I tried intermittent fasting for 6 weeks and this is what I learnt

There are quite few different types of intermittent fasting: 16:8, 20:4, 5:2... and the list goes on; I tried the latter for 6 weeks and this is what happened....

Obviously I'm not a nutritionist/doctor (and there are some people who shouldn't do intermittent fasting at all) so I did a lot of research before I started, a few of my fave places for information were: Eat, Fast and Live Longer (BBC Documentary), The 5:2 Diet Book, and this Ted Talk by Cynthia Thurlow.  From my research, I had learnt that the advantages of intermittent fasting are: more energy, weight loss and improved metabolism (if that's what you're after), better concentration, lower blood sugar levels and, possibly even decreased aging.

I have previously tried intermittent fasting, however until now never actually stuck to it for longer than 2 weeks before eating a takeaway on a fast day and giving up. So what is 5:2? It is basically, where you eat only 500 calories on 2 chosen days of a week and on the other 5 days you eat the 'normal' amount of calories you would usually eat (around 1800-2000 for women). I used the Lifesum App to help me keep track of my calories and I found this to be helpful for motivation (as I paid for the premium subscription 3 months in advance). I believe MyFitnessPal also have a 5:2 function, but I had used Lifesum before and knew I liked the interface. It also figures out the calories for me, which makes it less effort, and there are options based on maintaining your current weight, putting on weight and loosing weight.

WEEK 1-2

My main reasons for starting 5:2 were to help reduce my bloating and overeating. Within the first week I immediately felt less bloated and like my digestion was already better. My hunger was the worst on week one and I found it hard to not eat more the 500 calories, but knowing the day after I  would be back to eating whatever I wanted (within reason) got me through. The fast days started to get easier on the second week, but still not as easy as I had hoped. I felt like I was eating smaller potions on the non-fast days and was stopping when I was full - rather than just eating for the sake of eating. I had lost 4 pounds overall by the end of the 2 weeks.

WEEK 3-4

This was the time I started to feel my energy levels rising, I'm not sure if this was because I was actually sleeping better as I wasn't going to bed too full (like I do often) or if there was some other reason. I had also been taking multivitamins on the fast days so this might have also been a factor in my energy levels rising. By this time I had lost 6 pounds overall, however didn't see much of a difference in my physical appearance, other than loosing 1cm off my waist and having less bloating.

WEEK 5-6

I am currently on day 4 of week 5 and have now lost half a stone. I feel like my energy levels are much better and I haven't had any bloating since starting. Although, I did overeat last night as it was Ted's birthday and didn't sleep too well because I was SO full, so a fast day today has given my digestion a bit of a break. I have also started to find it easier to integrate the fast days into my week and have got into more of a routine. The negative (other than the slight hunger on fast days) was that my period was much later than usual (soz TMI) and I later found out that this is sometimes a result of intermittent fasting. I think I'm going to keep on doing it for another few weeks and see if it stays as easy to stick with.

A few things that helped me stick with it: 

• Find foods that are low calorie and help you to stay full, then keep a stock of them for the low calorie days. Mine were: low calorie soup, Alpro Soya high protein yogurts and bananas. I also take multivitamins and iron on the fast days. 
• As I said before, Lifesum helped me track calories. The app Zero is also good if you're trying other types of fasting (16:4/20:4 etc...) as it reminds you when to stop and start fasting 
• Do something to distract yourself from feeling hungry, I am on a 5:2 day today and I find blogging helps distract me - even if it is about fasting 
• Skipping breakfast seems to be the easiest way to get through the day in my opinion, as it means you can have slightly larger meals in the afternoon/evening
• On the days where I felt waaaay too hungry, I would go up to 600/700 calories - but that only happened twice whilst I was moving house 
• Which brings me to the next point... I find drinking tea/coffee throughout the day helps (decaff being better on an empty stomach for me).