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.It’s a steadyreduction, but it feelslike a hugebreakthrough.When Iremember how I felt inJuly - that my weightand my attitude to foodwere out of control,that I had no way of‘stopping the rot’ - Ifeel very lucky.And, of course, I’mseeing the difference.My clothes are looserand even my bra needsadjusting.Could thedreaded back fat - oneof those Daily Mailobsessions - be facingits nemesis?Roll on October…Chapter Four: The HungerGame - Fasting is Good forthe BrainReading my diary a fewmonths on, it strikes me evenmore forcefully how importantthe right mental attitude is toincrease the chances ofsucceeding at any lifestylechange, particularly weightloss.Or at least, people who aresuccessful in losing weight arethose who have the mentalstrength to ignore cravings forlong-term physical benefit.It’ssomething I know many dieters- including myself - finddifficult.If the body showed theresults of that slice of chocolatecake overnight, it might beeasier.As we’ve established, ourbodies are built to consume andconserve energy for survival.Pretty vital for early man, butin the industrialised 21stcentury, when many of us arelucky enough to have a vastchoice and availability of food,making the ‘right’ choicesabout what we consume can beeasier said than done.Intheory, we have lots ofappetising fresh produceavailable, and can make theright decisions: in practice, Iknow many of us feel out ofcontrol.If you read the diary entriesI’ve included in this ebook,you’ll get a sense that my ownweight issues result from awhole cocktail of factors:switching from an activejob to a sedentary one;hating most forms ofexercise;a sweet tooth - and asavoury one, too;a love of cooking,especially baking;a slightly addictivepersonality;a naturally, um, curvy bodyshape;a strong associationbetween food and comfortor reward.Which meansthat whenever I’m feeling abit rubbish about how tightmy jeans are, my firstinstinct is to head straightfor the biscuit tin.What’s your reason?How about you? Why not takea couple of minutes to thinkabout the reasons you mightnot be making the rightchoices?Do any of these ring a bell?Stress - we lead busy lives,commute long distances,and work long hours: oftenwe turn to food,particularly dishes high infat or sugar, to providerapid energy boosts to helpus meet a deadline orcomfort ourselves after ahard day.Commercial interests -manufacturers andretailers know thatprocessed foods oftengenerate higher profits, sothese are marketed in waysthat promote those energyboosting or comfortingqualities: it’s often easierto buy ‘treat’ foods or fastfood when we’re on themove than to try to buy orprepare fresher orunprocessed foods.Mixed messages aboutwhich foods are healthy -with some foods labelled‘low fat’ turning out to behigh sugar, or vice versa.Media images of beauty -including air-brushedphotographs - present suchperfect human specimensthat we lose sight of whatnormal or healthy is - andwhen we can’t live up tothe impossible, we comfortourselves with food.Upbringing - our ownattitudes to food as areward or punishment willbe closely related to ourupbringing and thosearound us - offeringbiscuits or alcohol to‘compensate’ for doingsomething unpleasant, orexperiencing conflict, forexample.Hunger Phobia - we areoften so busy ‘grazing’ oreating food throughout theday that we becometerrified of feeling hungryeven though for most of usin industrialised nations, itwill only be a temporarystate.Yet that constantfeeding can also removethe anticipation that goeswith building up to adelicious meal or yourbreakfast, say.And finally, don’t forgetthe fact our bodies aredesigned to prefer the tasteof high-energy foods!Remember how it feels tobe hungry?I had forgotten until I startedthis diet.I often ate because Iwas thirsty or bored, and hadtotally lost touch with thebasics of appetite or enjoyingthe anticipation before sittingdown to eat.The first days of fasting werea revelation - because I realisedI could feel hungry,acknowledge it, and then carryon with my day-to-day life.Iwould distract myself withsparkling water, black coffee orherbal tea, or even exercise.The pangs came in bursts and ifI could ignore those, then theysubsided.The key to being able toignore those nagging hungerpangs? I knew it would bedifferent the next day.I knewthat if I couldn’t put off eatingwhat I fancied just for a fewmore hours until the next day(and knowing all the benefits tomy body), then really there wasno hope for me at all.Willpower deserts me when adiet is never-ending.But whenit’s simply a matter ofanticipating and enjoying myfood the next day, it’s so mucheasier.Many others agree that soonthe ‘restriction’ of a Fast Daybegins to feel more like a‘liberation’ from worryingabout food – and allows therest of your life to feel normal.It allows me to have mySaturday night meal outand a few glasses of wineon a Friday withoutfeeling as though I have'broken my diet'.Thismeans my relationshipwith my husband doesn'thave to change, as wealways eat out onSaturdays.Julie, 45Fat Crimes andPunishmentsThe problem I’ve had withprevious diets has been thefeeling of deprivation - evenpunishment that constantcalorie counting can provoke.You might well recognise this:you start with the best ofintentions but soon feel asthough your newly restrictedfood intake is the penalty forbeing greedy.Then, in adifficult moment, you think‘sod it, if I’m greedy then so beit’ and console yourself withyour comfort food of choice -chocolate, cheese, bread, wine -which triggers a whole newcycle of guilt…Or you can gain a reputationas the picky one at friends’dinner parties or celebrations,which highlights the fact you’reon a diet ‘again’ and alsohighlights any failures.This diet changes how youview your eating habits – andthe change is likely to bepermanent.In fact, manypeople prefer not to call 5:2 a‘diet’ at all, because of thenegative associations withunworkable or abandonedweight loss regimes.I use diethere because it’s brief and canalso simply mean what you eat:but you may prefer to call this aplan, an approach, a way ofeating or a lifestyle, tomaximise the chances ofmaking this change apermanent one.The psychological benefits areone thing – but there also seemto be benefits at cellular level,in terms of brain function.Effects on the brain:sharper, for longer?The ‘Horizon’ TV programmeintroduced us to a ratherspecial breed of mouse.Onethat had been bred to developAlzheimer’s disease.Differentgroups of these mice were thenfed different diets – some theequivalent of junk food, othersas much normal food as theywanted, and then anothergroup were subject to‘intermittent energy restriction’– a day on/day off regimesimilar to ADF [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]