IF / ADF / 4:3 / 5:2 / 6:1 / 16:8 ~ Maintaining at a healthy weight ~ Chapter 5

[TalkinPeace]

This thread is for those of us who have been practicing IF (Intermittent Fasting) for quite a while ( it being nearly 2 years since the Michael Mosely TV programme aired ) and are now at, or nearing, their target healthy weight.
It's also for anyone who is doing it for the health benefits alone.

How do we mix fasts and a stable food intake while having little or no weight to lose?
How do we ensure that this WOL keeps us at the healthy weight long term rather than revert to yoyo games?
How do we ensure that we keep ourselves looking great rather than just thin?

More and more of us have been maintaining at our original goal weight for many months, and others are joining all the time.
Obviously, the more the merrier!
It is also worth considering whether a second, leaner target might be achievable.

You'll find the first four maintenance threads and all the main 5:2 threads for posters practising IF to lose weight here Fasting / 5:2 on the diet forum. We're currently on thread no. 46, but there is a new main thread every 2-3 weeks.

There are three other associated threads:
This one, which is an absolute goldmine of Tips and Links on how to practice IF, and the research behind it.

And here is a treasure trove of 5:2 recipes, mostly low calorie for fasting days, but there are also recipes for when you want to treat yourself. And, now we're maintaining, we'll need more of these!

Since I started the last Maintainers thread the importance of exercise has come even more to the fore, as part of our general health and to help weight loss. BigChocFrenzys thread is here

Starving yourself and exercising 2 hours a day really don't go hand in hand. I doubt she'll be able to keep it up for long! It takes time to lose weight and you have to change your eating habits for good, not just for the diet. Same goes for exercise...

Her combination is a recipe for physical and psychological collapse.
It isn't that I have some moral objections to all these crash WOLs, just that they are so dangerous.

I have started maintaining now. I'm following this method for health benefits. Reading the winterson article on water fasting and attendant health benefits (she mentions asthma and arthritis) made me think about that aspect of 5:2. I have backpain and allergies and actually wondered about going to a fasting clinic. Have any of you experienced interesting health benefits as a consequence of 5:2?

Welcome to maintenance, Oslo
Most of the researchers into fasting and also the clinics usually choose buffered fasts, 10-25% TDEE, in order to retain lean mass and reduce stress, rather than water-only.

Proper clinics are pricey, about €2k per week. However, even buffered fasts of more than 3 days should have medical supervision, which they provide.

Yes. I wouldn't do a water fast without supervision (and it doesn't really appeal to me if I imagine actually embarking on it - too much like a punishment). I wondered if similar health benefits had been found with our kind of buffered fasts?

Hi.checking in here and saw your posts Oslo.
I have been on 5:2 since April. I needed to lose about a stone which I've done but one of the main motivators for me was to try and improve joint pain. I have early osteoarthritis (41yrs), particularly affecting my knees and hands.

This woe has made a big difference to my symptoms. I have also noticed an improvement in my (minor) excema and rosacea. I've also noticed a better frame of mind/mood. I've come off anti - depressants and feel better than I ever did on them. This makes sound like a wreck before. I wasn't really but 5:2 has made be a better feeling and performing version of myself.
Not sure I could do buffered/water fasting though. For me it's a balance between health benefits and long term sustainability as a WOL for me.
Have you noticed any improvement at all in symptoms with 5:2?

I am finding it hard to fit in with the summer holidays. I haven't done a proper fast day for 2 weeks but I think it's the break in exercise that is worse. My joints feel it!

If anyone gas any tips on how to manage around children I'd love to know! I am finding because I am less busy I want to snack more, I feel more tired for not being able to swim and exercise and then I feel more like snacking. I am trying to nip this I the bud before I undo my hard work.

Checking in here and listing the benefits should hopefully provide the kick up the backside I need

Oslo My OP in the main 5:2 thread lists towards the end Recent research into the health benefits of fasting. There are really a lot of potential benefits wrt age-related diseases. The human trials are mostly buffered fasts, around 25% TDEE, as we do.

tip is our expert on exercising with creaky knees, Peach so I'm sure she'll spot this post !

Keeping busy sounds one key to avoiding snacks.
Exercise would help and also raise your endophins and lower appetite. Are you able to take gentle walks or swim ? btw, a knee surgeon told me years ago that crawl is much better for knees than breast stroke.

You could do abs. Also lie on a bench and lift weights, like bench press, triceps
Sit on a chair and do biceps, lateral raises, front raises.

Also, try to go to bed earlier to get more sleep. No screen time or electronics, including TV, for an hour before bed and you'll get to sleep more easily.

Thanks Peach! I noticed my symptoms worsened when I took a break from 5:2 so I'm beginning to realise the connection.
Thanks for those links Big. I'll look through the research tonight. I agree that keeping busy and distracting yourself is a good idea. I used to snack when bored and still sometimes tempted.

Thanks BCF. I managed a fast day today and a swim while staying with family. Feel so much better for it. Interesting what you say about crawl. I've changed my technique thanks to youtube so can now do about 70% crawl 30% breast stroke. Crawl does feel easier because I kick from the hips not knees. Think it's MrsFlorrick who's a keen swimmer?
I felt quite feeble in the pool compared to normal so will follow your exercise suggestions. Really need to get some strength, tone and power!
You are right about sleep too. I know I'm not getting enough and mumsnetting til I fall asleep can't help
Oslo that's really interesting you notice a connection too.is that with your back pain, allergies or both?
As well as 5:2 I have also dramatically cut down sugar and alcohol and am sure this makes a difference too. I don't think sugar is good for joints (or anything else!)
Is your back pain arthritis?
Hoping tip will give some creaky knee tips! I can't do squats and struggle to do thigh exercises.

