WHY

A while back a friend was drinking lemon juice and hot water.  Only lemon juice and hot water.  For the whole day.

Turned out, he was fasting.

Bit extreme?

He said it was really good for you - that it could lower blood sugar, and cholesterol, improve cognitive function - and thereby reduce the risks of diabetes, heart disease, dementia, as well as cancer and a whole host of other delights.

Didn't think much of it really. But then my mum mentioned that she'd heard about this 'Fast Diet' and was giving it a go.

Again - first reactions were: bit extreme? / you don't need to lose weight? / isn't that bad for you?

Eventually (we all come to these things in our time, and way) we watched the Michael Mosley BBC Horizon programme.  It was very, very interesting.

I'd been interested in food for a while.  Having gone veggie at 18, after lots of research, I had been continually learning more about food, nurtition, and health (as well as learning to cook and thereafter self-improving).  

In the year or so prior to watching the Horizon doc, I had sort of accelerated my research, understanding and interest - having joined a CrossFit gym (CrossFit espouses the benefits of the 'Paleo' diet), and then completing the 30 Day Nutrition Challenge at said gym.  You can read about that here if you're interested.  But basically it meant: no processed foods, no sugar, no grains, no dairy, no alcohol..

So anyway, the Fast Diet seemed worth a try.  We weren't particularly trying to lose weight, but all the other, long term health benefits sounded fantastic.  

If other people could do it - real people, people we knew, with real lives and real schedules and real diets - then so could we. [and least for a bit - to see how it went]

Like I've said elsewhere, as of August 2013, its now been nearly 7 months. Wow.  

And it hasn't even been hard!

Here's to eating, fasting and living longer!