[Musicgal]

My local news station ran a segment about the Fast-5 Diet by a Dr. Bert Herring (I believe that is his name). Anyway, you are supposed to fast 19 hours and then eat for five consecutive hours from 5 pm - 10 pm. Your break-fast is at 5 p.m.! I somehow can't see this working because I actually have done this unintentionally when I have been so busy at work and haven't eaten all day until I got home. I never lost weight this way but I probably wasn't consistent. However, I still think it is nonsense...even a doctor on the news said it wasn't healthy. Also, eating that late doesn't sound that healthy to me anyway. I also wondered if it would work if you adjusted the hours a little...say eating from 3 pm - 8 pm. That sounds a little better to me. Anyway, it sounds like a bunch of you-know-what . Just wondering if anyone else heard of it.

[ddc]

I started in late Oct. '09 doing Fast-5 and by Feb. I had lost 18lbs (that was over the holidays).
My eating window is from 12 noon until 6 pm. When I got to my maintenance weight, I added back in some snacks and I've been maintainin' now for a little over a month. I like it and it worked for me.
There's a free ebook online at:
http://www.fast-5.com/Fast-5-ebook100.pdf

[Suzanne 3FC]

It does sound pretty weird. I've browsed comments by those that have lost weight and many include their calorie counts, which are low enough to cause weight loss. If choosing a 'window' when you can eat helps you eat the right amount of calories over the course of the day, then it will help weight loss. But eating that same number of calories spread out thru the day will also cause the same weight loss. There's nothing magical about lumping them together unless it's forcing you to pay more attention. If you eat more than you need to lose or maintain then you will still gain weight.

He notes that this is not for obese dieters, just those that qualify as 'overweight'. He states that if you are obese, you should be monitored by your physician if you try this.

So overall, it sounds like a new gimmick to get you to restrict your calories. If it does that, then it will work and as long as you eat healthy foods and feel ok then there you go

For the record, I spent many years eating this way. I'd get up and go to work without breakfast, work through lunch and not have a bite to eat all day, then would eat dinner and snacks at night. My weight gradually increased over the years, not the other way around. But I wasn't counting calories or choosing the healthiest foods. I was tired and hungry.

[tnvols]

I have never heard of this diet. I would try it if I could but I have migraines that are induced by not eating so I would be so sick.

[BrideToBe2010]

I was curious about this too because I would think that smashing all of my calories into a certain window might not be great for me...I'm curious to know who else did/did not have success on this!

[BibBob]

Well, I am just starting the free ebook that details the research behind the program and explains the program. I am already convinced that something similar to this is best for me, so I will report back what I learn and how it goes if I do go this route, which isn't much different from the Warrior Diet I bumped a couple days ago. I am happy I found this before paying for the Eat Stop Eat, which as far as I can tell is not as thorough as Fast-5.

As a disclaimer, I love to fast. I feel wonderful when I do it. I actually like the feeling of hunger and I find it focuses me on an inner discipline I really need to harness. Just my 2 cents gals. But I am about to start working very hard on one of these programs, and I expect to drop 80 pounds by Christmas, 10 a month.

[thirteenblessings]

Oh I just posted about this on the Eat Stop Eat thread.

I've been doing Fast 5 for about 2 weeks and I really love it. Although I haven't lost any weight (I've been losing and regaining the same 2 pounds for the past two weeks), I have so much more energy and am so much happier, not as quick to snap at my kids and co-workers. It's not all that hard to fast for 19 hours. My eating window is 3:30 to 8:30 and I am quite hungry by the time it opens up. I usually try to start with a piece of whole wheat toast and some natural peanut butter. Then I'll have some raw veggies with maybe some light ranch dressing.

I'll go home and eat a normal dinner with my family, often enjoying a glass of wine with dinner. And I will usually have a dessert of some sort before my window closes (a small bowl of ice cream, or a yogurt with granola and frozen berries). Sometimes though like I said, I am hungry and I'll go overboard on the snacks, but I find that I'm not doing that as often now as I did once I first started.

The author of the Fast 5, Dr. Herring, states that it can take up to 3 weeks for the body to adjust to the IF way of eating and not to expect any weight loss in those first three weeks. After that he says to expect about a pound a week weight loss. So it's not a quick diet plan but I've been doing a lot of research about the IF way of eating and it seems solid to me. I've done many diets where I did see weight loss, a lot of it quickly, and I regained every single plan plus more once I went off of it. I'm okay with slow and steady, especially since this is something I can see myself sticking to long term. Other diets, I was always stressed out about how I would eat once I lost the weight because the diets were so strict that they weren't feasible long term.

A lot of people do lose weight right away with Fast 5. I don't have much to lose so that's one thing that is hindering my loss. The bigger issue though is that I'm still in an adjustment phase and haven't been eating super clean during my eating window. I know once I stop snacking so much, especially on the wrong foods, I will feel even better and I know I will start losing weight. The biggest benefit for me though is that I am learning more about when I'm actually hungry and when I"m not though, and the days of binge eating at night and on weekends (all weekend) are gone. I'm the most happy about that.

I have PCOS without IR so I'm hoping that gaining a better control of my eating will help with that as well.

Anyone else have any experience? Positive or negative?