All we seem to be hearing lately is the new fad, the 5:2 diet. We were quite intrigued to find out what the theory and principle is behind this weight loss technique.

After a bit of research we were able to identify these simple points , you diet for 2 days of the week (not consecutive) that limits the calorie intake for 2 days, then eating normally for 5 days. This type of diet is called ‘intermittent fasting’. The idea itself sounds like a pretty easy way of living if it gets you the results you want, although we are trying to imagine what the hunger prangs must be like on the 'dieting days.' As massive food lovers we can't help but think that we wouldn't be able to maintain this way of living for any substantial duration.  You also need to take in to account the energy requirements for a person who trains in some shape or form 6 times a week.  We can't help but think how this would disrupt training patterns, causing the individual to scale back on training on certain days due to lack of energy from lack of food

 Lets look more closely at the numbers.  The two days of fasting require keeping your intake below a set line of calories: 500 for women, 600 for men. The normal average intake of calories (at least in North American or European countries) is 2000. This means scaling back the calories by about 1/4 on the two fasting days. To give an example, a hard boiled egg would be 77 calories, one can of Coke is 150 calories, and a medium banana is 105 calories. The obvious part of getting on this diet is to plan your meals to ensure you stay below the daily calorie count.

So potentially you would be required to train as you normally would on the equivalent of around 4 boiled eggs and a banana. This to me sounds pretty unrealistic...unless you look to boost your energy levels using a pre-work out formula such as the ones sold on this site.

As a conclusion we would say that this diet would suit someone that does not train or does not train very often as appose to the avid gym goer. We personally cant see why a well controlled diet along with regular training is not as effective or more effective than the 5:2 Diet. That said we would be really interested to hear from any of you who have tried this diet, maybe some before and after pics from a spectrum or 'trainers' and 'non-trainers.'