I NEVER eat on Mondays
Thursday 7th January 2010
Grim, grim, grim! It was Sunday night, the weekend was over, I had work the next day and to top it all off, I'd just caught sight of myself in the bedroom mirror. And let's just say it wasn't pretty.
As my 20 stone of flab stared back at me, I poked my size 30 T-shirt and felt my tummy wobble. That made up my mind.
'It's Monday tomorrow,' I announced to my husband, James, 41. 'I'm not going to eat for the whole day.'
James raised his eyebrow. 'Yeah right,' he said.
'I'm serious,' I protested.
It sounds crazy doesn't it, not eating for a whole day. And to be honest, I couldn't blame James for being sceptical.
An overweight child, I'd gone on my first diet when I was 13 and weighed 12st. I wasn't greedy, I just loved bread and crisps. As the years went by, I'd tried every diet going. The cabbage-soup diet, the eating-off-tiny-plates diet… For six weeks, I'd even eaten nothing but apples. Usually the weight would fall off, but as soon as I started eating normally again, I'd pile it back on.
Now it was January 2007, I'd been married to James for two years, and I was convinced that not eating on a Monday could be the answer. The next morning, when my stomach cried out for sugary cereal, I ignored it.
When I arrived at the gift company where I worked, I walked past the biscuits and looked the other way. And when lunchtime arrived, I took my mind off everyone else eating by going for a walk. Somehow, I made it through the day without any food. I drank lots of water, but by the time I got home that evening, the rumbles had developed into full-blown roars.
'Sorry, I can't cook dinner tonight,' I said to James, popping some chewing gum in my mouth.
'No worries,' he smiled, grabbing his car keys. 'I'll get some fish and chips.'
Half an hour later, the most wonderful smell wafted up the stairs.
Have. To. Eat.
No. No. No. I'd lasted all day, I couldn't buckle now. So I brushed my teeth and went to bed early.
I woke up feeling fantastic and vowed to try it again the following week. For the rest of the week I stuck to a healthy diet, and when Monday came round, I did my 24-hour fast again.
'I don't know how you do it,' one of my work colleagues said as my stomach rumbled during
a meeting.
'It's only for one day,' I said, downing a pint of water to make me feel fuller. With every week that passed, the Monday hunger got easier to ignore. Funnily enough, I never felt weak or grumpy, and the weight was dropping off, too. After a month, I'd lost one stone, and half a stone the following month.
'Check me out,' I said to James, pulling out the waistband of my jeans. So from then on, no matter what happened on Mondays, I made sure not a mouthful of food passed my lips.
After 18 months, I'd lost a whopping 10 stone and got down to a size 12.
I couldn't stop smiling as I walked around Next, filling my basket with pretty dresses.
James couldn't believe his luck, either.
'You look great,' he smiled.
Oddly, I felt great, too. Ever since I'd started my Monday fasts, I had bags more energy and my skin was clear. Now, three years after starting my special diet, I'm still 10st and not
a morsel passes my lips on a Monday. I know it might sound weird, but it's worked for me.
And what's one day of denial if it means I can have the odd chocolate biscuit
during the week?
So you can keep your low-carb, high-fibre, calorie-counting, weight-watching regimes. At long last, my hungry Mondays mean I'm a yo-yo dieter no more. l
Should you try food-free Mondays?
A spokesperson for the British Dietetic Association said:
We wouldn't recommend this diet. Your body and brain need a regular intake of food to keep your blood glucose topped up, and you may feel light-headed, irritable, unable to concentrate, and socially isolated not eating. You may also be more likely to binge once you have access to food.