Hola!
Well the running challenge I set myself for February didn't work out too well due to the snow and icy conditions we experienced. I got a little bit miffed with myself so decided on something a little less reliant on the environment. I thought I'd tackle my diet.
Thankfully I'm having a little more success!
I started on 1st March and decided to loosely follow the Fast 800 plan. It's a strictly low carb diet where for a period of time you aim to keep to 800-1000 calories a day. Now, that doesn't sound a lot but it isn't as much of a challenge as I thought it would be. Essentially you end up counting calories for protein but can eat as much green veg and salad as you wish. The first few days were a struggle but it got easier.
I managed a 13.4lb loss in the first 10 days of the diet.
So why low carb? Well the idea is that you push your body into ketosis which I gather means it starts getting energy from fat instead of carbs. It's this process that can make you feel a bit iffy and it's known as keto flu.
The idea is that this leads to the a 5:2 style approach were you eat normally (still watching carbs) and fast for two days a week. By fasting I mean sticking to 800 calories and eating within a compressed timeframe.
I'm planning to continue for another week before trying 5:2 but might carry on a little longer. The suggestion is to start with 2 to 12 weeks of the more restrictive plan and then move over to 5:2. I've also been measuring my blood sugar throughout as that was creeping up a little and that seems to be improving with my weight.
It's obviously far too soon (like 10 years too early) to say this is a success, but if anybody wants quick results and a diet that's easy to follow, keto is pretty doable.