Fast Diets For Dummies

I just got through with this entire book. It is definitively a complete source of information for a beginner (obese/average/fit). I do not think it serves experienced body builders or experienced athletes. I specifically liked reading about the warriors diet (eat one big meal for four hours and fast rest of the day), their suggestions about eating paleo, the order to eat the food in, motivation, health benefits are great. The combination and order of exercises (strength,light cardio etc) is very interesting and exciting. The way they talk about the exercises is very realistic for a beginner. My goal is to get a six pack and I think this book is going to help me get there.The only thing that was missing was information about the BMR, and counting calories.I think every person who is looking to lose weight should at one point or another count calories. It forces people to really evaluate what it takes to lose body fat. Counting calories is not just counting how many calories you eat (is on the back of food/available online), but also estimating how many calories you burn (BMR=the number of calories you burn just by breathing, go find a BMR calculator online+any exercising you do, you can use a MIO FUSE watch to estimate how many calories you burn in a day). Then you can calculate whether or not you are on a surplus (gaining body fat) or a deficit (losing body fat). With that number you can then calculate how many pounds of body fat you are losing or gaining and the rate it is occurring. Each pound of body fat is 3500 calories. So if you eat 2000, and then have a BMR of 2500 and then exercise 500 calories off, you have a calorie deficit of 1000 (2000- 3000=1000). If you are burning 1000 calories per day, that means you are burning 7000 calories per week. 7000/3500= 2 pounds of body fat being burned per week. So then you would know that if you wanted to lose 50 pounds, it would take you 25 weeks to do so at that rate. Once somebody learns how to do this, they can accurately evaluate every single diet/exercise plan that exist. They will also understand any flaws they had in previous attempts, and spot fundamental flaws in starting new plans. They will also be able to identify how long it would take. At that point, they can start to appreciate how it is a life style change, and not a temporary plan. If you are fat, counting calories can identify EXACTLY why.Once you calculate how many calories you are actually eating by eating bad foods, you realize how important it is to stay away from sugar and eat paleo or something just as healthy. Eating paleo minimizes your cravings and makes it easier to stay on track long term.

I was thrilled to get this book as I had recently started an intermittent fasting diet (the 5:2), and I'm very happy with it. It comprehensively explains fasting and the differences in 4 kinds of fasting, it fairly presents the pros and cons of all, and it has sections on exercise, as well as recipes. You can take what you want from this book, depending on your needs.THE GOOD:+ Excellent summary of the science behind fasting. It flies in the face of traditional nutritional advice (but look how fat that has gotten us)- there is science behind much of it.+ Concise yet comprehensive explanations of 4 kinds of fasting: Intermittent Fasting (complete fast 1x/ week); 5:2 (modified fast 2x/ week); Microfast (eat in 8 hour window/fast for 16 hours); and Warrior Diet (1 meal a day).+ Good strategies for success and overcoming some of the mental hurdles+ Good summary of the pros and cons of each+ Section on 500/600 calorie recipes for the 5:2 diet. I didn't use these b/c I am a vegetarian, but I glanced at them and they seemed simple.+ Section on exerciseTHE BAD:- Somewhat repetitiveMY EXPERIENCE:I am doing the 5:2 diet and have lost 20 lbs in 3 months. I went on vacation and knew I didn't want any 500 calorie days so I did microfasting for a week instead of 5:2, and I was thrilled that after a week of overindulging at meals and having wine every night and ice cream after dinner, I gained only 1/2 lb. Yay. Microfasting is easier (for me), but I feel the 5:2 is more effective. A great thing about fasting is how flexible it is. I can do the 5:2. I can change the day of my fast if there's something social happening on one of my fast days, I can switch to microfast, whatever. And for me, the 5:2 is not hard (though it was during the first few weeks) because I always know that I am not depriving myself for long... I can eat the next day.BOTTOM LINE:If you're thinking of trying fasting as a way to improved health and/or weight-loss, and you can open your mind to accept that fasting is actually healthy, this is a great starter book chock full of info.

Great book, great condition.

Fast delivery!

Has some great recipes and workouts.Like that it breaks down the three types of Fast Diets and gives recipes and workouts specific to each individual form of fasting.Note that the author also promotes the paleo diet, so the book heavily reflects that

I bought this book having already studied a lot on intermittent fasting. This book breaks down all the different protocols and explains the science behind each one. It gives you the pros and cons and how to work each one. It also provides helpful training tips and what to eat when not fasting. It's a true winner and a life changer or should I say saver? It's basically an encyclopedia of Fasting.

This book was great because it saved lots of time. It condensed each fasting method into to easy to read chapters that were right to the point. If you have the kindle edition you can click in the links in the book that takes you to a quick reference guide for several tips while fasting and not fasting.

Results were quick and it was the easiest thing I have ever done! Really like this diet program! Liked it

Has given me a good overview of different ways to fast. Have personally chosen the no breakfast method where you fast for 16 hours and have a window of 8 hours to eat (healthily of course).

