Hi is anybody on this diet? I’m thinking about starting it, more for possible help it gives towards brain function than weight loss (although that would be nice!) Sarah
I don’t buy the brain function theory, but had a go at it to see if I could lose weight.
It didn’t work. And on the days when I was eating less, I felt appalling - light headed, dizzy, worse fatigue, etc.
(I tried it for about a month / 6 weeks.)
Karen x
I do it and it seems to be going well. I’ve been doing it for about 4 months now and I just eat at lunch time. I feel better when fasting - it is different for everyone.
I have to control my blood glucose levels with a very low-carbohydrate and low-fat diet and exercise and since intermittent fasting, it’s been easier. I quite like feeling hungry, but then, I’m just weird.
Weight loss is slow but steady. I think I’ve finally found a diet that works.
K
xxx
Hi Sarah,
Sorry, I don’t know anything about it, but I’ve got to say, I don’t think ANY kind of fasting would be good with MS.
When I was first diagnosed, a very early piece of advice I received (from someone here, I’m sure) was: “Don’t get cold, don’t get tired, don’t get hungry”.
Needless to say, I’ve done all three at various times, since you probably wouldn’t be human, or lead something at least resembling a normal life, if you didn’t occasionally do these things.
But I’ve found it’s true. I used to be able to go for hours without eating, and didn’t much care if I skipped a meal, or even two. People who HAD to stop for lunch, if we were doing something much more interesting, and time was short, used to really annoy me. I used to think: “Why do they want to waste an hour on that, when we’re only here a couple of hours? Can’t they say no to their stomachs just once?” A boyfriend used to be particularly prone to it. Ten minutes late for lunch, and he’d be whining and crying like a baby.
Well, I hate to say, but now I’m like it too. Fasting would be a complete no-no. If I’ve not eaten properly, I get weak, I get shaky, symptoms are worse. I can tell it’s the not eating, because a hot dinner inside me brings an instant boost.
I’ve even started eating breakfast - sometimes. Which I’ve never done since I was 11, and Mum stopped insisting on it, because she realised it was a losing battle.
Like all these things, it’s down to personal choice. But I simply can’t imagine feeling better with any kind of fasting.
Tina
Yes I’m doing this, I have tea/coffee during the day, and a meal in the evening one or two days a week. It is absolutely no problem to do, I find that after meal times have passed I don’t feel hungry. I tend to do it on the days when I know I am staying home, so don’t expend a lot of energy that day.
B x
Hi Tina I understand what your saying I can tell when I haven’t eaten but on this diet you can eat 500 cal (600 for men). This can be split up throughout the day or as most people do had as 1 meal. If I do this fasting day on a day I’m doing nothing else hopefully I’ll be ok. I’m hopeing thid diet will help my brain function
Hi, as some of you know, I am following the Slimming World plan. i reckon I have lost around 2 stone, since last May.
This is remarkable seeing as I am a full time wheelie.
Over the years, I have been on several diets and have learned a few things about nutrition and sensible eating…yeh, I also know first hand about eating badly too!
I would advise caution on following any plans which include fasting. eating just 500 cals a day is REALLY low and it is known to slow metabolism right down, so your body conserves energy and fat, as it doesnt like being so restricted.
I know some of you say this 5/2 plan has lost you some weight. But would it be sustainable, I dont know?
These are just my thoughts and I know it`s up to each individual to do what they feel is right for them.
luv Pollx
Have to agree with you Poll I to do slimming world and its the first eating plan where i have actually kept the weight off, I lost two and a half stone in 2006 and have kept it off.
I too agree with Poll don’t think I could function without three square meals a day. I did WW 3 years ago lost a stone to get to target weight and still maintain that weight now 
Surely it’s all about sensible eating!! Sue x
Hi
My husband has been doing it since October and is doing well. Steady weight loss of about 1-2lbs which appears to be mainly fat (we have body fat scales to check more accurrately). He’s settled on a 100-150 cal lunch and a tea of about 450-500 cals and likes the fact he can still have beer and chocolate on the other 5 days. He doesn’t have MS though, I do and am following the OMS diet - dairy free and have just decided to try wheat free to I have problems keeping weight on so need to eat regularly especially as I suffer with a lot of fatigue. About to try LDN but otherwise on no meds.
Hmmm - it is. After trying to keep my weight within reasonable boundaries, this is the first eating plan that actually has worked. I had extensive tests in the 1980s and was told that my metabolic rate was very fast (2 hours faster than normal) and very inefficient. The doctor told me that if there was a famine, I wouldn’t starve.
Great. (not)
So then I finally managed to get onto thyroxine in 1999, after years of low thyroid function tests and years of being told that it was very low, but that they weren’t going to treat me as it was ‘odd’. The doctors were wrong. My brain worked properly and I no longer had to run for an hour a day in order to stay at a stable weight (still too heavy).
