The 5:2 Diet For Weight Loss
Nowadays, everywhere we turn, we hear about the modem day explosion in the form of obesity. Many of us know a great deal about its implications on the quality of our health. There are hundreds of weight loss diets popular but only some give the desired results. The 5:2 diet or tasting diet emerged as 2013’s hottest weight reducing regimen. This diet is placed on the top 30 weight loss diets in US news rankings.
Unlike any other weight loss diet, for this diet, you eat normally for five days of the week and cut your calorie intake to about 25 per cent on two non-consecutive days of the week (which works out to be 600 kcal/day for men and 500 kcal/day for women). This diet pivots on the concept of compliance.
The central idea of intermittent fasting stops you from feeling bored, fatigued, empty and miserable – all the things that prevent most diets from working. There are even more options in this regimen like 4:3 (four normal and three fasting days in a week) or alternate day fasting, but 5:2 seems to be more comfortable to stick to, so you can make it a routine.
Dr. Michael Mosley first brought the concept of intermittent tasting to our attention back in August 2012, with his show on BBC called ‘Horizon’, documenting the diet’s incredible potential. In his words. ‘Fasting helps us live longer and healthier and the extra benefit with this would be weight loss. During tasting the body gets time for self-repair. You lose fat with this diet, but not body protein, It’s a huge myth to think that our metabolism slows down when we starve.
Strictly speaking, this isn’t complete fasting because we can eat two or three small meals during these lasting’ days. The unintended side eflects of feeling faint or unbearably hungry as you might in full fasting can be avoided. Fasting is not new for us as we do this many times for religious reasons. But tasting for weight loss is perhaps a lesser known concept, Though it seems very simple, cutting down the calorie intake drastically takes a lot of effort.
Why Weight Loss Diets Fail
Stressful Lifestyle
Modern day life style encourages us to choose high tat and high calorie foods to boost our energy and comfort us after a hard day. Stress may cause binge eating disorders too.
Convenient
Foods It is often easier to buy fast food or ready to eat food when we’re on the move than to buy or prepare fresh or unprocessed foods.
Misleading Food Labels
Some foods can be labelled as low fat but they might contain high amounts of sugar which can compensate for the calones. The fact that we consider high calorie foods to be the tastiest among all processed foods.
All it takes to conquer these issues is a little will power and discipline. The prime convenience with the 5:2 diet is you can eat what you love, so you will not feel deprived. Increasing evidence suggests that this way of eating has positive effects that far exceed the benefits of weight reduction alone. It also helps people develop a good sense of dealing with hunger pangs between meals with relatively less effort.
The normal days in this regimen have no calorie cap. This should not misleadingly result in overfeeding on calories sacrificed during the fast days but a slice of your favourite dessert is permitted. You can choose the fasting days in a week yourself. It can be like two or three of eating very small meals per day or snacking throughout the day. But you need to spend 500- 600 kcals wisely. It seems very simple, but we take in halt of the calories by having a cup of commercial J flavoured milk.
Weight loss diet: Eating more of this food can burn belly fat – when should you have it?
Pay attention to the calorie content of foods you eat on a fasting day. You will be surprised to know how many calories are there in commonly consumed foods (For example, loo grams of cooked rice gives 100kcals and one cup of whole milk gives l5Okcals).
Protein rich foods like skinless chicken, nuts and pulses can be included as a part of the fasting diet to provide satiety. Try to take low glycemic index and high fibre fruits (grape fruit, oranges, apples) and vegetable salads to curb hunger and provide vital nutrients. People who have followed this diet have seen good results. According to them, they have found a way of eating that works, whereas other numerous diets did not work for them for years.
Do’s Of The Diet
Keep yourself hydrated. Much of the water we take throughout the day comes from food. As you restrict the quantity of food, you must drink a lot of water in the form of non-caloric beverages like herbal teas or plain water. You need to continue your regular physical exercise pattern along with this diet.
Don’ts Of The Diet
Don’t try this diet if you are pregnant, are planning for pregnancy, are diabetic, have any eating disorders or if you are already lean. People who are on long-term medications should take their doctor’s advice before trying the 5:2 diet.