the 5:2 fast diet™

Hot. Hot hot hot. Never thought I’d say that, but the last couple of weeks have been baking in Britain; only now are we seeing the break in the weather, though summer looks all set to resume soon. Like many people, I find fasting on these warmer days so much easier – not only are the fresh summer ingredients perfect for Fast Day dishes, the heat also takes the edge of an appetite. I never really hunger for carbs and cake when the temperature rises – just ice lollies (homemade, so you can gauge the sugar content) and salads and barbecued fish, shrimp, chicken, veggies…

As you might expect, the Recipe book has tons of inspiration for low-cal summer suppers. My favourite at the moment is the Ceviche with tomato and coriander – a real zinger of a dish, super fresh, lime-kissed and pretty as a picture (and here’s the picture!). Just add a fork.

Another firm favourite in our house is the Szechuan chicken salad – a cool citrusy combo of cucumber, herbs, and iceberg that I find myself craving day in day out, Fast Day or not. No need for carbs, I promise you.

And I made the (super-simple) Bagna Cauda again for friends the other day – a glorious heap of griddled vegetables (aubergine, peppers, courgettes, broccoli, fennel, the lot) served with an Italian dipping sauce made from anchovies and garlic.

 An acquired taste, perhaps – but once acquired, hard to shake off!

I’m off to Provence next month, where I expect I’ll gather inspiration for more summertime recipes – preferably ones that don’t involve bread or cheese or charcuterie or any of the usual French basics… I’ll be steering clear. Well, for two days of the week, at least.

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My father has lost a grand total 36 pounds on The Fast Diet (so far). This is an astounding, life-changing achievement and I am hugely proud of him.

Here’s what he says about it (and I really think he’d say this even if we weren’t related!): ‘The point is, it’s just so easy. It’s not like dieting at all. I have a selection of four or five different dishes which I have on Fast Days… and I like all of them!  And my need to snack on non-fast days has disappeared too.  In the 6 months since New Year I can only remember being hungry once.’

I remember years of bugging him to lose weight, worrying about his blood pressure, his knees, his heart. Now, there’s a true lightness in his step and he looks fit as a fiddle. Here’s his Before and After pics (he had to be persuaded to let me have the Before…)

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Lots of buzz about at the moment around ‘demi-veg’ and part-time vegetarians (or ‘flexitarians’ – one of those clunky words that may well never take off, even if the activity does). Last week, the International Development Committee pointed to increased meat consumption as a catalyst for recent global food crises. And we all know that too much meat (particularly of the processed variety) is linked to all kinds of health issues. One recent European study found that the biggest consumers of processed meat increased their risk of death from heart disease by 72% and cancer by 11%. The World Cancer Research Fund advises limiting intake of red meat because of its links to bowel cancer. By contrast, a six-year study published last week in the Journal of the American Medical Association and reported in the London Evening Standard found that ‘the mortality rate among vegetarians was 12 per cent lower than in omnivores, while demi-veggies had an 8 per cent lower death rate than meat eaters’.

This really is food for thought – and it fits in neatly with The Fast Diet mantra of ‘mostly Plants and Protein’. Filling your plate with veg at the expense of meat, even for two days a week, could have a significant effect on your health, your waistline, your pocket and – yes – the planet. As Einstein once said, ‘Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.’

Perhaps full-time vegetarianism is too seismic a shift for some of us, but we could all do with moving towards more plant proteins, legumes, herbs, veggies. And, really, there’s no sacrifice. A veg-based meal relies on spicing, texture, colour, crunch – and once you’re in the zone, it’s not so hard to come up with great meatless meals (there are tons of ideas in The Fast Diet Recipe Book of course). I had lunch at Ottolenghi in Notting Hill a fortnight ago: bliss on a plate, and no meat, not a sausage. As the Standard says, maybe it’s time to join the vegolution?

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OK, so some of us just can’t be buzzed to cook on a Fast Day (me too, despite having written the Recipe Book!) I’ve just discovered the perfect Fast Day takeaway supper at my local independent grocery store. The place has a Middle Eastern flavour – lots of dates and pittas and fat fruit piled high. They do a great little Mezze boxes (see photo) with plenty of tabouleh, butter bean salad, a little falafel, a spoon of couscous, hummus, cherry tomatoes, tons of herbs. It’s a taste sensation, full of good things, low in calories (I’d guess around 350), high in fibre. Basically, a Fast Day winner, and all for £1.99! Bingo.

