That’s my daily calorie requirement (DCR) –
the calories I should eat to stay at roughly my current weight. Except of
course I’ve been putting it on.
Goodness knows how many calories I’ve put away to be this big.
The third calculation is the most important - for my new regime
to actually count as a fast (and potentially bring me all the health benefits
that scientists are researching) I divide my DCR by 4.
It comes to a slightly scary 469.25 - even lower than the
averages of 500 for women and 600 for men that presenter Dr Michael Mosley
quoted on the programme.
(There’s a full guide to calculating your DCR in
Part Two
)
I go to the fridge and start reading labels - on ready meals,
soups, fruit and veg packaging.
Yes, it’s low. But it’s also… possibly … doable.
Little and How Often?
My
final decision is how often I’m going to calorie restrict. On Twitter, Dr
Mosley said he’s cut down from 5:2 to 6:1 because he was losing so much weight.
Or for fast weight loss, there’s alternate day fasting, but I’m a bit daunted
by that. Right now, I don’t know how I’ll cope with even a single day of eating
less than 500 calories in total.
5:2 sounds like a good start. Now all I need to do is, well,
start…
Fast Day 1: August 9 2012
I
wake up and try to pretend it’s a normal day. A normal day where I happen to
limit myself to a quarter of what my body needs, energy wise, and probably
about a sixth of what it normally gets!
I eat the same breakfast most days - a mix of Greek yogurt and
raspberries that I got to like when I low-carbed. It keeps me from feeling
hungry till lunchtime. Trouble is, my usual portion size would take up more
than half my calorie requirement for the day. So with the help of my digital
scales, I measure out a doll-sized breakfast. If you’ve never tried measuring
out 25g of yogurt, it’s a
tiny
quantity, approximately one fifth of a
small pot. Not very much. I use a tiny bowl and savour all four tea-spoonfuls.
I’ve bought a big bottle of sparkling water, as my main ‘treat’–
also, I know as a diet veteran that staying hydrated is super-important. Looks
like these are the only bubbles I’ll be getting today…
As lunchtime approaches, my mood is not best helped by a
rejection letter from the Women’s Institute where I’d auditioned to be one of
the speakers on their official list. I’d given talks to them in the past, but
at my audition, the 100-strong panel decided I wasn’t up to it - though they do
say I had a clear speaking voice and a pleasant personality.
Hmm. Good job they can’t see my grumpy face now, as I stand in
the kitchen with the letter in one hand, the other one hovering over the packet
of HobNobs.
But no.
I am better than that! And
pleasant,
too.
I make myself a calorie-free black coffee and try not to think
about lunch. Or to swear under my breath in my clear speaking voice.
The Department of Weights and Measures
Weighing
is good displacement activity. That, and reading the labels on the back of
ready meals because I just didn’t fancy cooking with so few calories to play
with. I found a Butternut Squash dish in Marks & Spencer with just 140
calories for half a pack. OK, I think it’s meant as a side dish, but it’s quite
filling for lunch and also allows me to treat myself to five cherry tomatoes,
some rocket leaves and a teaspoon full of balsamic vinegar as a dressing.
And, to keep it simpler, I have the same for dinner. Why mess
with a winning formula? Dessert is the same as breakfast. And the total: 463
calories! Three under, should have had a couple more rocket leaves…
Time for bed
How’s
it been? Well, I’ve got a slight headache but no other symptoms. In truth, I’ve
felt more peckish than truly hungry. Portions are small but it’s been easy because
the man of the house is out with mates tonight, so I haven’t had to cook or
resist sharing some wine.
But mainly it’s been easy because I know I can eat exactly what
I want tomorrow. I go to bed early - my tummy is rumbling, but my conscience is
clear, and I hope to dream of what I can eat for breakfast in just over 12
hours’ time.
