5:2 Diet works
Comments
-
charliew87 wrote:phreak wrote:Surely it's still a matter of maths? I mean if your fasting provides a deficit of 2000 calories, yet the other five days you have an excess of 2500 you're not going to lose weight are you?
Yes and no. Common sense would suggest that's the case but they've done a fair amount of controlled experiments on this and what was eaten on non-fast days didn't affect overall weight loss, supposedly.
The theory (based on the alternate-day fasting model) is that on the days you can eat whatever you like you don't make up for the calories you missed on your fasting days, so the overall calorie intake is lower. The 'eat what you want' days aren't 'eat everything you see and then go and buy loads more and eat that too' days.
It's also supposed to stop your body going into 'hibernation mode' and slowing your metabolism down, which is apparently a side-effect of a calorie-controlled diet and why some people stagnate at a weight even though they have fewer calories.
I haven't done any of the above dieting BTW, just repeating what I've heard.0 -
It would be intriguing to know what bodybuilders think of it. Surely their protein demands would preclude doing this diet.
Wiggo knows about body fat loss. Wonder what a body builder would make of him! ;-)
Anyway, 5:2 mentioned in this Cyclefit blog: http://www.cyclefit.co.uk/relatively-sl ... campagnolo0 -
ShutUpLegs wrote:Try eating sensible for 7 days?
That's been covered in this thread and it does not work for a lot of people.
Its not 7 days, its every day!
Everyone who is considering 5:2 would have already tried just eating sensibly.0 -
Courage Monsieur wrote:It would be intriguing to know what bodybuilders think of it. Surely their protein demands would preclude doing this diet.
Wiggo knows about body fat loss. Wonder what a body builder would make of him! ;-)
Anyway, 5:2 mentioned in this Cyclefit blog: http://www.cyclefit.co.uk/relatively-sl ... campagnolo
Body builders and wiggins arent fat knackers though. This diet is great if you're an obese sunday bimbler and want to quickly shift the pounds yet still gorge on the food that makes you obese.
However, if you're competing and need to get to competetive body fat levels, this isnt going to work.0 -
styxd wrote:However, if you're competing and need to get to competetive body fat levels, this isnt going to work.
Yeah, that's really what I was wondering. I think I'll stick with the 'normal' diet and exercise to target this last 2kg or so.0 -
What interests me more about the 5:2 diet is the other effects Michael Mosley detected, and the potential longer term health benefits / living longer. The weight loss seems to be a surprising side effect.0
-
MarkP80 wrote:- thanks, understand where you're coming from. I don't know how it would affect someone who is seriously training, but if someone is seriously training then I'd guess they'd be looking at their daily nutrition pretty closely in any case - for every day. I'd also be surprised if they needed to go on a diet!
Cheers,
MarkP
'Need to be on a diet' is subjective though. At my height and weight, I probably don't 'need' to be on a diet . However, when I'm half way up a steep climb and the lighter girls seem to be finding it much easier, that's when I start to think I do 'need' to be on a diet!Winter bike - Verenti Kilmeston
Fair weather bike - Ribble Stealth0 -
-
The only logical way for the 5:2 thing to work is the idea that it prevents the lower metabolic rate that tends to follow prolonged dieting; it's clearly bunkum to think that somehow extra calories on the "feast" days magically disappear.
The thing is, to what extent does the lower metabolic rate apply to people who a) are active enough to have a higher basal metabolic rate anyway, and b) who are burning a significant proportion of their calories through intense exercise?
The simple truth is that people are constantly looking for a way to lose weight without feeling hungry at any point. I'm not sure that there's any genuinely effective way to do that without appetite suppressing drugs.
(Posted in the knowledge that I burned quite a few more calories on the gym bike at lunchtime than I have eaten today. It hurts and I want to eat something NOW!! The only mental trick that works for me is to reinterpret the hunger as a sign of success)0 -
I have personally seen a more extreme type of this diet with fasting every other day for at least 24h working very well for competitive bodybuilders losing fat for an upcoming show. I will actually say that most bodybuilders who have tried extended fasted periods (for fat loss) are impressed by how well they tend to hold onto muscle compared to a higher meal frequency routine.styxd wrote:Courage Monsieur wrote:It would be intriguing to know what bodybuilders think of it. Surely their protein demands would preclude doing this diet.
Wiggo knows about body fat loss. Wonder what a body builder would make of him! ;-)
Anyway, 5:2 mentioned in this Cyclefit blog: http://www.cyclefit.co.uk/relatively-sl ... campagnolo
Body builders and wiggins arent fat knackers though. This diet is great if you're an obese sunday bimbler and want to quickly shift the pounds yet still gorge on the food that makes you obese.
However, if you're competing and need to get to competetive body fat levels, this isnt going to work.
On another note visceral fat is reduced more so than subcutaneous with alternate day fasting which is a benefit though not necessarily for bodybuilding.
I see a continuation of an old pattern though... I will make a guess and say that the mainstream will embrace ADF more for the next couple of years or so with more hype surrounding it... until it dies and things move on to the next diet/health fad. That is not to say for a second that I believe that there is no benefit to be had from this eating routine but people's interest will always change direction, and as the novelty of one fad wears off the intrigue and hope of seeking something new becomes irresistible - out with the old and in with the new!
