FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q - Is the 2-Day Diet just “yo-yo” dieting?

A - NO – Unlike one of the more conventional diets where, you end up dipping in and out of it (sometimes dieting and other times not), with the 2-day diet you will be altering your lifestyle to a two-day restriction every week whilst maintaining a healthy diet in-between, therefore, not causing a feeling of deprivation which is one of the main causes for people to relapse.

Q – ‘Why two days?’

 A – Two days is enough to reduce your overall calorie intake and retrain your eating habits. Research has also shown for this to have beneficial effects on the metabolism along with reducing the risk of disease. Remember that due to it only being two days per week, its more achievable!

Q - ‘Do I have to diet for two consecutive days?’

 A – Two separate days are fine for weight loss, although you may find doing the two consecutive days easier as you will be in the habit of eating less and could even have additional health benefits due to providing a prolonged period when the body is in a healthier metabolic state.

Q – I am worried that I will binge on the five unrestricted days?

A – Through our conducted research, dieters were pleasantly surprised that they were not tempted to binge on their unrestricted days. One of the key factors to the diet was that our volunteers were astounded at how they felt that it appeared that their appetite had been reset and their eating behaviour had been retrained throughout the whole week.

HOW DOES THE 5:2 WORK?

The 5:2 Fast Diet works by restricting your calorie intake significantly for two days out of seven. When people cut down on calories for all seven days of the week, they more often than not struggle with this standard approach, as they find themselves constantly having to think about their diet and what they are eating. We have found that with the 5:2 intermittent diet, where calories are restricted for only two days of the week, people find it far more achievable to lose weight.

We all carry a hormone called IGF-1 which is an insulin-like growth factor. This is important for growth when we are young, however not essentially required so much during adulthood where lower IGF-1 levels are healthier. There is now evidence that when the IGF-1 hormone is high in adults, particularly females over the age of forty. They can potentially have a decreased cancer risk as when the levels of IGF-1 are lower there is a less rapid turnover of cells. Fasting has now been proven to lower levels of IGF-1 as the levels do not stay depressed for long once you return to normal eating. The repeated on/off pattern of intermittent fasting could help to keep levels persistently lower and healthier.

Despite being bombarded with never-ending eating opportunities, our bodies are still designed with a biology and hormones that expect food to be scarce at some times and more plentiful at others. This is why many scientists believe intermittent fasting could be a particularly healthy and physiologically appropriate way to keep trim and fight ageing. Restricting yourself for only two days when you are able to eat as normal for the other five makes this an extremely appealing formula for weight loss and as well as delivering healthier, sustainable weight loss. The 2-day diet is nutritionally balanced to meet all your body’s needs.

This diet will work at making you feel less sluggish, bloated and more alert. On restricted diet days, you eat foods that are high in protein, healthy monounsaturated fats (such as nuts) and fruit and vegetables. These types of foods are satisfying and reduce the feelings of hunger. Feeling fuller makes you less likely to over-eat. The 2-day diet is deliberately low in carbohydrates which appear to make people feel hungrier. On the other five unrestricted days you continue eat a normal and healthy style diet.

The 2 day diet is designed to lower calories enough to enable you to lose weight, but without leaving you feeling hungry. It is nutritionally balanced so that all your vitamin, mineral and protein requirements are met and allows eating to fit into a normal busy lifestyle. Cutting down for just two days is easier than cutting down every day. Overall, people find it easier to maintain two strict days of significantly restricted calories than restricting calories by a much smaller amount every day.

A stricter regime is easier to follow than a less restricted diet simply because it is so strict and has clear rules. 2-day dieters will know that as long as the diet is achievable, diets with restricted rules and limited choice can be easier to stick to than healthy-eating and low-calorie diets that have very flexible rules. In fact our bodies may even be biologically programmed for this intermittent pattern of eating. The idea of having spells of normal intake and spells of restriction isn’t new and some argue that it mimics the periods of food abundance from many years ago.

