Inspired by the Horizon programme, Eat, Fast and Live Longer, I have decided to begin on an Alternate Day Fasting diet. The basic premise of the diet is to eat a radically reduced amount of calories (approx 25% of the recommended daily intake) every second day and then to eat normally (ie no dieting) on the off days.
According to my BMI, I am currently classified as obese, which I think is slightly unfair since the BMI calculations discriminate against tall people (more of that another day). I am 191 cm (6 foot 3 inches) and 117 kg (258 pounds). My BMI is 32. Obese or not, I definitely need to lose weight. I am 43 years old and have had fluctuating weight all my adult life. At my present height I have been between 69kg (152 pounds) and my current weight. For the first time in my life, though, I can feel my weight impacting on my health and, more than anything, this is what is motivating me to try and lose weight.
My target weight from the diet is 91kg (200 pounds). I would like to do this by 30 June 2013 – 26 kgs (58 pounds) in 11 months, does not seem too ambitious.
So what convinced me that the Alternative Day Fasting approach is right for me?
– what research there is seems to suggest that it is an efficient way to lose weight. I will write a detailed post on the research at some stage, but controlled studies showed people losing approximately 2 pounds a week over an 8 week period;
– the idea of dieting only every second day seems much more acheivable than trying to constantly diet (I have tried that and for me I simply cannot stick with it);
– it will hopefully have limited impact on my family and my social life. I am planning that on my fasting days, I will have no breakfast or lunch (just black tea/coffee/water) and then have a small/healthy dinner with the family, which is the meal we most commonly share. Having days when I don’t have to diet at all, means that work lunches and nights out with friends will still be possible.
– it is flexible enough to allow for blow outs. While I am aiming for a fast every other day, the research shows the diet is effective even where you fast only 2 days a week.
– but the main reason I like this diet is that it does not just cause weight loss, but intermittent fasting is also potentially helpful in preventing a range of diseases, including heart problems, cancers, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease etc.
What are my RULES:
– I will aim for fasting on alternative days, but will be happy with 2 days a week. I will target fasting for 12 days per month;
– On fasting days, I will aim for a maximum of 600 calories. I will try to do this as the evening meal, so that I effectively fast completely for 24 hours – ie from evening meal on the off day until evening meal on the fast day;
– On off days I will try to eat normally (ie not like a glutton) but will not actively watch my diet;
– I will exercise, but not part of a regime, only when I feel like it.
– I will not drink alcohol on fast days but will drink some on off days (wine only).
Otherwise, I am just going to relax and try not to obsess about it. So here goes…..
altdayfast 
I find this to be a great way to lose weight and reap the other benefits. I have dieted all my adult life and this is the most do-able way of living I’ve found. So rewarding to lose weight and yet have days when you can eat without guilt. This to me is a very liberating aspect of ADF. All luck to everyone who is trying it for the first time.
Very best of British Lisa!
Hi,
I am on my first fast day today 18/9/12.
Not too bad but it is only 1 in the afternoon.
I am going to use slimfast shakes for the first week or so as main meals until I can research low calorie stuff more – I am very busy at the moment but really want to make a start.I hope to find more enjoyable 500 cal solutions for my fast days
Heather
I am doing my first fast day today too. 18Sep12. Good luck Heather. I am really hopeful. I think I can do this. I keep reminding myself I can eat what I want Tomorrow. That really helps. I will have my one meal this evening. Full of veggies.
Hi All
I also saw the Horizon programme advertised, sky plused it and watched it eventually.
Today I was ready to make a start. So nothing to eat as yet, now 3pm apart from a peeled apple, water and tea.
My aim on a fast day it to eat as little as possible but drink plenty of water and tea if I need a hot drink. I had previously been on the Paleo diet and felt great but fell by the wayside last Christmas. So on a feast day I will stay off dairy, sugar and carbs and try to make my diet or eating plan more organised.
As my body becomes more used to the way of life I will aim to have breakfast, lunch and a light supper before 6pm in the evening. I think there was an old saying ‘Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a lord and supper like a pauper’
I am not good at weighing, too scary, myself but I would guess I need to lose about 4 stone. My doctor wanted me to use tablets for cholestral which I would prefer to manage by changing the way I eat….and this way does seem to be more natural and also make sense.
I am 56 and if I have to live a long life it may as well be healthy so I am also aiming to stop smoking.
Gill
Coming to the end of my 2nd week’s 2day fast cycle (600cals/day). Eary days (2 month experiment) but I’m already bored with eggs and tuna. So here’s an easy soup I’ve just knocked up. This is good for using up the old veg in the bottom of the fridge…
1 teaspoon oil
1 pt stock (chicken is best and check it’s very low in cals – most are)
1 med onion
2 med carrots
2 med pots (preferably not peeled)
any old green veg (e.g. half brocolli, a couple of courgettes, etc)
3 celery sticks (devil’s veg but good in soups)
1. Finely chop all veg.
2. Heat oil on medium heat and soften onions (5 mins, needs an occassional stir)
3. Add other veg and soften (5 mins, needs an occassional stir)
4. Add stock
5. Put on lid, bring to the boil, reduce heat, simmer for 20mins
6. Blitz
Approx calorie content is 210
Provides 2 generous servings
I too watched the Horizon programme and knew I had to lose weight after a period of being pretty idle… Use to run a lot and didn’t have to worry about weight but my brothers illness put an end to that ad I became his carer.
I’m 5’4″ and was 12 stone when I started. I’m doing the AD diet and this is my second week.
I’m weighing myself on the same day once per week and lost 6lb in the first week.
I’m not finding it too difficult and like others, finding that on non fast days I can’t eat very much without feeling full.
On fast days I have a breakfast of either a fruit smoothie – home made or a poached egg on toast. I’m drinking plenty of water through out the day and having a small salad of onion, tomato and cucumber with some low fat spray oil and balsamic vinegar or a mug of bovril which only has about 17 calories.
Non fast days as I said, I’m eating much less. Normally cereal in the morning, fruit for lunch and soup with bread or a small meal of chicken or seafood in the evening.
Was struggling at the gym carrying the extra weight and it was a real struggle to run. Yesterday I ran 2k on the treadmill in about 13 mins and didn’t even feel tired afterwards.
If I reach my goal weight of 10stone, I’ll more than likely go to the 5:2 for maintainance.
Good luck to everyone else on the diet x
I need to lose about 2 stone so tried adf after watching horizon. I lost a stone in 2 weeks by only drinking plenty of fluids on fasting days. I also found it to be more effective to fast for 36 hours rather than 24 but not everyone can do this. Good trick is to have a hot drink when hunger pangs strike. Home made leek and potatoe soup is low in calories. I am 5ft 6 male and started at just over 13 stone. I’m struggling to lose the last few pounds even though I’ve started cycling 2 or 3 times a week. We don’t have a car so do a lot of walking too.
I too decided to try the ADF approach after watching the Horizon programme. It gave me the motivation I needed after not being able to get my head round what I knew I needed to do. After struggling with my weight for most of my adult life I have tried everything but as I get older and now having had two children the things that used to work for me just don’t anymore. I’d given up hope when last year I lost 3 stone on a complete meal replacement but had to stop because my hair was falling out plus it was just too expensive. I also tried the elimination diet by Dr Dax Moy which was truly amazing and I attended boot camp and although I lost 3 dress sizes I never lost one pound in weight and unfortunately that played havoc with my mind and although I should have been happy I couldn’t get over that being as heavy as I was I needed to loose the pounds. I too have a family history of strokes, embolisms, high blood pressure and diabetes so the idea that this plan can help eliminate fatal disorders from my life is highly motivational. This is the start of my third week and today has been a fasting day which has been fine. I did not weigh myself after the first week but had lost 6lbs by Friday of last week.I am hopeful that this is the one to suit me and I am happy that my head is now in the right place. Good luck to all of you that is giving this a go.