Yes my back pain seems to be a bit of arthritis. My allergies haven't changed yet. I have very creaky knees too! I avoid sugar and drink rarely. Another fast day here today but the drop in temperature is giving me The Hunger

Hi there eachpeach
I cannot do any impact at all - I'm a massive fan of yoga and bodybalance and when I get the chance, bodypump
and yes I'm an obsessive swimmer.
Oddly my knee damage means I can do breast stroke but not crawl.

The main thing is to work really hard on building up the tiny muscles that support the sides of your knee joint
balancing is great ... if you have access to a bosu, mess about on that (see pic)

In the pool do walking backwards and sideways as fast as you can as well as swimming to lengthen and strengthen the muscles

TIP I'll try those pool exercises. Great idea. Does anyone take supplements? I have started taking vitamin D3 but had wondered about something like resveratrol.

Amazing flexibility and balancing skills, as always, tip !

Oslo I'd rather have peanut butter for my resveratol than a tablet (I think top prefers red wine )
I suggest: Vit B complex, Calcium, fish oil, a probiotic
since many of us won't get enough of these in food
Plus Vit D in winter

Also, studies suggest CLA Tonalin slightly helps weight loss for some folk

A bit of thread creep, but with all the talk about poorly knees, there was an interesting feature on 4's Inside Health. It discussed the merits or not of arthroscopy for cartilage, meniscus and osteoporosis problems. It seemed that in many cases the placebo operation carried out on people was as effective or more so than the operation itself. I'm very pleased I didn't go ahead with my operation.

Same here.
One of my gym teachers has a titanium knee - at the second attempt!

My lovely NHS surgeon said that so long as I could live without running and jumping much, I was better off with no scar tissue from surgery.

Hi all

I've been a bit out of the fasting loop for a few months, but back in the groove now . Been working from home too much - find it really hard to fast when I'm at home and stuck in front of the PC . I'm only 7lb above where I feel comfortable thank goodness so should be back to normal in a month or so.

As a family we're eating more and more vegan meals - definitely makes it easier to make healthy choices !

Hope all are well?

For newcomers I'm one of the original MN 5:2ers - really worked for me!

Hi cats - nice to hear from you!

7lbs? Pah! It’ll be gone in no time!

Agree about the vegan meals - and, as a vegan, it's so much easier to resist any goodies that may be offered to one!

I’ve had a couple of NSVs in the last day or two – first my doc confirmed I’m the fittest 77-year-old in his practice, then a nurse on my pre-op said something like, “ 57, I would have believed, not 77!”

At the pre-op I was offered the operation for today!

But I declined – I’ve got a couple of out-of-the-ordinary teaching sessions lined up this week. First the people I teach at the day centre are all going to make a fruit loaf to enter in the Taunton Flower Show, and on Friday I’ve got 15 kids lined up at the YMCA, all making a batch of iced buns!

I’m content to wait for an appointment – I’m absolutely the opposite of suffering, so it’s no bother.

Hi B&W

Your teaching sessions sound like great fun .

The best thing about 5:2 for me is the absolute knowledge that should I put weight on I can take it off again once I'm back in the fasting groove - so I don't get into the downward spiral. Brilliant.

Hi all,
I'm back from a 10 day break in Croatia.

Its interesting to realise how fat the whole of the UK has become.
There were a few fat kids and a few fat people (most of whom turned out to be British or German)
but the vast majority of Croatians, Hungarians, Poles, Italians, Slovenes, Bosnians
that we saw were lean

it was amazing getting back here and realising that actually I'm not lean and slim at all, but am by comparison with the British.

Same with the Portuguese, Tip!

I've just worked out (roughly) how much less alcohol I'm drinking since I saw the programme about the effects of binge drinking on the liver, which brought me up short.

I make my own stout and red wine, and keep notes about when I start each batch.

I make 40 pints of stout at a time, and, looking at my records, I can see that I make a batch every 5-6 weeks. I made some tonight, and my last batch was begun on the 24th March - or 4 and a half months ago. So I'm drinking less than half of the stout I was previously.

I've a couple of gallons of red wine in the garage, so it'll be a while before I need to make another batch of that. I'll do the maths when I do.

Well I'm pleased to report that the scales are going down - back under the 10st mark, so I'm a happy bunny and have got my 5:2 mojo back. Was talking to a colleague at work about it yesterday (a FD so I declined going for lunch) and she tried 5:2 but found she overate on her non-FDs. I can see that it wouldn't work for anyone who did that. For me it has always had the effect of giving me more control on the non FDs and led to making healthier choices. oh I had an NSV too when I found I could comfortably wear the (expensive) smaller sized bra again /

B&W I'm investing in some Vegan cookbooks - are there any you would recommend? I'm unlikely to become totally vegan (we keep our own hens so I have fresh eggs from happy chickens and I've never found a milk substitute that works in my tea! - no I can't drink it black ) but would like my diet to be predominately plant based.

Shall we all join?
www.nwcronline.com/join.aspx

Hi Cats!

I've got Veganomicon, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero, which is highly regarded in the vegan world.

Anything by Isa I would recommend.

She has a website that's well worth looking at.

TIP - I would join but have never lost as much as 30lbs, it that the minimum?
Nice to see you again Cats. Good luck with your 7lb loss. I'm currently 3kgs over target of 58kgs, so need to get back on the fasting wagon too. Some of it is muscle but not all