The 2-Day Diet retrains your eating habits by altering your habit of regularly consuming more food than we need. We are prone to eating overly large servings and having too many fatty or sugary foods or habitual snacking. The 2-day diet helps you to change the way you eat. Losing weight is really very simple. It means cutting your overall calories by at least one-quarter and reducing your intake of high-sugar foods and saturated fat. For many people this is easier said than done. The 2-day diet gives you a much needed break from your normal eating habits each week and helps you to develop vigilance and awareness of what you eat. These are vital skills which put you on the road to being in control of what you eat and therefore your weight.

Dramatically cutting calories for two days a week helps you to relearn how hunger feels and what a normal serving looks like. You will learn to eat more slowly, appreciate smaller amounts and really enjoy your food on both your two restricted days and on the five unrestricted days. This will help you to rediscover how much food you really need, rather than the amount you have become used to eating.

Dieters found that contrasting the two restricted days to their normal intake helped them identify what triggered them to eat and to overeat. If you’re a serial dieter you may have become stuck in the low-fat , low-protein and high-carbohydrate pattern of eating. A combination promoted by many mainstream diets. While this approach may work for some, others find it difficult to maintain a daily low-calorie intake with these regimes. They often find themselves overeating. The 2-day diet will help wane you away from these unhelpful patterns of eating.

For two days every week you have the opportunity to learn to resist temptation. This is a key dieting skill that you will need to practise until it becomes a habit. Being restrained on your diet and food cravings will reinforce your desire to be in control of your diet on the other days of the week.

Non-Fasting Days – Not An Excuse to Binge

Whilst following the 5:2 Diet, it is important to understand that on the unrestricted days you should still try to follow a healthy eating plan. Do not consume more than four times the recommended amount of calories that you use on your fasting days. Try to still include foods that are as whole and unprocessed as possible, with lots of fruit and vegetables, wholegrains, beans, pulses, nuts and olive oil as well as keeping to low-fat dairy foods, fish and poultry. If eating red meats, keep to the lean variety and keep it to a small quantity. Avoid lots of pasta, pizza and red wine.

Although you may worry that you will be tempted to feast out on non-fasting days, you will find that you will not wish to. You will quickly become in-tune with your body, recognising true hunger pangs and understanding how much food is really required for a substantial meal.

Although you have spent two days out of seven fasting, you must remember that you have only restricted your calorie in-take on the 2-diet days and the calories saved are to benefit you during your diet for the required weight loss. You must not be tempted on the non-fasting days to binge as you will find that it will then be a struggle to lose any weight. A good way to avoid falling into this trap is to pre-plan your daily food in-take and ensuring that you do not exceed four times the recommended amount of calories as on a restricted day.

How to Suppress your Appetite for Longer:

There are many tricks to suppress the appetite for longer. Drinking plenty of water and choosing foods wisely, such as foods that are high in protein but not in calories as protein triggers the production of the full-up PYY hormone in the brain. Fruit and vegetables contain a lot of water, air and fibre which pack your gut, producing 'filling' signals in the small intestine. Apples, for example are about 25 per cent air and as they're digested, they produce the hormone GLP-1, which sends satiety (full up) signals to the brain.

The trick is to eat high-satiety foods at the beginning of a meal, which will cause you to feel fuller early on. A salad would be a good example for a starter, with a main meal containing protein which will leave you feeling satisfied. Eggs (high in protein), are a good chose for breakfast and will keep you going to lunch without the urge to snack beforehand.

By incorporating the 5:2 Fast Track Formula into your diet. Simply, by taking 2 capsules 30 minutes prior to your main meal (breakfast, lunch and dinner) will suppress your appetite, reducing cravings and feelings of hunger allowing you to get trim with a little less effort.

The 5:2 Fast Formula is a unique proprietary blend appetite suppressant derived from the root of the konjac plant. Combined with everyday vitamins such as B2 and B12 as well as minerals, such as Iron and Copper. The Fast Formula is designed to manage your appetite, calorie intake and help replace many of the vitamins and nutrients that are normally sacrificed when following a fasting diet. This will also help to curb your appetite on normal eating days, helping towards further weight loss as it creates a feeling of fullness due to having water-binding effects. You can significantly control your urge to snack between meals and also reduce the risk of tiredness which is a common complaint of fasting.

