I'm really really overweight/very obese and I have been trying to lose weight for a long time. I've tried many different things like Weight Watchers, Atkins, a low carb/high protein, eating less processed and more from the earth many many things. I would exercise 5x a week, I've counted calories - nothing would really work. Actually when I was counting calories I actually gained more weight. I do have hashimotos thyroid which has led me to being hypothyroid just add that to the struggle of losing weight.
So a few weeks ago I saw my doctor and she's like Micki you really need to get this weight off. (she is a really sweet caring doctor). She then told me she herself tried this diet called The Fast Diet or also known as the 5:2 diet (fast 2 days and eat normal the other 5 days). She said look into it and give it a try. She said she tried it and it was doable and she lost what she wanted to lose.
I came home started googling and looking into the diet. The one thing I was worried about the most was the blood sugar crashes I get when I don't eat regularly. I went and looked for some support groups on facebook and found a couple and joined. I asked some questions like the blood sugar question and everyone said it wasn't that bad and to just try it. I also talked with a friend of mine about it and she also said she would try it with me and my husband said he'd do it too!!!
I sat down and logged into Sparkpeople and started planning out my food for the fast days. Plugged in my recipes to the recipe calculator which let me know how much calories were in a serving of food. I made sure I had my calories balanced and made sure my meals were filled with fiber and protein. I was all set for my first fast day.
Tuesday came and I drank a lot of water and tea and kept busy till I could eat around 11/noontime. That first bite of my western omelet was amazing. I could taste all the flavors in it and it was so satisfying. That first meal of the fast was to change how I looked at food. I promptly emailed my friend who is doing the WOE (way of eating) with me and she also experienced food tasting better. The afternoon passed, I stayed busy drank lots of water and tea and about 3pm i started to feel a little shaky and light headed. My friend reminded me to eat a pickle so I did and it really helped. Something about pickles that help with hunger, probably something in the pickling is my best guess. I also had a couple stalks of celery a little later and with those two things I made it to dinner. Dinner was also very tasty! All of my meals have tasted better since starting 5:2 WOE.
I know there is a lot of science behind the idea of this diet/WOE and some of it has to do with we never let our bodies feed off our reserves because we are constantly eating. Since we are constantly eating our bodies just keep packing the food away around our middles for later use. I'm not a scientist, my mind does not think like one so my explanation was in the best terms I could do.
Some things I have learned from just the two weeks doing this WOE are:
1. Food tastes better
2. I don't need as much food as I think I do
3. It's OK to be hungry it's burning the fat
4. I have MORE energy!!! Something I thought I would never have again cause of my low thyroid.
5. It's not as hard as you think to do this.
6. It can help correct blood sugars. From talking with others on the support group that were diabetic this WOE helped reverse it.
Fast forward to today I am 8.2 lbs lighter!!!!!
Do I think I could do the fasts weekly for the rest of my life? Yes I do!
Do take a look into this, give it a try you might be surprised at what starts happening outside and inside your body and mind. I've never been for extreme anything I don't feel this is extreme at all and I don't feel deprived. In my doctor's words "It's doable".
