Eat, Fast and Live Longer (BBC Program)

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  • darkguardian419
    darkguardian419 Posts: 1,302 Member
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    Yep, I watch too much porn... British Broadcasting Corporation was NOT the first thing that came to mind.
  • millkins
    millkins Posts: 4
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    Well, this topic has certainly provoked some emotions! I find it really interesting if I'm honest and will be looking to start this in a few weeks time.

    I have issues with food and I feel like the lack of guilt from the 5 days of eating may help with that. I'll only have 2 days a week when I need to count calories which I think will help. I watched the TV show last year and have been considering buying the book but I think the concept is simple enough to follow without buying it (I'm sure I can keep myself going on 500 calories a day).

    Has anyone tried it and not had success with it?
  • liittlesparrow
    liittlesparrow Posts: 209 Member
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    I like the idea of IF. I hate spending my time thinking about meals and when I can eat and what not. It's a perfect fit for me.
  • Keiras_Mom
    Keiras_Mom Posts: 844 Member
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    I did ADF (alternate day fasting) for over a year, and am now maintaining my nearly 120 pound loss with 5:2. For those who think it can't be done long-term, I would disagree. The health benefits are way more than just weight loss as well. I haven't felt this good in 20 years, even when I was at a lower weight than I am now. Please do your research before you decide whether or not it's healthy.
  • mfpcopine
    mfpcopine Posts: 3,093 Member
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    sounds like garbage.

    i want to ask you something.

    can you live the rest of your life like that?

    i agree here.


    Do any of these people actually live active lives or compete in any sports?
    I don't see me being able to do the things I love to do if I'm fasting all the time.............


    eating the right amount of food and exercising works 100% of the time, and it's sustainable.

    Someone may have answered this already, but yes, some IFers are very athletic. A popular program is called "Leangains."

    IF is very sustainable for many people. First, it prevents them from over-eating and thinking about food all the time, second, there are physiological benefits associated with short-term fasting. You'd know the latter if you'd watched the video.
  • mfpcopine
    mfpcopine Posts: 3,093 Member
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    I live in the UK and saw the program when it was first broadcast. Micheal Mosely is a super man, and he reports things as they are. I tried the 5:2 fast, I did it for 6 weeks and I hated it. It did nothing for me weight or shape wise either. I then learned men have much better success than women, and that was my experience too.


    I have read on a couple of blogs that women may not get the same benefits as men, but that's not proven. I did find that my energy level never adapted when I was on Fast 5 for 30 days, but that could have been peculiar to me. I belong to a Fast 5 group on facebook that is almost 100% women and they love it.

    When something doesn't work, I do something different. I'm exploring other approaches to IF and I don't do it all the time, although I just started a 4 week challenge.

    For me, IF is great because it keeps me from over-eating. At my height and weight and with my current energy requirements, it's very easy to overshoot the mark.
  • mfpcopine
    mfpcopine Posts: 3,093 Member
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    sounds like garbage.

    i want to ask you something.

    can you live the rest of your life like that?

    It would be nice if you'd watched the video before commenting. Apparently, thousands of people all over the world are living like this. The program discusses a range of approaches and there are many more still about which one can read.

    I have known about this program way before pbs release it
    due to social life I would never follow such a program

    It's not for everyone, although people who do IF do have social lives.
  • kbeech06
    kbeech06 Posts: 328 Member
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    Hmm, well I was listening to BBC Radio 4 one night a couple of weeks back, and they had on a few "experts". Two said that the 5:2 diet didn't work and had no PROVEN benefits, and the third said there wasn't enough evidence yet to make a call as to whether this way of eating is worth it or not.
    Seeing as every few years there is new "Proof" of how we should, eat, sleep, drink, exercise....I think I will stick with what is working for me.
  • mfpcopine
    mfpcopine Posts: 3,093 Member
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    Ugh. Thanks but no thanks. This does NOT sound like a way I want to live my life.

    Just putting information out there. Some people do well on IF. I've been doing it on and off for several months and it is the program with which I've had the most success most easily.
  • drchimpanzee
    drchimpanzee Posts: 892 Member
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    Does eating "normally" mean anything you want and as much as you want? If so maybe we should just change the idea of what eating "normally" is. Instead of doing extreme calorie control two days a week why not do a little every day of the week?
  • Baileys83
    Baileys83 Posts: 152 Member
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    5:2 eater here and I LOVE it - really works for me. No headaches or other ill feelings on fasting days - between 1200 and 1500 5 days a week and 500 for for 2 random days. I actually plan my days round my life - if I know I am going to be out for lunch then I obviously won't fast on that day. I am loosing the weight and feel really good. Had so many comments on how good I look especially since I only had my third child 11 months ago :)
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
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    It works for some people. It's in its early days, yes, so studies as to its effectiveness are ongoing. Like any approach to eating, some methods are more suitable to certain types of people. This is definitely NOT for anyone with an ED tendency, children or those still growing (who shouldn't really be on MFP but lets leave that aside...), and pregnant women.

