Has anyone heard about the Intermittent Diet? I'm thinking of giving it a go

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www.genesisuk.org/media-centre/articles/The%20Intermittent%20diet%20.html

It's not specifically for women who want to prevent breast cancer although who doesn't? The idea was to look at alternative ways of dieting to the standard calorie counting/Mediterranean diet as people find it hard and it's important for cancer prevention to keep your BMI in the heathly range.

I'm thinking of giving it a go as a part of my inevitable New Years loose weight resolution and it would be great to hear of anyone else who's done it or would like to give it a try.

My plan is to start a general 'good' diet tomorrow, throw out the booze and chocs and once the dc's are back to school at the end of the week start the intermittent diet.

Zog I'm with you on the NYD weigh in. Mine was horrific. Time to take action. Your 4lbs in the first week is pretty good! You should be well chuffed with that. I managed 2lbs which ain't bad at all. Maybe we should keep a record of who lost what so we can chart progress....?

Pink you hang in there. It's only 15 hours until you can eat.

Expat you are right, we are all looking for what works for us as individuals.

Week 1

Zog - 4lbs
Radio - 2lbs
????

Expat, you were probably politely ignoring my earlier post, but have you tried Callanetics for toning up?

sorry, didn't mean to, PostPB..I'll have to look at that as well, thanks for the tip.
am aware I'm truly becoming a diet/exercise bore (at least on here, no-one in RL who I know has ever heard of ID!)

I am very impressed with it. I am in my early 40s & never really had tone issues before, but on another board I posted that I'd noticed that everything seemed less tightly packed than when I was younger - if that makes any kind of sense.
Well, the Callanetics is making a huge difference. I found some bits of it almost tear inducingly painful, where my muscles were weak - but it is definitely worth it.
Not a bore at all BTW. I like that on here you can keep on chatting about stuff that is of interest - may not get as many responses as the AIBU threads though!

I'm doing vlc tomorrow. Been rubbish apart from my first vlc day which seems ages ag now. I'm not weighing myself but will be measuring inches instead. Off to kettle bell tonight so hopefully feel less blobby tomorrow.

just checked wikipedia quickly and looks interesting. Tracy anderson (she who trained Gwyneth P and various others) has similar focus in her 30day programme, again priority is on working the small muscle groups for a leaner look. Never actually tried it in the end tho as a little hardcore seeming and i'd rather mix & match my own exercise..
As you say, Post, I do think a lot is down to age . I always used to be naturally slim w/o effort, didn't realise how lucky i was as now requires iron determination, careful diet and exercise. Good to hear callentics has worked for you. Is it mainly for toning up and how often do you do it?

radiohelen - lost the same as you, possibly 1/2 kilo so far, which i'm fine with. tho I've noticed,weirdly, I seem to be gaining 1-2 kilos through out the day..seems a lot even after food, not noticed before.

I've always been tempted by Tracy andersons DVDs. it does look based in the Callanetics moves. There is the MAE technique too, which is v similar.

Don't know Tracey Anderson, so I can't compare there. Callanetics, as far as I can tell seems to be repeating very tiny movements, in very specific positions, to target specific muscle groups. Sounds so easy written down, but doing it literally makes me want to beg for mercy sometimes. It also involves lots of deep stretches to ensure that muscles don't get bulky. I do it as often as I can Expat. I do 3 times a week minimum, and aim for every 2nd day. I'm hoping that as my muscles get stronger, I may even be able to do it more often.

ZZMum - are you still around? When you did this for the study did you find the mental fuzziness wore off on the vlc days once you get used to them?

This is the bit I'm struggling with the most at the moment, I don't trust myself to do anything too mentally or physically challenging!

Hello! I found it took me about 3-4 weeks to get used to it and I did struggle with the first couple of weeks on trial as we had to do milk which just did not do it for me - I did find that having dinner later the night before a VLCD did work and I did still exercise but at slower rate on first day - also I did need to limit caffeine drinks as they did make me a bit spacy. I think it is best to avoid anything too taxing as your body adapts to the new sensations and as people are seeing , you do over time reduce food intake on normal days and so it all seems to level out and does not seem quite so extreme..

Stick with it - hard for first couple of weeks but then think how hard it is to be on a diet 7 days a week!

3lb down for me !!

Spookily, I'm actually more alert on the VLC days than usual although saying that my baseline fuzziness level is quite high must be all the coffee!

Dh was like that Simpsons episode where Barney laid off the beer- Mr Energy and Motivation himself.

Glad to hear it gets easier. Also I have been drinking more diet coke and coffee than normal to stave off the hunger pangs so maybe it's the caffeine rather than the lack of food.

Just finished the last of my 650 calories and feeling pretty full which is a surprise. Now to occupy myself for the rest of the evening ......

