On the bandwagon...Alternate Day Fasting aka 5:2

I've been interested in this for a while, ready some of the 'info' googled some of the blogs, and researched 'what can i eat for 500 calories' and '5:2' and 'Alternate Day Fasting' and talked to my boss (he's currently doing it), before deciding that this eating style can actually work with my lifestyle.

I also needed to convince Mr Lisa that it's not a fad and that it wouln't interfere whatsoever with what he ate either (he doesn't want to do it) and it wouldn't take over our lives 'I can't eat that, I've eaten all my points/sins/naughty-foods today'

It's not a diet. I'm not seeing it as a diet. It's an eating habit, like regular exercise should be.
It seems like it will fit into my working week; I'll often get stuck into a project at work and before I know it it's about 2.30pm and I'll think oh I've not stopped for lunch I won't be hungry, I'll just eat something because I think I should.  So, for me it's going to work for me during the week.

How does it work in practice:

For 5 days in the week you'll be eating what you normally eat and for 2 days you'll eat 500 calories each day.  There's lots of research about it having long term health benefits.  But for me, I want to lose some weight but without it taking over my life.  I can survive 2 days a week, and I'm sure I can find (or come up with) some really nice low calories meals to eat.

When did I start: Monday 1st October 2012 (first fast day Tuesday 2nd)

Ladies don't reveal their weight in public, so next week I'll reveal the weight-loss (if any).  That way I can celebrate (success) without giving too much away.

Preparation:

1. Download an app for recording calories: My Fitness Pal - good for checking calorie content and making sure I keep to my 500 calories.  It also scans barcodes too. And I only use this on fasting days.
2. Decide in advance which days will work for you: Mondays and Thursdays are good for me (some weeks it might be Tuesdays and Thursdays)
3. Don't do 2 consecutive days - It'll kill you (it would me)
4. Don't do your fasting days when you've got exercise classes (see above)
5. Plan your meals on 'fasting' days
6. Work out when your really hungry points are during the day and adjust your eating to suit.  For some reason it's 4pm for me.

Resources: 

There will probably be a surge in websites/blogs/books which offer 5:2 menu plans, but for now I'm googling and reading blogs, I might even put some recipes in here, but for now it's just a few links to a few recipes I've found:

• The Daily Telegraph: 5:2 Healthy Recipes 250 calories or less
• http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/9483381/52-diet-healthy-recipes-250-calories-or-less.html
• Tinned Tomatoes (blog), 5:2 Diet - 230 Calorie Fridge Salad (plus there's other food ideas)
• http://www.tinnedtomatoes.com/2012/08/52-diet-230-calorie-fridge-salad.html#.UHKqn1GByEQ 
• All blog posts from Tinned Tomatoes tagged with 5:2
• Easy Living, 100 Snacks Under 100 calories

Keep going: 

To form a habit you need to keep doing it for 21days (or thereafbouts).
So I'm going to use this free online tool to help me: http://21habit.com/