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.

not a "diet" person - all seem to make people put on weight after and be a tad obsessive/boring while on it..However, the evidence for this is rather convincing..am intrigued and may even try it.

zzmum - really great to get your insight from the trial. How come the emphasis is on milk not eggs/fish for the protein part of the 2 days, do you know? just wondering why your idea of an omlette isn't on the recipe list? is it due to volume of liquid (from the milk) being more "filling"??

When we did the trial, there was no choice about milk days - when we were selected for the trial, we were randomly selected to be in either the milk group or the standard calorie controlled every day group - I was selcted for milk and had to prove I could do the milk days before I was actually in the trial.

I was told at the time,the reason for milk was to make it easy to manage and avoid calorie counting and also to provide calcium and volume. Since then, I have read that the success of the diet is now thought to be based on the lower calorie days impact on metabolism and that as long as you keep to 650 calories, the impact would be the same - this was in the GH article and also DM one..

As I really struggle with milk, I am going to adapt it slightly and use yoghurt and cottage cheese and the odd egg as I find they really kill my appetite for very few calories - so today I had low fat yog and blue berries - managed a huge bowl for 150 calories..

Lunch will be some veggie soup and a boiled egg - about another 150 calories which leaves a whopping 300 for dinner - massive salad with cottage cheese and possibly another egg...

I did find the milk did not really fill me up that much but that could be as I do not like taste of it so did knock it back and I guess there is a link between the amount of time it takes to finish a meal and your brain thinking you are full. I will try this approach for a couple of weeks and if the loss is not as last time, will re consider but not sure why it would not work based on what I have read as at the end ofthe day a calorie is a calorie?

so the key is no-carb and 650 calories? sounds reasonable..I prefer your breakfast of yoghurt and berries to endless milk, must say! Maybe you should write a recipe/diet book on this (esp as other one currently £2k1) : )

sorry that should have been "low-carb" meant no carb-laden food such as bread/pasta etx

Thanks Expat! I will knock together a cook book for 650 calories days and charge a far more reasonable 500 quid for it!

would agree that the 650 caloriies should be predominantly protein and veg with one piece of fruit from all the articles I have read - would make sense as well as protein is a lot more filling and would stop the sugar peaks that lead to hunger if you ate mainly carbs..

Just working through a veggie thai soup now that I made - decided to throw some chicken into it - weighed out about 100 calories worth which is not a lot but diced up it makes the soup feel thicker - also lots of spices and chillis to make it taste good - there was a TV programme that said if you make a soup out of protein and veggies it fills you up for longer than if you ate them separately - so I am hopeful this should keep me going for 3-4 hours - one of the things i do remember drinking was a can of diet coke in the afternoon as the bubble made me feel quite bloated and stopped the need for food!

This more recent article suggests that counting calories on the two strict days is not necessary, low carb is enough. The women in the second group, who ate low carb but did not restrict calorie intake, lost the same amount as those in the first group (who stuck to the 650 cal limit).

I'm tempted. I'm the world's shittest dieter :(

WOW - even better news! So you can eat unlimited amounts of fruit, vegetables and lean meat for 2 days - that would be achieveable very easily and not feel too painful at all.. might try that next week - as today have already had yoghurt so not sure I can mix the days up and I am determined to stick to it!

enjoy yr soup! i had a spicy tomato one, am rather hungry but determined to make it through the day. looking forward to normal food tomorrow but already feel much slower and more mindful of my food - too good to be true, I'm sure. Fully aware most people drop of the diet bandwagon in a couple of weeks or so! How to avoid and sustain this, that's the question! Did you find it progressively easier or harder, zz? (sorry to bombard you with qus!)

I found it easier to be honest once I got into the mind set of having to drink the milk - was also motivated by being part of a trial and so had to go in every month to be weighed and discuss how it was going - was good to feel part of a diet programme that was aimed at health rather than just weight loss if that makes sense.. having now reviewed that DM article, I feel even more motivated now - if I can not do 2 days a week of slightly restricted eating, then I would have to accept larddom for ever and am just not prepared to do that - I do struggle to keep motivated and good every single day on a diet which is why I generally have failed - but this seems so achievable - am already half way throught today and so far not so hungry and I can see freedom on Wednesday already!