Wishing you EVERY success with this. Like me you have struggled womanfully with your weight and I hope this will be your solution. I have found it very do-able and have to date (7 weeks) lost 12 pounds. Keeping going.
Hello. Started Fasting on 10th Aug after Horizon. Just made sense from an evolutionary point of view; when we were cavemen we would eat all of what we would kill and go for a few days before eating again. Also I really like eating so the thought of dieting kills me. I find it easier to abstain than reduce. I now do 3 fasts a week; Monday 36 hours; Wednesday 36 Hours and Friday 24 Hours. It is the easiest and hardest way to lose weight. I find hunger goes in waves; particularly on a 36 hour fast. I need to lose a ton of weight so eventually see myself doing 2 fasts a week for life; one 36 hour on Mon, after eating what I fancy at the weekend and a 24 Hour on Wednesday. Really working well. Good luck to you.
Hi, the worst time for me is the evenings, i just need something other than dust to nibble 🙂
I have to admit that my mouth constantly wants something to chew and i cant use gum sadly, even freedent sticks like glue. Ive started clock watching which isnt good. Please help.
Do you have a few meals still on your fasting day because I’ve found that if I only drink water, t or coffee in the morning and then eat a 600 calorie nutritional meal that has slow release carbs and a small amount of protein then I don’t feel hungry at all. Then I just stick to drinks again after that. I find if I still try to have 2 to 3 small meals to make up my 600 calories I find Im just waiting for my next meal and thinking about food constantly. When I have it all in just one meal it is still something to look forward to and i make it so tasty I’m satisfied and feel full so don’t need to think about my next meal cause I know that was it and I really enjoyed it. Try it and see how you get on. I also use a calorie tracker app and scales to weigh and measure my 600 calories to make sure I’m getting everything I’m meant to get but not guess cause its easy to underestimate especially with things like cheese. Hope this helps Milly. Good luck Melanie
Hi Melanie – i think most people agree that eveing is the hardest time and I find it so too. I think it is because I am not busy but relaxing. I find trying to give myself something to do in the evening does stop me ‘wanting’ food. It’s not that I’m hungry, just craving tastes. I think trying to select foods with more taste or maybe adding a bit of chilli for example to some things does help with that. A cup of Bovril works too.
Best of luck with the munchies.
Janice
Hi Jan thanks for the info but I don’t get the munchies in the evening I was replying to a lady called Millie but thank you for taking the time to get in touch. Hope all is well for you.
Regards Melanie
So sorry Melanie, just put the wrong name at the top, trying to do things quickly as usual. I’m glad you don’t get evening munchies, I wish I didn’t!
Janice
Hi Melanie and everybody,
I dont eat in the mornings and try to eek out some 19 calorie polystyrene type biscuits during the afternoons. Im trying to have 400 calories give or take a few but i do like lentils so im going to try your recipe.
Im also a heavy smoker and thats helped but when im down to my perfect weight i hope to quit so that will be more of a challenge sticking to this diet.
As i lead a sedentary life, that will have to drastically change.
Thanks for the input, im off to check out that recipe 🙂
Hi Milly, my new secret weapon against evening hunger pangs is a big bowl of spicy lentil and veg soup. I posted a 230 calorie recipe for it on on this blog- see ‘no heart disease ‘ page. Lentils are low GI and the soup seems to make me feel full for a good while afterwards. You could also try drinking a cup or two of herb tea. I found myself clock watching a couple of times, but several fasting nights I have gone to see a movie to distract myself.
One interesting thing, I had a chess league match the other night and won a complex 4 hour game against a much higher rated opponent (300 fide points higher for any chess player reading). Have my eight weeks of 5:2 fasting boosted my brain powers? Have I grown a few more neurons? At 54 that would be very handy thank you! Will have to see if I gain rating points over the season. Any one noted an improvement in word finding, crossword solving etc?
oops sorry i mean your recipe, not melanies, apologies
Hope you enjoy it Milly. By the way I think I underestimated water, it is closer to 3/4 pint, add morevif it is too thick. Good luck with the giving up smoking, I quit using Nicorette micro tabs 10 years ago, can’t stand even being near a smoker now, it’s tough but so worth it.
hello. I’ve been doing this since watching the Horizon programme. I realised it would be relatively easy for me because I used to go regularly without eating during the day and not notice. However, as I got older (60, will be 61 this month) I thought I ought to eat more regularly. I didn’t have any scales, but felt the weight was creeping on. I bought some posh scales and nearly fainted to dicover I was 10st 4lbs. I am now 9st 6lbs and my clothes feel comfy and loose – two pairs of trousers fit again. Nobody has really noticed (without prompting) that I’ve lost nearly a stone, but that’s fine. I’m most interested in the health aspects. I have no idea how many calories are in what, I just try to have one low carb meal in the evening on my fasting days.
I start work properly tomorrow (I do university terms) and it’s going to interesting to see if this works when I’m flat out…..I’ll keep you posted (if anyone’s interested!)
Bron
Well done Bronwen. Most people I know have commented how well I’m looking, and I certainly feel on top of the world, since fasting regularly. I haven’t yet noticed an increase in brain power, but as long as it doesn’t get worse, I’m happy.
I’m 68 years old and have a lifelong history of being a bit overweight though otherwise perfectly healthy.. I did ADF for 3 weeks before going on holiday, losing 6 pounds, 3 inches off my waist. During 3 weeks holiday I ate far too much, but put on only one pound. In the 2 weeks since coming back, I’ve lost another 3 pounds. I feel really fit and hunger on the fasting days is no problem. I eat a 200 calorie breakfast of fresh berries, a small handful of non sweetened muesli and natural yogurt late in the morning. In the evening I eat a bowl of salad veg, lettuce tomatoes etc., with a little vinegar to taste. I aim for about 300 calories a day. Lots of family and friends have been inspired to copy me.
I have been surprised by the amount of people who I know who would like to lose weight but are literally horrified and generally negative about ADF. My wife, however, having seen first hand how I am getting on has now joined me. I’m beginning to think that there is some built in evolutionary protection system that helps you make up any excuse as to why you should not fast ?
Thanks for the encouragement Trish!
I need to ask you fellow fasters some advice! As I thought, I’m finding this much harder now term/work has started. What I’m doing is trying to stick to simply not eating for 24 hours i.e. from 8.00pm to 8.pm the following day. I’m noticing that a lot of you, and people I talk to, spread their (meagre!) calories through the day. Is this allowed?? It would certainly make my life easier if it is. Anyone bought the book???
Hi Bronwen, I haven’t read a book, just done what works for me. AllI know is that I’ve lost 5 kilos since the beginning of August, which includes a 3 week long holiday period in September, when I ate constantly. As I said, I eat a 200 calorie brunch and 100 calories in the evening. I feel incredibly well and fit and have no trouble on my ‘fasting’ day. I know some people do fast for 24 hours, but that wouldn’t suit me. I haven’t got a lot of weight to lose, just wanted to get a bit trimmer.
Ditto with the weight, it’s very satisfying/gratifying shedding a few pounds, but I’m really in it for the health benefits. I’ve just downloaded a book (rather than THE book, which is by Johnson I think) So if there’s any info in that I’ll pass it on. I notice ADF hasn’t stopped me splitting my infinitives – sorry!
