#getFitMarch | Sharing my experiences on the 5:2 Diet

BACKGROUND WATCHING AND READING

Before you read anything I'm going to write about 5-2, you MUST watch this documentary. It is what wowed me and won me over - Eat, Fast and Live Longer by Dr. Michael Mosley {58:50} It will be one of the most enlightening one hour of your life. This will give you the entire background to this way of life and how it was discovered. 

If this documentary get's you interested, go ahead buy the book - The Fast Diet: The Simple Secret of Intermittent Fasting. It's written by Dr.Michael Mosley (the person behind the original documentary) and Mimi Spencer. This book by Kate Harrison: 

The 5:2 Diet Book: Feast for 5 Days a Week and Fast for 2 to Lose Weight, Boost Your Brain and Transform Your Health, in which she describes her personal experience on this way of life, and how she achieved her goals is also a good read. Kate also started this Facebook group which has a huge number of 5-2ers providing enormous support and guidance to each other. 

What is 5:2?

5-2 Diet (or as we call it, a way of life) is a form of Intermittent Fasting and is the simplest diet / way of life ever. And vegans, vegetarians, celiacs, everyone is invited to the party. It is the most inclusive diet ever. Only a vegetarian knows the pain of getting on an Atkins or a Keto diet, where most of the allowed things are things he / she cannot eat. 

I started logging some of my daily foods in my other blog - Indian recipes for the 5-2 Diet, which I've never shared with anyone thus far, except friends who wanted to see what I was eating on the 5-2 diet, when I started this way of life in March 2014. I worked out with a trainer for the last 3 years before getting on this, and while I gained strength, my weight never budged. Being hypothyroid didn't help either, or being blessed with the proverbial slow metabolism, even before my thyroid went bust. When I started this way of life, I saw the scales respond magically. And if you have listened to what I wrote in my first paragraph here and actually watched the documentary, you'll understand why the scales move.

So how do I do the 5:2 diet? 

I have two fast days in a week. Mondays and Thursdays typically. But if something unavoidable comes up on either of these days, I can always move it. That's the flexibility it offers and it is important if one has to be on any diet for a long term. I couldn't be on the plan for a few months in the middle because I was away from home and there were some pressing family circumstances. But otherwise, it has become second nature now.

I have never fasted a day in my entire life before I got onto 5-2 and yet I do this comfortably. That's because here fast doesn't mean you don't eat anything all day. You get to eat 500 calories (600 for men) in those 24 hours - so that's 500 cals on Mondays and Thursdays and the other days I don't count anything. Of course that doesn't mean I can raid my neighboring dessert place or eat all-you-can-eat buffets on the remaining five days. It only means I can eat like a normal human being, without checking MyFitnessPal every time I want to put something in my mouth. 

ONLY 500 cals??? THAT WILL KILL YOU. YOU WILL FAINT. YOU CANNOT GO TO WORK. YOU CANNOT DO ANYTHING. IT WILL SLOW DOWN YOUR METABOLISM.

All of the above is incorrect. And scientifically proven to be incorrect. The first couple of days, people are known to feel week, headachey and what not, but after the 3rd and 4th fast days, most people cruise through. 

Epic 220 calorie dinner

What do I eat on FAST DAYS?

You can check my fast day logs here http://52recipesindia.blogspot.in/ 

Typically you can drink as many black coffees, green teas, herbal teas as you like. Diet Coke (if you are into those kind of things) is perfectly fine too. 

So if you eat a breakfast or lunch for 150 calories and spend 50 calories on sundry teas and coffees with minimal skimmed milk, you still have 300 calories for a dinner and you'll be surprised as to how much you can actually get in that much. 

The small problem here is most Indian foods don't come labelled properly, especially if you are cooking with fresh produce. The only way out is to weigh a carrot, a zucchini, an onion, a cucumber, check a reliable calorie providing website for calories in these many grams of the vegetable, and then see how much your dinner is worth. The few recipes I have logged on my 5-2 blog are painstakingly noted that way, and it is then easy to replicate them again and again. Yes, and you need to drink 2-3 litres of water on these days, which is even tougher for me than the fasting bit.

How does one get by FAST DAYS?

