Fasting, who does it

Minlak

custom titis
Now that I agree with 100%.

The #1 way to lose weight is to increase output and decrease input.

The other apparent benefit to fasting is neurrological though. Bunch of studies on that, not sure if the jury is in yet though.
The number 1 way to lose weight is diet pure and simple. The amount of energy to expend compared to energy consumed is completely disproportionate. If you cannot lose weight on diet alone you are eating wrong.
 

Calvin27

Eats Squid
I think the main thing with 5:2 or other fasting is it makes it acceptable to be hungry every now and then. A lot of diets still market based on 'never feel hungry'. Hunger is normal. Cave man no hunt, cave man hungry.
 

schred

Likes Bikes and Dirt
I'm sure multiple diet/approaches can achieve the same weight loss objective, but I wasn't going to be doing it for weight loss only. I was looking at it, and had read about, for other possible health benefits both physiological and mental ie breaking the existing program to eat eat eat.
 

Beej1

Senior Member
This is zero surprise to me: both are reduced caloric intake diets ... it's just that one of them spreads the reduction out over 7 days.

These are the reasons I would choose 5:2 over an overall calorie reduction:
- everyone I know who's done it also ended up eating less/healthier on the 5 non-fasting days, despite the notion that you can eat 'whatever you want' on these days.
- the aforementioned additional physiological benefits (increased immunity is appealing, if not fully proven yet - though increased infection risk sounds less appealing)
- regardless of what I do, I have to eat less. To begin with, I'd rather be punching out 2 hardcore fasting days out of 7 rather than 7 days of overall change

Of course .... musing about it here on Rotorburn is one thing. Actually doing it is another. I was actually contemplating starting a thread on it myself to find out who's into it. I was about a day late, but glad to read all the responses so far. It's encouraging.
 

Tubbsy

Packin' a small bird
Staff member
I found the 5/2 thing easier to commit to than a big overall calorie reduction. I'm a bit of an all-or-nothing kind of person, and enjoyed the challenge of it the same way as I do exercise. Constantly monitoring what I eat is a bit tedious.

These days we've switched to a no-carbs at dinner, and no more than one beer an evening mid-week system.

This has worked out pretty well and is much easier to do.
 

johnny

I'll tells ya!
Staff member
The low carb dinner is a good habit to get into, as well as not eating too late.
 

link1896

Mr Greenfield
The low carb dinner is a good habit to get into, as well as not eating too late.
I sleep a whole lot better with no grains at dinner, but I put this down to underlying gut issues. Salad and protein for me at dinner time.
 

mtb101

Likes Bikes and Dirt
problem with 5:2, is it will drop your overall calorie intake over a 7 day period but it won't address poor dietary habits, so mate loses weight when he does it but gains it back when he stops, this is of course due to no change in the normal eating days which for him consist of beer, wine and lots of roast like meals, high fat pasta etc, he's doomed to calorie overload.

so what's going to work is a reduction overall in your calorie intake everyday .... and of course remove alcohol, processed meats and processed foods generally. we all know this replace with complex carbs, lean meats, fruit and veg, water.

so initially I looked at my overall calorie requirement, and you have 3 options put on weight, lose and maintain. For me I want to lose then maintain whilst training up and keeping fit. You'd think the 'lose' part of your intake would mean loss of energy, nope it hasn't, as I think body is now burning fat as fuel source so not a bad thing.

have to remember that Rome wasn't built in a day so it's going to take time.
 

johnny

I'll tells ya!
Staff member
....of couse remove alcohol.....

MAte, why do you have to go and be like that?

This is a civil discussion amongst people interested in the same issue. Everyone is being polite and just chewing the issue over. There's no need for such offensive comments and if you can't keep things polite you can just not post, thanks.
 

mtb101

Likes Bikes and Dirt
MAte, why do you have to go and be like that?