    500 calories , twice a week, is actually very livable with long term, given that on the other 5 days you can eat at maintenance level, so evenings out or social events are very manageable. Dr Mosely, of the documentary and book, switched to a 6:1 approach once he'd reached his goal weight.

    Some people find their energy levels are just fine, if not increased. I had a 500 cal day yesterday, and completed a 5k run this morning before breakfast, beating the time that I did that route last week by almost 2 minutes. So I don't find it negatively impacts on my performance. But when I'm doing more endurance type runs, I wouldn't attempt to do those in a fasted state.

    If you search the "groups" here on MFP you'll find at least 2 on this 5:2 approach.
  • Imanido
    Imanido Posts: 186 Member
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    Thanks for posting, before comenting I would love to see the program. There seems to be quite interesting links to follow. I have tried IF for a short time while on the cutting phase. It is hard but I am always open to see/read about results in studies/research independently of how comfortable or uncomfortable it might seem to follow. As they say in my country ("knowledge doesn't take space") :-)
  • marsellient
    marsellient Posts: 591 Member
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    Here's a review from Dr. Yoni Freedhoff (Bariatric Institute, Ottawa)

    http://www.weightymatters.ca/2013/04/diet-book-review-fast-diet.html
  • KarenJanine
    KarenJanine Posts: 3,497 Member
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    I'm not convinced about the 'Live Longer' part - I'm pretty sure it'd just feel longer.

    Some people do well on IF. For others it's a terrible idea. I've been observing several collgeagues following the 5:2 plan. Some of them didn't last a day, others lasted a couple of weeks, and a couple are actually doing well.

    Those that couldn't keep it up felt terrible on fasting days - tired, no energy, headaches, grumpy, etc. and then ended up eating more on non-fasting days because they felt they'd earned it.

    Those that are doing well are indeed losing weight at a steady rate. However I don't know anyone that's been on it long term to know if it's possible to keep the weight off long term. Many people are successful at losing weight. Very few are successful at maintaining the loss.
  • Iron_Feline
    Iron_Feline Posts: 10,750 Member
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    Here's a review from Dr. Yoni Freedhoff (Bariatric Institute, Ottawa)

    http://www.weightymatters.ca/2013/04/diet-book-review-fast-diet.html

    Excellent article and address all my concerns about the benefits being more anecdotal than backed by science. Especially the studies done on IGF-1 as that is one of the reasons people go on about the diet, interesting that the studies don't back up the the anecdotal evidence on Dr Mosley's study of one,

    This comment is very interesting

    " Dr. Varady's work with ADMF dieters which showed that folks randomized to intermittent fasting ala The Fast Diet's style for 6 months were far less likely than those randomized to more traditional caloric restriction to want to sustain the intervention (58% vs. 85%)."

    This goes with my thoughts that it would be fine to do it for a while, but most people would do better with learning to eat in moderation everyday as a long term sustainable way to lose weigh and keep it off. I think for a lot of people this is just the latest fad diet - people looking for a quick fix - where they can justify their over eating on 5 days as it is balance out by the 2 fast days.

    Again - I'm sure it works for some people but for most I think a moderate deficit and learning healthy eating habits is better in the long run.
  • caribougal
    caribougal Posts: 865 Member
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    I'm not convinced about the 'Live Longer' part - I'm pretty sure it'd just feel longer.

    Some people do well on IF. For others it's a terrible idea. I've been observing several collgeagues following the 5:2 plan. Some of them didn't last a day, others lasted a couple of weeks, and a couple are actually doing well.

    Those that couldn't keep it up felt terrible on fasting days - tired, no energy, headaches, grumpy, etc. and then ended up eating more on non-fasting days because they felt they'd earned it.

    Those that are doing well are indeed losing weight at a steady rate. However I don't know anyone that's been on it long term to know if it's possible to keep the weight off long term. Many people are successful at losing weight. Very few are successful at maintaining the loss.

    I have no idea if this is true, but I'm betting that for those who are used to a higher carb diet, starting IF can be very tough. Those symptoms are often called "the carb flu" and it sucks. It takes about 3-10 days to adjust to lower carbs. So if you only try IF for a week or two, you might feel those symptoms more acutely. Some people push through, others quit. I've been eating at a lower carb level for about 10 months now. Even before IF, I was able to naturally go for much longer stretches without getting that shaky hypoglycemic feeling and obsessing about food the way I used to get with SAD.

