Going for broke - the last stretch (well, maybe)

_{Find out more about Zoe at the Zoe YouTube channel. There is also a weekly podcast.}

You can join the intermittent fasting population study.

I've just joined the Zoe study about intermittent fasting. It's a three-week study where you eat as usual during week one, then follow a 10-hour eating, 14-hour fasting pattern for the remaining two weeks. Each day you complete a short survey to say when you ate and record your weight and how you feel. They are looking for about 100,000 people ("citizen scientists") to take part.

The invitation (to my email inbox) was very timely. I had just decided to tackle the last 5kgs I want to lose. I was dead pleased about three months or so ago to find myself within the healthy BMI range.

There was one small snag: as I am getting older, I have lost some height. When I was weighed and measured prior to surgery, a lost 3cms in height meant I was back in the overweight BMI range again! I'd had an idea anyway that I wanted to lose a little more weight maybe around a stone or so and now that I'm recovering some of my energy, it's time for a little focus.

I find it really helps if I track what I'm eating. I went to Slimming World early in the year and although I struggled with the science behind their plan (mainly, it's outdated) and some of the more cult-ish elements, keeping track of eating and activity and the weekly weigh-in was very helpful.

My preferred eating pattern is the Zoe one for a healthy gut microbiome - mainly plant-based, aim for 30 different plants a week, include fermented foods and avoid ultra-processed foods. That works well for me and I've seen improvements in my blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose levels.

I have tried intermittent fasting before, along with a low carbohydrate approach. That worked well for weight-loss, but not so great in other ways - my cholesterol levels were quite high. I'm more comfortable eating a more plant-based diet and it sits better with my environmental ambitions to eat less meat and animal products.

I have three big challenges this time:

• I love a cup of tea and I'd like to reduce my milk consumption for planetary and health reasons.
• I like a glass of wine. Well, I did. This is a habit I'd like to reduce, partly because I'm doing something that I don't always enjoy (I know, crazy)!
• I'm still working and that can be a major source of stress sometimes. After an intense day, pizza and crisps seem the ideal solution - even though I don't enjoy shop-bought pizzas and crisps have lost their appeal except in an occasional crisp sandwich (even more crazy).

It's about nine weeks to the end of the year, so it would be great to have a grand finale on 1 January of reaching my target weight. Although I'm talking about weight, my real ambitions are about improved health, staying as healthy as I can and preventing future health problems.