Alcohol diet
Thanks to this book, you will achieve the figure of your dreams in record time! Jacqueline Whiteheart offers an effective, motivating weight loss program that will change your life forever. IN JUST A MONTH, you'll lose about FIVE KILOGRAMS by cutting calories for just two days a week. You can not only get rid of excess weight, but also strengthen your body, and also significantly improve your own health - reduce the risk of age-related diseases, diabetes, heart disease and many other unpleasant ailments. Join the 5:2 revolution and get ready for beach season today!
A series: Fast Diet 5:2
* * *
The given introductory fragment of the book Diet 5:2. Bikini Diet (Jacqueline Whiteheart, 2013) provided by our book partner - the company liters.
BIKINI DIET
Golden rules for a successful diet
Let's get straight to the point: there are three main things we'll be doing over the next four weeks and beyond that will help us get in shape for the summer. Follow these guidelines and you'll lose weight, feel better, and look great.
✓ Unloading – two days a week, not consecutive, eat only 500 kcal for women / 600 kcal for men.
✓ Eat as usual for the remaining five days of the week, giving preference to healthy foods.
✓ Three times a week, on non-fasting days, perform a 30-minute training program.
Sounds very simple, doesn't it? That's because it is! The program is incredibly simple and easy to follow, so keep reading and we'll go through each of these three rules together.
1. Deload twice a week
Two days a week you limit your calorie intake, that is, you eat:
✓ 500 kcal per day for women
✓ 600 kcal per day for men
✓ These two days must not be consecutive
2. For the remaining five days, eat as usual, giving preference to healthy foods.
If you're already familiar with the 5:2 diet, you might be aware of the concept of "eat day" that confuses people time and time again.
The thing is that most of us, when we are told that we can eat anything, go a little crazy.
Five non-fasting days are ordinary days in which we do not diet and do not count calories, but simply WE EAT CORRECTLY.
You are required to:
✓ Enjoy your meals without counting calories.
✓ Eat healthy foods three times a day.
✓ DO NOT snack between meals.
Eliminate all rubbish. The following products should be kept to a minimum:
✓ Cookies (any) and cupcakes
✓ Crispy potatoes (chips)
✓ Non-diet high-calorie drinks
✓ Any beer and cider
By following these guidelines, you will be able to enjoy a huge variety of delicious dishes, including all categories of products, which means that you will be able to afford delicious pastas, breads, desserts and, of course, a glass of wine or two.
Remember that the recipes in this book are not just for fasting days; they are great for your normal days too.
Just add some extra carbohydrates, in the form of rice or potatoes, for example, if necessary, and try to eat three balanced meals a day.
3. Work out three times a week
If rules 1 and 2 are intended for weight loss, then exercise makes the most of this weight loss, helping to fight fat folds and sagging skin, toning your body and destroying cellulite.
If regular exercise is new to you, then perhaps the best place to start is by walking. Start with 15 minutes of walking a day, three times a week, and gradually increase the intensity.
Walking helps increase blood flow to muscle tissue, improves blood circulation and cardiac activity. Swimming is also a great way to start exercising.
Walking is great
suitable for those
who just started
train: she,
as has happened many times
proven to promote
increasing the level
general physical
preparation.
For those who are already accustomed to exercising regularly, the Bikini Diet training program will be a simple and enjoyable way to get in shape for the beginning of summer - and do it as quickly as possible!
By following this exercise program three times a week, you can expect amazing results in just four weeks. For more information on the benefits of combining exercise with the 5:2 diet program, see the chapter “Getting Ready for Beach Season” (see page 68).
Benefit for health
You not only become slimmer
This chapter explains the medical success of this diet program. Once you realize how much healthier you'll become with this diet—just as you'll lose weight effortlessly—you'll stick with this lifestyle for the rest of your life. RESULTS YOU CAN ACHIEVE WITH THE 5:2 DIET simply stunning. Moreover, the matter is not limited to the lost kilograms: losing weight in a natural and healthy way helps to strengthen your overall health.
There are more and more
and more evidence
what's new
generation of unloaders
diets, of which
The 5:2 diet is
the simplest
and popular, bring
incredible benefits
for human health
and in the long term
perspective.
What happens to the body during fasting?
Based on the opinions of several fasting experts, here's a big picture of how intermittent fasting works for our bodies, giving us an added health advantage as we age. Here I will give only a simplified scientific explanation, which, I hope, will make everything clearer for people interested in this who cannot boast of a scientific education.
When we deprive our body of food for longer than usual, such as during fasting, some hormonal changes begin to occur in the body. Changing the levels of certain hormones has side effects on various cells in our body. Thus, it has been proven that the content of one of these hormones, insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), decreases when we fast. IGF-1 is produced in the liver and acts similar to insulin. Its job in the body is to promote cell growth and the appearance of new cells. When IGF-1 levels drop, our body produces fewer new cells and focuses on repairing old ones. This state of “repair” is very beneficial for you, as it helps slow down the aging process and can reduce the likelihood of developing diabetes, heart disease and some types of cancer.
Another hormone whose levels are affected by fasting is brain nerve growth factor. Research into this process is still in its infancy, but there is already some evidence that this mechanism ultimately leads to a reduction in risk factors for cognitive disorders such as Alzheimer's disease.
Finally, there is another striking difference between standard calorie restriction diets and intermittent fasting. DURING THE LAST, ALL WEIGHT LOST IS EXCLUSIVELY FROM BODY FAT! If that's not a good enough reason to choose the 5:2 diet, I don't know what more you could ask for.
While other diets show a reduction in both muscle and fat tissue, the 5:2 diet focuses exclusively on fat. Scientists are not yet sure why this happens, but numerous studies with good scientific background have confirmed this pattern with their results. The most plausible explanation is that when we fast, we have to use our internal resources (i.e. fat) to nourish the body instead of eating food. This key point may be why the 5:2 diet has been so successful for so many different people.
Optimal Benefits – Should You Skip Meals?
The answer will be simple and short - yes. If your primary goal is taking care of your health, and not just getting rid of extra pounds, then, according to the recommendations of scientists, you should eat only once on a fasting day. Remember that consuming calories outside of the fasting day does not affect the weight loss process in any way. The best scientists in the United States are of the same opinion: to get the most out of intermittent fasting, you need to either abstain from food completely for 24 hours, or eat a small meal once in the middle of this 24-hour period.
No studies have yet been conducted on other forms of food refusal for more than 24 hours, so at the moment scientists cannot guarantee the safety and effectiveness of such methods.
If, reading these lines, you think: “What can I do, there’s no way I can eat only one meal a day!”, then you are not alone. This is why I don't encourage you to skip meals, BYE You yourself will not find this idea attractive, and only on the condition that you can imagine yourself regularly adhering to such a regime in the long term.
FIRSTLY, the thing is, it has no effect on the rate at which you lose weight. If your main goal is to lose weight and reap all the health benefits that come with successful and lasting weight loss, then just stick to 500/600 kcal on your fasting days, but don't worry about when exactly you eat them.
SECONDLY, Although the health benefits may not be optimal, you will still get them. You fast and your body goes into recovery mode, so you shouldn't be surprised if things aren't completely optimal. Is there anything in your life that can be called completely optimal? I definitely don't have that.
FINALLY, THE MOST IMPORTANT: What do you think is better: stick to a strict schedule on fasting days, eating only once, then discover that it is too difficult for you, and there is no motivation at all, and give up after the first month OR eat two or three times in small portions on a fasting day and adapt to this regimen in the long term?
I would say that the latter option wins by a large margin, but still be guided by your own preferences. If it's easier for you to skip a meal, then do it. I often, but not always, skip lunch on fasting days. However, if you succeed with three meals a day, then continue in the same spirit. Everything is going well for you anyway.
What's with the name?
There are so many different names for diets similar or similar to the 5:2 diet that it should come as no surprise that people are often confused.
Fasting diet, or Diet 5:2
These diets are essentially the same thing - just two different names for the same diet. I assume that the diet owes its dual name to its roots. The 5:2 Diet was born in August 2012 thanks to Michael Mosley. Many people, including myself, began to follow her simple principle: eat less than usual twice a week. At this stage, the diet program did not have a special name, but people discussing it on Twitter and other social networks needed to call it something, so the simplest name stuck - the 5:2 diet. Then, when the diet became incredibly popular, marketers took it on and it became known as the “fasting diet.” In the USA, where the diet is never born through word of mouth, it simply, apparently, was originally called the “Fasting Diet” or “British Fasting Diet”.
Two-day diet
The 2-Day Diet has completely different roots compared to the 5:2 Diet, although they are similar in both name and program offered.
The 2-Day Diet comes as a result of amazing research conducted over the past few years by Dr Michelle Harvey from the University of Manchester. Harvey is a breast cancer specialist who has been trying to find a way to reduce the risk of developing breast cancer through diet. She conducted a study of a group of overweight women whose diet was changed radically, but only for two days a week. The diet is similar in many ways to the 5:2 diet, in particular in that you have to restrict your caloric intake two days a week, eating as usual for the remaining five. However, calories were limited to 650 for both women and men, but the foods consumed on fasting days were more limited: it was necessary to eat a certain amount of milk and completely eliminate the consumption of carbohydrates (more like the Atkins diet) on fasting days. The biggest difference from the 5:2 diet is that the two fasting days had to follow each other.
Her research revealed two important points. Firstly, dieting only two days a week is much easier, and many more people have been able to stick to this program compared to classic diets. Harvey compared two groups of women. The first group had fasting days twice a week, while the second group was on a regular diet restricting daily calorie intake, eating 1,500 kcal per day. After three months, it turned out that the two-day diet was twice as easy for people to follow as the regular diet program, judging by the number of participants who failed.
Another most impressive result of her study was the discovery that levels of a breast cancer-promoting hormone called leptin decreased by an average of 40%. In addition, insulin levels dropped by 25%, which significantly reduced the risk of developing diabetes in the participants.
Unloading every other day (RFD)
The idea of fasting every other day appeared in the US before the fasting diet made itself felt in the UK. This diet has a very simple principle. A strict fasting diet is followed every other day. The number of meals during such a day is also limited. The 5:2 diet is a variation on this theme, which allows you to reduce the total number of fasting days during the week, and also not bother with it on legal days off. The consequences for the waist and the body as a whole are similar for these diets, although, obviously, with the help of RFD you can lose weight a little faster. However, the success rate of such a diet (i.e., the percentage of people who managed to stick to the program in the long term) is noticeably lower.
Dr. Varadi conducted an interesting study in the USA with amazing results. She took a group of overweight men and women who followed her RFD supervision for a year. This study is still not completed, but the first data have already been obtained, according to which participants experienced a low rate of diet jumping, a gradual loss of extra pounds that do not return, as well as a decrease in blood levels of total cholesterol and LDL (“bad” cholesterol) ).