I went on Atkins on my GPs recommendation, which really made a difference, but I didn’t enjoy it after the first few months. I kept to low-carb diets, but after a long, long relapse went onto a raw-food diet that made a huge difference to my MS, but I hated it and the people who promoted it. It did change my attitude towards food though, in a good way.
There was a GP on Womans’ Hour on Radio 4 a couple of years ago who bit the bullet and realised that he had to go low fat and low carb to stay thin. Me too.
This is something I’ll be doing for the rest of my life. It isn’t a diet, it’s the way I eat.
Yes, it would be very nice to be able to eat 3 meals a day, but it’s no good for someone like me. Not so bad really. The days when I eat more are quite nice. I have an enormous risk of type 2 diabetes and controlling my triglycerides and blood glucose is a battle.
This is more for others who are interested - just a bit more info. I’m 52 soon and it’s been 40 years of battling.
Hi, I’ve discovered, quite by accident, that I do best when I’ve not had much to eat. I have a light breakfast, the odd apple or small snack during the day, then have a large evening meal. I suffer a lot from heat fatigue, so if I do anything to get warm, eg. Turn the heating up, wear a jumper, have a hot drink or hot meal, I find I struggle to get about. I literally get so tired that I can’t get up out of my chair! Sometimes, getting into bed at night and pulling the duvet up around me is the warmest I’ve been all day. My internal thermostat is well and truly broken. Heather
Someone on here recommended taking Spirulina - its a natural/organic ‘super food’. Very high in iron/vitb/lnositol and lots of other goodies. Well - l will try anything that is ‘natural’. So l have been on it since just before xmas. And l have lost a stone in weight!! - l find l do not eat nearly as much as l used to. Feel full when only about half way through my dinner - so now l only dish up a smaller amount. l found l was trying to force food down - l am of a generation that had to eat all its food. l have since looked into Spirulina - and have found that it is also classed as a ‘fat burner’. Well l have always poo-pooed such statements - but now l am begining to think this must be the case. The only way l can be certain is to stop taking it and see if my greedy appetite returns.l made a lovely lasagne - l had about a 6th of it- would normally have eaten a 3rd. OH still managed to scoff the rest - so while l am losing weight he is putting it on.
l do know of friends who have tried the 5/2 fasting diet - and they have done well on it. l suppose it is more of a hunter/ gatherer diet as l expect back then we would have eating better on some days and probably not at all on others.
l do not eat grain - so thats bread/cereal/bisc/cakes etc - low carbs but high protein/fat. Doing this has improved my overactive bowels [lBS] and l have more energy.
l drink a lot of Redbush Tea [ naturally caffeine free] and also Cherrygood juice - both ‘high in anti-oxidants’ - what ever that means!!!
Fx
Hi Frances, I have read up and spoken to a health food shop assistant about spirulina. Your experience has also influenced my decision to try it.
luv Pollx
Thanks I’ll look at getting some spiralina. But im interested in the benefits to brain function that’s linked with this Sx
Dr Michael Mosley is talking about this diet on radio 5 now, 3.20pm.
Is it spirulina tablets youre taking?
Jools X
[quote=“Campion”]
Someone on here recommended taking Spirulina - its a natural/organic ‘super food’. Very high in iron/vitb/lnositol and lots of other goodies. Well - l will try anything that is ‘natural’. So l have been on it since just before xmas. And l have lost a stone in weight!! - l find l do not eat nearly as much as l used to. Feel full when only about half way through my dinner - so now l only dish up a smaller amount. l found l was trying to force food down - l am of a generation that had to eat all its food. l have since looked into Spirulina - and have found that it is also classed as a ‘fat burner’. Well l have always poo-pooed such statements - but now l am begining to think this must be the case. The only way l can be certain is to stop taking it and see if my greedy appetite returns.l made a lovely lasagne - l had about a 6th of it- would normally have eaten a 3rd. OH still managed to scoff the rest - so while l am losing weight he is putting it on.
l do know of friends who have tried the 5/2 fasting diet - and they have done well on it. l suppose it is more of a hunter/ gatherer diet as l expect back then we would have eating better on some days and probably not at all on others.
l do not eat grain - so thats bread/cereal/bisc/cakes etc - low carbs but high protein/fat. Doing this has improved my overactive bowels [lBS] and l have more energy.
l drink a lot of Redbush Tea [ naturally caffeine free] and also Cherrygood juice - both ‘high in anti-oxidants’ - what ever that means!!!
Fx
[/quote] Hi Joel’s I haven’t started yet I just thought I’d look into it after reading what F said Sx
Yes Jools - lt is the spirulina tablets that l take - l believe you can get it in powder form as well. Rainforest Foods [ amazon] - l also take Chlorella - and you can get the two combined. l take 4 spirulina as soon as l wake up - as you are not supposed to take them with food. lt is recommended to take 6 - but as l also take 3 chlorella later in the day l have kept it to 4. lf l was a ‘heavier’ person l would probably try the 6. [l am 9st 10lb]
F.
Spooky! I was just looking at those tablets on amazon! Would you recommend the duo rather than just the Spirulina