Hi Cap, good luck with the diet! I’m from Wales too, in my 40s and combining work & kids. The diet’s been great for me so far: not too painful or hard to combine with family life (just planning 2 days where I can eat 500kcal of whatever the kids are having for tea). 6 weeks in and I’m now 9lbs down despite a few stalls, I’m feeling much healthier and zippier with it. First couple of fasts were the toughest, then it seemed to get easier.

A positive side effect is that it’s made me much more mindful of what I eat generally, broken my snacking habit (a long term solution I hope) and it is much less restrictive than other diets. The nicest thing is feeling the clothes get looser!

There’s loads of advice on the forum and the link that simcoeluv posts above is great.

Hi, I am just starting this way of life, having read the book and been inspired, but I am severely lacking in the willpower department! I am 43, two teenage girls and work term-time…and a husband who thinks this is ridiculous, so not much support from that quarter. I lost about a stone and a half a few years ago, mix of Rosemary Conley and just cutting down – I had never really bothered about what I ate and was not big but just had more cushioning that possibly I should have! I kept it off over the next few years with almost an accidental 5:2 – i would be good most of the time, sometimes not eat much/anything at all for a day or so then have a meal out/takewaway the next day. It all just balanced and I found myself accidentally slim at 8 stone – I am 5’3″. Somehow I have got lazy, older and complacent, and fooled myself that I can get away with eating what I like, and over the last few months have put on 10 pounds. Not huge, but it is going in the wrong direction, it shows on my small frame, and I am definitely eating and drinking too much. I am finding it really difficult to fast, I don’t understand why as previously I lost weight inadvertently. I think I make excuses – I cook a lot for the kids and my husband, and whilst I may not sit down and eat a plate of what they are having, I often find myself finishing their leftovers or scoffing what is left in the pan. I just don’t know how to motivate myself – I have very good intentions, and I hate the fact that I am getting bigger, but I find myself thinking about food and how I can’t have it all the time. Grr… On the bright side, a bottle of wine is around 500 calories…! Please will someone shout at me and tell me to get a grip! x