“Window”, or 8-hour fasting
A “window” is another way to organize your fasting days, which involves not eating for a certain part of the day, seven days a week. One of the common schemes, for example, suggests not eating from eight in the evening one day until twelve the next day. This means that your window during which you can eat is between 12:00 and 20:00 each day. For some, this method fits perfectly into their lifestyle, as it allows them to have a normal lunch and dinner every day, but it is definitely not to everyone's taste.
There hasn't been much research done on this type of intermittent offloading, but the results appear to be similar to what can be achieved with a 5:2 program or RFD.
Periodic unloading (PR)
Intermittent fasting is a general term for any fasting diet. Thus, the 5:2 diet, and the fasting diet, and the two-day diet, and RFD - they all come under the banner of periodic fasting.
The advantage of the 5:2 diet over other forms of intermittent fasting
There is a reason why people often choose the 5:2 diet over other forms of PR - with this program you will have a much better chance of success because it is much easier to stick to and can be seamlessly fit into your lifestyle.
Dismount percentage
with diet 5:2 lower than
in other forms of PR, and those
more than others
types of dietary
programs.
Simply put, the 5:2 diet is the simplest and easiest to stick to long term.
Potential harms and side effects of the 5:2 diet
Since this diet is such a radical approach to losing weight, it would be wise to first make sure that it is safe to follow.
The official opinion of the medical community on this issue is that the benefits of unloading have not yet been proven. This is because to obtain conclusive results, research must be conducted over several years or even decades, and this domain is relatively new.
Fasting during Ramadan
demands from Muslims
refuse food
and water throughout
daylight hours
within a month.
The good news is that, to date, no significant health harms or other problems associated with this diet have been found. You may also want to consider that in some popular religions, fasting in one form or another has been around for hundreds of years.
Fasting is also common among Hindus. Fasting on certain days of the week is associated with their religious views and is aimed at appeasing certain gods. Both Muslims and Hindus believe that fasting is necessary for a person's happiness and health, since both his physical and spiritual needs are satisfied.
What about side effects?
Like any changes to your normal lifestyle and diet, there may be side effects to this approach. Some people will not experience any side effects at all, but some will experience such discomfort that they will have to give up the procedure.
One relatively common side effect of following a fasting diet that does not go away over time appears to be dehydration. It can be easily managed if you drink water or other low-calorie drinks regularly during your fasting day.
WHAT ABOUT IRRITATION? Yes, some of us are simply raging with hunger. As a rule, this component of periodic fasting, unpleasant for others, makes itself felt less and less as a person gets used to such a diet. However, I can become grumpy both on fasting days and on normal days!
Some people complain of sleep problems related to hunger and daytime sleepiness. This symptom is not as common as the others. Most people experience a lack of strength during their fasting days. Sleep problems can take their toll, especially if you eat most of your daily calories in the morning. Eat more at dinner, making sure it's rich in filling, complex carbohydrates, and you'll help your body get through the night.
Some side effects
the effects appear to be
make themselves known
when a person first
tries to starve. Such
unpleasant symptoms
like a headache
and dizziness like
usually gradually
are fading away
and disappear completely
in just a few
Finally, there is one more side effect that affected me personally. I was constantly cold throughout the winter, but this was especially noticeable on fasting days. The winter this year was quite cold, but I suffered from it much more than I expected. As a result, I spent the entire winter wearing two or even three sweaters, and also paid a fortune for heating. I like to think that this is most likely due to the fact that my body fat has decreased, meaning the diet is working as it should.
Unloading and hypoglycemia
If you suffer from or are predisposed to hypoglycemia, consult your doctor before starting this diet.
The discomfort associated with low blood sugar, which is caused by not eating for several hours, is a common problem that I personally have suffered from in the past. For some, this may mean giving up fasting altogether because they feel the need to eat something every couple of hours to keep their blood sugar levels stable. The main problem is that when a person does not eat for three or four hours in a row, the spike in sugar levels can lead to dizziness, mood swings, shaking, and irritability.
This is a very curious phenomenon, since only a small part of the population has a disorder in the body's natural ability to regulate blood sugar levels. The rest of us who are not susceptible to the disease described above do not have to worry about “low sugar” during fasting. The fact is that a healthy body is surprisingly effective at regulating glucose floating in the blood.
Research during
whose young
people with symptoms
hypoglycemia fasted
under control
doctors within
24 hours showed
that despite them
complaints about "feeling
drop in sugar level"
its actual
blood concentration
remained within
How should you behave if you are worried about a “drop in sugar levels” during fasting? This is a very real problem that I suffered from myself when I first started this diet. Now I know that my sugar levels are fine; The thing is, I'm just incredibly hungry. I'll share with you some tricks that helped me overcome this and which I hope will be useful to you too.
✓ On your fasting day, eat regularly - this means three small meals throughout the day.
✓ If you feel a wave of dizziness approaching you, then know that it will most likely pass you by and you will feel normal again within 15 minutes.
✓ Finally, if the feeling begins to interfere with your normal life or you develop a worsening headache, then eat something - just a little, 100 kcal or so of something filling, a piece of bread or a small banana, for example. You can afford these extra calories, but still try to stick to your daily limit as much as possible.
Don't let this incident kill your motivation for the next fasting day, which will most likely be much easier for you. See if you can go longer without eating than last time without experiencing any unpleasant symptoms.
When should you not have fasting days?
There are some diseases for which fasting is not recommended or may even be hazardous to health, even in such moderate form. Don't even try to fast if you have diabetes or pre-diabetes without consulting your doctor first. Also, this diet is not suitable for minors, pregnant or nursing mothers.
Those who are relatively fortunate in their health and for whom fasting is a prudent option for a dietary program should take into account that on some days it will be difficult for them to limit themselves in food.
For any emerging
doubts to begin with
go to the doctor to
You can discuss it with him
should you go on a diet
If you are already a follower of the 5:2 diet, then you should be well aware that some fasting days fly by unnoticed, while others are given with great difficulty. It happened to me several times that I refused a fasting day or gave up halfway. I don't blame myself for this, because I made the right choice for my health at that moment, and I always returned to the diet program as soon as I felt better. The reasons why I decided to cancel or interrupt my fasting day included a cold (it is very difficult to control yourself when you have unpleasant cold symptoms, so my simple advice: don’t do it), lack of sleep or lack of sleep, and sometimes, what can affect only women at a certain point in the menstrual cycle.
Magic numbers
How to adapt the 5:2 diet for yourself
Everyone is different: they have different weights, different heights and different levels of fitness. In this part, we will calculate your Body Mass Index (BMI) and your basal metabolic rate, which is the number of calories you burn during the day. Once we know your BMI, we can determine the appropriate weight for you to aim for as you lose weight. Having figured out the level of metabolism, we can determine the optimal number of calories consumed for a fasting day, and, as far as we know, on a fasting day, every calorie counts.
Brad Pitt during
filming of "Fight"
Club" was like this
pumped up, that's the point
view of old table
BMI could be safely
declare that he has
overweight.
The formula for calculating body mass index is very simple: BMI = weight (kg) / height (mg), that is, for this. To find out if your weight is ideal, you need to divide your weight by your height multiplied by the square. Remember that the formula does not imply height in centimeters. and in meters, and is measured in kg/m 2.
For people with relatively average indicators, the difference will not be much, but for short people, BMI may increase, and for tall people, on the contrary, it will become a little less.
If you're tall like me, it makes a lot of sense to take a look at the new scoring system - my BMI dropped 0.5 points from 21.6 to 21.1.
If you are of average height, then you are unlikely to get a significant difference.
✓ A BMI below 18.5 is considered to be underweight.
✓ A BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 is considered to be a normal healthy weight.
✓ A BMI between 25 and 29.9 is considered overweight.
✓ When a BMI is above 30, a person is considered obese
Personalizing calorie restrictions on a fasting day
While we use 500 kcal as a quarter of a woman's normal daily caloric intake and 600 kcal as a man's quarter, we can be more precise.
By calculating your metabolic rate, you can calculate your daily calorie needs.
Metabolic rate is the number of calories your body burns during the day at rest.
So, calculate your metabolic rate:
My calorie needs are:
I decided that I lead a slightly active lifestyle, so my multiplier is 1.375.
1415 × 1.375 = 1945 kcal.
I can also calculate the number of calories for my fasting day, since it is equal to a quarter of this value.
1945 / 4 = 486 kcal
So when I figure out how many calories I'll eat on my fasting day, I make sure that number is under 486.
So, in the end, you will get a number that corresponds to the number of calories you will need to limit to on your fasting days. Some, like me, will end up with a number just under 500, while others may discover the nice bonus of a few extra calories!
Remember that if you
lost a lot of weight
however, after some
that time they discovered
that your new weight is not
so stable
your consumption
calories because it
according to the proposed
formulas directly
depends on your weight.
There is one more point that I would like to touch upon: there are approximately 7000 kcal in a kilogram of body fat. This means you need to reduce your calorie intake by 7,000 to lose that pound of body fat. This may sound like a lot, but if you consider that a woman is “undernourished” on her usual fasting day (2000 – 500 = 1500 kcal), then it turns out that in a standard 5:2 week she will reduce her kcal intake by 3000, and after two – per 6000. For a man, this number will already be 3800 per week. So, it turns out that only thanks to fasting days, a woman loses a little less than one kilogram in two weeks 5:2, and a man loses a little more.
If you take into account training and healthy eating on non-fasting days, then the weight loss will be even more impressive. This is basic arithmetic and does not take into account the positive effects of the 5:2 diet on the body, which, according to numerous studies, are much more noticeable than when following classic dietary programs.
Let's get started
Now that you know the theoretical basis, it's time to start implementing the program and think about your first fasting day.
SO ARE YOU READY TO LOSE A LITTLE WEIGHT?
The first thing you need to think about is which days are most suitable for unloading. Remember that you need two days a week, separated by at least one day. You can set yourself a routine and stick to the same days every week, or act according to circumstances. This diet is very flexible, it is designed to suit everyone and nothing else.
On what days is it better to fast?
“On Tuesdays and Thursdays. My husband is not home, so I don’t have to worry about cooking for anyone else.”
PEGGY
Often people decide to start on Monday because they want to enjoy their food over the weekend and are eager to get the week off to a good start.
“I like to do a fast day on Monday to get rid of the fat I gained over the weekend, and on Thursday to be ready for the fat I gain over the coming weekend!”
JODY
Take a look at your weekly schedule and figure out which days you have any social obligations, especially those that involve eating.
