- Don’t have breakfast: delay eating for as long as you can on a fasting day to suppress your appetite. If you’re just starting out, it might be easier to do this gradually, putting back the time of your first meal by an hour each day.
- Save most of your calories for an evening meal: going to bed hungry is miserable!
- Drink black coffee and black, green or herbal teas as a calorie-free way of filling your stomach. It can take a while to get used to hot drinks without milk if you’ve always had it: make tea a lot weaker than you would with milk and try different flavoured teas.
- Water served over ice with a slice of lemon is a good option for a calorie-free drink on warmer days (it feels a bit more special than plain water!).
- Hard-boiled eggs are a nutritious and filling snack at only 65 calories (get free-range eggs if you can). I make pickled eggs for a little extra flavour without any extra calories.
- Plain popcorn is another filling low-calorie snack: ¼ cup of popping corn will cook in about two minutes in a covered bowl in the microwave and contains only 90 calories for a BIG bowlful (don’t add any butter, though!).
- Soups make excellent fasting-day lunches: you can buy ready-made ones or prepare your own.
- Whole grains will keep you full for longer than refined ones: go for brown rice, wholemeal flour and wholemeal couscous on fasting days (and on non-fasting days, too!).
- Your body doesn’t have protein stores to call on when you’re fasting, so make sure you get enough in your fasting-day meals. Lean meats like chicken, fish and ham are relatively low-calorie sources of protein. If you’re vegetarian, concentrate on eggs, lentils, beans and nuts.
- Vegetables are a great source of nutrition on any day, but are a particularly good use of calories when you’re fasting.
And a bonus tip for pre-menopausal women: natural monthly hormonal fluctuations have a recognised effect on appetite. Don’t worry if you find it hard to fast just before your period. Give that fast a miss and don’t beat yourself up about it.
5:2 food 
I agree with all your tips; in addition, I can’t speak highly enough of almonds (as long as you eat them one at a time and not by the handful!) – good protein and oils, and they actually feel like you’re eating something (I lost 25 lbs in six months at the end of last year, and have maintained it since then…)
Hello Helen,
Yes, agree about the almonds – they’re surprisingly filling. And congratulations on maintaining your loss!
Hi Amanda,
I just found out about this diet and I’d like to give it a go, but I’ve never counted calories (and actually hate thinking numbers when I eat. Have done wight watchers long ago) and I’m wondering if there is a website or smartphone app that I can use for this? The easier the better, you know.
What I also have not quite understood yet is how long a fast should be in a day? I see that people do different. What is the minimum amount of hours? And from when do I count? For supper on the day before?
And If I eat lunch on the fasting day, should I continue fasting after that or can I eat lunch and supper (600 cal) that day?
Grateful for eeveryone who shares their experiences.
/Ingela, Stockholm
Hi Ingela
A lot of people use the MyFitnessPal app for their smartphones. For analysing recipes, I use the Calorie Count website (they have an app too).
As far as fasting periods go, there are a lot of different ways of doing it. The general consensus seems to be that having at least 16 hours without eating is good for burning fat reserves in the fasting state. You count these hours from the last time you ate the night before. Then, with the 5:2 method, you have 500 calories during the fasting day (600 for men). This can be split up however you like: a small lunch and bigger supper is fine, or save them all for the evening meal if you can manage a fast that long.
The first fasting days tend to be the toughest, as your body adjusts to this way of eating. You might find it easier to start with say 800 calories on the first few fasting days and gradually work your way down to 500. There’s nothing particularly magic about the 500 calorie number – as long as you have a longish period of no eating, you’ll be doing yourself some good!
Good luck!
Amanda
Great tips, Amanda !
I’m jumping back on the waggon after a few good months of eating too much (and crappy foods too). I think I can be excused since I’ve moved house and country. The settling in is slow, the unpacking even slower, but I am now ready to tackle the diet again.
Will be following your recipes closely as I don’t have the energy yet to come up with recipes myself.
Hope the move went well, Patricia and good luck with getting back in the swing of it.
I was wondering what they opinion was on having a Marks and Spencers calorie control ready meal on fast days?
If that’s easier than cooking, then go for it! My suspicion is that ready meals are unlikely to be as filling as home-made ones, because they are usually going to contain refined carbohydrates, but if you can find ready meals with wholemeal versions of pasta, brown rice and which are vegetable-rich (i.e. meals which follow the tips here), then they are more likely to keep you full for longer.
I’ve been reading up on the 5:2 diet and I’d like to give it a go. I’ll be following your blog to help keep me motivated and on track. Thanks for all the tips.
I have been trying the 5;2 diet plan and surprisingly I have managed to loose a a good few kilos in the last 3 weeks . I usually skip breakfast and have 2 lots of fruit dishes for lunch and store around 250 to 300 calories for the tea.
I prefer home made easy vegetable recipes to fill me up and also use a small bowl instead of a plate to cut down the portion.
Fingers crossed , lets hope I can achieve my weight goal in few months time.