SASHA SLATER ‘I’M PROOF THAT FASTING DIETS WORK – AND I MADE UP MY OWN’
Doctors say “alternate day fasting” is the best way to lose weight, but my regime is even simpler: I only eat once a day.
I began in a panicked response to weighing myself. I had swerved the scales for years and when I looked down and saw the shocking total, I realised I had to do something. I have dieted in various ways all my adult life. But I am greedy, and I love food, so calorie counting, or denying myself cheese (or, worse, red wine) is a highway to misery. On the other hand I am not a grazer. I can go for hours and hours with no food. So I resolved to play to my strengths. I wouldn’t cut out the carbs, or the olive oil, or anything else, but I would just eat once a day. And I resolved to weigh myself every morning, too.
So I know that since the fateful weigh-in in April, I have lost 12.6kg, which is near as dammit two stone in old money. At first, the inches just slithered off and I lost 5kg in a month. Since then, it’s been slow but steady. I use a weight-tracker app to see how far I’ve come and how long it will take to hit my target. Colleagues have done double-takes on the escalators and then rushed up to tell me how nice I’m looking. Clothes I consigned to the attic to wait for my daughter to grow into are back in the wardrobe (poor daughter). It’s a cheery process.
What’s even better is that it has been almost no effort at all. Dieting has always been synonymous with torture. But these days, if I’m hungry at 4pm I don’t panic – I know that at 6.30 I can have a guilt-free slice of saucisson and a nice glass of marcillac. And then think about what I’ll cook for dinner.
The other bonus to this way of eating is that it has minimal impact on everyone else. If I’m at a breakfast meeting, I’ll have a black decaf coffee (that, water and sugar-free chewing gum are the only things I consume during fasts) and chat to whoever I’m with as they tuck into their granola or poached eggs. If I can move lunch meetings to afternoon coffees, I will. If not, I’ll eat a salad or some broccoli and look forward to dinner – though I’m hungrier if I eat a little lunch than nothing at all. It has zero impact on family meals and weekends with friends are effortless – I’ll feast with you at supper and have a salad for lunch the next day and I’m not the one making boring requests for kimchi or oat milk.
It doesn’t suit everyone, but it does suit me. I’ve got another 12kg to go but it doesn’t feel daunting – it feels doable. Because this isn’t a diet, it’s how I’m going to eat for the rest of my life.