Hi imageman, this is not a low carb diet and the only thing you need to observe is not to eat more than 600 calories (500 for women) on your 2 fasting days. Since protein is more filling than carbs and you want to lose fat and not muscles many of us chose protein over carbs on fasting days, but there are plenty of stories here from people who fill up on vegetable soups and are very succesful with this regime. You can chose any 2 days that fit your life and switch them to suit you.
Welcome to 5:2 and good luck! You may find this more appealing than Atkins as it is not as restrictive and no foods are forbidden.

Hi, imageman – I’m wondering why you are considering some kind of combination of the Atkins Diet (low carb) and 5:2 Intermittent Fasting (calorie restriction), as the two systems have totally different perspectives, as far as I can see. Is it weight-loss and insulin control you most want (at which Atkins seems more successful) or are you looking to acheive the potential increased longevity reported in connection with fasting?
Perhaps you are seeking weight-loss but, as fastinginberlin has intimated, you are finding the Atkins regime too onerous? I don’t know what stage of the Atkins Diet you’ve reached but I’d be interested to hear how you envisage your eating plan for the week if you do incorporate two reduced-calorie days into it. I can’t quite get my head round how that might work but I’d like to hear more and explore the possible advantages – or not – of some kind of hybrid.
I’ve only recently stumbled across the Low Carb/High Fat approach (LCHF) but am impressed by the latest science on the subject – especially the extensive research refuting the need for – or value of – a low-fat diet. However, to my mind, the strictures involved in getting into/maintaining ketosis (fat-burning mode) seem very difficult to keep to, even in the relatively short-term, let alone for a longer future.
For anyone interested in hearing more, here’s a YouTube link to a fascinating lecture – entitled ‘The Food Revolution’ – given in 2011 by Andreas Eenfeldt, a young Swedish doctor who advises his overweight patients to follow a low-carb/high fat diet (LCHF). He has had much success, even reversing diabetes in many patients on this regime and, in Sweden, it seems that new medical thinking has led to a considerable sea-change in dietary advice, with their obesity rates actually declining in recent years.
Video: The Food Revolution (Duration: 54 minutes – quite long but jam-packed with interesting dietary facts and new information):
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FSeSTq-N4U4&feature=player_embedded&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DFSeSTq-N4U4%26feature%3Dplayer_embedded

Andreas Eenfeldt specialises in studying the latest research findings on the subject and interviewing the leading scientists behind this work. His English-language blog and the video interviews he has conducted are very informative.
(See: http://www.dietdoctor.com/about – and click on the ‘Video’ link, in blue, near the top)

http://thefastdiet.co.uk/the-2-day-diet/

Hi imageman – here is the link to Dr M’s review of this diet. It is a different diet by 2 other acclaimed scientists who have done years of research and have also written a book. Dr M does say he thinks it has merit but people may find the 2 consecutive days harder plus it doesn’t allow you to eat what you like, being much more restrictive and health orientated ( Med diet) on the non fast days. I haven’t read the book yet so I certainly couldn’t recommend it as such but I like to investigate different ideas. What I’ve researched so far is that the 2 fasting days are definitely low carb which is possibly why you don’t have to restrict calories as much. I find LCHF (not sure if they allow the high fat part though) really keeps my hunger and blood sugar levels really constant which I like. Reason I wasn’t sure if could mention here is that isn’t about DrM’s 5:2 diet so it wouldn’t be right I don’t think to discuss alternatives on this forum.

Hi, imageman – The 5:2 system does not limit food types (or even quantities) on non-fast days and does not specify any particular food type on fast days either, other than suggesting that 500/600 calories of protein and leafy vegetables are probably more filling than most other options.
It is deliberately not severe with regard to fasting, as it aims to enable easy, long-term compliance – a big problem with many other more restrictive diets. The research behind it – and Michael M’s own experience – suggest that a calorie restriction two days a week, even when one is allowed one quarter of own’s normal daily intake of food, is a big enough ‘fasting’ stress to one’s body to provoke the reported health benefits and also lead to sustainable weight-loss.

Reading around the forum, you will find every possible result on the weight-loss spectrum, using the 5:2 approach – from some people who have had spectacular, immediate and on-going losses, through to people with initial losses and then plateaux, right over to people with no losses at all, no matter what was tried. I’m beginning to think that, in the absence of specific details about each person’s food intake, it is impossible to evaluate what factors produce good results and what don’t. Variables like exercise, diagnosed and un-diagnosed health problems, and initial start-weight further complicate matters, not to mention each individual’s genetic make-up.

From your comments, I take it that you are still wanting to lose more weight. It seems to me that, whichever scheme one adopts, every weight-loss programme hits the perennial fact that metabolism slows down as soon as one starts to lose any significant amount of weight. Evidently one’s body is geared to maintaining the status quo and it resists the changes one is trying to achieve. So, after a time, one always has to do work harder, do more, to get any further.

I’m not sure I understand your final paragraph. What would ‘doing Atkins on fast days’ mean? Are you thinking of counting 600 calories but ensuring they are all low-carb calories or, alternatively, not counting calories at all and just keeping to the Atkins low-carb limits, in which case 5:2 would not really be part of the picture? Anything that moderates insulin stimulation has got to be a good thing, I would think, and on the more days of the week the better. Best wishes.

Oops, sorry, allybally – I didn’t see that you’ve already given the book link. Thanks.

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oh well i’ll go make my dinner & listen 2 a free book from my lbr
on my super old mp3 😀
while copy pasting ugh this reply 2 all
now i wish i were a newbie 2 many 2do