Well done to all you losers - it's encouraging. I shouldn't really register any weight data yet but after day one I was -3lbs (but that I think was the 3lbs I managed to inexplicably put on overnight the day before ) and no change day 2 after 2 vlc days. Not encouraging. And now I'm terrified of eating 'normally'. I would ordinarily agree that you should 'suck it and see' with the diet but I personally have a big event at the beginning of March which I must lose weight for or I will be ultra-depressed.

Expat - I shall have to listen to that link - thank you. I do agree also with his theory about short bursts of high-energy exercise being best, but I think that theory has been around for quite a while eg as internal training in running which I did try for a bit and I definitely got fitter very quickly.

Sorry to go on about Dr Briffa but one of his nuggets of information about why you get light-headed and dizzy on vlc/low-carb days are because your body is excreting too much salt and you should have extra salt to make up for it.

But I'm interested in seeing how all you who are not actively trying low-carb on the 'down' days get on.

Today is day 2vlc and I have felt a bit spacey too - but I have been drinking lots of coffee. Interesting about the salt, I had some on a tomato earlier ( first time I have had salad without dressing) & I have felt better this pm than for the rest of the two days.

Aha so maybe that's why the salty drink in the Genesis plan makes me feel so much better!
I've been using 1 tspn Marigold vegetable bouillon in hot water and it's been the best thing about the diet, like a very refreshing and yummy Cup-a-Soup :o

Zog - I like a cup of that Bouillon as well. Funny as I've done other vlcds (I know, I know, but they're usually the only thing that seem to work for me) and they positively discourage taking on extra salt, probably because it does make you retain more water and so weight loss is seemingly not as dramatic.

Second vlc day done and dusted. My sleep patterns are screwed, had four hours last night so work today was a bit blurry. Knowing what I could eat was helpful though.

Usually if I've had odd sleep I fall into the processed carbs in the misguided belief they'll 'give me energy'

Sneaked peak at scales, 2lbs down. Need to not celebrate with cake tomorrow! :)

I'm enjoying this. I have moments of feeling empty but I always know its only for a few more hours.

Mine too, Bluebird and was SO pleased with myself for coming in at 747 calories at the end of yesterday! Until I remembered of course that the target was 650 not 750! ..

Oh well. I think i might have to go back to the milk-based diet as harder to monitor when it's meat/fish/egg protein. trying not to feel i cheated as unintentional. Like you,BBP, my sleep has gone to pot and i think this fogged my brain up rather.

Moonshine, don't feel disheartened, it's still v early days for all of us. my weight's been similarly fluctuating but overall i can feel that my clothes are getting looser to that's a good sign, even if weight isn't dropping off.

Zog, i've been having the occasional cup of marmite, rather disgusting at first but getting used to it and gives the necessary salt-hit. I nearly fainted yesterday afternoon, combination of lack of food/heat/kids too much!.

Just had carb-heavy breakfast which i enjoyed more in anticipation than actual eating. Shall try to keep carbs lowish for rest of the day but am going to treat w little choc and a glass of wine later.

Interesting re salt, though I'm not sure I can stomach a salty drink, I may just add extra to food and see if it helps.

On the plus side I've found my taste seems to be sharpened, had a cup of rooibos tea last night and it was soooooo delicious. Woke up early for bacon butties this morning, 4 days of normal eating stretch ahead - whoohoo!

me too, wonderful feeling, isn't it? Like coming in to a roast dinner and roaring fire after a hard,cold winter's walk, you feel you've earned it!

Thought I'd pop my head in and say that I weighed myself at the weekend and I'd lost 4lbs. However we had a very long, boozy lunch with friends shortly after so it may have all gone back on again. I'm finding homemade veg soup to be my saviour on the vlc days and am trying to be much better than normal on the other days. Did a 2 1/2 hour bike ride today, so I'm hoping that might help.

I haven't been to Genesis yet to ask about the book, but will do soon.

ProfYaffle (love the name!) have you tried a diet sports drink like Lucozade Lite? They have electrolytes that will do the job.

I've done 4 days (vlc, normal, vlc, normal) and am down 4lb without feeling like it's been too much of a hardship.

I confess to taking Night Nurse after the second vlc to ensure sleeping. Worked, but definitely not a long term solution!!

Just found this thread and read all 10 pages - think I may have found my saviours! Hopeless dieter, done Slimming World for a year and weigh 4.5lbs more than Jan 2011!!!!

But, think I could do it for 2 days.

Am going to read up and start Monday - Wish me luck!

I've also just read this thread after seeing the article in Good Housekeeping.

Boys went back to school on Mon and I have been trying to eat sensible. Not counting cals or carbs just eating fresh healthy food. I am going to carry on with this for a while but when my enthusiasm starts to wane I am going to give this plan a try.