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Gratified to hear that the stars of Coronation Street are doing well on The Fast Diet. One of the most interesting quotes to emerge in the press this week was from Cherylee Houston, who plays Owen’s daughter Izzy. She has been on the diet for six weeks and is finding real success with it. According to The Sun, ‘Cherylee, who uses a wheelchair, has a form of the rare painful tissue disorder Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and finds the diet helps manage her pain… Says Cherylee: ‘When I looked back I realised the fasting had changed my pain pattern a lot, which is amazing…’

It’s something that Michael and I alluded to in the first book, and a subject which is of increasing interest. Michael says: ‘Studies show that intermittent fasting leads to reduced production of so-called inflammatory factors and that may be one reason why it may help with a range of conditions from arthritis to asthma . There is also some evidence (mainly animal, but human studies have begun) that within a couple of weeks your brain starts to produce a protein called Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor in response to intermittent fasting and that helps improve mood, which may also be helping.’

We are very interested to hear your stories about the effects of intermittent fasting. Has it improved your chronic pain? Do let us know.

Beyond pain relief, Cherylee says she’s feeling more energetic on the Fast Diet too: ‘The diet is about allowing your body to replenish itself,’ she says. ‘Our bodies weren’t really designed to eat three times a day continually. We need down time. And what everybody is saying is that, after they’ve done it for a couple of weeks, they get more energy.’ We couldn’t have put it better ourselves.

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Hi Michael

I want you to know that The Fast Diet has been life changing for me.  Before I started the diet I lived a moderately active lifestyle- going to the gym a couple of times a week and running now and then but my weight just wouldn’t reduce.  In fact it steadily creeped up until I found that I had hit 105kg (230lb).  I’m 42 years old and 185cm tall (6’1″).  I was quite distressed to find that this put me comfortably into the ‘obese’ BMI range.

After watching Eat, Fast and Live Longer I decided that this was a diet I could employ, I’ve got a wife and two young daughters who need their father around and so the additional health benefits with lower cholesterol, lower IGF1 and the potential protection against dementia seemed compelling.  I’ve been on the diet since I saw your show and with the odd blip during holidays and long overseas travel I have stayed on it.  In fact it isn’t my diet, it’s my way of life now.

So to my results.  Since starting the diet I’ve lost 15.5kg (36lb) in weight, dropping to 89.5kg and I’m now just a couple of kilos from my target weight.  My waist has gone from 37″ to 33″ and I’ve lost an inch and a half off my collar.  My running times have improved (32 mins for a 6km lunchtime run) and I can squat an 80kg barbell so I don’t see any evidence of loss of muscle mass.  My wife is enjoying similar (though not quite so dramatic) results and I have become a bit of an evangalist for the diet.

I’m a consultant medical product designer and I’m involved in helping to develop products for diabetes care, amoungst other diseases.  Knowing that this lifestyle is giving me the best possible protection from developing this diabetes and many other complications of getting older gives me a lot of hope for the future.

Please feel free to use any of the photos I’ve attached.  (If you’re wondering about the dog food shot, that sack of dog food is how much weight I’ve lost so far.)

Regards

SA

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This is a photo I saw on the wall of my mother’s house taken a couple of years ago when I was about 188 lbs. My wife Clare took the other photo this evening. I am wearing the same shirt but am now 168 lbs. I’d love to see how you’re doing. If you’d like, post your story or send in your before and after photos to stories@thefastdiet.co.uk and we’ll put some up on the site. Good luck with the diet. Michael

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The official Fast Diet forums are now open for discussion. As Michael says, “We have a well informed and supportive community who will encourage you on your way and throw in some of the latest research to keep you motivated.” So pull up a chair, have a cup of tea (I’m having mine black, it’s a fast day) and let’s chat.

