Good lad bigmo...swing those arms..left right left right...shoulders back laddie

Just found this thread.  I can't believe that so many other people have been almost exactly the same experience as me.  Here is my version.

My wife and I watched the original transmission of the programme without having planned to.  At the end of the programme we turned to each other and said "Let's do this".  I am 5'8" and back on the first day I weighed 13st 9lbs.  The real reason for wanting to follow the diet was for general health reasons.  I have been taking statins for raised cholesterol and triglyceride levels for nearly ten years.  My levels are not particularly high but the family history of heart disease is dreadful.  In addition at my last health check my doctor told me that I was now borderline diabetic.  The last thing I want to hear is that alcohol is off the menu forever.  So a pretty good set of reasons to follow a good diet.  If it also meant losing weight along the way then so much the better.  My wife wanted a weight-loss diet that was not "too difficult".  Who wouldn't?  We decided to do the 600 calories per day twice a week method.

We went through the back pages of a cookbook to find the calorie count of different foods.  A hard-boiled egg is 100 calories. I find it easy to skip breakfast.  A boiled egg is portable.  I took an egg to work so that I had something to eat if the day became difficult.  With only the minimal effort I could put off eating it until mid-afternoon.  After that it was an easy couple of hours until the evening meal.  We also put the evening meal back by at least an hour.  Dinner is a 250 gram portion of fish or chicken or turkey (surprisingly generous amount of turkey if any hungry carnivores are reading) with boiled or steamed veg.  We both found that quite enough to eat.  I drank black de-caff coffee and loads of sparkling water on fast days.  Sparkling water tastes nice, fills you up temporarily and stops you dehydrating, so no headaches. 

It has worked.  Today I am 12st 7lbs and Mrs topnag has lost a stone.  She is thrilled to bits.  So am I.  I cannot say that it has been completely effortless, but it has certainly not been hard work.  In 11 weeks there have been perhaps four days when I have felt it to be a bit of a struggle and that has always been the time before the first thing to eat in the day. On those days that I felt a bit hungry by mid-morning I found that I could put off eating my boiled egg hour by hour by drinking lots of extra water and by telling myself that all I had to do was wait just a little longer before having my egg.  Remember, it is just for a short time and there is always tomorrow when you can eat and drink whatever you want.  After that the rest of the day is a breeze.  The evening meal is plenty.  Not once have I gone to bed feeling hungry. 

As for the other five days of the week I have not altered my food and drink intake in any way and the weight has still fallen off.  A few weeks ago I went to a fancy celebration meal on a Friday night followed by a wedding on the Saturday and a long boozy barbecue on the Sunday.  On Monday morning I stood on the scales and found that I had put 6lbs back on.  That is the sort of setback that a regular dieter might say "Why am I bothering with this" and give up making the effort.  Three days later (including two fast days) the extra 6lbs had gone.  Yippee.

I expect to get down below 12 stone before Christmas and by keeping on with this way of eating I intend to stay below that mark.  Can't wait for my next health check to see what the results show.  If anyone has read this far through the thread and not yet started following this diet I can't recommend it highly enough. It is not an overstatement to say that it has changed my life.

Great post topnag1. Very inspirational.

I can't honestly believe that the people using this diet as the great saviour of overweight junk munchers throughout the world can be so gullible .

The reason you are losing weight is that you are taking in far less calories than you were before .

Our bodies have been designed over millions of years to work on a fast system . We were hardly likely to nip to the corner shop 80,000 years ago for a chocolate bar . We had no real storage and had to eat within the seasons . Sometimes there was nothing available to catch or forage so we went hungry for periods .
It is of no use to any of you to eat and drink whatever you want and then starve yourselves . It is only a calorific control and not a way to feed you bodies in a healthy way .

It is far better  to change the way you look at food to eat healthily and sensibly . Drink plenty of water and exercise regularly . The more you exercise  the less hungry you feel . The more you drink water the less hungry you feel . The less hungry you feel the less food you need .

It is not sensible to fill up with cake , lager and chips until you reach your calorific maximum for the week and then feel great that you are losing weight but ultimately harming your body with a lack of vitamins , minerals or roughage . Muscle weighs more than fat so somebody who exercises may be heavier than a chubber of the same height but will look and feel better .

Glad you are all losing weight but would look into it a little deeper to see what you are actually doing....

Great read topnag..very similar story to my own....like bigmo  i now eat far less processed foods than i used to(and i used to take no prisoners believe me).Sure i have an occasional cake and the odd biscuit or three but nothing like in the same quantity  of the past..this regime makes me think twice before going on the "fridge raid" and allows me the freedom to have a couple of beers  that on a strict diet would be totally out of bounds.

Agree twizzle. It's not a diet.

apart from the dieting.It was interesting re the facts that fasting has the effect of repairing damaged cells thus lessening cancer risks.Also the brain improvement in rats was startling.
Topnag.re your family history of heart trouble.Egg yolks are very high in cholesterol,so perhaps moderate your intake.
Almonds(healthy but bit fattening) and green tea are both proven to lower cholesterol.
also check out stevia.Its a natural sweetener no calories and with no baddies in it.apparently some diabetics take it as it regulates blood sugar to the right level.Its also nutritious.

Lads anyone take a supplement when on this programme,eg I take a berocca each morning with breakfast

topnag


well done mate keep it up

Twizzle,   The programme called this the Alternate Day diet.  If I remember rightly the reasoning behind it is that it forces the body to go into "repair mode", leading to cell repair and strengthening the body's defence system to help offset the occurence of heart disease and some cancers.  It was these findings after the Great Depression in America and also after the Second World War that led to the discovery that periods of want (as opposed to starvation) are actively good for us.  So the programme suggested non-consecutive days for fasting.  I do Mondays and Thursdays as it suits my work pattern best.

Topag...just watched the Horizon prog again and Michael Mosly definately states ( 51 mins in) a 5/2 regime on CONSECUTIVE days , however, towards the end he does point out his days were intermittent due to his social calender.

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/why-fast-part-six-choosing-a-method/#axzz2Ag0CcYsL


a great summary of the different types of fasting for everyone.

i personally follow leangains but check in the odd 24 hr fast.  works for me but everyone is different.

...yep..you dun it all wrong son , now go and put that 17lb back on and go to your room.

So it is called "The alternate day diet" , but it is not a diet ?

Day 80 and another 2lb lost which seems to be a bit standard for me now. Absolutely amazed that I haven't had a week where I haven't lost something. Very pleased.I'm now 15stone 2lbs and have lost two and a half stone altogether.

I'm thinking around 12 stone but will wait and see as it's all new territory for me as I can't remember being under 15 stone. I've had 2 bags of crisps in 80 days both times were in the pub also had no chocolate because of the diabetes but I've had the odd bit of ice cream and a custard cream here and there.My only vice really is the beer.

Thanks capt.I have a really good friend that used to take the mick when we talked about my waist as I always insisted I wore 36 inch jeans that did go to 38 inches admittedly.She always used to joke about the belly above the jeans. Just sent her this.


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Notsobigmo..good stuff fella..2lb a week is what we should all be aiming for...Capt..i know where your coming from..difficult to stop once you start..i tend to be very similar.

*fast

d13phe...yes and she sends her deep gratitude to you..mikey..welcome to the 5/2 club..excellent progress and i agree the walking thing is quite addictive..my poor little dog finds it hard to keep up with me these days, infact when i go to fetch the collar and lead i can see her little face going "oh no"