Breakfast:Enjoy a medley of 100g hulled sliced strawberries, 100g cubed watermelon and 50g halved seedless grapes. Calories so far: 88. Breakfast:Begin your day with a bowl of porridge with a sweet maple syrup topping. Put 20g porridge oats in a bowl with 2tbsp water and 2tbsp skimmed milk. Microwave on high for 1 min 20 secs until the oats are tender and then stir in 1tsp maple syrup. Calories so far: 100

Many of you will be aware of the 5 2 Diet developed by Michael Mosley almost 5 years ago, which became a world wide phenomenon, embraced by thousands of people. I found this book pleasant enough with it's conversational style, but, having watched the BBC Horizon documentary on which it is based, I didn't feel that I learnt anything new or benefited in any way from her insights. Dinner:Try whipping up a low cal mushroom ragu with courgetti (125cals) and 25 blueberries for dessert (20cals).Your 500-calorie days will help to stabilise your insulin levels and hunger. You should find your appetite is smaller on normal days, so you won’t have to work so hard to stay around the 2,000-calorie mark.

Dinner: Warming, chunky, delicious, and easy. This super-filling vegetarian pie is just 303 calories per portion. Varady KA, Bhutani S, Church EC, Klempel MC. Short-term modified alternate-day fasting: a novel dietary strategy for weight loss and cardioprotection in obese adults. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009;90(5):1138-43. doi:10.3945/ajcn.2009.28380 Fasting can be on any 2 days you choose, however, most people find it's best not to fast on consecutive days.Research shows fasting has no negative effects on the ability to do moderate activity. Even so, it’s important to listen to your body. Also, doing cardio can help your body tap into its fat stores, and maximise the benefit of your fasting days. Lunch:For lunch, rustle up our crushed new potatoes and shoots (170 calories). Calories so far: 226 Your 5 2 diet fasting days are best completed on days when you are busy. It is important to take your focus away from food on fasting days by concentrating on your work, family, jobs or other activities that you are involved in. This often means planning fasting days around social events and family gatherings, as saying ‘no’ to food can often be difficult in social situations. Lunch:You can’t beat a classic tomato soup, and Heinz’s Cream of Tomato Reduced Salt comes in at a light 115 calories. Calories so far = 280.

And it’ll even save you money, with no specialist diet foods or supplements required. No wonder it’s as popular with men as it is with women – and with first-time dieters as with weight loss veterans.Dinner: Opt for a refreshing, filling salad for dinner. Our bean and pepper salad (137cals) is perfects served with two rice cakes (70cals). Breakfast:for a sweet fix try having one crumpet with a teaspoon of honey (100cals) and 20 raspberries (20cals). Calories so far = 120