Normally when I want to discuss something important, I take the route of a build-up to make it more relatable or entertaining. But the today’s topic of discussion already has enough build-up around it that anymore, would be overkill. You are thinking what it can possibly be – well Diets, and a specific diet too – The 5:2 diet method.
The 5:2 diet also known as ‘The fast diet’ is the method which includes almost fasting (the more professional term is Intermittent Fasting). The numbers in the name represent the days involved. So in this plan, you eat normally for 5 days of the week and for the other two you reduce your calories intake to 25% of your regular calories (it comes to about only 500-600 a day). The crucial thing here is that these 2 days aren’t clubbed together, they must have a day’s difference in between them.
As you can imagine, the result is weight loss, inches loss, because of the rational way it’s made, you are less likely to cheat on this diet or leave it midway. Also, intermittent fasting has shown good results for heart health, cell repair and improving insulin sensitivity, and is beneficial to the brain too.
You want to hear the next amazing part. This diet doesn’t restrict or dictate the terms and conditions. So you can eat whatever you want, whenever you want. On fast days, you may choose to have 3 meals or 2 meals of your choice and select your days as well. Of course, the ‘*’ is there but it’s not as ghastly as in some Ponzi schemes, the only rule here is to make sure you don’t pile on those rejected calories during the fast days in normal days, and yes you are supposed to eat healthy items.
A few examples of what will make for good during fasting is Lean meats, Eggs (boiled or baked as even poached eggs have about 143 calories each), vegetables, soups, Fish, Fruits (at least some of them). Yeah, that’s the hard part, limited choices if you want to nail the diet. Now here comes the next * conditions applied, this diet is not for everyone, so steer clear if you belong to any of the below-listed categories:
- Pregnant Females, Nursing Mothers
- People suffering from malnutrition, undernourished or anorexic
- Individuals with type-1 diabetes
- Growing children or the elderly
This diet comes with its own side-effects too: headaches, hunger pangs, moodiness owed to hunger. Also, if you start to feel lightheaded or dizzy, ditch the diet and grab something to eat and consult with a dietician before you start again. At this juncture, it would be best to point out that this diet (even though better than others) cannot replace exercising and healthy food.