5:2 Intermittent Fasting Diet

On a non-gardening note, I'd like to talk about my latest attempt at dieting. I've never been much of a dieter.  In my adolescence I was blessed with a super-fast metabolism and could eat whatever I wanted to with no consequences. So I never had to really think about dieting. As I hit my twenties though, things started to slow down a little bit. I never really hit the overweight mark, but I have put on some extra weight that I wasn't super happy about. I've tried to diet on a few different occasions; by making more healthy choices, and a few fad diets. It never stuck. The longest I made it was probably a week, maybe two. 

Then I learned about the Fast Diet on Good Morning America. It sounded pretty doable. Five days a week you eat as you normally would, no calorie counting. Then for 2 non-consecutive days a week, you limit your food intake to 500 calories (600 for men). For example: a boiled egg, and half a grapefruit for breakfast, and a vegetarian chili with brown rice for supper (add an extra egg for the men). You pretty much just have to skip lunch and cut out snacking for 2 days a week. That's not bad! Alternatively, some people choose to skip breaky and lunch, and just have one 500/600 calorie meal for the day. The great thing about this diet is that it's flexible, and it's part-time! It's awesome! Also, according to scientific research, intermittent fasting not only helps you lose weight, but has many other health benefits including reduced rick of cancer. Check it out!
After doing a little research, my partner and I decided to give it a go. I bought the book (you can find it here), and we started with our first fast day on March 14, 2013. The first couple of fast days were a challenge. I'm not gonna lie. I was hungry for most of the day, and found it hard to sleep at night, because I couldn't stop thinking about the hunger. But however hungry I felt, I pushed through because I was determined to conquer this challenge! I have never had great will power, especially when it comes to food. But when I know that I can eat whatever I want tomorrow, it's pretty easy to resist those chips and/or cookies today. After a couple weeks, the fast days started to become routine. We'll wake up in the morning, and excitedly say "fast day!". It was fake enthusiasm at first, to motivate us for the hungry day ahead. But I think we're both starting to almost enjoy the fast days. I enjoy the bi-weekly mental and physical challenge. Not to mention the day after a fast day, I'm usually a couple pounds lighter! My weight fluctuates daily, but I'm usually at a new low after a fast. And that feels awesome! This is our 9th week, and I've lost about 10lbs so far. I feel great!
We've also been working out more often than we used to. I'm not sure if the Fast Diet motivated that change or not. But we've been going to the gym about 4 times a week (instead of  the usual 2 times), and we're doing lots of different activities (spinning, tennis, swimming, weight training, etc). Overall, I'm enjoying a healthy lifestyle, and plan on sticking to the intermittent fasting plan for a long time.