“My fasting day schedule is constantly changing depending on what my plans are for that week.”
CHRISTINA
Consider this to be the biggest benefit of this diet.
All that remains is to plan everything, spend two fasting days and relax for the remaining five, during which you can completely forget about the diet. Try to keep your “fast” days as little as possible associated with contact with other people, especially if you have just started a diet. It's also a good idea to schedule them on days when you're constantly busy or working, since it's in your best interest to think about food as little as possible and stay as far away from the kitchen as possible. The only restriction regarding fasting days is that there must be at least one day of break between them.
Just think: you
you can calmly go
have dinner with friends,
without worrying about
what exactly will it turn out to be
in your plate, you can
even afford
wine and dessert and that's it
it won't hurt at all
you to lose weight.
The very first day of fasting will most likely be the hardest for you, since the body always needs time to adapt to a new diet. So choose your days of the week wisely if you are just starting this diet. During the first two weeks, you will need to be as careful as possible in choosing fasting days, as you may experience dizziness, bouts of irritability and even a headache, not to mention a strong feeling of hunger. There is no need to worry or panic. This book is full of tips on how to deal with these unpleasant symptoms. After the first two weeks on this diet, you will see how things become much easier. Focus on the fact that you only need to last one day.
Set a goal
Before starting this diet, you must first weigh yourself. You shouldn’t worry too much about this - anyone who decides to go on a diet is unlikely to have a low initial weight, otherwise they simply wouldn’t do it. Think positively. Think about how good you will feel when you finally start losing weight.
Initial weight:_ _ _ _ kg_ _ _ _ g
Some tips for weighing yourself
You don't have to weigh yourself only once a week - do it every time you think it's necessary, but it's better not every day, since your weight can either increase or decrease slightly throughout the day. We are only interested in the downward movement.
Ladies, don't forget that your monthly cycle affects your weight. You may gain some fat in the week leading up to your period, and fasting during these days may also be a little more difficult. Try to come to terms with this and always make adjustments to your monthly cycle if you have not been able to lose as many kilograms as you wanted.
I would recommend that you weigh yourself the morning after your second fasting day of the week. If you fast on Mondays and Wednesdays, you will weigh your least on Thursday morning before breakfast and after you go to the bathroom. If possible, use this time to weigh yourself weekly to see if you are losing weight or not and if you have achieved your goal.
How many pounds should I aim to lose?
This will depend entirely on your starting weight and your fitness level. The more excess weight you have, the faster you will lose weight, and the higher the goal you can set for yourself. If you are pretty close to your goal and are already in good shape, then the weight will no longer go away at such a speed, but it will still slowly but surely continue to decrease.
Your weight loss goal should be between half a kilogram and two kilograms per week. This is not some crash diet with incredible quick results, but rather your only goal should be to lose weight in a healthy way and using common sense.
As a rule of thumb, if you're just dieting and not exercising, you should be aiming for half a pound a week. If you regularly spend fasting days, exercise and try to adhere to a healthy lifestyle, then you can fully expect to lose 1–1.5 kilograms per week.
The more pounds you need to lose, the higher your goal can be.
Initial BMI:_ _ _ _ _
(If you need help calculating your BMI, see the chapter “Magic Numbers” on page 37.)
BMI at the end of the first four-week cycle:_ _ _ _ _
Look at yourself in the mirror
Before you start this diet, stand in front of a mirror - this will help you understand exactly where you would like to look better for the summer. If you want to see results, you need to have a clear idea of what you looked like before, so ladies, put on a bikini or swimsuit, and you gentlemen, break out your beach shorts. It's time to try them on and look at your reflection in a large mirror.
Firstly, don't worry about the fact that you might look a little pale - everyone is as pale as snow at the beginning of summer, and everyone knows exactly how to fix it. This is a completely different problem. You should first of all pay attention to those areas of your body that you consider problematic. Perhaps it's your stomach? Or hips? Or is it all about cellulite? Or would it be nice to tone it down a little everywhere?
The 5:2 Bikini Diet workout program is specifically designed to burn as much body fat as possible while toning your muscles for a slimmer, healthier body in just 30 days. Remember that a diet will help you get rid of excess pounds, especially those that fall on fat folds. This is where exercise comes to our aid to give your flabby limbs more appetizing shape.
Exercising three times a week for four weeks, coupled with the 5:2 diet program, can bring noticeable changes to your body. Then all that remains is to apply a little artificial tan, if, of course, there is such a need, and you can safely go to the beach!
First fasting day
Before you begin your first fasting day, you'll need to do a little planning. There are incredibly many ways you can achieve your daily 500/600 calorie goal, but I recommend eating three small meals on the first day.
For women this would mean something like:
✓ 100 kcal for breakfast
✓ 150 kcal for lunch
✓ 250 kcal for dinner.
For men it could be:
✓ 100 kcal for breakfast
✓ 200 kcal for lunch
✓ 300 kcal for dinner.
YOU MUST PLAN IN ADVANCE WHAT YOU WILL EAT. Take a look at the recipes (see pages 118–292) to get a general idea of what you can cook for yourself on fasting days. Try not to eat too many carbohydrates because they are high in calories. Opt for lean meats, vegetables and complex carbohydrates such as legumes. Don't consume too many calories in the form of drinks. Drink black coffee or tea, diet sodas, etc. A regular omelet (one chicken egg contains 89 kcal) will be a good, satisfying and simple dish. The salad would also be a good option for lunch or dinner.
The most useful tips
who will help you
survive the first evening
its unloading
of the day: find something
something interesting
TV, pour some
get yourself a hot drink
and go to bed early!
If you usually drink caffeinated drinks, you shouldn't cut them out, as a sudden lack of caffeine can give you a headache and make your fasting day even more unbearable. If you like to add milk to your coffee or tea, then do not forget that these calories must be taken into account. A cup of coffee or tea with 50 ml (less than a quarter cup) of semi-skimmed milk contains 25 kcal, but if you take skim milk, you will get only 19 kcal. A small Starbucks latte has 67 calories, while a large latte has 102 calories.
Evenings can feel incredibly long and drawn out. If you follow my recommendations and eat 250-300 kcal for dinner, then you will not be tormented by the same crazy hunger as during the day. However, if you find yourself at home surrounded by shelves full of food, you might need a little willpower.
✓ Hunger is an absolutely natural feeling.
✓ Drink some low-calorie drink to alleviate the feeling of hunger a little.
✓ The first day is the hardest.
✓ You will only need to go through it once.
✓ Tomorrow you will be able to eat like a king.
✓ You are actively losing weight right now.
✓ You will be truly satisfied and proud of your success.
Your first normal day
Congratulations: you have survived your first fasting day! If you want, you can weigh yourself before you drink or eat anything. You could easily lose as much as half a kilogram on your first day. Normally, I would recommend that you eat right and try not to indulge in any junk, but on the first day you can throw away all the rules. So you can eat whatever you want. Even if the previous day you only thought about the moment when you could have breakfast, it may turn out that in the morning you will no longer be so hungry. Or you will starve and eat without stopping. Don't worry about it. Your body is just trying to adjust, and you can safely pamper yourself a little.
I remember that on my first normal day I didn’t feel as great as I had hoped. The heavy breakfast left me feeling tired and sleepy, and I had an extremely difficult time getting myself to do anything all day. I've heard similar stories from other people when they first started the 5:2 diet. These feelings will change simply radically as you continue to follow this program. While fasting days are getting easier and easier, regular days are actually becoming “ordinary.”
Fasting days
I suggest you have three small meals on your regular fasting day. As you continue with your diet, you may want to change your diet to better suit your body's needs and lifestyle. It's quite logical to save 50% of your caloric budget for the day for the evening meal, although you can have it as early as you like - any time after 5 pm. What's most interesting, however, is how you split the remaining calories between breakfast and lunch. You can skip breakfast, skip lunch, or eat a little in the morning and afternoon.
Here are a few questions that will help you decide how best to distribute your meals on a fasting day:
✓ Do you get up early?
✓ Do you work in an office?
✓ Are you tempted to eat something not very healthy during the day?
If you answered yes to all of the above questions, then it might be wise to skip breakfast and eat more for lunch. Why? Because eating a filling lunch will help you avoid snacking throughout the day. If you rush headlong to work in the morning, then skipping breakfast should be the easiest thing for you.
✓ Are you constantly busy during the day and don’t even have time to think about food?
✓ Do you feel increasingly weak if you don’t have breakfast?
✓ Do you have a habit of always drinking coffee with breakfast in the morning?
If the answer is yes to all three questions, then you should try to eat a larger breakfast (250-300 kcal), after which you will have to hold out until the evening meal.
If you are still not completely sure how to do better, then stop at three small meals, and only then you can more accurately adjust your diet to yourself when you understand what time of the day you are usually the most hungry.
Count calories
I must admit, this is one of the most boring parts of any fasting day. You need to count calories, and you need to do this scrupulously, not leaving a single swallowed crumb unattended. Don't allow yourself to snack between meals (with the exception of low-calorie drinks), as these snacks will simply waste your calorie budget for the day.
Read the ingredients of any product you are going to eat, as almost any package from the store indicates the calorie content. Plus, you can use the recipes in this book, which have already had their calories carefully calculated for you. Or come up with your own recipe by summing up the energy value of all its ingredients using the special table at the end of this book (page 328).
You'll discover a couple of favorite dishes that you'll come back to again and again. Most often it is an omelet or eggs in another form, or some kind of salad. You can count calories once so that next time you know exactly how many you need.
Feeling hungry is good
I'll be completely honest with you: you will feel hungry on your fasting days. This may be a completely new hunger for you that you have never encountered before, but there is nothing wrong with it. You won't feel bad because of it, and your body will quickly get used to it. The fact is that hunger is a natural state of the body, which has undergone virtually no changes since the Stone Age. Hunger gives us energy and makes us more efficient, and the mechanisms of its suppression help us quickly find a solution to this problem. In the old days, this meant hunting for food. When we decide to starve ourselves, we have to find ways to distract ourselves from thoughts about food.
“To cope with hunger pangs, I drink water or bite into a carrot.”
SARAH
On your fasting days, you will notice two positive things that you will never believe until you try it yourself. First, you will have more strength than usual, not less. I understand that this is incredible, but most adherents of the 5:2 diet feel more than excellent on fasting days. I generally feel quite energetic, eager to talk and feel a natural boost of energy - similar to the effects of exercise. You may not experience something like this on your first fasting day, then just wait a week or two and start enjoying this feeling.
“I have a real boost of strength and energy, so the house has become much cleaner. The windows have never been so clean!”
