Doesn’t that sound like some sort of update for your computer. 🙂 I guess maybe its an update for our bodies and minds. You can’t help but have noticed the media hype around this diet recently, it seems to have really captured people’s imagination. Even my mum is doing it! Last time we saw her she gave me the book based on it and told me that there was lots of health benefits to it!
Now Im not much of a one to follow diet fads. I try to just regulate health eating with exercise and keep balance in all things. Not always possible if you are as partial to madame cake as me! 😉
But its getting to that time of year when the winter comfy covering falls off (maybe!) and its time to start wearing some spring or summer wear. Because honestly spring has to be, must be round the corner?
anyone else desperate for spring? how long till we see pictures like this one i wonder?
So anything that allows you to eat normally for the majority of the time is going to get my attention. So i thought that I would have a little look into it a bit further.
What is it?
The basic rule behind this diet is fasting, essentially. You eat ‘normally’ for five days, and cut back to 500 calories on your two fasting days. You can choose to eat these calories all at once, or split up into mini meals throughout your fasting day.
How much weight can you lose?
It rose to fame after health journalist Dr Michael Mosley lost just under a stone in 5 weeks, cut his body fat by 25% and improved his blood sugar and cholesterol levels, although weight loss will obviously depend on your height, weight and age. Obviously there is always going to be someone who looses a dramatic amount, its not going to sell the book if there isnt an incredible story to go along with it. But i think most people loose a slow and steady amount and we all know thats how the weight actually stays off right?
Are there any other benefits?
There have been claims that this diet can not only help you drop dress sizes, but that it can also help increase lifespan, improve your cognitive abilities and protect against dementia and Alzheimer’s. Representatives from nutritional boards are sure that the 5:2 diet is not a fad, arguing that cutting down on food a few days a week is a common way for people to manage their weight naturally anyway. It’s like if you’ve had a particularly heavy weekend of rich foods; you cut down and eat healthily for the next few days. Imagine that, but on a more extreme scale.
Apparently this fits in very well with how we may have eaten thousands of years ago when food wasn’t quite as plentiful as it is now and actually we might be designed to have periods of time when there is less calories going in.
Fans who love it say
Fans of the 5:2 say that it’s great as the thought of eating what you want the day after a fasting day makes up for not eating much two days a week, as well as knowing that you’re not burdened with that awful guilt feeling if you do treat yourself to a chocolate bar or a carby pasta dish or two throughout the week. That might have to be a chocolate bar or two in my case…;)
What typical foods can I eat?
A hardboiled egg with ham and a black coffee for breakfast, steamed vegetables for lunch and half a tin of soup for supper are regulars in the cupboards of our 5:2 friends. I have friends who do these days when they are working, or have a busy day so that they don’t think so much about food!
I am going to give this a go i think. I like the idea of not having to regulate all the time. For me combined with getting out there and doing some exercise is the only way to establish long term health and fitness. Like i said its about balance.
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