Dear All,

I’m 12 weeks into this and I thought I might share my experience of this diet with anybody just starting out, and who might be interested. First of all, I am just an average chap, 47yrs old and weighing around 108kgs when I started this diet back in April. My job demands that i stay active, but like lots of people of my age I seemed to be gradually putting on weight. It didn’t help that I have sweet tooth!

Anyway, 12 weeks in and I have lost 10kgs. At first it was hard to reduce my intake to 600 calories a day, twice a week, but I can honestly say that once I got used to it, or rather got into a mindset that I didn’t need to eat, it has become much much easier. Hopefully any of you starting out will find the same. For the last few weeks I have trying to half my calorie count on fast days, just for the challenge – mindful that however hungry I get, tomorrow I can eat!

I have seen the posts in here that offer recipes or tips for replacement food on Fast Days, and to begin with I was fixated on what I could eat, almost trying to replicate my daily eating pattern. But then I stopped, and treated Fast Day as a day when I had to eat differently, not mimicking non-fast days – I might not be explaining this as best I should, but it was a kind of change in my mindset.

I go to the gym or go for a run on Fast Days, with no problems at all. I drink plenty of water and all seems fine. A few of the people I work with are doing the Fast Diet as well now, which makes it more fun and easier to do. My wife is convinced that this is just a fad and tells me that when I finish doing it I will just put weight back on. By my response is why would I stop doing it? As cheesy as it sounds, this has become a way of life.

There are a few massive upsides… I’ve lost 10kgs already (aiming to lose another 8 kgs), my waist has shrunk from a tight 38 inches to a comfortable 36 inches (downside…my trouser are now all loose!). I feel great and healthier, and lots of people comment on my weight lose, which is flattering. Best of all, I treat food with more respect. When I come off fast day I don’t scoff down food to make up for the last 24 hours – I don’t feel that I need to. I savour food more and enjoy the tastes. I still have the odd glass of wine and bit of chocolate on non Fast Days, but it is treat that I am very cognisant of, rather than an automatic reaction, which it was before.

Anyway, enough of my waffle. I have written this in case it is of any help to people just starting out, and I hope it is. This describes my experience, but of course we are all different, so if you have read this, none of it might apply to you, but I hope it does. If I had to give one bit of advice I would say don’t think about being on the Fast Diet too much, i.e. don’t fixate on what you can eat to replicate what you would normally eat, instead just eat differently.

Hope this is of interest (first time I’ve ever really written on a forum – but felt I have something of interest to say :-))

Steve