The 5:2 Diet - Week Three

The 5:2 Diet Week Three (AKA Intermittent Fasting).

Success for this is and oddity as it's Xmas and I'm not at work where it's easier to not eat constantly and to eat better as meals and snacks are planned and not a matter of convenience or accessibility.

However I have beent through a fat and sugar Xmas dinner, lunch and leftovers for a eek or so and managed to keep the fasting days under 600 calories and maintained at 91/92 Kilos in weight with exercise.

Feels more like maintaining than losing weight, again it may be more effective over time and when there is less temptation for rich food (My fridge was filled with containers of Russian Fudge, Chocolate Brownie & Rocky Road) which I have been eating but also not gaining weight again on top of that.

Another week or so and then on to the final quarter of my year long dietary experiments.

Must organise a GP check up and copare general health and fitness to before I started all this.

The 5:2 Diet - Week Two

The 5:2 Diet (aka Intermittent Fasting) Week Two.

This week has been a more successful in that I tired to eat closer to the limit to avoid overeating/overcompensating afterwards and succeeded. Last week I went from 90/91 to 94 because I ate quite a lot in the weekend and constantly snacked, which is something I have not done in a long time - over 9 months now.

This week I managed to move the fasting days and keep non-fasting days on a more sensible level - despite the claim you can eat whatever you want, that is obviously not true but you can eat sensibly and at normal levels on your off days.

I moved the fasting days to allow for a family meal with the in laws, Xmas BBQ lunch at work and will do so again this week to allow for Xmas day feeds as well.

This week finished the second day at 91.3 - regaining the ground slipped away from last weekend.

Over time I suspect this is very effective provided you also are sensible on your off days. I have had takeaways twice this week (first time in a while so close together) and still managed to keep losing, but also noticed that a couple of times I stopped eating because I was full. The trap not to "push past it"  to finish whats on your plate.

Max also losing weight, this diet seems to work well for her and does not mind it as much as the daily restrictive one.

The 5:2 Diet - Week One

The 5:2 Diet (aka Intermittent Fasting): Week One

I have started the 5:2 diet, the basic concept is that you fast for 2 days out of every seven. On those days consume less than 600 calories. The only other caveat is that you don't have the two fast days consecutively.

So I chose tuesdays and thursdays as it's a lot easier to achieve it when I am at work.

Day one was surprisingly easy and I had less than 100 calories for the approximately 36 hours (from 9 pm to 9 a.m the day after the fast day) and felt little hunger at all. The second day which  was only 24 hours later was lot more noticeable assumably because I had just done one and therefore had less  in the tank. Again I could easily get through the day but I consumed around 500 calories the second day because I needed to, which was fascinating. I can see the people who do alternate day fasting working a lot harder on those off days.

Interesting for me these days are the weekends, as I relax my diet I notice that the less busy I am the more I tend to consume without thought. I Can easily put on 1-2 kilos every weekend if I am eating with zero inhibitions, which I have been doing to see what happens, and so I can see that this diet is most effective if you don't over-react at the end of you fasting period.

The first fast day took me back from 92 to 91 (as the previous weekend I had gained 2 kilos) and the second fast day took me down to a new low of 90.3 kgs.

However in the last couple of days (Friday and Saturday) I put on another 2 kilos - aided by the lack of exercise - I have been to a Xmas party and too busy or suffering from bad timing - to get on the bike for a few days.

With attention to the snacking, the uncontrolled elements and a resumption of daily exercise I can see this being very effective.

The Double Diet Week 5 (AKA the Week off)

The Double Diet Week 5 (AKA the Week off)

Decided after about 9 months of serious attention to diet to avoid thinking about dietary rules and just eat normally for a few days - up to a week before the start of the next diet.

Max broke her part of the double diet after about two weeks and gave up on the broader terms and just vaguely stuck to the spirit of the diet and lost a couple of Kgs though not enough to trigger an accomplishment in her own view.

On my part even though this week I relaxed the rule and ate without much thought I still avoid overeating and cannot consume as much as I used to. I also can't eat heavy carbs - or not that much anyway before feeling full a lot faster and have developed a pattern of lighter dinners and heavier lunches anyway. Also high sugar items like Soda, Sauces and Sweets are too much more thatn I can handle these days and leave me feeling a bit sick so I leave them alone in general.

Previously the idea of sharing a chocolate bar seemed an anathema, a waste of time as I'd want  a whole one anyway. Where as now I can be satisfied with a bite or a smaller half and still feel satiated. This is a good thing. I think I appreciate food a lot more now without the need to overdo it to enjoy it.

Surprisingly I have lost another 2.5 kilos, starting the diet at 93.2 (on average) hit 90 kilos for the first time yesterday, last night in fact after my 40 minute stationary bike ride.

Starting on the tenth I will be trying the IF Diet - which seems like a good idea and an extension of a number of timing ideas around food that I have picked up along the way.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/9480451/The-52-diet-can-it-help-you-lose-weight-and-live-longer.html