Fasting.

The first time I heard about intermittent fasting, I was working in a bakery and one of the regulars told me about it.  She explained it in such a way that I immediately wrote it off as a ridiculous fad; 'Well, you don't eat two days a week and then you can eat whatever you like the rest of the time and you're guaranteed to lose weight!'.  Pfft.  Whatever.  It sounded like a crash diet gone wrong, where your body would enter the fabled 'starvation mode' and you'd end up gorging the rest of the week to compensate, putting on whatever weight you'd lost through deprivation, and then some.

It wasn't until a few months later, my Mum mentioned it to me.  She'd borrowed a book from my aunt, detailing this 'Fast Diet', and since my Mum had successfully been following it for a couple of weeks, I thought I'd give it a read.  And I was pleasantly surprised at what I found.

Without going into too much detail, it's an interesting read.  It cites studies into what fasting does to the body, potential medical benefits of the diet and the promise of a steady, manageable and long-lasting weight loss.  I was intrigued and since I'd been considering dropping a few pounds, I thought I'd give it a try.

For me, it works.  I've chosen two days per week (Tuesdays and Thursdays) on which I consume as close to 500 calories as possible.  On those days, I drink a lot of fruit teas and water, the occasional coffee with a splash of milk and I've found that eating one meal in the evening works best for me.  This means that I usually go from about 6pm the previous evening (or 9pm if I've had a biscuit with my cuppa) until 6pm on my fast day without eating anything.

20+ hours of fasting.  Sounds crazy, but it's actually alright.  I'm asleep for a lot of it (bonus!) and while I do get the occasional hunger rumble, I just have a drink or a little potter about or do some crocheting and it fades away.  That hungry feeling really doesn't stay; it doesn't get worse and worse until I dive head-first into a chocolate gateau, it just goes away and I get on with my day.  That was really my main concern, that scary feeling of hunger that I'm simply not used to.  But once you've felt that hungry feeling, taken a few breaths and let it pass, it really isn't scary any more.  It's just a feeling.  And when you do eat, it always tastes super delicious.

This isn't an endorsement to try this particular diet, though I can't really call it a 'diet' since it's more of an eating plan intended to last for the rest of your life!  I'm not suggesting you rush out and try it, I just wanted to mention it as it's really going well for me.  I like that there isn't a feeling of deprivation, like on diets I've dabbled with in the past; if you really want that cake, you can have it tomorrow.  There isn't any 'cheating', no 'falling off the wagon' or feeling guilty about eating something.  And since I plan my fast day meals in advance, it's a nice chance to not think about food at all until it's time to prepare it.

Do you follow any kind of healthy eating plan?  I'd love to hear what works for you.

Love, K.