Hi Victoria and welcome:

You cannot ‘go on a diet’, lose whatever weight you want to lose, and then go back to eating like you used to and expect to retain your weight loss. The way you used to eat got you fat in the first place, and will get you fat again.

So you have to eat less than you used to, not only to lose weight, but to keep it off. Just figure out your TDEE at your ‘goal’ weight, and that will roughly be the number of calories you will have to eat for the rest of your life to retain your weight loss. You will not have to use 5:2 to stick to that calorie level, but you will have to control your eating in some way to do it. If you are not willing to do that, then there is no diet on earth, no magic foods to eat or terrible foods not to eat, that will allow you to keep the weight off.

Here are some tips on 5:2: https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/the-basics-for-newbies-your-questions-answered/

Good Luck!

Hi Victoria,

When you approach your goal weight, there is a dedicated maintenance thread where long-term and new maintainers share experiences and support one another

http://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/thank-you-dr-m-for-my-success/

Hi Victoria:

Simcoe is a strain of hops used to make beer. I love beer, and beers made with simcoe hops (although I really love all beer regardless of hops involved).

I lost 40 pounds with 5:2 and have been maintaining that loss for about a year now. I have been experimenting with maintenance approaches. I will probably resume my weight loss efforts later this year or early next.