First day on 5:2 diet - am I doing this right?!

[freshstart2026]

I need to lose about 18lb and have decided to give the 5:2 diet a go. This is my first day fasting. Today I’ll be eating as follows:

Breakfast: 1 satsuma, 1 small yoghurt (75 cals)
Snack: cup of tea with milk (15 cals)
Lunch: corned beef roll with salad (190 cals)
Snack: 1 Babybel (60 cals)
Dinner: very small portion of leftover ravioli (70 cals)

Total: 410 cals

I will add a banana or another Babybel to get to 500.

Does that sound about right?

Also, has anyone followed this diet and lost a good amount of weight? Eating an unrestricted (within reason obviously!) diet five days a week and losing weight sounds too good to be true!

Hi,
I did this a few years ago, lost about 7lbs. There are some free recipes for this diet if you search the internet. I struggled with the 500 calories diet but found the more recent 800 calorie one easier. I used to skip breakfast and use the calories over 2 meals. I do think it works as long as you don’t go mad on the 5 days. Good luck!

Sounds good OP. I’m going to try it too!

Thanks and good luck @MaggieBsBoat!

When I did it, I used to have a coffee with a splash of milk at breakfast time, a sandwich thin, with a thin slice of ham and tomato at lunch and a thin soup with a slice of toast at dinner time. It did what I wanted it to.

Thanks. I’m feeling pretty hungry now but can almost feel my body burning fat (though it’s clearly psychological lol). I will be eating my minuscule dinner soon and having an early night!

How often did you weigh yourself on the diet? It’s tempting to do it daily but maybe not a good idea?