I have now finished my 4th full week of fasting. It's been a fascinating journey as I watch my relationship with food. I've fluctuated between 20-60 pounds overweight for all of my adult life. I have to say that this is the first "diet" I've ever tried in which I'm completely confident I can do this forever. I've done weight watchers, Atkins, South Beach, Herbalife, I could go on and on. No matter what I did, I always looked forward to the day I could go off the diet and eat "normally" again.
And then regained everything I've lost.
With 5:2, I am feeling so *good*. My fast days are literally a relief of stress as it means I don't have to cook! I feel so sharp and alert, not only on my fast days but also the day after. I've been able to carry on my slowly building exercise routine even on fasting days. I've lost 20 pounds since January, 10 of which happened since I started 5:2.
One thing I notice as I get nearer the end of my fast days is that I start to contemplate what I will have/eat for dinner. For the first three weeks, I tried to think of what would give me the most protein and be the most "filling" for the fewest amount of calories. It worked fine, and I went to bed with a comfy tummy and feeling great.
Tonight, I made myself chicken fajitas with white meat chicken breast and different coloured bell-peppers over a bed of romaine lettuce and raw spinach leaves. It was a *HUGE* amount of food for right at 500 calories - and I could only eat half of it. I'm stuffed. heh. I think my body is adjusting to this woe as well. I simply wasn't as hungry as I thought.
On my feed days, I still use myfitnesspal on my phone to track my calories and try to stay near 1600 calorie intake, but sometimes I'm over. 1600 calories is my TDEE. I usually don't "eat back" my exercise calories, but sometimes I do.
This woe is so flexible! We have a family vacation coming up and I really want to be in as good of shape as I can by then, so I am trying to "hurry up" and lose weight - and yet still be as safe and sensible as I can. I have chosen to watch what I eat on feed days and am working my way through a "couch to 5 k" program.
Anyway, I just wanted to share my happiness. I think this week will be a no-loss week for me, though my weigh-in is tomorrow so we'll see. But I just am constantly amazed at how *good* I feel and how well my body has adapted to it. I'm so grateful that I stumbled upon this woe/lifestyle!
(edited to correct weight loss since starting 5:2 vs weight loss prior to that since January 30)
And then regained everything I've lost.
With 5:2, I am feeling so *good*. My fast days are literally a relief of stress as it means I don't have to cook! I feel so sharp and alert, not only on my fast days but also the day after. I've been able to carry on my slowly building exercise routine even on fasting days. I've lost 20 pounds since January, 10 of which happened since I started 5:2.
One thing I notice as I get nearer the end of my fast days is that I start to contemplate what I will have/eat for dinner. For the first three weeks, I tried to think of what would give me the most protein and be the most "filling" for the fewest amount of calories. It worked fine, and I went to bed with a comfy tummy and feeling great.
Tonight, I made myself chicken fajitas with white meat chicken breast and different coloured bell-peppers over a bed of romaine lettuce and raw spinach leaves. It was a *HUGE* amount of food for right at 500 calories - and I could only eat half of it. I'm stuffed. heh. I think my body is adjusting to this woe as well. I simply wasn't as hungry as I thought.
On my feed days, I still use myfitnesspal on my phone to track my calories and try to stay near 1600 calorie intake, but sometimes I'm over. 1600 calories is my TDEE. I usually don't "eat back" my exercise calories, but sometimes I do.
This woe is so flexible! We have a family vacation coming up and I really want to be in as good of shape as I can by then, so I am trying to "hurry up" and lose weight - and yet still be as safe and sensible as I can. I have chosen to watch what I eat on feed days and am working my way through a "couch to 5 k" program.
Anyway, I just wanted to share my happiness. I think this week will be a no-loss week for me, though my weigh-in is tomorrow so we'll see. But I just am constantly amazed at how *good* I feel and how well my body has adapted to it. I'm so grateful that I stumbled upon this woe/lifestyle!
(edited to correct weight loss since starting 5:2 vs weight loss prior to that since January 30)
But I also know that I can hop right back on 5:2 the minute we get home and carry on the health benefits. I don't feel guilty if I 'slip up' because I know my next fast day is only a few days away.
