A Healthy AND Sustainable 'Crash Diet'...

Like most girls out there I definitely have a few insecurities about my body. I want my stomach to be flatter, my boobs to be bigger, my legs to be more toned, my skin to be nicer and on and on. There are so many things that could be changed if I had the means to. This being said it's weight that I struggle with the most. I used to be a little on the chubby side as a child and got picked on a fair amount so from the age of 14 I lost A LOT of weight and have been determined ever since to remain that way. I yo yo up and down between 7 and a half stone to 9, but I am so ridiculously picky about my weight that I get a bit obsessive when my weight gets above 8 stone. 

I tend to just stop eating completely which is terrible I know, so I try to make crash diets my thing, The Dukan Diet being a personal favourite. They give you a set structure which is something I love, so when I read about this 'Feast and Fast' diet last night I decided I had to give it a go. We all want to lose a few pounds around the Christmas party period, but with the Christmas season centering around food it's borderline impossible. However, this diet does give us a glimmer of hope.

The basic principle is than on two non consecutive days of the week, you only consume 500 calories (600 for men) and on the remaining 5 days you just eat whatever you like. Easy as that. And research trials have suggested that not only can it help you lose weight, it could also protect against cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and Alzheimers. Pretty good for a diet aye!

Intermittent fasting hit the headlines this summer when Dr Michael Mosley embarked upon the plan, documenting his endeavours in the Horizon programme Eat, Fast and Live Longer. Mr Mosley boldly claimed that fasting could radically transform the nations health. The theory behind it centres on the effects of fasting on levels of the hormone IGF-1 (Insulin-Like Growth Factor 1). IGF-1 is crucial in early life as new cell growth is desirable, but high levels in adulthood but you at greater risk of cell divisions like those found in cancer. Restricting your calorie consumption, lowers blood levels of IGF-1 therefore protecting against some of the world's biggest diseases.

So before I bore you more with anymore science I plan to start this diet tomorrow (01/12). The thing that will work perfectly for me is that it is not a constantly restrictive diet. I can still have the occassional drink - which as it is my last week at uni that's pretty much a give, and I don't have to cut out yummy food completely. So I shall give it a go for the next month and let you know. Christmas day I plan to stuff as much food as physically possible in my mouth so I'm not hopeful for a good weight loss that week, but we shall see...