Last Updated on February 28, 2019 by Fiona Maclean
5-2 Diet Tips
The 5-2 Diet has taken the UK by storm. Ever since the Horizon programme about the 5-2 diet where Michael Mosley introduced the idea that you could eat normally on 5 days of the week and reduce your calories to a ‘fasting’ level for two days (that’s under 500 calories for a woman and under 600 for a man) would lead to improved health, weight loss and potentially a longer life.
Not suprisingly. I find the 5-2 diet a very easy lifestyle diet to follow. Yes, you can’t drink alcohol for two days of the week, but those two days are flexible. Yes, you really do have to calorie count for two days a week…but the rest of the time, while you obviously shouldn’t try to fill yourself up with junk food, you have a lot more freedom to eat what you want when you want
My personal experience is that you DO feel better following the 5-2 diet programme and when you stick to it, you gradually lose weight.
I’m spending my fast days developing low calorie recipes that I hope will encourage other people not to get bored with the 5-2 diet. I’ve discovered a few things myself in the process and some of my store cupboard ‘essentials’ now are quite different. My 5-2 diet shopping list includes the following
- Shirataki noodles (5 calories per 100g), to help satisfy any hunger pangs
- White fish
- Shellfish
- Chicken breast
- Green vegetables
- 1 cal oil spray (I’ve discovered that in my own cooking most of the excess calories come from fats)
- Ginger, Paprika, Chilli and Tumeric – thermogenic spices that help keep my metabolic rate high
- Zero fat yoghurt and quark
- Green tea
- Lemons
- Miso soup
All of these are things I really like. And, I’ve discovered that I can create tasty meals that really don’t look like ‘diet food’ as part of my 5-2 diet menu planning
How about this wonderful chicken dish for instance? It’s entirely suitable for the 5-2 diet but, by reducing the amount of fat used during cooking and replacing cream with quark I’ve ended up with a very low calorie 5-2 diet recipe.
Or this Lebanese inspired dish of chicken, spinach, aubergine and chickpeas, also adjusted for the 5-2 diet.
I’ve got good at making soups. In particular I like my cauliflower and jerusalem artichoke soup, which looks and tastes creamy and rich but is a 5-2 diet friendly dish
All I can say is that the 5-2 diet works for me and I would recommend it as a lifestyle choice for everyone.
Leave a Reply