The 5:2 Diet

Whilst I was in Ireland I made some decisions about my life, the first of which is that I need to lose some weight.

Back in the day I was a slim young thing but now I am neither.  Two children started the landslide but over the last ten years I have certainly added to it.  The thought of going on a diet though fills me with dread.  All that constant self-denial just makes me want to go out and buy a bag of chips!

A friend of mine started on the 5:2 diet last year and has lost a lot of weight, and more importantly has kept it off too.  But the thought of fasting severely put me off.

So when I came across Kate Harrison’s The 5:2 Diet Book I decided that I would read it and see what I thought. I put that off too for a while but when I did read it, I only got half way through before I decided to give it a go.

On two days a week you “fast”.  Now fortunately it’s not a real fast in the water only sense of the word but your calorie intake is restricted to around 500 calories for women and 600 for men.  The exact amount can depend on your BMI, but to save doing any complicated calculations, I stick to 500.

I’m now in my third week and so far it is going OK.  I’ve lost a couple of pounds (hard to tell exactly how much as I didn’t have any scales at the beginning but I already feel healthier and a bit slimmer, even though I’ve only just started.

At first I found the fast days really hard but already I’m beginning to get used to them.  It helps to have a plan and to know exactly what you are going to eat before the day.  The days I have chosen to fast are Mondays and Wednesdays because I am in work those days and don’t have access to my kitchen for the majority of the day.

I drink either black coffee, water or fruit teas throughout the day. I don’t have breakfast but have Ryvita with cottage cheese, cucumber and cherry tomatoes for lunch and grilled chicken or salmon baked in lemon juice with either salad or vegetables roasted in one-cal spray for dinner.  At about 9pm I treat myself to a cup of tea before bedtime.  I do usually go to bed quite early on fast days and read because it removes the temptation of evening snacking. They aren’t exactly a barrel of laughs but I do get a huge sense of accomplishment at the end of each of them and even better is the thought that I don’t have to do it the next day.

So far I have resisted the temptation to over indulge on the unrestricted days.  I think because on the fast days you are so aware of your calorie intake and it also makes you less hungry but I probably do need to resist the temptation to celebrate the day and have that extra glass of wine.  If I also try and up my exercise levels I might actually achieve my aim.

Now that I’ve started I’m determined to reach my goal and I’m looking forward to meet the slimmer, healthier me.  

So thank you Kate for encouraging me through your book to go for my goal.  The power of words hey?

My Holiday Reads

OK, I know its ages since my holiday (desperately in need of another one) but I wanted to post about the books I read while I was away. So here goes
The first one was:

Hothouse Flower by Lucinda Riley

I saw this book in Tesco’s just before Christmas and put it on my Christmas wish list (actually, no I didn’t – I put it in my husband’s hot little  hands and told him to go and buy it for me – sometimes there’s no point in just wishing!)

One of the first things which attracted it to me was the cover.  It reminded me of two of my favourite books by Kate Moreton – The House at Riverton and The Forgotten Garden.

I love historical novels but I love them even more when the characters in the present day are delving into their family’s past. In fact I love it so much that this is one of the genres I am trying to write and one day hope to publish.    I’ll never be as good as Kate Moreton but there’s no harm in having aspirations.
Later I learned that Hothouse Flower was nominated for the Richard and Judy Book Club and my interest was sparked even more.

It’s a hefty tome and I wanted to read it when I had plenty of time, so decided to sequester it away for my holidays.  It was temptation waiting in the wings but I resisted.  And I’m glad I did and after all that build up, it certainly wasn’t an anti-climax.
I loved the description of the run up to WWII and I loved the two main present day characters too.  The story had plenty of twists and turns and kept me guessing right up until the end.  I was a bit disappointed that the main character from the past seemed to fizzle out a bit after the war and one of the twists I found a little incredulous, but on the whole I thoroughly enjoyed this book and was glad I had saved it for my holiday.

I was sad when I finished the book and had to say goodbye to the characters and I wished that I had been the author of it – so I think you’ll agree that there’s no better recommendation than that.

Just after Christmas I was asked if I would like to become a member of a reading group organised by the mum of one of my youngest son’s friends.  I’ve always wanted to be in a reading group so was delighted to be included in one on my doorstep.
We were all asked to come along to the group with a book to recommend. I knew a few members of the group but not all and I wanted to recommend a book which was sufficiently literary without being too dry.

I’d read quite a bit about Kate Mosse, author of Labyrinth and Sepulchre, and liked the sound of her new novel – The Winter Ghosts, so I recommended this and it ended up as one of the first reads.

I have to say that I was sadly disappointed by this book.  She writes incredibly atmospherically and I could imagine myself physically in the setting.  Parts of the book were completely absorbing too.  But as a book as a whole, well sadly, I didn’t feel there was enough plot to keep a full length novel going. .  I found myself in the first half of the book waiting for something to happen and in the second half waiting for it to end.  Perhaps it’s just me, perhaps I just didn’t get it, perhaps I’m just not literary enough, and it’s more about feelings that things happening. The middle bit was good though.

The next book is by the lovely Kate Harrison, and is the second in the Secret Shopper series, Secret Shopper Unwrapped .

Oh my, Kate, you’ve done it again.  I loved the first book and I loved this one just as much.  Revisiting the characters of the previous book felt like putting on a favourite old jumper.  I didn’t have to work at who was who and what was there background and I fell in love instantly with a new character – Kelly.  At the end of the book I read the first chapter of her third book in the series – The Secret Shopper Affair and wished I could get stuck into that too.  It’s just come out and has gone straight to the top of my wish list – can’t wait.

Oh dear, for some reason the blog won't let me add the images of these books - sorry.

Well that's all for now, more books to follow shortly.