I could do with losing a few pounds. These pounds have hung around too long, they seem to stick to my middle and I want them gone. This is an ongoing battle as these pounds don’t seem to want to leave. When Fred was nearly two, I realised the ‘I’ve just had a baby’ excuse was starting to wear a bit thin. I also had the added incentive of a family wedding in Thailand and the thought (the horror, the horror) that my (winter) body would soon be exposed for all to see. I joined Weight Watchers and lost 6lbs in the first week, then another half stone in the next few months and it is that weight I find myself now, despite my best (sporadic) efforts. I have, at least, another stone to lose.
The thing is, I like food. I like food too much sometimes. The thought of permanently denying myself cheese, wine, cake is a depressing one. That is why the 5:2 diet seems such an appealing idea. Did you watch the Horizon TV programme spelling out the benefits of intermittent fasting? It seems too good to be true. You fast on 2 non-consecutive days. By fast, I mean eat less than 500 calories so we’re not talking complete starvation. On the remaining 5 days, you can eat what you like.
The Horizon programme explained that fasting lowers your IGF-1 levels. This hormone is linked to cancer, diabetes and other illnesses and seems to be connected with ageing. Scientists believe that if you lower your levels of IGF-1, your body starts to repair itself and fat burning is increased. In addition, they also think this could lead to a lower risk of developing Alzheimers and Parkinsons.
Michael Mosley (who recorded the Horizon programme) writes about his experiences here.
So I’ve been doing this for a couple of weeks now. I always find weighing myself a bit problematic as my weight seems to fluctuate wildly depending on time of day, time of month and what I did the night before. So I’m going to wait for a bit to do this. However I do feel good, in fact I feel amazing the day after I’ve fasted; alert, full of beans, not too hungry. The fasting itself is a bit all-consuming; you can find yourself thinking about food and hunger pangs more than is strictly healthy. But it’s do-able. So I’m going to continue with this for now and hopefully those extra pounds will finally be lost forever.
london loafing 