Fast Results After Week One

My first week of the 5:2 diet is complete. I weighed in today and have lost approximately 1.5lb and 1% of my body fat.

During this week I’ve had 2 heavy nights of drinking alcohol, stuffed my face with fajitas & pizza and not really watched what I eat on the non-fast days at all. The day after my fast days I haven’t felt starving and the need to stuff my face and I haven’t felt starving.

It is my intention to eat a more regular, balanced diet on the non-fast days going forward but at least I know I really don’t have to restrict myself.

Stuart and I did think that the best thing for the night before a fast meal was to have a ‘feast’ of a meal which is what prompted the fajitas. Theory being something like, back in the days of caveman, we used to feast on a big meal as we didn’t know when the next one would be or was it because that’s what lions do? Anyway, in fact, this was worse for me! I was absolutely starving from 5.30am (after waking to feed Millie) on the following fast day. I’d rather have an average meal so my stomach wasn’t stretched and expecting more to keep it full.

I would like to exercise too – I am a strong believer in exercise! For mind and body! I’m not an exercise addict, I don’t find the time to be these days, but I enjoy exercise when I get the chance which realistically amounts to once or twice a week.

I go to an exercise class called Buggy Fit sometimes on a Friday morning but after a hard night with Millie the Thursday night, I opted to stay home and do my new DVD, Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred instead. I’m meant to do it for 30 days consecutively but i) I don’t want to exercise on fast days at the moment'; and ii) I just can’t stick to that sort of commitment with family life even if it is for only 30 minutes a day. Anyway, enough of the excuses, (I’m starting to sound a bit defensive here) I only managed the 1 session of exercise. Unless you count the skip (yes as in childlike skipping, holding hands) around the dancefloor to 2 songs at a family party (while sober!!!) on Saturday. What? They made me do it! And y’know, what the hell, I enjoyed it! Everyone should go skipping once in a while! (defensive again, eh? OK, I’ll stop!)

I’m on my third fast day today and they are getting easier. There are only 2 points during the day that I notice that I am hungry. The challenge is making the dinner in the evening as filling as possible for only 300 calories. I made a lovely cauliflower, aubergine and courgette curry last week and I could’ve probably eaten less than I did and still have been full. If anyone has any good ideas for recipes, please send them my way.

I have continued to opt for no breakfast except a cup of tea when the hunger gets me mid morning and then lunch of about 150-145 calories finishing on a dinner of around 300 calories. Soup (whether half a tin, carton or a sachet of cup of) makes a really good lunch and I can even have half a slice, or even full if cup of soup, of bread to help fill me up.

Quorn mince is great for dinners!

I’ve been giving more thought into getting a health check now and then sometime down the line. I might try to give my Drs a call tomorrow to see if this is something they offer (blood tests and the such like) and while there I may mention that I’m doing this 5:2 diet. I am, of course, nervous that they tell me I’m foolish but without any shed of evidence as to back up their theory (despite them being more experienced in the field of medical health than I, I know) but, hey, they may actually support me and give me some good advice. We’ll see how brave I’m feeling. So far, I’ve not found anything that makes me think it may be doing me more harm than good. One brief comment on Wikipedia about some women not wanting to do this as intermittent fasting may cause fertility issues but with no plans to have any further children, this is not something that concerns me. I’m not foolish enough to live on the guarantee all will be well with my family forever, who knows what the future may hold but this is somewhere I don’t really want to dwell on and I have to believe it will all be fine - and if, dare I say it, the worst does happen, whether I’d want more children after can not be known. I have to work in the now and the positive.

Finally, Googling some more on this diet, or lifestyle as I would prefer to call it – I found this great blog, Schrokit’s Corner, from someone else more clued up than me on the subject and is a clever student type that knows stuff…about science and everything. The author and her husband are also doing the 5:2 (or 2:5) lifestyle. Reading through some of her blogs, it appears that her own experiment has grown into a project at her university. If you are interested in this 5:2 lifestyle then it would be well worth a follow! What is also interesting to note is that the author has had breast cancer (or may still have, I’m not overly sure). She would like to see if this lifestyle prevents more tumours arising in future.