I read Mary’s post yesterday on the ADF & the intermittent fasting diet, and decided let’s give it a go. My weight has been hovering at the high end of what I deem to be acceptable, and I am getting fed up of this. Previously when I needed to cut down a bit on weight I practiced portion control, and hey presto, 6 months later would be about half a stone lighter. It often helped that I had a big event I wanted to trim down for – such as being a bridesmaid for my best friend, my book launch for ‘The FT Guide To Business Networking‘.

Unfortunately I have no such motivating event coming up. The whole weight problem has been compounded by discovering I can eat chocolate again. After 6 years of being intolerant of chocolate, and yes it is possible to live without chocolate, I was definitely making up for lost time.

You could say, that I have got stuck. I would dearly love to be nearer to size 8 than to size 12, and now seems like a good time to take action. What better way to commit to a course of action, than to actually blog about doing it. I’ve never been on a diet before, and I’ve always benefited from a pretty fast metabolism. (Thank you, Dad) But there comes a time, when a girls got to do, what she’s got to do.

Part of my business life revolves around nice lunches in restaurants. I know, but someone has to do this! Which meant that the 5:2 ADF diet appealed, as I could pick the days when I did the fast, and revolve this around my lifestyle and diary. I’m really not too bothered about needing to cater twice on these days – as being a dairy intolerant coeliac, it’s fairly normal for me to do this. I’m also pretty good at just eating fruit and vegetables – another side effect of being a dairy intolerant coeliac.

Let’s get some scores on the doors before I start the challenge.

I am 5 ft 2″ and weigh 8 stone 13 lb, and my fat percentage if 29.7%, and a BMI of 23.

Now, you may be thinking why do I want to lose weight? I’m in the middle of the healthy BMI range. Well, I feel sluggish at the moment and my favourite pair of jeans is fitting rather too snuggly for my liking. Plus, my fat percentage is actually on the high side…

I am going to follow the 5:2 ADF fasting diet for just 4 weeks – with the aim of losing half a stone and getting my fat percentage down to something a little more healthy, like 25%. That’s the plan. Oh, and I want to have to put a new hole in my black belt. (in real terms that means losing 2-3 inches around my tummy)

To make sure that I don’t cheat, I will only weigh myself once a week, and report in after the weigh in.

For the 1st week I am going to do the fasting days, today and tomorrow. Which then means I can eat a big mexican feast I am planning on saturday guilt free. I’m also planning days to fast when I am in the office and will be so busy that I don’t notice that I’ve only been snacking on carrots and blueberries (my food for today in the office)…

Wish me luck!