5:2 Diet – Fast Days & Feast Days, Weekly Meal Plan and a LOW CALORIE Breakfast Omelette Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What can I eat on 5.2 fasting days? ›

You eat normally 5 days a week, and fast for the other 2 days. Your fasting days should not be back-to-back; you should have at least 1 normal eating day in between them. During your fast days, you can eat, but not very much. Women get 500 calories per day; men get 600.

It's best to limit ultra-processed foods like packaged snacks, deep-fried items, sugary drinks, and most frozen meals. These negate the positive effects of 16/8 intermittent fasting. To begin 16/8 intermittent fasting, choose an 8-hour window and limit your food intake to that time span.

The 5:2 diet plan aims for a weight loss of 1lb a week for women, and for men you could expect to lose slightly more. The NHS recommend a loss of 1-2lbs a week for healthy and safe weight loss, this amount is also more sustainable.

To lose 10 pounds in one week, you'll need to burn between 3,500 and 5,000 calories more than you consume each day by restricting your diet to small portions of nutritious yet low-calorie foods, and significantly increasing your aerobic exercise with interval training, sports, and other vigorous activities.

Decreased Muscle Mass. Your body composition may be another reason why you are still gaining weight while in a calorie deficit. If you have a higher body fat percentage and lower muscle mass, then you are probably burning fewer calories than if you had more muscle mass.

During the first 5 days of not eating any food, a person may lose 2.2–4.4 pounds per day. If you don't eat for 4 days you may also experience faintness and dizziness. Once a person loses 10% of their body weight or has a BMI of 16.5 or less, complications due to starvation may begin.

Best Intermittent Fasting Method For Visceral Belly Fat

14/10 Method: Fast for 14 hours and have a 10-hour eating window daily. That means you restrict your food intake to a specific 10-hour period while abstaining from caloric consumption for the remaining 14 hours.

Very Low-Calorie Diet (VLCD)

On a VLCD, you may have as few as 800 calories a day and may lose up to 3 to 5 pounds (1.5 to 2 kg) week. Most VLCDs use meal replacements, such as formulas, soups, shakes, and bars instead of regular meals. This helps ensure that you get all of the nutrients you need each day.

What are the rules of 5 2 fasting? ›

There are different versions, but the 5:2 diet involves eating a normal, healthy diet for five days every week and 'fasting' on the remaining two days. On a 'fast' day, you would typically consume between 500 and 600 calories.

Can I drink during fasting days? Yes, we encourage you to drink as normal, aiming for between 2.5 and 3.0 L of water per day. Tea and coffee without added sugar, and with very small amounts of low fat milk is also acceptable.

Once you feel that you are ready, begin your 5 day water fast by abstaining from all food and caloric beverages for a full five days. Some people choose to also have non-caloric beverages like green tea, herbal tea, club soda, or very low-calorie beverages such as black coffee during the fast.