DEEK43
The second thing that seems a little crazy until you start the program is that the feeling of hunger comes in waves, and usually goes away within a few minutes if you think about something else. I tend to hit a serious wave of hunger in the afternoon, a time when in the past I would usually snack on something less than healthy. Now I just go out to get some fresh air and don’t think about food at all, and this feeling of hunger quickly disappears. For the next couple of hours, the feeling of hunger may no longer be felt, and then it’s only a short time before dinner, and I’m already home.
A special note for mothers during afternoon tea
Are you the mother of an adorable baby? You probably have a hard time on your fasting day during the afternoon snack? Because it's so hard for me. After a light breakfast and/or lunch, I have a voracious appetite for tea, and I also have to prepare food, such as pasta or fried potatoes, which I am strictly forbidden to eat. It's all just about this incredible temptation to try a piece of potato, which is so difficult to resist, but while cooking I may not even think about food in a frying pan.
So if you find yourself in a similar situation, know that you are not alone. Personally, I try to eat with or shortly after my baby. It's much easier to hold out when you know your own food is on the way. Now is the time to maximize your willpower. Remember that many mothers have to share your plight.
My backup plan after a hard day: fish fingers and beans and we can all eat together. Two fish fingers and a quarter can of reduced sugar and salt canned beans will set you back just 220 calories and will be incredibly filling.
Evening of fasting day
Has it ever happened to you that you eat your dinner and then the rest of the evening seems endless and boring? Do you notice that you are constantly thinking about eating a piece of chocolate or a cookie?
Don't worry, it happens to the best of us. Most likely, you are not that hungry, it is just a bad habit, which is even worse since you are resting.
Here is a list of things I like to do to take my mind off obsessive thoughts about food before bed.
✓ Get yourself a hobby - anything will do. You can do this at home or outside – it doesn’t matter, as long as the food and drinks have nothing to do with it.
✓ Watch a movie - go to the cinema or find something on TV. The film is longer than a regular show, and if it draws you in, you will stop thinking about food.
✓ Go for a swim - playing sports on fasting days is usually not a good idea, but relaxed swimming really distracts you from thinking about food, and eating in the pool, fortunately, is prohibited.
✓ Drink something hot - fruit tea has no calories. Personally, I like peppermint tea. Another option is, if your calories allow, low-calorie hot chocolate. Typically, it contains about 40 kcal, which will be more than enough to satisfy your irresistible chocolate cravings.
“I pour myself some black tea or a glass of water, call my girlfriend and try to distract myself. The only really difficult moment is when I go to bed, peaceful, and nothing stops me from thinking about food, but the next morning this problem goes away and I don’t feel any hungrier than usual.”
DEEK43
Various ways to organize your fasting day
Everyone finds an original way to organize their fasting day. The ones described here may or may not seem right for you. Or over time you will come up with something of your own.
“After the first week, I realized that I needed to adapt the week a little to better suit my needs. I start with a tiny handful of bran flakes and low-fat milk. Any diet for me must include at least three cups of tea plus a low-calorie chocolate drink at night. For lunch, I drink a cup of beef broth made with Bovril paste, which, according to my calculations, equals 200 kcal. Then I have a nice dinner in the evening.”
PEGGY
“In our house, everything follows a certain routine. I have breakfast at 7.15am, eat some fruit in the afternoon and have a light dinner around 7pm.”
DEEK43
“I drink a lot of water and limit myself to one mug of tea and one cup of black coffee throughout the day. I try to keep busy all the time so as not to think about food at all. Normally, I only eat in the evening, usually red fish with vegetables.”
LU PIAC
“I have lunch (200 kcal) and drink tea (300 kcal).”
JOE
“I eat three times – 150 kcal for breakfast, 150 kcal for lunch and 200 kcal for dinner.”
SARAH
There is also a lot of advice out there on how to deal with those dreaded hunger pangs. Most often it’s “Dreaming about tomorrow!”, but there are other good thoughts on this matter.
“To combat hunger pangs, I drink a lot of fluids and look forward to my hot drinks as if they were real food. I try to either be more active in the evening or go to bed earlier.”
RACHEL
“I try to drink more fluids, which helps me cope with hunger pangs. I also try to do something fun in the evening. I can go to the theater or cinema. When the weather is good outside, I go to work in the garden or take a walk.”
CHRISTINA
“To get rid of hunger pangs, I use foods and drinks like diet cola, herbal tea, low-fat yogurt and miso soup.”
MIKEP
Common days
Well, now let's move on to the five typical days of your week. If you've tried the 5:2 diet before, you've probably heard of the so-called "eat days" that people sometimes take on days when they don't have to strictly count their calories. There is no place for this concept in this book.
Let me explain everything to you. If you've tried the 5:2 diet before and felt like you didn't lose as much weight as you wanted, or lost a little weight at first and then it all went wrong, then you're just one of many. Lots of people who didn't succeed with the 5:2 diet have encountered the same problem. We eat too much on our regular days and nullify all the positive results obtained on fasting days.
Let's take my case as an example. In November 2012, I was on the 5:2 diet for three months and was very close to my goal. I planned to continue with the program until the week of Christmas, hoping to reach my target weight in time for Christmas, after which I would allow myself a week to relax. However, as Christmas approached, despite the fact that I continued to do the traditional fasting days, I stopped losing weight and even gained a kilogram or two. Then I couldn’t understand what was going on. However, reviewing my goals after Christmas made me realize how much I ate on my regular days. I allowed myself to eat chocolates and even cakes simply because I could eat whatever I wanted and I liked it. In fact, I ate a lot more than in previous years at Christmas because I felt like I had every right to do so as I continued to diet. Now, looking back, I understand perfectly well that I significantly exceeded the number of calories allowed per day. It is not surprising that the diet has ceased to bring positive results.
If you want it for a long time
get rid of excess
kilograms, stand up
on the path to health
and longevity, then you
will have to do it right
eat in your non-
fasting days.
Thus, frosty January brought me an insight: you can’t go crazy five days a week, feast and eat all sorts of rubbish. This way you will never succeed.
The sad truth is that it was only towards the end of February that I was able to return to the weight I had in the previous November. So if you're reading this because the 5:2 diet was a failure for you, then you might want to completely rethink your “normal” days. The more people I talk to about the problems with the 5:2 diet, the more often I find that this is the cause of disconcerting failure.
After my January epiphany, I found a simple and logical solution to the problem. My binge days turned back into normal eating days and the 5:2 diet started working again. Here I have tried to formulate basic rules and tips that will help you optimize your regular days.
Don’t worry, I’m not suggesting that you simply give up all treats and other joys, but proper nutrition means that chocolate and other sweets should appear on your table only from time to time, and they certainly cannot be part of your main diet. So, the formula for a successful “regular” day is as follows:
✓ Eat three times a day: a balanced breakfast, lunch and dinner.
✓ If you get hungry between meals, snack on something healthy, such as fruit or yogurt.
✓ Don't count calories or reduce your portion sizes—you're not on a diet.
✓ Think about it every time you are about to eat something. Do you really need it? Is this useful?
✓ Pamper yourself from time to time.
✓ Avoid ready-made and semi-finished products.
✓ Cook yourself as often as possible - the recipes offered in the book are perfect for both fasting and regular days.
✓ If you still feel hungry after eating, wait another 20 minutes to see if it goes away or not.
✓ You can afford one or two glasses of wine, a delicious dessert or even some dark chocolate.
FOODS TO STAY AWAY FROM:
✓ Cookies and cakes
✓ Baking
✓ Non-diet sodas
✓ Chocolate and other sweets (candy)
✓ Beer and cider
Use the recipes offered in the book for proper and balanced nutrition. If necessary, you can add rice, pasta or bread as a side dish, but avoid using processed foods or other processed foods as an additional ingredient.
It would also be a good idea if you exercised three times a week on your regular days. Try to make exercise an integral part of your regular days. If you want, you can devote only the first three regular days of your week to exercise, so that the remaining two can be relaxed. This way you will have a real weekend. However, do not forget that you need to observe the measure, otherwise all the results achieved in a week will go down the drain.
Here's what my weekly schedule looks like:
Tweaking the 5:2 Diet for Even More Weight Loss
If you came to this section without first reading the chapter on eating well on regular days above, please review it. We can say with almost complete certainty that it is for this reason that you cannot lose weight as much as you would like. If you believe that you are eating healthy these days, but would still like to increase the effectiveness of your diet a little, then you have several additional options that can help you achieve your goal.
You can try increasing your window. This means you can increase the amount of time you restrict your food intake. Typically, this "window" is calculated from the time of your last normal meal until breakfast the next day. So, if you had a hearty dinner on Sunday at ten in the evening, after which you limited yourself in food until eight in the morning on Tuesday, then your “window” will be 34 hours. To extend the window to the optimal 36 hours, you can avoid eating after 8 pm on Sunday.
If the 36-hour “window” seems too long for you, then you can try fasting for 24 hours. This means that you start at two o'clock in the afternoon or eight o'clock in the evening after lunch or dinner, respectively, and continue for exactly 24 hours. It's a little easier this way, since you eat a full meal every day, and you don't have to starve yourself from morning to evening. This option is also suitable for those who do not want to lose weight, but only improve their health with the help of a diet.
Another way to improve the diet is to add an additional, third fasting day. Try this 4:3 diet if you want to lose even more weight. These three days do not have to follow each other: you can arrange a fasting, for example, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Finally, you can try mixing these two strategies to create a kind of two-and-a-half-day-a-week diet. Give yourself two full fasting days, say Monday and Wednesday—these will be your 36-hour “windows” described above—followed by a 24-hour fasting day, say, starting at 6 p.m. on Thursday and ending at 6 p.m. on Friday. I do this from time to time, which doesn't stop me from enjoying a relaxing weekend.
Getting ready for the beach season
The 5:2 diet will help you lose weight and look and feel much healthier, but to look good you need to keep your body toned. The good news is that exercising just twice a week, combined with two fasting days, will significantly improve the way you look and feel. I'm not talking about some kind of miraculous healing, but fasting along with exercise can improve the situation even with cellulite. Remember that any exercises should be done on regular days and in no case on fasting days.
What to do if you are in poor physical shape or have never exercised?
Start slowly. If you want to look good for summer, then I would recommend swimming or running. You should not start the exercises from Part 4 of the book until you have slightly increased your level of general physical fitness.
Walking is a particularly good way to get started with exercise. You won't have to pay a penny, and it won't require much effort on your part. Go for a walk with a friend or take your player with you to listen to music along the way. Plan your route in advance and note the time. You will need to walk for a minimum of 20 minutes three times in the first week, then increase this interval to 30 minutes. You can also try walking up and down the pool. The natural resistance of water makes this a great exercise to try.
