swizzly

Yeah, for me it works great -- but I've been doing primal for over six months at least, so I'm just used to eating like that now.

Are you still doing mostly primal on the feed days?

Oh, I see. LOL I might have reading comprehension problems... Did you read the book? It does talk about 4:3 as well, seems also like a good approach -- hope it works!!

Re: the 5:2 thing, I feel like it's a looooooong time between fasting days and regular ones. I did two fast days so far, but only one where I stuck to the 500 cals, the other one was probably closer to 1000 LOL, and I've only lost a little weight. But in the meantime, the non-fasting days have been hedonistic food and wine fests! Must curb my naughtiness!! Tomorrow is another fast day, I'm looking forward to the ascetic refresh if I'm honest.

FYE, you look fantastic!!! Happy b-day to you and to all the other b-day women here! :-) xoxo

I disagree with your conclusion! Too soon to make that call -- you'd have to try it for longer! Come on, give it a go! :-) Your body doesn't respond to super-low calorie, does it? I thought you said you didn't lose even on low cal. The 5:2 thing seems to have some legs, maybe try it for a month?

I'm about 2.5 years out, but I got to my original goal in I think 14 months? Then I set a lower goal and I'm still working on that one.

Yes, definitely will not be doing consecutive days ever, I'm sure. LOL...I am just about strong enough to do one. I need to find two days in a week when it's not a weekend and there's no work- or social activity that involves food/drink as a central feature. Some weeks are easier than others...

Oy, my evening plans killed it all. It's hard to do this with any social activity!! I tried not to eat too much, only had a couple small glasses of wine -- but professional 'cocktail parties' are too frequent and you can't just stand there with water. Oy. I focused on the carrot sticks and hummous and cheese...and a few Pringles too. LOL. Well, next week I get a chance to try it again. Need to find two non-consecutive days that don't have social activities in them!!

So...day two of fasting much more challenging than day one was...! I was mostly fine getting to 2.30 when I had two hardcooked eggs, but then after several teas, waters, etc., I was actually feeling faint. So I went and ate a yogurt and a cheese slice. So now at 5 pm, I have <100 calories left LOL. Oh well, they say it takes practice, so here's me practicing! I did work out a bit hard this morning (working out in fasted state -- also supposed to be good for you, I'm just starting reading about that), so maybe I'm just not 'easily' burning fat yet during the fasted state. Anyhoo, I will soldier on -- after today, it's normal eating and the weekend, so yay!

Yes, I love this -- this is also what I do as well. Thus my (relatively) high calories most of the time, for the same reasons you are. I am just doing the 5:2 approach alongside this to lose some holiday kg I put on...

I could find a load of studies to quote (though the book also covers it well, as does this series about fasting's benefits), but here's just one recent one... from Nutrition & Metabolism, a peer-reviewed journal "focused on the integration of nutrition, exercise physiology, clinical investigations, and molecular and cellular biochemistry of metabolism." Excerpted from Medscape... ETA: Nutritionists should know by now that "starvation mode" is a myth...

I've been a keen calorie eater since early out, getting to +1000 as soon as I could (about two months post-op) and steadily increasing since then. I often eat between 1500-2200 cals per day now. I'm not in any way trying to be on a super-low-cal plan the rest of my life, not a fan of that. Have you read about it or are you just going off the very surface notion of 500 cals, 2x per week. I've personally been reading up on intermittent fasting a lot over the past few years anyhow, and this is well-researched. The benefits of it go far beyond weight loss. It's not an eating disorder if you know what you're doing. Many would argue that WLS itself leads to disordered eating, but we know that's not the case (or at least not most of the time). The research is not done by charlatans, nor are we dumb and easily duped. Try doing some research before you wave accusations around. FYE is solid and knows her stuff cold. ETA: MsS -- sorry about your friend.

PS: Um, I'm having white wine, dark chocolate and organic British Cheddar for dinner. Bad?

I do my long stretch at night into morning -- so I go 18 hours without eating, only have coffee in the morning then have late lunch for 2 pm-ish, then dinner before 8 pm, that gives me another 12+ hours of fasting after the fast day too. My first day after fasting has been eating a lot so far, well not a LOT lot, but what feels like a lot after fasting. I get full faster already! I haven't lost any weight yet, but I dig the fasting thing so I'm sticking with it for a while yet. I'm in Switzerland.

Well, first fast day done! It was much easier than I expected actually. I had a coffee with milk (~50 cals) for Breakfast, then ate two hardcooked eggs (~150 cals) at around 2pm-ish, then came home from work and had 100g of chicken (~110 cals), a Fage Total yogurt (~170 cals) and some raw cauliflower (~5 cals). So a total of just under/around 500 cals! I was super stuffed after dinner too LOL. I was starting to get that trapped/obsessed feeling about monitoring every calorie that went in my mouth and then I remembered that it was just temporary and tomorrow I can eat totally as I usually do. FIXED ME RIGHT UP. Seriously...this seems doable...! Excited to hear how others do tomorrow!!

Hey GT -- why not just do 500 cals? That's what the plan calls for anyhow. I got all excited to get it going so I'm already fasting today instead of Tuesday, which was my original plan. LOL...I lack excitement in my life obviously...

I'm totally going to try that 5:2 thing, and just eat my primal way on the normal eating days. Seems totally doable!!

WORD. I can't wait till those bas***ds get held accountable for their crappy medical device that is ineffective AND damages people's bodies. WTAF?? That crap needs to get pulled off the market and the makers sued. It's medical malpractice IMO. Grr.

I'm an info hoarder too -- I waited MANY years to pursue WLS until the VSG "clicked" as The One for me. So I'm also a researcher and did a lot of background studying for a long time. That said, the answers to the questions you posted above are NOT obvious and are not the same for all people, surgeons, countries. - I'm one week post-op and my doctor says liquids only. Can I have bread yet? The answer to that in my case would have been..."liquids only"?? There is no such thing. Of course you should eat bread! - I'm 6 days post op. can I get wasted on vodka yet? Alcohol wasn't expressly forbidden at all, though it was suggested to keep it a minimum for the first six months. But yeah, vodka in quantity on day six should be a fairly obvious NO. LOL. - I don't really have to exercise do I? No, you don't. Not at all. It's a good idea and good for your health -- but not required for weight loss. - why am I hungry? I thought they cut the hunger out of my stomach! I never lost my hunger either, despite being aware of the ghrelin gland thing. So I get why people ask about this one. There are enough people uninterested in food entirely, that when you're still hungry, you feel like u r doin it rong... - I can only hold down crystal light and haven't had anything else for three days! What should I do? (Obvious answer- ask your doctor, not an Internet forum) LOL. Agree. But it doesn't hurt to also ask the internet forum cos you will never find a critical mass of your people in real life as you will here!! :-)

Yeah, all complications are the exception (except deficiencies, which are rather too common for my comfort), including that one. But it's certainly not unheard of, and terrible gas (like room-clearing, eye-watering kind) is pretty common.

Oh lordy, don't say that!! The DS is even worse than the RnY for serious complications and longterm malnutrition issues. People with distal RnY or DS are also prone to intensely bad intestinal problems...like a friend of mine who is bowel incontinent. Seriously. No way to live. :-(

Yeah I love the fat! I do eat a lot of it every day!