To think the 5:2 diet is just dangerous nonsense?

[MrsMattBomer]

A girl I teach in sixth form was telling me about it today. I was a bit baffled by it, brought it up to a colleague who said it was amazing and really works.

Am I right in thinking it's basically just eating what you want and then starving yourself for two days? Is this not incredibly dangerous? Surely it's an eating disorder of some kind, not a diet!

Can I add in another food reason to give 5:2 a go, especially at this time of year ?

It saves money

No meetings
No books
No products

just
No snack foods
Meals based on cheap winter veg
and less food to buy as less than three meals a day

I found my food bill dropped because I was physically buying less.

Ah yes! The stuff you end up eating....

Best swift "recipe" I ever tried was a mix of veg and a jar of Pataks curry paste. It made 6 - 8 portions of less than 350kcals, froze back like a dream and tasted so very good. From memory that was 6 meals at about a pound each!

As we approach Christmas Day we're doing lots of last minute bits of shopping to get all the Christmas treats. I've still got to get sprouts, a small Christmas cake and a panettone .

It's hard to describe how amazing it feels to go into the festive season at 9st. A weight which is now my stable weight. This will be the 5th Christmas since I discovered 5:2 that I will be able to literally eat whatever I want and be totally certain that by mid Jan I can be back at starting weight again. This is not only because fasting works for me - but also because what I WANT to eat has shifted. Eating one slice of Christmas cake, or a handful of after eights, does not lead to that "oh sod it, might as well eat the lot " feeling anymore. This was the unexpected aspect of 5:2 for me. That it would re set my relationship with food.

It's not for everyone. I have friends who have struggled with it. But for those of us it does suit it really has been a game changer!

www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2016/

2016 Nobel prize for medicine was for research on autophagy or the renewing of cells during periods of fasting.

Also read that the difference between intermittent fasting and starving yourself if like running for leisure and running because you're being chased by a lion.

fueledby
That is the most excellent analogy
and so true

catsrus
Its nice isn't it.
It makes food genuinely enjoyable again.

Thanks for that fuelled - there's an interesting (and accessible) article about his work here www.asianscientist.com/2016/10/topnews/2016-nobel-prize-medicine-awarded-yoshinori-ohsumi/

Which says "Working in yeast, Ohsumi was the first to identify genes controlling autophagy in the 1990s. Since then, it has become clear that autophagy is essential for normal cell homeostasis, and defects in autophagy have been linked to diseases ranging from Alzheimer's disease to cancer. Autophagy is known to be triggered by intermittent fasting and is thought to be one reason fasting appears to stave off aging"

Read more from Asian Scientist Magazine at: www.asianscientist.com/2016/10/topnews/2016-nobel-prize-medicine-awarded-yoshinori-ohsumi/