    So, again, I have no idea if this common, but I think the transition to IF for me was easy because my body was already used to being in ketosis. I don't test my ketone levels, but I assume I go in and out regularly. I definitely can tell I'm in ketosis on fasting days.
  • Keiras_Mom
    Keiras_Mom Posts: 844 Member
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    I'm not convinced about the 'Live Longer' part - I'm pretty sure it'd just feel longer.

    Some people do well on IF. For others it's a terrible idea. I've been observing several collgeagues following the 5:2 plan. Some of them didn't last a day, others lasted a couple of weeks, and a couple are actually doing well.

    Those that couldn't keep it up felt terrible on fasting days - tired, no energy, headaches, grumpy, etc. and then ended up eating more on non-fasting days because they felt they'd earned it.

    Those that are doing well are indeed losing weight at a steady rate. However I don't know anyone that's been on it long term to know if it's possible to keep the weight off long term. Many people are successful at losing weight. Very few are successful at maintaining the loss.

    I have no idea if this is true, but I'm betting that for those who are used to a higher carb diet, starting IF can be very tough. Those symptoms are often called "the carb flu" and it sucks. It takes about 3-10 days to adjust to lower carbs. So if you only try IF for a week or two, you might feel those symptoms more acutely. Some people push through, others quit. I've been eating at a lower carb level for about 10 months now. Even before IF, I was able to naturally go for much longer stretches without getting that shaky hypoglycemic feeling and obsessing about food the way I used to get with SAD.

    So, again, I have no idea if this common, but I think the transition to IF for me was easy because my body was already used to being in ketosis. I don't test my ketone levels, but I assume I go in and out regularly. I definitely can tell I'm in ketosis on fasting days.

    5:2 has nothing to do with carbs. Not sure where this is coming from. If I want my full 500 calories in chocolate on my fasting day, I can do that (though I don't). :tongue: I do 5:2 for maintenance with no restrictions as to what types of foods I eat. I eat carbs, sometimes around the SAD levels and sometimes lower, just depending on what I feel like that day.
  • caribougal
    caribougal Posts: 865 Member
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    I'm not convinced about the 'Live Longer' part - I'm pretty sure it'd just feel longer.

    Some people do well on IF. For others it's a terrible idea. I've been observing several collgeagues following the 5:2 plan. Some of them didn't last a day, others lasted a couple of weeks, and a couple are actually doing well.

    Those that couldn't keep it up felt terrible on fasting days - tired, no energy, headaches, grumpy, etc. and then ended up eating more on non-fasting days because they felt they'd earned it.

    Those that are doing well are indeed losing weight at a steady rate. However I don't know anyone that's been on it long term to know if it's possible to keep the weight off long term. Many people are successful at losing weight. Very few are successful at maintaining the loss.

    I have no idea if this is true, but I'm betting that for those who are used to a higher carb diet, starting IF can be very tough. Those symptoms are often called "the carb flu" and it sucks. It takes about 3-10 days to adjust to lower carbs. So if you only try IF for a week or two, you might feel those symptoms more acutely. Some people push through, others quit. I've been eating at a lower carb level for about 10 months now. Even before IF, I was able to naturally go for much longer stretches without getting that shaky hypoglycemic feeling and obsessing about food the way I used to get with SAD.

    So, again, I have no idea if this common, but I think the transition to IF for me was easy because my body was already used to being in ketosis. I don't test my ketone levels, but I assume I go in and out regularly. I definitely can tell I'm in ketosis on fasting days.

    5:2 has nothing to do with carbs. Not sure where this is coming from. If I want my full 500 calories in chocolate on my fasting day, I can do that (though I don't). :tongue: I do 5:2 for maintenance with no restrictions as to what types of foods I eat. I eat carbs, sometimes around the SAD levels and sometimes lower, just depending on what I feel like that day.

    My point was just that I suspect that I adjusted easily to 5:2 because I already eat low carb and could go for long stretches without feeling hungry already. And, that I can have a pretty filling meal with 500 cal if it's a lower carb meal. I normally eat Paleo/Primal, so that's my normal on both fasting and non-fasting days on 5:2.
  • mfpcopine
    mfpcopine Posts: 3,093 Member
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    I'm not convinced about the 'Live Longer' part - I'm pretty sure it'd just feel longer.


    That joke used to be made about Calorie Restriction (CR) a regime in which people eat very few calories every day. Many more people seem to like IF, although it's not for everyone.

    There's no conclusive longterm evidence for humans, but IF is supposed to help people live better, not just (or necessarily) longer. The program discusses theories of how it can prevent or delay the onset of certain diseases.

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