The 5:2 Diet – one year on

The following post is brought to you by the lovely Becca who has written posts for us previously. You can check out her blog here: Friendly Film Fan and I'm sure she would be happy to chat about the 5:2 plan over on twitter.

Almost a year ago I sent in a post about this ‘revolutionary’ diet that I had pretty much fallen in love with after just two weeks. It has now been 48 weeks and I have no plans to ever stop it.

Since I was a teenager I have been unhappy with my weight, looks, hair… if it was superficial I hated it about myself. Previously I had minor success with short term weight loss, soup diets and the like, and I managed a good year of being small with concentrated diet and exercise.

These small successes were in vain however as I possess very little will power. VERY little. I manage six months before I get bored or lazy or hungry.

So when I found out about my friends amazing weight loss, as I talked about in my last post, the 5:2 diet seemed like a good one to at least try. Almost 12 months later I have already beaten my record on both weight loss and sustainability. I even managed to carry on over Christmas…

…Okay so I didn’t manage both days over Christmas but I at least felt the need for one day. Which is why I think I have been converted in my thinking for good; I physically felt the need for a 500 day. Christmas is a time when we excuse over-indulgence with those amazing three words ‘Tis the season’. So when I was nearing a full week passing without my having a 500 day I felt heavier than I ever have done at Christmas time. The day after I had a low calorie day I felt sharper, hungry for normal food, and more keen to get off the sofa and out in the fresh air.

Now I’m not saying this diet isn’t hard. I have days when I give up completely and consume my weight in chocolate. I also do not spend the calories on my five days ‘off’ particularly wisely – if I did I would be able to go down to a 6:1 ratio. Unfortunately my lack of sustainable willpower means I doubt I will be able to do this as I go a bit crazy on the biscuits or bread sometimes.

Back to the positives. Within about six months of this diet I was down to my ideal-ish weight, losing about a stone. This has fluctuated slightly, depending on the amount of alcohol I consume or baking I do, but I have a steady base weight which I am more than happy with.

I have no scientific proof of my blood glucose levels reducing or whether or not I have staved off Alzheimer’s, a couple of the reasons why I wanted to try it in the first place, which is a shame. I hope I am healthier in body and mind physically, I definitely feel it, and it would be an added bonus to the weight loss and confidence boost I have.

All through this I have been calling 5:2 a ‘diet’, but to me it is now normality. My consumer behaviour on my fasting days generally consists of drinking a couple of mugs of tea in the morning, a slim-a-soup mid-afternoon to combat the empty feeling I get, a zero calorie drink if I feel like I need an energy boost, and then a dinner of veggies and protein with some carbs.

This is the pattern I found works best for me. A lot of people split their calories across one big one small meal per day, but I find I get hungry if I eat something solid in the day and then my evening meal is completely unsatisfactory and I go to bed grumpy.

I have also managed to work out filling meals are possible under 400 calories, the key is less carbs more protein. Or couscous. Couscous and roasted veg is my default meal on a 500 day because you can have a lot for relatively few calories.

Sometimes I cheat and have 100/200 calories over my allotted number, but then what is life if we play by the rules 100% of the time? I am in the healthy BMI range and can fit into a size 12 with some room to spare for extra pizza slices on occasion. More than that, I’m happy.

If anyone out there has had the same success as I have, or been on this diet for longer, I would love to hear your thoughts. And if I’ve managed to inspire anyone out there to give this one a go, without using the lighter life version that Gemma has, then good luck and keep in touch!

Guest post - The Fast Diet: a two week convert

The following post is brought to you by the lovely Becca who has written posts for us previously. You can check out her blog here: Friendly Film Fan and I'm sure she would be happy to chat about the 5:2 plan over on twitter.

We’ve all done it, reduced our calories so low for a few days to shed a couple of extra pounds, put our bodies into starvation mode and then proceed to gain back those lost pounds plus more when we finally, finally, let ourselves eat carbs again.

