Fast Beach Diet - are you giving it a go? Pop over here!

[AmyMumsnet]

If you've heard about the Fast Beach Diet on Mumsnet and fancy giving it a go, you've come to the right place.

Share your recipes and progress with others - or just the fact that you're feeling stabby on a fast day.

Mimi Spencer will be popping in every week to see how you're doing and pass on any pearls of wisdom that might be helpful. She'll be here at 1pm next Monday and then at the same time every Thursday from the week after that.

If you're wondering what we're on about, here's some more info about the Fast Beach Diet.

Best of luck with it!

For Mimi - trying my best but I can't give up lattes. It's like a drug.... (well it is I guess). Have semi skimmed or skimmed milk, so question is - it's not THAT bad on a FD is it?

Hi Jane- you're right that lots of men have done particularly well on the Fast Diet - and also that eating regular meals with the aim to stabilise blood sugar can be really beneficial. For lots of people, 5:2 has become a way of life. While I’m an evangelist for the 5:2, having seen astonishing changes in so many friends, associates and the wider community who have given it a go, I would never suggest that this is for everyone. Some people simply aren’t interested from the get-go. Others try it and find that it doesn’t work for them. Some people love it and embrace it as a lifestyle rather than a diet. All I would say is that, if you’re interested, give it a go. The investment really is relatively small – one book, or the information you can get online (our website is at www.thefastdiet.co.uk). If it suits you, and if you’re keen to try to lose weight and get more healthy, then that’s great. If it doesn’t suit you. then very little has been lost – and you may think differently about your appetite going forward, or maybe find out some useful stuff about nutrition that makes it worthwhile for you.

FYI FD worked well for me a year ago, but an injury left me pretty immobile for a few months so trying to get back on track now and lose 2 stone (gulp). Agree very much that it is more than a diet though

I think the key to success is finding a pattern that works for you - and if that means lattes, then so be it. The reason the Fast Diet is different is that it can accommodate your own preferences and schedule. I think a semi or skimmed latte is totally fine - count it in your calorie quota if you're on a Fast Day, and don't be too harsh on yourself. Even thinking about it can be enough to change your habits just that bit. You may find you move on to white coffee rather than latte over time...

Hullo everyone,

Obviously this is a very interesting debate, and we welcome all points of view, but we would ask you to keep your posts within our talk guidelines, and not stray into personal attacks (which we will delete).

It's really tough when you have an accident that puts you off your stride - it happened to me when I had a knee injury and couldn't walk for 3 months. The Fast Beach Diet has lots of tips about how to step up 5:2 to get you over a hump - but if you’re not keen on a mild ‘faster-fix’ message, if you treasure the absolute simplicity of the original Fast Diet – well, I empathise and understand. If that’s the case for you, and if you’re still keen on 5:2 as it stands, then just stick with your original Fast Diet.

as parents, perhaps of young adults with eating disorders, do you think intermittent fasting is an ok model? this might sound snarkier than it should, but I genuinely struggle to set a good example and would like to know how others get away with eating so little when they have family meals and a responsibility to do public displays of eating

Hi Mitchy - I actually think that being aware of what you eat, rather than grazing and not recognising what you're consuming, is a healthy way to approach food. We live in a world beset by opportunities to eat, and it's sometimes worth taking a step back and simply realising the habits we've grown accustomed to. As a parent myself, I'm really keen to help my kids eat normally and well - so that 'treats' are special etc. I'm also conscious that any change to the usual way we might eat should be treated with care and responsibility - which is one reason why Michael devised a plan which incorporates eating plenty of plants and some protein on a Fast Day. You could argue that this approach - as opposed to the kind of diet which drops a food group or somehow pathologises eating - is far more sensitive to these issues.

Also, a Fast Day supper, though constrained in terms of its calorie count per se, can actually be good and filling if you choose the right things to eat. I regularly have 'Fast Day' meals with my kids - but add potatoes, or rice for them, plus fruit for pudding. It doesn't feel particularly restrictive and makes for a really decent meal for them (they barely notice I'm on a Fast Day)

Mitchy the advice I heard from an expert (albeit 10 years back) where eating disorders was concerned was to encourage eating full stop. Whatever the perceived nutritional value of the food.

As we can all see ideas on optimal nutrition change as time passes..

thanks for answering my question, I can now see how it might work in a more functional household

Ah Mitchy - defo not as perfect as it sounds! We still have the usual family battles at the table, and quite a lot of chocolate gets nicked from the snack cupboard when my back's turned!

I'm signing out for now - thanks for your time, and do post any questions you may have - I'll be back on the 19th June for a catch up! Mimi

As a feminist, I was VERY irritated when I heard about this " beach" diet, because it seems to be perpetuating the idea of women feeling pressured to look slim.

That irritation may have caused others to dismiss intermittent fasting as a "fad", which is a shame, so I'd like to add a scientist's perspective here (although from a v different scientific field):

Hormesis, on which both intermittent fasting and HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) are based, may have benefits for health, aging and fitness. The benefits of HIIT are well-proven; IF research is ongoing.
So, hormesis is an exciting areas of science which is growing rapidly.

