The day before

Well, I don’t know why I am so apprehensive/excited about this 5/2 diet. I’ve tried a few others and it seemed like the Atkins diet was the only successful diet. The only problem was that you have to be consumed with the carbs you eat. See, I love to cook my own food and compiling the carbs for all the ingredients was too laborious. Then there was the fact that I could not eat tabbouleh, hummus or lentils, which I craved after being denied.

Now with this new 5/2 diet (or lifestyle), I will eat normally five days a week and fast* two days a week. The reason I put the asterisk by the word fast is that it is not really fasting, in the traditional sense. To me, and most everybody else, fasting is consuming nothing but water for a period of time. Granted, there are various types of fasting, (i.e., juice fast, fasting a meal, etc.) but I have not heard of this type. It is simply a calorie restriction fast.

So my plan is to eat normally on Sun., Tue., Wed., Fri., and Sat. but restrict my caloric intake to no more than 600 calories (kcal) on Mon. and Thu.

As far as exercise goes, I had been going to Planet Fitness off and on for the last year. About two months ago, I really began to get into the exercise groove and was going five days a week. I have an awesome mix of music on my mp3 player and I would ride on the elliptical for thirty minutes. I was even up to a forty-five minute regimen but then I got sick. This has been the worst cold I have ever had and has been going on for a month. Needless to say, I had to stop going to the gym; so I’ll be starting fresh. I still have a bit chest congestion, which means that I’ll be jumping back on the exercise wagon slowly. I think this will help be more realistic in whatever is going to happen to my body. I hope it is weight loss.

I think that by doing this blog, it will keep me accountable as to what I eat. As I said, I like to cook my own meals, so eating junk food or pre-packaged meals is not my thing. I’ve worked out a menu that I’ll try for a bit. On my fasting days, breakfast will consist of 1 fried egg on a piece of low-cal bread, toasted, with 1/2T smart balance butter spread. Lunch will be 2C mixed baby greens with 2T cheese fantastico dressing, 3oz of sliced mini-peppers and 1/4C feta cheese. Dinner is a 4oz grilled boneless/skinless chicken breast, 2C cooked veggies and 1/2C brown rice. (This is 600 calories +/- 5 to 10)

Alrighty then, tomorrow I’ll weigh myself and we’ll start. See you tomorrow.