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As time goes on and the Fast Diet message spreads, we hear news of all kinds of people reading the books, embarking on the diet and finding fantastic success with it. As I wrote recently in my You Magazine column, ‘thousands of people have tried the Fast Diet, including Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, the newsroom at the BBC, and, I’m told, Miranda Kerr. I’m also told that Liv Tyler, Ben Affleck, Beyoncé and Christie Turlington are giving it a go, but I doubt it – chiefly because if I believed they were, I would explode with excitement and require resuscitation with abucket of cold water and a sharp slap to the face. Still. I have had triumphant messages from cardiovascular surgeons, parish priests, two headmistresses, one traffic cop, seven shop assistants, three staff nurses and a woman I bumped into at the chiropodist…’

The latest additions to the roll call include both the food editor and the wine editor at The Guardian (‘a diet for foodies,’ as Felicity Cloake put it in her column), plus Benedict Cumerbatch who told The Times at the weekend: ‘I am on the 5:2 diet. You have to, for Sherlock.’ We hear on the grapevine that Sir Mervyn King is a fan too, while Phillip Schofield is on it and apparently grappling with his hunger, as we all do in the early stages. Even Kate Middleton’s uncle is giving it a go out in Spain: as the Telegraph reported, he recently said, ‘Managed a starvation day yesterday on sub 300 calories and I can feel it’s fallen off me, like my hair… Fat day today, 5-2 diet under way.’ Looks like the diet has truly broad appeal!

More important than any newsworthy devotee is that the diet is making a real difference to the lives of so many. Thank you for all your stories and tips – keep them coming in. I was out at a friend’s house for supper on Saturday, and 7 of the 8 guests were on the Fast Diet. We discussed it at length while getting through tons of delicious French cheese, a fabulous dark chocolate cake and plenty of red wine (for them, not me!). Which just goes to show that Felicity is right: this really is a diet for foodies. You CAN have your cake and eat it. I had mine with a dollop of cream… But we’re all fasting today. It is Monday, after all.

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Easy. I knew it would be as soon as the sun came out. Fasting in the depths of winter, as we’ve all established, can be tough-going, requiring every last ounce of will power when hunger strikes. If all you really want to do is to cuddle up and snuggle down, your mind easily turns to filling, warming, wondrous food. Personally, I can dwell for a good long time on the glories of a jacket potato with butter and cheese… or a big roast with every trimming in the book. Hopefully, the intermittent nature of the Fast Diet – only two days, only two days – was enough to get us through those long cold months.

Now, things are far simpler. Salad days! It’s super-simple to cook on a Fast Day if the sun is dipping on the horizon and the barbecue is smoking in the yard. A piece of grilled fish, a spice-rubbed chicken breast, a skewer of lemony prawns – all of these things make a great back bone for a lo-cal al fresco supper. Add heaps of herbs and leaves, or a mound of char-grilled vegetables, and you’ve got the perfect fasting feast right there (look in the cook book for loads of inspiration: my favourite part of the book is the ‘Flavour Saviour’ section, last chapter, which has rubs, relishes and tangy, zingy sauces galore). We would love to hear your Fast Day BBQ recipes if you get a mo. Roll on summer, mark off those Fast Days and bring on the swimsuits!

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It’s entirely possible that this is my favourite time of year. Looking out of the window now, the garden is still kissed with early morning frost – but I can see bright green shoots, unfurling leaves, the first golden crocuses, and the hyacinths just starting to show. It always feels like a relief. Spring. We’ve made it!

Like many of you, I have never fasted in warm weather; we’ve been hammering away through snow and sleet and torrential rain, so it will be great to try it with the sun on our backs, on days that have more energy and bounce than the short grey days winter. I’m guessing we’ll naturally want to eat lighter meals as the weather warms – salads, raw veg, grilled fish, the kind of things that hold little appeal when it’s below zero outside and the central heating is on indoors.

We’re not there yet, though. But early spring is full of promise and potential, a time, I think, that calls for a subtle shift in our idea of how a Fast Day might go. We’re unfurling too. This is a moment, perhaps, for a clean, clear veggie soup: still warming, still filling, but fresh and feisty, like the season.

