There is countless anecdotal evidence to suggest that combining intermittent fasting and exercise maximises weight loss and body changes. A new study[4] published in Obesity in July 2013 certainly strengthens this belief. In the study of 64 obese individuals, those combining intermittent fasting and exercise lost the most weight. Over 12 weeks, the average weight loss of those doing both was 6kg (13lb); of those just doing intermittent fasting the weight loss was 3kg (6.6lb) and of those just doing exercise, it was 1kg (2.2lb).
The 2-Day Diet is not a miracle fad diet, promising extreme weight loss in a short period of time. More and more people are realising that intermittent fasting is a lifestyle choice. It works and can comfortably be maintained for as long as it’s needed. In fact, many people, myself included, choose to continue with one diet day a week even after optimum weight loss has been achieved.
You should expect to lose 0.9–2kg (2–4lb) a week in the first two weeks, dropping to 0.5–0.9kg (1–2lb) a week as your body gets used to the diet. Exactly how much you lose depends on your starting weight and your choices on your five normal days.
If you feel that your weight loss has plateaued and you haven’t lost any weight for at least two weeks then you may have hit the wall in terms of weight loss. But don’t worry, there are ways to kick-start your weight loss again.
1. The simplest and most common cause of a weight-loss plateau is an increase of calories on your five healthy days. Are there a few too many treats creeping in? Keep a food diary. Just tracking your food honestly should help you to cut back. Look at the snacks and junk food and see which ones should be cut out.
2. Increase your diet days to three days a week. Your body may have adapted to two diet days so by having three diet days a week, you are mixing things up and giving yourself optimum weight-loss conditions.
3. Take a week off. I know this is counterintuitive, but allowing your metabolism to rest (while eating healthily to ensure you don’t gain weight) should improve your chances of success when you re-start the diet.
Most importantly, don’t give up! If you have hit a wall and are having doubts that the diet is working for you, please stop worrying. As you near your target weight, you will find that the amount of weight you lose each week will decrease. And the small drop in weight may not be accurately recorded on the scales. If you are still following the diet and eating healthily then you will shift those last few pounds. You may find that you are changing shape even if this is not reflected on the scales. Keep off the scales and only jump on every two to three weeks.
Low-carb 2-Day Diet
If you get bored of counting calories or find it difficult on your diet days, you may want to try this new variation suggested by Michelle Harvie and others from the Genesis breast cancer prevention centre.
On your two diet days, follow a very low-carb diet (think ‘Atkins’) but do not count calories. Their incipient research[5] suggests that this is at least as effective for weight loss and other health markers as the restricted calorie approach.
These are all genuine questions that people have asked via Facebook www.facebook.com/52DietRecipes or Twitter @52DietRecipes. If you have got a question that’s not listed here, I’d love to help if I can.
If your plans change and you suddenly find yourself in the pub on a diet day
Don’t panic! You have got two choices. Do you break the diet or not? Having a drink and breaking the diet would mean that the effort you have put in during the day would be lost and you’d have to schedule another diet day later in the week. If it’s the evening and you have already got through most of the day, is it really worth giving up on the diet day? You could have a water, a diet coke or diet tonic water without adding any extra calories.
If you’re starving and there’s nothing in the cupboards
Eggs, baked beans and soups are your friends here. All are filling and you should find the calorie content on the box. If you don’t have any of these in your house, all will be available from your nearest supermarket or convenience store.
If you need/want to exercise on your diet day
Sometimes you will find that you have to do exercise on your diet day. The problem with exercising is that it burns calories and makes you hungry, meaning that you are more likely to struggle with your diet day. Sadly you cannot add on the calories that you burn during exercise to your calorie intake for the day. If you do need to exercise on a diet day, try to do it before you eat in the morning. Light exercise in the evening can also be a distraction from hunger. Try to avoid exercising in the afternoon as this will make you very hungry and most likely to falter.
What is the best type of exercise to do on my healthy days?
I would recommend any aerobic exercise that increases your breathing and heart rate as being best for weight loss. Walking, jogging, cycling, swimming or tennis are all good to get your heart rate up. Try to exercise three times a week for at least 45 minutes each time.
If you find a diet day is proving next to impossible
Sometimes this happens to the best of us. For all sorts of reasons – stress, hormonal, lack of sleep – we can find a diet day particularly hard. You are allowed to give up on a day if it is truly dreadful.
It is always worth assessing what is causing it to be so hard and trying to see if it is worth pushing on through. Late afternoon is often a time when we feel at our weakest. If you can bring your evening meal forward or have a small snack at that time, you may find you get over the hump. Remember that the sacrifices you have made already during the day will be wasted if you stop. Try counting the number of hours until bedtime and make sure you get an early night.
If you give up entirely on a diet day, don’t beat yourself up about it. Allow yourself tomorrow off and re-attempt the following day. If you still manage to fit two diet days into your week, then the week has been a success.
If you are on holiday
I think it is very hard to follow the 2-Day Diet when you are on holiday. If you have been dieting for weeks beforehand, then I would say that it is time to relax and enjoy your hard work. To avoid putting on too much weight, try to still be sensible when you can. Eat a big breakfast (especially if it’s free!), eat healthy snacks or a light lunch and enjoy your dinner.
If you’re cooking for other (unsympathetic!) people
If you have got a partner or family who are not dieting then you need to make sure you can accommodate everyone’s needs without much fuss. The easiest way to deal with this common problem is to cook the same meal for everyone. Just serve everyone else’s meal with plenty of extra carbohydrates. If it’s not possible to all eat the same thing, then at the very least try to eat at the same time. There’s nothing worse than watching other people eat when you’re starving.
If you feel that your weight loss has plateaued
It