Dem bones, dem bones

A few weeks ago Ned and I realised that we were becoming decidedly blobby - either that or all our clothes were suddenly shrinking - so a weight-loss program was called for. The principle is straightforward; eat less and exercise more, but often a kick-start is needed. We tried the smaller-portion method for a while, but any change was glacially slow. We contemplated the high-fibre diet (referred to by the much-missed henry as the 'cardboard-and-water' diet) that Ned had used successfully before, but then I remembered watching a TV Horizon programme about the 5:2 diet and how simple and successful, not only with regsrds to weight loss but also to overall health (lower cholesterol and blood sugar, for starters), it had seemed. Basically you eat normally for 5 days of the week but for 2 days - any two, it doesn't matter, but probably best not consecutive days - you eat very little. Men can have 600 calories and women 500 calories. This way the body starts to use its stores but not think there's a famine and store harder when there's more again. The peripheral health benefits were appealing too; tests have shown that I have high cholesterol and 'sticky blood' making me at higher risk of heart attack or stroke, and this was something I wanted to change.

And it seems to work, certainly in the weight-loss claims. In 6 weeks Ned has lost 9lb and looks a lot trimmer, while I've reached my target weight and my clothes all seem to fit again. I don't know what my blood's doing but I'm optimistic!