On starting the fasting diet I launched into a daily fast by accident rather than by design. Over the next six days my weight reduced by 5 lbs (possibly a tad more) but amazingly my blood pressure which was around the borderline mark of 140/80, pulse 70, dropped to 110/65, pulse 80. On the first day of the fast I almost abandoned it as I was not feeling particular good but I continued. Following this I had good days and not so good days but the days that were good were very good indeed when I felt 'top of the world'. I was more energised, more able to accomplish manual tasks around the house, and never felt it necessary to have the routine afternoon nap. My thinking processes appeared to be more alert.
Then I made the mistake of deciding to tackle the 5:2 regime; seeking to be loyal to the spirit of the book. Breaking from the daily fast of no breakfast nor lunch and certainly no snacking, and returning to normal habit, on the first day I felt bloated, suffered indigestion, could not sleep at night, and generally felt awful. During the following three days, although my stomach had settled (well almost) I returned to afternoon napping, low energy, the restoration of weight loss and increased blood pressure to 135/79, pulse 70.
The obvious was becoming manifest; the body, although accustomed to regular daily meals, is much happier with periods of fasting. In today's society we appear to have become addicted to regular meals; like Pavlov's dogs, we have trained ourselves to salivate at given times of the day. What was required was to retrain the body so I did a quick exit from the 5:2 fast and returned to daily fasting.
Paradoxically, on the change, one again suffered from not feeling so good, to being over-energised and not being able to sleep for the first two nights. By the second day my spirits were beginning to percolate upwards but the third night was my wedding anniversary! My wife and I had dinner at a five star country house hotel and it was delightful and there was no way that I was about to leave anything on my plates. Mostly I have a meat dish for the main part of the menu but on this occasion settled for salmon which was delicious. Upon returning home late in the evening, feeling bloated and lighter of pocket, I retired but once again could not sleep owing to indigestion and regurgitating bile and the awful taste of undigested salmon! The following morning on arising I took two charcoal capsules and within the hour began to feel more like my normal self. Now, two days further on, and once more I am feeling great. I slept soundly through the night, awoke earlier than normal and feeling again 'top of the world', clear of mind, energised, and ready to face whatever the day throws at me.
I am glad to report that my weight has again reduced by around 5 lbs, my blood pressure was down today to 123/65, pulse 80, so I am finding that this daily fasting regime is more suitable to my needs. The past two weeks has been something of a roller-coaster but overall not especially difficult. Not having breakfast did not prove difficult but at lunch time the pangs of hunger arise, most likely as the body has had lunch at this time of day for most of its life so it is anticipating, like Pavlov's dogs, to being fed and like a dog out of control it requires retraining. The feeling of hunger dissipates after about ninety minutes although the stomach continues to feel empty and the waist thinner.
While fasting daily with dinner in the evening I try to vary the time of eating. hopefully, to prevent the body from taking refuge within its preservation mode; currently, it appears to be successful although I am not quite certain. This feature should be confirmed over the next two weeks.
Incidentally, I do not count calories.
Then I made the mistake of deciding to tackle the 5:2 regime; seeking to be loyal to the spirit of the book. Breaking from the daily fast of no breakfast nor lunch and certainly no snacking, and returning to normal habit, on the first day I felt bloated, suffered indigestion, could not sleep at night, and generally felt awful. During the following three days, although my stomach had settled (well almost) I returned to afternoon napping, low energy, the restoration of weight loss and increased blood pressure to 135/79, pulse 70.
The obvious was becoming manifest; the body, although accustomed to regular daily meals, is much happier with periods of fasting. In today's society we appear to have become addicted to regular meals; like Pavlov's dogs, we have trained ourselves to salivate at given times of the day. What was required was to retrain the body so I did a quick exit from the 5:2 fast and returned to daily fasting.
Paradoxically, on the change, one again suffered from not feeling so good, to being over-energised and not being able to sleep for the first two nights. By the second day my spirits were beginning to percolate upwards but the third night was my wedding anniversary! My wife and I had dinner at a five star country house hotel and it was delightful and there was no way that I was about to leave anything on my plates. Mostly I have a meat dish for the main part of the menu but on this occasion settled for salmon which was delicious. Upon returning home late in the evening, feeling bloated and lighter of pocket, I retired but once again could not sleep owing to indigestion and regurgitating bile and the awful taste of undigested salmon! The following morning on arising I took two charcoal capsules and within the hour began to feel more like my normal self. Now, two days further on, and once more I am feeling great. I slept soundly through the night, awoke earlier than normal and feeling again 'top of the world', clear of mind, energised, and ready to face whatever the day throws at me.
I am glad to report that my weight has again reduced by around 5 lbs, my blood pressure was down today to 123/65, pulse 80, so I am finding that this daily fasting regime is more suitable to my needs. The past two weeks has been something of a roller-coaster but overall not especially difficult. Not having breakfast did not prove difficult but at lunch time the pangs of hunger arise, most likely as the body has had lunch at this time of day for most of its life so it is anticipating, like Pavlov's dogs, to being fed and like a dog out of control it requires retraining. The feeling of hunger dissipates after about ninety minutes although the stomach continues to feel empty and the waist thinner.
While fasting daily with dinner in the evening I try to vary the time of eating. hopefully, to prevent the body from taking refuge within its preservation mode; currently, it appears to be successful although I am not quite certain. This feature should be confirmed over the next two weeks.
Incidentally, I do not count calories.
