I've Taken The LighterLife Fast Blogger Challenge

Weight is such a subjective thing, isn't it?  There's the weight we are supposed to have for optimum health and then the personal weight we have where we feel at our best.

Many of us fall over both of these figures on the weighing scales.

My starting weight at 10 st 3lbs

There are acres of material on the subject of diets.  A new trend appears every few months or so which generally requires an expensive trip to the supermarket to stock up on Quinoa, Kale and, given the current 'national courgette shortage', the humble rival to the cucumber.

But who has time for all that?  And if you struggle with your cooking mojo, you really aren't going to whip up something with miso, fish stock and noodles when the kids are demanding fishfingers.

My interest in the 5:2 diet (or intermittent fasting as it is otherwise know) began when I read that eating this way has greater implications for our health than the other diets I have come across.

It is claimed that intermittent fasting can

*increase lifespan
*improve cognitive function
*protect against conditions such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease
*protection from disease in general.

Intermittent fasting is where you restrict your calories for 2 days a week and then eat 'normally' for the remaining 5.

The jury, of course, is out as usual but logic tells me that most of us eat far too much.

Even as long ago as 1600, the physician Thomas Moffet had this to say:-

"Men dig their Graves with their own Teeth and die more by those fated Instruments than by the Weapons of their Enemies."

You get the feeling this is really not a new problem, don't you?

I am currently 10 stone 3lbs which is about 7lbs over where I would like to be.  I'm actually a stone heavier now than I was on my wedding day on 25th November 2011 and now I am on the brink of Menopause, I am aware that weight loss might be more of a challenge than it was previously.

All of which is a rather long preamble to say that I have currently taken on the LighterLife Fast blogger challenge to try their 5:2 Weight Loss Made Easy Diet where you simply choose from 4 out of a wide selection of their products including soups, shakes, ready meals and bars.  

They say that a combination of any 4 of their products will give you 100% nutrition - i.e. 100% of the recommended intake of vitamins and minerals with plenty of protein and fibre.

LighterLife Fast is a 5:2 range designed to maintain your weight or help you lose 1 or 2lbs a week, so a small and steady weight loss programme.

The products are exclusive to Superdrug and you can buy them online.

I will be taking on this challenge for one month and tomorrow sees my third fasting day (or the first fasting day of my second week).  I am fasting every Monday and Thursday which leaves the weekend clear for 'normal' family meals.

Here's what I've found so far:-

* you don't feel hungry and it doesn't feel like fasting

* the products taste good and there is sufficient variety to get you through the day

* you have to resist the urge to eat extra the next day to make up for your deprivation!

* you need to have pretty strong motivation to stick to it.
* it's a bit odd not eating when the rest of the family are tucking in to regular meals.

This is the ideal diet, I suggest to try before a special event like a wedding or in preparation for hitting the beach this summer.

I'll be reporting back to let you know how I've got on and I'm hoping that this way of eating might be something I can do on a longer term basis.

We'll see.