health

The 5:2 and religious fasting: lessons to be learned from religious fasting

~ eaton24 ~ 1 Comment

Whether you’re religious, spiritual, atheist or agnostic, I believe a lot can be said for the religious fasting and I believe we 5:2ers ought to pay more heed to the connections here.

Last week marked the start of Ramadan, a period of extended religious fasting for the duration of a 29-30 day lunar cycle, practiced by Muslims across the globe as one of the Five Pillars of Islam. The Ramadan fasting means that those practicing will fast from dawn till dusk a total of roughly 17 hours for those in the UK.

As a member of two Facebook groups on intermittent fasting and the 5:2, (and I am by no means bad-mouthing these pages, the fellow fasters on the web have helped, advised and supported me throughout my 5:2 quest and for that I am eternally grateful) I have noticed a general focus on weight loss as the key factor of the 5:2. I hold my hands up. I am absolutely guilty of this myself. In fact, for a long while my daily routine involved stepping on the day-ruining-machine before I’d even brushed my teeth.

I’m considering taking a leaf out of the respective books of those religious fasters, who fast not for the purpose of weight loss, but for something else entirely.  Is it possible to be an agnostic, but also spiritual? If so, then that is what I am, so I don’t think I’ll be converted any time soon, but I am opening myself to the idea of a more ‘mentally focused’ approach to fasting.

Throw away the scales

You may have gone out and,being the keeno that you are, bought one of those expensive, fancy new-fangled set of scales that tells you your BMI etc etc, but throw them away. Or if that’s too far, then get a friend or partner to put them somewhere you won’t find them for a while. The scales are not your friend. Meet your new friend, Mr Tape Measure.

Freeing up food time

I actually think that since I’ve started the 5:2 way of life, thinking about food takes up quite a lot of my brain space. My new fasting resolution is to liberate my food-obsessed brain and think about things other than food. While religious fasters focus less on material things and concentrate on prayer and growing their relationship with God, I might take time to re-evaluate nurture my relationships with friends and family or do something else I love, like baking or reading.. on reflection let’s go with the latter.

Practice self-discipline

This is what inspires me the most about religious fasters. Many Christians fast during the 6 weeks of Lent, practicing self-denial and self-restraint the resistance of temptation. On many an occasion I have broken my fast simply because somebody offered me a Krispy Kreme doughnut or invited me out for a drink. I think observing more of the behaviours of religious fasters might help give me that shift in focus I’m in need of.  Or I could take- up road meditation- as pictured.

Road meditation

Falling off the motivational wagon and getting back into the little black dress

~ eaton24 ~ 3 Comments

CatAbout three years ago I invested in a classic French Connection little black dress. About one year ago I made the decision to keep said dress in the already overly-filled wardrobe even though no amount of industrial strength stomach-sucking-in pants would have made it fit. I’d put on an incredible amount of ‘comfort zone’ weight (two stone of it to be precise) since meeting the boyfriend.

Over the years I have actually kept or purchased a number of these ‘motivational’ items just because I knew I wanted things to change. A pair of Levi skinny jeans, a lovely silk red Jasper Conran shirt dress, and a stunning tartan Dolce and Gabbana jacket (a charity shop purchase and bought prior to the Elton John boycott debacle)  make up just a few of the ‘It’ll fit me one day’ collection timeless classics.

Over the past couple of weeks, weight loss has been particularly slow. I’ve continued with my 2 fasting days a week but I’ve plateaued, I’ve gained a couple pounds, lost one or two, then gained again. At this point, self-motivation got a little tough until I re-discovered the skinny dress. Going out to dinner with my best friend wearing my little black dress was the best feeling I’d had all week. Of course, cocktails were necessary to mark the momentous occasion (oh and we found a cat in the pub. Hence the picture).

This along with a number of comments from people have renewed my confidence and made me realise it’s better to focus on the little everyday triumphs than obsessing with the number on the scales.

