I’ve been lurking and reading posts here for a while now and thought it was time I joined. I started the 5:2 plan back in July 2014 and read this forum with great interest to help me get started with it. I bought the 5:2 diet book online and read it several times now. I usually do my fasts on Tuesdays and Thursdays and find it easier to wait until evening to eat my only meal of the day. Sometimes I might give in about 4 pm and have a cup of low sodium fat free chicken broth to carry me until my dinner which I have about 7pm. I walk my dog a few times a day, try to do yoga each day and some light weights strength training every other day except Sunday. I’ve tried just about every diet and this is the only one that I feel like I can actually stick with it for the rest of my life. It is so easy to do, I get to eat real food and not feel guilty about it. The all time best part I’m thrilled about is that I get to enjoy my wine on my feed days. All other diets forbid any alcohol usually. I do try to wait until Fridays and Saturdays to enjoy a few glasses, but sometimes I’ll indulge in a glass on Wednesdays too. The weight is slow coming off,(there was a bit of an over indulgence during the Christmas holidays), but it is coming off! I’m so happy to have finally found a way of eating that I can stick with for life!

Hi JazzyGabs and Virginilu, glad to hear from fellow Fasting Americans. It was a bit of a struggle for me too when I first started. I too was spreading my calories thru out the day in 3 small meals. I found out that for me once I ate something, it just triggered my hunger monster. But after reading this forum about this very thing (waking the hunger monster up), I tried waiting to eat until as late as possible to see how I did, and was amazed that when I didn’t eat anything I just wasn’t that hungry. I have black coffee in the morning and then lemon water, usually heated, the rest of the day. Sometimes I’ll have a diet soda occasionally too if I’m running errands, shopping, etc. It’s a sort of indulgence when out of the house to help keep my mind off of food. That’s another thing I found too that helps me. Staying busy on my fast days or coming online here to read this forum. Good luck with your fasting and remember that you can do anything for one day, especially knowing you can have what you’re craving tomorrow.