Hi Anna, it honestly doesn’t matter which days you do your fasts, the most important thing is that you DO them and that they fit comfortably into your life, so that you KEEP doing them long-term.

I do Monday and Wednesday and have done for over a year now. Prior to that it was Tuesdays & Thursdays. Occasionally I have to ‘move’ a fastday (or both of them) around in the week to get them to fit and VERY occasionally I have done consecutive days when there has been no other viable option.

Most important tip: Drink water like it’s going out of fashion and for me personally I would always say; Put off eating ANYTHING for as long as you possibly can on a fastday (or any other day in my case), as once he’s out of his bottle that Hunger Genie DOES NOT want to go back in.

Hi Anna I to am a newbie and have started my fast today as I am home with my granddaughter so trying to keep busy, few tummy rumbles and slight headache but have not yet eaten. I am at work tomorrow so will just eat a light snack as am on my feet all day. Wish you luck Greenam

Hi Anna, I do Monday’s and Wednesdays if I can so that they are out of the way! I’m not a breakfast eater either and have found that I can manage all day with only the odd apple or a handful of nuts if I’m really desperate. I did try dividing the calories between lunch and dinner at the beginning but I was always calculating how many calories I had eaten and how many I had left so decided to try just eating them all in the evening and it is working out ok for me. I’ve been doing this since October 2013 and have lost 25lbs. You don’t need to drink the water on it’s own – try herbal tea or fruit tea.

Good luck – you can do it! Linda

Hi Anna, to be honest I’m not sure about the black tea or coffee. I can’t drink either without milk so just don’t bother but I’m not sure if I’ve read somewhere that it’s the caffeine in tea and coffee that needs to be avoided as well as the milk! There are all sorts of herbal teas out there so you might find one you like. I’m not a lover of green tea but I can drink it with mixed with something else such as mint etc.

I actually don’t think it matters that much if you have an odd tea or coffee either with milk or without – you just need to include it in your calories. There’s lots of people that drink an awful lot of tea and coffee during the day with milk and sugar which is really what they need to cut out. It’s the zero calories in water that is the thing. Hope this helps. Linda

Hi, I have just completed my first week and am celebrating a four pound loss! To be honest I found it quite manageable. I allowed myself one cup of tea or coffee with skimmed milk on a fast day. The rest of the time I drank water. When that got boring, I added a few squeezes of fresh lemon into each glass. I kept the lemon in the fridge for the day and it made me feel like I was drinking something different. Good luck.

Hi Anna and welcome:

The way 5:2 works is you go to bed, get up, eat 500 or fewer calories during your waking hours, go to bed, get up and eat to your TDEE or less – twice a week. On all 7 days of the week you can eat foods you want to eat – there are no forbidden foods, or foods you have to eat. For the first month or so focus on doing your diet days correctly (500 calories or less) and most everything else will fall into place.

Here is what TDEE means: http://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/tdee-for-the-curious-or-why-dont-i-lose-weight-faster/

And here are some tips for beginners: http://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/warnings-to-newbies/

Good Luck!

Hello,

I’m starting today aswell and I have also chosen Tuesday & Thursday to be my fast days so we will be in it together tomorrow 🙂 I’m just trying to find food ideas for tomorrow.

Ooo that sounds tasty. I have some WW soup so going to have that for lunch at work. Good luck, I will update tomorrow if I don’t end up eating my phone… Jess.

Hi,
I have been on this diet now for a couple of months and it runs along side my regime to get fitter, so I am also going to the gym twice a week and doing lots of swimming and cycling.
As for the diet, it is so easy, I also do Tuesdays and Thursdays. And on my non fast diet days sometimes I do over indulge, especially at the weekend. Y
But you don’t need to worry about putting on a pound or so during those days because sure enough, after two days on the fast diet, theyre gone again and you are back on track.
I am now a stone lighter than I was, fitting into cloths I haven’t worn in ages. I have reached my goal weight now and am staying on the diet to maintain it. I feel a whole lot fitter and healthier than ever I was and being lighter means that I can swim for longer and cycle up the hills.
I would recommend this diet to any one, it really does work!
Good luck.

I am on my fast day today too, I find it easier to do when I am in work. I had nothing to eat until 11:15am this morning and then started on some fruit and a weightwatchers Tuscan ministrone soup for my lunch. Plenty to drink in between. For my evening meal tonight I will do a Korma Curry, without rice, just a bit of side salad.
What this diet does is it trains you to eat healthly and not ruin the fast days by over-indulgance, but when you slip up, just get back on track.
I have found that I often look forward to my fast days to make me get back on track.
Keep it up and I guarantee you feel so much healthier and a lot lighter.

Hello, it went well, I pushed it back and had tea instead. Felt a lot easier. Well done! I’m going to weigh myself Monday mornings then start the week fresh from then. I’m just trying to up my exercise too.

Lol, I’ve started jogging and did the 5k race for life today. Just weighted myself because I was curious and I’ve lost 4lb this week 🙂 yey! Good luck to you too.

Hiya, Just catching up on this thread after my hols. In answer to an early question Anna – yes you can have black tea or coffee without sugar on a fastday. They don’t contain calories unless you add milk or sugar so they’re ‘free’.

Also Sujon mentioned having a curry on a fastday. Most curries are actually really good for a fastday as even a shop bought sauce isn’t hugely calorific as long as you go for a tomato based rather than creamy variety. They’re also great for cramming in lots of veg in a yummy way (if you just do a veg curry you might even have some calorie allowance left over for some rice too). If you’re going for a meat curry, you can still pack some veg in with it and as an accompaniment (instead of rice) you could try cauliflower rice (wizz up some cauliflower floretts and soften them for a minute in the microwave – drain and serve as you would rice). I’ve never really bothered cooking much on actual fastdays but I’ve tried the cauliflower rice and it is a nice alternative if you want to go low-cal, even on a non-fastday.