The 5-2 Diet

There is not an awful lot you can say about the 5-2 Diet, but their is a lot about intermittent fasting.

Intermittent fasting is an eating pattern that involves regular fasting. There are a number of diets that involve fasting, but I find the 5-2 diet easier to do. It can take a few weeks to get into the 5-2 groove, but I find that it works for me, and people I have spoken to also say the same. It’s easy to plan around your life style too. Whereas full-time dieting requires times when you are restricted by the food situation for example birthday buffets, nights out, festive parties whereas with the 5-2 diet you can pick and choose your fasting days, one week could be Monday and Wednesday, another could be Monday and Thursday so you can fit it round your social life. And only being good for two days of a week is much more manageable than having to watch what you eat every single day in order to lose weight.

Many people find this way of eating to be easier to stick to than a traditional calorie-restricted diet.

The 5-2 diet is very easy to explain, for five days you eat normally and don’t have to think about calories (of course you don’t want to go mad and stuff your self silly to make up for what you didn’t eat on your fasting day)Then the other Two days you count your calories 500 for women and 600 for Men. You can choose which ever two days you wish as long as their is a non fasting day in between them. I normally pick a Monday and a Thursday, just two or three small meals and the rest of the week eat normally. Its important to emphasize that eating “normally” does not mean you can eat anything. If you binge on junk food, then you probably won’t lose and you may even gain weight.

How 8 Glasses of Water a Day Keep Fat Away

Incredible as it may seem, water is quite possible the single most important aspect in losing weight and maintaining it. Water suppresses the appetite naturally and helps the body to metabolize stored fat. Studies have shown that a decrease in water intake will cause fat deposits to increase, while an increase in water intake can actually reduce fat deposits. So on my fasting days instead of reaching for the bottle of wine I make sure I drink plenty of water which suppresses the hunger and helps me through the day.

Healthy Benefits of Intermittent Fasting.

Intermittent fasting is an eating pattern where you cycle between periods of eating and fasting. 5-2 method is just one and numerous studies show that it can have powerful benefits for your body and brain Intermittent Fasting can change the function of cells, Genes and Hormones. When you don’t eat for a while, your body will initiate important cellular repair processes, here are some changes that occur in your body during fasting:

Insulin Levels, Human growth hormone, Cellular repair, Gene expression.

The Bottom Line is

When you fast, insulin levels drop and human growth increases. Your cells also initiate important cellular repair processes and change which genes they express.

Intermittent fasting can help you lose weight and Belly Fat. Intermittent fasting will make you eat fewer meals, Unless of course you compensate by eating much more during the other meals you will end up taking in fewer calories. Short term fasting actually increases you metabolic rate by 3.6-14%, helping you burn more calories. In other words it works both sides of the calorie equation. It boosts your metabolic rate (increases calories out) and reduces the amount of food you eat(reduces calories in).

According to a review intermittent fasting can cause weight lose of 3-8% over 3-24 weeks. People also lost 4-7% of their waist circumference, which indicates they lost lots of belly fat, the harmful fat in the abdominal cavity that causes disease.

Healthy Heart.

Intermittent Fasting May be Benefficial For your Heart, Heart Disease is currently the worlds biggest killer. It has been shown to improve different rick factors, including blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels.

Regular fasting was linked with a longer life and lower incident of heart failure in heart patients. Heart Disease is a long term disease, so we can find a sustainable regimen that people can do for most of their lifetime, studies have found that intermittent fasting will do just this.

Intermittent Fasting May Help You Hold on to Muscle When Dieting

One of the worst side effects of dieting, is that the body tends to burn muscle as well as fat. But some studies show that intermittent fasting may be beneficial for holding to muscle while losing body fat. There is some evidence that intermittent fasting can help you hold on to more muscle mass when dieting, compared to standard calorie restriction. One of the main benefits of intermittent fasting is the simplicity of it.

Intermittent Fasting can Reduce Insulin Resistance, Lowering Your Risk of Type 2 Diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes has become incredible common in recent decades. Its main feature is high blood sugar levels in the context of insulin resistance. Anything that reduces insulin resistance should help lower blood sugar levels and protect against type 2 diabetes. Intermittent fasting has been shown to have major benefits for insulin resistance and lead to a reduction in blood sugar levels. In human studies, fasting blood sugar has been reduced by 3-6%, while fasting insulin has reduced by 20-31%. What this means is that it may be highly protective for people who are at risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Here are a few examples of foods that may be suitable for fast days.

• A generous portion of vegtables
• Natural yoghurt with berries
• Boiled or baked eggs
• Grilled fish or lean meat
• Cauliflower rice
• Soups (for example tomatoe, cauliflower or vegtable)
• Low-calories cuppa soups
• Black coffee

Conclusion

Intermittant fasting has many benefits, its simple to fast for 2 days out of the week, has a lot of health benefits and you can lose weight. Whatever your approach you should always obtain pleasure from your eating and your diet should never become a terrible chore.