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!

It's a problem that many folk consider sweet "treats" a couple of times a day to be normal , even mandatory, for adults and DCs.
Growing up in the 60s and 70s, we had 3-4 meals daily, no snacks or fizz.
Hardly anyone under 40 was overweight then and I cannot remember anyone of any age being morbidly obese, except Hattie Jacques.

Sweet treats at celebrations were tiny compared to portions today.
I was given a tiny drink of sherry or sloe gin every Sunday from the age of 4 (maybe SS would come today ?!) but strangely as an adult I've always been nearly teetotal.

So, I think we just need to reduce the size and frequency of treats to what they were 40-50 years ago, rather than totally desist.
However, anyone on a plateaux really should cut them out totally until the weight starts shifting.
And hardly anyone needs snacks.

bc I definitely agree re: treats. I tend to have at least one a day. I know I don't need this, and the portion size is definitely smaller than it would have been before but I've sort of ingrained myself into having it as a reward for eating brilliantly the rest of the time.

Hello – just checking in with you all, thank you for your posts.
To be clear, the FBD is designed as a kickstart programme just for six weeks, not as a ‘forever plan’ like the original 5:2 Fast Diet. The FBD uses the word ‘Beach’ in the title, but the plan could work just as well after Christmas, pre-wedding, post-blow-out, whatever – and the whole enterprise is far more geared towards health and well-being than it is towards body shape per se. That said, summer really is a time when some of us start to be far more body-conscious, simply because better weather means that shorts and vests and swimsuits start to come into the equation. It may be a bit ‘women’s mag’ to say so – but, for many of us (not all, of course), it happens to be the case.

Hi Eatriskier - you're right about small changes having a big impact - and that's really the heart of FBD. I’m particularly interested in ways to change our habits around food – so that the choices we make on a routine level (beyond any weight-loss programme) can be modified to make them as healthy, feasible and sustainable as possible. Basically, the FBD is an adjunct, offering ways to make the 5:2 a bit tougher and, possibly/hopefully, more effective – but with the intention of introducing subtle changes that can have lasting effects – thanks SED too for your posts on this. For me, it’s the potential for improvement to health that is the driver here. I’ve just been appointed as an consultant-contributor on the NHS England website – the idea is to get people thinking about ways to access healthy eating, do more exercise, undertake preventative health measures – NOT about getting into a smaller swimsuit, which is somewhat banal and purely decorative I know!

Hi BCF - thanks for your posts and your understanding of FD and FBD. If I had to choose the most crucial elements of the FBD approach, it would be the addition of exercise (The Fast Diet didn’t include this, and Michael is particularly keen on the combination of good diet and a decent amount of exercise if you’re interested in fat loss and health gain). I’d also headline the parts of the book that look at cutting back on alcohol – if only for just a short period; it really can make all the difference to calorie intake over the course of a month or so, as the experiment at the New Scientist offices demonstrates quite convincingly. I know it's an emotive issue, but cutting back (rather than cutting out) alcohol can really have a dramatic effect.

As far as TDEE goes on an NFD, I think it’s important (psychologically and physiologically) to eat normally and well on those non-fasting days during the FBD. Only cut calories to 500 on the two Fast Days each week (or for an extra day if you choose a week of 4:3) – it’s vital to maintain a sustainable approach, even for the six-week time frame, and back-to-back or consistent fasting would probably be unsustainable and self-defeating for most people, (not to mention really tough!). Whether you’re sticking with 5:2, or giving the FBD a go, it’s important to be kind and forgiving, recognising what your own body needs on any given day. The tips and hints in the book are offered as suggestions not edicts – some people will embrace only parts of the approach – eg, applying the ‘rule of 3/4s’ when they’re serving a meal, so that the plate is predominantly full of veg rather than fast-release carbs/protein; or having soup instead of a sandwich at lunchtime. For me, this was a game-changer.

SED - thanks for the summary - will look forward to your review too.
As a general point, Michael happened to be on the This Morning sofa yesterday talking about ‘busting the diet myths’, and he made did say that while 5:2 worked for him, and while it works for many, but it doesn’t suit everyone. It’s not a magic bullet, but it IS, I think, a way to discover methods to modify our behaviour around food, and a way to understand our appetites and give a bit more attention to what’s on the fork. His point was that we know that the advice to ‘eat less and move more’ is correct if you want to lose weight – but it’s useless advice without some direction on how to put it into action. FD and FBD try to give a framework to make it happen.

It seems you mean me BCF. I didn't take offence that someone had an issue with me having 2 treats on one day given than I don't generally even have one a week. I took offence at feeling attacked and the implication from other posters that I was doing completely the wrong thing with my children.

I considered everyone on the thread my friend and support so yes, it was harder to take than from a random stranger who had never "spoken" to me before.

Not thinking specifically of you, Fab - the amount you mention is what anyone would accept as occasional.

Some folk said they specifically chose 5:2 to "eat what they want" and stopped posting or 5:2 after we suggested cutting junk or counting cals for TDEE.
I don't think banning foods is useful, but "treats" should not be daily.

Thanks Mimi for today's posts.

BigChoc Mimi advises cutting out treats and booze, not cutting down, so quite a contrast to our more gentle approach. But it's only for six weeks.