Eat, Fast & Live Longer

Every magazine or newspaper I pick up is banging on about 'Eat, Fast & Live Longer'.

Well, I'm about to join them!

I haven't seen the Horizon programme that was presented by Michael Mosley in which he followed the 5:2 diet but I have heard about the health benefits associated with this way of eating.  Apparently if you deprive your body of calories it stops producing a growth hormone call IGF1.  We in the West have access to far too much food and as a result we don't stop producing this hormone.  This means that we are constantly producing new cells.  This is fine when we are young and still growing, but once we are adults it is beneficial to put our energies into repairing cells rather than just create new ones.  It is thought that following this way of eating will lessen your chances of suffering from heart disease, diabetes, cancer and may also help prevent the onset of Alzheimer's. 
And, if you should need another reason to give it a go, it also aids weight loss.

The idea is that on two, non-consecutive days you drastically restrict your calorie intake to 500 for women and 600 for men.  The other five days, you eat as you would usually do.



I started to follow this way of eating about half way through November and in five weeks, I lost 5lbs.  I decided to put it on hold over Christmas as I knew fasting wasn't for me over the festive period!  Since we've gone back to school, I have resumed and have lost the 2lbs I put back on over Christmas, plus an extra 1lb.  It works out that I am losing about 1lb a week.

But the real bonus, is that I feel really well.   In a perverse way, I look forward to my 'fasting' days.  I have a sense of achievement for every day that I stick within my calorie allowance and I know that every single thing I eat on those days is considered and healthy. 
 

 

This is a typical lunch on a fast day.  Just a great big bowl of salad, packed with flavour, looks beautiful and not an ounce of fat within sight.  On fast days, I certainly manage to hit my 5-a-day, reduce my caffeine intake and I don't feel overly hungry during the day.  The biggest challenge for me is to restrict my tea and coffee, as I can't drink them without milk and having milk does cut into my calorie allowance.

This salad comes in at 80 calories.

I will be sharing some of my tried and tested 5:2  recipes and tips over the next few weeks, which you may want to try even if you aren't adopting the diet.

If anyone has experience of this lifestyle, I would love to hear about it.