Sculpt 30 training plan
If you are already involved in sports or simply lead an active lifestyle, then this program is for you. Even if you don't exercise regularly, but don't sit on the couch all day long, this program can also lead you to success. This means that if you have to run after restless children, walk or bike to work, then you are ready to increase the load to look stunning for the summer.
The 4-week plan on page 303 pairs perfectly with the 5:2 diet and will fit perfectly into your lifestyle.
The program combines strength training (to strengthen muscles) and endurance exercises to help speed up your metabolism and promote fat burning for 24 hours after each workout. You can perform the exercises both at home with the most accessible auxiliary material, and in the gym.
Carrying out
training
program three times
per week in their
ordinary days, you
notice significant
changes in your
This program is fun and short, so you won't have to spend long hours on the treadmill. The program includes 12 workouts with gradually increasing load, designed over four weeks. To achieve optimal results, try at all costs not to miss your scheduled workouts. Remember that everything should be harmonious. The easiest way to achieve amazing results is to try to fit the exercises suggested here into your usual routine.
Destruction of cellulite using the 5:2 method
The 5:2 Bikini Diet is a great way to reduce your cellulite. Cellulite is just a type of body fat, but it's those nasty, lumpy deposits of fat under the skin in the most inconvenient places: the thighs and buttocks. The worst thing is its unpleasant "orange peel" appearance, which can make anyone feel uncomfortable, especially in a swimsuit.
Bikini diet
5:2 perfect
suitable for wrestling
with cellulite, because
that everything is lost
during unloading the weight
have to
for fat, including
and for cellulite.
Cellulite owes its characteristic unsightly appearance to a special fibrous connective tissue that is present only in certain areas of our body, such as the buttocks and thighs. In these areas, fibers connect the skin to the underlying muscles. Cellulite makes itself felt when body fat begins to protrude through the skin. As fat deposits increase, the fibers remain the same size, which is why the hated wavy structure appears. There is nothing you can do about the fibers that connect the skin and muscles, so the only thing left for you to fight cellulite is to get rid of fat in problem areas and tighten the corresponding muscles. By fasting twice a week and exercising to strengthen muscle tissue, you will see a noticeable reduction in cellulite.
“Incredibly, my cellulite began to disappear. It spoiled the appearance of my thighs and buttocks, but now there is only a very small amount left on the buttocks, and I am absolutely sure that soon this will not be the case. I never expected to ever achieve such amazing results, especially in such a short time.”
EMMA
There is a certain physiological mechanism during which fat is deposited in the thighs and buttocks. If you reverse this process, the fat will disappear from these areas first. Excess insulin is one of the factors that contributes to the formation of fat deposits in these areas of the body. Intermittent fasting has been shown to help lower blood insulin levels, making the 5:2 diet particularly effective in the fight against cellulite. Another hormone that turns on the formation of cellulite is estrogen, the level of which increases during pregnancy, when taking birth control medications or hormone replacement therapy. You may have noticed an increase in cellulite if you started taking birth control or took hormone replacement therapy to delay menopause. Other negative factors include smoking, excessive drinking and lack of exercise. If you minimize the impact of these factors, arrange fasting days twice a week and train to increase muscle tone, then your chances of overcoming cellulite, at least partially, will increase significantly.
Questions and answers
Can I drink alcoholic beverages?
On your “regular” days, yes, you can definitely indulge in a drink. Consumption of high-calorie drinks such as beer and cider should be kept to a minimum for obvious reasons, but wine is relatively low in calories and can be enjoyed.
As for fasting days, I would recommend abstaining from alcohol. It will be incredibly difficult for you to fit it into your daily calorie-limited diet. In addition, alcoholic drinks on a fasting day can lead to dizziness and ultimately lead to disruption of your diet.
Should I train on a fasting day?
I wouldn't recommend exercising on a fasting day because you may feel weak and it will increase your hunger. However, some people actually manage to enjoy exercising on their fasting days without suffering any side effects.
Eating - why can’t I eat the way I want if it’s not a fasting day?
If you want to eat for pleasure on your “normal” or “gluttonous” days, then no one is stopping you from doing this. You can still, even if not as effectively, improve your health. “Gluttony” days have given way to “normal eating days” because of people like me who can’t control themselves at all if they are allowed to eat whatever and as much as they want, and who find it extremely difficult to lose weight because of it. If you want to get rid of extra pounds, then you will have to eat right on your “regular” days.
On my fasting day, should I eat all my calories in one sitting to optimize the health benefits of this diet?
Experts have not reached a unanimous opinion on this issue. Some US scientists argue that in order to become as healthy as possible, you need to either not eat at all or limit yourself to one meal, but research on this issue is still in full swing. For more information on this topic, see the Health Benefits chapter (see page 21).
What foods should I eat on fasting days?
Your food should be as satisfying as possible with minimal calories. These properties are perfectly matched by lean, protein-rich foods such as chicken or fish, as well as healthy carbohydrates such as beans or beans. Leafy greens and vegetables tend to have the lowest energy content and will fill your plate at the cost of only a few calories. If you have problems with imagination, then take a closer look at the recipes offered in this book.
Why am I not losing weight fast enough?
Do you take into account every bite you eat on your fasting days? Do you eat healthy on your regular days? It is possible that you simply set yourself an unattainable goal, because half a kilogram or a kilogram a week is already an amazing result. If you exercise actively, some of your fat is replaced by muscle tissue, which is heavier than fat. Look at yourself in the mirror to see if your figure has improved.
Can I eat ready-made meals?
Homemade food is the best thing ever and it doesn't have to be too fancy. Any semi-finished products, as a rule, contain too much salt and preservatives, while the beneficial properties of the ingredients used are lost during technological processing.
What about going to a restaurant?
I believe that from time to time you can treat yourself to something delicious in a restaurant. Try to control yourself when doing this, especially if you eat out more than once a week. Be careful and try to choose the healthiest options if you eat at fast food restaurants or buy food to go.
What should I do if I break the fasting day rules?
Don't panic! If you go a little over the allowed calorie threshold - up to 200 additional kcal - then you should not give up on such a day.
Just try to understand what exactly went wrong and strive to correct your mistake in the next fasting days. If you have crossed all acceptable limits, then consider that the fasting day is a failure, and try to analyze your mistakes the next day.
Don't judge yourself too harshly and take a little break. The most important thing is to never give up!
What about Christmas or holidays?
I believe that you should allow yourself to relax. You will not lose weight during this time, and perhaps you will gain a kilogram or two again. However, you already know very well that to get rid of them you just need to immediately return to your fasting days after this short break. Remember that the health benefits achieved tend to fade quickly when you stop the program, but everything will return to normal once you start again.
It seems to me that today's fasting day is much harder for me than usual. Should I give up this idea for today?
First of all, you should try to wait a little to see if the problem goes away on its own. Maybe it's just a little hunger? I usually wait about twenty minutes and act according to the circumstances. If nothing changes, then I give up. Your health at this particular moment is most important. It's possible that you're simply missing something in your body, or, if you're a woman, that it's related to your menstrual cycle. If you are not able to regain your strength quickly, then I would recommend having a “regular” day the next day too, and only returning to fasting when you are back in shape.
End of introductory fragment.
Evening of fasting day
Has it ever happened to you that you eat your dinner and then the rest of the evening seems endless and boring? Do you find yourself constantly thinking about eating a piece of chocolate or a cookie?
Don't worry, it happens to the best of us. Most likely, you are not that hungry, it is just a bad habit, which is even worse since you are resting.
Here is a list of things I like to do to take my mind off obsessive thoughts about food before bed.
✓ Get yourself a hobby - anything will do. You can do this at home or outside – it doesn’t matter, as long as the food and drinks have nothing to do with it.
✓ Watch a movie - go to the cinema or find something on TV. The film is longer than a regular show, and if it draws you in, you will stop thinking about food.
✓ Go for a swim - playing sports on fasting days is usually not a good idea, but relaxed swimming really distracts you from thinking about food, and eating in the pool, fortunately, is prohibited.
✓ Drink something hot - fruit tea has no calories. Personally, I like peppermint tea. Another option is, if your calories allow, low-calorie hot chocolate. Typically, it contains about 40 kcal, which will be more than enough to satisfy your irresistible chocolate cravings.
“I pour myself some black tea or a glass of water, call my girlfriend and try to distract myself. The only really difficult moment is when I go to bed, peaceful, and nothing stops me from thinking about food, but the next morning this problem goes away and I don’t feel any hungrier than usual.”Various ways to organize your fasting day
Everyone finds an original way to organize their fasting day. The ones described here may or may not seem right for you. Or over time you will come up with something of your own.
“After the first week, I realized that I needed to adapt the week a little to better suit my needs. I start with a tiny handful of bran flakes and low-fat milk. Any diet for me must include at least three cups of tea plus a low-calorie chocolate drink at night. For lunch, I drink a cup of beef broth made with Bovril paste, which, according to my calculations, equals 200 kcal. Then I have a nice dinner in the evening.”
“In our house, everything follows a certain routine. I have breakfast at 7.15am, eat some fruit in the afternoon and have a light dinner around 7pm.”
“I drink a lot of water and limit myself to one mug of tea and one cup of black coffee throughout the day. I try to keep busy all the time so as not to think about food at all. Normally, I only eat in the evening, usually red fish with vegetables.”
“I have lunch (200 kcal) and drink tea (300 kcal).”
“I eat three times – 150 kcal for breakfast, 150 kcal for lunch and 200 kcal for dinner.”There is also a lot of advice out there on how to deal with those dreaded hunger pangs. Most often it’s “Dreaming about tomorrow!”, but there are other good thoughts on this matter.
“To combat hunger pangs, I drink a lot of fluids and look forward to my hot drinks as if they were real food. I try to either be more active in the evening or go to bed earlier.”
“I try to drink more fluids, which helps me cope with hunger pangs. I also try to do something fun in the evening. I can go to the theater or cinema. When the weather is good outside, I go to work in the garden or take a walk.”
“To get rid of hunger pangs, I use foods and drinks like diet cola, herbal tea, low-fat yogurt and miso soup.”
Common days
Well, now let's move on to the five typical days of your week. If you've tried the 5:2 diet before, you've probably heard of the so-called "eat days" that people sometimes take on days when they don't have to strictly count their calories. There is no place for this concept in this book.
Let me explain everything to you. If you've tried the 5:2 diet before and felt like you didn't lose as much weight as you wanted, or lost a little weight at first and then it all went wrong, then you're just one of many. Lots of people who didn't succeed with the 5:2 diet have encountered the same problem. We eat too much on our regular days and nullify all the positive results obtained on fasting days.
