Hi,

I’m a 48 year old woman from Germany and I started the 5:2 diet one and a half weeks ago. My motivation is not so much to lose weight (even though I did gain 5 kg (11 pds) or so during the last year and I would not mind losing those again), but just to get a bit more energy and some of the health benefits of the fasting intervals.

I have never been overweight, so I don’t have much experience with dieting, but I did try the ketogenic diet for a while last year (also mostly out of curiosity and to see if it would do anyting for my migraine headacahes … it did, but after about 2 months I started craving carbs again … mostly potatoes and fruit, so I did revert back to a more balanced diet including some carbs. I’d still say my carb intake is moderate, though). And I have a feeling that the keto experience did help me immensely on my first fasting days. My body naturally slipped back into ketosis relatively quickly. I did feel hungry, but neither dizzy nor tired or headachy.

Even though I’ve only done 4 fasting days so far, I am amazed at the effect they were having. I will tell more about it in the health section, but it really felt like my body switched gears from fatigued, in pain and always hungry to fresh, motivated and energized. Without having any intention to do so beforehand, I started to do some kind of exercise or physical activity every day. I don’t think I lost much weight yet, but my body feels leaner and stronger. It is as if my body completely changed gears almost overnight.

I do try to stick to the classic 500 kcal approach for the fast days, but I am not overly strict with it. I estimate the calories more than actually measureing or weighing my food, and I made a rule for myself that blackberries, walnuts and other wild fruit I encounter during walks do not count towards my calorie budget.

I try to eat two meals on fasting days, lunch and dinner, and avoid snacking. If the hunger gets too bad between meals, I have a cup of broth (from a cube) or five almonds in between. That seems to work quite well.