What is 5:2 Fast Diet?

If you are someone who has tried and failed to lose weight, or you’ve shed extra pounds, only to pile them back on again – this is the diet for you.

The 5:2 Day Diet is a brand new, research-based approach to weight loss. This is a simple diet where you will fast for two days per week followed by eating as normal for the additional five. As well as the obvious reason for choosing to diet you can improve your health significantly by cutting risks of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and even some cancers.

If someone has tried and failed to lose excess weight or shed the pounds only to pile them back on again, then the 5:2 Fast Diet would be the answer to this recurring common issue. This revolutionary diet teaches how hunger feels and what a normal serving looks like. You will learn to eat more slowly, appreciate smaller amounts and really enjoy your food on both the two restricted days and the five unrestricted days. You will rediscover how much food you actually need. The diet has been designed to follow two restricted days out of seven which will help you to identify what triggers you to over-eat at times. This system shall also lead you away from unhelpful and possibly harmful patterns of eating.

Muscle does in-fact target fat and good diets preserve the muscle whilst targeting fat. Even when muscle is resting it will carry on working at burning calories. This proven theory turns the conventional dieting methods completely on its head, offering an alternative approach to losing weight, the 5:2 diet is easy to follow, allowing you to escape the mundane regime of a seven day a week diet - which will ultimately be abandoned due to eventually losing the will along with constantly thinking about what can and can’t be eaten, being perpetually aware that you are on a DIET which is doomed to fail.

It is recommended that on the five normal eating days of the week, a healthier approach should be taken towards the food that is eaten although this will occur naturally as you will become conscious of what your body needs in terms of a more nutritionally balanced diet will ensure all essential vitamins, minerals and protein requirements are met.

Hunger pangs only last for a short period and with this diet, you will learn that hunger, is only a fleeting feeling and can soon be supressed with a drink of water, green tea or coffee. Within no time it will just get easier and easier. With 5:2, a quarter of the recommended daily intake of calories is required. For men this is usually around 600 calories and for women around 500 calories. It will become clear that rather than being on another fad diet this will be referred to as a lifestyle change.

To break this down in laymen’s terms, the 5:2 Diet is basically consuming no more than 500/600 calories twice per week, which is not technically fasting. The calorie intake can be split into two or three very low calorie meals or, taken altogether as one larger meal. The additional 5 days should be followed as a normal lifestyle, although keeping to a healthy, nutritious balanced diet is always going to be highly recommended.

5:2 v’s 4:3

If you are seeking guaranteed weight loss, we highly recommend the Fasting Diet. This diet is only calorie restricted for two or three days per week, depending on which formula you chose to follow. On the non-fasting days you are able to consume food as normal. On your fasting days you will consume food at a restricted rate, keeping to 500/600 calories. This revolutionary diet is a desirable approach to shedding pounds along with being an easier solution for most people to reach their target. Depending on how quickly you are wishing to lose your excess weight will decipher whether you would follow the 5:2 or the 4:3 diet.

The 5:2 diet is one of the most popular diets around, with clear strict rules to follow. This means cutting the overall weekly calorie intake by 25% and only having to fast for two days out of seven. This is recommended to follow for the long term or even for life due to the proven health benefits. It can help cut the risk of type-2 diabetes and heart disease. This is just a few of the reasons for this becoming highly popular. It is not necessarily a "quick fix" diet, but it is very easy to stick to. Having the ability not to overindulge, but eat food you like on normal days whilst still being able to consume food (500/600 calories) on the days which you fast makes it a much more appealing diet for many people. Remember that perseverance is key and once you have brought this into practice, you will very quickly be appreciating the rewards, as not only will you be losing your desired weight, you will feel the health benefits along with having a vast amount of energy.

The 4:3 diet is equivalent to the 5:2 diet, only you will be applying an additional day of fasting into your week, which will allow for a speedier loss of weight. The 4:3 formula is a tougher diet to follow and would be recommended for quick weight loss. Perhaps for an event which is approaching, or for health reasons. If your motivation is for health reasons, you should consult your doctor for medical advice prior to commencing a method that is for rapid and effective weight loss. Our advice would be to action the 4:3 once you have been following the 5:2 plan, making it a gentler approach. This will prepare you for the intensity of the 4:3 diet. Some people initially chose to be on this diet for rapid weight loss for the first week or two prior to following the 5:2 Fast Diet, as only restricting your calories for two days per week is definitely manageable. With so many recommended low calorie meals and snacks on offer, this will allow you to still consume your three main meals within the fasting days.