Spring vegetable soup

• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 stick celery, finely chopped
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 bay leaf
• I250ml vegetable stock – homemade will give the best flavour, though a stock cube will do
• 150g peas, fresh or frozen
• 150g broccoli, cut into little florets
• 100g mange tout
• Generous handful of herbs – mint, coriander, parsley
• 2 spring onions, finely chopped
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• Squeeze of lemon
• Chilli flakes to taste
• S&P

Gently sweat celery and chopped onion in a pan with the olive oil. Once translucent, add stock and bay leaf and bring to a gentle simmer. Add vegetables. Cook for 2-3 minutes until tender. Remove pan from heat and add herbs, spring onion, soy and lemon juice (plus chilli flakes if using). Season and serve. This makes enough for four and has a calorie count of around 100 calories a portion.

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When you’re scraping frost from the car windscreen and watching gritters out on the roads, the idea of a salad isn’t going to set the heart racing, even on a fast day. While our mantra of ‘mostly plants and proteins’ means that salads are one of the pillars of eating on the Fast Diet, these chilly days demand something more warming. Here’s a week of menus, two breakfasts and two suppers, which should do the trick. Again, the calorie content is approximate based on experience rather than measurement – so weigh your ingredients to hit the magic numbers.

DAY ONE

Breakfast: Kippers, followed by half a grapefruit

There is great power in a humble kipper – full of good fats and packed with protein. Little wonder they are an increasingly popular breakfast staple: last year, sales were up by 80 per cent at Sainsbury’s, while Tesco sold 150,000 in the first three months of last year. There’s about 125 calories in a kipper fillet, so it makes an ideal, satiating fast-day breakfast. Michael is a big fan.

To cook with no smell, place in a dish, add a slice of lemon, cover with Cling Film and microwave for two and a half minutes. You could serve with wilted spinach and a poached egg if this is your ‘main’ fast day meal. Or have half a pink grapefruit as a sweetener afterwards (around 50 calories).

Supper: Beetroot and Bramley Soup

The idea for this brilliantly warming soup came from my friend Alex Renton who made it for me one chilly autumn lunch-time at his home in Edinburgh. I loved it so much that I made it for the brilliant cook Allegra McEvedy, who asked to use it in her Guardian column. Here’s her version in its entirety. This makes plenty – probably about six fast-day servings. Maybe miss out the butter, or swap for a low-fat alternative such as Flora Cooking Spray (not the same flavour, sorry, but we are skimming calories here). Similarly, make your stock from a veggie bouillon cube, and have low-fat rather than full-fat Greek yoghurt. The star anise is vital!

‘Takes 30 mins once beets are roasted (which takes around an hour and a quarter). Leftovers last for 3-4 days in the fridge.

550g/5 medium raw beetroots – whoppers take a lot longer to cook
2 medium onions, roughly chopped
2 tbsp butter
2 bramleys, peeled and quartered
1 litre stock, light chicken or veg
2 star anise
1 tsp caraway or cumin seeds
Few splodges Greek yogurt
Some chives
Salt & pepper

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200C /400F/ gas mark 6.
2. Put the beetroot on baking tray with 1cm-deep water. Cook for 1-1½hrs until a knife meets with little resistance, then take them out and run under cold water for a couple of minutes until cool enough to peel.
3. Put a wide, thick-bottomed pan on the heat and melt the butter in it, along with the spice seeds.
4. Over a medium heat, sweat the onions – taking care not to let them colour – with the spices, keeping a lid on.
5. Slice the core out of the apple quarters and chuck them in with the onions.
6. Cut the peeled beets into roughly inch-sized pieces (it’s going to get blitzed) and toss into the pot.
7. Pour on the stock, whack the heat up, drop the star anise in and put the lid back on. Season.
8. Once boiled, turn down heat and simmer for 15 mins. Pick out the star anise and chuck away, then blitz the soup with a blender until pureed. Serve with chopped chives and Greek yoghurt and a spoon.’

DAY TWO

Breakfast: Chive Scrambled Eggs with a hint of Nutmeg

An easy one, this. Everyone knows how to scramble an egg, and how they like it done. The idea here is simply to lend extra flavours and dimensions to a classic – on other days, you might want to add a scant grating of parmesan (a little goes a long way), some shards of smoked salmon, a handful of fresh coriander. I like a little tomato and chili relish on the side… Forego the toast. You can have that tomorrow.

