5:2

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.

A day in the life of a 5:2 faster (Part 1): The fasting day

~ eaton24 ~ 3 Comments

Many people I meet are shocked when I mention I do the 5:2 diet. There is a general perception that the 5:2 is quite ‘intense’. Those who have never heard of it seem to believe that they would perish if they attempted to live on 500 calories for 2 days a week. The funny thing is I can actually remember having a similar reaction when I first heard about the 5:2, thinking it would never be something I’d have the motivation to do, wondering what people could even eat on a ‘2’ day. Since I first heard about the 5:2 a couple of years ago, perceptions of it have changed. Generally now it has become so popular that most people know someone who is on the 5:2, or a friend of a friend and by and large, the reviews are pretty favourable. But I still get asked the question; “how do you survive on just 500 calories?” to which my most common answer is: my body has simply got used to it. It has become a habit, and not even the type of habit that is tedious and annoying. People look at me like I’m a Martian when I tell them I actually find my fasting days really refreshing. Because we are of a generation and culture who eat so frequently and have such an epic fear of hunger, people believe that we 5:2ers must spend our fasting days curled up in a corner in a semi-human state, incapable of normal interaction. This is not how it goes. I’ll walk you through a typical fasting day: Continue reading →