Hi Bronwen- Yes I have the book. I think the message is you can eat your calories on fast days whenever you like as long as you don’t exceed 20% of your normal intake. There is a formula in the book for working our what your daily intake should be. Mine worked out at 1800 on a feed day. What is recommended at first is to have a diet shake and use it to sip throughout the day when you feel hungry. That did not appeal to me at all as I prefer to eat real food no matter how little of it.
Like a lot of people I try to eat little during the day and save up for an evening meal of sorts. Again lots of people seem to like to have soup, because it’s warm and filling and can be low calorie I suppose. It must be a lot harder to eat little during the day when you are working I think.
I am 65 and have been doing alternate day fasting since the Horizon preogramme on 6th August. I have lost 12 pounds. I have now gone to three days fasting but I seem to be just maintaining my weight. I suspect it is because I get the urge to go a bit mad on feed days!
It’s worth buying the book although I had to order it on amazon and waited about 8 weeks for it to come into stock. There’s a good website called weight loss resources which will give you a free trial for 24 hours after that it’s £10 a month but it seems to recognise most foods and you can easily keep track of what you are eating. You can add recipes and so on.
Best of luck! Jan
Hi Jan,
I was also inspired by the Horizon programme, but started without a book. I eat and drink what and when I like on the food days – chips, doughnuts, wine. On the fasting days I have a late breakfast of 200 calories and then a very simple salad or similar in the evening. I’m too stingy to pay out for shakes and special food! I’ve gone from 82.3 kg to 77.2 kg since the beginning of August, which includes a three week holiday period during September, when I overate the whole time.
I want to get down to 75 kg and then try and maintain it by fasting just once or twice a week.
I bought ‘THE’ book 🙂 It advocates spreading the fast day eating over the day. To start with it’s two slimfast shakes to make it easy. It also contains dozens or low fat recipes and meal plans. I’m past my 4th week now and have gone from 73.8 Kg to 69.2 Kg.
I fast on Mon,Wed,Fri, however I didn’t fast as usual on Monday and I’m not going to fast today. I just want to see if I can maintain 69Kg by eating sensibly.
I have recorded my ‘ordeal’ on my blog 🙂
http://highlandmist.blogspot.co.uk
Good Luck!!! I sincerely hope you’ll make it 🙂 Intermittent fasting sounds fantastic. I’m starting tomorrow hopefully looking to lose 50 lbs also by June 2013
The idea of alternate day fasting (ADF) isn’t to lose weight, but it’s to give the body a chance to repair itself, as demonstrated on the Horizon program. (Losing weight is just a bonus!)
I am reassured by the amount of studies that are being done into researching the health benefits.
From the research done with animals, I was particularly interested to learn that during fasting, cell production is slowed and the body starts repairing existing cells. Another study discovered that during fasting, new neurons grow in the brain.
I started the diet after the Horizon show and following the initial shock to my system (headache and waves of hunger on the first fast) I can honestly say that I now find the fasting “easy” and on my eat days I am generally satisfied with smaller portions.
I have chosen to not eat any solids on my fast days but I do drink water and occasionally several cups of tea with a splash of skimmed milk. Maybe upto a hundred calories (?)
My weight loss has been approx 1.5 lbs a week but that’s OK because I’m over a stone overweight.
I was recently given a body MOT and my doctor commented that my cholestrol stats have improved from last years results – which weren’t bad at that time.
I would recommend ADF; it’s not difficult; and if I can do it, anyone can.
One question that I would like to ask is:- How do we get our IGF-1 measured ??
Yes indeed, nice to lose weight but my aim is to keep well. I thought it was a blood test for IGF 1, but I intend to do some more research and then go to my doctor in the spring and ask for as big an MOT as I can get.
I happened to have a conversation with a medical academic working in cancer research and fasting is being taken very seriously.
Good luck all!
I’ve just found this forum, fascinated to see how others are getting on. I’ve been fasting on alternate days since about two weeks after the Horizon programme. I was a little overweight although I was more interested in the other benefits, such as resistance to diabetes as my father died of that. But I’ve since lost 7kg, down to 88kg, and I’m feeling a lot better for it. A few more kg will be enough, I’ll be in the odd situation of not wanting to lose any more weight.
What I’ve found very interesting is the psychology of this. Before I’d heard of fasting as positive and scientifically proven to be beneficial, if I’d missed a meal I’d start to feel really bad, stomach rumbling like thunder, weak and shaky, and would just grab anything to eat as soon as I could, thinking it was bad for me to miss out on food. Well we were all told by our mums to eat properly at mealtimes!
Now that I know it’s doing you good not to eat for a period, suddenly it’s easy to miss out meals. I get a little bit hungry now and then but it’s more a minor irritant than the huge issue it used to be. In short, I’m finding it remarkably easy, where if you told me about this before August I’d have thought it was practically impossible! Yet the difference is solely my attitude to it and understanding of it.
My own regime is to do without breakfast or lunch then have the 5-600 calorie meal in the evening, as this is when the hunger tends to kick in a bit harder, and that does the job. I do drink quite a lot of coffee and tea during the day, more than I used to, but the calorie count is very low, about 6 per cup with the amount of milk I add.
I also find on my eating days I’m naturally going for food that’s better for me, such as vegetables and fruit, and having a reduced desire for sweet stuff. I eat about the same as before or slightly more, but I have no desire to really pig out!
It’s a pity it’s not easier to find out the various benefits in addition to the weight loss – this has become a diet thing to help lose weight for a lot of people, and it does do that very well, but it would good to know if I really was becoming less likely to suffer heart disease, cancer, diabetes and so on – maybe I’ll go for a blood test soon, although I won’t have my old state to compare it with.
Dear Kevin
Welcome and well done so far. I agree we should discuss the health benefits more. I have been meaning to do some posts on this and will try over the coming weeks.
Hello all
My friend told me about this, Im starting tommorow I’m using a App to track my fast day calories and have planned it out. Tinned grapefruit and ww toast with marmite. glorious skinny soup lunch 1/2 carton, rice cake and a 10 cals jelly for a snack. Tea another Glorious skinny soup other half carton, 2 rice cakes 1 tomato and 3 slices extra thin ham and then a probiotic zero fat yoghurt. Plus loads of water and earl grey tea LOL It sounds alot but it all only adds up to 467 cals! I.m looking forward to my fast, just hoping i’ll have the energy to do my body combat class in the evening of my fast. I weigh 10 stone 4 and am 5’5”.and 39 years old. i want to get back to 9stone 7lbs. I am aiming to do body combat, and spinning plus 50 mins in the gym per week.
I’ll post next week and let you all know how much I lost. I am aiming to fast 24hrs mon, tue and wed. Let’s share some fast day foods!
Sarah
Hi Sarah, it’s going to be interesting to see how well that approach works, I and a lot of others have simply been missing out on meals but having a single, 5-600 calorie meal at one point in the day. Mine is the evening meal, and I eat nothing else all day, except occasionally an apple, but lots of tea and coffee! Like quite a few others I’ve found it easier to abstain altogether rather than have smaller meals just as often as before, so if you find your approach is too difficult, it might be worth trying this instead.
I must say I’ve not been especially worried about counting the calories, I’ve not done that sort of thing before, so I just have a half sized meal and reckon it’s probably about right. It’s working anyway, as far as weight loss is concerned, I just wish I knew what it was doing for all the other health factors.
