Hi H and welcome:

You can drink anything you want – just count the calories if there are any. Tea and coffee are fine.

If you really do 5:2, you will find it turns into a way of life. People that have lost 50 or 100 pounds report they just continue doing 5:2 – perhaps eating more on their non-diet days or setting a ‘range’ where, if they exceed the top causes them to do 5:2 until they return their desired weight.

Here are some tips: https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/the-basics-for-newbies-your-questions-answered/

Good Luck!

@hbox1983 – I prefer to eat my calories on fast days so drink black coffee, black herbal teas, Marmite tea (yum) and sometimes low cal fizzy drinks in the evening if I am desperate. I have a feeling artificial sweeteners may interfer with your insulin/blood sugar control but there seems to be little concensus on this.

On timing, you can fast for health and do it indefinately. Lots are fasting for weight loss and do 2 to 3 fast days a week until they reach their goal weight. Most people with a weight problem will gain back lost weight over time unless they radically change their approach to eating so some people fast long term for 1 to 2 days a week to prevent weight gain. Hope that helps.

I read recently that the two Fast days could be back to back. Are there benefits to this over non consecutive Fast days?

Thanks for that. I will probably settle on Monday and Thursday too.

I agree with fasting_me “Fasting is a Lifestyle and it is for life.” – don’t just think of it as a “diet” – it’s much more than that – the Moseley book outlines many different advantages and research is unveiling more.

My tea drinking habits are unchanged. I very rarely drink coffee – I like a big coffee house coffee about once or twice a month if I am out and want to treat myself (but not on a fasting day – a big milky cappuccino is something like 300 cals!) i don’t like coffee as it (imho) makes your breath smell. I drink Earl Gray tea (Twinnings or co-op is the best imho) and lemon and ginger tea. I have never drank any kind of fizzy drink – i.e. Coke, or fruit juice or squash. I also drink hot water – just a weaker version of Earl Gray!)

FYI I started 16th Jan at 90.1kg and I’ve been bobbling around my target weight or 84kg for about a week at 84.1-84.4kg – so that’s 6.1kg = 13.5 pounds – very nearly a stone. I will continue with 5:2 for a while after just to see what happens but I’m happy with where I am now – I think fasting will always be part of my life – it’s a tool – something I’ve learned how to do and how to use and I know I can do it any time I want – I’ll continue with it (5:2 or 6:1 or whatever) for the many health benefits. I chose 84kg because that was lowest weight I ever was in the last 4 years of my life as a regular runner (100+ runs a year, 600+ miles a year as a minimum) (I have weighed myself and measured my blood pressure regularly over the years and kept records). HTH