diet

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.

Healthy in numbers: Why getting your partner on board the fast train is a great long-term plan

~ eaton24 ~ Leave a comment

I’m slowly working towards a fasting empire. At the beginning of January I got my boyfriend on board with the 5:2 diet. Having chewed his ear off and sung its praises for the past 6 months it was no surprise really that he would be tempted to have a go (even if only for a quiet life). I think being naturally interested in health and nutrition is often a precursor to the first 5:2 attempt and having watched me shed the pounds over the latter half of 2014 he was intrigued to see if it would have the same effect for him. In the last couple of weeks his mum has also started on the 5:2 and is also doing brilliantly- having lost 5ilbs in just one week.

According to a recent study, conducted by scientist at UCL which I read about on the BBC, when one half of a couple adopts a healthier change in lifestyle, the other is likely to also adopt these habits. Admittedly the study was conducted on those over the age of 50 but I still believe this would have a strong effect on most couples who live together.  I think in my case this is because we both have a healthy competitive spirit which spurs us on along with the desire to be healthy in general for the long term.

I’m not going to lie, his 10lb weight loss (in just 3 weeks) makes me jealous. I am now losing weight much more slowly than when I initially started on the 5:2, but this makes me even more determined to get closer to my target weight before he does, sneaking in high intensity gym sessions or a long power-walk while he is out and consciously making healthier choices when we eat out on non-fasting days.

Being in it together also means less temptation on a fasting day, there’s nothing worse than being on a fast while everyone around you has ordered pizza. But now there is no need for solitary confinement, we just have to tell ourselves that salmon salad is equally yummy and that we can have a treat night on Wednesday. Fasting on the same days of the week also makes food shopping a lot easier and means we can keep the fridge bare and temptation free when it needs to be.

Moral support is also key, be it in the form of him prizing the chocolate muffin from my hands at 10pm or me telling him to play football or (the virtual equivalent) FIFA to distract himself from the hunger gremlins (this is my opportunity to have a long, relaxing bath and read a trashy magazine). We’ve also found that our attitude towards food changes after fasting, making us much more conscious of what we eat (and drink..) and making it all the more enjoyable when we do indulge in the odd treat night.

I also don’t think it needs to be a loved one. I believe having a fasting buddy can help motivate us and adopt healthier lifestyle choices. I have a friend who has taken up the 5:2 and she is a great source of new recipe ideas, tips and general moral support and motivation. Lets be honest. The 5:2 is clearly pretty contagious, so there’s a lot to be said for being healthy in numbers.