The FastDiet by Dr. Michael Mosley -anyone tried it?

[ihpguy]

I was watching PBS this morning and this diet came on. It seemed to make a lot of sense to me. Anyone else heard about it or tried it? I have heard about people who limit their permanent caloric intake to 800kcal/day but nothing like this with 2 or 3 days at 500kcal for women and 600kcal for men and the other 4 or 5 days at 2000kcal/day.

Here's one review from Amazon:

I've never written a review before, but after trying the Fast Diet for almost 2 months, I felt compelled to share my experience. I've tried them all, from Atkins to Zone & everything in-between, but I feel like I've finally found an eating plan I'll be following for life.

I didn't have a huge amount of weight to lose. But I felt uncomfortable in my favourite jeans & I didn't need scales to know I was starting to pile it on - again. So I started following Dr Mosley's Fast Diet after watching the BBC documentary 'Eat, Fast & Live Longer'. The Fast Days felt weird at first. I imagined I'd probably collapse in a heap half-way through the day, or start nibbling on my arm; but it's really not so bad. Hunger isn't a death sentence; it's just for today. You don't wake up ravenously hungry, but everything tastes incredible.

Fast Days feel quite normal now. I usually don't eat anything before 3pm, I just drink water & tea/coffee. Then I may have oatmeal & raisins, or fruit. A late dinner may be chicken & vegetables. I even regularly save 100 calories for a drink or two. As I said, I didn't have a lot of weight to lose, but despite going on a long vacation & really enjoying my 'feast days', I'm at least 3kg's lighter, my 501's I've had since the '90's fit like a glove, & it all feels fairly effortless.

The book is well worth buying, even if you've seen the documentary. It answers any questions you may have, & Mimi Spencer's input & advice & Meal Plans are useful. I'm not sure why some other reviewers experienced problems with the Kindle edition; I've got the original cheap model, & the format is excellent.

If even half of Dr Mosley's claims are true, such as lower blood pressure, lower risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes & some cancers etc, then the Fast Diet is what we've all been waiting for, & weight loss is just the icing on the cake.

[RA1]

I have not tried this particular diet but many years ago did something similar. This diet seems a little bit better than what I tried before. What I did was fast for 2 weeks and then eat on the week-end and then fast for 1 week and eat on the week-end. For a person such as me, not eating I easier than eating a little. That is also how I quit smoking. Just no more. However, that is not "practical" with eating.

With a two week fast to start, I indeed lost 20 pounds or so and continued to lose 5-10 pounds per week thereafter, BUT, there is a mental limit to what one can do with such as semi-extreme diet. Good for losing 40 or so pounds but then reality sets in.

One problem with any extreme diet is that if NO calories are taken in, after a while the body thinks you are lost on a desert isle and starts to shut down to conserve energy. That limits one's weight loss. Therefore a small amount of calories is important to "fool" your body into thinking you are in NYC and visiting famous eating establishments but just ignoring the high calorie items.

The bottom line is, one must eat a small amount of calories every day in order to continue to lose weight. How you restrict them on a weekly basis is how one loses weight.

Best regards,

RA1

[ihpguy]

Thanks RA1, but dieting tips/advice is not what I was after. I had a significant weight loss that ended two years ago and have been treading water on the last 20 or 25. My interest was in the health benefits/physiology of this regimen.

I thought the PBS show was quite interesting and can't wait to get the book that I order today from AMAZON. I am much more concerned with the claimed benefits to blood pressure, HDL/LCL and cognitive brain function and delay of aging as it relates to the body.

[RA1]

As you no doubt know, fasting is part of more than one religion. I am fairly sure that within limits one will benefit from such a diet as the one you describe. I know I felt better after fasting and losing weight.

Let us know what you think after you try it for a while.

Best regards,

RA1

Too late for me to retain cognitive brain function or to prevent aging.

[ihpguy]

On the show, produced by the BBC(if that means anything) one of the final portions filmed at the National Center for Aging in Baltiore/Washington, showed test mice that actually grew new brain cells and neurons that were on the alternate-day (semi-fast) diet versus the sample that ate daily.

I'm also still waiting for the book to arrive and read more on the research. On the program, the different centers shown in LA, St. Louis, Chicago and Baltimore had tested varied fasting intervals. So a thorough explantion was never given. But it was really quite interesting.

Intervals could be every other day, two days in a row or even two or three days per week.

I spoke to my sister who is up on all of the varied diets and exercise programs and she hadn't heard of it either. However, she took issue with the calorie total consumed on non-fast days. She emphasized that age and resting metabolic rate play a big part in the calculation for normal consumption. They had stated 1800-2000kcal/day. But shw felt that would be for someone younger and for women, pre-menopausal. At 57 and retired and not really too active, I defiintely should be lower than 1800kcals on a feed day, for example. One of the university researchers on the program had indicated a consumption of 110% of normal on eating days.

That is why I posted my question if anybody on here had ever heard of this or tried it.

[lookin]

On the show, produced by the BBC(if that means anything) one of the final portions filmed at the National Center for Aging in Baltiore/Washington, showed test mice that actually grew new brain cells and neurons that were on the alternate-day (semi-fast) diet versus the sample that ate daily.

So if you're so smart how come you're always hungry?

[Guest josephga]

I just lost 7 lbs in 8 days mostly from giving up soda. I had a huge addiction to soft drinks drinking over 2 liters aday or around 800 cals aday in soft drinks. 8 days ago I decided to go cold turkey. I gave up soft drinks, for breakfast and lunch I drinked a slim fast. dinner I had grilled salmon, a green vegetable and brown rice.

[ihpguy]

Master the fast
When Brad Pilon, a major guru of the IF diet, dropped out of his job in the supplement industry to attend graduate school, his goal was to create the ultimate diet. He was astonished to learn the key to longevity was to regularly skip eating. He developed what's since become the main reference title of IF followers: 'Eat Stop Eat'. It's updated annually, and it recommends two 24-hour fasts a week. But it's by no means the only protocol in the world of fasting. While most IF adherents have their own method for restricting food, the most popular seems to be skipping breakfast, which allows you to include sleep in your fasting cycle. If you eat dinner by 9 p.m., for example, all you need to do is skip breakfast and then resume eating at 1 pm for a solid 16-hour fast, or push it longer. "Fat loss starts happening at about 12 to 13 hours and plateaus around 18 hours," says Pilon, who also has a master's in human biology and nutritional science from the University of Guelph in Ontario.

Though we've been told for years to fuel up before working out, IF loyalists report that doing strength training midfast provides them with more energy than they would have had if they'd eaten breakfast. It does take some getting used to, however. You're essentially switching fuel sources from glucose to ketone molecules, and your body becomes more efficient at doing so over time – something IF advocates call being keto-adapted. It's like tapping into a tank of different fuel, and people report having greater concentration while burning ketones. As with so many things in the health sphere these days, what's old seems to be what's new. Many of the world's great religions call for fasting regimens; Socrates was a fanatical proponent; and Benjamin Franklin may have said it best: "To lengthen thy life, lessen thy meals."