Supper: O’Kelly Fish

I first wrote about this quick recipe in my book 101 Things to Do Before you Diet – and it remains a firm fast-day favourite in our house. I think it owes something to Jamie Oliver (all in one pan, super easy, super tasty), but over the years it has altered with each outing. Here’s my most recent take.

I’ve always called O’Kelly Fish, by the way, because I first had it in the kitchen of our friends the O’Kellys, who live in the South Downs surrounded by children and chickens. The dish is wholesome and hearty, great for gangs of people, but with no carbs. This should make enough for a family of four.

1. Blanch a packet of green beans and a pack of thin asparagus for a minute of so in boiling water. Broccoli works too. Drain and place in an oven-proof pan.
2. Lay four or five vines of cherry tomatoes on top, add a little olive oil, salt, fresh-ground pepper and plenty of lemon juice. Plenty. Maybe two lemons. Chuck in the husks. If your calorie count allows, throw in some black olives.
3. Place a fillet of seasoned salmon per person on top of the veggies. Add any herbs you fancy – coriander is nice; chili flakes are a good idea.
4. Oven roast at 200 degrees for 20 minutes or until fish is just cooked.

The tomatoes and lemon will have made a wonderful juice, to spoon over the fish once served.

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Michael, I saw your programme and then watched again with my husband, we liked the idea and thought it was manageable and about more than just weight. I was 12st and too heavy and I’m now 60, retired and needed to keep fit as well as healthy. My husband was obese at 15st.

We began doing 2 days in a row at first. I downloaded the Fitness Pal app so I could keep track of calories on the fast days. We had each other as moral support, and we encouraged and commiserated with each other. We began to lose weight steadily. There were weeks at about mid November where we were not visibly losing weight but we noticed the inches disappearing from our waistlines.

I am now 10st 5lb and my husband is about 13st 11lb. Both of us have reduced waistlines! We decided to split the fast days after about 5 weeks and it is so much easier to deal with the nagging munchies, you just tell yourself that you can have a treat in the morning. It is much better to be busy on a fast day as the thoughts of food are lessened.

I told some other friends and now have a small group on Facebook, we chat on the group about success rather maintain healthy levels of nutrients, take a daily Sanatogen to supplement any lack that may occur. I was worried about potassium and iron levels as I am a vegetarian. One of the best foods we use is quorn as it is incredibly low in calories.

We both feel that the diet is extremely effective and manageable. It has changed our outlook on food. We will continue until we have reached our target weights and then probably maintain a 6/1 lifestyle which will enable us to maintain the weight Thank you for the programme. It’s changed our lives for the better.

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Hi Doc,

I saw your 5:2 special after I got back from my 40th birthday trip. On the drive back, I was just so disgusted with myself and somewhat despondent, as I had gone back up to 194lb’s. I’m 5ft 10, male, and had in 2009 gone up to 200!. Then I saw your show on iPlayer, Eat, Fast etc. Was brilliant, highly recommend it. Best time spent in front of the TV in my life.

I have been doing the diet since then, and now weigh 172lbs, and have started swimming 4 times a week in the last 2 months as well. It is the easiest thing I have ever tried to make myself feel good. The weight loss is good, but the rest is great as well. You just feel so much better. My next door neighbour also tried it for a few weeks. He lost 11lbs, and said the same thing I did. He noticed his insides now are good, no more reflux etc etc. I had that for the last 20 years. Basically beer & eating crap.

Thanks really, you have changed my life a great deal. I have also been like a rabid ex-smoker, evangelizing on the benefits. So I have had a few people start, and they all are blown away at the results.

Merry Xmas and have a happy new year

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DAY ONE

Breakfast: Tricolore Omelette

This is a great way to get punch and flavor into what could be a bland dish. Lightly fry a chopped spring onion and add some chili flakes (as many or few as you fancy) in a small frying pan with just a spray of oil to stop it sticking. Separate two eggs and whip the whites with a fork until bubbly. Add salt and plenty of pepper, and cook gently until the omelette is set to your liking. Perhaps add a small crumble of goat’s cheese too, plus chopped parsley, and serve with a handful of baby herb leaves.