What I ate to the last gram:
Breakfast
Greek-Style
Natural Yogurt, 25 g: 34 cals
Ground
Almonds 4 g: 25 cals
Strawberries
- Raw, 53 g: 17 cals
Lunch
M & S Moroccan Butternut Wedges With Roast Vegetables, 1/2 pack:140 cals
Peppery
Baby leaf Rocket Salad, 20 g: 4 cals
Balsamic
Vinegar of Modena, 5 ml: 5 cals
Cherry
Tomatoes, 5 tomatoes: 15 cals
Dinner
M & S Moroccan Butternut Wedges With Roast Vegetables, 1/2 pack: 140 cals
Cherry
Tomatoes, 5 tomatoes: 12 cals
Generic
- Balsamic Vinegar, 0.25 tbs: 3 cals
Snacks
Greek-Style
Natural Yogurt, 19 g: 25 cals
Ground
Almonds, 5 g: 31 cals
Strawberries
- Raw, 63 g: 12 cals
Total for day: 463 cals
Chapter Three: The fasting recharge - make your
body work better, and last longer
Weight
loss is only part of the attraction of 5:2. This is the first ‘diet’ that
appeals to people who aren’t overweight but want to take advantage of the
incredible health benefits that fasting offers.
Increasing numbers of studies on both humans
and
animals
suggest that there are unique benefits to be gained from fasting or
restricting your calorie intake quite severely,
even if you only do it some
of the time.
We are talking about short-term changes – more energy, lower
blood pressure and harmful cholesterol readings, higher levels of concentration
– as well as long-term effects that help prevent the diseases that can affect
our lives profoundly.
No wonder the weight loss begins to seem like the least
important benefit!
I have concerns over dementia
as it runs in my family so this side was particularly appealing.
Kirsty, 38
I’ve always eaten carefully in
terms of nutrition but I am doing this for its possible health benefits.
Alzheimer’s, cancer, heart disease, high cholesterol, are all threats at my
age. My cholesterol was 7.6, I have had breast cancer, my mother, at 94, has
very poor memory.
Ros, 69
Why
does this work?
Common
sense might suggest that depriving the body of nutrients would be damaging and,
indeed, it does put the body under stress.
But it’s the body’s response to that stress that seems to
hold the key to the health benefits – just as a stressful job can bring out the
best in us and help us achieve more, or we push ourselves in the gym and end up
feeling better for it, putting your body under stress in a controlled way, can
encourage it to heal itself and trigger processes that protect and repair.
Time
for the “science bit”: the secret is in the cells…
The
science bit is short, and sweet, and if you want to understand why this diet
might have such huge benefits, it’s worth focusing on this part! I’ve found it
very inspiring to discover what’s going on when I fast.
But if you’re not in the mood for theory, do feel free to leave
reading this till later. Part Two is the practical part, and I want you to use,
and abuse, the guide as it suits you. No rules, remember?
Still with me? Great. We’re all made up of cells – approximately
100 million
million
of them in total. Think of TV images of ‘test tube
babies’ and IVF where you can see the cells doubling in number over and over
again, as the embryo develops.
Our cells continue their hard work throughout our lives.
There are approximately two hundred different kinds, all with different
functions – and they’re being replaced at the rate of millions per second. Some
cells are constantly replaced, though others can’t be replaced. Even those that
do multiply can only do so a certain number of times. It’s this ceiling that is
responsible for ageing – as the number of skin cells drops, for example, your
skin becomes thinner.
As part of their life cycle, some cells will also
self-destruct, in a carefully controlled house-keeping process known as
apoptosis
– they’ll even ‘tidy up’ after themselves as they prepare to die so they don’t
leave behind anything that could damage other cells. I love the idea of cells
doing a Girl Guide-style good turn for the body, even as they approach the
bitter end…
Another important process is
autophagy
– literally
‘self-eating’: this process can lead to the death of a cell but may also help
it to survive under stress by recycling amino acids and removing damaged parts
of the cell. The two processes work together to keep the body running
efficiently.