You say Mon, Tue and Wed, are you fasting three days in a row? The idea is to fast on alternate days, three consecutive days hasn’t been covered by this and it might pose some health problems (aside from being very difficult to do, you’ll be literally starving by the third day!), I’d suggest you stick more closely to the regime that the Horizon programme investigated as that’s known and proven, such as Mon, Wed and Fri.
I agree with Kevin- the idea is ‘alternate day’ fasting, with eating days between. This is much easier to sustain for the long term, and as Jan says it stops your body from adjusting to the new calorie regime, which is the cause of yo-yo weight loss-weight gain. Try restricting food mon-wed-fri, or just mon-wed if you find the 5/2 system easier. The Horizon programme ‘Eat, Fast and Live longer’ is available on YouTube, it is a great motivator. Good luck!
Hi Sarah- Just writing to endorse kevin’s comments about fasting on consecutive days rather than alternate days. The other downside of this apart from what Kevin has already mentioned is that your body thinks you are starving and so closes down your metabolism. The effects of that will be to slow everything right down, including your weight loss. Really not a good way to go.
Hope this comment is helpful and I wish you the very best of luck with your new eating plan.
Janice
just adding to the general flurry of concern for Sarah. Three days in a row, not a good idea. The earlier part of the Horizon programme investigated the idea of starving for three or four days per month (not a week!) I shall laugh if Sarah just made a mistake and meant Mon, Wed Fri!
How does the fast work if you go from 5pm-5pm…. 500 cal over the 24 hours? Eg a low cal sandwich at lunch ? I did this with good results for a week then bizarrely put weight on again.. Maybe too many cals on non fasting days…. Thoughts??
Finding myself in a similar position. Only able to fast for two days at the mo so not surprised to have reached a plateau. Wondering if I’ve maybe reached my optimum weight? 9st 6 at. 5′ 5″? But as I keep harping on, I’m really in it for the health. Be nice to be 9st though….
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
I work some night shifts and some day shifts so my regime has always to be worked from midnight to midnight whether I am on nights or days. I have to do this for simplicity. It means that I can eat right ow after waking up from a nightshift, on which I only ate normally after midnight. When I go to work tonight I will eat my last meal at 2330. I’m off tomorrow and will have a 500cal meal at dinner time. The simplicity of the diet makes it easier and by keeping my days midnight to midnight there is never any confusion.
That’s a good question, I did try doing the fast between dinners, rather than alternate complete days, which means you only get one night per fast instead of two. The programme didn’t cover this and I don’t know if the research has yet either, but I’d be a little worried that maybe 24 hours rather than 36 hours might not be long enough for the change in growth hormone production to come into effect. That’ll mean the other benefits to do with cancer repair, diabetes resistance and so on might not be taking place. It did feel different to me, although I can’t be any more specific than that. The weight loss appeared to be slower, but that might have been other factors. Personally I’d stick with the 36 hour fast as that’s been shown to work, and although the 24 hour might work but it we don’t know for sure, so it might not, in which case it’s a wasted effort.
I’m starting this diet today want to lose about a stone and a half. Going to try 2 days a week to start, a huge 400g bag of frozen berries from sainsburys is only 115 calories so I’m going to eat them and a few shakes in between!
Wish me luck!
Sara
I have also discovered frozen berries (raspberries and blueberries). Super good for you, very low in calories and a great snack. I get about a cup of frozen berries and mix it with a tub of natural yoghurt. The berries kind of defrost and the yoghurt freezes. It is nicer than icecream and only about 150 calories.
Hi Alt Fast, I think that if you are going to keep to this way of eating you have to be a bit flexible, so your approach seems sensible. The USA can be a challenge though, I never fail to be stunned by the portion sizes. We lived in Boston for the summer a few years ago, and eating out was a problem as i hate waste, but restaurants there do not take kindly if you ask to split portions between people, or ask for two starters instead of a main course. At home in Ireland I would have made lunch for my family of five out of what they consider a single serving of steak, and their starters are the size of our main courses.
Regards your questions,
1. I seem to have cracked the afternoon irritability problem: I have coffee with 50ml low fat milk for breakfast, a large bowl of the spicy lentil and veg soup (250 cals) at about 1:30pm and at about 6.30pm noodles in chicken stock with boiled chicken breast and steamed veg (230 cals), or Tortilla (made with 1egg, 2 egg whites, 40g potato, onion and veg, cooked in 1/2 tspn olive oil, with salad leaves, 230 cals). I often go to the cinema after supper on fast days, otherwise I am sitting around while the rest of the family nibble and munch their way through the evening, or so it seems to me- on second thoughts maybe I have shifted my grumpiness to the evening 🙂
2. I embarked on the 5:2 for the health benefits, with weight loss a welcome extra, and I am totally relaxed about eating on food days, but after 10 weeks on the 5:2 I have happily reached my goal weight, and don’t want lose much more- at 54 I need a little plumpness in my face to fill out the wrinkles. My BMI is now 23. I home cook family meals and aim for balanced diet with plenty of fruit and veg, but i do love treats like wine,choclate, fine cheeses, cookies, cakes as well, so I am loving being guilt free about these indulgences. Like Kevin I have found I am much more relaxed if circumstances dictate that I miss a meal on ‘eating’ days, where previously I would have fretted till I got food. I am walking 6km most days, running 5-10 km twice a week, and have recently taken up Tai Chi. I can see myself eating in the 5:2 pattern for life.
Bother, posted this on wrong page, it is supposed to be on ‘Some questions’ page, so apologies if it doesn’t make sense. Maybe I should add that I am blonde:)
Micky B
You are spot on about the portion sizes. Incredible. I am not sure I would have noticed so much if I wasn’t being so mindful of what I was eating. Vegetables don’t seem to figure heavily in restaurant meals either!
What is the longest you should fast for? It’s called 24 hr fasting ( with 500 cals) or is it really 36?? As this is day on day off..?? Any ideas anyone?
Oh, I replied to this on your earlier post. But another question’s occurred to me, Im still losing weight and perfectly happy with that, I didn’t have a big problem before but Im rather liking the new lean me. But what happens when all the fat is gone? At the moment my body seems to be using fat because it’s not getting enough calories on alternate days, and that’s fine while there is some, but when the reserves are used up, surely it won’t start to eat into muscle instead? I don’t want to waste away! So what should I do, just eat more on the eating days? Eating more on the fasting days will stop that switchover from the growth hormone production, which is behind all the other health advantages, but I don’t really want to eat any more on the eating days. But maybe that will change and I’ll naturally get hungrier on those days anyway…. any thoughts from anyone?
Hi Sian, the alternate day fast is effectively 36 hrs, ie from when you go to sleep one day , only eat 500 calories (600 for men ) the next day, not breaking fast till third day breakfast. Eat what you like then repeat fast from bedtime that night. You can alternate fasting and eating days if you have a lot of weight to lose, but the health benefits and moderate weight loss can be gained by ‘fasting’ 2 days out of 7. Watch the Horizon programme ‘Eat, Fast and Live Longer’ on YouTube you will get an idea of the science behind it . Personally I find the 5:2 easy to do, it takes a little organisation and determination on fast days, but my inner foodie is loving the freedom to relax about food for the rest of the week
I’ve just seen the Horizon programme again – just as fascinating even when you know the ending! – and it seems the IGf1 growth hormone levels start to fall just within 24 hours. so that would leave very little time for the repair mode that follows to be able to do anything useful. It doe slook as if the full 36 hours, or something close (I”m munching peanuts now and it’s 11 at night…) is needed for the full effect.