Supper: Winter Waldorf Salad

Try this with endive leaves, red and pale varieties, with half a red-skinned apple, a stalk of celery (both chopped), a handful of walnuts for crunch and protein, perhaps a quartered fig for prettiness. Dress with low-fat yoghurt, a little Dijon mustard and a squeeze of lemon juice, mixed and then drizzled over the dish. If you have calories to spare, add a hint of a hard blue cheese – perhaps some of the Christmas Stilton.

DAY TWO

Breakfast: Jumbo Porridge with Jewel Fruit

OK, so I’m stuck on pomegranate at the moment – but add a swirl of pomegranate molasses (get it here) along with the seeds, together with a dust of cinnamon, and you arrive at a wonderful ruby-studded dish with a flash of inspiration from the middle east. Use jumbo oats as they keep you fuller longer than the more processed varieties. Perhaps add mandarin segments or chopped kiwi for more glistening colour, and a swirl of agave syrup (a low GI sweetener) to taste.

Supper: Spinach Soup with Tapenade Toasts

I love Jane Lovett’s book Make It Easy – and this is my homage to one of Jane’s lovely soups, modified for the Fast Diet: a glorious, nutritious bowl of jolly green goodness….

Fry half a chopped onion, a small chopped potato and a clove of chopped garlic in a little oil. Add a grate of root ginger and nutmeg and a pint of vegetable bouillon (from a cube or your own veg stock). Bring to the boil and simmer until the potato is softened. Add 250gms – or more – of washed spinach, and simmer till the leaves are wilted. Puree and serve with a crisp, thin slice of toasted ciabatta spread with green-olive tapenade (or pesto) and a swirl of low-fat crème fraiche. The soup will keep in the fridge for two or three days.

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In The Fast Diet book, you’ll find plenty of menu ideas for your fast days. In my experience, fasters tend to come in two varieties – those who like to keep things simple and stick to very basic foodstuffs during a fast, and those who like to create taste sensations to keep their fast days full of flavour.

The former group tend to develop fasting habits – naked poached eggs for breakfast; a heap of straight-forward steamed veggies for supper. The others like to experiment. If you’re in this group, here are some ideas to inspire you this week. Each dish should clock in at around 250 calories or less, though these are inspirations rather than recipes, so I haven’t counted every calorie, as we have in the book. For precise figures, please weigh your ingredients and check a calorie counter. And add your comments too – variety is the spice!

Mimi

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‘No fasting for me during the last fortnight. My house, like the rest of the nation’s homes, has been groaning with food – and I defy anyone to saunter past a plate of mince pies without sneaking one in. Ditto sausage rolls. Quality Street. Ferrero Rocher. I also had my annual tussle between brandy butter and cream on the Christmas pud, and settled (as is traditional) for both. But, new year, new me, and I’m back on the programme and fasting today.

It actually comes as a relief. I was beginning to feel stodgy, like a walking, talking Christmas pud myself, and I missed the loose, lean feeling that intermittent fasting brings. There’s a pleasant sensation of control and clarity that comes with fasting, the very opposite of the post-holiday slump that usually descends at this time of year, when you can barely be bothered to reach for the remote.

Today, then, it’s my usual fasting breakfast of muesli (Alpen No Sugar) with unblanched almonds, hazelnuts, dried cranberries (festive) and pomegranate seeds (fashionable). To be honest, I have taken to slinging pomegranate seeds on anything that doesn’t actually move, à la Ottolenghi, Nigella, Nigel Slater, Lorraine Pascal, all of those TV cooks. In 12 hours or so, I’ll have a generous watercress salad with crumbled feta, balsamic and probably more pomegranate seeds. Shame not to. So pretty.

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Keen to get cracking on the 5:2 diet? 500 calories a day (600 for lucky men) can seem forbidding, but Xanthe Clay’s delicious recipes with 250 calories or less will make the fast days fly by.

There are some great recipes here with versions for men and women. Enjoy!

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On fast days, I have tea (with milk) in the morning, black coffee and the odd Miso soup during the day, then something healthy when I get back like a veggie curry, stir fry or jacket potato, cottage cheese and salad.  I know jacket potato is not brilliant for its GI but it’s swings and roundabouts on this way of eating I think. I find that meal very satisfying after a day of real fasting so it works for me.

