The 5:2 Fast Diet: Recipe Book

This diet is actually working for me, and the recipes are very good, too. It's so do-able, to limit calories for only two days a week, and only one day at a time. I tell myself I can always eat [fill in the blank] "tomorrow". I've lost 5 pounds in a month. I'm happy with this book.

I almost didn't buy this book because of the reviews saying there's no serving size and the measures are in grams, liters and such, rather than U.S. measures. Then I checked Amazon's return policy, and sure enough, Amazon's customer-centric policies came through, with easy, fair-term return...so I bought it, keeping another tab open to "manage my Kindle" and a finger on the "actions" button there, so I'd be ready to send the book back and get an instant refund if what these serving/measurements issues proved true of this edition. I'm happy to say they proved untrue, for the American Kindle edition I just bought here at Amazon. All the measurements were in U.S. measurements (I can't be bothered to do the conversions every time I use a recipe, so that'd have been a definite deal-breaker for me), and each recipe says how many people it's intended to serve. I haven't tried any recipes yet, since I just got the book, like, a nanosecond ago, but will add to this review when I try a few of them (assuming I remember). I just wanted to get this review written now, lest someone else be dissuaded from buying the book out of concern about those two issues. I really don't know how many stars to give the book given that, as I say, I haven't tried the recipes. That said, since I have to give a star rating in order to post this, and based on a quick skim-through of the recipes, I'm giving it a provisional/temporary 4 stars on the basis that: a) The recipes are fast, simple and from what I noticed, have no difficult to find or obtain ingredients, which is what I want if I'm making food for modified fasting rather than, say, a dinner party for eight gourmands; b) I realized, in looking through the recipes, that even those that seemed to me more common sense than recipe (e.g., "Blueberry Yogurt" that's, well, blueberries and yogurt, which I'm guessing I coulda whipped up without the help of a cookbook), were useful both for giving me ideas of things to eat during the 500 calorie days-- which is helpful for those of us who tend to get in a rut on very low calorie regimen, mine being a sashimi and raw vegetables rut-- and for spelling out the measurements/oortions and calories in the same place that was giving me the idea of what to eat; c) The fact that any cookbook that includes, in a 500-calorie-day regimen, a "recipe" for chocolate dipped strawberries, shows an esprit at which I can't help but smile. So, so far, I'm liking this new book just fine, and skimming through it has given me the notion that it's going to make even more fun, a diet I'm finding very exciting in my first week of trying it.

The book offers a good mix of recipes to stay within a very limited calorie count. As you can imagine they have to be fairly basic to meet the criteria.

I have tried so many diets in my life but this is the one that beats them all. The main reason is, apart from the health aspects, which are vast, particularly with this diet, the fact that you only think about it twice a week, on days of your own choosing, the other five days belong to you and your regular eating habits. It's really easy when you know, on the day of your fasting (600calories for a man and 500 calories for a woman.) the next day you can resume your normal eating habits. Theoretically, you should be absolutely starving the following morning, amaxingly, you are not and so you continue to lose weight and gain health benefits. It's all explained in this small book. It even has a 5 day diet plan for Women and men. Of course you don't have to follow that exactly as long as you eat only the required amount of calories. Nothing could be simpler!

Very persuasive information about the benefits of intermittent fasting to health as well as weight loss. I have done the 2 days a week fasting ( not really fasting as women can eat 500 calories on a fast day, men can have 600) for only 2 weeks, but I have found it surprisingly easy and I have felt good with no drop in energy or endurance on those days.

This book is'nt for the everyday person.Items you need would not be in your house.Its not worth sending back will not get much money back.

I have finally found a diet I can live with...it is working for me! I have lost 7 pounds in 6 weeks! The two fasting days (not consecutive) are not bad...instead of cooking, I buy Lean Cuisine dinners containing 200-300 calories and then fill in the rest of my calorie count for the day with an egg and a granola bar...I can even work in a Weight Watcher's dessert! The other days I can eat whatever I want, but you know, when I get to those days, I really don't want to pig out...I eat what I want, but less. This diet is truly working for me and I highly recommend it! I will do an update in a month. Good luck!

The book is very simple and short -- because no lengthy explanation is needed. Keep your total calorie intake to 500 calories (for women) on two non-consecutive days per week, and eat normally the other five days. She provides many very tasty-sounding recipes for the two "fast" days. Love the idea and I look forward to giving it a try. Of particular interest to me, was the reference to a study which found that those eating low fat diets for the 5 non-fast days lost no more weight than those eating a typical high-fat American diet for the five days. How easy to manage your will-power for one "fast" day at a time, knowing you can "feast" the next day! And research so far shows great positive health effects regarding the heart and diabetes.... I am now a few weeks into the 5:2 eating plan. I love it! I have lost 6 pounds in one month - and I skipped two of the scheduled fast days due to vacation/holidays. On non-fast days I have eaten anything I want -- pizza, Mexican restaurant, bologna, mayonnaise, white bread, desserts.... Could not ask for a better plan. Love only restricting myself two days per week and losing weight! As I lose weight, however I am feeling a bit more motivated to lower my calorie intake on some of the non-fast days. We will see how that goes.... I feel so much lighter and the fast days are a really great day for me. Feel healthy and lean. I want to lose just over 20 more pounds to be back at a comfortable weight for me. I think this is a plan I can easily do long term. Very pleased.