Shedding pounds with a Christian-friendly diet

Candlemas, February 2, has passed and my husband has dragged the tree down the stairs, so the Christmas season is now well and truly over. Lent, with its sense of penance and renewal, hovers on the horizon. However, a secular Lent has begun for hundreds, if not thousands, of fad dieters, for the Fast Diet is all the rage.

Being traditional in my tastes, I always come late to the trends, but the diet that made headlines in the United Kingdom in 2013 has finally caught my attention. It is brilliant in its simplicity. In short, the female dieter eats only 500 calories a day (the male dieter 600) for two days of the week, and consumes her normal, recommended calories for the other five. The authors, Michael Mosley and Mimi Spencer, recommend that the dieter consume half the calories at breakfast time and fast until their 250 or 300 calorie supper, whereupon the dieter fasts again until morning.

The book detailing the diet has become a British bestseller, and I popped down to the National Library of Scotland to give it a read. To my amusement, the authors cite a story that Mohammed, the founder of Islam, fasted on Mondays and Thursdays. They recommend fasting on Mondays and Thursdays, as it this leaves the weekend free for parties, etc.