If I’m doing a fast day when I’m at home then it’s more difficult not to ‘graze’ so I try to at least make the grazing heathy. I tend to make a large pot of veggie stew, have some for lunch, maybe a cup full late afternoon and then pep it up with spices / curry for an evening meal. Anything left gets frozen in portions for a quick meal for when I get home late from work (I keep portions of cooked brown rice in the freezer to have with it)  The key thing is flexibility for me – if a planned fast day becomes a non-fast day then no problem, I just fast the next time it’s convenient and no guilt :-).

Today I was “in the zone” so ate nothing until 5 ish, then had some reasonably healthy leftovers and a piece of fruit. I’ll have a glass of wine (or two) to see in the new year but won’t get back on track with the serious calorie restriction until I get back to work later in the week.  One thing I have decided to do is not to have breakfast most days – even on non-fast days – as I think this will work well for me as a long term weight control strategy.  Of course I might also get the health benefits of the 12 – 16 hr ‘fast’ when the body goes into repair mode rather than build.

See Maria’s story here.

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I started doing IF after seeing the television documentary in August.  As I’m a sceptic about faddy ‘diets’ I was interested in the research behind it and did a bit of reading before really getting stuck in.

I’ve now lost 22 lbs, down from 11.4 to 9.10 (BMI 24.04 to 20.69). I’m 57 and post menopausal – had been struggling to kick start loss of the weight that had crept on during the past 5 or so yrs.

Having just come through christmas with no weight gain I think this way of eating is pretty amazing – and yes I ate the full works, including christmas pudding, cake, chocolates – but have now learnt to eat and enjoy (without going over the top) and then compensate. The most important thing for me is that I see how sustainable this is long term – no “going on a diet” and then struggling to keep it off in a depressing cycle.

I’ve just read the book and think it’s a very good intro to the ‘experiment’!  All I would add is that I started out doing smaller meals throughout the day on fast days – but found it easier to not eat anything at all until the evening if I’m busy (eg at work or out and about).  Eating breakfast really does make me hungry for lunch – so not eating anything until an evening meal makes far more sense for me.

Some weeks I do 5:2 some 4:3  – the fast days fit around my life, not the other way round.  I don’t do two in a row (tried it once but it felt too much like being “on a diet”!).  My diet is generally healthy anyway, mainly plant-based, but over the years I was clearly eating just that bit too much each day and the weight crept on.

See Maria’s meal plan for fasting days.

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from Jackie J

Servings: 6

75g dried red lentils, rinsed
2 onions,  peeled and left whole
3 red peppers, split and seeds out

fresh tomatoes about 5-6 med depending on size (mine were cherry toms and I used about 15)
2 chilli peppers (more or less or none!)
3 garlic cloves, unpeeled
6 carrots, peeled and sliced

spray or teaspoon max olive oil
2 pints chicken or veg stock

a sprig of fresh rosemary and 1 of thyme chopped or you could use fresh parsley instead but put that in at the end

Directions:

1. Put all veg in a baking tray spray with oil or drizzle a little on and mix to coat and roast in hot oven for about 45 mins until all is done.  I didn’t need to cover mine but you don’t want the liquid to evaporate so you might need to after a while, or take it out before the carrots are quite done as I did.
2. Simmer the lentils in a little water (just to cover) until tender.
3. Add the stock, the herbs and the roasted veggies (I leave all skins on except for the garlic cloves ).
4. Simmer together for 15-20 mins depending on how done your carrots were..
5. Blend (I use a stick blender), and puree the soup until no lumps remain,
6. Season with salt and pepper  or soy sauce to taste.

Works out at around 149cals a big bowlful depending on how much oil (these cals are for 10ml oil) and is very satisfying. You can make it without the lentils  for 109 cals per bowl. If you use spray oil its even less.

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The biggest, biggest tip of all:
It’s a diet that is the same no matter what your size or age.

