I was lying in bed last night and I realised something pretty amazing (well I consider it so), that on the 5:2 Intermittent Fast protocol, you actually can get 4 fasting periods out of 2 IF days.
The way it works is this:
On Thursday night I stopped eating at 6 p.m. and fasted until 10 a.m. - 16 hour fast.
I then ate the IF day of 500 calories (for a female - 600 for males), and had my last meal at 5 p.m.
This means I have finished eating at 5.20 p.m. and as I did not have any calories left, I then went until 10 a.m. Saturday (this morning) before eating again. - 16 hours 40 minutes fast.
Effectively by eating my last meal/food intake on the IF restricted calorie day earlyish, and by not eating the next day until 9 or 10 a.m., I automatically get another fasting period of 15 or 16 hours in, without really consciously intending to. As I do this twice a week, it turns my initial idea of 2 fasting periods a week into 4. RESULT!
What makes this more tolerable for me is that it is only in 2 chunks. If I had to split this up more - say like the alternate day fasting, it would affect more of my week and my mood/energy levels. Due to my health issues, I am not a natural faster, so the easier I can make it for myself the better.
One of the reasons I am so excited about learning that I can do 4 fasting periods out of 2 IF rotations is that I watched Dr Mosley's Horizon documentary yesterday afternoon. Not only did it help me to cope with eating 500 calories (sometimes I need a bit of inspiration!), but the research thus far speaks for itself. The results of studies on mice and people are amazing. As someone for whom IGF-1 has been an issue (excessive growth) and for whom insulin resistance/type 2 diabetes is a concern (no one in my family has it - I definitely do not want it), the lowering of IGF-1, fasting glucose and cholesterol levels is heartening. I have come to the conclusion that regardless of weight, this is something I would try for the health benefits.
If you have not seen the documentary, check it out:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xvdbtt_eat-fast-live-longer-hd_shortfilms#.UPFBkJzFLni
Showing posts with label Mosley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mosley. Show all posts
Saturday, 12 January 2013
Tuesday, 8 January 2013
Survived... just!
It's official, I survived my first intermittent fast (IF) night/day - 24 hours - or whatever you want to call it. I don't really see it as being a total fast, as it's a mix of fasting and then very low calorie eating. To say it was hard and pretty uncomfortable at times would be the truth.
During the IF period, I did a little supportive reading by looking at articles about IF and other fasts. I have fasted before, so the sensation of fasting and emotional reaction to the sensations was not a complete surprise to me. At the same time, it is really tough to start with. My body pretty much protested from about 4 hours in (yes, how lightweight is that?) and my tummy growled a lot when I was trying to get to sleep. The amusing thing is, there are many times in life when I go without eating for more than 4 hours and I don't feel starving, so I feel there is some psychological component to this reaction.
Anyway, I managed to get a 16 hour window of fasting in before I ingested a tea with milk. Then I waited a while before having a 200 calorie meal, and later had a 300 calorie meal as an early dinner. To be honest, the 200 calorie meal didn't really work for a 5 hour period. My body wanted something in-between! I had some coffee with a little milk, and another cup of tea and finally cracked and had 1 plain cracker type biscuit/cookie. I ended up in-taking just under 600 calories.
I weighed myself yesterday and found out that I have put on 10 pounds since I last did calorie counting. That's a lot! I thought I would be more upset by this than I am, but I think because I already have a plan of action in place, the news is not upsetting me as it normally would. I feel matter of fact about it - okay, so I have put on 10 pounds, but I can get those 10 pounds off. I am still not at the same place I was this time last year, which is a boost. The weight is, as usual, gained pretty much on my thighs/hips and middle, my arms a tiny bit, and the rest of me is much the same as pre-gain. I knew this just by sight. I look very big around the thigh/bottom/hips and this is further accentuated by my small waist. It is not a good look for me personally and is definitely not the look I am going for!
So now Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday are regular eating days. I am roughly calorie logging to keep an eye on intake. I want it to be no more than 1,800. Today, I would be happy with 1,700ish as this would make up for the 600 instead of 500 intake of yesterday. I am hoping that once I get maybe a month or two of this new plan underway, I may be able to avoid counting on regular days and just log on intermittent fasting days.
Anyway, something else I am going to blog about is an exercise concept I noticed while researching yesterday. It has been investigated by the same man - Dr Michael Mosley - who inspired me to try the intermittent fasting. He looks at whether really short bursts of intense exercise - 3 minutes - can be as effective as longer periods. Of course, given my health problems, this ideas interests me, as 3 minutes is definitely more doable than 30. More of that in another post.
In the meantime, if you are interested in Intermittent Fasting, you might want to check out Mosley's co-authored book - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fast-Diet-Intermittent-Fasting-Healthy/dp/1780721676/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357650492&sr=1-1
During the IF period, I did a little supportive reading by looking at articles about IF and other fasts. I have fasted before, so the sensation of fasting and emotional reaction to the sensations was not a complete surprise to me. At the same time, it is really tough to start with. My body pretty much protested from about 4 hours in (yes, how lightweight is that?) and my tummy growled a lot when I was trying to get to sleep. The amusing thing is, there are many times in life when I go without eating for more than 4 hours and I don't feel starving, so I feel there is some psychological component to this reaction.
Anyway, I managed to get a 16 hour window of fasting in before I ingested a tea with milk. Then I waited a while before having a 200 calorie meal, and later had a 300 calorie meal as an early dinner. To be honest, the 200 calorie meal didn't really work for a 5 hour period. My body wanted something in-between! I had some coffee with a little milk, and another cup of tea and finally cracked and had 1 plain cracker type biscuit/cookie. I ended up in-taking just under 600 calories.
I weighed myself yesterday and found out that I have put on 10 pounds since I last did calorie counting. That's a lot! I thought I would be more upset by this than I am, but I think because I already have a plan of action in place, the news is not upsetting me as it normally would. I feel matter of fact about it - okay, so I have put on 10 pounds, but I can get those 10 pounds off. I am still not at the same place I was this time last year, which is a boost. The weight is, as usual, gained pretty much on my thighs/hips and middle, my arms a tiny bit, and the rest of me is much the same as pre-gain. I knew this just by sight. I look very big around the thigh/bottom/hips and this is further accentuated by my small waist. It is not a good look for me personally and is definitely not the look I am going for!
So now Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday are regular eating days. I am roughly calorie logging to keep an eye on intake. I want it to be no more than 1,800. Today, I would be happy with 1,700ish as this would make up for the 600 instead of 500 intake of yesterday. I am hoping that once I get maybe a month or two of this new plan underway, I may be able to avoid counting on regular days and just log on intermittent fasting days.
Anyway, something else I am going to blog about is an exercise concept I noticed while researching yesterday. It has been investigated by the same man - Dr Michael Mosley - who inspired me to try the intermittent fasting. He looks at whether really short bursts of intense exercise - 3 minutes - can be as effective as longer periods. Of course, given my health problems, this ideas interests me, as 3 minutes is definitely more doable than 30. More of that in another post.
In the meantime, if you are interested in Intermittent Fasting, you might want to check out Mosley's co-authored book - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fast-Diet-Intermittent-Fasting-Healthy/dp/1780721676/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1357650492&sr=1-1
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