Hi,

I suggest you buy the book and read it as it is full of useful information.
It clearly states that no food is prohibited so it is up to you what you eat.
There will be those who will tell you tht you shouldn’t eat potatoes but I’ve not stopped eating them in small amounts and I’ve lost over 30 kilos.

Hi, Amanda,
you can eat potatoes with no worry! If you still don’t have The Fast Diet book, I do recommend to offer it https://thefastdiet.co.uk/fast-books/ . With this book, you won’t have such questions.
But, if honest, I know one tip, how to make fried potatoes not so high-calorie. You just need to use an air fryer. According to this review https://www.bestadviser.in/air-fryers , this air fryer machine will prepare it healthier, not so high-calorie than the usual method.
I wish you good luck 🙂

I don’t think the question was “can I eat 600 calories of sugar on FDs” but “can I still eat (fried) potatoes occasionally”

The point about 5:2 IMO is that it in order for it to be successful it needs to become a way of life and we have to find a way of eating that works for us, fits in with our lifestyle and if possible the lifestyle of our nearest and dearest. Some of us eat because we would die if we didn’t and others live to eat and need to be able to sit down to a plate of food that they enjoy not spende their time working their way through a pile of food that gives them little pleasure.
Giving up processed carbs is a great idea if it isn’t going to make your life miserable but for the majority of us learning to limit such things by putting them in the occasional treat category is the way to succeed.

Amber, I eat whatever I want on FD, but I generally go for the largest volume of food for the least amount of calories. Fried potatoes would take up a big chunk of my 500 calories, so if I include potatoes, it’s usually baked or steamed in measured amounts, of course. If I season them well with salt, pepper and whatever herbs sound good to me that day, it can be pretty satisfying. I usually just wait til the FD is over and eat fried potatoes in moderation on NFDs.

My usual “more bang for the buck” foods are steamed vegetables, soups, chicken, fish, apples, sometimes legumes because they’re high in fiber and filling. I eat more carbs than protein. I try to keep FD food fast and simple and concentrate on drinking a lot of calorie free liquids to keep me feeling full. I don’t like to spend the day thinking about food. It isn’t productive.

On NFD I used to be able to eat pretty much whatever I wanted in reasonable amounts. But it took more calories to sustain a 70+ kg body than it does a 60.5 kg one. I still eat what I want, but have to be mindful of not eating excessive amounts on NFD.

I’m occasionally hungry but I’ve never been miserable on 5:2. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. I feel great. Food tastes SO much better when I’m not mindlessly shoveling it in.

Bigbooty, I agree that extreme diets are doable for some people and they can get along well with eliminating one or more food groups or subgroups. But sometimes it’s just a matter of convenience. For example, I’ve experimented with vegan diets for a year or more at a time in the past and didn’t miss animal products at all. My cholesterol dropped bigtime and I could pretty much eat whatever I wanted without weight gain. (A bag of potato chips would still put on weight.) I had more energy and felt great. But eating that way outside our home was difficult as I dine with business associates and clients in restaurants often and while it can be done, it’s not always easy without lots of substitutions, etc. I need the focus to be on business at hand, not what I’m ordering for lunch or dinner. Dining at friends homes or at parties was also challenging.

Eating a balanced diet on 5:2 can be challenging enough, working around 2 FDs each week. Restrictions could make it unsustainable for many people.

I eat potatoes all the time and did so during my 5:2 weight loss phase (I’ve now been in ‘maintenance’ for over a year). However, I only eat them after they’ve been allowed to cool to room temperature or refrigerated since this produces something called ‘resistant starch’ which Dr. Mosley spoke about being beneficial for the gut biome and also recommended on an Australian television program called ‘Insight’. You can even re-heat the potatoes and they will still remain as ‘resistant starch’. Resistant starch doesn’t raise blood glucose levels since it is bound up in fiber that the body is required to digest in order to utilize. You can read more about resistant starch here: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-29629761

Bigbooty, I had no idea about cooling and reheating starchy foods to create resistant starch – RS3.
More googling required for me.
Not sure how successful it would be for par boiling potatoes that then end up as roasties for sunday dinner, but I will web search it – a bit of day before prep wouldn’t hurt anyway, but the taste and texture will still have to be good – going to enjoy that experiment – cheers! Oops, just remembered that I’ve decided to experiment with Sun; Tue; Thu fasting – will have to par boil potatoes tonight for a Saturday roast tomorrow.

But if the question is about eating potatoes on reduced a calorie – 500/600 – day – then I can’t see how one could risk eating a tiny portion of potatoes and being confident about how many calories were consumed, unless you did not care about being in calorie denial.
Easy for me as I have 0 cals on (successful) fast days 🙂