I can tell my husband that he has to be good on a Thursday but can eat chocolate on a Friday. The fact that no food is banned on five days a week makes it a way of life not a diet. He has not lost much weight since we started in September, but his waist has dropped three inches – something all men would be pleased with. He has noticed his irritable bowel problems (family history of diverticulitis) have cleared up almost completely after fasting. Probably to do with the fact that the intestines have time to actually finish dealing with everything and settle properly. The complete opposite of the “little and often” brigade. I have lost a stone and am now lighter than I was at graduation and yet currently have a glass of wine in front of me.

Top tips

• Reject snacking :  it started with ‘selling product in hard times’ rather than ‘people need this’
• Hunger will pass : unless you are an athlete carrying no body fat, hunger translates into calling on reserves – ie the muffin top – be as active as you can manage when hungry and burn that visceral fat
• Skipping meals creates starvation mode : such utter bollocks, starvation mode only kicks in after a week!

Being 47 with a BMI of 20.8 while regularly drinking wine is NOT to be sniffed at 🙂

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A poem on the joys of fasting by Jelaluddin Rumi, who was born in what is now Afghanistan in 1207.

Fasting

There’s hidden sweetness in the stomach’s emptiness.
We are lutes, no more, no less. If the soundbox
is stuffed full of anything, no music.
If the brain and belly are burning clean
with fasting, every moment a new song comes out of the fire.
The fog clears, and new energy makes you
run up the steps in front of you.

When you fast, good habits gather like friends who want to help.
Fasting is Solomon’s ring. Don’t give it
to some illusion and lose your power,
but even if you have, if you’ve lost all will and control,
they come back when you fast, like soldiers appearing
out of the ground, pennants flying above them.
A table descends to your tents, spread with other food,
better than the broth of cabbages.

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So far I’ve lost 21 lbs  and I can honestly say that in  30+ years of dieting I’ve never known such a fantastic and easy way  of losing weight.  But it’s not just that, I’d say it’s become a Way of Life for me now as I feel that after all these years I’ve finally become free from the tyranny of ‘diets ‘.  I’ll never go back to the likes of Weight Watchers and who’d have thought that shedding weight could be so easy!

I’m now hovering just above 10st and BMI 22.6 down from 26.4 in August which is utterly brilliant – I was a stone and a half heavier when I started this. Hopefully this time next week after intending to thoroughly enjoy Christmas. I’ll be roughly the same weight but as this is a WOE (Way of Eating) for me.  I’ll be back fasting on the 27th (and no doubt with relief..)

I never thought when I started this that I’d actually prefer my fasting days. I’m not obsessive, I love food and cooking and eating, so it’s not about the not eating so much but it’s the feeling of energy and clarity you feel during and after a fast day.

I started this after seeing the TV programme but didn’t have any blood tests done, so I don’t know if I’m getting the health benefits, but I’m pretty sure I am. As a post menopausal woman of 55 who was starting to feel old and tired and definitely unsexy  it’s no exaggeration to say that I’ve got my mojo back ( in so many ways if you know what I mean).

When I first started this I often woke at night hungry but I don’t anymore.  This WOE feels natural and I think that my body has now tuned into a more intuitive way of eating. Now when I want something on an eating day I actually ask myself if it’s worth ‘spending’ the calories on it. I NEVER starve myself, but I now ONLY eat the things I really like, so when they offer the cakes and sweets round in the office and I don’t really want one (as I don’t really like sweet things anyway), I can feel quite justified in not being pressurised into having one just for the sake of it.

Top tips

• Chilli sauce!! (Always make your fast day meals tasty because they are more satisfying).
• Remember that the hunger doesn’t build  – it’s amazing how many days  I wake up after a fast not at all hungry
• Drink lots of fluids (its easy to get dehydrated on a fast day and water fills you up anyway)
• Green tea, (green tea with lemon grass is my favourite). though I have real black coffee too
• Miso soup , (if really really hungry , though I don’t find I need it very often these days )
• I always eat 2 small meals (though lots of people prefer just one)  , 2eggs and slice of ham for breakfast , then a  big plate of veg , in the evening could be either soup or strir fry (in stock) with a few prawns  ,
• Have a 8hr eating window only  –  so I always make sure that I h get in 16hours of not eating anything , so in effect I have 500 calories in 36 hours

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