I don't think my story is nearly as inspirational as others I've read as I only had a little weight I wanted to lose - nothing compared to the tens of kilos that some people have lost on the 5:2! I had been around 62kgs or nearly 10 stone (I'm 5'8") for a few years and then decided I wanted to lose 6kgs to get down to the lower end of the BMI scale (19 rather than 21, as Mimi SPencer did). My brother had already done the 5:2 diet last year and lost 8kgs, and it seemed to be the sort of régime I could follow easily, so I gave it a go at the end of January 2013. I stuck to the diet pretty well, but didn't skimp on what I ate or drank at weekends, and ended up reaching my target weight of 57kgs after 8 weeks on the 5:2.
The way I did the diet was as follows:-
1. I always did 24 hour fasts, so nothing to eat until the evening when I had my 500 calories (often homemade soup and fruit, and I always saved space for a couple of squares of chocolate.
2. I never drank alcohol on fast days, and only a couple of glasses of wine on other evenings (if I drank at all).
3. I exercised quite a lot anyway, so didn't increase what I was doing, but maybe that helped (running 5kms 3 times a week and walking an hour at least on other days).
4. I didn't eat too much on non fast days. If I went out for a meal (e.g. lunch)I would eat very lightly for the dinner. In fact I never eat a big meal with a lot of carbohydrates in the evening, it is usually quiche and salad or something like that.
5. I rarely eat desserts, except on a Sunday when we buy some from the boulangerie to eat with Sunday lunch (as a café gourmand, yummy). I eat fruit and chocolate instead.
6.I suppose it helps that I live in the middle of the French countryside with no access to take-aways or anything like that - and I never eat fast food or fizzy drinks because I don't like them.
7. I weighed myself every day. I know some people don't like doing that, but I found it more motivating to lose weight (if the scales showed an increase I would be more careful on non fast days).
Maintaining is proving a little more difficult and 6:1 isn't enough for me, so I'm still doing 5:2 some weeks.
The way I did the diet was as follows:-
1. I always did 24 hour fasts, so nothing to eat until the evening when I had my 500 calories (often homemade soup and fruit, and I always saved space for a couple of squares of chocolate.
2. I never drank alcohol on fast days, and only a couple of glasses of wine on other evenings (if I drank at all).
3. I exercised quite a lot anyway, so didn't increase what I was doing, but maybe that helped (running 5kms 3 times a week and walking an hour at least on other days).
4. I didn't eat too much on non fast days. If I went out for a meal (e.g. lunch)I would eat very lightly for the dinner. In fact I never eat a big meal with a lot of carbohydrates in the evening, it is usually quiche and salad or something like that.
5. I rarely eat desserts, except on a Sunday when we buy some from the boulangerie to eat with Sunday lunch (as a café gourmand, yummy). I eat fruit and chocolate instead.
6.I suppose it helps that I live in the middle of the French countryside with no access to take-aways or anything like that - and I never eat fast food or fizzy drinks because I don't like them.
7. I weighed myself every day. I know some people don't like doing that, but I found it more motivating to lose weight (if the scales showed an increase I would be more careful on non fast days).
Maintaining is proving a little more difficult and 6:1 isn't enough for me, so I'm still doing 5:2 some weeks.