If you feel apprehensive about commencing either of the two diets due to the calorie restricted days, there are many ways of suppressing the appetite. Effective methods include drinking plenty of water and choosing foods wisely. Foods that are high in protein for example, triggers the production of the full-up hormone in the brain. There are many books that offer self- management towards reaching goals and advising alternative strategies when you feel that you may-be heading for failure. There is also the option of incorporating the 5:2 Fast Formula into your diet. Simply, by taking 2 capsules 30 minutes prior to your main meal (breakfast, lunch and dinner) will suppress your appetite, reducing cravings and feelings of hunger allowing you to get trim with a little less effort.

The 5:2 Fast Formula is a unique proprietary blend appetite suppressant derived from the root of the konjac plant. Combined with everyday vitamins such as B2 and B12 as well as minerals, such as Iron and Copper. The Fast Formula is designed to manage your appetite, calorie intake and help replace many of the vitamins and nutrients that are normally sacrificed when following a fasting diet. This will also help to curb your appetite on normal eating days, helping towards further weight loss as it creates a feeling of fullness due to having water-binding effects. You can significantly control your urge to snack between meals and also reduce the risk of tiredness which is a common complaint of fasting.

THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF THE 5:2 FAST DIET

The 5:2 Fast Diet is believed to improve the health and function of the brain and heart along with other organs. Also, you are less likely to develop certain cancers and more likely to improve your life longevity. Fasting is a type of hormesis, a process whereby organisms exposed to low levels of stress or toxins become more resistant to tougher challenges. For example, the mild biological stress induced by fasting causes cells in the heart and gut to produce proteins that decrease heart rate and blood pressure and increase gut mobility which is the movement of food through the gut and reduces the risk of heart disease, stroke and colon cancer. It really does seem to be a case of what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

Insulin is important for reducing the risk of diabetes and any amount of weight loss in obese individuals will generally result in the body becoming more sensitive to this. There is also evidence that your chances of developing certain other diseases whilst following the 5:2 diet are reduced, particularly when keeping to a Mediterranean-style diet for the non-fasting days.

So, intermittent fasting combined with calorie restriction is effective for not just weight loss but will contribute to a healthier heart. Research conducted on mice and rats also proved to conclude that those that were put through the fasting regimen that had been genetically engineered to develop Alzheimer’s disease did not show signs of dementia until they were around 20 months of age, close to the natural end of their lives, in comparison to 12 months when not placed on the on/off fast. The reason which is believed to be behind this is that the fasting mouse brain produces more of a protein called BDNF (brain derived neurotrophic factor), which stimulates the growth of new nerve cells in the hippocampus part of the brain, essential for learning and memory. There’s certainly an evolutionary logic for the fasting state to be linked with better cognitive function, too: if you were hungry in caveman days, you needed your wits about you to track down the next meal and survive.

IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor-1, which is known to be associated with cancer, is significantly reduced whilst fasting and appears to stimulate genes that repair our cells. Many 5:2 eaters say their low-calorie intake makes them feel more clear-headed, more able to concentrate and even more cheerful. This feel good factor is one of the advantages to also eating less as we often turn to food as a source of comfort when feeling down.

Once you’ve reached the weight you’re happy with, you will more than likely want to incorporate into your life long term, as an active lifestyle choice. When bigger, longer studies in to intermittent fasting emerge, as they undoubtedly will, the optimal way to continue intermittent fasting so that you can maximize any health benefits and keep your weight maintained will almost certainly become more apparent. For now, if no more weight loss is required that selecting the method of fasting for one day per week will maintain your desired weight. You could even possibly keep to the 5:2-diet and perhaps creep up to 700 calories on both the fasting days. Keeping to this lifestyle will most certainly improve your health physically and mentally for life!