But sometimes the cell production and destruction process
goes wrong: when too many cells are produced, uncontrollably, it causes
tumours. The kind that then invade neighbouring tissues are malignant – in
other words, cancerous.
Meanwhile, damage to brain cells can cause Alzheimer’s or
other forms of dementia, as the structure of brain cells is changed: the cells
may die or the pathways become tangled up, and the chemical messengers that
pass information around the brain no longer work as efficiently.
The more I’ve read about the science, the more amazed I’ve
become at how hard the body works to regulate and protect itself. But time
still catches up with us in the end…
Living
Causes Ageing
The
trouble with life is that the very process of living causes damage to the body.
Cells are damaged by the processes involved in producing the
energy we need to function – our bodies break down food into glucose (the
simplest form of sugar) to use as energy, but that breaking down also damages
proteins in the body and causes many of the signs and symptoms of old age.
Oxygen is a vital part of that process, of course, but while
the body makes the energy, it’s also producing free radicals which attack your
cells in a process known as oxidative stress. When we’re younger, we can cope
better with this, ‘mopping up’ the free radicals before they do too much
damage. But it catches up with us sooner or later…
Can
eating less slow this down?
At
the simplest level, if you produce less energy, then you’re potentially also
causing less damage. That’s one of the fundamental issues at the heart of much
anti-ageing research.
It’s been demonstrated in animal studies – from fruit flies
to worms, mice to dogs – that eating less, or less frequently, can prolong
their lives.
The exact chemical and biological interactions involved are
being researched, but the studies have already led to many people choosing to
eat less than their calorie requirements, all the time – not just to keep their
weight down, but to increase their lifespans.
As someone with a keen interest in diets and nutrition, I’ve
read a lot about Calorie Restrictors – these people typically eat only 70-80%
of their recommended intake, though they take extra care to eat very nutritious
foods. Many people end up with BMIs of 19, 18 or lower, and frequently show
reduced blood pressure and cholesterol levels. One of the main movements is
called Calorie Restriction with Optimum Nutrition – which is why they’re known
as CRONIES.
However, what I had read and viewed on TV about CRONIES had
put me off - the guy featured in the BBC ‘Horizon’ programme seemed fairly
typical in that his diet looked expensive and pretty wasteful - he kept the
skin of fruit for example but discarded the pulp. And though he was very
healthy, living that way the whole time didn’t look much fun!
Now it seems 5:2 and Alternate Day Calorie Restriction may
offer the benefits of that CRONIE lifestyle – but in a much more civilised and
laid back form. Instead of having to watch calories obsessively all the time,
we can do it in short, sharp bursts that encourage the body to activate all the
protective and reparative processes that may help us live longer and better.
It’s
not just how much you eat, it’s also what you eat
Different
food stuffs also have different effects on the body – we’ve already mentioned
that producing glucose stimulates those damaging free radicals.
According to the ‘Horizon’ show, protein in particular seems
to turbo-charge the cell production process. The scientist interviewed,
Professor Valter Longo, compared our bodies to racing cars where protein is
making the cars race faster - what Dr Mosley called Go-Go Mode - with no
chance at all to retune or recharge. Driving at high speed the whole time
without ever putting the cars in for service causes wear and tear – and so if
we eat constantly, we’re effectively increasing the wear and tear on our
bodies.
So what fasting or severely limiting energy consumed from
food does is put our bodies in for a service. We deprive our body of calories -
fuel - and that way, instead of making the body produce new cells, we encourage
it to take stock - and take care of - the cells it already has.
IGF-1
– the 1 to watch?
IGF-1
is a growth hormone that many scientists in this field believe is central to
the effects of this diet,
and
to both the ageing process and the
development of cancers. IGF-1 stands for Insulin-Like Growth Factor and it
plays an important role in children’s growth.
But once we’re adults, the effects are not as positive: in
particular, the hormone seems to lock us into this constant cycle of regrowth
that may not do us any favours, the
go-go
mode Dr Mosley talked about.