Hello and welcome,
Think of this as a way of life rather than a diet. You can’t out run your fork, so look at what you eat and see what positive swaps you can make. If you consume fizzy drinks(soda) then that is the first thing to give up. I gave up sugar in my tea after 40+ years and although I moaned for a week, I don’t think about it now and it has really helped me to avoid sugary food. Avoid processed food. Perhaps you can sit down with your mum and menu plan together.
It might help to keep a food diary for a week of all that you eat and drink so that you can see where you could make a healthier swap. Avoid anything ‘diet’ or ‘low fat’ as they are often full of sugar. Have a look at your overall sugar consumption both hidden and in plain sight, then see what you can do to reduce it.

Welcome to the forum, quietrebellion. I agree with Amazon on dropping some of those supplements. Gummies are candy and if you take a lot of them, that could be a pretty heavy dose of sugar. Better to concentrate on getting your nutrients from food.

The basic 5:2 diet is 500 calories on each of 2 fast days (FD) and controlled eating the other 5 days. You mention that you don’t eat poorly now, compared to the other people you know. Are the other people you know all thin people? We’re often attracted to other overweight people who share our food preferences (eating can be a social activity) so other people aren’t always a good gauge of healthy eating. And unless you are with them 24 hours a day, you don’t know what they are eating the rest of the time. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “If you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep getting the same results that you’ve always got.” This is very true in terms of eating. You will likely have to make changes to what you eat on a daily basis.

You mention that it’s likely that you’d pass out by restricting your calories on a fast day. This is not normal! I would suggest going to your doctor before you start to make sure you don’t have a medical condition that needs to be addressed before you begin any diet.

The 5:2 diet isn’t very difficult but it almost always requires changes to the way a person has been eating if they’re too heavy or obese. Being overweight isn’t healthy. I was able to cut down my blood pressure medication to about 1/4 of what I had been taking prior to the 5:2 in less than 2 months. I’m hoping I’ll be able to discontinue it altogether after a few more pound lost. I’m cranky on some fast days and also on some of the non-fast days. I learn to deal with it. I’m in a job that requires a lot of public contact as well and sometimes I just have to suck it up and pretend that I’m happier than I really am. Sometimes the crankiness has to do with factors other than eating that I have to deal with. Being fat and unhealthy is no longer an option for me. Being thin feels good! I’ve had to make changes but the results are so worth it. I hope you come to the same conclusion.

Quietrebellion, do you eat plain yougurt, without any fruit (and sugar) added to it? Most sweetened yogurts aren’t much different than eating ice cream. And most store bought yogurts have many of the helpful probiotics killed off by pasteurization, so they can package them. Have you considered making your own? Kefir is another dairy product with lots of helpful probiotics in it. It’s easier to ferment at home on your own because it’s a lot less temperature sensitive that yogurt during the fermenting stage. All you need is a couple of empty jars and some starter grains to get started. You can purchase kefir at many grocery stores to see if you like it.

Keep in mind that milk, yogurt and kefir all contain natural sugars. Lactose is a milk sugar made up of galactose and glucose. A lot of the lactose is eaten up by the bacteria in fermented products, but not all of it. That’s why people who are lactose intolerant can often eat yogurt or kefir. I always feel a little hungry after drinking kefir for just this reason.

Sugar makes you hungry, pure and simple. Restricting calories is MUCH easier when you’re not eating added sugar.

Hi quietrebellion,

I hope this way of eating helps you lose weight. I too have been obese and losing that weight was a long battle.

While I wish you had a healthier diet I understand the pressure of a tight budget and the problems an uncertain bowel can cause. I have IBS (irritable bowel syndrome)and I found that my bowel problems slowly improved as I lost weight, making it easier to make dietary changes. But making those changes slowly is wisest when you don’t know what impact it will have. I personally found that increasing my fibre content made the most difference, but the answer is different for everyone so it may take time to find solutions that help you. I agree with the earlier advice of making one good change at a time.

If there are any vegetables and fruits that you can safely eat without upsetting your digestive system then then try to include them daily so that you have less reliance on supplements. It doesn’t matter if you can’t eat all veg and fruit just try to include some of those you can daily. I stick largely to things that are in season and local (if possible) as they have the best flavour and are the cheapest options. Sometimes I will use frozen veg as there are times of year when that is the cheapest option, especially with veg such as peas and beans.

I too used to prefer sweetened fruit yoghurt but over time I slowly moved to plain greek yoghurt and now kefir (which is the cheapest option of all if you make it yourself). Initially I mixed plain yoghurt with either fresh or stewed fruit – it was definitely less sweet than the commercial yoghurts but I adapted and began to like it that way. Then I slowly reduced the fruit until I liked the plain yoghurt too. Basically it was a case of weaning myself off of the sugar slowly. Even if you just get to the point of always having a piece of fruit mixed with yoghurt or kefir, that would still be a healthy improvement and the fruit would give you vitamins and fibre as well.

If you haven’t already done so, go to the “how it works” link at the top of the page and work out your TDEE. You need to stay under this on the days you aren’t fasting.

On the fast days I recommend planning food for the times of day that you know you are hungriest. For me that is afternoon and evening – I don’t eat breakfast or lunch on fast days. This is a very personal choice, as I know others who really need some food in the morning. Your suggestion of broth is a good one. It can be filling and warming without adding many calories. You do need some protein on fast days and if possible include some vegetables. I usually make sure I have enough calories for a piece of fruit on fast days as well.

I hope this goes well for you.