5:2 itself does not have scientific trials, but it is reasonable to extrapolate from extensive work on other IF regimes.

Michelle Harvie's research and human trials on her "2-day" diet (very similar to 5:2) were to reduce the risk of breast cancer for high-risk women.
Her success re weight loss and risk factors with either Mediterranean or low carb diets on 2 Fast Days are accepted and referenced within the scientific community

Varady's ADF diet, with fasting every other day, involved umpteen human trials and hundreds of test subjects thoroughly examined.
Her peer-reviewed results and papers are also regarded as respectable and conventional science.

A major advantage of 5:2 is that it can fit all kinds of nutrition regimes - low fat / low carb / veggie / vegan / Paleo .... - so would be an option for most overweight people.

Since obesity is such a major problem for the NHS and so many in the UK are doing 5:2, I wish an official body would conduct proper scientific trials on this version of IF

It is the problem we have - there is no money (other than savings to the NHS) in people buying fewer foods and eating a lot less and concentrating on healthy foods. So although most people in the know know that a healthy diet probably with higher good fats, medium protein and low carb with lots of veg and nothing processed is without doubt best for everyone and is natural so not surprisingly best the sugar lobby is heavily funded and it will take the NHS 25 years to tear up its ridiculous pyramid which woul have us stuffing our faces with carbs.

Most eating disorder programmes, mental health clinics and advice centres for those who are addicted to sugar or have disordered eating recommend having regular meals with no changes as it is that pattern or habit which becomes a way of eating for life. There is no reason skipping breakfast as long as it does not make you main line caffeine and biscuits is a problem for some people though and having two or even just one good meal a day.

We must not forget this week's health news either that being a bit over healthy BMI - that awful paradox - being potentially healthier as long as you are also fit than if you look slimmer and look better. This however is not an excuse to start mainlining the crispy creme donuts to ensure you exceed 11 stone for perfect health.

The reason for the "BMI paradox" has been explained in a number of science paper (and btw, studies DO take account of serious illness):

e.g. LowerRiskMuscle2002
which shows that increasing the % muscle and / or reducing the % body fat lowers the risk of death from all causes

Some people in the lower BMI range have too little muscle. They may be TOFIs (Thin Outside, Fat Inside)
Women in particular overlook the importance of muscle for health.

There is an essential level of body fat, which is 12-14% for women. Going below this is unhealthy, but doesn't usually happen at BMI 20.

Yes, move more and eat healthy foods. It doesn't even have to be the gym. Lift all the heavy luggage. Carrying toddler twins up the stairs here I remember well. One reason I'm probably the healthiest and strongest woman on this road is that I do all my own heavy lifting and gardening.

I suspect most people will feel happiest at a healthy weight visually at least rather than if they went a stone over and were in the paradox territory.

I wouldn't do it because I wouldn't want my kids to see me starving myself or even dieting as I don't think that's a good role model. Whereas eating healthily/sensibly and exercising I think are

Also, presumably it must depend on one's lifestyle/job, for instance fine for a journalist such as mimi perhaps but not if you do more heavy physical work or even imo looking after babies/toddlers

Janeparker
move more and eat healthy foods
Define healthy

Holdyourown
I do not starve myself. Far from it. I just choose to eat at certain times of day on certain days. My kids are quite happy with that. If only I could get them to eat one of my fasting suppers ( lots and lots and lots of vegetables in a soup or stir fry or frittata )

Healthy? It's what just about all the informed people on mumsnet ( see the many healthy eating threads of this kind) and on the internet know to be healthy - high good fats, medium protein, low carb and only whole foods like meat/fish/eggs/veg It's what man has eaten for a million years. It's not rocket science. It is what all the current science points towards and the NHS is 25 years behind on with its masses of carbs and a little of what you fancy even if it's a cream bun does you good rubbish.

Even avoiding junk, a significant minority of the population will, depending on their insulin sensitivity / metabolism, do significantly better on either lower carb or lower fat.
They tend to preferentially store as fat either carbs or dietary fat.

Some of these folk are convinced their particular diet must therefore be the best for everyone.
However, neutral scientific studies have not proved either low carb or low fat to be superior longterm for the general population.

Major longterm population studies examining longevity and nutritional habits provide increasing evidence to support the classic:
"eat food, mostly plants"
This is an affordable, sustainable plan for the 7 billion people on the planet, without going as far as veganism , which most people do not wish to do.

FBD - eat 500 calories on 2 days and normally on 5 days for six weeks.

Normal 5:2 - east 500 calories on 2 days and TDEE on the other five for as long as you want.

How the bleep is the FBD more intensive?

The common factors in peoples are healthy are the absence of processed foods and sugar. So whether you are vegan or Japanese on fish and rice or eskimoes on 100% fat/meat or bushmen on roots or whatever you are fine. There may well be reasons women who eat higher good fats feel less hungry and lose the weight they need to lose more than if they go paleo/primal which might well include baked sweet potato but either way you will be healthy.