5/2

cathhj

I'm starting the 5/2 diet tomorrow, anyone got any top tips? I've heard a lot if success stories. I think the main thing I will struggle with is being hungry, though hopefully that will improve over time. When is the best time to eat? And good low calorie things to eat? And when to exercise?

faramelee

Have you thought about buying a decent 5:2 recipe book? I used one when I was doing 5:2 at the beginning of my journey and it had a gorgeous lentil dahl and another favourite was meatballs with cavalo nero. Proper plates of food so it didn't feel like you were going without. Miso broth with vegetables was a great and easy go to for lunch also.

Good luck!

socajam

I tried it, and ended up being very constipated. So bear that in mind, not sure if it happens to everyone.

Now I am doing calorie cycling which is something similar but on my low days, my calorie does not dip to 500.

StealthHealth

Top Tips:

• Continue to log your calories so that you know that your low cal days are low enough and "normal" days are not so high that they negate the deficit on the fast days.
• I love coffee and found that a decent espresso at breakfast time and another at lunchtime helped immensely on fasting days.

Best time to eat: For me it was a late dinner (about 8pm).

Good low cal things to eat: I didn't with 5:2 I just had an evening meal of 600 cals (its 600 for me, 500 for women) no snacks - that worked best for me.

When to exercise - I maintained my usual exercise routine. This meant i often worked out fasted. I suffered no loss of performance in lifting or running. As per the 5:2 book - I didn't eat back exercise calories.

Good luck.