In the programme, if I recall right, he said that the beneficial hormone effects wore off quickly? I imagine a 24h fast is not much time for the body to get into “repair mode”, but the 36h fast is obviously harder to do, and maybe you run the risk of muscle loss if you do this too often?
As I have lost 2″ on my stomach & c.4.5Kg overall in my first month on c.23h fasts x3/week, plus minor meal reductions at other times, plus moderate increased excercise (walking), things seem to be working, at least on a physical level. I will need to give this regime a few more months to see if the weight loss slows down as I approach my BMI target of 25. If it does I might try a 36h fast see how that goes, but only x1-2/month.
I will also repeat my biochemical tests after 3 & 6M to see how the evelated blood Glucose & Cholesterol levels are faring, I hope well below max. normal levels this time. I will report back on my findings later on…
I don’t really fast at all, just eat less every other day. On the ‘fasting’ day, I actually eat twice, once late morning when I have about 200 calories and once about 6 in the evening when I have another 100, with low calorie drinks like water and black tea in between. It’s worked very well for me, . I’ve lost weight and feel on top of the world. I have no idea what effect it’s had on blood results etc. In fact, I’ve now reached my target weight and will continue the ‘fasting’ twice a week. I don’t want to lose too much weight, I’m 68 years old and already have enough wrinkles.
We all have many questions and seem to be interpreting the regime in different ways. Successful for weight loss clearly,m but still shrouded in mystery regarding health benefits. Anyone know anyone in the BBC? A follow up programme would be terrific!
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I agree; most people have focused on the weight loss as opposed to the other health benefits – that’s OK – weight loss is easily measured but I would be very interested to know what is happening to the IGF-1 and Blood Glucose levels.
Yes – a follow up programme would be good and judging by the public interest, it would be very popular.
I’ve started this diet this week and done 2 fast days and have lost 4 pounds I only want to lose about a stone and a half. I haven’t found the fast days too bad but I did get a bit grumpy yesterday evening!
Good luck with keeping it going! But a lot of people seem to find it easier as time goes on, once you start to get used to the feelings you get when you miss out on a meal and realise they’re really not that bad and fade away again too, it stops being a big deal.
I’ve also found I’m spending a lot less on food, my supermarket bills are substantially down, which is a very pleasing side effect, so I’m compensating for that by buying higher quality food for my eating days, like better meat from M&S instead of the nasty stuff in Tesco! Okay, I’m not that much a new man, my wife’s doing that… she’s doing two days on, one day off and getting on fine with that.
Been doing the ADF since Aug 24th and now on my 31st fast day (today, Nov 2 2012). Occasionally I have stopped my fast for a day if we are going out for a meal with friends, but then start again the following day. I’ve lost about 16lbs in weight. I am 6 feet tall and now weigh 11 stone (age 65). One of the best benefits has been how wonderful food tastes on the eating days – really seems to have rejuvenated my jaded taste buds. I don’t eat anything on the fast days but drink fruit juice, tea & coffee which must give a fair number of calories. It also seems to have helped significantly reduce the symptoms of Ulcerative Colitis, which I have got
I find the difficult times on fasts are traditional meal times – lunch and tea – however once I get past them I feel almost like I have eaten. Not sure how long I will keep this up, but I don’t seem to find it too difficult on a day to day basis and I feel gratified that I have the willpower to do it. I have tried cutting down food but that never worked, but cutting it out altogether somehow works for me
Good luck to all who try the ADF diet
Bernard
Well Done Bernard
Are you careful with how many calories you eating on non fast days?
Thanks for your post Bernard. Has anyone else with ulcerative colitis or crohns noticed a beneficial effect from alternate day fasting??
I’m trailing alternative day fasting too and find that the morning after fasting day I weigh more on the scales. Anyone else finding this?
I think the answer is to try to restrict weighing yourself to once a week. Weight fluctuates whatever and you don’t want to start to feel discouraged.
Anyone read the article in the Saturday Times magazine?
I recently saw the Horizon program on ADF and the effects on glucose, cholesterol, etc., so I gave it a try & it seems to be working. After 3 weeks I have lost a couple of kilos & feel much better. I fast for c.24h x3/week: Mon, Wed, Fri, by finishing eating as early as possible the night before, say 5:30pm, then only having water & fruit tea until the next night, when I try not to eat too much (maybe +10% more than usual, and not sugary or fatty foods). I find I only feel hungry at lunch & this soon passes, esp. if I am busy. I had blood tests just before I started this & will do so again after 3M to see if it has any biochemical effect.
I need to do this as at age 52 my BMI is creeping up (was c.28), clothes are getting tighter, and my blood sugar, cholesterol, etc., are all high (as is my PSA for cancer risk). I take a low dose anti-cholesterol drug & would like to get off all tablets, loose weight & improve my chances of living longer. I also exercise a little more by walking home every night, which is about 2.5 miles & takes about 45m (although I should do more at the weekends). So thanks for the advice here (good luck to everyone), I think UK & EU hospitals should run more clinical trials on this method, as it only takes a little will-power, then is easy to follow & seems to have quick & v. effective results.
Regards,
Some posts ask about health benefits. I started adf immediately after the horizon program and, although I have lost a greatly appreciated 23 lbs, I began it for a specific health problem. I had read in accompanying studies that the diet was good for inflammation and tissue repair. I have arthritis in my left ankle and knee due to accident related damage that occurred years ago.Doctors offered steroids for pain and surgery to scrape off bone spurs which would only have been palliative and I preferred to defer such measures for as long as possible. I decided to try adf on the principle that, if it did nothing else, reducing the weight the joints were bearing would help. From the end of the first month of the diet there was a huge reduction in inflammation and pain and mobility is now mostly normal. I will be made aware that i still have arthritis, If I sit too long with my ankle in the wrong position and then try to walk but it doesn’t swell up as it used to and the pain is of short duration. I can also sleep normally without having to constantly position a pillow under my knee or ankle. I try to fast for 34 hours with just water and on my non fast day consume an average of 1600 calories.
I have been on the alternate fasting diet since mid-August. I have lost about one stone and ten pounds to date. I have around 500 to600 calories on fasting days and don’t pig out on feast days as my ability to eat loads has reduced significantly. I am aiming to get to eleven stone. At my heaviest I was fifteen stone and at 5ft6 that was not good. I feel so much better since starting Alternate fasting, I actually like the fasting days. I actually crave fruit and vegetables on feast days. I would recommend this to anyone.
I saw the Horizon programme on you tube tonight and am going to start tomorrow with a fast day. Having read all your comments I feel really motivated!
How have you been getting on, Liz? Please let us know.
Hi everyone
I have been doing AFD since August. Personally I think it is best to eat what you want on feast days. After a while ones stomach seems to shrink and you don’t want to eat too much anyhow. I fear that if you aim to calorie restrict on the feast day on top of the 500 calories on fast days it makes for a strict regime and one that’s more likely to fail. it’s important that we don’t see this as a slimming diet. The value of it is in the act of fasting and the health benefits that brings. Sticking with it is not difficult and by sticking to it one loses weight.
I agree with Richard. I have been on the ADF since the end of August. I have lost weight (over a stone) and am now under 11 stone & 6ft in height. I am happy to lose a few more pounds, but feel I am near a stable weight. I eat what I want on eating days too and don’t seem to overdo it too much. I also come off it if I am going out for a meal with friends on a fast day because I think socialising is more important than rigorously sticking to the ADF regime.
