Eat, Fast and Live Longer: Week 14
It's been 14 weeks since the phonecall with my friend Cathy in England. 14 weeks since she told me I had to watch a documentary called Eat, Fast, Live Longer that was made by the BBC. How it would change my thinking about health and weight loss.
I am 14 weeks down a path of following Dr Micheal Mosley's advice in his book "The Fast Diet". In that 14 weeks I have eaten normally for 70 days. I have fasted for 28.
I have been to dinner at friends houses. I have eaten Easter eggs and sat down with Byron at the weekend with glasses of wine and cheese and crackers by candlelight. I have been to the movies and munched on popcorn and peanut M+M's.I have been on girls nights out and eaten chocolates with cups of tea at Bookclub while laughing and talking about everything but that months book. I have made celebration dinners and Birthdays cakes and whole heartedly enjoyed eating them surrounded by family and friends. Guilt free.
I have lived.
I have lost 8 kilos.
My weight has dropped from 62kgs to 54kgs. That's over a stone in weight over a safe 3 1/2 months...
I blew my original target of getting to 57kgs and had to add in an extra few lines to the grid on my poster inside my pantry door. The weightloss has levelled out over recent weeks and I'm not aiming or expecting to loose much more.
It hasn't all been easy. Some fast days have been harder than others. Some days I have found my hand bringing something to my mouth as I cooked or unpacked the groceries. I have had to count to ten and put the food down. I have exercised. I've kept a chart to make me accountable for how many "none exercise" days I have (Note the big crosses!) I have cycled in front of the tv in the evenings and dusted down my pilates dvds. I have learned new recipes for 300 calorie dinners that taste amazing and beat our normal evening meals hands down. I have massively increased my intake of fruit and veggies.
I have made new priorities and made the time to follow them.
Tonight here in Australia the BBC documentary "Eat, Fast, Live Longer' is being aired on SBS at 8.30pm.
I cannot encourage you enough to watch it. I am so grateful to Cathy for enthusing about it and starting a lifestyle change that has brought me so much benefit. If just one person says the same thing 14 weeks from now because they read this then it will have been worth blogging about!
Let me know if you watch it. I'd love to know your thoughts on it. If you want to click back on the blog posts I wrote since starting the intermittant fasting you can find the links below...
The Fast Diet, An introduction.
Week1 update
Week 2 update
Week 3 update
Week 4 update
Week 5 update
Week 8 update
Gina, this has been such an amazing journey for you. Even though I've seen the difference with my eyes, seeing the statistics as you've set them out in this post just blows my mind. Congratulations on your discipline and hard work. You really are reaping the rewards xx
PS This is going on my April favourites link-up :-)
Well done Gina .. I will have a read,, sounds interesting,, I am the weight you are now, so might only need to lose a pound or two, can I do it like that,
Dear Gina, Congratulations on getting to Week 14 and losing 8kg, it's brilliant and so inspiring! Thank you for sharing this, it's been most helpful. I came across the book and watched the documentary online a few weeks back. I've been doing 5:2 for 3-4 weeks now and have lost 2 kilos. It's most reassuring to hear it worked for you as I'm also turning 40 this year! Unfortunately for me it's a couple of weeks away and my goal is to lose 10kg. Won't happen in time but at least I'm feeling good and have a strategy in place! Thanks again! I'll let you know when I reach my goal. LOL
I just started 5.2 today. Today is my first ing fasting day. I was wondering where you got that awesome chart? I haven't read the book yet so I don't know if the chart is in the book
Hi Gina, this diet sounds like the one for me. I have watched the show a couple of times. Do you think you need to buy the book or is it that easy you just have 600 cal on 2 days and eat whatever on the other days?
To answer the question about whether to buy the book or not? I was wanting every last detail of information before I embarked on the 5:2 diet and the book goes a greater breakdown of blood test results etc. however the bottom line is to eat 500 or 600 calories per day depending on whether you are female or male. If you feel you can calorie count and don't need the extra tips and hints then go for it. There are many websites with suggested meal ideas for any number of calories you choose to search for. If you struggle and need extra info the book could be a good plan B to buy and keep you on track. I hope that helps.
Have you noticed any drop in muscle size or strength? I was always told that fasting caused the body to eat away muscle. Apparently we loose 1% of muscle volume per year after age 30%
Hi "eat-blog-fly" In response to the question about noticing any drop in muscle size?
I would say that I have no concerns about the possibility of my body using my muscles as an energy source. I believe that the intermittent fast makes your body turn to the stored body fat for fuel once the blood glucose is depleted. Because you resume normal eating the following day the body never gets to a point of needing to turn to muscle stores.
Although home weighing scales that measure body fat and muscle are not very accurate they can at least show you the direction in which your body composition is moving. Over the last 19 weeks I have gone from a body fat percentage of 33.3% to 22.4% and a body muscle percentage of 32.6% to 39.0%.
I hope this helps to answer your question.
Hi there. I've been on 5:2 for approximately 3 months and have lost 30 lbs. I'm an avid cyclist (150 miles weekly) and was concerned for muscle loss, but understood and can confirm that the benefit of the 5:2 plan is that you do not experience any drastic muscle consumption phase. In fact I've added muscle mass. Using a smart scale such as the Tanita or Omron that provide BMI along with fat and muscle ratio help validate and can offer encouragement too.