This is a civil discussion amongst people interested in the same issue. Everyone is being polite and just chewing the issue over. There's no need for such offensive comments and if you can't keep things polite you can just not post, thanks.
don't worry we can all get back to it once we hit the kgs we're aiming for. going to be tough over xmas, bloody hell.
 

moorey

call me Mia
It’s alright for you boozehounds. If I aren’t a drinker, I can’t give it up. Most of the stuff you guys are talking of reducing are already off the table. Looks like I’m destined to be a fat fuck :oops:
 
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creaky

XMAS Plumper
It’s alright for you boozehounds. If I aren’t a drinker, I can’t give it up. Most of the stuff you guys are talking of reducing are already off the table. Looks like I’m destined to be a fat fuck :oops:
Probably just excess gas build up from the cabbage diet
 

droenn

Fat Man's XC President
Lots of the evidence for 5:2 seems to come from studies with no exercise regimes in place, simply diet. How does the 5:2 work if you're someone that exercises most days? I'm hungry after my commute!
 

Calvin27

Eats Squid
Lots of the evidence for 5:2 seems to come from studies with no exercise regimes in place, simply diet. How does the 5:2 work if you're someone that exercises most days? I'm hungry after my commute!
Ok for short stuff. Struggling badly for longer stuff. I do a 40 minute morning commute on empty. I can do the return ride with no fuel, but it's pretty slow going. Post ride, fuel up. Recover gets hammered without post ride BigM imo.
 

mtb101

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Lots of the evidence for 5:2 seems to come from studies with no exercise regimes in place, simply diet. How does the 5:2 work if you're someone that exercises most days? I'm hungry after my commute!
yes if you look at original study they weren't active people, just your typical inactive.

an active overweight person means their portion size is too high or they're eating too much of the wrong food.

so for an active person they'll need to transition over to burning more fats i.e riding with less food in gut, i've been replacing that hunger with milo, cups of tea it works.

so my 8k ride to work is 276 calories that's one mars bar, just shows how efficient the human body is at energy use and as you get fitter it uses less.
 
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Mr Crudley

Glock in your sock
I think pioneering the inaugural Rotorburn uphill racing series will chop off quite a few unwanted love handles :oops:
 

schred

Likes Bikes and Dirt
problem with 5:2, is...snip...so what's going to work is a reduction overall in your calorie intake everyday....snip.
That's the point of fasting like 5:2 isn't it. Because one of the key things it's supposed to deliver on allegedly is "autophagy" as a response to distress caused by extreme calorie reduction/nutrient deprivation, which we can't really sustain for more than a day or two*. AFAIK does not occur on a diet that involves slightly reduced calories.
* - I've read of people fasting for 3-4 days to achieve the same thing.

The other thing it allegedly does that a regular reduced calorie diet does not do and related to the Michael Mosely thingo I'd guess, involves reducing insulin levels. Whilst insulin levels keep falling up to to the 60hr mark, the biggest drop occurs around 16-24hrs. So a fast of that duration is consider best bang for buck in that respect.

Lastly, bodyweight by itself is a pretty poor metric for dietary success IMO. You can stay the same weight and your body composition can turn you into a wiry beast or go flabtastic and suddenly the pants are tight. I'm really interested to see how fasting impacts performance on the bike, and attainment of other fitness goals. Only one way to find out it seems.
 

ozzybmx

taking a shit with my boobs out
A few years ago I did something which is called "bonking' (named by the roadie world)... shit word for it but its basically eating your tea at 5-7pm then not eating again until midday the next day after some exercise.
The roadie bit of it is riding till you hit the wall, no energy left... my part was only a set distance of 40km to work.

Now the hipster input would have called it fasting, these days.

So I rode to work a distance of 40km at 5am and when I got there, didn't eat till midday.

Apparently your body goes into survival mode and calls on stored energy (fat) to help you hunt for your next meal... which was in the fridge.

Feels pretty good and when midday comes, it's not as if I'm standing by the fridge looking at my watch.

I came back from Ireland after a holiday of big Irish brekkie's every morning, pints of Guinness and eating out every other night, I had jammed on 7kg and 2 weeks of this had me back at 84kg.
 

Mr Crudley

Glock in your sock
Uphills are ONLY a thing you tolerate for the downs.
Now, now... No one said getting a supermodels waistline without a cocaine and lettuce diet was going to be easy :)

If anyone has a 0.64 spare granny gear then please make sure it finds its way to Moorey's Xmas tree. He's in....

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