It has been great for me as I had polio when I was young (I am now 65) and need to take pressure off my weakened right leg and hip when walking. Also I have Ulcerative Colitis (UC) and giving my colon a rest seems to have done it a power of good. There is lots of talk about ADF on UC bulletin boards (see thread at http://goo.gl/6hcJy from June 2012)
Also interesting is the reaction you get from friends about being on ADF – they seem alarmed by it and some try and persuade me to stop, ‘for my own good’. Well, maybe I will sometime, but only when I want to (if I ever do)
Bernard
Hi all, I am so glad I found this blog…. Much of what I have read has helped to motivate me into action. I only start today with the alternate day fast, although I watched the Horizon program and was determined to give it a try (yet failed on a couple of times I tried to fast… hunger (emotional as well as physical) got the better of me). I’m prediabetic, so losing weight is essential, especially as diabetes is very prevalent in my family, as is heart disease and stroke. I’ve got a lot of weight to lose with a current BMI of 43. It’s scary…
It sounds like you have a lot to lose, in both senses, and you must be desperately worried about your health so all the very best of luck in summoning up the willpower to go through with this.
It sounds like ADF is exactly what you need though, aside from the weight loss it restores your insulin sensitivity, and the repair function might well help you make a full recovery from your prediabetic condition. You’ll also be reducing your chances of heart disease and stroke.
ADF seems to be the easiest and most effective way of losing weight for many people so it sounds like your best shot for getting your life back, I’m sure if you need any encouragement you can find it here from the various very positive stories already posted. A typical weight loss seems to be around 6kg a month, although of course that’s going to vary with individuals, but note that in the University of Illinois study they found that people who still ate excessively or badly (ie burgers, chips, that sort of thing) on the eating days did gain many of the health benefits but lost little or no weight. But even if you find you’re doing that you still stand a good chance of staving off full diabetes.
It sounds as if the full alternate day fasting is what you need to be doing, although the 5-2 would be helpful I’m sure. You’re going to find it very difficult at first, but stick with it and you’ll find it gets easier and easier. I’ve been doing this for nearly three months now and it’s become almost second nature, my body seems to be completely used to it. The key for me has been a complete change in attitude to missing out meals, I used to think like most people that it was very bad for you not to have your regular meals, and that made the physical hunger feelings seem far worse. Now I know it’s doing me good, at times I almost relish the pangs of hunger! At worse they’re an irritant but mostly now I rarely notice.
I imagine a lot of people here would really like to know how you’re getting on so please do keep us posted! And once again, good luck!
I generally think it is important to think long term and so, while I agree with you, Richard, that we ought to think of the health benefits of adopting ADF as a lifestyle choice, for myself I see an urgency to prevent pre-diabetes to become full blown diabetes. From all I’ve read on the subject the most important thing I can do is to lose weight rather than what or how I eat. So that must be my first priority.
No doubt, once I have lost a reasonable amount of weight I can take things easier on the ‘up’ days, but for now my initial aim is to bring my BMI from 43 to the mid-30s. That should help with my insulin resistance.
1500 calories sounds low, but is not excessively so. Due to my chronic fatigue I lead a sedentary life with very little (if any) exercise. Due to my age also (63 now) my calorie requirements are getting lower (resting metabolic rate with sedentary factor = 1895 calories per day).
Ultimately, it will be trial and error to find out what I can cope with long-term, both physically and psychologically.
Thank you so much, Kevin, for your post. I really do need encouragement to go beyond what I rationally know I should do and what the urge for instant gratification compels me to do. I used to be chubby as a child, but in younger years was simply overweight (at times bordering on the obese, but quite active with it). It wasn’t until I was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue 18 years ago that I piled on the pounds. Emotional eating has always been a problem (left over coping strategy after childhood abuse) and being forced to inactivity as well as stress and boredom meant that I eat more than I burnt and so the pounds piled up.
I did try slimming clubs in the past but found them either patronising or their advise simply irrational (“Take off your glasses, you may just tip the scale a bit lower that way”)… But as I get older and the thought of mortality begins to loom ever larger, I want to try and see what I can reverse. There are a lot of health benefits outlined in the book by Johnson and Laub (The Alternate Day Diet) and I have watched my mother and aunt both going blind, bandaged the gangrened foot of my mother… Apart from one niece everybody else in my family got diabetes. Both my parents died of their third heart attack; strokes are common place in my family. I don’t want that to happen to me.
I had my first fasting day yesterday. I eat one small hardboiled egg for breakfast (80 cals), tomatoes for lunch and again in the afternoon (84 cals), and 300 g mixed berries with 300g yogurt for dinner (288 cals). With a couple of coffees and lots of green tea the total was 522 calories for the day.
I found it easier than I had thought. Mostly, because I spent the morning reading the various posts in this blog, feeling inspired and encouraged; as well as watching again Michael Mosley’s Horizon program.
My aim is to have a 4-3 diet… limit my calories on 3 days (for convenience Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays) and try to stick to 1500 calories for the remaining 4 days. It does not matter much if I overeat occasionally on the ‘up’-days as long as the overall trend is downwards and I manage my fast days reasonably well.
I would be very happy with a 6kg weight loss per month; actually I would be happy with half of that as long as it remains a regular occurrence.
Still motivated,
Erika
“Take off your glasses…”! Wow, that’s really not going to help you take it seriously.
That first fasting day of yours sounds perfect, and easier than you thought too, that’s great news. It does generally get easier with time too, after the first week or so anyway.
You obviously have a lot more demons to fight than most of us so you’ll be finding this tougher, I’m sure. Against that, your experience of the negatives of being very overweight is much more powerful too, so hopefully that extra motivation will be the key for you.
The 4-3 sounds good, it’s so important to make this fit in with the rest of your life as much as possible, so the excuses to give up are minimised. I reckon you have some room for manoeuvre on your eating days too, 1500 calories is low, so straying over that won’t hurt. The obvious suggestion there is to have an occasional reward, but actually I think that’s bad psychologically as it turns eating into a treat and therefore something very good, which you’re trying to move away from, especially as you’ve been comfort eating. If you can reward yourself with a half hour walk, now that’d be much better! It’ll become important to make sure you get a good balance of nutrients as you’ll be living off some small quantities of food and need to make sure that what you do eat contains all the nutrients you need to stay healthy. But if you can sustain that, all the better, it sounds like you need to get the weight down closer to a BMI of 25 as soon as you reasonably can.
Something else which you might find encouraging, after doing this for three months I’m now finding I’m actually eating less on the eating days than I used to. At first I was compensating by eating extra (although the weight was still coming off) but these days that’s stopped and I find I don’t eat large meals as I feel full sooner, and I’m not really snacking at all. I’m going to be so boring at Christmas!
Kevin
Thanks, Kevin.
I agree, that the 1500 calories day seems low and that I could ease up a little there. But I know myself… there will always be days when I need more food or simply do not want to weigh or measure it. If I stick to an aim of 1500 calories on the days I can manage that I would teach myself to eat three meals, with perhaps a snack or two, rather than constantly grazing without even being aware of what or how much I eat. Apart from the occasional blow-out on sweet things, I tend to eat reasonably healthy anyhow (no chips, nothing fried, lots of fruit and veg, etc.), just too much of it.
No doubt there will be days when I revert back to overeating, but I hope that these days become less as I re-educate myself around food. As with all long standing habits my overeating will be one habit I hope to break, although I know it will take time. I shall treat this ADF as something I will do one day at a time. Similar to an alcoholic, just one day at a time… then another one day, and another one day.
You are right in saying that I must avoid using food as treat or reward. In my family to give food is to give love and many a times my mother woke me up when I was a small child to offer me a left over sandwich my father brought back from his late shift. There is even a word for this in German: Hasenbrot (hare’s bread). Being very young I imagined bunny rabbits making the sandwiches I eat in the middle of the night….
