New year can only mean…..time to lose weight!

Why it is in January that we all decide we MUST diet?

New year = a new you

It makes sense really, out with the old and in with the new and a fresh start for all.

I agree and I do it every year. Each year I say I’ll loose weight and start a new diet only to fail weeks later when the kids or Paul fancy a takeway or if we eat out.

This is why before Christmas I started looking at the 5:2 diet.

This is a diet where for 2 days a week you limit your calorie intake to 500 calories only for those 2 days and eat normally for the other 5.

This I thought I could keep to as you choose the 2 days and it doesn’t need to be the same days each week, as long as they aren’t next week to each other.  It was around this time that I was contacted by LighterLife Fast asking if I was interested in trying out their fasting packs.

I agreed as I planned to try this diet anyway so thought it may be an easy way to stick to my 500 calories, although the Lighter Light Fast website suggests you stick to 600 calories.

I have been sent the Lighter Life fasting packs to last me the month to try out.

I’ve begun my 5:2 diet and am 1 week in now.

I’ve started this diet at 12 stone 9 lbs.

For my 1st fasting day (Thursday) I drank a Banana Lighter Life fasting shake – this you mix with water.  I think I didn’t mix mine up enough as it was rather powdery, so next time it will need a better stirring.  This I enjoyed and I like shakes for breakfast so was an easy breakfast option for me.  Usually, I skip breakfast as I don’t have time to eat it. (152 calories)

Lunch was Lighter Life Fast vegetable soup – this is also mixed with water and the portion was really large, a full bowl full of tasty soup with only 150 calories.

Dinner was Lighter Life Fast Spaghetti Bolognese – also mixed with water, this portion size was tiny and I didn’t like this at all.  To me, it was powdery and tasteless.  There were 152 calories in this meal.

I was then hungry again around 8.30pm so snacked on a few cherry tomatoes and lettuce leaves.

My next fasting day was Monday, for the days in between I ate normally – albeit changing my portion size and cutting out snacks and unhealthy options which I really didn’t need to eat but would have normally.

On day 2 I added in my usual cup of coffee for breakfast as I suffered on Thursday without it (I usually drink 4 cups a day so 1 is very good).

For lunch, I tried the Carbonara.  This is mixed with water just like the others, once again the portion size was very small and I found it very powdery and didn’t like it. It had a cardboard taste and texture and if I am completely honest I would rather miss a meal than eat this again.

For Dinner, I had a plateful of vegetables – carrots, Brussels, cabbage and leeks.  (Everyone else had this as well as homemade chicken pie and mashed potato).   This left me full and I didn’t need any other snacks.

I have weighed myself this morning and I am now 12 stone 5lbs.

I will be continuing with the 5:2 plan and will try the rest of the fasting packs although I won’t be using them solely on my fasting days.

If you would like to find out more about these packs you can visit the website www.lighterlifefast.com – they are available solely from Superdrug and each pack (breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks) all contain 4 sachets.

UPDATE:

You can read how I go on after a few more weeks with these packs in this 5:2 diet follow up post.

Disclaimer: I was sent a months worth of fasting packs to try and give my honest opinions of