Herring - The fast days cookbook delicious & filling low-calorie recipes for the 5:2 diet

The 5:2, or the fast day diet, is a diet for food lovers: no food groups are cruelly banished and most of the time you can continue to enjoy eating all your usual favourite treats so you really can have that slice of cake on the Friday afternoon bakery run or indulge in that cheese toastie on Saturday morning. And you dont have to look like a total bore at that work do or friends birthday, passing on all those delicious-looking canaps and champagne. Its a diet that works with your lifestyle, not a diet that ends up controlling you.

So how does it work? Five days out of seven you eat like a normal person, and on the other two days you reduce your calorie intake to one-quarter of what you usually need. Thats it. Without having to count calories every day, its much less monotonous and restrictive than other diets, meaning youre more likely to stick with it and see results. And as its just two days a week, even if youre struggling a bit mid-afternoon while you get used to those fasting days (although youll quickly find theyre not at all hard to manage), you can remind yourself that tomorrow I can eat what I want!. Hows that for a diet?

Of course, you cant literally eat whatever you want on those other five days you still have to stay within what is recommended for you, taking into account your gender, age, activity levels and current weight but it makes those dieting days so much easier, knowing youll be back to normal the following day.

How many calories do I need? As its all a little dependent on your lifestyle, theres a bit of wriggle room, but the average suggested amounts are 500 calories per day for women, and 600 calories per day for men on fast days. This is based on average daily amounts of 2,000 calories per day for women, and 2,500 for men. But these are generalised averages; if you know you are taller, shorter, more or less active, or lighter or heavier than the average, then its probably a good idea to get a more exact calorie amount using one of the many online calculators.

What can I eat? You can, in theory, eat anything you like on your calorie-restricted days, but it makes sense to opt for food items that contain fewer calories so you can make them go further, rather than blowing them all on a breakfast burrito by 9 a.m. However, so many calorie-restricted diets recommend plans where youre eating lots of low-calorie ingredients that just fill you up or tide you over and before you know it youre eating mainly rice cakes. Now, Ive nothing against a rice cake (I eat a lot of them, usually smothered in peanut butter), but if youre eating fewer calories, surely you should make each one really count?! Not waste them on flavourless ingredients that purely act as fuel? And thats where the recipes in this book come in.

The recipes in this book. If you usually enjoy cooking and eating good food and maybe even have an (un)healthy Instagram obsession with other peoples dinners, then why should that stop on the days when you eat less? The recipes in this book are calorie-controlled versions of the foods we like to eat every day. Each calorie is working HARD and earning its place on our plates. Recipes make generous use of those low-calorie flavour powerhouses, like herbs and spices, and they balance textures and flavours to really deliver meals that will satisfy you so you wont even feel like youre on a diet well, thats the idea anyway! They are also designed so you can eat them with your family or partner, or even when you have people round you can easily add a few extras like rice and breads or a few sides to bulk them out for the others. The recipes also aim to give you a good dose of vitamins and minerals often noticeably lacking from low-cal food substitutes. You still need to be eating the good stuff! Just a bit less of it.

When do I do the fast days? Most people start off with two days per week, and choose to complete those days not immediately following one another. You can do them together, but when youre starting, it can take a bit of getting used to, so its easier to space them out. Monday and Thursday are good ones for me: far enough apart that I dont feel hard done by theres a normal day just around the corner and not impacting on the weekend or that tricky mid-week hump day. But part of the beauty of this diet is that you can move them around to suit what is in your diary if youve a big night out or lunch with your family on a day you had planned to fast on, then just swap them over.

Some people choose to do three fast days per week, while others, once theyve seen the weight loss they need, reduce to just one. Studies have shown that even one day of fasting can help maintain weight, as well as reaping all the other endless health benefits (more of which on the following pages).

Id also recommend that you dont fill your fast days with back-to-back meetings or intense exercise classes. Go easy on yourself. And make sure you get enough sleep: one of the main causes of overeating is tiredness and dehydration so stock up on that H2O. Once youre an old hand at the 5:2, you can definitely reintroduce exercise into your fast days but keep it fairly gentle.

Wont I be HANGRY? Yes, to be brutally honest on your first couple of fast days you probably will be a little bit at times. If youre the kind of person who thinks about food a lot, and you are usually planning your next meal while youre still eating your first one, then reducing your calories like this is going to take a bit of getting used to. But I PROMISE YOU, you will soon find them so much easier, and then youll feel proud of yourself, and it will just be part of normal life. I promise. And when you see all that lovely weight loss as well as the other health bonuses, youll maybe start to even enjoy them. Well, at least not mind them! Especially as it means you can eat all those other delicious foods on the other days totally guilt free.

How should I spread out the calories? If you always eat breakfast, then you should also do so on your fast days. At least while you get used to it. The 5:2 is the kind of diet that can fit in with your normal routines very well. The recipes in this book have ideas for breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as snacks to keep you going. But its very personal how you choose to split up your calories throughout the day. Most people tend to find that if you can hang on until lunch, then it makes it a little bit easier as you can then have more calories to divide across the rest of the day. Also, saving up at least some of your calories for the evening means you can enjoy a proper evening meal and wont find yourself hungrily staring at other peoples dinner while you munch on a celery stalk. But see what works for you. There are plenty of recipes in this book at calories ranging from 50350, so you can mix and match (see the menu plans on too). And, of course, although the recipes are in sections by meal type, you dont have to follow them rigidly! Who doesnt love breakfast for dinner?