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So now to the five normal days in a week. If you have tried the 5:2 diet before you may have heard the term ‘feast’ day bandied around for the non-diet days. This is a term I have made sure not to use here.

Let me explain. If you have tried the 5:2 diet before and found you didn’t lose much weight or you lost weight at the beginning and then it tailed off to nothing, then you are one of many. Lots of people who have problems losing weight on the 5:2 diet have the same problem. We are eating too much on our normal days and negating all the good work we are doing on our fast days.

Let’s look at me for example. In November 2012 I had been following the 5:2 plan for three months and was very close to my target weight. My plan was to continue following the plan right up to Christmas week, hopefully reaching my target weight in time for Christmas, and then I’d allow myself a week off. But as Christmas approached, although still sticking to my fast days, I stopped losing weight and even gained a pound or two. At the time I couldn’t understand it. But as I re-examined my goals after Christmas I realized how much I had been eating on my normal days. I would allow myself the mince pies or chocolates or fancy canapés because I could eat what I liked and enjoy it. In fact, I ate far more than I have done in previous years at Christmas because I felt I was justified in doing this, as I was still on a diet. But I’m sure, looking back, that I was eating far more than my recommended daily calories. No wonder the diet was no longer working for me.

The revelation that I had in the cold light of January is that you cannot go crazy, binge and eat rubbish for five days a week. It just cannot work. For sustained weight loss and a healthy, long life, you need to eat healthily on your non-fasting days too.

The difficult truth is that it took me until the end of February to get back to the weight I was the previous November. So if you are reading this because you are finding that the 5:2 diet isn’t working for you, then take a look at your ‘normal’ days and re-assess. The more people I have talked to about problems with the diet, the more often I find that this is the cause of a de-motivating failure of the 5:2 diet.

Since my moment of revelation in January, I have found a simple and logical solution. Feast days become normal, healthy days and the 5:2 diet is a winning formula once again. Here I set out the rules or suggestions that can make your normal days work for you. Don’t worry, I don’t suggest cutting out all fun and treats, but as with all healthy eating it involves saving snacks and chocolate for an occasional treat, rather than making them your standard diet. Your formula for a successful ‘normal’ day is as follows:

• Eat three healthy, balanced meals a day.

• Have light, healthy snacks such as fruit or yogurt if you feel peckish between meals.

• Do not calorie count or reduce portion size; you are not on a diet.

• Do be aware of what you are eating. Is it necessary? Is it healthy?

• Do allow yourself the occasional treat.

• Cut back on processed food and ready meals.

• Prepare home-cooked food as often as possible – the recipes in this book are just as good on a normal day as a fast day.

• If you are still hungry after a meal, wait 20 minutes and see if you are still hungry.

• Do allow yourself a glass of wine or two, a tasty dessert or even a few squares of dark (semisweet) chocolate.

Foods to avoid:

• biscuits (cookies) and cakes

• pastries

• crisps (potato chips)

• non-diet fizzy drinks

• chocolate bars and sweets (candies)

• beer, lager and cider

Use the recipes in this book as a guide for healthy, balanced eating. Just add rice, pasta and bread as necessary, but avoid processed additions.

Three of your normal days should also be exercise days. Try and get yourself into a good routine so the exercise becomes an integral part of your normal days. If you like, you can split your normal days into three healthy days with exercise and two normal days where you can be a little bit more relaxed. This means you can effectively have the weekend off. But remember, don’t go overboard and cancel out all the things you have achieved during the week.

My schedule looks something like this: