I’ve made it through two weeks and 4 fast days. Wow, it really does get a lot easier! I didn’t really feel hungry at all on the 4th fast day. I’m still experimenting a bit with how and when to get my 500-600 calories on fast days.

There are two things I really miss on fast days, though:
1) Social aspect of eating: It seems like having a more or less regular (=500 calorie) lunch works best for me in terms of hunger and irritability, but I then miss the social aspects of dinner with my family. I am thinking of maybe trying to work late, exercise or find some other “extra-curricular” activity on at least one of the fast days as a “replacement” for the social aspects of eating.
2) My morning latte! Although I often drink black coffee or tea at other times of the day and in other circumstances, my mornings are somehow just not the same (and not as relaxing) without my latte… I might try experimenting with having a small latte in the mornings. It’s probably not the wisest way to get some of my precious calories on a fast day, but if I really only do about 100-125 g of lowfat milk that helps me stick with 5:2, then that is the most important thing!

The two things I like the most about 5:2 are:
1) It really does help you better understand how hunger and satiation feels. The feeling of fullness from just small meals the day or two after fasting is rather pleasant.
2) It’s so liberating to not think (too much) about food on non-fast days. I now realize how much I obsessed and stressed about eating before. I was constantly thinking about whether I was eating too much or too little or not the right kinds of foods. Now I am so much more relaxed about it, and that hasn’t led to me overeating or pigging out on junkfood. Oddly enough, it has probably led to me eating less overall and less unhealthy foods, because I just keep thinking to myself that I can have something when I really want it, but I usually find out I don’t want stuff. Food cravings have somehow disappeared…