I started the 5:2 diet last week, made the decision on Thursday night. I wisely chose Monday and Thursday as my days, which allowed me to really enjoy my birthday, which was last Friday!

So on Friday, I had a nice big lunch and dinner, with cake and ice cream for dessert. Saturday and Sunday were nice, just eating whatever I wanted. But I did notice that because I knew I could eat whatever I wanted, I didn’t really want to eat that much, and I didn’t. Of course I had some junk that normally I would never eat (my normal diet is using dailyburntracker.com site, and I basically have to eat between 1700-1950 calories each day, which basically means I can’t eat ice cream, cake, chips, cookies, etc., except in extreme moderation), but I did not pig out like crazy. Which I am quite capable of doing. Which is why I am overweight (I am 25 pounds overweight and have been ordered by my doc to lose that weight, because it is likely contributing to fairly serious lower back pain issues).

So anyway, Mon was my first fast day and I made it. I allowed myself an extra 750 calories because I rode a Citibike around NYC like a madman that day for about a half-hour, so I figured that is worth 150 extra calories. And my calorie total was 743. I ate a bacon egg and cheese wake up wrap (180 cal) and a small dunkin donuts hot coffee with splenda and skim milk (25 cal) when I got to the office in Midtown around 11:30 (I am a lawyer in a small firm where I am the boss, so yes, sometimes I get to work very late). I ate nothing until I got home after work, and then I got a chicken and cheddar potbelly sandwich with light mayo and no oil, and ate half of that, which was 318 calories. Around 8 pm I had four chips ahoy cookies (total 212 cal). I was hungry, but not ravenous. It was challenging but not too challenging.

Tuesday and Wednesday were fine, I was enjoying eating stuff I usually don’t allow myself to eat. I did notice that my appetite was actually a lot less than it usually is. I actually probably ate very little on both days. I ate a lot of junk food on those days, but my total calories on each day was likely around 2,000 to 2,500. My daily burn total of calories that the site expects me to burn just by being alive is about 2,500 (I am six three).

So today is Thursday, the last day in the week, and my fast day. I have not exercised today. I have not been that hungry. Right now, it is about 6:30 pm and I feel hungry, but it is not overwhelming, and really not even that bad. Every so often it is bad for a few minutes, but I am just telling myself that it will pass, and then it does. This morning at around 11:00 am (woke up late, I’m on a staycation), I had a mini cinnamon raisin bagel with light cream cheese – total 190 calories. I just now at about 6:00 pm had half of a Potbelly Wreck sandwich on regular with swiss, everything on it except light mayo and no extra oil (oil in peppers is sufficient). So that half sandwich was 352 calories. So my total is 542 calories. So I may have 58 more calories tonight – that would be perhaps 12 grapes. Or maybe I will just have one babybel light cheese wheel which is 50 calories.

I really, really hope that I lose weight on this diet, because my back is in killer pain, and my back surgeon says he can’t do surgery because I have only a 25% chance of it helping, a 65% chance of it doing nothing, and a 10% chance of it making things worse, and I’ve exhausted all non-surgical options (PT, acupuncture, chiro, cortisone injections, drugs, etc.), and so I really need to lose 25 pounds. But I will be really happy if I can do it this way, because I enjoy eating what I want to eat, and if I can do that 5 days out of the week, I am more than happy to fast two days a week. I’m also really hoping it helps my cholesterol levels which are a very tad bit high, and I also hope I get the energy boost.

So that’s about all The News from Lake Wobegon. Good luck to everyone else out there, and please wish me luck. Thanks.