So, fellow 5:2ers, if you don’t have any motivational items of clothing in your wardrobe, I’d highly recommend investing in something in your target dress size. I’m looking forward to throwing out a pile of frumpy clothes that don’t suit or fit me anymore and investing in a few new outfits once I’ve reached my target weight. I’m not quite at the ideal just yet, but these little wardrobe-related milestones make all the hard work worthwhile, and keep my moving forward.

PSHD- Why Skiing is awesome and we should all quit our day jobs

~ eaton24 ~ Leave a comment

For the past week I have been suffering from severe PSHD- Post Skiing Holiday Depression. I genuinely think this is a real condition. Having spent a week throwing myself down mountains in Andorra, I come home, return to work and get ill. Back to life. Back to the reality of a sedentary lifestyle.

While I was away I must confess I didn’t adhere to my 2 fasting days.. or even one. The idea of a full day of non-stop exercise on just 500 calories seemed like it may have been more foolish than sensible. It would certainly have been a shock to the system. The weighing scales welcomed me home with a 3llb reduction anyway (in spite of an insane accumulative consumption of goats cheese, pizza and schnapps during the 6-day trip).

Having lost a little weight though, I proceeded to put this straight back on after about 2 days back into the routine of having a desk job. After 6 days of relentless physical activity I was restless, endorphin/adrenaline deficient and had so much energy, making concentrating on emails and press releases somewhat tricky.

My body was craving the gym.. something I never NEVER thought I would say. So I obeyed and found that my fitness levels are probably now better than they have ever been (certainly a lot better than before the holiday). I didn’t manage to keep hold of the triceps, which had made a fleeting appearance as a result of excessive ski-pole action, but my legs, particularly knees are noticeably stronger and my stamina has improved. However, sitting at a desk all day means I have to work myself into a sweaty crimson mess at least 3-4 times per week in order to have the slightest chance at retaining any of that. The sedentary life we lead is a bit shit really isn’t it? I basically spend 8-9 hours (if not more) just sitting. Wow that’s depressing.

End note: If there are no more entries in this blog, it’s because I’ve quit my job and have moved to Andorra. Please direct any fan-mail to Soldeu, Granvalaria. Thanks.

Silver service, smoked mash and why the 5:2 feast days are essential for hospitality professionals

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Today I find myself in York. I’ve never been to York before. I’m up here for two days with work attending an industry trade show with my boss. If I haven’t mentioned it before, I work in the events and hospitality industry (or, more specifically, I work for a PR consultancy specialising in this sector).

During the past 2 years of working in this industry I’ve learned that having a flexible diet regime is absolutely essential. Hospitality and events industry professionals are absolutely spoiled when it comes to food, be it an awards event with a sit down 3 course dinner, reception drinks with canapés or a breakfast meeting,  amazing food is pretty unavoidable. I’m fairly convinces that my 2 year introduction to the world of work in this field is what made me put on 2 stone in the first place. So needless to say, in terms of dietary choices, we’re in need of a little give and take which is exactly what the 5:2 offers.

Being a massive fan of food anyway, I absolutely love this about my job (although I would like to just note here that PR people aren’t just all about schmoozing, boozing and fine-dining- contrary to popular belief). The featured picture shows one of the many courses I enjoyed during a press lunch at one of our client venues in London last summer. This involved silver service, something called smoked mash and there were cloches present (if you know what a cloche is then you know more than I did before this experience!)

My point is, that when it comes to hospitality clients, the phrase ‘It’d be rude not to’ really does ring true. I was once attending a meeting in Kent for one of our catering clients, having already eaten my sensible fasting day lunch of a sushi snack pack and diet coke on the move, I was greeted with a spectacular spread which my client referred to as an ‘executive lunch’. Needless to say, this sent my fasting day into oblivion. At that moment I learned that client meeting days, it’s fair to assume, will not make for good fast days.

The beauty of the 5:2 diet though, is that tomorrow offers another opportunity for a fresh start and a fresh fast day, no guilt necessary. Non fast days are great, but the odd feast day (the ones where you can relish the fact that you work in such a great industry, not worrying about what the 3 course lunch and copious amount of red wine might have added up to in terms of calories) are absolutely essential. This is what makes the 5:2 diet a lifestyle choice, not a diet.

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