Let's take my case as an example. In November 2012, I was on the 5:2 diet for three months and was very close to my goal. I planned to continue with the program until the week of Christmas, hoping to reach my target weight in time for Christmas, after which I would allow myself a week to relax. However, as Christmas approached, despite the fact that I continued to do the traditional fasting days, I stopped losing weight and even gained a kilogram or two. Then I couldn’t understand what was going on. However, reviewing my goals after Christmas made me realize how much I ate on my regular days. I allowed myself to eat chocolates and even cakes simply because I could eat whatever I wanted and I liked it. In fact, I ate a lot more than in previous years at Christmas because I felt like I had every right to do so as I continued to diet. Now, looking back, I understand perfectly well that I significantly exceeded the number of calories allowed per day. It is not surprising that the diet has ceased to bring positive results.
If you want it for a long timeThus, frosty January brought me an insight: you can’t go crazy five days a week, feast and eat all sorts of rubbish. This way you will never succeed.
get rid of excess
kilograms, stand up
on the path to health
and longevity, then you
will have to do it right
eat in your non-
fasting days.
The sad truth is that it was only towards the end of February that I was able to return to the weight I had in the previous November. So if you're reading this because the 5:2 diet was a failure for you, then you might want to completely rethink your “normal” days. The more people I talk to about the problems with the 5:2 diet, the more often I find that this is the cause of disconcerting failure.
After my January epiphany, I found a simple and logical solution to the problem. My binge days turned back into normal eating days and the 5:2 diet started working again. Here I have tried to formulate basic rules and tips that will help you optimize your regular days.
Don’t worry, I’m not suggesting that you simply give up all treats and other joys, but proper nutrition means that chocolate and other sweets should appear on your table only from time to time, and they certainly cannot be part of your main diet. So, the formula for a successful “regular” day is as follows:
✓ Eat three times a day: a balanced breakfast, lunch and dinner.
✓ If you get hungry between meals, snack on something healthy, such as fruit or yogurt.
✓ Don't count calories or reduce your portion sizes—you're not on a diet.
✓ Think about it every time you are about to eat something. Do you really need it? Is this useful?
✓ Pamper yourself from time to time.
✓ Avoid ready-made and semi-finished products.
✓ Cook yourself as often as possible - the recipes offered in the book are perfect for both fasting and regular days.
✓ If you still feel hungry after eating, wait another 20 minutes to see if it goes away or not.
✓ You can afford one or two glasses of wine, a delicious dessert or even some dark chocolate.
FOODS TO STAY AWAY FROM:
✓ Cookies and cakes
✓ Baking
✓ Chips
✓ Non-diet sodas
✓ Chocolate and other sweets (candy)
✓ Beer and cider
Use the recipes offered in the book for proper and balanced nutrition. If necessary, you can add rice, pasta or bread as a side dish, but avoid using processed foods or other processed foods as an additional ingredient.
It would also be a good idea if you exercised three times a week on your regular days. Try to make exercise an integral part of your regular days. If you want, you can devote only the first three regular days of your week to exercise, so that the remaining two can be relaxed. This way you will have a real weekend. However, do not forget that you need to observe the measure, otherwise all the results achieved in a week will go down the drain.
Here's what my weekly schedule looks like:
Tweaking the 5:2 Diet for Even More Weight Loss
If you came to this section without first reading the chapter on eating well on regular days above, please review it. We can say with almost complete certainty that it is for this reason that you cannot lose weight as much as you would like. If you believe that you are eating healthy these days, but would still like to increase the effectiveness of your diet a little, then you have several additional options that can help you achieve your goal.
You can try increasing your window. This means you can increase the amount of time you restrict your food intake. Typically, this "window" is calculated from the time of your last normal meal until breakfast the next day. So, if you had a hearty dinner on Sunday at ten in the evening, after which you limited yourself in food until eight in the morning on Tuesday, then your “window” will be 34 hours. To extend the window to the optimal 36 hours, you can avoid eating after 8 pm on Sunday.
If the 36-hour “window” seems too long for you, then you can try fasting for 24 hours. This means that you start at two o'clock in the afternoon or eight o'clock in the evening after lunch or dinner, respectively, and continue for exactly 24 hours. It's a little easier this way, since you eat a full meal every day, and you don't have to starve yourself from morning to evening. This option is also suitable for those who do not want to lose weight, but only improve their health with the help of a diet.
Another way to improve the diet is to add an additional, third fasting day. Try this 4:3 diet if you want to lose even more weight. These three days do not have to follow each other: you can arrange a fasting, for example, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Finally, you can try mixing these two strategies to create a kind of two-and-a-half-day-a-week diet. Give yourself two full fasting days, say Monday and Wednesday—these will be your 36-hour “windows” described above—followed by a 24-hour fasting day, say, starting at 6 p.m. on Thursday and ending at 6 p.m. on Friday. I do this from time to time, which doesn't stop me from enjoying a relaxing weekend.
Getting ready for the beach season
The 5:2 diet will help you lose weight and look and feel much healthier, but to look good you need to keep your body toned. The good news is that exercising just twice a week, combined with two fasting days, will significantly improve the way you look and feel. I'm not talking about some kind of miraculous healing, but fasting along with exercise can improve the situation even with cellulite. Remember that any exercises should be done on regular days and in no case on fasting days.
What to do if you are in poor physical shape or have never exercised?
Start slowly. If you want to look good for summer, then I would recommend swimming or running. You should not start the exercises from Part 4 of the book until you have slightly increased your level of general physical fitness.
Walking is a particularly good way to get started with exercise. You won't have to pay a penny, and it won't require much effort on your part. Go for a walk with a friend or take your player with you to listen to music along the way. Plan your route in advance and note the time. You will need to walk for a minimum of 20 minutes three times in the first week, then increase this interval to 30 minutes. You can also try walking up and down the pool. The natural resistance of water makes this a great exercise to try.
Sculpt 30 training plan
If you are already involved in sports or simply lead an active lifestyle, then this program is for you. Even if you don't exercise regularly, but don't sit on the couch all day long, this program can also lead you to success. This means that if you have to run after restless children, walk or bike to work, then you are ready to increase the load to look stunning for the summer.
The 4-week plan on page 303 pairs perfectly with the 5:2 diet and will fit perfectly into your lifestyle.
The program combines strength training (to strengthen muscles) and endurance exercises to help speed up your metabolism and promote fat burning for 24 hours after each workout. You can perform the exercises both at home with the most accessible auxiliary material, and in the gym.
Carrying outThis program is fun and short, so you won't have to spend long hours on the treadmill. The program includes 12 workouts with gradually increasing load, designed over four weeks. To achieve optimal results, try at all costs not to miss your scheduled workouts. Remember that everything should be harmonious. The easiest way to achieve amazing results is to try to fit the exercises suggested here into your usual routine.
training
program three times
per week in their
ordinary days, you
notice significant
changes in your
figure.
Destruction of cellulite using the 5:2 method
The 5:2 Bikini Diet is a great way to reduce your cellulite. Cellulite is just a type of body fat, but it's those nasty, lumpy deposits of fat under the skin in the most inconvenient places: the thighs and buttocks. The worst thing is its unpleasant "orange peel" appearance, which can make anyone feel uncomfortable, especially in a swimsuit.
Bikini dietCellulite owes its characteristic unsightly appearance to a special fibrous connective tissue that is present only in certain areas of our body, such as the buttocks and thighs. In these areas, fibers connect the skin to the underlying muscles. Cellulite makes itself felt when body fat begins to protrude through the skin. As fat deposits increase, the fibers remain the same size, which is why the hated wavy structure appears. There is nothing you can do about the fibers that connect the skin and muscles, so the only thing left for you to fight cellulite is to get rid of fat in problem areas and tighten the corresponding muscles. By fasting twice a week and exercising to strengthen muscle tissue, you will see a noticeable reduction in cellulite.
5:2 perfect
suitable for wrestling
with cellulite, because
that everything is lost
during unloading the weight
have to
for fat, including
and for cellulite.
“Incredibly, my cellulite began to disappear. It spoiled the appearance of my thighs and buttocks, but now there is only a very small amount left on the buttocks, and I am absolutely sure that soon this will not be the case. I never expected to ever achieve such amazing results, especially in such a short time.”There is a certain physiological mechanism during which fat is deposited in the thighs and buttocks. If you reverse this process, the fat will disappear from these areas first. Excess insulin is one of the factors that contributes to the formation of fat deposits in these areas of the body. Intermittent fasting has been shown to help lower blood insulin levels, making the 5:2 diet particularly effective in the fight against cellulite. Another hormone that turns on the formation of cellulite is estrogen, the level of which increases during pregnancy, when taking birth control medications or hormone replacement therapy. You may have noticed an increase in cellulite if you started taking birth control or took hormone replacement therapy to delay menopause. Other negative factors include smoking, excessive drinking and lack of exercise. If you minimize the impact of these factors, arrange fasting days twice a week and train to increase muscle tone, then your chances of overcoming cellulite, at least partially, will increase significantly.
Questions and answers
Can I drink alcoholic beverages?
On your “regular” days, yes, you can definitely indulge in a drink. Consumption of high-calorie drinks such as beer and cider should be kept to a minimum for obvious reasons, but wine is relatively low in calories and can be enjoyed.
As for fasting days, I would recommend abstaining from alcohol. It will be incredibly difficult for you to fit it into your daily calorie-limited diet. In addition, alcoholic drinks on a fasting day can lead to dizziness and ultimately lead to disruption of your diet.
Should I train on a fasting day?
I wouldn't recommend exercising on a fasting day because you may feel weak and it will increase your hunger. However, some people actually manage to enjoy exercising on their fasting days without suffering any side effects.
Eating - why can’t I eat the way I want if it’s not a fasting day?
If you want to eat for pleasure on your “normal” or “gluttonous” days, then no one is stopping you from doing this. You can still, even if not as effectively, improve your health. “Gluttony” days have given way to “normal eating days” because of people like me who can’t control themselves at all if they are allowed to eat whatever and as much as they want, and who find it extremely difficult to lose weight because of it. If you want to get rid of extra pounds, then you will have to eat right on your “regular” days.
On my fasting day, should I eat all my calories in one sitting to optimize the health benefits of this diet?
Experts have not reached a unanimous opinion on this issue. Some US scientists argue that in order to become as healthy as possible, you need to either not eat at all or limit yourself to one meal, but research on this issue is still in full swing. For more information on this topic, see the Health Benefits chapter (see page 21).
What foods should I eat on fasting days?
