The FastDiet - Revised & Updated: Lose Weight, Stay Healthy, and Live Longer with the Simple Secret of Intermittent Fasting Paperback – January 6, 2015

I bought THE FAST DIET: LOSE WEIGHT, STAY HEALTHY, AND LIVE LONGER..., by Michael Mosley and Mimi Spencer, for my Kindle after seeing a report about it on my local news channel (I haven't seen the documentary on this diet, also by the authors, but it's sounds interesting).That was about 9-weeks ago and so far I've lost 10-pounds. I'm not obese, just overweight and looking to lose about 20-pounds, and so that's why I wanted to try out this diet. I quit smoking about 5-6 years ago and gained about 30-pounds after that and it's been tough trying to lose that excess weight, even though I exercise, because I love to eat.Anyway, the book is well written, easy to read, and contains case studies and research into various diets that include some form of fasting. The authors experiment on themselves and come up with a plan that seems to work, actually be doable, and that's what they pass along to the reader.The book also has recipes and guidelines and what to expect when you begin.Really the plan is VERY SIMPLE: you simply fast on two non-consecutive days a week, not really fasting just eating 600 calories or less for men; 500 or less for women on those "fast" days, and eat whatever you like on the non-fast days. That's it.So technically you don't have to read this book to get started, and you can find recipes online for meals that are 500/600 calories, but by doing so you kind of cheat yourself out of the wealth of information that the authors supply in the book and why they arrive at 5:2 being the most successful plan of attack.What this really boils down to, and why it works, is simple math: by doing the 5:2 diet you're cutting out almost 4,000 calories a week for men (based upon Recommended Daily/dietary Allowance of 2,500 calories). You will lose weight by doing so.Another reason why it works it because you don't overeat on the normal eating days. I thought I was going to be ravenous the next day after a fast, but I wasn't. In fact, I just ate as I normally would. Another interesting phenomenon was that I thought I would be starving on those fast days but that wasn't the case at all, either. I just eat one-protein source (meat or fish) and lots of vegetables (broccoli or spinach or both) and maybe a salad. I might add in a protein shake if I'm still a little hungry, but that's it. Sometimes the protein shake would put me over the 600-calorie mark, but even still, I'm cutting out over 1,000 for that day, which is good.The 5:2 diet is totally customizable and you don't have to stick with it to the letter like other diet plans, which is why I believe is another reason it works. I've skipped several fast days because of plans that would make controlling calorie intake impossible and just continued on the following week, so it's not a big deal to miss a fast day when life happens to curtail it.I've seen newspaper reports that say how dangerous this diet is etc., and that people should stick with a normal diet blah-blah-blah, but if we could do that we wouldn't be overweight in the first place. However, this doesn't mean that you should throw out all commonsense when it comes to your dietary habits on normal days. You should still eat or strive to eat more vegetables and fruit on the days when you don't fast. This diet just makes it possible to cut calories without doing that every-single day, which can burn you out. And once you get down to your goal weight, you may cut back the fasting days to just once a week. Very do-able.I haven't tried any of the recipes that are in the book, for some reason I can't follow a recipe for one small meal because I feel like if I'm going to go through the trouble of preparing it that meal better last for more than just one sitting, but they look pretty tasty.Here's some tips that helped me get started:* Plan Meals In Advance (for your fasting days) *Believe me you don't want to be figuring out what to eat when you've gone from morning to night with just 90-calories in your stomach. And eating out, unless you know for a fact how many calories are in the meal, isn't a good idea since you can't control how many calories you're consuming.* Know Your Body *This was very important because I'm normally a very light breakfast eater, having no appetite the mornings, so I always eat just one Yoplait light (90-calories) for breakfast. When I started the 5:2 diet, I started getting or actually feeling light-headed before lunch, which is silly because I didn't do anything out of the ordinary on that day, so it was psychological. But you've got to know that before-hand otherwise you'd think it was really because of fasting.* Add An Egg To Your Meal *This tip was given to me by another reviewer who read the book before me (thanks, Lee) and eggs, either soft or hard boiled, really fill you up.* Get A Calorie App *I use both Calorie Counter (by Fat Secret) and My Fitness Pal, which are both available for free and work either for Android and iPhone OS (operating systems), and these apps help tremendously with keeping track of caloric intake. I think they work better than using a scale.* Green and/or Black Tea *Have these tea bags on hand because they're great to drink on fast days because the warmth is comforting and they fill you up.Also, don't worry about your body going into starvation mode and holding onto every little calorie you eat because you aren't fasting for prolonged periods of time.I also recommend choosing your fasting days on the days when you have very little physical activity, at least in the beginning, until you find out how your body reacts to the drop in calories. I don't exercise on those days, although I feel that I can now, but I don't want to over do it.You'll also notice that your weight will go down dramatically after the fasting days, but tends to normalize after a few days of regular eating, so if you're going to record your weight and keep score, go by the number you get after eating normally. You can weigh yourself after the second fast day, but just know that your weight will go back up during that same week, giving the illusion that you're actually gaining weight (because that initial number is inaccurate and some of it is water weight that is lost), so it can be disheartening to see the scale going back up. A better barometer is how your clothes are fitting, but if you go by the other number you'll see that you'll be losing a pound a week or so.IF you have a physically demanding job that requires a lot of physical exertion, but then you'd probably be in good physical shape already, I wouldn't advise doing the fast on those days.This diet is NOT recommended for diabetics or people with eating disorders or young adults under the age of 18.