I bought myself a book on healthy eating (‘Eat, Drink and Be Healthy’ by Willett), which was recommended in the ‘Stop Prediabetes Now’ book I bought. With its help I should be able to make sure I get all the nutrients I need.
Be boring at Christmas,…. wonderful… that is what I would like to be.
Second day has been good also and I still feel motivated and not deprived at all.
Yippee! I’ve reached my target weight – 8 kilos since the beginning of August. It’s been so easy and cheap and I’ve still been part of all the family feasts.
I’m 68 years old and have fought my weight all my life. I also had a mother who thought she should get as much food into me as possible and then as a mother myself I cleaned up what the kids didn’t eat.
I didn’t want to be super slim but was concerned when I gradually got up to 83 kilos. I’m now down to 75 kilos and feeling and looking at least 10 years younger. On my ‘fasting’ days I stick to about 300 calories with no problem at all. A late breakfast of fresh fruit, natural yogurt and unsweetened muesli with Stevia is about 200 calories and then in the evening a very simple salad or braised vegetables flavoured with herbs. I’m not taking any specific exercise but anyway always walk everywhere and work in the garden when I can. On my eating days I eat normally. Occasional chips and an occasional whisky and when the family comes to tea, I make and eat a cake.
Why isn’t everyone losing weight this way? It’s obvious why big business isn’t telling people about it. I’m spreading the word and have already managed to persuade two friends to forget the weeklý weigh-in at slimming club.
One thing in the Horizon programme interested me – how long can you stand on one foot with your eyes closed? At my age, it should be about 6 seconds, but I can now manage over 20 and it’s getting better, which should mean that my brain function is improving! Not something I expected at my age.
Congratulations, Trish… that is great news. Not just the weight loss, but also standing on your feet with eyes closed for 20 seconds…. I just tried it and managed 5 !
This is only my second fast day (today) and I get real inspiration from people like you.
It’s amazingly effective for losing weight, isn’t it! And on top of that you get a whole load of other benefits too. That’s a good point about the slimming industry keeping quiet about it, they all stand to lose a whole lot of business when people find out this is the easiest method of all.
I tried that standing on one foot thing too (it’s supposed to be your weakest leg, though I’m not sure which of mine is…). I used to manage maybe 10 seconds, now I’m up to 30, although I don’t know how much of that is practice and how much is due to an improvement in my inner ear bone structure. It’s that rather than brain function which is behind the balance time, but you do also get new neuron production during the repair mode phases, which won’t be doing any harm either.
Good work by the way, that’s 10 per cent of your bodyweight gone and it’ll all be excess fat. You should get a bag, fill it with tins or bags of sugar or whatever until it weighs 8kg, then pick it up and feel what you’ve been carrying around with you everywhere, it’s quite a shock!
Hi All, I’ve Been doing ADF since august. starting weight 21.5 stone
(December) Current weight 20.1 stone
I eat loads of crap on my feast days (pig out Happy days)
I eat 600 cal bang on fast days
hope this help other fatties
Ben
Good morning All,
Like Ben, I eat just everything on my ‘normal’ days. I’ve gone from 13.3 stone to 11.8 since August and at my age, 68, without doing any special exercise, I’m very happy about it. My lovely GP now tells me not to lose any more weight because a little ‘padding’ is beneficial in old age, so I’m now trying to stick at my present weight by fasting just twice a week. If you’re just reading this but haven’t yet tried it, start now. I tried to persuade a very overweight neighbour to have a go. Her answer was that her daughter once went on a diet and within a month had developed diabetes – my answer “She should have started the diet a lot earlier”.
Does anyone have a copy of the original Horizon programme? I had a link to it on You-Tube but it seems to have been withdrawn – due to copyright??? I can find details of it on the BBC but can’t get to the actual video anywhere.
Had a couple of colleagues asking me about it and want them to see what the professor had to say rather than take my word for it 😉
Happy Christmas everyone.
Richard.
I’ve just this morning found this link here:
http://vimeo.com/50912488
Yes, the BBC blocked the youtube version because it breached their copyright, some random person had just posted it without permission, and I don’t blame the Beeb, as a journalist I’ve suffered from the same sort of thing very often. I really shouldn’t promote this link either then as it’s also breaching copyright, but there’s so much demand for this, the BBC aren’t making it available and it’s doing so many people so much good… well here it is!
Happy Christmas too, and enjoy all the food!
For some reason I just saw the programme on Sky today- great! I started today. I want to lose 10kg and keep my brain sharp. From the posts I’ve read here I’m very hopeful.
Hi all, great thread! I’m interested to hear how Erika is getting on?
I’m keen to try this as yo-yo’d through overeating all my life, but was exclusively breast feeding when I saw the programme.
Now my 8mo baby is weaning (I’m still feeding as well) I’m thinking about going 5:2. No point asking my gp as they’ll just say it’s a fad don’t do it. I’ve read that intermittant fasting does not affect quantity of milk and makes a negligible difference to quality…my concern is this, toxins are stored in fat, breastmilk is made from stored fat, if I lose fat will my milk be full of toxins?
This is the reason given not to diet while bfing, yet many lose weight while bfing, naturally or via a slimming club, so can’t be that bad?
Thoughts?
You might find your GP isn’t as dismissive of ADF as you’re expecting, as it’s founded in proper, repeatable science like all of the medicine they’ve been studying and applying for years. If they haven’t heard of it, yes, they’ll probably consider it a fad, but if they’ve seen the Horizon programme or know of it some other way, then they might well be on your side.
The word ‘toxins’ makes many scientists shudder as it’s very much a universal, faddish term used to justify all sorts of nonsense which is completely unproven and often ridiculous and ignorant. It’s not until people start to specify exactly what these toxins are that you should start to listen. The term covers a very wide range of chemicals which all behave and react in very different ways, so the idea of any kind of universal cleansing technique makes little sense. The body anyway is very good at clearing wastes and poisons without resorting to modern fads, although it is true that some environmental toxins and metals do accumulate in fat cells, so yours is a valid concern. If you’re losing fat cells then these toxins will indeed return to your bloodstream. Your liver will deal with them and the levels will eventually return to normal, but there will be an increase in the levels for a period. I don’t know how long that period will be but you can speed it up and help your body deal with them through additional exercise, ideally high intensity metabolic training, although that might not be practical! Women’s bodies are very good though at protecting their babies from pollutants of many kinds, both during pregnancy and also when breastfeeding, so the chances of anything which is polluting your bloodstream from passing into your breast milk via those particular fat cells are quite small.
Even so, you’ll be safest if you delay ADF until your baby is fully weaned, or perhaps the best compromise is to introduce yourself to ADF slowly enough to cause just a small amount of weight loss, and not the 1.5 or even 2kg per week some of us have experienced. In fact weaning is the time many women put on weight again, as you say, breastfeeding often helps to lose it so when you stop, back it comes! So that would be a good time to start ADF as it will counter the weight gain.
These are just my own thoughts, I’m not qualified medically or in any dietary way, so I wouldn’t claim this is in any way definitive, but I do have a scientific background so from the huge amount of information out there I think I can filter out what makes sense from the vast quantities of nonsense and superstition. It’s why ADF is the first significant dietary change I’ve made in my whole life… it’s proper science, and completely convincing for that!