Your food should be as satisfying as possible with minimal calories. These properties are perfectly matched by lean, protein-rich foods such as chicken or fish, as well as healthy carbohydrates such as beans or beans. Leafy greens and vegetables tend to have the lowest energy content and will fill your plate at the cost of only a few calories. If you have problems with imagination, then take a closer look at the recipes offered in this book.
Why am I not losing weight fast enough?
Do you take into account every bite you eat on your fasting days? Do you eat healthy on your regular days? It is possible that you simply set yourself an unattainable goal, because half a kilogram or a kilogram a week is already an amazing result. If you exercise actively, some of your fat is replaced by muscle tissue, which is heavier than fat. Look at yourself in the mirror to see if your figure has improved.
Can I eat ready-made meals?
Homemade food is the best thing ever and it doesn't have to be too fancy. Any semi-finished products, as a rule, contain too much salt and preservatives, while the beneficial properties of the ingredients used are lost during technological processing.
What about going to a restaurant?
I believe that from time to time you can treat yourself to something delicious in a restaurant. Try to control yourself when doing this, especially if you eat out more than once a week. Be careful and try to choose the healthiest options if you eat at fast food restaurants or buy food to go.
What should I do if I break the fasting day rules?
Don't panic! If you go a little over the allowed calorie threshold - up to 200 additional kcal - then you should not give up on such a day.
Just try to understand what exactly went wrong and strive to correct your mistake in the next fasting days. If you have crossed all acceptable limits, then consider that the fasting day is a failure, and try to analyze your mistakes the next day.
Don't judge yourself too harshly and take a little break. The most important thing is to never give up!
What about Christmas or holidays?
I believe that you should allow yourself to relax. You will not lose weight during this time, and perhaps you will gain a kilogram or two again. However, you already know very well that to get rid of them you just need to immediately return to your fasting days after this short break. Remember that the health benefits achieved tend to fade quickly when you stop the program, but everything will return to normal once you start again.
It seems to me that today's fasting day is much harder for me than usual. Should I give up this idea for today?
First of all, you should try to wait a little to see if the problem goes away on its own. Maybe it's just a little hunger? I usually wait about twenty minutes and act according to the circumstances. If nothing changes, then I give up. Your health at this particular moment is most important. It's possible that you're simply missing something in your body, or, if you're a woman, that it's related to your menstrual cycle. If you are not able to regain your strength quickly, then I would recommend having a “regular” day the next day too, and only returning to fasting when you are back in shape.
To my husband Andy,
who helped and supported me both in my new lifestyle and in writing this book. He was also very enthusiastic about trying all my new recipes.
To my children Amy, Irie and Max,
which constantly remind me that life is not just a diet.
Introduction
The Bikini Diet has something to offer everyone, and it's very different from what you see in any other diet program - in fact, you only have to diet 2 days a week, eat a balanced diet the rest of the time, and watch your hated kilograms.
I have prepared a completely new and incredibly delicious selection of healthy and satisfying recipes, ideal for the hot summer. You will find here all kinds of salads, charcoal dishes and amazing summer desserts, suitable even for fasting days.
With the addition of a simple and fun workout program designed by David Jones, this diet is the perfect way to lose weight and get in shape for beach season.
This book is suitable for you if you are not yet familiar with this diet and want to get started; if you are already following the 5:2 diet but need more help or want to start from scratch; if you are looking for amazing original recipes for the summer season; if you're looking for a workout program to give you a more beach-ready figure or just want to lose some weight in an easy, healthy way.
Join the 5:2 revolution and enjoy your weight and figure, see you at the beach!
Yours Jacqueline Whiteheart
Part 1
BIKINI DIET
Golden rules for a successful diet
Let's get straight to the point: there are three main things we'll be doing over the next four weeks and beyond that will help us get in shape for the summer. Follow these guidelines and you'll lose weight, feel better, and look great.
Unloading – two days a week, not consecutive, eat only 500 kcal for women / 600 kcal for men.
The remaining five days a week, eat as usual, giving preference to healthy foods.
Three times a week, on non-fasting days, perform a 30-minute training program.
Sounds very simple, doesn't it? That's because it is! The program is incredibly simple and easy to follow, so keep reading and we'll go through each of these three rules together.
Unload twice a week
Two days a week you limit your calorie intake, that is, you eat:
500 kcal per day for women
600 kcal per day for men
These two days should not be consecutive
2. For the remaining five days, eat as usual, giving preference to healthy foods.
If you're already familiar with the 5:2 diet, you might be aware of the concept of "eat day" that confuses people time and time again.
The thing is that most of us, when we are told that we can eat anything, go a little crazy.
Five non-fasting days are ordinary days in which we do not diet and do not count calories, but simply WE EAT CORRECTLY.
You are required to:
Enjoy your meals without counting calories.
Eat healthy foods three times a day.
DO NOT snack between meals.
Eliminate all rubbish. The following products should be kept to a minimum:
Cookies (any kind) and cupcakes
Crispy potatoes (chips)
Non-diet high-calorie drinks
Chocolate and other sweets (candies)
Any beer and cider
By following these guidelines, you will be able to enjoy a huge variety of delicious dishes, including all categories of products, which means that you will be able to afford delicious pastas, breads, desserts and, of course, a glass of wine or two.
Remember that the recipes in this book are not just for fasting days; they are great for your normal days too.
Just add some extra carbohydrates, in the form of rice or potatoes, for example, if necessary, and try to eat three balanced meals a day.
3. Work out three times a week
If rules 1 and 2 are intended for weight loss, then exercise makes the most of this weight loss, helping to fight fat folds and sagging skin, toning your body and destroying cellulite.
If regular exercise is new to you, then perhaps the best place to start is by walking. Start with 15 minutes of walking a day, three times a week, and gradually increase the intensity.
Walking helps increase blood flow to muscle tissue, improves blood circulation and cardiac activity. Swimming is also a great way to start exercising.
Walking is great
suitable for those
who just started
train: she,
as has happened many times
proven to promote
increasing the level
general physical
preparation.
For those who are already accustomed to exercising regularly, the Bikini Diet training program will be a simple and enjoyable way to get in shape for the beginning of summer - and do it as quickly as possible!
By following this exercise program three times a week, you can expect amazing results in just four weeks. For more information on the benefits of combining exercise with the 5:2 diet program, see the chapter “Getting Ready for Beach Season” (see page 68).
Benefit for health
You not only become slimmer
This chapter explains the medical success of this diet program. Once you realize how much healthier you'll become with this diet—just as you'll lose weight effortlessly—you'll stick with this lifestyle for the rest of your life. RESULTS YOU CAN ACHIEVE WITH THE 5:2 DIET simply stunning. Moreover, the matter is not limited to the lost kilograms: losing weight in a natural and healthy way helps to strengthen your overall health.
There are more and more
and more evidence
what's new
generation of unloaders
diets, of which
The 5:2 diet is
the simplest
and popular, bring
incredible benefits
for human health
and in the long term
perspective.
What happens to the body during fasting?
Based on the opinions of several fasting experts, here's a big picture of how intermittent fasting works for our bodies, giving us an added health advantage as we age. Here I will give only a simplified scientific explanation, which, I hope, will make everything clearer for people interested in this who cannot boast of a scientific education.
When we deprive our body of food for longer than usual, such as during fasting, some hormonal changes begin to occur in the body. Changing the levels of certain hormones has side effects on various cells in our body. Thus, it has been proven that the content of one of these hormones, insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), decreases when we fast. IGF-1 is produced in the liver and acts similar to insulin. Its job in the body is to promote cell growth and the appearance of new cells. When IGF-1 levels drop, our body produces fewer new cells and focuses on repairing old ones. This state of “repair” is very beneficial for you, as it helps slow down the aging process and can reduce the likelihood of developing diabetes, heart disease and some types of cancer.
Another hormone whose levels are affected by fasting is brain nerve growth factor. Research into this process is still in its infancy, but there is already some evidence that this mechanism ultimately leads to a reduction in risk factors for cognitive disorders such as Alzheimer's disease.
Finally, there is another striking difference between standard calorie restriction diets and intermittent fasting. DURING THE LAST, ALL WEIGHT LOST IS EXCLUSIVELY FROM BODY FAT! If that's not a good enough reason to choose the 5:2 diet, I don't know what more you could ask for.
While other diets show a reduction in both muscle and fat tissue, the 5:2 diet focuses exclusively on fat. Scientists are not yet sure why this happens, but numerous studies with good scientific background have confirmed this pattern with their results. The most plausible explanation is that when we fast, we have to use our internal resources (i.e. fat) to nourish the body instead of eating food. This key point may be why the 5:2 diet has been so successful for so many different people.
Optimal Benefits – Should You Skip Meals?
The answer will be simple and short - yes. If your primary goal is taking care of your health, and not just getting rid of extra pounds, then, according to the recommendations of scientists, you should eat only once on a fasting day. Remember that consuming calories outside of the fasting day does not affect the weight loss process in any way. The best scientists in the United States are of the same opinion: to get the most out of intermittent fasting, you need to either abstain from food completely for 24 hours, or eat a small meal once in the middle of this 24-hour period.
No studies have yet been conducted on other forms of food refusal for more than 24 hours, so at the moment scientists cannot guarantee the safety and effectiveness of such methods.
If, reading these lines, you think: “What can I do, there’s no way I can eat only one meal a day!”, then you are not alone. This is why I don't encourage you to skip meals, BYE You yourself will not find this idea attractive, and only on the condition that you can imagine yourself regularly adhering to such a regime in the long term.
FIRSTLY, the thing is, it has no effect on the rate at which you lose weight. If your main goal is to lose weight and reap all the health benefits that come with successful and lasting weight loss, then just stick to 500/600 kcal on your fasting days, but don't worry about when exactly you eat them.
SECONDLY, Although the health benefits may not be optimal, you will still get them. You fast and your body goes into recovery mode, so you shouldn't be surprised if things aren't completely optimal. Is there anything in your life that can be called completely optimal? I definitely don't have that.
FINALLY, THE MOST IMPORTANT: What do you think is better: stick to a strict schedule on fasting days, eating only once, then discover that it is too difficult for you, and there is no motivation at all, and give up after the first month OR eat two or three times in small portions on a fasting day and adapt to this regimen in the long term?
I would say that the latter option wins by a large margin, but still be guided by your own preferences. If it's easier for you to skip a meal, then do it. I often, but not always, skip lunch on fasting days. However, if you succeed with three meals a day, then continue in the same spirit. Everything is going well for you anyway.
What's with the name?
There are so many different names for diets similar or similar to the 5:2 diet that it should come as no surprise that people are often confused.
