5-2 diet, well if its good enough for TV then....

The BBC iplayer has been showing old episodes of Horizon and I watched the one on fasting presented by the very amiable Michael Moseley. This is of course where the 5-2 diet first became infamous. I was impressed with the effect the diet has on things like diabetes, blood pressure and of course weight so have decided to give it go. Apparently fasting is also good for the brain cells which is even better as I feel like I have been suffering with 'foggy brain' recently.
I also like the simplicity of the diet, basically for two days of the week with at least a day in between, you fast and only eat 500 calories for a woman or 600 for a man, if you are hardcore you can eat nothing at all. You can drink as much zero calorie drinks as you like so lots of water and herbal tea for me. The other five days there are no restrictions, I just eat normally, I do not attempt to diet on those days but at the same time I don't eat six eclairs, one is just fine or two! I started at the beginning of the month so I've been doing it for over 3 weeks now. Here are a few thoughts I have about it so far.


  • Be wise with the days you pick to fast, its much easier to follow when you know you are not doing anything socially or have a difficult work day ahead. 
  • On fast days I feel very cold, not sure whether this is a common response but be aware and put on an extra layer. 
  • Plan your fast day meal, there are some fast days where you feel fine but there are others where your hunger is right up in your face so make sure you have something ready in your fridge so you are not digging around and tempted by treats you can't have. Keep it simple, I have a soup or a salad with a boiled egg!
  • And as mentioned before do not treat your non fast days as semi-diet days, eat what you would normally eat and don't think about it, if you have a biscuit with your tea then carry on doing that. 
  • The first couple of weeks you will over indulge on the 5 days but this soon peters out so don't worry about it. 
  • And most importantly remember you can always have that sausage, pasta, cake or whatever tomorrow.
A frugal note on 5-2, yep you do save a bit of money as for two days, you don't need to buy/make breakfast or lunch. On a fast day I also cook a normal dinner so my portion can be eaten for lunch the next day which is another saving. Result. 

I have yet to weigh myself as I don't want to get obsessed with the weight side of things, but I can say that I do feel generally more clear headed and less forgetful. I will update on my progress in a few weeks.




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