The Fast Diet by Dr Michael Mosley & Mimi Spencer

The Fast Diet has become a best seller in Australia. Over the past few weeks at work we have been getting calls, requests and orders every day for this book.

The 5:2 Diet has become the rage in the UK - the web is inundated with articles, recipes and journals of people embracing this way of eating (eat regularly anything you like for 5 days, but fast for 2 days each week - 500 calories for women on fast days and 600 calories for men).

I decided I needed to find out what all the fuss was about for myself, and I also wanted to be able to discuss it knowledgably with our customers.

And I have to say, sceptic that I am, that it appealed to me from the very start. I kept trying to pick holes in the theories, the philosophy and the research. But it all sounded on the level, reasonable and balanced.

Where the research was based on animal studies, they told us that. If something was purely anecdotal, they told us that too.

It was on pg 129 I finally realised why the 5:2 diet seemed so right and sensible to me...it was actually the way I've been eating for most of my adult life.

"Interestingly, the Fast Diet's on/off eating scheme looks a lot like the approach of many naturally slim people. Some days they'll pick, other days they'll tuck into treats...As you settle into the routine, you'll naturally moderate your calorie intake on fast days and feed days, until the process is innate."

So yes, I have days where I eat very little followed by days of regular eating or 'treat' days. I also tend to eat a fairly healthy, balanced diet most of the time. Treats are chocolate and ice creams. But my approach is very ad hoc (or perhaps innate?) I've also been a walker all my life and I was delighted to read just how beneficial this has been and will continue to be for me.

As an experiment, I've decide to follow the Fast Diet calorie counting fast days to see how things compare, change or improve with this more conscious approach.

I've downloaded an Australian calorie counting app. I've weighed myself and measured myself and purely, by chance I have recent blood results to use as my base point.

Today, Sunday, was my first official fast day following the guidelines in The Fast Diet.

Watch this space.