Fasting diet, or Diet 5:2
These diets are essentially the same thing - just two different names for the same diet. I assume that the diet owes its dual name to its roots. The 5:2 Diet was born in August 2012 thanks to Michael Mosley. Many people, including myself, began to follow her simple principle: eat less than usual twice a week. At this stage, the diet program did not have a special name, but people discussing it on Twitter and other social networks needed to call it something, so the simplest name stuck - the 5:2 diet. Then, when the diet became incredibly popular, marketers took it on and it became known as the “fasting diet.” In the USA, where the diet is never born through word of mouth, it simply, apparently, was originally called the “Fasting Diet” or “British Fasting Diet”.
Two-day diet
The 2-Day Diet has completely different roots compared to the 5:2 Diet, although they are similar in both name and program offered.
The 2-Day Diet comes as a result of amazing research conducted over the past few years by Dr Michelle Harvey from the University of Manchester. Harvey is a breast cancer specialist who has been trying to find a way to reduce the risk of developing breast cancer through diet. She conducted a study of a group of overweight women whose diet was changed radically, but only for two days a week. The diet is similar in many ways to the 5:2 diet, in particular in that you have to restrict your caloric intake two days a week, eating as usual for the remaining five. However, calories were limited to 650 for both women and men, but the foods consumed on fasting days were more limited: it was necessary to eat a certain amount of milk and completely eliminate the consumption of carbohydrates (more like the Atkins diet) on fasting days. The biggest difference from the 5:2 diet is that the two fasting days had to follow each other.
Her research revealed two important points. Firstly, dieting only two days a week is much easier, and many more people have been able to stick to this program compared to classic diets. Harvey compared two groups of women. The first group had fasting days twice a week, while the second group was on a regular diet restricting daily calorie intake, eating 1,500 kcal per day. After three months, it turned out that the two-day diet was twice as easy for people to follow as the regular diet program, judging by the number of participants who failed.
Another most impressive result of her study was the discovery that levels of a breast cancer-promoting hormone called leptin decreased by an average of 40%. In addition, insulin levels dropped by 25%, which significantly reduced the risk of developing diabetes in the participants.
Unloading every other day (RFD)
The idea of fasting every other day appeared in the US before the fasting diet made itself felt in the UK. This diet has a very simple principle. A strict fasting diet is followed every other day. The number of meals during such a day is also limited. The 5:2 diet is a variation on this theme, which allows you to reduce the total number of fasting days during the week, and also not bother with it on legal days off. The consequences for the waist and the body as a whole are similar for these diets, although, obviously, with the help of RFD you can lose weight a little faster. However, the success rate of such a diet (i.e., the percentage of people who managed to stick to the program in the long term) is noticeably lower.
Dr. Varadi conducted an interesting study in the USA with amazing results. She took a group of overweight men and women who followed her RFD supervision for a year. This study is still not completed, but the first data have already been obtained, according to which participants experienced a low rate of diet jumping, a gradual loss of extra pounds that do not return, as well as a decrease in blood levels of total cholesterol and LDL (“bad” cholesterol) ).
“Window”, or 8-hour fasting
A “window” is another way to organize your fasting days, which involves not eating for a certain part of the day, seven days a week. One of the common schemes, for example, suggests not eating from eight in the evening one day until twelve the next day. This means that your window during which you can eat is between 12:00 and 20:00 each day. For some, this method fits perfectly into their lifestyle, as it allows them to have a normal lunch and dinner every day, but it is definitely not to everyone's taste.
There hasn't been much research done on this type of intermittent offloading, but the results appear to be similar to what can be achieved with a 5:2 program or RFD.
Periodic unloading (PR)
Intermittent fasting is a general term for any fasting diet. Thus, the 5:2 diet, and the fasting diet, and the two-day diet, and RFD - they all come under the banner of periodic fasting.
The advantage of the 5:2 diet over other forms of intermittent fasting
There is a reason why people often choose the 5:2 diet over other forms of PR - with this program you will have a much better chance of success because it is much easier to stick to and can be seamlessly fit into your lifestyle.
Dismount percentage
with diet 5:2 lower than
in other forms of PR, and those
more than others
types of dietary
programs.
Simply put, the 5:2 diet is the simplest and easiest to stick to long term.
Potential harms and side effects of the 5:2 diet
Since this diet is such a radical approach to losing weight, it would be wise to first make sure that it is safe to follow.
The official opinion of the medical community on this issue is that the benefits of unloading have not yet been proven. This is because to obtain conclusive results, research must be conducted over several years or even decades, and this domain is relatively new.
Fasting during Ramadan
demands from Muslims
refuse food
and water throughout
daylight hours
within a month.
The good news is that, to date, no significant health harms or other problems associated with this diet have been found. You may also want to consider that in some popular religions, fasting in one form or another has been around for hundreds of years.
Fasting is also common among Hindus. Fasting on certain days of the week is associated with their religious views and is aimed at appeasing certain gods. Both Muslims and Hindus believe that fasting is necessary for a person's happiness and health, since both his physical and spiritual needs are satisfied.
What about side effects?
Like any changes to your normal lifestyle and diet, there may be side effects to this approach. Some people will not experience any side effects at all, but some will experience such discomfort that they will have to give up the procedure.
One relatively common side effect of following a fasting diet that does not go away over time appears to be dehydration. It can be easily managed if you drink water or other low-calorie drinks regularly during your fasting day.
WHAT ABOUT IRRITATION? Yes, some of us are simply raging with hunger. As a rule, this component of periodic fasting, unpleasant for others, makes itself felt less and less as a person gets used to such a diet. However, I can become grumpy both on fasting days and on normal days!
Some people complain of sleep problems related to hunger and daytime sleepiness. This symptom is not as common as the others. Most people experience a lack of strength during their fasting days. Sleep problems can take their toll, especially if you eat most of your daily calories in the morning. Eat more at dinner, making sure it's rich in filling, complex carbohydrates, and you'll help your body get through the night.
Some side effects
the effects appear to be
make themselves known
when a person first
tries to starve. Such
unpleasant symptoms
like a headache
and dizziness like
usually gradually
are fading away
and disappear completely
in just a few
Finally, there is one more side effect that affected me personally. I was constantly cold throughout the winter, but this was especially noticeable on fasting days. The winter this year was quite cold, but I suffered from it much more than I expected. As a result, I spent the entire winter wearing two or even three sweaters, and also paid a fortune for heating. I like to think that this is most likely due to the fact that my body fat has decreased, meaning the diet is working as it should.
Jacqueline Kennedy is known to everyone not only as an icon of style, femininity and elegance, but also as the owner of a slender figure. Let's figure out what the secret of Jacqueline Kennedy's slimness is.
Have you already tried all possible options to lose weight? , protein diet or chocolate diet do not give results? Then take note of Jacqueline Kennedy’s basic nutritional rules, which helped her always stay in great shape.
Jacqueline Kennedy's diet consisted exclusively of healthy and healthy foods that in no way could contribute to extra pounds. The style icon ate vegetables and fruits, meat and lean fish, dairy products and eggs. The president's wife usually started her day with a boiled egg and a cup of tea, and for lunch she ordered cottage cheese with fresh fruit. Jacqueline's dinner consisted of chicken breast or steamed fish, as well as a light salad or stewed vegetables.
Jacqueline Kennedy was strict with herself and her diet, so she rarely allowed herself too much. But, like all of us, the first lady of the United States sometimes allowed herself to relax and ate various desserts and other goodies. That is why Jacqueline was always in excellent shape, but never lost weight to the limit, although her daily diet was only 600-700 calories.
Once a week, Jacqueline Kennedy arranged a fasting day for herself, during which she could indulge in something that did not fit into her daily diet - drink champagne. There have long been rumors about Jacqueline Kennedy's champagne diet, supposedly thanks to her, the president's wife managed to look 100%. But is it?
Jacqueline Whiteheart
Diet 5:2. Bikini diet
To my husband Andy,
who helped and supported me both in my new lifestyle and in writing this book. He was also very enthusiastic about trying all my new recipes.
To my children Amy, Irie and Max,
which constantly remind me that life is not just a diet.
Introduction
The Bikini Diet has something to offer everyone, and it's very different from what you see in any other diet program - in fact, you only have to diet 2 days a week, eat a balanced diet the rest of the time, and watch your hated kilograms.
I have prepared a completely new and incredibly delicious selection of healthy and satisfying recipes, ideal for the hot summer. You will find here all kinds of salads, charcoal dishes and amazing summer desserts, suitable even for fasting days.
With the addition of a simple and fun workout program designed by David Jones, this diet is the perfect way to lose weight and get in shape for beach season.
This book is suitable for you if you are not yet familiar with this diet and want to get started; if you are already following the 5:2 diet but need more help or want to start from scratch; if you are looking for amazing original recipes for the summer season; if you're looking for a workout program to give you a more beach-ready figure or just want to lose some weight in an easy, healthy way.
Join the 5:2 revolution and enjoy your weight and figure, see you at the beach!
Yours Jacqueline Whiteheart
BIKINI DIET
Golden rules for a successful diet
Let's get straight to the point: there are three main things we'll be doing over the next four weeks and beyond that will help us get in shape for the summer. Follow these guidelines and you'll lose weight, feel better, and look great.
✓ Unloading - two days a week, not consecutive, eat only 500 kcal for women / 600 kcal for men.
✓ Eat as usual for the remaining five days of the week, giving preference to healthy foods.
✓ Three times a week, on non-fasting days, perform a 30-minute training program.
Sounds very simple, doesn't it? That's because it is! The program is incredibly simple and easy to follow, so keep reading and we'll go through each of these three rules together.
1. Deload twice a week
Two days a week you limit your calorie intake, that is, you eat:
✓ 500 kcal per day for women
✓ 600 kcal per day for men
✓ These two days must not be consecutive
2. For the remaining five days, eat as usual, giving preference to healthy foods.
If you're already familiar with the 5:2 diet, you might be aware of the concept of "eat day" that confuses people time and time again.
The thing is that most of us, when we are told that we can eat anything, go a little crazy.
Five non-fasting days are ordinary days in which we do not diet and do not count calories, but simply WE EAT CORRECTLY.
You are required to:
✓ Enjoy your meals without counting calories.
✓ Eat healthy foods three times a day.
✓ DO NOT snack between meals.
Eliminate all rubbish. The following products should be kept to a minimum:
✓ Cookies (any) and cupcakes
✓ Crispy potatoes (chips)
✓ Non-diet high-calorie drinks
✓ Chocolate and other sweets (candy)
✓ Any beer and cider
By following these guidelines, you will be able to enjoy a huge variety of delicious dishes, including all categories of products, which means that you will be able to afford delicious pastas, breads, desserts and, of course, a glass of wine or two.
Remember that the recipes in this book are not just for fasting days; they are great for your normal days too.
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