I have been on this diet since August 2012 and lost over 35 lbs while still enjoying reasonable portions of foods such as pizzas, burritos, or ramen. I was skeptical when I first read about this diet after stumbling across it on the BBC website. Eat only 600 calories a day for two days out of the week? Still, it was time for a change. Despite attempting to eat right every day, continuous grazing on food to supposedly boost my metabolism, and regular gym workouts, I had gained fat until I was at 214 lbs (and I'm 5'8). Plus, a doctor's visit showed me I was suffering from high cholesterol and high blood pressure.So I decided to give this diet a try for at least a week. Breakfast was scrambled eggs with slices of chicken breast, and then I anxiously waited for dinner. My stomach began rumbling by 12:00 pm, but the hunger subsided after I downed a cup of black coffee. I did feel a bit weak, but keeping busy and more coffee helped me make it to a dinner. This was a revelation - I would not die from a day without food!Interestingly, the next day I did not feel as hungry as I thought I would be. I then realized this was a plan I could do for the long-term. I downloaded the MyFitnessPal app to keep track of calories, and still ate what I wanted on non-fast days, but in reasonable portions. Dr. Michael Mosley advises high protein, low glycemic index foods on fast days, but I took it further and reduced sugars and starches, and boosted my intake of green vegetables even on most non-fasting days. I continued working out when fasting, and noticed that my running stamina improved markedly.Much of what Dr. Mosley writes in The Fast Diet mirrored my personal experience. For example, hunger does diminish after a few weeks of intermittent fasting. As this book notes, this diet will lead to long-term changes toward food. Well, I looked forward to eating green veggies and avoiding decadent foods on days I could eat normally. I still eat junk food, but only when I am hungry, not bored. Although the Fast Diet focuses on two meals each fasting day, I would eat one large dinner because a single meal was more satisfying than several small ones.This book also suggests getting support from family and friends. Unfortunately, I did not tell others about my diet because it had not made its way to the U.S. When I first did reveal my fasting, I was bombarded with well-meaning advice on how it was a dangerous fad diet. So instead, I joined a Facebook group of Alternate Day Fasters who were mostly from the UK. This group was so helpful for advice and support.Soon, my pants began sagging off my waist and others were asking me if I was losing weight. I went to the doctor in early December and weighed in at 184 lbs, about a 30 lb loss in just four months! And my cholesterol and blood pressure had reduced to reasonable levels. The doctor told me to stop losing weight, since I had more muscle than average, so I could disregard the BMI or height-weight charts. Also my body fat % went down from 25% to 20% so I had lost mostly fat. Since then, I have maintained my weight doing two moderate fasts of 1,200 calories each week.In the end, how do I evaluate this book? First of all, this diet works! It is easy to stick to long term for all-or-nothing types like me. Instead of reducing calories a little every day, I greatly reduce calories for two days a week, and eat normally on the others. And I love this diet's flexibility - no more going to parties and having to decline food.As for the cons, similar information and other 5:2 recipes are available online so one does not necessarily have to buy this book. Still The Fast Diet is recommended for those who lack the time to find the information online. Also, one must also avoid the trap of overeating on non-fasting days. While I did have days of indulgence, most of my normal eating days were just that - normal. Please do not take this diet as a license to overeat unhealthily every non-fasting day.Also, Dr. Mosley's 5:2 has not been the subject of as much research as has been done for Alternate daily fasting, where one fasts every other day. Most research on fasting's benefits was done on mice, not humans. Still, we are rapidly learning more about fasting and several studies have already come out since Mosley's Horizon Documentary, making the information in this book already slightly outdated, (Google Dr. Krista Varady for more details).In the end, please get your doctor's approval if you decide to try the The Fast Diet. I wish you the best of luck and hope your experience will be as fruitful as mine.Update (June 17, 2013): One of the mass media criticisms of the Fast Diet is that long-term weight maintenance would be difficult through fasting. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I am at my desired weight and find maintaining my weight so easy! It has now been 10 months since starting this eating plan and I have lost another 10 lbs since I wrote this review (for a total weight loss of around 45 lbs). Occasional fasts have become part of my lifestyle and it is so easy to do one or two fast days a week. And yes, I am still eating the forbidden foods, so I am amazed at how easy it is to maintain this weight!Update (Jan 10, 2025) By 2019 I had regained all of my weight. I was constantly hungry between meals and unable to maintain my fasts. Read my review of Jason Fung’s book _The Obesity Code_ to see how I also changed WHAT I ate (no sugar, no starches) to go along with my fasting. I lost the weight in six months and fasting worked again. I am back to a fit 185 lbs.