Those of you who know me, or follow me on the various social media hangouts I frequent, know I love my food and my coffee. I love cooking, sharing meals and eating. Sadly, it seems, genetics and my metabolism plus an inability to exercise, partly due to tiredness, and an knee injury, and partly, because I am lazy, and only like running or swimming, and refuse to join exercise classes or the gym, my body doesn’t burn off calories as well as it did when I was younger, and I know I need to lose weight and get in shape. I want to get to a place where I feel confident and happy, and my clothes fit me better. My recent knee problems, which settled and now have flared up again, have restricted my exercise to walking, swimming, and possibly Pilates, as I am not allowed to partake in any “high impact” activities, like running or dance classes.
I don’t do organised weight loss groups, and although I have tried Weight Watchers, and other diet groups, I find them, frankly, too much hassle, weighing foods, working out points, and having to buy diet foods etc. is too much like hard work, for me, at the moment.
To be honest, good old-fashioned low-calorie and exercise works best for me, and because of my history of eating disorders, I am always careful, keep myself accountable to someone else, even though I am not struggling with the issues that being anorexic then bulimic caused, I find it is a good thing to have someone to make sure that I am looking after myself when I am watching my weight and on a diet. A good friend has agreed to be my sidekick, and keep an eye on me, during this period of time, as I try to lose some weight and get in shape.
So, I have read a lot about the 5:2 diet, that has been in the news, and on blogs and websites, recently, and I am seriously considering trying it. It would work for me, because 5 of the days you eat normally and the other two days you either fast, or eat a restricted calorie amount. I can do that, easily and could manage it.
I would love to hear from anyone who has tried it, the pros, cons, success stories, or failures, while I do a bit more reading and research into it. I plan to start some sort of weight loss regime on the 1st July, and will then have 6 weeks until my in-laws arrive in the UK for their holiday. I would love to be looking better and feeling in better shape, for their arrival. The last time they saw us, I was mid new baby sleep deprivation and had not really lost any of the baby weight from Big Girl’s birth, then gained some, then lost some, from HEG with Small Boy’s pregnancy, and unfortunately, I am not one of those lucky people who burns off weight breastfeeding, and have baby weight plus some to lose. They don’t get to see photos of me often, and I would like to feel good over the summer, as well and wear my summer clothes, that have been in storage since I was pregnant with Small Boy, which are one size smaller than I am now. A small, but achievable goal, in six weeks, I think!
So, please comment, or tell me what you think and share if you have done this diet, and if it worked for you?
My sister does it and swears by it, online I know that http://www.honestmum.com has been doing it and found it works post-baby. I’m seriously thinking about doing it post breastfeeding if I find the weight creeps back on.
Thanks. I don’t want to do it if other people have found it really doesn’t work, and it looks safe to me, from everything I have read, it’s basically fasting for two days a week, which actually, medically, doesn’t do any harm to your body, if you are eating well, the rest of the time and don’t have any health issues. Will be doing a bit more reading and check out Honest Mum’s blog! Thanks!