An Introduction To 5:2

AN INTRODUCTION TO 5:2

What is the 5:2 diet?

The 5:2 diet is a great way to eat healthier, feel better and lose weight, without completely changing your eating habits or restricting yourself from the things you enjoy.

The basic premise of the diet is to add two ‘fast days’ into your week, and to eat normally the rest of the time. On the ‘fast days’ you eat a total of 500 calories each day, while eating whatever you want to for the rest of the week. The 5:2 diet is extremely effective, and can help you lose up to half a kilo of fat each week!

The best thing about the diet is that it allows you to eat your favourite foods – on any of the five normal days you can go ahead and eat non-diet meals that you would have had to say no to on your fast days. This can be a big psychological boost for a diet, as you never have to go more than one day without a treat!

The famous British doctor Michael Mosley was the first to try and then promote this diet, and subsequently wrote a book about it with journalist Mimi Spencer, called ‘The Fast Diet’. It remains one of the best selling books in the UK.

The inspiration for the diet comes from the idea of fasting, mainly from a religious perspective. Dr Mosely writes “Now we eat all the time, and we almost never feel hunger. Despite this, we’re not satisfied with our weight, our body, no our health. However, fasting reminds us of who we are, and also helps to lose weight and to live a healthy life”.

Understandably, the method of fasting in the 5:2 diet is rather different to that practiced by religious Muslims and Jews. The main idea is to eat normally (albeit healthily!) for five days a week, and to drop your calorie consumption to under half your daily intake for the other two days. This equates roughly to around 500 calories for women, and 600 for men.

Dr Mosley’s book suggests that people space out their fasting days throughout the week. This is not just from a health perspective, but also to help with the psychological aspects of dieting – it is always easier to get through a fast day if you know you can treat yourself the next! Dr Mosley himself chose Mondays and Thursdays, although I think this was a personal choice, and not governed by anything in particular. It does mean that you have to be rigorous with yourself on fast days, and to pay careful attention to what you are eating, to make sure you don’t get too hungry, and that you don’t exceed the calorie intake.

As with any diet, the first few days are the hardest. It is important to remember that your mind and your body will get used to your changed eating habits, and to remember that even if the first few fast days are hard, you will be able to eat whatever you want to the next day! On your second day of fasting it is worth giving some thought to when you are going to eat, as well as what. Dr Mosley’s book recommends spacing out meals more, and eating fewer times a day, rather than eating more, smaller meals. Two, or even just one meal a day makes it easier to keep tabs on your calories. If you don’t like having breakfast, have your first meal later in the day, then have an early dinner. For example, one of the volunteers in the book starts her day with “caffe latte” at 11am, and then doesn’t eat until 7pm, so she is “fasting” for 16 hours.

As always with diets, it is important to find what works for you, as it is easier to commit to and maintain a diet if you feel comfortable with what you are eating. To get you started, here is an example of a “fast day” menu, which is healthy and helps keep hunger at bay!