The magic of beansprouts!
Try adding a couple of handfuls of beansprouts to a lettuce and tomato salad, and then pouring a couple of tablespoons of low-fat french dressing over it, plenty of salt and pepper… a really satisfying, crunchy, massive plateful! Keeps me going in the middle of a fast day for around 120 calories.

Why is fresh salmon more calories than tinned?

I am a 65 yr old very overweight Nanna. Saw Mike on the TV over Xmas and decided to buy the book and give it a go. I have tried all the usual diets and now weigh more than when I started them, so what have I got to lose.
1st day was Wednesday and found it very easy, Friday is the next Fast day hopefully it will be just as good.
I have planned out my menus and based them around the family food so that I am not tempted to eat other things, does anyone have any other hints to keep me out of the kitchen in the evenings.

Joined in with the 5:2 diet in August after the Horizon programme. It’s the only way I have found to lose weight and the only diet that I have ever followed for more than a few weeks. I feel better, have lost 2 1/2 stone and have got rid of some annoying aches and pains.
Tried lots of ideas for recipes and find the Hairy Bikers approach worth looking at. Removing fat, dry frying, adding flavour with herbs and spices, use strong flavours then you don’t need so much. Think outside the box enjoy your food don’t be greedy and you can lose weight and still lead a normal life.

Hello , Thanks for including me on your site and my also posting up my soup recipe ..

Just to say, yes make your fast meals as tasty as t you can on fast days .. Add lots of fresh herbs and use things like lemon juice , chilli, cumin, and pickles etc if you like them , they are all low cal.

I’ve been doing this since August and I eat a lot of veggie stir fries on fast days with a few prawns or fish .(stir fried in spray of oil and a little stock )

One of my absolute favourites is cauliflower chopped up and roasted in a little spray oil and sprinkled with cumin and lemon juice.. its fab ! .. In fact cauliflower is also great ‘riced ‘ (grated and lightly steamed) with a veg curry or used in a stir fry .

Another great idea I often have for breakfast is omelette made with 2 eggs and a tiny touch of butter, filled with a mixture of wilted spinach, spring onion and fresh coriander , with a couple of sliced cherry tomatoes and my ubiquitous chilli sauce! Stunning!

Hi Jackie – try this link: [deleted due to copyright issues]

Hi Fatnanna, best of luck with the 5/2, I have been doing it since August, finding it effective and easy to maintain. One suggestion to keep you out of the kitchen on Fast evenings- I have taken to going to the cinema on one Fast day a week, carrying my flask of herb tea. I love films, and it is my treat to myself.

After much experiment I now eat the same thing every fast day-coffee with low fat milk for breakfast, large bowl of spicy lentil and veg soup for lunch, noodles with stemed veg and chicken or prawns for supper, flavoured with soy and sweet chilli sauce. Marks and spencer egg noodles are 80 calories per ‘nest’. Both meals are satisfying and filling, and I stay under 500 calories.

Busybee I would just do a slightly larger or smaller portion to make the difference, I’m not too strict about making it exactly 600 kg for me, sometimes I’m a bit over sometimes a bit under. I don’t think it is critical to be precise as we are all different, just by eating less 2 days a week you will be doing yourself a favour 🙂

I am note overweight and eat a very low carb det. I tried this fasting but find it really hard to stick to 500 calories on the down days. Is that because I don’t have weight to loose or do I need to eat more carbs on the up days to give me reserves on the down days. I follow this diet for the other health benefits, not the weight loss.

Breakfast-as an alternative to omelettes pinched this from the Dukan diet whci I find quite filling- one egg beaten with herbs and chilli,pepper & salt with a splash of semi skimmed milk and a dessert spoon of oatmeal dry fried in a non stick wok. Eat this after a weight watcher yogurt with a teaspoon of Linwoods milled flaxseeds and mixed nuts. This keeps going all day.

Hi “Likingthis”
The best way of doing this, for me, has been to download the free app “MyFitnessPal” which you can log into with your personal weights and measurements, and then keep track of your success story too! You can search for foods on there; lots of fresh options as well as well-known brand ready meals too. (Hubby and I enjoy M&S stuffed mushrooms at 120kcals per half packet….delish) Seems a good app, and I find it motivating to record my fast day 500 (ish!) cals. Hope that helps!

I am a mega fussy eater, always have been! I can count on one hand the amount of veggies I like. I am 35 and 5ft 11 and around 14 and half stone. Because I am very fussy with food, my diet is not the best eating more not so good food over the good food (cheese, bread, meats etc). What also does not help is my wife eats what she wants, when she wants, more than me and is always been a size 12 so she always has lots of various good and bad food in the house. I work as a sales rep so am driving all day every day then home to 2 small children and the family business that is 24/7. By the time the kids are in bed and we are sorted it is 9pm so have no real time or desire to exercise. I started this diet around Sept time and lost almost a stone in around 8 weeks. I came off the diet in Nov time as was going on a break with the family. I completely fell off the wagon and am back where I started now. As Christmas was coming up I thought I would start again in January. I was really gutted over Christmas as I had managed to fit nicely into shirts I had not worn in a long time back in Oct/Novemeber, my belt had gone up two notches and like I said was now back at square one. I am now coming up to my 4th fast day of the New Year and am not going to fail this time. I have never been a big eater, just the wrong foods so my fast day usually consists of porridge, soup and a banana. I am going to hit supermarket now though and stock up on some weight watchers meals as they look good! My aim is to get to around 13 stone. Any tips are gratefully received.