The one thing I do need to do is be more mindful on the 5 days - so I think I might just listen to a hypno tape to keep me in the moment - and not in the fridge!

interesting! wonder if it would be advisable to have unlimited veg (except higher carb veg) and still limit the fruit though?

i'll finish the day according to the genesis guidelines but may rethink for the 2nd day this week and focus less on calories then...

Interesting as I have been doing a diet along these lines, but just off my own back, had never heard of this.

I have been very strict Mon-Wed although not as strict as 650 cals and eat normally the rest of the week but trying not to totally pig out and I lost a consistent 1lb a week or more since the end of September.

I would think that it would make sense to limit the carbs in the fruit especially - I remember they were very specific about only 1 piece of fruit per day but now the diet seems to have changed quite a bit - the 650 calorie bit seems to be lost according to the DM article.. i would worry that I could probably do a lot of calories in fruit and meat which could destroy the differentiator of calories between the days - reading the genesis site, I have not seen any mention of this third way .. might do some more research on it later when feeling need to eat the table!

Well I'm underway with this too - had hot water & lemon first thing, then chicken soup for lunch. Just having a sugar-free blackcurrant cordial with hot water and am planning on scrambled eggs for tea. I will be very impressed if this works for me - I can manage a diet one day at a time when I know I can be a bit more relaxed tomorrow.

The unlimited low-carb thing is interesting. Think I'll stick with the 650cals to begin with and see how I get on.

Thanks for all the info ZZMum.

how did it go pc? I finished my first day also yesterday. quite surprised how I managed it - didn't feel as hungry as I thought and quite liked not thinking about food quite so much..

Today am back to normal and have already noticed how sweet fruit tastes, for example - had thought I was quite healthy eating 5 a day etc but tended to be 4 x fruit and don't eat enough protein and def too much carb as a rule.

anyway, great to be comparing notes with others doing the same, hope it's working well for you guys! maybe we should keep comparing notes on here to motivate each other week by week?

but also realise am v hungry today. would be v easy to overcompensate on days off..

me again! Just curious about other people's reason for doing this. Weight-loss? Health?

As for me, I'm fairly slim (BMI 19) as I exercise regularly and eat fairly healthily yet still got stubborn flabby bits (upper arms, thighs) which I struggle to shift esp as I get older..I'm also aware just how embedded in our culture/lives the high-fat, high-carb Western diet has become, the prolific availability of crisps and cakes at every turn, the sedentary lifestyle, how widespread obesity has become ...I'd like to find some kind of sustainable long-term guidelines rather than diet which might work for me. i don't want to "diet" every day but the 2 day idea seems do-able and sensible.

Having spent some time living in Asia -and seeing just how tiny "normal" Asian women are - made me question our lifestyle and also when I was there to eat as they did - lots of fish, veg, some lean meat, no bread, no dairy, some rice, no snacking etc. I'd like to move back to that but it's very much harder when not living in that context and with a family in tow..

More to the point, I have breast cancer in 2 generations of my family so I'm aware it would be at least a good idea to look at a preventative diet. I like the odd glass or 2 of wine, something else to work on in an ideal world!

Hello again, and thanks for the info ZZMum. I can totally buy into the 'do two strict days a week or lard-dom forever'! Expat, I really need to lose weight. I lost almost 2 stone on WW 5 years ago, and have been yo-yoing up and down, steadily going up overall since then, and now I'm the heaviest I've ever been. My BMI is in the obese range, I'm a large size 18, and I hate it. I'm going to be 40 this year, and I'd like to lose two stones before then, and then another one before the end of the year.

I'm using Food Focus to log what I'm eating, both on 650 cal days and not - aiming for 1600 on ordinary days. I love cooking and food, so I really like the idea of being able to have a 'no diet' day once a week.

hi there. good for you, pb! What made you look at this diet instead of WW then, just curious? Nothing like having the big 4-0 as a target Are you planning to do 4 x 1600 cal days, 2 x 650 cal days and 1x day-off then?

