to think this 5:2 diet craze is likely to lead to an increase in anorexia

[sarahseashell]

.. in the longer term?

obviously that's just my own thoughts on the subject but I do sadly think that's what'll happen

Must add, I eat tons of fruit and veg as I don't want dd to see me not eating. For me, 500 calories is split between 3 meals which I sit down to

I agree with ehrich. It in itself can't cause anorexia. I think in this country we have the wrong attitude about food. It's also sad that the diet industry and food industry mainly fast food are connected. On the one hand you have shows glorifying food and encouraging us to have fatty indulgent foods i.e great British bake off, masterchef, on the other hand you have Atkins, gi, and now this 5:2. the only way in my mind is sensible eating and like it or not exercise is necessary to lose weight and a few times a week isn't enough, it needs to be done daily . Otherwise ppl dont see results fast enough and revert to their old eating habits.then whaddya know they blame the diet for not working?

Most these fad diets are not sustainable long term. If you can do it great, but if not sensible small balanced meals 5 ideally rather than 3 big meals and lots of exercise. There is no quick fix.

I do manage to lose weight in Ramadan but maybe that's to do wih many variables I'm no doctor so I duno but I always lose a stone, ive nearly lost a stone this year too.

this 5:2 diet any chance they got the idea from Organised religion I wonder, since most use fasting of some form. Fasting twice a week for me is a prophetic tradition and I know familymand friends who do this . None have eating disorders. Sounds like this diet but obviously the intentions are completely different.

I also think the diet industry and celebrity culture are connected and intertwined If it wasnt you wouldnt have Patsy Kensit Greg Wallace advertising Weight Watchers.

Talkinpeace we are both wrong. According to the NHS website there are two main causes of stomach ulcers. A bacterial infection and also Nsaid drugs.

LIfestyle choices such as smoking, drinking, poor diet and stress can exacerbate the symptoms.

I do know that ex would only eat in the evening. He would skip breakfast and lunch for months and it made things worse.

Also the website states that infection by the bacteria that causes an ulcer is very common, not nearly extinct.

forevergreek I think it's quite unusual to have all 3 meals a day, 7 days a week, as a family. If you wanted to lose weight, how would you do it, while eating the same meals as everyone else?

Justanuther - they did get the idea from religion and historic eating habits. That's just it, they could see the benefits from eating this way.

The science behind it is amazing, if you haven't read the Fast Diet, please do. Is not just fad, it is meant to be a lifestyle.

I started 7 months ago today! I have never been on a diet in my life before starting to eat in this way as I am lucky to have always been in reasonable shape. I'm 5'6 and have never gone above 10st 2. However I am 46 and straight up and down so started to carry fat on my stomach, which IMO is the worst possible place for both health and vanity reasons. Since starting in December I have lost a stone but more importantly 4 inches off my waist
I've also lost a little off my face and have a very lean back.

This differs from other plans because of the extra fat burning potential involved on those two low calorie days. If you have all your calories for your evening meal which lots of people do on 5 to 2, so don't eat for say 20 hrs, by about 10 to 12 hours in, every time you move you will burn pure fat. I am proof of that. I don't think other plans have the same benefits.

As for someone making money out of it, yes there are people who do and that would be ME.

I work 5 days a week and buy my lunch every day cos I'm lazy. It costs me £4. A few weeks ago I calculated that over 46 weeks, giving 6 weeks annual leave, I save £ 368 a year just by not buying lunch twice a week. I've already saved around £250.

Hormonally, my adult acne [ read horrible nasty boils] which no skin specialist has ever been able to diagnose as to the reason why, has totally cleared up. In fact, sod it, I will go so far to say my skin is luminous and beautiful and I am regularly being complimented on it
I know women who are doing this and breast feeding, whose milk supply has increased. Explain that one!
It's quite simple really, two days a week I don't eat very much and that's it. The rest of the time I eat normally as luckily I've always known what normal is.
So yes OP and all you other naysayers, YABU.

Rant over, as you were.

I stopped eating bread and sugar and processes stuff; I eat meat, fish, seafood, eggs, cheese, yogurt, nuts, berries, the odd apple, green leafy veg and salad, a few carrots and sweet potatoes, cabbage, green beans, avocado and asparagus, cherry tomatoes. I cook with coconut oil and dress salads with olive and flaxseed oil, lime juice and herbs and spices. I cook from scratch and when I eat out choose grilled meat and fish, no dessert. I work out with the Shred and a swim 5 days a week. I drink dry white or G&slimlineT at weekends.

Once or twice a week I skip breakfast, eat a lunch of fresh veg with olive oil and herbs and have a hearty veg and chicken soup for supper.

I've lost ten pounds since early July, can lift heavy weights and swim a mile without fatigue. My skin has cleared and my stomach flattened.

I am BF with no supply drop.
I do not feel in danger of developing an ED; I feel thankful and joyful that at 42 I feel better than I've done in last 20 years.

I think I am eating the way healthy humans were designed to eat. I think the OP is BU.

:)

Typical non fast day;
B: scrambled eggs in butter with salmon
L: chicken and avocado salad
D: garlic chilli shrimp with pak choy and mushrooms.

I realise this makes me sound smug but I'm posting it because it was reading something like this someone else wrote 6 weeks ago that made me want to try this, and I'm now so pleased I did, because its changed my life for the better and I can't see me going back to the earlier way of eating complete with bloating, break outs, crap sleep and fatigue.