1. Plan the previous day, what you are doing to eat and when. Oats packets, or ingredients weighed out and everything ready to go. Your water bottles, tea bags, whatever else you need within the 500 should be planned out. People in UK, Aus etc. where this way of life is really popular, their local supermarkets sell ready packed calorie counted dinners that they can easily heat and eat. But that is not yet available here, so you will have to prepare your meals until then. People abroad also make a big batch of soup or stew, calorie counted and divided into 4 portions, frozen or refrigerated, that they heat and eat on fast days.
2. Schedule tons of work, non-cafe type meetings, mall visits (preferably malls without donut stores ;), movie outings (sorry, no popcorn, black coffee is ok) on these days so your mind is off food. At least initially, you will need to be out of the food scene on your fast days. If you keep hovering around home or the kitchen, you will find it tough to keep up the resolve. 
3. You can also go hit the gym, or do a gentle walk on these days, provided it doesn't make you go crazy for food once you are done. 

What are the benefits of the 5-2 Diet?

1. You'll see the body changing, the measuring tape will make you happy. And of course so will the weighing scale. People lose an average of 1 pound a week ~500 grams, men somewhat more, but it also depends on a lot of other factors, but this is seen as an average in most 5-2ers. Losing weight is just one of the benefits though. 
2. It is said to be anti-aging and promoting longevity. No doubt our ancient seers fasted a lot and lived on forever (at least so it seemed in our epics). It has been seen to improve insulin sensitivity, reduce blood pressure and bad cholesterol. I have seen magical transformations, before and after pictures posted by 5-2ers on the Facebook group. It is heartening to see such amazing results by making the simplest change in our eating habits. Not going after any fancy foods, restrictive diets, socially ostracizing diets and so on. You get to eat with your family, friends, socialise on any of the 5 days of the week. 
3. I've personally experienced how on a fast day, my brain is razor sharp, I can get tons of work done, not just because there is no food distracting me ;) but it is a survival instinct inbuilt in nature. When animals have gone without food for days, they are more alert to find a prey and not become prey themselves. While I'm not going hunting nor is anyone hunting me, I can vouch for the fact that i'm 10 times more intelligent on fast days than what I am on regular days. 

Coming to #GetFitMarch - I had reached my lowest ever weight and waist size in ages, thanks to 5-2 last year. With the demise of my father, it was tough to stick to it, around those circumstances, and while I continued to fast, I wouldn't be strict at counting my 500 calories on fast days and the pounds came back. Also because weekends, I ended up eating too many wrong foods and hardly any physical activity. Coming back to #getfitmarch, I got back in all earnest to my beloved 5-2 since March 1st, and two pounds are off already. It is a mantra that never fails, if you are honest to it. 

So I got back to a propah fast day on Tuesday this week and I'm doing it today again this week. I'm typing this post with a one litre bottle of water next to me :)

Fast day foods

Tuesday, I had a super hectic day. I had plenty of water. I had 3 teas until lunch time, each with just 2 tsp of skimmed milk and no sugar. Lunch time I had a big mug of a mock-rasam, where I add 2 tsp cooked dal, 1 tsp tomato paste, boil with mug of water, lots of black pepper and salt. This also adds to the water intake for the day. Dinner I had a bowl of cucumber, tomato, 1/4 apple tossed in green chutney and a dry sauteed veggies stuffed in smooth gourd / zucchini, baked in the oven with a touch of oil. All this came to well under 500 calories for the day.

Somedays, I eat a small bowl of oats porridge or savoury oats from a pack for breakfast, teas for lunch and then dinner at 6.30pm or 7pm, sometimes, I'll go on teas and coffees until lunch, have a soup for lunch and then something for dinner, mix and match all you like, but ensure the whole day is under 500 calories and the results will be yours to see. Some people even go without eating all day and straight have a 500 calorie dinner, and that is a better than normal dinner. So it's totally how you want to play it, how your schedule is like etc.

I'm a firm believer in the 5-2 way of life and the fact that human race cannot be healthy given the quantity of food that we eat currently, and pretty much throughout the day. It has worked for me, like no other exercise plan or diet has and I strongly believe in the benefits it has to offer. And it comes from a person who hates fad diets of any kind. 

This is just the beginning of the discussion and it's needed quite some effort from my side to share this experience. I'm happy to answer your comments here, to whatever extent possible. 

I may not find the time to update the blog daily with #getfitmarch posts, but do follow the Pinterest board dedicated to this, where I pin my workout videos chosen for the day, or on Twitter, where I will be posting 2-3 updates on my food, workout and water intake.