So if you find yourself in a similar situation, you are not alone. I try and eat with the children or soon after. This helps, as I know my food is on its way. If there’s ever a time to employ the best of your willpower, it is now. Remember there are many mothers out there sharing your pain.
My backup plan after a hard day: fish fingers and beans, then we can all eat together. Two fish fingers and a quarter of a 415g can reduced sugar and salt beans has 220 calories and is very filling.
Fast day evenings
Do you eat your evening meal and then find the evenings rather long and boring? Do you find yourself constantly wishing you could eat some chocolate or cake? Don’t worry, this happens to the best of us. You are probably not that hungry, it’s just a bad habit, which is worse because you are relaxing.
Here are some of the things I like to do to keep myself busy and keep my mind off food until bedtime.
Take up a hobby – anything will do, something you do at home or go out to, as long as there’s no food or drink involved.
Watch a movie – go to the cinema or put a movie on the TV. A movie is longer than a TV programme and if you are enjoying it, you won’t be thinking about food.
Go for a swim – exercise is generally not a great idea on a fast day, but some gentle swimming is very distracting and no one is eating at the poolside.
Have a hot drink – fruit tea has no calories. I like peppermint myself. Another option if you have allowed yourself the calories is a low-cal hot chocolate drink. Normally around 40 cals, these will stop that chocolate craving.
‘I make myself a black tea or glass of water, ring a friend and try to take my mind off it. It’s only really bad just before I go to bed as I’m relaxing and nothing distracts me, but it doesn’t last and when I wake up the next day, I’m no more hungry than normal.’
Deek43
Different ways of managing your fast days
Everyone has slightly different ways of managing their fast days. You may find there’s a right or wrong way for you. Or you may find it develops over time.
‘After the first week, I realized I had to adapt the diet to suit my needs. I start with a minute quantity of bran flakes and semi-skimmed [low fat] milk. Any diet of mine just has to include a minimum of three cups of tea plus a low-cal chocolate drink at night. I have a mug of Bovril for lunch and calculate all this at about 200 calories. I then have a proper dinner in the evening.’
Peggy
‘Routine is key to the running of our household. I have breakfast at 7.15 a.m., a piece of fruit mid-afternoon and a light evening meal at around 7 p.m.’
Deek43
‘I drink lots of water and limit myself to one cup of tea and one black coffee during the day. I keep myself totally busy so I don’t think about food. I eat one meal in the evening, normally salmon and vegetables.’
Lou Piac
‘I eat lunch (200 cals) and tea (300 cals).’
Jo
‘Three meals – 150 cals for breakfast, 150 cals for lunch and 200 cals for dinner.’
Sarah
There are also plenty of tips about how to deal with the dreaded hunger pangs. The most frequent is simply, ‘By dreaming of tomorrow!’ but there are some other ideas too.
‘To deal with hunger pangs I drink a lot more fluid and look forward to my hot drinks as though they were food. I tend either to be more active in the evening or go to bed a bit earlier.’
Rachel
‘I drink more fluid, which helps with hunger pangs. I also try to do something interesting in the evening. I might go to the cinema or the theatre. In fine weather, I’ll go in the garden or out for a walk.’
Christina
‘I use drinks and snacks like Diet Coke, herbal tea, zero-fat yogurt and miso soups to take away the hunger pangs.’
Mikep
So now to the five normal days in a week. If you have tried the 5:2 diet before you may have heard the term ‘feast’ day bandied around for the non-diet days. This is a term I have made sure not to use here.
Let me explain. If you have tried the 5:2 diet before and found you didn’t lose much weight or you lost weight at the beginning and then it tailed off to nothing, then you are one of many. Lots of people who have problems losing weight on the 5:2 diet have the same problem. We are eating too much on our normal days and negating all the good work we are doing on our fast days.
Let’s look at me for example. In November 2012 I had been following the 5:2 plan for three months and was very close to my target weight. My plan was to continue following the plan right up to Christmas week, hopefully reaching my target weight in time for Christmas, and then I’d allow myself a week off. But as Christmas approached, although still sticking to my fast days, I stopped losing weight and even gained a pound or two. At the time I couldn’t understand it. But as I re-examined my goals after Christmas I realized how much I had been eating on my normal days. I would allow myself the mince pies or chocolates or fancy canapés because I could eat what I liked and enjoy it. In fact, I ate far more than I have done in previous years at Christmas because I felt I was justified in doing this, as I was still on a diet. But I’m sure, looking back, that I was eating far more than my recommended daily calories. No wonder the diet was no longer working for me.
The revelation that I had in the cold light of January is that you cannot go crazy, binge and eat rubbish for five days a week. It just cannot work. For sustained weight loss and a healthy, long life, you need to eat healthily on your non-fasting days too.
The difficult truth is that it took me until the end of February to get back to the weight I was the previous November. So if you are reading this because you are finding that the 5:2 diet isn’t working for you, then take a look at your ‘normal’ days and re-assess. The more people I have talked to about problems with the diet, the more often I find that this is the cause of a de-motivating failure of the 5:2 diet.
Since my moment of revelation in January, I have found a simple and logical solution. Feast days become normal, healthy days and the 5:2 diet is a winning formula once again. Here I set out the rules or suggestions that can make your normal days work for you. Don’t worry, I don’t suggest cutting out all fun and treats, but as with all healthy eating it involves saving snacks and chocolate for an occasional treat, rather than making them your standard diet. Your formula for a successful ‘normal’ day is as follows:
• Eat three healthy, balanced meals a day.
• Have light, healthy snacks such as fruit or yogurt if you feel peckish between meals.
• Do not calorie count or reduce portion size; you are not on a diet.
• Do be aware of what you are eating. Is it necessary? Is it healthy?
• Do allow yourself the occasional treat.
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