I'm joining the masses and starting the 5:2 diet tomorrow. The one where you eat normally for five days and restrict yourself to 500 calories for two.
The problem is, I'm a 'panic eater'. Like those people who, at the first hint of a storm, rush out to buy unusually large quantities of things like tinned haricot beans and spam, I often find myself eating, not because I'm hungry, but because an opportunity has presented itself. Say someone puts out a plate of biscuits. How can I not have one? It's not every day someone puts out a plate of biscuits. And why stop at one? Why not have three, or even four? Who knows when I'll next get a chance to have a biscuit? At least, that's what the primitive part of my brain tells me. The part everyone else in modern society seems to have got a handle on. My appetite can't seem to fathom that we no longer live in the hunter gatherer days where people had to eat as much as they could because chances were scarce.
This panic eating problem proves particularly interesting at buffets. When I walk into a buffet, I immediately become very suspicious of everyone around me, and very protective of the food cart. Of course, I have to maintain at least an illusion of decorum, so I usually wait at my table for four of five minutes before sauntering up to the counter like I couldn't care less whether there's any food left. Once I've piled up and returned to my table, it's not relief I feel, but fear that while I'm here eating my duck pancakes, all the sesame toast will go. Buffets are very uncomfortable places for me. Getting full is the worst thing. Walking out of the door knowing you're leaving all that free food behind is just wrong, it's wrong.
So my point is, I'm worried that if I know tomorrow's going to be a hungry day, won't I just stock up today?
It seems I'll have to establish a bit of old fashioned self control if I'm ever going to banish the belly.
Tonight I'm going to weigh myself (eek), take some measurements and then get this 5:2 experiment going. According to clinical trials, some people lose up to 12lbs in a month on this diet. Sounds a bit drastic to me but that would be 12 fewer lbs to lift when I get round to doing my pull up, so it's worth a try.
I started the 5:2 in the fall last year after my weight loss had totally stalled. I don't have the panic eating, but I did wonder if I would just eat a lot more on the non-fast days or if I would be so hungry on fast days that I couldn't think about anything but food. I was very surprised at how manageable the 5:2 was for me. I usually do Mon/Thurs as my fast days and I drink a lot of hot tea which helps me. Today I ate about 660 calories but I don't beat myself up over it -- just move on. I bet you'll do great with it! Looking forward to reading your posts.
ReplyDeleteYes I'm experiencing the same thing - I don't really feel the need to eat too much on non-fast days, and (even though it's just been one week) I'm finding it very manageable. If you don't mind me asking, has it helped you to lose weight? I also do Mondays and Thurdays, it leaves the weekend free for a few glasses of wine! Thank you so much for reading and good luck with yours :)
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