Go Trucks and your food choices look very much like mine except I get on the red at weekends. Basically, everything you say = me

Apart from the bfing, that would be wrong. My dc are 21 and 19

Och, I'd say it completely depends on the person. If you're prone to obsessive behaviour, I wouldn't go near it. I had an eating disorder when I was young and would not touch it with a barge pole.

Fair play to anyone who is doing well on it. I must say I'm much happier about my body and far less obsessed with eating/not eating since I stopped focusing on consuming as little as possible and started concentrating on consuming the best, healthiest foods - eating as fresh as possible, making my own meals so I can see what's in them, eating good Mediterranean fats.

Cleaning does not always lead to OCD
Commuting does not always lead to petrol heads
spliffs do not always lead to junkies
5:2 does not always lead to anorexia
drinking does not always lead to alcoholism

it is a major failing of many "health professionals" to extrapolate from the people they do see (who clearly need help) to those who they do not (who cope just fine) and therefore the 'policies' are based on very distorted samples of the population

as I said on another thread, how many NHS nutritionists have regular meetings with patients whose BMI has always been under 23?

therefore any and all data they have is skewed to the point of irrelevance

I've been following this way of eating since March and have lost nearly 7 kilos. I swear by it, and can't imagine not not eating this way forever now.

Sadly, I am not one of those people who can't eat whatever they want and stay slim. But this way of eating (I won't call it a diet, as to me it's not) allows me to do just that. 5 days a week I can enjoy a little bit of whatever I fancy, and two days a week I restrict my intake.

I'd far rather do that, than eat frugally 7 days a week. That's a miserable existence for someone who loves food and wine.

Although I recognise it's not for everyone, it's been a revelation for me. And I am no nearer an eating disorder than I have ever been.

As others have said, fasting is something that humans have done since time immemorial, and now it has the back-up and support of research. Eating a little bit less a couple of days a week seems to have people more up in arms than the zillions of people who routinely eat a lot little bit more than they should every day.

Glance around yourself in any given group situation and you'll notice that most people are even a little bit overweight, purely because it's easier to be overweight (not fat, per se) than not. Not being overweight takes effort for most people because of our lifestyles and the sheer volume and choice of food available to us.

Exactly. Feeling hungry is natural, normal. Throughout human existence we have eaten socially together after working hard to get and prepare/catch/farm/grind/cook/stalk/earn our food. It is only a modern thing that we can walk out the house or open a cupboard and grab something at the merest flicker of a rumbling tum. It's not unhealthy to work up a sweat before breakfast, or wait two hours for a frugal lunch, or walk about all day sustained by some cold meat and an apple. It's what we evolved to do.

I thoroughly enjoy breaking my fast and when not fasting, savour my food much more. Before this I was frightened of being hungry and would unhappily snatch a bit of toast at 4pm because DH working late and I thought I'd crumble into a starving heap.

Now I wait and it's fine. It's really fine.
And I feel much happier and healthier and I can recognise true hunger instead of being tricked by boredom, stress or thirst into eating pointless stuff that just makes me fat.

I am 48
my BMI is 20
I have just had a blow out bbq supper and am drinking (another) pint of cider
BUT
I'll eat little during the week

I am therefore massively reducing my chances of most chronic illnesses (which is lucky as I do not have an earnings related pension)

and I look good in a size 8 triangle bikini (as my DD grudgingly accepted as its actually hers)

I never eat breakfast or lunch, I don't feel hungry until I have something to eat really...if you have breakfast you want lunch and then an evening meal. If you skip both you feel quite neutral towards your dinner.

That sums it up for me also, hadababygirl! In fact, if I'm having a small (calorie-wise, not portion size!) dinner, I often feel reluctant to break my fast. Once I do, I have to consciously reset my 'hunger switch' so that I don't carry on eating.

I'm aware, however, that there are others who aren't so lucky - Dr M for one, who actually need to eat something in the morning.

If there is any evidence that IF encourages eating disorders - and I've yet to see any - there is no doubt that obesity is a far greater threat to society.

IMO, IF could play a big part in ridding us of this scourge - if it was taken up by NICE, etc.

Its a bit sad so many people are so preoccupied with their diet and weight. Its like an epidemic!

It would be much better if everyone just ate healthily and cut out the junk - which we don't need - we just 'want'
Mostly its self indulgence - and that is down to us and our attitudes.

Its a pity the 'control' element can't just be kept to controlling our greed for stuff we don't need.

Wow Davsmum what an original insight

Original and correct.
Everything else is just illogical.
Stop thinking about food and how you look and do something useful.

I disagree. For me it's just how I ate when 21. I used to miss breakfast. Maybe lunch. Ate a lot some days not others. Now people think its a diet!

Fasting has enabled me to stop obsessing about food and binging; it's also put me back in touch with true hunger and fullness signals so that I eat more "normally" (ie eat when hungry, stop when full) on non-fast days; it's made me appreciate good, healthy food more - there is nothing better than "working up an appetite" for a delicious, healthy meal full of quality ingredients.

sorry just lolling at the idea that as long as you only eat when hungry you won't gain weight.

whhha ahahahaha. tell me another one....

Dunno why you are laughing - Its more likely people who eat when they are not hungry that tend to be fat.

Oh wow thanks davsmum - problem solved! Have you phoned the NHS to tell them? They'd be so grateful!

Patronising baggage.