WE’RE PROOF THIS DIET CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE!
I was a size 16, but I shed
40lb and feel really great
pENNI CUTHBERT, 33, an analyst, lives with husband Ryan, 30, a plasterer, and their children, Alasdair, three, and Livvy, two, in Edinburgh. Having had two children in quick succession, the weight had crept on. i’d weighed 10st before but gone up to 13st. at 5ft 4in tall, i was a size 16 and my knees were suffering. Running around after my young children was exhausting.
Like most people, i’d tried all kinds of diets and would lose some weight, but put it back on. it was my mum, a biomedical scientist and teacher, who first brought the 5:2 to my attention.
i started it almost by accident on valentine’s Day 2017. at 5pm, i realised all i’d had was cups of coffee. i wasn’t feeling particularly hungry and thought now was a good time to start.
With 5:2, you don’t need a membership fee, you can chop and change your fasting days and no food is banned. People ask if i have to be strict on non-fasting days, but i really don’t. if i fancy a Chinese takeaway or a chocolate bar, i can have it on those days. in fact, i don’t have to think about what i’m eating on non-fasting days at all.
You need willpower but i knew i could enjoy my evening meal if i stuck to between 500-800 calories in the daytime.
Within weeks, the weight was falling off. i bought a Fitbit and i’m obsessed with getting my 10,000 steps a day. it took eight months to lose 40lb and i feel so much better. i’m now a size 10. i took the whole of august off but started again in September and now it’s simply part of my life.
Since June I’ve lost 2½
stone and now wear size 12
VICTORIA SCOTT, 40, a pR consultant, lives in Shepperton, Middlesex, with her husband Teil, 43, a pilot, and their two children, Raphael, eight and Gabriella, four. LaSt year i saw a photograph of myself taken from behind. i thought i still looked the same as i did before i’d had my children, but this horrifying picture proved otherwise.
i was shocked to find i weighed 14st 4lb. i’m 5ft 10in and had thought i was tall enough to carry off the weight. But my size 16 clothes were feeling tighter and i realised i was in trouble.
i researched all the diet options and liked the fact that 5:2 has lots of science to back it up. My father had type 2 diabetes and i didn’t want to end up with it.
i started slowly. On fasting days, i’d have eggs for breakfast, then a light soup for lunch and a small evening meal to stave off hunger pangs.
then i joined several 5:2 Facebook groups where people advised not to eat anything until dinnertime when you can have a bigger meal. i tried that — drinking lots of tea, coffee and fizzy water — and found it much more convenient.
another bonus of the 5:2 diet is that it saves money. You’re not buying ready-prepared meals or shakes. apart from the occasional celebration, i’ve also given up alcohol.
Within a week i’d lost 3lb and within a month i’d lost my first stone. Since June, i’ve lost 2½st, and i’m now in a size 12 to 14.
I’m allergic to exercise, so the 5:2 diet is ideal
LOUISA WALTERS, 50, is the founder of The Restaurant Club, a members-only discount scheme for lovers of independent restaurants. She lives in NorthWest London with husband Simon, 55, a finance director, and they have two grown-up children. When I launched my restaurant business in 2016, the pounds crept on. I rarely step on the scales. I prefer to go by how my clothes feel, so I knew I was probably half a stone or more overweight.
My husband’s birthday was coming up, so I did a quick-fix diet, which lost about 5lb, but I knew I couldn’t sustain it. That’s when I tried the 5:2 diet.
I never did two fasting days together but always chose a Monday and either Wednesday or Thursday. I wouldn’t have breakfast, and for lunch, I’d have a light meal such as soup. I’d have tea or coffee with skimmed milk throughout the day.
Sometimes I’d go over the 500 calories by 100, but I balanced it out across the two days. Fasting was hard, but the 5:2 gave me discipline. If I wanted chocolate, I’d think: ‘Yes, you can, but tomorrow, or the day after, not today.’
I’m allergic to exercise, so any weight loss comes from my diet. I like doing 5:2 after a heavy weekend, because you can undo a lot of the damage.