If you’re looking to lose weight but don’t fancy restricting your diet 7 days a week or simply want a more gradual weight loss plan, the exante 5:2 fasting diet could be the solution for you. With a combination of fasting and healthy eating, the 5:2 diet is a popular choice when it comes to losing weight. Channel 4’s January dieting series ‘How To Lose Weight Well’ successfully trialled 5:2 intermittent fasting, and even Philip Schofield has praised 5:2 as a diet option!
Firstly, what is intermittent fasting?
Fasting, or abstaining from some or all foods and drink for a significant period of time, has been practiced for hundreds of years. Initially, a religious observance, the health benefits of fasting have since transformed it into a popular weight loss tool.
As well as the popular 5:2 intermittent fasting diet plan, a new diet trend is the 16:8 diet plan. The 16:8 diet plan is where you eat for 8 hours a day, and then fast for 16 hours a day. Only water is allowed during the 16 hour fasting period.
What are the benefits?
- Weight loss – the body will primarily use fats for energy during intermittent fasting, reducing body fatty tissue mass and in turn inducing weight loss (1).
- Steady blood sugar levels – Intermittent fasting has also been found to increase insulin sensitivity and improve the regulation of blood sugar, which could reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes (2).
- Improved digestion – Boosted metabolic function by regulating bowel movements and overall digestion.
- Protected immune system – Intermittent fasting reduces free radical damage, regulates inflammatory conditions in the body and starves off cancer cell formation (3).
- Brain function – Intermittent fasting can facilitate growth of new neurons as well as protect the brain from damage (4, 5)
How to lose weight well: what is the 5:2 diet?
The 5:2 diet is an intermittent fasting plan. Traditionally, the plan involves 2 non-consecutive ‘fasting’ days where you restrict your daily calorie intake to around 600 calories, followed by 5 days of normal, healthy eating (approx 2000kcal for women and 2500kcal for men).
Is the 5:2 fasting diet for me?
If you are looking for a simple and effective way to lose or maintain your weight and find sticking to a restricted calorie diet every day challenging, 5:2 is for you.
- Learn how to cook healthy food and incorporate exercise into your routine.
- No ‘banned’ foods – making you less likely to fall off track
- A flexible way to sustain healthy weight loss.
- Fasting on weekdays reduces the need for meal prep during the week.
- Sustainable way to maintain a healthy lifestyle long-term
- Perfect for those looking to lose or maintain their weight
- Fasting is a simple concept proven to promote weight loss
- 1-2 pound a week weight loss*
Philip Schofield, when talking about 5:2 dieting on This Morning, said the following:
I did the 5:2 – amazing, amazing results. I’m absolutely thrilled and I shrunk my stomach down and so I now have a much smaller appetite, I’m very happy with that.
How can I do the 5:2 diet with Exante?
- On your fasting days, enjoy 3 Exante meal replacement products, reducing your calories to 800 kcal a day.
- On your ‘off’ days try healthy recipes from our Flexi Solution, following the recommended calorie intake advised for men and women per day.
- Each Exante meal replacement contains 1/3 of your NRV of vitamins and minerals, giving your body everything it needs.
- No calorie counting or temptation from other foods.
- If you are vegan, and still want to follow a 5:2 diet plan, our new vegan meal replacement shakes are the perfect choice for your fasting days.
How to lose weight well: the results
Channel 4’s ‘How to Lose Weight Well’ saw Fay follow the 5:2 diet for 4 months and the results are telling. Fay admits to struggling with the diet but despite this, loses 17 lbs over the 4 months. Although the 5:2 diet it is not a ‘quick-fix’ and will not provide dramatic losses, like our Total Solution plan will, it is a different approach to changing your eating habits, that still allows you to enjoy the foods you like. Fay described the diet as “really do-able and very sustainable” and went on to say “that if anyone has tried diets and failed in the past, then they should try the 5:2 diet.”
Start on 5:2 and need some recipe inspirations? Here are some low-carb 200 calorie recipes to use as inspiration!
Low-Carb 200 Calorie Recipe Guide
It can be difficult to know what to prepare in the kitchen to support your weight loss goals. That’s why we’ve put together this Low-Carb 200 Calorie Recipe Guide to help you cook up deliciously healthy meals that will help keep you on track with your diet.
A Simple Guide to all Things Exante
We want to make dieting even easier for you before you order arrives and that's why we've put together a simple guide to all things Exante.
Shop our 5:2 diet packs today and start losing weight for good!
- Harvie, M., Wright, C., Pegington, M., McMullan, D., Mitchell, E., Martin, B., … & Camandola, S. (2013). The effect of intermittent energy and carbohydrate restriction v. daily energy restriction on weight loss and metabolic disease risk markers in overweight women. British Journal of Nutrition, 110(8), 1534-1547.
- Halberg, N., Henriksen, M., Soderhamn, N., Stallknecht, B., Ploug, T., Schjerling, P., & Dela, F. (2005). Effect of intermittent fasting and refeeding on insulin action in healthy men. Journal of applied physiology, 99(6), 2128-2136.
- Cheng, C. W., Adams, G. B., Perin, L., Wei, M., Zhou, X., Lam, B. S., … & Kopchick, J. J. (2014). Prolonged fasting reduces IGF-1/PKA to promote hematopoietic-stem-cell-based regeneration and reverse immunosuppression. Cell stem cell, 14(6), 810-823.
- Lee, J., Seroogy, K. B., & Mattson, M. P. (2002). Dietary restriction enhances neurotrophin expression and neurogenesis in the hippocampus of adult mice. Journal of neurochemistry, 80(3), 539-547.
- Arumugam, T. V., Phillips, T. M., Cheng, A., Morrell, C. H., Mattson, M. P., & Wan, R. (2010). Age and energy intake interact to modify cell stress pathways and stroke outcome. Annals of neurology, 67(1), 41-52.