Almonds are for nutters.

Armed with only a bottle of soda water, tea bags and a sachet of miso soup, I breezed into work confident I could do this fasting with ease. By 11am I was starving. Approaching a work colleague, I politely asked if she had some raw almonds - I knew she did by the tub on her desk I had eyed hungrily all morning. I declined a handful and took five. The reaction I got was astounding. 5? You're only taking 5? Why? Raw almonds are healthy she screeched.

When I explained I was fasting and could only eat 500 calories in the next 24hrs, she looked at me like I was a nutter. Pardon the pun. People's reaction at work (Sarah's fasting, can you believe it? went around the office faster than I ate the 5 precious almonds) ranged from genuine interest to looks of astonishment.  Originally I had felt secretive about it, however I think by everyone at work knowing I plan to fast two days a week it will keep me honest. I don't really care what people think, I just want to live a long and healthy life.

I can't remember the last time I was really hungry. Many of us seem to go through life with this fear of possibly getting hungry and, as a result, eat 'just in case' we get hungry. Well, that's been my philosophy anyway. Feeling hungry doesn't hurt, it just feels foreign to me. Feeling those little growls of hunger was a new sensation and then working out that a cup of tea did the job versus a full fat latte with a muffin was interesting.

For my own record keeping, today I have eaten a red apple, tea, sachet of miso soup, five almonds and a thin rice cake. I have calculated this comes to approximately 200 calories. Tonight I am eating two scrambled eggs with herbs and 25 grams of feta and a spray of oil. I can not tell you how excited I am at the thought of my two eggs. Who knew a couple of eggs could bring such joy?

Organic chocolate hasn't improved my health yet, so lets try fasting

Upon a recommendation from a buddy in the UK, I watched a very interesting BBC Horizon episode called Eat Fast and Live Longer. Watching it on my Ipad whilst nibbling some chocolate (organic of course) I was horrified yet fascinated by the findings of this episode. Scared by the thought of following in the footsteps of my parents (both victims of cancer), I have decided to conduct an experiment of sorts and try out this 5:2 theory for at least four weeks. My husband (bless him) has agreed to do it with me in order to make things easier. Quite frankly, I wouldn't want to try eating a steak and roast vegetables in front of me whilst I am fasting so it really was the sensible decision all round. How will I feel? Will I struggle? Will I have cravings on my fasting days? Will I be cranky? Will I feel lightheaded? Is it sustainable? I'll try and report back.