Almost every Monday I find myself saying "my diet starts today, no more junk food and more exercise." Well by Wednesday I've failed and I say to myself "Well as I've messed it up already I might as well start a fresh next Monday." And the vicious cycle continues! For me, exercise isn't the problem as I workout around 4 times a week, but its the actual eating healthy part that I have trouble is as I have the worst sweet tooth. I've tried giving up bread, sweets, crisps and I either fail, or they don't work for me. So what am I doing wrong? Well, I find my biggest problem with dieting is that as soon as you get to your goal weight and come of the diet, the weight comes back again. I need a diet that is easy to follow and sustainable for the long haul, which is where the fast diet comes into play.
The Fast Diet, otherwise known as 5:2, is a relatively new craze thats sweeping the nation. A friend of mine told me about this diet after hearing about This Mornings Phillip Schofield talking about his 9lb weight loss in 4 weeks and that instantly made me want to do some research on it. The Fast Diet was created by medical Journalist Dr Michael Mosley, who wrote "The Fast Diet" book alongside journalist Mimi Spencer after discovering the wonder that is intermittent fasting (alternating between fasting and non-fasting). The 5:2 is simple; for 5 days a week you eat normally and for the other 2 you fast. However, unlike a normal fast, you still get to eat, but you restrict yourself to 500 calories a day for women and 600 for men.
As well as weight loss, this diet claims to reduce the risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, cancer and increase longevity. It is also said to be more than just a diet, but a strategy for a long and healthy life. Needless to say I was won over and I began the diet the very next day.It's only been a week since I started this and I've lost 4lbs, which I'm pretty happy with. It went up and down over the course of the week and rested on 4; not bad for one week. I'm not under the illusion that I will lose this much every week, but my aim is for around 2lbs a week. I'm not going to lie, the first day was pretty painful and I was starving, but the second fast was much easier and after only a week I have found my appetite is smaller on my non fast days. I fill myself up by drinking lots of water and fruit teas to try and suppress any hunger I'm feeling and it does help. By my third fast day, I didn't feel hungry till around 12, so changes are definitely starting to happen.
The problem I am finding however is what to eat on the fast days. There a lots of meal ideas online for this diet in particular but even after a week I am finding myself bored of what I'm eating. However, this is my own fault as when it comes to cooking, I'm not the most creative and on the fast days I'm already cranky so I can't be bothered with fiddling around creating different meals when I can make an omelette in a few minutes or have a tin of soup. My aim from now on is to plan my meals in advance for the week so I don't have to think about it on that day and spend time deciding what to make.
To keep track of my calorie consumption, I use My Fitness Pal, which can be used online and as an app. You can add the foods you've eaten throughout the day as well as any exercise you do and update your weight as you go along. I find it a fast and simple way to figure how much I can eat.
I'm going to try my hardest to continue with this diet as it's one that I believe I can definitely stick to and I will report back in a few weeks time to let you know how I've been getting on.
Have you tried the 5:2 diet? Is there a diet that you've found really works for you?
xoxo
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