I am guilty of this. I am also guilty of ‘being good’ and reducing my chocolate intake, only letting myself have alcohol or sweets once a week, going on soup diets and trying to simply exercise the weight away.

Needless to say I have failed at all of this (having no long-term will power) and I have never found the idea of going to a class appealing, despite it being one of the most successful and sustainable methods. The weight I need to lose is that pesky ‘last ten pounds’ that won’t shift no matter what, I needed something different that I could stick to forever – and I hope I have found it in the Fast Diet.

Now I am not writing this post having been on the Fast Diet for weeks or months and am now the svelte figure I always dreamed of being. No. I am two weeks into this thing and I already love it.

I know many people on this diet (also known as the 5:2 Diet or Intermittent Fasting), but thought it impractical and bad for you to spend two days a week severely lacking in calories. Then one of my best friends revealed she had been doing this intermittent fasting since the new year began and had lost over a stone, was feeling healthier and happier than before and found it, the most important word in the dieting dictionary, EASY.

Two weeks in and I have to agree. For those who don’t know the philosophy behind the Fast Diet I highly recommend reading the book by Dr Michael Mosley and Mimi Spencer or watching the Horizon film that Mosely made in 2012 called Eat, Fast and Live Longer. I have to say the science really convinced me.

It is based on the principal that humans are designed to fast – we would hunt our prey, gorge then go for weeks without eating again. Today we are so used to having three square meals a day and grazing in-between that when we skip a meal our brains panic. What? No food? We must be dying!

No, you’re not dying. You’re okay.

This diet does not advocate skipping whole days of food. What happens instead is you have a quarter of the calories you normally require (500 for women, 600 for men) split however you want on two, non-consecutive days a week. I have been experimenting with my allowance and had a sandwich for lunch and noodles for dinner the first day, a protein filled late breakfast with nothing else to eat (but lots of tea, Pepsi max and water) the second, and breakfast biscuits for lunch with a small amount of curry and rice for tea on my third.

I have found a Monday/Thursday routine is best because then I get at least two days between each ‘fast’ where I do not count any calories. Plus I don’t start work until 1pm on a Monday and it is quite easy to work through my late break (gaining some time off in lieu in the process).

The first day was pretty hellish for me, because all you can think about is food when you are restricting it. Plus I wasn’t exactly prepared food-wise, so my biggest piece of advice is to stock up on veg/salad so you can gorge yourself on something.

The second day was much better, and the third was almost easy.

The key thing I am loving about this change of eating habits is if I really want some chocolate (or other ‘bad’ thing) I can have it. It might be a day later than my craving but still, it’s not true denial if you can have it at some point. The Full Fat version. An entire tub of Ben and Jerry’s if I so desire.

I mentioned earlier that the science convinced me to pursue this diet (along with my friend’s fantastic results). By consuming low calories on intermittent days I effectively put my body into ‘repair mode’, NOT starvation. My body will begin to use the sugars in my blood to produce energy, moving on to the fat once it has burnt through all the sugars. This lowers my blood sugar levels; cutting the risk of getting diabetes. This is particularly nice to know as my Grandfather had type-two diabetes along with a plethora of other illnesses.

There are other long term benefits they believe will come from this type of diet, including cutting the risk of developing Alzheimer’s at a young age (i.e. before 80) and being healthy much longer into old age.

All pretty convincing stuff.

If anyone out there has an interest in this diet do read the book, it does not cost much and will open your eyes to a new way of living. I am looking forward to seeing my body change and my eating habits develop better patterns, with the odd tub of Ben and Jerry’s thrown in.

PS: another added bonus I only just realised this morning – my skin has started to clear up and my chin, normally my worst nightmare, is clear for the first time in years.

Guest Post - Becca from The Friendly Film Fan

Ok so I was asked to do a guest post because I had commented I had been doing a sit up routine every day until my dancercise teacher went on holiday…. I know totally mixed up right – I should have been the one going on holiday!