Newish to diets but rather tempted to try and follow the ID one long-term, as you say, alternative is lard-dom even breast cancer : (

Not much of a choice when it's put so starkly..

I guess my main driver for doing this is weight first as am about 1,5 stone over but at my age, I am increasing aware of the risks of being overweight and unfit and want to make sure I am better prepared physically for old age - my parents are late 70s and still very active and when I compare them to my friends parents falling apart, I can see it must be in part due to the active and healthy lives they had in their 40s.

I have tried to diet many times but just lack focus and commitment long term - ie for more than 3 days - hence why this plan should work for me - well I know it has but I now see I need to be more diligent on keeping a close eye on weight gain as it came back on me by stealth!

WW was pretty good last time, but that was pre-DS! There isn't a convenient meeting near me either. Yes, I'm looking at my overall weekly calorie goal - around 9500 - 10000 to achieve approx 1lb/week loss - so x2 v low cal days, x4 lowish days, and x1 sensible/normal day with a couple of treats. I really hope I can do it this time - I get bored and fed up with diets normally. And I feel that x7 days of deprivation should equal half a stone off, but it doesn't (!) so psychologically I think I should be able to deal with 2 days, which equals a smaller loss, but allows me to eat well on the rest of the days (and have a couple of glasses a wine a week - which is essential!).

ZZMum - you're so right. My dad died 7 years ago, when he was 70 - overweight diabetic smoker, who'd had heart ops, and had difficulty walking very far - but my mum is still pretty sprightly now that she's 76. Looking at older people makes me realise that I want to be able to get around and enjoy life when I'm older too - not be puffing and wheezing around with dodgy knees.

Good luck all - I'd like to keep on posting and hopefully we can support each other and keep on track if anyone else is keen?

definitely, could do with the support to keep me motivated. wondering whether to try to keep calories lower 4 days a week also, like you, PB or just do the 2 days of 650. Might see how i do this first week and take it from there.
My report so far - done day 1 of 650 calories (yesterday,cheated a little had salmon egg white omelette w salad for dinner but think having had less milk compensated) . Having a normal day today, going quite well, fairly low carb but just gave in to the chocolate that someone left lying around and intend to have a glass of wine later. will do 2nd low cal day tomorrow or fri.

yes lets stick together - even 2 days is a long time for me to diet!

I am going for 2 x 650 calorie days based on veg and fruit and protein - no carbs at all.. then the rest of week will be a healthy version of my usual diet so more mindful but not over the top - plus gym 3 times a week.. I already feel after 2 days better for no carbs - overdosed on them over Xmas and can really see how they bloat me out..

well, admire you zz for doing 2 consecutive days. Not sure i could do that yet, need something to look forward to. am

oh I am just SOOOOO excited about tomorrow - you have no idea - feels like Xmas - even if I am facing a (larger than usual) plate of healthy food.. I am also going to weigh tomorrow to see how it went - my manager just 2 days of Dukan which is close to this I guess and lost 4lb in 2 days - that would get rid of teh Xmas gain for me - and then just leave me with the "rest of my life" gain for the future!

After my 1st low cal day yesterday I have definitely felt hungrier today and really NEEDED a bowl of cereal this morning! I haven't gone mad today but have had a couple of chocolate treats. My 2nd low cal day will be tomorrow (which will be a struggle as it's my 1st post-xmas day back at work!). I think I would really struggle to do 2 low days consecutively though.

Interesting to hear about other's approach to it - I'm doing it to lose around 7lbs but just cannot stick to dieting every single day, and as I only have a few lbs to shift (all belly btw) it tends to be a struggle to even lose 1lb. Planning on starting up some exercise too as that seems to have gone out of the window of late. I've got loads of good exercise dvds, and I also want to start going out for long walks when I get the chance - although torrential rain and gale-force winds have prevented that this week...