Low carb or 5:2 - pros and cons?

[Finsbury]

I'm 56, menopausal, and literally a barrel - measured myself last night - 38/37/37
Need to do something about this and lose a stone and a half.

What might put me off about 5:2 is the calorie counting needed on non fasting days - is it a pain - do you have to weigh and check everything? Don't know if I'm disciplined enough to do that. Would low carb be better - what are the pros and cons of each? Thanks all

There is also the blood sugar diet version of 5:2 to think of which is sort of a half way house between the two, this means cals on fast days are higher (800) and there is (at least in theory) no need to count cals on non fast days so long as eating healthily lowish carb Mediterranean style, so replace crisps with nuts and seeds, eat lots of veg, small portions of wholegrains, oily fish, full fat greek yog or eggs for breakfast etc

thanks poppy cat and I might look into that. I'm appalled at what I've turned into

Finsbury don't worry your waist will soon make a reappearance - 5:2 esp is good for losing weight on your middle - it also seems to be good for women going through or post menopause. Have you found the fasting board - everyone on the BSD and 5:2 threads are very friendly.