I'm back.... and oh, what a difference a couple of years makes!

Well, hello! 

I've decided to start posting my dinners again, as I have just started on a new eating regime.

I am Intermittent Fasting each day, fasting for 16 hours and eating in the 8 hour window left. And in that 8 hour window—from 12 to 8 in my case, though any window is fine, you can adjust it to your normal schedule, just make sure you don't eat for at least 16 hours.

Because I decided to eat ketogenically at the same time, I have found the fasting a doddle. After a few days, I simply wasn't (and still aren't) hungry during the fast, and a first meal at 12 is something to look forward to, but not crave. Likewise, no sugar or starch is gradually stopping any craving for bread and cakes and chocolate.

I should have remembered from my Atkins days in the 90s how well I felt, too. I have so much more energy, I don't need a nap in the afternoon anymore, my mood is better, and I think my brain is sharper.  I stopped Atkins after a couple of years because of fruit, and I hope to goodness that this isn't going to throw me off my horse again this time. But I am including a small amount of fruit from the off this time, so it's got to be worth a go, don't you think?

Why?

Well, I was forced into having a blood test to carry on with my current medication, and that showed that not only was my cholesterol high, but my liver serum levels were high as well. That is a marker for Fatty Liver Disease, not something I want.  The doctor advised the only way known to get that down was to lose weight. So here I am. Dieting for my health.

Internet research time. I had watched, and tried out, Intermittent Fasting before, the 5:2 system, but found the 500 cal days impossible to keep going. I was hangry all the time. But I still kept an eye on the research, and recently Michael Mosely has been talking about the benefits of 16:8 everyday fasting instead of two days a week. It has been found to clear out your liver—the best of news—lower your cholesterol, and reverse any tendency towards Type 2 diabetes. All what I need to do.

Is it a fad? I don't think so, though many will say it is. But is that because it has been adopted by a swathe of Instagram influencers and A list celebrities?

Well, only time will tell. In the meantime, here I am. I've kept to the regime rigorously for the last 3 weeks—not long, I accept, but long enough to know if I can keep it going—and I've lost 12lb, and feel good.

So I'm off again, with my dinner pics, to remind myself of what I am eating and what I should be eating if ever I slip.

Let me know what you think, I love to hear from you all.