Hi Jen
I really needed that (to be remembered)….. Today is my first fast day after failing miserably when I started initially (I only lasted one week). I have a lot of emotional hang-ups to do with food. Having used it as coping mechanism for over half a century overeating and seeing food as treats/emotional nurture/stress reliever makes dieting difficult. Thoughts of deprivation lead to rebellion and… hey, presto… the pounds pile back on again, hardly before I notice any loss.
Rationally, I know I need to lose weight to improve my health and live longer; and yet, I find comfort in my heft; it makes me feel secure. As I said, emotional baggage that needs to be dealt with before I succeed.
It’s 1 pm now and I have not yet eaten. With it being my first fasting day I feel motivated (again). I will try my hardest to keep the motivation going.
And yes, Jen, this is a great thread. With your daughter being 8 months old now she will be on solids as well as milk. I don’t think there is any harm in you starting a 5:2. She will get all the nutrients she needs anyhow. And you will be fine (energy-wise) if you only fast on a couple of days a week (or simply go for one low-calorie meal on those days). I got myself some tomatoes for later and a chinese stir fry with King Prawns for tonight. Lots of low calorie vege, low cal prawns and perhaps a spoonful of honey to flavour it.
Good luck to you (to myself) and everybody else reading it. Oh, and happy New Year.
I have been on a 4:3 (24h) IF regime (no food, just tea/water) for 3M now and will be coming off the Cholesterol tablets soon. I do around 5h quick walking each week (x4 40m then the rest in one long walk), and have lost around 10% of my body weight (-9Kg) so far, plus -4″ off my stomach. This lost has slowed a little as I approach my normal BMI level of 25. I will repeat my Blood tests in a few weeks to see what effect this has had on my Glucose & Cholesterol levels.
A small update, I seem to have reached a plateau after c.5M on a 4:3 (22h) regime + increased walking. My weight went from 96+Kg (BMI 27+) to c.87Kg (BMI 25), my stomach from 44″ to 40″ – so now I am on the top end of normal. I got some body fat scales & find I am 25% fat + 38% muscle, down I would guess from over 30% fat, but I would like to get below 20% if poss?
I would also like to loose 2Kgs & 1″ on the waist. Sadly for the last couple of months I am stuck around this weight. Maybe I need to drop the small eating on fast days (I have soup, slice of dry bread, a diet yoghurt & a coffee or two), or fast for longer than the current 20-22h? I think 3d is enough per week…
On the exercise side I now have a pedometer & am clocking up over 9,000 steps/day (walking home & on Sundays) this is over 4.5miles & I do this 9d out of 10. Again I think this is enough, but could use some upper body exercises…
On the Biochemistry side I stopped my Cholesterol tablets & after a month my Blood Sugar was normal (it had been slightly high risking Diabetes), my good choleserol & triglycerides were fine, but the bad cholesterol & total values were a little high, but better than they had been before the tablets & diet/exercise.
So bottom line is these regimes will help, but in some cases cannot cure everything. They need to be done fully & all the time, and they need to be carefully monitored: yearly blood tests, weekly weighting, keep records via pedometer, body fat scales, etc.
I will try harder in the next few months & see how things go…
Hi all, i am starting this today, i tried to do slimfast for 3 weeks but i kept forgetting to make the shakes. Got diagnosed with epilepsy in november and doc said i could do with improving my health and losing a little bit of weight. I am 29 (30 soon) 5 ft 10 and i weigh roughly 16 stone 4lbs, Doc said i could do with losing roughly 4 stone, but im not to go stupid and im to do it sensibly. Good luck to all who are also starting this.
Good grief! Just looked back on my first post on 21 November and remember how motivated I felt and here I am two months later still around the same weight! Having said that I did 5:2 for most of December and feel that ADF has been responsible for me NOT putting on the usual half a stone or more over Christmas. This year I will reach the big 50 and am determined to be two stone lighter. So here goes again. I’ve read all of your past posts and feel inspired. I’m also going to watch the horizon programme again Hope you are all achieving the success we all deserve!
Hello. I have previously done slimming world where I lost three stone but as soon as i stopped the diet all but one stone came back on. I just could not sustain the diet all the time regime. So when I saw this fasting diet I thought I could manage it – only two days to drive myself insane counting calories (or points or syns!). Well my first fast day was Monday. I was ok til I got home from work then I was so hungry I thought I was going to eat the house!!! But I had a massive salad and told myself it’s only til tomorrow. And I did it. Today is my second fasting day and I am honestly finding it a doddle!! I will post again and let you know how I get on.
There have been some interesting shows on TV recently about why people started getting fatter in the 70s (The Men who Made us Fat), and now about how the whole diet system came into being (The Men who Made us Thin), as well as programs about how dieting does not work (even weight-watchers own figures show that only 16% retain any weight loss after 3Y), and in some cases can actually cause you put on weight (forget the name of the programme). Fionally, andother good series is Rip-off Foods, which reminds us of the marketing lies on packaging about “Lite”, Low Fat (but high sugar), “Diet” foods, etc.
The Alternative diet has certainly helped me lose 4 stone, from 13.3 down to 9.3 within the six months since the Horizon programme. Why isn’t everyone on this diet – it’s brilliant as I can eat cheese, chocolate an chips on my eating days. Thank you michael for opening my eyes to this fantastuc diet that isn’t a diet !
I started the 5:2 a month ago, at the same time as I went to the GP for my MOT, he said that at 44 with a history of family heart disease it was way past time…
I ma a short arse, just over 5′ 6″ and weigh in at 88Kg. Which generally sits in thre places; thighs, shoulders, and belly. To shift the first two would require muscle loss, which they can go stick, but in a bid to shift the belly and get my BP and cholesterol down I’m sticking to his regime.
I generally feel much better the day after a fast, and all the comments I made at the start about how it’s great to be on a diet that allows me 2 bacon sandwiches for breakfast 5 days a week, are now laughable in themselves.
My usual day consists of no breakfast, a tin of soup for lunch (80-90 calories) a couple of pieces of fruit to snack on, (100 cal) and a big salad for dinner, with something like a couple of hard boiled eggs and tuna, or roast ham, when I measured it out first time. I realised that compared to what I eat on a high calorie day, I can eat just as much volume of low cal food and enjoy it just as much.
The ONLY thing I miss on fast days is milk in my coffee…
I am back at the saw bones in two weeks, and haven’t weighed myself since the last visit. I’m hoping that it will show some positive results, as I know my belly is reduced in size… My belt has told me that much.
If I keep this up, I will move to 4:3 after Easter, and see how that goes. I am looking to get slimmer for August, but no target weight or size, just lighter and fitter overall.
I think that if I set a target, I might stop when I reach it…
On to my point…
Does anyone know of a website or blog that just deals with loads of different options for how to stagger your fast day calories and the recipes associated?
Lots of people seem to want to know how best to break up their daily allowance, or what low-cal recipes folk have come up with…
Would it be worth starting such a resource if there isn’t one already?
An interesting read – I did this fast on a 3:4 basis (4 consecutive fasting days, 3 weekend days normal incl. Friday) for around 16 weeks last year. I went from 13.7 to 11.10 in that time so almost 2 stone lost (5’11 height).
I’ve read up a lot more on it since then and have just started back on it (failed at making it a lifestyle after Xmas). Put almost a stone back on so have to pretty much do the same again to get to target waist size (note – you will lose muscle on this ‘lifestyle’ as well until the point when you want to go into weight maintenance mode. I was at my target waist size and 12 stone when I was younger and fitter, I think I’ll have to get to 11 now and then bulk up!).
Hoping to achieve this and then after Xmas make it a 6:1 with increased exercise, or at most a 5:2:6:1 fortnightly.
Yes! Finally something about weight loss.