I almost always use Quorn substitutes in my meals for fastin – quorn sausages, quorn mince, quorn chicken. You get more bulk of food for less cals, and it actually tastes pretty good (as do most things on a fast day!). I made a quorn lasagne the other day, around 315 cals per portion and it made a lovely fasting dinner last night.

Or you can freeze it in and have quick and easy calorie counted fast meals 😀 That’s what I do, I’ve got all sorts in my freezer – quorn chilli, quorn bolognaise, quorn lasagne, chunky veg soup, ratatouille… I find it so much easier to batch cook a normal recipe, substituting in low cal options like quorn and cutting down some of the oil/fats etc. Then I add up the total cals, divide it out into weighed/calorie counted portions and freeze it in!

So glad to find this site. I have been fasting (actually 3 days a week, not 2) since seeing the Horizon programme and so far lost 2 stone. It is is great to find a resource for ideas about what to eat on fasting days – I was a bit stuck with eating the same 3 meals each week on the fast days and it can get a tad tedious. Aiming to keep going both with this and with at least 3 gym visits a week, for the time being!

Hi everyone, I started the fast diet after seeing a little bit of the Horizon programme. I am male, 54 and 5’9. I was very overweight at 222lbs and was told by my doctor to lose weight or risk a stroke, diabetes, cancer or heart attack. I had tried many different diets to no avail. However,after starting this diet in August I was down to 178lbs in December. I fast on a Tuesday and Thursday. I have my dinner on Monday evening and Wednesday evening then fast for 24 hours. It was difficult to begin with but now it is second nature. I use the ‘myfitnesspal’ app and find this an invaluable tool. On normal eating days I weigh everything as before we just piled our plates high. The only problem (a good one) is the cost of buying new clothes although the’British Heart Fiundation’ are delighted at my donations.
loved reading the other posts and look forward to seeing some more.

I don’t know how but I managed to miss the programme and resulting publicity. Stumbled across the book on Amazon last week and ordered it. I have never dieted and do not have any scales but judging by the way my body has changed shape over the years (I am 44), I would say I am about a stone over my ideal weight for my height. So having read the book and liked what I read, today is my first Fast Day! I have not eaten anything yet (2pm) and feel fine, have discovered I can drink tea without milk but not without sugar so 1 tsp = 15 cals per cup. At this rate I think it unlikely that I will eat before evening, before starting I had thought that I would eat breakfast and dinner but in the end decided to only eat breakfast if I felt really hungry, which I didn’t and still don’t. So, good start but don’t know how I will manage on a work day, only time will tell..

Can you advise whether following this diet would be okay while I exclusively breast feed my (almost) 5 month old son or is it advisable to wait until I stop ?

I’ve found a use for my old diet books and magazines. I’m searching through them to make a collection of recipes my family and I will all like. The recipes are usually calorie-counted and portion sizes clearly stated.
I’ve just completed my first day and have already made use of my Dukan book. Lots more recipes to try! By the way, I had a really good first day today and feel optimistic that I shall see good results.

Started the Fast diet a week ago. I did intend to put my own spin on it! Have now seen the error of my ways, why change something that works? I am seeing why I have stayed overweight and yoyo dieted for years. This two day fasting is easy, I like others find I am not at all hungry, knowing you can eat whatever you like the next day changes everything. The most important thing is I am losing the weight and feeling so many benefits already. I also find I am eating better on non fast days. My appetite has changed and I have become more conscious of how much I used to graze when I wasn’t even hungry. I now make a point of eating consciously and enjoying meal times. I skimmed the book at the start but have now taken time to read it. I will continue this not only for the weight loss but the health benefits. My unhealthy eating and extra weight was making me old before my time! Also the links with depression, I have suffered bouts over many years and turn to food for comfort. I think it becomes a viscous cycle. This may be a tool to help deal with that.

Hi I was very impressed with the program and bought the books. Have been on the 5:2 for 4th week now. In the first week lost 4lbs but now have put on 2lbs and not lost any in 2 weeks. I am sticking to the recipe on the fast days and work out with a trainer at the gym twice a week. The rest of the days, I eat healthy. So why am I not losing any more weight?

Thank you 13Fisher1, have now watched the programme.
2nd Fast Day tomorrow!

I’m just getting ready for my second Fast Day tomorrow. Oven at 200C, I tossed a punnet each of baby courgettes, cut into chunks, and whole cherry tomatoes with 1tsp olive oil, 2tsp red wine vinegar plenty of salt and pepper and a generous pinch of dried oregano. I spread this in a shallow dish in a single layer. I let it roast covered for 20 mins, then 10-20 mins uncovered. I think it’s delicious with a dessertspoon grated parmesan processed with a thin slice full-grain soda bread sprinkled over then toasted to a crunchy topping.