….I am absolutely delighted with the results!!! 😀

I had lost about a stone in 3 weeks and I probably weigh even a bit less now but I am not going to weight myself for another few weeks because I don’t believe in weighing yourself too regularly!!

Anyway, my name is Sarah, I am 22 years old and I am from the Republic of Ireland. I was never a fat or chubby girl, just an average weight. However my weight has fluctuated within the last few years from about 9ish/9 1/2 stone to almost 11 and a half stone which was my highest weight a couple of months ago! Ironically it was the dreaded weighing scales that gave me the determination to find a diet that can help to lose weight easily and to keep it off for good!

I had been going to the gym consistently 3 times a week for about 3 months and I did notice that I was after losing a few inches and toning up but when I hopped up onto the scales over 5 weeks ago I did not like what I saw at all so I came to the conclusion that my diet needed to be changed drastically as I have heard that in order to lose weight, it needs to be 80% diet and 20% exercise!!

So after 3 weeks my boyfriend, my family, my friends and of course myself were noticing me shrinking before their eyes!! And even though I knew I was losing weight, the scales was still my worst enemy, but I got up the nerve to weigh myself on a weighing scales in a Dunnes clothing shop lol and I could not believe it when the marker stopped at 10 stone!!

I noticed a big difference in my face size and how I looked A LOT slimmer in clothes all thanks to the 5:2 diet!! However I still attend the gym about 3 times a week but the difference is I spend less times working out on the machines and I focus more on the weights for toning up! I am only planning to stay on this diet for another 3 or 4 weeks because my desired weight is 9 to 9 1/2 stone. But for anyone who has just started this diet there are a few tips that I would like to share in order for one to effectively lose weight ( and which worked for me too!) when embarking on the 5:2 diet:

1. Ensure that you treat your 2 fast days EXACTLY like fast days, in other words stick to the recipes and planned meals for the day and do not go over the calorie count. The 2 fast days are when you lose the most amount of weight!
2. Allow yourself LOW FAT treats 3 times a week (no more!) like a packet of low fat crisps such as treble crunch crisps.
3. You can be a little less lenient on ONE weekend day such as Saturday, for example pick one meal that you used to always enjoy before you started 5:2 (NOT chipper food or chinese or take out pizza, go to number 5 on this list) OR pick one treat to eat after your 5:2 diet meal in the evening such as a bag of crisps or a bar of chocolate
4. Make sure to exercise fairly regularly during the week in order to effectively lose more weight along with the 5:2 diet plan. I only need to work out 3 times a week for 30 mins on machines such as a cross trainer and a treadmill at a high intensity and then do toning exercises afterwards BUT this might not work for everyone so work out in a way that will help you to lose weight in an effective and efficient way.
5. Of course you have to ‘pig out’ once in a while, say maybe every 2/3 weeks but when I say ‘pig out’ that doesn’t mean you go on an all day binge eating every fatty food in sight! What I mean is to pick your favourite take out meal such as a large pizza or chips and burger or a chinese, BUT you have to eat very healthily up until you choose to eat that meal which should preferably be in the evening. So make sure to eat healthily for breakfast and lunch and no treats in between.

Thanks for listening this might not work for everyone but it has for me and I enjoyed sharing my experiences with you 🙂

Hi Amamb

I am glad that my tips can be of some help to you!

I go by all the meal plans in the 5:2 diet book and so far they have ALL helped me to be where I am now!! (even if I have tweaked them a bit, but hey I still lost a lot of weight in a short space of time!!!)

Typical Fast food day:

Breakfast:
1 pot of Glenisk Greek yogurt; any flavour – strawberry, pear or rhubarb

Lunch:
1 serving of Chicken soup recipe in 5:2 diet book
1 pot of weight watchers toffee or vanilla flavour yogurt – yummy and only 54 calories each!!

Dinner:
Chicken Provencal tray bake or Fluffy Omelette recipes – both in 5:2 Diet Book

Snacks:
Cup of tea with skimmed milk and 1 teaspoon of sugar
Handful of salted pistachio nuts or an apple

I also drink no added sugar Mi Wadi throughout the day as I am not too keen on water.

And here is a typical Non Fast Food Diet plan:

Breakfast:
Kelloggs Fruit ‘n’ Fibre Cereal with skimmed milk

Lunch:
Roast Red Pepper soup in 5:2 Diet Book and a wholemeal brown bread sandwich with a slice of ham, lettuce and a teaspoon of lighter than light mayonnaise
Aldi 100 calorie cheese and onion crisps

OR

6 tablespoons of Heinz no added sugar baked beans on 2 slices of wholemeal brown bread
Aldi 100 calorie Cheese and onion crisps

Dinner:
Chicken Casserole recipe in 5:2 Diet Book

OR

Pasta Arrabiata recipe in 5:2 Diet book

Snacks:
cup of tea with skimmed milk and 1 teaspoon of sugar
Banana

I seriously recommend trying the Chicken Casserole recipe, it is absolutely gorgeous and I am addicted to it already, and its sooo filling too!!

Another few tips that I can give you and that I feel have helped me to lose the weight so quickly are:

1. Switching from full fat milk to skimmed milk. Honestly, there really is not much of a difference between the two unless you are drinking a glass of it! I now put skimmed milk in my tea and also on my cereal and it tastes just as good, just not as creamy I guess!

2. Reducing the amount of sugar in your diet. I used to always put two decent sized spoons of sugar into my tea and at least a tablespoon onto my cereal. Now I have FINALLY reduced it to 1 flat teaspoon of sugar and I put no sugar on my cereal because I get the sweetness from the natural sugars in the raisins.

3. Cut down on the amount of pasta you eat during the week as I used to always think that a large dinner plate of a tomato based pasta sauce with some pancetta was a healthy meal BUT it was actually the most fattening meal I could eat!! Plus my portion size was way too big! Try to stick to the Pasta Arrabiata recipe once a week (maybe because I eat the chicken Casserole recipe 4 times a week lol!!)

3. Watch portion sizes. So make sure you weigh out however much the ingredients for the recipes indicate because portion sizes are where most people including me made the way for increasing weight gain

Ok I think that is all the tips I have left to give you and I hope they and the typical diet day plans can be of more use to you

Sarah 🙂