I have to start off with congratulating the marketing team at Dummies Guides on their title choice. From having read the whole book description on Amazon I knew I was ordering a book on fasting diets, but I had to read quite a way through that before the word 'fasting is used'. Looking through the reviews I can see how confusion has arose with so many people thinking they were ordering a book on fast diets i.e diets that help you lose weight quickly. It should be retitled 'fasting diets' - the current title is misleading.The book covers four 'fasting' diet schedules - the intermittent, the 5:2 Diet, the Warrior Diet, and micro-fasting. It explains the concepts well, the benefits, the pit falls, how they can best be incorporated into our busy lives, and there is lots of good advice on eating cleanly, and the importance of exercise with some pointers on that too. All in all, fasting diets aside, it's full of the same good advice you'll find in most books of this ilk and that on it's very own will help very many people lose unwanted weight.I tried out 2 of the fasting diets - the intermittent and micro-fasting. Both were much easier than I expected, mostly thanks to following tips in the book. Did I lose weight at all, let alone quickly? Even eating more cleanly than usual, with extra exercise? No. Maybe it's just me.There were a couple of aspects I didn't like about the book. While I appreciate that these books must be written by someone with knowledge, and often those with knowledge will have specialities or preferences, I did not like the bias towards Paleo diet. It is not a book on the Paleo diet, it's a book on fasting, so lets stick to that and save the Paleo chat for a book on the subject. In addition, there was no evidence to back up any of the health claims especially with regards to specific diseases these eating plans will protect you from. To the best of their ability Dummies Guide's should be factual guides, not opinion and Dr. Petrucci's opinion (and her opinion appears to be that the Paleo diet is best) comes into it far too often.

Very pleasantly surprised indeed! I do have the original books on Fast Diets (5:2) from Dr Michael Moseley and Mimi Spencer, so had a good idea of what to expect but that book is more focussed on the 5:2 diet itself plus the reasons why to use it.The Dummies book is far more comprehensive with all the science still provided but everything in far more detail. There are a number of different versions of Fast Diets which are looked at in detail and you can pick and choose which one might suit your mindset and lifestyle best.With 5 main sections and those split into 3 or 4 Chapters you are able to find topics of interest relatively quickly:Getting Started with Fast Diets (what fasting is and how it helps)Identifying Practical Fasting Practices (general ideas and comment on fasting)Your Launch Pad to Fasting: Your Kitchen and Recipes (stocking and recipes)Incorporating Lifestyle Practices for Success (Exercise programmes in detail)The Part of Tens (practical hints)This is no 'dicky' guide where you can read it in an hour or so; there is a lot of really excellent practical help and the recipes and exercise programmes are looked at in details with many recipes and exercises.It is in many ways a full lifestyle book with lots of good ideas and sensible suggestions. However, there is also the much needed detail in how to easily get into the Fast Diet whichever schedule you go for and stay there, with a mass amount of information in every area so you understand what the lifestyle choice is and also practically understand what food and exercise you need incorporate into your life to really make a huge difference.

I was interested to learn more about fasting after watching BBC science programmes presented by Dr Micheal Mosley where he stated some health benefits including longer life from fasting and suggested reduced calories a couple of days a week was as good as prolonged fasts for 24 hours.I've read several excellent Dummies books and know Wiley as a reputable publisher of scientific material so I was expecting a lot, but was disappointed by this publication.On a positive note the book encourages healthy eating, less junk food, and taking more exercise, with key message `fast because its good for you, it may be tricky at first but you will loose weight and have many other health benefits'.The book compares 24+ hours fasting, 5 and 2 (reduced calories for 2 days per week), microfasting (skipping breakfast) and the warrior diet (eat one meal a day) has some nice recipes for reduced calorie meals. It promotes life style change as a permanent not some thing to do for a few weeks then return to eating rubbish and sitting on the sofa. It gives hints and tips for fitting fasting into a busy life style. There is advice on exercise to promote fat but not muscle loss.The less good bits:The book is designed to be dipped into, not read from cover to cover however it was very repetitive, the book is written for the US market and I found the style patronising.There was a list of diseases one might avoid through fasting, but no references to back these up. The science was written in a confusing way, I didn't learn as much as from the BBC. One of the authors Dr Kellyann is a nutritionist and not a medically qualified doctor like a G.P.The book talks about the paleo diet, what cavemen ate, and whilst high amounts of refined carbs (sugar) are not good for you, the assumption that because our ancestors did some thing must mean it is good is not evidence that it's advisable to do today. Shall we also practice blood letting for all ills, and submerge witches to see if they float or drown?There was a very strong emphasis on not eating. I felt if I wasn't able to fast for 24 hours after a period of practice I was a failure, in the same way I was a bad mother if I was not able to breast feed my child until puberty. I would be worried that I could become obsessional about not eating, I've managed 24 hours so I'll skip food for a few more hours, and then a few more.....The authors claim to be independent and hence presenting various different fasting style diets, so the repetitive comments about their other publications on paleo diets was unexpected. The paleo diet is quite extreme, do I really want to exclude all the things I love, will living another 5 or 10 years but without cheese cake, pasta and fine wine be worth it?On balance if fasting works for you that's great, if not then eating a little less, with less junk and moving more is probably a more sustainable long term life plan that the diets in the Dummies book.

Apart from the currently fashionable 5:2 diet, this book presents three other diets involving periods of fasting or calorie restriction - "intermittent fasting" (periods of 24 hours not eating, though in any one day from waking to sleeping there should be a meal), the "warrior diet" (not eating all day until a four hour period in the evening when you can eat fairly indulgently) and the "no breakfast solution" (self explanatory).The book makes an awful lot of unsubstantiated claims about the medical benefits of fasting - the only one which seems to have any evidence is regulation of insulin-like growth factor. There is considerable discussion of combining fasting with exercise which I was hoping would be useful, but again there are many unsubstantiated claims and the advice is often impractical - it advises to take exercise at the end of the fasting period, which is not really helpful if you are doing the "no breakfast solution" for example.It's rather repetitive and therefore padded out, and particularly annoying are the constant plugs for the authors' other books on the Paleo ("caveman") diet.What I will say though is that this book has made me think and start to experiment with fasting, even if a lot of what is in here is not entirely applicable, useful, practical or proven.