Grasha's Journal, 01 February 2016

Now that's a good loss. 

Thanks JockoT. I have to admit I've been here before, lost more than 24kg in 2014 but put it (nearly) all of it back on in 18 months. So back on the 5:2 diet plus gym, aiming to keep it off this time! 

Just have to say I LOVE your avatar :D 

hi Grasha, please can you tell me more about this 5:2 diet? I need to lose 20kg before I reach my goal weight. I lost about 10kg doing the low carb high fat thing for a year but I found it very difficult as I love carbs like potatoes and rice and oats. Looking for something that will suit my lifestyle better.  

Hi Ang_Gab11, The "5:2 Fast Diet" simply put is 5 days of normal eating and 2 days of fasting per week, on the "fasting" days you limit your calories to 600 cals (or 500 cals for women), you can see more detail on http://thefastdiet.co.uk/. For me, fast days are Monday and Thursday and I do generally keep to 600 cals. The rest of the week I eat as normal but try (only try) to keep to 200 cals below my minimum daily RDI, I don't fuss about the prot/fat/carb balance, just keep the cal count down, not snacking on crisps, nuts, etc. & cutting down on beloved beer/wine/whisky (thankfully dry January is over). I've also tried to up the exercise and at have joined the gym (& I don't like gyms!). It seems to work for me but I know it doesn't suit a lot of people. Hopefully this helps? 

The original Horizon programme I watched recommended that the two fasting days were back to back (Wednesday, Thursday in my case). This is supposed to give massive benefits over and above the weight loss. In fact, the weight loss was just a nice aside! The programme, "Eat, Fast and Live Longer", is available on the iplayer. 

JockoT I'm impressed - You do really well in having back to back fast days - I'm a real miserable old f'*t by the second day - everyones trying to force food down my throat by then! 

I did it when I was working, and out all day. Now a fasting day is 800 to 1000 calories.