Murr X0 -
Murr X wrote:
I have personally seen a more extreme type of this diet with fasting every other day for at least 24h working very well for competitive bodybuilders losing fat for an upcoming show. I will actually say that most bodybuilders who have tried extended fasted periods (for fat loss) are impressed by how well they tend to hold onto muscle compared to a higher meal frequency routine.styxd wrote:Courage Monsieur wrote:It would be intriguing to know what bodybuilders think of it. Surely their protein demands would preclude doing this diet.
Wiggo knows about body fat loss. Wonder what a body builder would make of him! ;-)
Anyway, 5:2 mentioned in this Cyclefit blog: http://www.cyclefit.co.uk/relatively-sl ... campagnolo
Body builders and wiggins arent fat knackers though. This diet is great if you're an obese sunday bimbler and want to quickly shift the pounds yet still gorge on the food that makes you obese.
However, if you're competing and need to get to competetive body fat levels, this isnt going to work.
On another note visceral fat is reduced more so than subcutaneous with alternate day fasting which is a benefit though not necessarily for bodybuilding.
I see a continuation of an old pattern though... I will make a guess and say that the mainstream will embrace ADF more for the next couple of years or so with more hype surrounding it... until it dies and things move on to the next diet/health fad. That is not to say for a second that I believe that there is no benefit to be had from this eating routine but people's interest will always change direction, and as the novelty of one fad wears off the intrigue and hope of seeking something new becomes irresistible - out with the old and in with the new!
Murr X
Fasting is all well and good.
Eating shite food on your non fasted days isn't!
0 -
I think that people seem to be largely missing the point about the 5:2 diet. The BBC Horizon programme that placed this diet in the public consciousness was not about weight loss. Michael Mosley, the presenter, tried various types of fasting in an effort to reduce his body's production of IGF-1, an insulin-derivative growth hormone. A reduction in this hormone slows down the number of new cells that the body produces and can lead to the body repairing existing cells instead. On the basis that as you get older, there is a greater likelihood of new cells being defective, potentially leading to things like cancer, this means that it is a good idea for people in middle-age to reduce levels of this hormone. Weight loss was a by-product, presumably due to the calorific deficit - if memory serves, Moseley did admit to being more conscious of what he ate on non-restricted days as well. The main caveat to all of this is that there have not been any extensive tests carried out on humans to prove the validity of all of this.
This is a link to a synopsis on the BBC website : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19112549
Having watched the programme, I followed the 5:2 diet for a number of months, for the (potential) long term health benefits. A by-product was losing about ten pounds (which I could afford to lose). I generally cycled in zone 1 on my restricted days, but found that I was impacted on hard days, so have stopped doing it. I intend to follow it intermittently in the future, for the perceived long-term benefits as opposed to any weight loss.
Regards,
Gordon0 -
This diet works for me very well. I support my diet by cycling on my bike and going to the gym.0
-
Fat only gets one way into your body.0
-
I have done quite a bit of research into this and have been completing the diet myself. I really think there are many good reasons why this should work. Levels of some cancers are directly related to increased consumption in the modern era (ovarian, breast) plus over-consumption is linked to a myriad of poor health predictors. The success of dieting on a permanent basis has been shown for many to be incompatible with long-term weight-loss and there may be some good reasons why, such as the abundance of calorie-rich foods in our society and the bombardment of our senses with such food-stuffs when we enter shops, restaurants, not to mention pubs and our drinking culture. I was really taken with Micheal Moseley's program on the subject and started the 5:2 regime the day after. I lost half a stone within a month and would have kept on losing had christmas festivities not got in the way (i'm into mince pies and celebrations, what can I say!).
What I am now doing is playing around with a bit in relation to the amount of training i'm doing such that I am now operating a 6:1 regime which I intend to increase to 5:2 once I have re-adapted to the training intensity i'm currently doing. I don't think there is any evidence that doing this diet affects performance as long as people eat the right types and levels of nutrition in the days when they aren't fasting. To add emphasis to this, several of the pro cycling teams have used this regime over the past year and none other than Bradley Wiggins attributes at least some of the success of the last 12 months to his weight-loss achieved through fruit-only days in-between intensive training days. I also find I am more efficient on my fasting days in terms of getting work done and getting more stuff done generally when i'm not so weighted down by the post-prandial sluggishness I usually get in the afternoon. I think if you are really wanting to lose some weight then you should give it a try as long as you realise what's involved and are prepared to suffer a little on your fasting days.
One of the best effects is food never tasted so good on your normal days!
0 -
Mmmmm, food day today :P
Still at least a lb lighter on each day after 'lean' day, so loosing 2lb+ per week minimum.
Have had a few meals out with puddings and birthday cake etc recently so am impressed that has not stopped the weight loss.
Should be under 14 stone next week and if I get to 13s 12lb, thats the lightest I have been for about 10 years!
The last time I got to 14 stone (about a year ago) it took a lot of running in combination with strict (boring) eating.
There are no more birthdays coming up so I am going to do this for another 6 weeks max before going 6:1 and/or just eating well and hard training for Aug 100 miler.0 -
Christ, the granola tasted good this morning!0
-
gavt0333 wrote:Christ, the granola tasted good this morning!
Was it coated in sugar or honey :?:0 -
That would be honey ala the GF's homemade recipe. Damn tasty!0
-
Must stay on top of my maths tomorrow.
Added calories up wrong on Monday and only had an apple from 3.30
0
