5:2

Pretty ambiguous title, huh? What I'm referring to is the 5:2 diet - but I hate calling it that, it's more of a method; an anti-diet, if you will. The 5 and 2 correspond to days of the week. 5 days you eat normally, and 2 days a week of your choosing, you fast by eating 500 calories or less.

I know how you're looking at me right now. I got that look from both my co-worker and my boyfriend. Look, I get you 100%. It sounds miserable. I thought I would be miserable. And I've already done diets like this before. I tried the alternate-day diet, which is fasting every other day. I tried it for about a month but gained weight on it, possibly due to the fact that I was forced to eat an entire day's worth of food in an 8 hour period and then not eat the whole next day. It was tough with my schedule. I also did hCG, which is 500 calories every day for 42 days.

This, however, is a lot simpler. There are two rules:
1. Eat whatever you like 5 days a week (try to keep it healthy and reasonable, but nothing is off-limits)
2. Eat 500 calories (600 for men) or less 2 days a week. Technically, nothing is off-limits here either, but you want to ration your calories carefully, as you will be hungry, so you should eat foods that will help best with that.
3. Keep your 2 fasting days separate. It's not really a rule, you CAN do them consecutively if you want to, but it would be a lot of unnecessary suffering.

Basically, this diet achieves a "calorie restricted/reduction" diet without actually restricting calorie intake 5 days a week, which can be easier for some folks who have a hard time with the broad scope of "daily calorie restriction" (like me). I like to follow rules, I need structure, so just saying "hey, eat less every day" doesn't really work for me.

There are apparently a bunch of researched benefits of fasting (and busted myths, like "starvation mode") and you can read about them here. But I wanted to focus on the lifestyle benefits of fasting; the things that most people don't realize.

1. Cost savings. You're not eating 2x a week!!
2. Sleep in!! You're not making coffee or eating breakfast. Take more time for yourself
3. Ketosis, or something similar. I've read that it might take a day or two to kick your body into ketosis, but if your 500 calories includes very little carbs, you're essentially doing Keto for a day and possibly burning fat instead of glucose.
4. Flexibility. Have dinner with your parents on Monday? Change your fast to Tuesday. Free surprise lunch from your boss? Eat it today and change your fast to another day.
5. "You can have it tomorrow". This is basically the clincher. Unlike a typical calorie restricted diet, you are not restricted every day. Those cookies in your cupboard are easier to ignore if you tell yourself that you can eat them tomorrow. It makes a ton of difference.

I wanted to give you my personal experience with 5:2 so far. History: I've always struggled with keeping my calorie intake reasonable because it's really hard for me to say no to extra sweets (like in the break room) I kind of go overboard. I don't exercise besides walking and sometimes hiking, and it takes real effort for hunger not to control me constantly.

So here's the gist: it's not as hard as you imagine it to be. It sounds completely undo-able, but I choose days that are the busiest for me to keep my mind off of my stomach. 90% of it is probably psychological; but hell, if it works then great. The hunger can spike from time to time, but it does go away within a few minutes. If not, then I make some tea. (Morracan Mint - the warmth and the mint help with hunger pangs). I have nothing for breakfast, a hard boiled egg for lunch, and save my calories for dinner when it's the hardest to avoid my kitchen. I've been told that it gets easier with time, as well. The craziest part is that I go to bed not hungry and I don't wake up the next morning with ravenous hunger. And the next day, when I can choose to eat like a pig, I just don't. I'm not any more hungry on my off days.

It's kind of amazing. And I can't wait to see my progress on the scale with my nutritionist!