what to eat on non fast days...

[NotHerRealName]

I am a little confused about this. Having read the book, it says you can eat what you like on non fast days, and that the (limited) studies that have been done, show equal health benefits regardless of whether you eat moderately on your fast days or not.
It seems to be a common perception on here that you should keep calorie intake to within 2000 cals. on your non fast days. If so then of course you will lose weight, just like any other crash diet. I just wondered where that came from as its not how the book explains it.
I have tried the 5.2 for 3 weeks before Christmas and I am a bit sceptical to be honest. I felt very light headed and hypoglycaemic on my fast days, so much so that I had stop. I am not medically overweight but cosmetically would like to drop a few pounds. I am willing to give it another shot now Christmas is out the way.
Did anyone else suffer with low blood sugar? and also how much weight have people lost so far?

[frenchfancy]

Hi notherrealname like you say limited studies have been done on what to eat on non-fast days. I always advise people to just not think about it at first, but if weight loss stalls then to look at NFDs to see if you are exceeding your TDEE (look at the WELCOME please read here thread for full explanations).

Your body can take some time to get used to fast days, but we are all wired up to deal with no food for short periods (and a day is a short period) it is just that our wiring gets a little rusty through lack of use. If you are finding it difficult allow yourself a bit more than the 500 cals and wean your way onto it. Gradually build up the gap between meals on fast days (but make sure you eat normally on NFDs).

Read the inspiration thread for stories of how much people have lost (personally 33lbs lost, and kept off for 8 months now)

[MelanieCheeks]

I think the book does recommend 2000 cals, as an approximation of a maintenance (TDEE) level for the average woman.

It's not a crash diet, it's a long term approach.

If you don't have much to lose, then results will be slow.

If you've already tried it and didn't like it, what is it about it that is attracting you back?

I never answer the "how much has everybody lost!" questions, as reuslts will vary so much. Plus it really doesnt matter how much I've lost - that has no bearing on what the next person could lose. However, there's some great inspritational stories in the "inspiration" thread in this section.