In case anyone's interested in shedding a few pounds and getting healthier (who isn't?), I thought I'd share my recent experience with the so-called "5-2 Diet." It's a very Mustachian/Stoic thing in a lot of ways, and I dropped weight pretty fast and quite easily by following it these last 6 weeks or so. If you're looking to lose some weight or get healthier in general, I'd recommend giving it a shot. I'm sure it's not for everyone, but it has really worked for me. It apparently worked for Jimmy Kimmel too; it's how he went from being quite porky to being thin these days.
Background:
I saw a story on NBC News a month or two ago about how research has repeatedly shown that restricted calorie diets improve health and longevity, and that the 5-2 diet is being advised by physicians for their patients to improve their health and lose weight. When animals and people are faced with calorie deprivation, they end up living longer and having all kinds of unexpected health benefits. People on the diet they profiled for the news story found it to be a pretty easy way to restrict calories, and drop weight and improve their health (lower cholesterol, lower blood sugar, lower blood pressure, etc.) in the process.
Anyway, I figured I could stand to lose about 5 pounds or so, so I looked into it and gave it a try. The gist is that for 5 days a week you eat whatever you want, whatever you would normally eat. No calorie counting, no restrictions. The other 2 days, you eat only 1/4 of your normal daily caloric intake. For me, I'm normally allotted about 2600 calories a day based on my size, age, and activity level. So for 2 days, I could eat only up to 650 calories each day.
I didn't know how difficult it would be to eat only that many calories, but I wanted to see how it was. I will say I found it to be extremely easy to do, and I often didn't even eat the 650 calories I was allotted. It doesn't matter when you eat the calories, or what days you eat the restricted calories (back to back or spread out over the week), and it doesn't matter what you eat -- just that you eat 1/4 the calories. I tended to skip breakfast, then eat a late lunch which would hold me over until a snack later on. But it doesn't matter how you do it, whatever works for you. Of course while you can eat anything you want, it would not be too smart to use up your calories with something empty like donuts and booze. I usually ate eggs, beans, oatmeal, bananas, avocados, fruits, and other things that stay with you without being high-calorie.
Man, the weight really fell off me. While on average one might expect to drop about a pound a week, it came off even faster for me. I lost the 5 pounds within about 3 weeks, and figured I'd just keep going to get my body fat percentage even lower. I lost another 3 pounds after that at about the regular rate of one pound a week. I didn't take blood glucose or cholesterol readings beforehand, so I don't know if there's been any effect there. But if my experience is like the people in the news story, odds are all my readings would be better. I definitely feel and look better.
One of the "side effects" of the diet is that it tends to make you more mindful and appreciative about eating (the Mustachian/stoic part). By eating restricted calories, or depriving yourself on some days, you pretty quickly come to understand what it really means to be satisfied/full, so that you don't just keep eating past the point of satiety. That is, you come to understand what is "enough", just like we do with money and stuff. I tend to savor food more now, and even on the days when I'm allowed to eat whatever I want, I don't gorge myself as much as I used to. If I'm not hungry at a regular mealtime now, I don't eat at all, or I eat less. I just go until I'm hungry, then I'll eat until I'm satisfied. In the same way I don't feel deprived by not buying a bunch of junk I don't need, I now no longer feel deprived by not eating as much.
Now that I've reached and even surpassed my original weight loss target, I'm doing 6-1 as a maintenance plan. That is, I restrict calories on one day a week and eat whatever I want the other 6 days. But as I said, even on those other 6 days I now find I'm voluntarily skipping meals and just generally eating less.
If you're looking to lose some pounds or get healthier in general, I recommend giving it a shot. If you're like me, you may find lots of benefits to it and that it isn't even difficult eating less once you appreciate what is "enough."
