A moment on the lips and all of these goodies are bound to show up on the waistline, but not this year! I feel empowered that I won’t have to take any drastic measures to lose the additional kilos as I am now practicing intermittent fasting, and have done so throughout the season. I tipped the scales by a whole 1.5kg above my happy weight, which I am confident I will easily lose with fasting!

Christmas 2016 was quite a different story and this is where this story actually begins. I found myself overweight by 5 kilograms after the festive season and was clearly going up a dress size or even shock horror, two dress sizes! I faced the prospect of having to invest in a whole new wardrobe of larger sized clothes. I struggled to lose the weight and I think being in my 40th decade on earth had something to do with it. I tried small breakfasts, and carb free lunches and dinners whenever possible. This had worked in the past so I was a bit perturbed when it wasn’t making an inch of difference – pardon the pun!

I tried to be as active as possible in my day but just couldn’t get myself to the gym with a busy work schedule and laziness, and my daily Lu Jong yoga practice is too gentle to make an impact on the waistline. I can’t say that I ever exercised regularly apart from yoga, or vigorously but I was generally able to control my weight with watching what I ate.

What exactly was I eating, I hear you ask? I never really dieted as the deprivation of the process was too distracting and my diet was

generally pretty healthy. It consisted of the occasional croissant for breakfast (2-3 in a week), muesli or eggs/avocado on toast – this is what I had always eaten. Lunch at that time was meat, chicken or prawn salad without rice from the Mexican place downstairs from the office as it was quick and convenient. Dinner was more varied with meals from Hello Fresh and Gousto. I really enjoyed them and did not want to compromise on delicious, scrumptious home cooked meals which I had always enjoyed growing up, thanks to my mother who is an amazing cook. Food is one of the great joys in life, and I suppose it has to be a pleasant experience if we are to engage in it as a regular activity. Our survival depends on it, after all!!

It was in April 2017 that Intermittent Fasting entered my sphere – my partner started fasting 20 hours a day. I observed it with half-hearted interest and was annoyed that I suddenly lost my breakfast and lunch companion, and was being presented with black coffee in the morning as opposed to my usual latté! I could not complain as you don’t when someone brings you coffee in bed!

But I soon started paying attention as the companion in question was gradually losing weight from practicing Intermittent fasting and eating all foods within a 4 hour period in the day. He did not seem tired, miserable or resentful but quite the opposite. He was active, alert and jovial, and seemed to enjoy the process of waiting until 5pm to break his 20 hour food fast. I could not tempt him with delicious croissants from the bakery or beautiful salad lunches with tomato, avocado and lettuce leaves. He would join me for a black coffee or tea, but that was it! Hmmph!!

By August he lost 10kg and was looking, slim, trim and rather sexy. I on the other hand was investing in control pants and avoiding going clothes shopping even though I needed to as my clothes were not fitting. I finally relented and during the summer break when we both had a week off together, I decided to take the plunge and do my first 20 hour fast. Day one was a challenge. We had 2 black coffees in the morning and a herbal tea at lunch time to suppress the hunger vibes that surfaced when I broke the routine. He suggested we go for a walk and took me along the long scenic route in the afternoon, cleverly timing it such that we were in close proximity to one of his favourite pubs at 5pm. I broke my first fast with half a pint!!