By way of introduction then my name is Becca, I’m 25 and am studying for an MA and normally blog about films or books. I’ve known Gemma since I visited my friend at Cardiff Uni about seven years ago and we got horribly drunk and danced like loons. Ever since joining Twitter I have followed her weight-loss progress and been so inspired every time I see her. My own personal battle with weight is more about exercise than losing pounds, of course I am technically ‘overweight’ but meh, it is all on my waist and I’d rather tone what I have for now.

Hence the sit-ups challenge.

It has actually been a great motivator, we get to class on a Monday and Lana asks “whose been doing the challenge?” and, most Mondays, we do a guilty shuffle (Lana included) and make our excuses. However since deciding trying to lose weight during my dissertation (I am in the final stages of an MA to become a fully fledged librarian) was totally silly – who can write essays without biscuits? – I have decided to become dedicated to this sit-up routine.

What we do each week in dance class is a warm up (to Beyonce’s End of Time), Cardio (to whatever Zumba routine Lana has recently made up), and then sit-ups which are currently to the Snoop Dogg/David Guetta track ‘Sweat’.

I apologise now for not getting the right terminology for the moves in this routine. Obviously the music is optional but I have included it in the routine in case people prefer to work out to a rhythm.

So just in case anyone wants to try it, this is how it goes: 

• (when the vocals kick in) do four, controlled crunches.  
• Then do one sit-up (so move yourself right up off the floor and stretch your arms to the ceiling, don’t worry if you have to move your legs to do this) 

(http://tinyurl.com/czncrj2)   

• Once back down pull your legs and arms in together so elbows come close to knees then push out with your legs, keeping them as horizontal to the floor as possible (at first its easier to push out with your legs in a more vertical position but soon you’ll be able to get more parallel to the floor). Do this twice. 

(http://tinyurl.com/ctcob4l)  

• Repeat the crunches, sit-up and leg squeeze. 
• The chorus should kick in as you keep your head on the floor and raise your bum, Eric Prydz ‘call on me’ stylee (leotards optional), raise and lower for 8 counts in a controlled way then do 16 rapid (try not to touch the floor with your bum the whole time) 
• In the break in the music before the vocals start again you have the option to do as many quick crunches as you wish, or have a rest! 
• Then the cycle starts again! So: 4 crunches, 1 sit up, 2 leg squeeze, then repeat. Chorus kicks in for 8 slow bum lifts and 16 rapid. 
• Then shift yourself up on to your hands, feet flat on the floor hip width apart in front of you, hands facing your bum, and do 16 triceps dips. Make sure your elbows are bending and you’re not just shifting your bum up and down – this is all in the arms and you’re gonna feel it but push through! 
• Then, I’m sorry, shift yourself on your front to do 10 push ups. Doesn’t matter how difficult you make these but ladies shouldn’t do the full length up on the toes version as this isn’t great for your insides. So, for the girls, stay on your knees and either stretch out your back with hands facing forward underneath your shoulders raising and lowering above the knees, or stay in a steady box shape and just raise and lower your upper body. 
• Finally as part of our routine we do the plank for 30 seconds. This is totally optional for beginners as it will last beyond the end of the song (so have another one lined up maybe to distract you) and is a pretty tough yoga move. Basically you want to prop yourself up on your arms, and push your toes into the floor keeping your back and legs in a straight line. Lana likes to say imagine you have a glass of really expensive wine balanced on your back.

(http://evolutionvtg.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/walk-plank.html) 

And there you go! Honest it works, your shape improves so much, I found out I actually had a waist when I started doing these classes. This routine also helps you to be able to hold yourself in without even realising what you are doing, it becomes second nature to keep it all sucked in which is so lovely!

So, I hope that all made sense. Best advice I can give people who aren’t keen on exercise but do enjoy a night out clubbing is to get yourself to a dance class, whether it’s Zumba, dancercise, salsa, or line dancing it is actually my favourite form of exercise because more often than not you are having too much fun to care if you’re sweaty and red (I go purple).

If you’d like to read my ramblings about films go to friendlyfilmfan. Otherwise good luck with all your weight loss journeys! I’d best go do my sit-ups…