- In this episode we go through a detailed overview of how to 5:2
- Who can fast
- Over committing !!
- The nitty gritty of the diet
- Monitoring
- Who can fast ? Fasting diets are not recommended for the following:-
- People who are underweight or have an eating disorder
- Children (under 18 years old)
- Type 1 diabetics and diabetics taking medication for their diabetes (other than Metformin)
- Pregnant women or breast feeding mothers
- People recovering from surgery
- Those who are frail or have a significant underlying medical condition should speak to their doctor first, as they would before embarking on any weight-loss regime.
- Those who are not sure about whether it may affect their prescribed medications should to speak to their doctor first.
- People feeling unwell or have a fever
- Those taking Warfarin should consult their doctor first as it may increase their INR.
- People with a history of serious mental health problems.
- Don’t Over Commit
- Concentrate on the basics
- When I started the 5:2 diet I committed to fasting twice a week and watching my calories on the other days
- The Calorie Bit Again. The week is divided into two sections:-
- 5 days of the week you eat 2000 calories for females or 2500 calories for males
- 2 days a week you eat 500 calories for females or 600 calories for males
- How many days to fast ?
- Initially I would stick with 2 days of fasting and 5 days of non-fasting
- I would pick the same days in the week to fast
- When to have your meals on a fast day
- Ideally you want to get three twelve hour periods where you are not eating food.
- Plan your meals in advance
- At the very least plan out your fasting meals each week
- Should my meals be super healthy ?
- Ideally you should try and be as healthy as you can be but don’t give yourself another reason to fail
- What to drink ?
- If you can you are best to stick to water
- Breaking a fast
- I would strongly encourage you to follow through on a fast day and not break a fast. If you do it once for the wrong reason it is going to set you up to fail.
- Is it hard ?
- Initially it does seem to be hard
- Like any habit it does take 2 or 3 weeks to make it feel normal
- Preventing Temptation
- Remember one of the main mantra’s you can always have it tomorrow. Thanks very much Mimi Spencer (co-author) of the Fast Diet
- Basic Monitoring
- Weight yourself once a week
- Take body measurements. (I wish I had)
- Monitor your calories each day. I would use an app to do this. See advanced monitoring.
- Advanced Monitoring
