in the 1st week, and half inch from neck, waist n hips.

logg1e

I didn't watch episode 2 (started, but it seemed to be repeating the first hour) but did catch episode 3. I think it's a really good programme, because it had a lot of new ideas. I agree with @plantboy2‌ in that there's a risk of excuse-making, but I thought of it more along the lines of providing explanations rather than excuses. It must be difficult when others (such as the main forums here) are full of people going on about willpower and how they are just stronger than you when actually you just have a disposition to constantly crave or binge or comfort eat.

joolsmd

logg1e wrote: »

I didn't watch episode 2 (started, but it seemed to be repeating the first hour) but did catch episode 3. I think it's a really good programme, because it had a lot of new ideas. I agree with @plantboy2‌ in that there's a risk of excuse-making, but I thought of it more along the lines of providing explanations rather than excuses. It must be difficult when others (such as the main forums here) are full of people going on about willpower and how they are just stronger than you when actually you just have a disposition to constantly crave or binge or comfort eat.

I agree with this. I thought the programme, although skewing it a bit far towards 'It's not your fault', gave good advice on avoidance tactics when confronted with a Greggs or a rack of choccy bars at a petrol station, as well as how to distract oneself. Also, it may well be that they specifically concentrated on people who were genetically, hormonally, or emotionally prone to eat instead of people like me who are just greedy . I thought it was useful and will help quite a few people to take their diet a bit further.

Vailara

I've been catching up on it on Iplayer. I'm not sure it explained well enough why the different diets were chosen for the different groups. There was some explanation, but not enough for my satisfaction . On the test, I came out as a constant craver, but have tried 5:2 and it didn't work well for me at all. I don't think the 800 calories would work for me, because of my "constant craving" during the other days! But to be fair, I haven't tried it (the 5:2 diet involved 500 calorie days).

Plantboy, I think some of us do have to be on a diet for life, unfortunately! And I think people vary in what helps - personally, I find it helpful to know what's behind my weight problem. Knowing you have a genetic predisposition helps to flag up that you might have to put a bit more work in than somebody who doesn't, or to approach it in a particular way. One thing that was a huge help to me was finding out that hormones are often out of whack in obese people - that our bodies signals telling us if we are hungry or satieted are wrong. It made me realise that I really couldn't do "intuitive eating" because my intuition was all wrong.

I've only seen episode one so far - will catch up on episode two tonight!

sussexbythesea

I have always said its a lifestyle not a journey. Totally agree

plantboy2

Exactly, a lifestyle, which means a different behaviour - a learned behaviour that overrides the previous one. You cannot do 5:2 for life, but you can eat sensibly, in proportion and without the extremes of binging, etc. If you can commit to other regimen in your life (getting up for work everyday, not cheating on your partner for example) then I see no difference in choosing not to overfeed yourself. Its the boring answer to say eat sensibly, but I'm fed up of broadcasters pretending there is a magic/super science to weight loss.

sijomial

plantboy2 wrote: »

Exactly, a lifestyle, which means a different behaviour - a learned behaviour that overrides the previous one. You cannot do 5:2 for life, but you can eat sensibly, in proportion and without the extremes of binging, etc. If you can commit to other regimen in your life (getting up for work everyday, not cheating on your partner for example) then I see no difference in choosing not to overfeed yourself. Its the boring answer to say eat sensibly, but I'm fed up of broadcasters pretending there is a magic/super science to weight loss.

Why can't you follow 5:2 for life?
It's eating the correct number of calories for your needs over the course of a week instead of looking at it as a daily goal.

I've had more success (weightloss and maintenance) following intermittent fasting than anything else I've ever tried. And I've tried many different things in my 54 years!

As I've been doing this for two and a half years it's very much a learned behaviour and a lifestyle.

Vailara

I agree, Sijomial - the 5:2 book that I read suggested changing to 6:1 for maintenance, so yes, it was designed to be followed for life. The idea was that it would be easier to just count calories one day a week, rather than seven days.

I have maintained for quite a long time and I've always had to be, yes, vigilant is the word, Joeporta! I can't go back to "normal" eating, because I got fat on normal eating. I think we've all got to work out how best to control our eating, and what I liked about the programme was the idea that it might not be the same solution that's best for everybody. They could probably have broken down the groups even further and found out what diets would best fit their tastes, lifestyles, etc.

Malteaster

I found some of the experiments interesting, especially the one where the two groups were given cake and one group was told it was low calorie was interesting. I know I'm guilty of making a bad choice, then using it as an excuse to eat everything in sight.

I also thought the experiment where they found formal exercising one day reduced overall activity the next day was interesting.

I agree that it did tend to absolve people from personal responsibility.

honeynutloop

I found this show really helpful. I'm not really sure why but it seemed to click for me. The good cake/bad cake bit, slow/no weight loss times and the model 1lb/5lb of fat were really interesting.