Fasting

[FeeHutch]

I have been reading a lot recently about the Fast Diet, sometimes referred to as the 5:2 diet. http://thefastdiet.co.uk/ is the website and I have just finished reading the book.

Simply put it is a way of eating that promotes 2 days of fasting oer week, consuming 500 cals for women and 600 cals for men and eating normally for the other 5 days. It seems to have a scientific basis that suggests it is healthier for our bodies to fast regularly and this is what caught my attention especially right now. The idea of listening to my body and embracing rather than running away from or otherwise trying to stifle the messages my body is trying to communicate around food and hunger appeals to me. Just like Gareth tried out the paleo diet I think I am going to try out the idea of fasting twice a week for a while and see if it does lead to the clearer mind the books authors say the practice has brought them.

Does anyone have any experience or thoughts about fasting? I am approaching this mainly in a spirit of curiosity. I know that 24 hours with little food won't harm me (I have lived through sustained periods of many days with little or no food) and I am interested to see if it does make me more mindful of my body. I think 4 weeks is enough time for me to get a feel for the idea and start to see any results.

[Vixine]

I don't have much experience but I do believe some fasting can be good - I have read a little more about doing periodic juice fasting and how this gives your body a chance to move the toxins through the liver and kidneys all all that, rather than constantly having to keep up with the food we eat every day (much of which is unnatural and not easily digested). I don't have a juicer, though I'm thinking about getting one - so some days when I've been eating crap or am feeling a little low energy, I replace a couple meals with green smoothies and this makes me feel better and healthier. I've heard people say when they actually do a juice fast for several days it feels amazing - I just haven't gotten up the motivation to go for it yet.
You'll have to let us know how it goes!

[Gareth]

As I said in my previous thread, I think that any kind of lifestyle change is good for really putting your mindfulness to the test and making you challenge some of the things that you believe. There is a guy in my office doing exactly the same diet.

[FeeHutch]

Apparently juicers are a real pain to clean, I love my smoothie maker though

Well, I have done my 2 fasts for the week and I am finding it a positive experience so far. It is less about weight loss and more about any long term health benefits for me. I feel in a slightly precarious position health wise right now. I am waiting for more tests, more bits seem to be broken or at least not working properly and if this can help that would be great.

The most interesting thing I have noticed so far is that the hunger pangs never get any worse. When I first become aware of them and actually allow myself to register them and explore them a little they stop feeling like horrible uncomfortable things that must be stopped immediately and more like another normal physical sensation. If I give myself all of 10 seconds to ask myself if I really want a chocolate bar right now the answer is actually usually no. I am hopeful this could become a long term life choice for me.

[JonW]

I have a job coming up that entails going 24 hours without sleep. I'm looking at it as a kind of sleep fast. I'll be looking to mindfulness for support.

[Enigma]

I've only successfully fasted on days that my primary activity has been meditation. When absorbed in intensive meditation and restful ease, the body needs very little fuel to feed off of in order to maintain itself. However, if you will be working on the days you plan to fast, be prepared for fatigue. When I've attempted fasting on active days, I've felt physically weak and mentally hazy. It all depends on the content of the day.

What's most important is to listen to your body. There is no point in fasting if it produces more harm that good. Be attentive to the feedback your body gives you and you should be fine.

[FeeHutch]

I actually find I feel more alert when I fast, physically and mentally lighter. But I do keep a close eye on myself, lord knows I don't need any help falling over
Reading your other posts is inspiring me to perhaps try a mores sustained meditation on a day when my children are back at school. I'm interested to see how that is.

[Enigma]

Certainly, there are differences that can be accounted for by multiple interacting variables.

The results of fasting tend to be dependent on body type and other pre-existing dietary factors. I'm chronically underweight and strictly vegetarian, so my daily intake is already quite low. As a result, I have very few reserves in terms of body fat to sustain me in the absence of at least some food. One might think this would make it easier to fast, as the body is already accustomed to smaller meals. I've found that to be true on inactive days, but it has the opposite effect on me when I'm required to be physically active and exert myself with absolute minimal or no caloric intake.

For those whose diets are already protein-rich and who have average muscle mass and body fat, fasting should be considerably less draining.

[FeeHutch]

2 weeks done now.
I am actually finding the fasting days easier than the other days. I am aware of the occasional sensation of slight hunger during the day and find it much easier to acknowledge than I do on normal or feast days.
I am interested to see how this week goes as I am also incorporating a mindful eating task taken from How To Train A Wild Elephant.
This does feel much more relaxed and natural and I am enjoying the experience.

[Hambostein]

Hi Fee .....

This Fasting Diet, the wife and I have been doing this (in a fashion) all of this year so far ...

the two days 'fasting' we do, is restricting the calorie intake to 500 or so, not fasting really ... and I've found that suprisingly easy from the onset, and this seems to have carried through to the 'normal' days when hunger hasn't really been an issue and the food intake for the pair of us seems to have decreased quite a bit ....
I must have shed at least 10kg so far this year (the wife will not get on the scales for the time being, says she's too scared, but she has definately lost more)

the pair of us have tried nearly every diet going, the Atkins bad-breath diet, GL Diet etc, and have only managed a month or two at best on these other diets, but this does not really feel like dieting, eating on the 'fasting' days does not seem that bad - you can have some substantial tasty meals and still hit under that 500 calorie mark (Hairy Dieters Cookbook has been a revelation of sorts, that helped when we started, now it's great big salads with just a bit of protein)

and we've been away on about four holidays where we've completely forgot about dieting and just enjoyed ourselves, I would recomend this to anybody, from my experience it does seem to work ... but saying that, I don't think it would have been so successful just with just one of us going on it, we have been encouraging each other.

BUT, I only started this Mindfulness/Meditation lark in mid April, so I can't say that being Mindful (or at least trying to!) has had that much effect on me in this diet, maybe it has helped in keeping it going but I think that has got more to do with the sucess and ease of the diet .....

Best of luck with things
Hambo